Noodles with Lime, Peanut, and a Lot of Green Veggies

After coming home from a great vacation, I was too tired to come up with a dinner idea. I surfed over to my friend Amy's blog and caught up on the posts I missed while I was gone. I came upon her regular feature where she cooks an Ellie Krieger recipe. It looked so delicious that I knew we had to try it!

One of our favorite cuisines to eat out is Thai. The hubby loves pad Thai, but I always want something with more veggies. This dish was perfect - it combined sweet and tangy flavors and was nice and healthy. Another bonus is that it was quick cooking and not too messy.

I followed Amy's version of the recipe (http://www.playinghouseblog.com/2009/07/ceimb-aromatic-noodles-with-lime-peanut.html) and also included the edamame. Next time I would omit the snap peas and just stick with broccoli, snow peas, and edamame. We wanted whole wheat noodles for this and could only find spaghetti (not linguine). This would also work well with a shorter pasta with lines to hold the sauce.

I won't repost the recipe here, visit Amy for that. Enjoy the photo. This recipe is a definite keeper!

Don't Feel like Cooking Tonight...Here's What we Made!

Some nights you just don't feel like cooking. The usual solution would be to go out to eat, but we find that if we can't decide what we want to eat at home then we can't decide on where to go out. So working with the ingredients in the house we came up with a dressed up summer pasta dish.

We didn't have any sauces on hand, so I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with something creative. We still had some garlic scapes and an abundance of basil leaves from our plant - perfect for an interesting pesto. I pulled a few veggies out of the fridge sauteed them and added them in. A summer pasta primavera!

Garlic Scape Pesto
3 garlic scapes
Handful of basil leaves
About 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Chop garlic scapes into 1/4 inch pieces
Add garlic scapes and basil to the food processor
Stream in olive oil as the food processor is running
Scoop into a bowl and season with salt and pepper

Pasta Primavera a la Good Cook Doris
1/2 box penne pasta, prepared according to the directions on the box

1/4 cup chopped broccoli florets
1/4 cup chopped peppers (red, yellow and orange)
1/4 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Prepare the veggies while the pasta is cooking
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat
Add veggies and cook for about 5 minutes, until just soft

Toss pasta, veggies, and pesto in a large bowl
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Summary:
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes
Food processor, cutting board and knife, pasta pot, medium skillet, pasta spoon, spatula, serving dishes and utensils

This recipe serves 2 people (large servings)

A Trio of Mediterranean Inspired Dips

We were invited over to someone's house and asked to bring an appetizer along. Our host told us that the menu included shrimp and swordfish kabobs, couscous, and salad with feta. I wanted to make something to go along with the Mediterranean/Greek theme, so I looked online at the menus of my favorite Greek restaurants. A lot of the appetizers needed to be served right from the oven or seemed to heavy. Keeping in mind that our dinner hosts don't eat garlic, onions, or spicy foods - I decided to do a search of my cookbook collection and find something I could customize. After searching for a little while, I decided to whip a few dips to eat with pita chips.

These were quick and easy to pull together - perfect to make ahead and keep in the fridge until party time. Here's the line up:

Dip #1 - Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip
Dip #2 - Olive Tapenade with Sundried Tomatoes
Dip #3 - Low-fat Tzatziki (cucumber/yogurt dip)

All the dips can be served with pita chips, veggies, toasted baguettes, or crackers.

*Recipe note - I omitted garlic from all of the recipes.

Dip #1 - Red Pepper and Walnut Dip (adapted from Cooking Light)

3/4 cup walnuts, toasted (I forgot to toast them and it was still good)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoons ground red pepper
1 12-ounce bottle of roasted red peppers, drained (I used a 7 oz. jar)

Place all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until smooth
Put into serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve


Dip #2 - Olive Tapenade with Sundried Tomatoes

This is a great idea when you have a lot of assorted leftovers in the fridge. It can be customized depending on your taste. Here's my version:

About 1 cup of assorted pitted olives (I got a few scoops from the olive/antipasto bar at the grocery store)
2 sundried tomatoes (from a jar of sundried tomatoes packed in oil)
Few sprigs of fresh parsley
Zest from half a lemon

