Fish Tacos with Cucumber and Citrus Relish

For dinner on Sunday, we stopped by the store and bought some fresh fish- we went with flounder. The price was relatively low, it was fresh, wild-caught and thin, so easy to cook for my first fish. It turned out well, next time I won’t cook it as long though. I didn’t have the cucumber, chili, or sour cream, so I tweaked it a bit. This made Patrick want to do a spin off of this recipe. Check it out later

Fish Tacos with Cucumber and Citrus Relish (health.com)
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
6 tbsp fresh lime juice, divided
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp salt, divided
3/4 tsp black pepper, divided
1 1/2 pounds skinless halibut fillets, cut into 6 (4-ounce) pieces
1/2 English cucumber, very thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, cut into thin strips
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
12 (5-inch) corn tortillas
1 tsp seeded, finely minced serrano chile
1 1/2 cups pico de gallo or salsa

Directions
1. Combine oil, 2 tbsp lime juice, chile powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Toss with fish in a glass dish; chill for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, for relish, stir together cucumber, onion, orange juice, 2 tbsp lime juice, sugar and remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
3. For crema, combine mayonnaise, sour cream and remaining 2 tbsp lime juice; refrigerate.
4. Prepare grill. Spray with cooking spray and heat to medium-high. Grill fish for 3-4 minutes per side or until just opaque in center. Remove from grill and cool slightly. Warm tortillas on grill for about 20 seconds on each side, then wrap in foil to keep warm.
5. Add serrano chile to relish; spoon 2 tbsp relish into each tortilla. Divide pieces of fish in half and flake each half onto a tortilla. Top with 2 tbsp pico de gallo. Drizzle with 2 tsp crema. Fold tortillas in half; serve.

Swiss Chard Casserole with Shiitake Mushrooms

I went to a farmers market last week in Gainesville. It was a fun one! It was big, outside in beautiful weather, and had a variety of produce. At this market, I purchased some things, including shiitake mushrooms. Yum! I decided to make the casserole below along with a Porcini Mushroom Risotto. Swiss Chard wasn’t at the farmers market so I used kale. I will make this again!

Swiss Chard Casserole with Shiitake Mushrooms (foodandwine)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced
Kosher salt
1/2 cup panko (I made my own bread crumbs by crumbling toasted bread)
3/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
10 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 1/2 pounds Swiss chard, stems discarded and leaves thinly sliced

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and butter a shallow 9-by-13-inch ceramic baking dish. In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the mushrooms and cook over high heat, turning once, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and transfer the mushrooms to a paper towel-lined plate.
2. In a small bowl, toss the panko with 1/4 cup of the cheese. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the cayenne, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Stir in the Swiss chard and mushrooms. Scrape the mixture into the prepared dish and bake for about 20 minutes, until the eggs are just set around the edges. Sprinkle thepanko on top and bake for about 10 minutes longer, until the casserole is set and the topping is lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
MAKE AHEAD The casserole can stand at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

Banana Bread

Sometimes I wonder what other people think of us… Today I left our hotel and it clearly smelled like banana bread. No joke, if you were to walk in our room (like I did numerous times while repacking the car), you would probably think yum, what’s that smell… I think its banana bread! But it’s worth it (well, at least for us). I made this recipe below and they are healthy and delicious. This is the second batch I’ve made recently, yum. We’re heading to Charlotte tomorrow then to South Carolina, near Columbia. Goodbye Florida (for now)!

Banana Bread (without the oil and processed sugar)

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour (I just used regular)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs, beaten
3 mashed overripe bananas (I used 4+)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce and honey. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack

Sweet Potato Chili

I bought a bag of sweet potatoes from a farmer at a gas station in Florence, SC. When I saw the about 10 medium sized sweet potatoes staring at me in the brown paper bag, I felt like I got a steal for $2! Sweet potato chili, sweet potato pot pie, and sweet potato fries are some of the uses thus far.

Slow Cooked Sweet Potato Chili (canyoustayfordinner)
Ingredients:
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
14 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 ounce can kidney beans
15 ounce can black beans
1 lb ground beef sirloin (optional)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the base of your slow cooker and stir to mix well. Cook on low for 10 hours.

“Meatballs”

These meatballs were really delicious. I decided that this is a recipe I will make for guests sometime. I served this over orzo pasta and a little pesto on the side.