Same instructions as dip #1:
Place all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until smooth
Put into serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve


Dip #3 - Low-fat Tzatziki (cucumber/yogurt dip) (adapted from Cooking Light)

1 32-ounce carton plain low-fat yogurt
1.5 cups shredded English cucumber (about 3/4 of a large cucumber)
3/4 teaspoon salt - divided into 1/2 teaspoon and 1/4 teaspoon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

This recipe has two steps. To prepare the yogurt, you need 12+ hours. The rest of the recipe takes about 20 minutes the next day (or later)

Place a colander into a large bowl
Line the colander with cheesecloth if you have it. I used basket coffee filters to lining the interior of the colander
Spoon the yogurt onto the filters
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12+ hours
After 12 hours, remove from the fridge and spoon the yogurt into a bowl and discard the excess liquid
Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients

Shred the cucumber using a grater or mandoline with grater blade
Place it into a colander and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Toss well to combine and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes
After 15 minutes, pour the cucumber onto a large paper towel
Squeeze until almost all water is gone (you may need to transfer to a dry paper towel a few times and repeat)

Combine the yogurt, cucumber, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, chopped parsley, lemon juice and pepper in a serving bowl and mix well
Drizzle the olive on top just before serving

I'll post pictures from the party when we return!

Backyard BBQ Part 3 - Two Tasty Salads

Sometimes potato salad and coleslaw seem a little boring. To make our backyard BBQ a little more unique (and healthy), I substituted two tasty salads on the side. Both these salads are vegetarian and have vinaigrette dressing - so no need to worry about leaving them out for a few hours (no meat or mayo).

The first is a version of the sun dried tomato couscous salad that I've posted previously. You'll notice that this time I left out the salami to give the non-meat eaters another option. Other substitutions included basil (not parsley), baby arugula, and chopped kalamata olives.

I found the recipe for the second salad in a Cook's Country magazine at the book store. This magazine is published by the same people from America's Test Kitchen, so you know the recipe has to be good! This recipe for Tangy Apple-Cabbage Slaw sounded so light and different that I went home to find it online. I had to register for a free trial of the website to get it, but it was well worth it! Here it is:

Tangy Apple Cabbage Slaw
1 medium head green cabbage, cored and chopped into thin strips
2 teaspoons salt
3 granny smith apples (they called for 2), cored and cut into thin matchsticks (don't peel the apples)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I just used one shake from the jar)

Start this first step about an hour before you want to make the salad:
Toss the chopped cabbage and salt in a colander set over a bowl. I put a plate on top to weight it down
Let it stand for about an hour, until wilted
Rinse the cabbage well under cold water
Drain, dry with paper towels, and transfer it to a large bowl

About 15 minutes before the cabbage ready to be drained, start to prepare the rest of the salad
Put the oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard and pepper flakes into a saucepan over medium heat
Bring to a boil, stir well, remove from the heat and set aside

Core and cut apples into thin 1/4 inch matchsticks
Slice the scallions

After the cabbage is rinsed and put in a large bowl, add the apples and scallions and toss to combine
Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss to coat
Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least an hour before serving (you can refrigerate it up to 1 day)

New Treats for the Grill

It's easy to get into a routine and eat the same foods each week. In the spirit of grilling diversity, we're trying to add new items to our stable of grill friendly meals. I've posted about grilled portobellos before - this post is more about what went with the grilled portobellos. I get a weekly email from Whole Foods and they always have interesting recipe ideas. The latest edition had a recipe for portobello and pineapple grilled veggie burgers. I printed out the recipe, miraculously found almost the ingredients in our pantry, and got to work! Our burgers were served without buns (I think they were better that way!)

The teriyaki sauce was really tasty. I'd put it up against any bottled sauce at the store. When you can control the amount of salt in your sauces they always taste much better. For an easy meal, I served this on a nice green salad with carrots and green onions. No need for dressing - I just drizzled a little extra teriyaki on it.

I'll write up the teriyaki sauce here. For the full recipe and instructions, click on the link above. I marinated the pineapples and portobellos for about 30 minutes before grilling (we wanted to eat before 10 p.m.). Throw them on the grill and within a short amount of time you are ready to eat. Drizzle with extra sauce and enjoy!

Quick Homemade Teriyaki Sauce (courtesy of Whole Foods' recipe, with a few tweaks)

Juice from 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple rings
3 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce)
2 tablespoons brown sugar (I only had dark)
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (I didn't have any, so I added some toasted sesame seeds instead)
Canola oil
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Put 3/4 cup of the pineapple juice (save remaining for another use), soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil into a small bowl and whisk together to make a marinade

After you put the mushrooms and pineapples on the grill, drain the leftover marinade into a small saucepan
Bring to a boil over medium high heat
In a small bowl, stir together water and cornstarch
Then whisk the cornstarch mixture into the marinade in the saucepan and boil until thickened, about 1-2 minutes
Pour into a serving bowl
Serve with cooked mushrooms and pineapple

Summary:
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: Sauce - 5 minutes; Full meal - 10-15 minutes
Mixing bowl, bowl to marinate, small saucepan, serving bowl, spoon, whisk

We had more than enough sauce for our dinner. I put the extra in the fridge to save for another use. The next night we grilled some mahi-mahi and the sauce was delicious on top. On the side I made some snap peas and red peppers on the grill. I wrapped the veggies in a foil pack and seasoned them with ground ginger, garlic powder, and a little sesame oil. They only need about 5 minutes on the grill and they come out cooked with a nice crunch.

Long Weekend...Time for Breakfast!

I've got a few posts to catch up on from the long weekend. While I'm busy working on those, here are a few ideas for your next weekend breakfast at home. Brew your favorite coffee, get the paper (or put on a good movie) and whip up one of these quick recipes! Cheaper and faster than your favorite diner.

Breakfast Idea #1 - Honey Nut Waffles with Banana

Waffle mix
1 to 1.5 tbsp. of honey (we keep Jiffy baking mix around the house)
2 tbsp. of chopped walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla (or vanilla extract)
A sprinkle of cinnamon
1 banana, peeled and sliced into quarter-sized rounds

Prepare your favorite waffle mix according to the directions on the box
Gently mix in the honey, walnuts, vanilla, and cinnamon
Preheat your waffle iron
Pour in about 1/4 cup of the waffle batter
Place 3-4 banana slice on top of the batter and close
Cook according to your waffle iron directions

Keep waffles in a 200 degree oven until you are done cooking all of the batter
Serve with honey or maple syrup

Makes 6-7 waffles depending on the size of your waffle iron. You can also make pancakes this way - just prepare your batter according to the pancake recipe on your mix.

Breakfast Idea #2 - Goat Cheese Omelet

I had some leftover goat cheese from the Farmer's Market on Friday. I decided to make a nice omelet and throw in the goat cheese. The trick to getting this nice and fluffy is to whisk the eggs really well, and then not to disturb them in the non-stick skillet. Just lift the edges and let the uncooked eggs run underneath. When it looks just about set, either flip it or use a large spatula to gently flip it over. Turn of the heat and top with the goat cheese. After about a minute, fold it in half and slide out onto your plate. Better (and less greasy) than any omelet you'll get at your favorite breakfast joint.

Lunch! A Quick and Tasty Idea

I love free samples - and last week at Whole Foods they had a sample with fresh apples, sharp cheddar, fig spread, pressed and served warm on ciabatta bread. Since I had to run there on Monday for some dinner ingredients, I decided to create my own version. We had apples at home. I just picked up some bread and fig spread. I didn't heat mine - just served it with a simple salad and an Izze sparkling clementine soda. Delicious!

Apple, Goat Cheese, and Fig Sandwich

1/4 of a gala apple, sliced thinly (use the other 3/4 for the salad or for a snack later)
Crumbled fresh goat cheese
1-2 tablespoons Fig spread
Ciabatta bread or a fresh roll

Cut apple into thin slices, set aside
Cut open bread, being careful not to cut all the way through
Spread fig spread on both sides of the bread
Spread the goat cheese on both sides
Top with apples, close bread
Yum!

Trying a New Recipe

I've become a regular reader of www.playinghouseblog.com, written by my friend Amy. She has a great "Foodie To Do List". I couldn't decide what to have for dinner, so I browsed her list and a link to Sushi Rice Salad caught my eye. Tonight I was on my own for dinner - my dining partner and resident dishwasher is on his way to a work conference for a few days - so I wanted something that didn't require too many dishes! With Grease 2 on the TV (don't laugh at me), I got to work preparing this quick meal.

A note about the rice. I was home sick today and ran out to the closest store (Whole Foods) to pick up a few ingredients for this recipe, including brown rice. Apparently there had been some disastrous spill in the Asian food aisle - also the rice aisle. After waiting for them to finish mopping, which they didn't, the very nice customer service man offered to get me the rice I needed. I didn't know I wanted, so he led me slowly down the aisle to pick it out. Once I was in this dangerous area I surveyed the rice options. Turns out that WF does not have any 10-minute brown rice or any quick-cooking plain brown rice of any kind. Strike! But I felt like I had to pick out something for all the trouble of shuffling down the aisle practically holding hands with the WF man (it was NOT that slippery, guess they are terrified of lawsuits). One of my upcoming meals will be accompanied by sesame ginger rice. I checked out and headed across the street to Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's had a completely opposite rice selection. Almost everything was pre-cooked rice in packaging designed to go in the microwave for 1-3 minutes for instant eating. So, I gave in and bought a pack of plain brown rice that cooked up in 1 minute.

For the recipe, I followed it pretty closely just tweaking the amount of some ingredients. For the original recipe check out http://danatreat.com/2009/04/sushi-rice-salad/. I'll retype it below with my tweaks. Next time I'll make sure to get the right rice and will add more of it. Also, I will leave out the pickled ginger. I'm not a huge fan of it, but I left it in for this first try. I also added the wrong measurements for the dressing ingredients (which I didn't realize until I started typing up the recipe for this post). It still tasted great, but could have tasted a lot better. That's what I get for trying to follow a new recipe when I'm in a sudafed state. Next time will be better!

This would also be delicious with some sushi-grade tuna or salmon diced up in place of the tofu. Those are my notes - enjoy!

I love to chop veggies - so this recipe was perfect for me. Here's a shot of my chopping:

Sushi Rice Salad
Adapted from www.danatreat.com

1 package of pre-cooked brown rice (according to package, 3.5 servings of ½ cup each)
1/4 cup + 3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar, divided
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, lightly toasted
2 tablespoons finely chopped pickled ginger
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 carrot, shredded
1 English cucumber, seeded and chopped
8 oz. extra firm tofu, cut into small cubes
2 sheets nori (dried seaweed)
1 avocado

In a small saucepan bring 1/4 cup vinegar to boil with sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved and remove from heat
Cook rice, transfer rice to a large bowl and stir in vinegar mixture
Cool rice and drain excess liquid
Stir in sesame seeds, remaining 3 tbsp. vinegar, ginger, scallions, cucumber, tofu, and carrot
Cut nori sheets into 1 inch wide strips
Cut open and pit avocado
Score avocado with a sharp knife, making cubes
Use a spoon to remove from the skin and add avocado to salad with nori
Toss well

Dressing
2 teaspoons wasabi paste (I accidentally did 2 tablespoons – SPICY!!)
1 tablespoon hot water
2 tablespoons cold water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons ginger juice (from the jar of pickled ginger)

In a small bowl, whisk all ingredients together
Drizzle dressing over salad and mix carefully.

Serves 4-6

I didn’t use all the dressing I made, partly because I made the wrong amount! Reduce the amount of wasabi if you don’t want it as spicy.


Summary:
Prep Time: 15 minutes of chopping and assembling
Cook Time: Less than 5 minutes
Cutting board and knife, bowls, sauce pan and spoon, serving bowl and utensils

And of course - fun chopsticks! I got these at Sunfest in Florida a few years back. They make it fun to eat!

Monday Night Stir-Fry...

Tonight's plan was for a fancy stir-fry with pan-fried tofu over rice. I had almost all the ingredients and the best intentions, but it didn't turn out so fancy. Don't get me wrong - it was edible (and tasty) - but it didn't turn out the way I hoped it would.

On some cooking show or in one of my cookbooks there was a tip to dust tofu with corn-starch before pan-frying it to get a nice golden brown crust. I tried it when I first found it and it was great - crunchy on the outside and still tender on the inside. Tonight I either had too much oil or the wrong temperature or I put the cornstarch on too early. My tofu kind of stuck to the pan and the nice crispy crunch came right off. Or maybe I should blame it on my resident dishwasher - the really non-stick pan was dirty so I used a different pan. Either way, it was still tofu and still tasty.

For the vegetable part of the stir-fry I stuck with a pretty basic mix. I served it over couscous (no rice in the pantry). We got a new cilantro plant and have a lot to use so I added that in at the end. Here's the veggie recipe. I'll skip the tofu recipe until I get it right!

Stir-Fried Veggies
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 small can of sliced water chestnuts, rinsed
1/4 white onion, diced

Sauce and Spices
Couple tablespoons of Tamari (or soy sauce)
1 tsp. of Thai fish sauce
Dash of ground ginger
Dash of garlic powder
Salt and Pepper
Juice from 1/4 lemon
Handful of cilantro leaves chopped

Heat a large skillet over medium heat
Add a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil (enough to cover the pan)
Toss in veggies
Cook for 4-5 minutes and then stir
Cook for another 3-4 minutes until veggies are cooked through, but still have some crunch

Mix all sauce ingredients (except cilantro) and pour over veggies
Sprinkle cilantro over the skillet and stir
Serve and enjoy!

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto...from scratch!

Inspired by the new basil plant that I bought over the weekend and some leftover sun-dried tomatoes from the couscous salad last week, tonight's dinner was penne pasta with homemade sun-dried tomato pesto. Instead of searching for a recipe to try - I made this one up! It was delicious and would be great on a baguette as an appetizer or on a sandwich with mozzarella. Yum!


I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but bread is my favorite food (followed closely by cheese). So what better to go with pasta than more carbs! I made biscuits (Jiffy mix) but for a special twist I added about 1 teaspoon of lemon zest to the batter. I can't believe I haven't tried this before. The lemon gave it a nice fresh, bright taste and tied in with the lemon in the pesto.

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

8-10 leaves of fresh basil
7-8 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
About 1 tbsp. lemon zest
2 cloves of garlic
About 1/4 cup of olive oil

Add basil, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon zest and garlic to a food processor
Put the lid on and begin to pulse
As you are pulsing slowly pour in the olive oil through the hole in the lid
Continue pulsing until you get a consistent texture

I mixed in some grated Parmesan cheese after pulsing it in the food processor

Quick note: traditional pesto calls for toasted pine nuts. I didn't have any on hand so I just skipped them. I was planning to add in walnuts for another flavor, but I totally forgot too add them in.

Cook pasta according to instructions on the package
Drain and return to the warm pot
Add pesto and toss until well combined
Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve!

Summary:
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Food processor, pasta pot, colander, serving dishes and utensils.

Post-Vacation Eats....Fresh Ingredients!

After a long weekend full of delicious (but not so healthy) meals, I'm back in the kitchen cooking up some new recipes. We stopped at the store on the way home from work and wanted a quick meal to eat. When I was checking out the current sale items on the Whole Foods website, I saw a recipe for cous cous salad with sundried tomatoes and salami. It caught my eye and I decided to put it on the menu. I used the recipe as a guideline and put my own twist on the ingredients. For a main dish, we decided on grilled portobello sandwiches. This meal can be made completely vegetarian by omitting the salami in the cous cous salad. It's a gourmet meal that is easily made by anyone!

I grilled an extra mushroom to throw in my salad for lunch the next day. The cous cous salad was even tastier the second day! It would also be a great dish to take to a pot luck.

Grilled Portobello Sandwiches with Goat Cheese
Portobello mushrooms (1 per person)
Bread for the sandwich - tonight I used ciabatta bread
Olive oil
Your favorite herbs and spices (I used dried basil and garlic powder)
Salt and Pepper
Fresh goat cheese, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds (1 per sandwich)

Heat your grill to medium heat (or you can also use a grill pan on your stovetop)
Wipe the mushrooms off with a dry towel or paper towel
Brush the mushrooms with olive oil
Season with salt, pepper, and herbs.
Grill 2-3 minutes per side

Warm sliced rolls/bread on the grill for 1-2 minutes
Place 1 mushroom on the roll, top with goat cheese and enjoy!

Cous Cous Salad with Sundried Tomatoes and Salami
1 cup of cous cous, prepared according to the box
Approximately 1/4 lb. of genoa salami slices, cut into quarters
1/8 cup of fresh parsley, chopped
A handful of arugula
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, packed in oil
2 tablespoons of lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
A dash of red pepper flakes (one or two shakes from the jar)
Salt and pepper

Prepare the cous cous according to the directions in on the box
Remove from the pot and put into a serving bowl
Let cool to room temperature

Stack salami slices and cut into quarters
Chop parsley roughly
Chop sundried tomatoes into pieces about the size of the cut salami

Combine lemon zest, lemon juice, lime juice, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste

Toss in the salami, parsley, sundried tomatoes and arugula with the room temperature cous cous Pour dressing over the salad
Toss to combine

Summary:
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook time: 5-10 minutes for the cous cous
Pot and lid, cutting board and knife, zester or small grater, measuring cups, tongs for tossing, serving dish, and serving utensils

Tuesday Night Indian - with a little help

We're getting ready to head on vacation, so we didn't stock up on too much at the grocery store over the weekend. Tonight's dinner was a delicious Indian meal - courtesy of Trader Joe's. It will probably take me longer to type up this post than it did to cook (3 minute cook time). This was a one box, three pouch meal. Lentils, rice, and potatoes and peas. On the side I made two pieces of naan (also from Trader Joe's). It was under $5 - great for the budget as well as the schedule.

Do you have a good weeknight meal that you'd like to share? Send it my way and I'll try it out and post the results!

Monday Night Chili Dinner

Chili is one of the dishes that you can customize based on what you have on hand or who you are serving. I used ground beef, but you could easily use ground turkey, ground tofu, or just extra veggies. The method is the same for whatever ingredients you decide to throw in. This version had kidney beans, black beans, garlic, jalapeno, orange pepper, and red onions. For seasoning I used some salt, pepper, cilantro, chili powder, cumin, and a little green Tabasco sauce.

The basic cooking method is to heat oil in a soup pot and then sweat the veggies until they are soft. Then toss in the drained beans, canned tomatoes, and ground meat if you are using it. Bring it to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Stir in the spices and then just keep warm until you are ready to eat. Easy and tasty!

On the side, I made a quick cornbread according to the recipe on the cornmeal container. It was pretty bland for my taste - it needed some extra salt. I put some honey on and sprinkled it with salt and it tasted fine.

The whole meal takes about 30 minutes - you can cook the chili while the cornbread is in the oven.

Passover Eats - Part 6: Frittata

Toward the end of the eight days, we had a lot of leftover veggies but not enough of each to make a full side dish. We were also a little tired of eating brisket leftovers every night! So I pulled out the frittata recipe and added in the veggies we had on hand. This variation included asparagus and onions. A bonus of making a big frittata is that we had leftovers for breakfast the next morning (much tastier than matzoh and cream cheese).

Passover Eats - Part 4: Roasted Beets and Asparagus

Passover also rules out one of our stand-by veggies, green beans. So the natural green choice is asparagus. Instead of just a boring steamed asparagus, I found a Mario Batali recipe online for roasted beets and asparagus. His recipe called for a frisee salad - I left that out (too fussy) To make it more colorful (and less messy), I bought some golden beets instead of the traditional red. This was an easy recipe and just requires some time in the oven.

Roasted Beets and Asparagus
5 golden beets
14 spears of asparagus
2 tbsp. olive oil + 4 tbsp. of olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
Ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Spread kosher salt on a baking sheet (covering the sheet)
Place unpeeled beets on the baking sheet
Put in the oven for 45 minutes
While the beets are cooking, cut the woody ends off of the asparagus
When the 45 minutes are up, open the oven and place the asparagus around the beets (on top of the salt)
Return to the oven and cook for an additional 15 minutes
Remove from the oven and place the asparagus on a platter
Drizzle 2 tbsp. of olive oil over the asparagus + a pinch of the salt from the baking sheet
Cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces
Let the beets cool for about 5 minutes and then peel
I cut them into halves, and then half moon shapes
Place in bowl and toss with the balsamic vinegar and 4 tbsp. olive oil
Season with pepper

Arrange asparagus and beets on a serving platter and enjoy! I served this dish at room temperature. It was delicious!

Summary:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour (non-active)
Baking sheet, platter, bowl, measuring cups, tongs, serving utensils

Eggs - The Perfect Dinner Food (and lunch, and breakfast....)

I love eggs. If there weren't a few health issues around eating eggs at every meal, I would do it! Now my dining companion thinks that eggs are best served at breakfast (and then, only in pancakes or french toast). So I have to think creatively about how I can sneak them in to the dinner rotation.

I stopped at the store a few different times last week and had a small amount of a variety of veggies left over. I decided that a frittata would be a great way to use up the veggies and have eggs for dinner. This is an easy 1 skillet meal and can go with salad, bread, potatoes, or whatever you'd like!

I made an 8 egg frittata, so that we would have leftovers. The next morning I microwaved a piece for a minute and put it on an everything bagel for a fantastic breakfast sandwich. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it....Sadly there are no pictures, I ate that at work.

Quick and Easy Frittata
Adapted from a recipe in The Farmstead Egg Cookbook

3 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup chopped baby bella mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
8 large eggs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper

Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a 10 inch skillet (medium-low heat)
Add onions and mushrooms and saute until soft
Add broccoli and continue to cook for about 5 minutes
Take the veggies out of the skillet and set aside in a bowl

In another bowl, whisk eggs, 3 tbsp. of Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in the skillet
Pour in eggs, then distribute the veggies on the top
Cover, and cook over medium-low heat about 15 minutes until the top is almost set

Take off the heat, cover with a dinner plate and flip the frittata onto the the plate
Slide it back into the pan (bottom side up)
Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on the top
Cook a few minutes until done

Cut into wedges and serve!

To reheat - microwave for 45-60 seconds.

Summary:
Prep Time - 5 minutes
Cook Time - 20-25 minutes
1 large skillet, spatula, 2 bowls, 1 plate, whisk, cutting board and knives

Quick and Easy Veggie Soup

This is one of my favorite things to make on a night when I don't feel like putting a huge amount of effort into dinner. It can be plain and simple or can get fancy if you feel like it. This is from a Rachel Ray recipe, but I've adapted my own twist on it. It works well with a variety of veggies, different store bought broths, and whatever herbs you have on hand. You can serve it with crescent rolls, biscuits, crackers, chicken salad, etc. Here's tonights version, served with crescent rolls:

Quick Veggie Soup with Veggies
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into small coins
1 large parsnip, peeled and sliced into small coins
1 stalk celery, sliced
1/4 yellow onion, sliced
Olive oil
Bay leaf
Fresh parsley - about a handful
Chicken broth (box)
Salt and paper to taste

Place a pot on the stove over medium heat.
Put about 1 tbsp. of olive oil in the pot.
Chop the veggies and add them to the pot.
Sweat the veggies for about 5 minutes over medium heat.
Add the bay leaf and the chicken broth to the pot.
Raise heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
When it starts to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes (or until you are ready eat).
Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top and serve.
Add salt and paper to taste.

Summary:
Prep time - about 10 minutes
Cook time - 10-15 minutes
1 soup pot, chopping board and knife