Lentil “Meatballs” (sproutedkitchen)

2 Cups Cooked Lentils
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 Cup Ricotta
1/4 Cup Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Large Clove Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. Fennel Seed, crushed
2 Tbsp. Finely Chopped Fresh Parsley
Hefty Pinch of Dried or Fresh Thyme
1 tsp. Each Sea Salt and Pepper
2/3 Cup Breadcrumbs*
*To make breadcrumbs, toast 2-3 pieces of bread and turn into a fine crumble

1. In a food processor, pulverize the lentils into mush. Put them in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the beaten eggs, ricotta, parmesan, garlic, fennel seed, parlsey, thyme, salt and pepper and stir to mix well. Stir in the breadcrumbs and let the mix sit for 20 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 400′. Check the lentil mix by rolling a 1” round ball between your palms, it should hold together fairly well. If it seems pretty wet and it falling apart, stir in another Tbsp. or two of breadcrumbs until the ball with stay together.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the mix into balls and line them up on a baking sheet. If you like a bit more of a crust, brush them with olive oil.
5. Bake on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown, gently turning the balls over halfway through baking. Remove to cool slightly.
Serve with your favorite noodles, on a bed of sauteed greens, or on their own with a nice drizzle of pesto sauce, mixed with lemon.

Chicken Pot Pie with Sweet Potato Biscuits

We are here in 80 degree weather where the college students in this town walk around in shorts and a t shirt. I was beautiful weather this week!

Chicken Bones Soup
This is how you can make chicken broth or chicken soup out of leftover chicken (bones, back, wings, etc).
Ingredients
raw chicken carcass
water- enough to cover body
1/4c salt
Add ins: carrots, potatoes, celery, corn, peas, pasta, rice, quinoa

Directions
1. Cook chicken body in water and salt. Boil up to 3 hours. Strain and remove bones and fat. Add broth and chicken back to pot.
2. Add in vegetables, etc and cook till tender.

Chicken Pot Pie with Sweet Potato Biscuits
I made chicken pot pie with leftovers of a soup I made while still in Charlotte (and therefore had a stove). I saved all the vegetables and made these sweet potato biscuits to put on top. It was great!

Sweet Potato Biscuits
2 sweet potatoes, cooked
1 ½ c flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter
½ c milk
(another recipe used less butter and an egg)

Directions
Combine dry ingredients. Chop in butter. Stir in milk, don’t over mix. Bake biscuits at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Note: When I added it to the pot pie, I first cooked/warmed the pot pie. Then I topped it with dollops of the biscuit dough and returned to the oven until cooked and golden brown. This allows the pot pie to be done without over cooking the biscuits.

Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Today, with the extra cabbage from the egg rolls, I made cabbage rolls!

Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (loveandlentil)

Ingredients:
2 cups dry quinoa, cooked
1 head of cabbage
cooking oil
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 zucchini, diced
salt, to taste
1 tsp chili flakes
fresh basil, finely chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes or ~ 4 fresh, chopped
more basil
2-3 cloves garlic
pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Cut the stalk off from the bottom and slowly peel out the layers. Be gentle and try to peel the whole leaf.
Heat up water in a big pot and bring to a boil. Also set a bowl with cold water and ice together on the side. Put a few cabbage leaves at a time in the almost boiling water and leave it there for a min.
Remove the blanched leaf gently and dunk it immediately in cold water for another minute to stop the cooking process. This also helps in maintaining the nice green color. Then gently lift the leaves out of the cold water and set aside so that all the excess water drains out.
2. Now its veggie time! In a wide pan, add about 1 tsp olive oil. Throw in the onions and saute till translucent. Next, throw in the red bell peppers, saute for a min. (Don’t overcook the veggies; they will be oven baked later.) Add green and yellow zucchinis. Sprinkle salt to taste, red chili flakes, and basil. Add the cooked quinoa to the veggies. Mix well and cook for a couple of mins.
3. Now assemble. Place one leaf on a working surface. Fill the center with a good amount of quinoa. Fold like an egg roll: top of the leaf, sides, base of the leaf. Place in a baking dish.
4. For the topping, head a can of stewed tomatoes (or about 4 fresh). Add in a handful of fresh basil, garlic, salt and pepper to taste and 2 tbsps of olive oil. Move to a pan and cook at medium heat for a few mins until the raw smell of the tomatoes go away.
5. Spread sauce over cabbage rolls. If you have a lot of sauce, you can just pour the sauce at the bottom of the pan. Seal the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 375F for about 20-30 minutes or until the cabbage leaves are tender.

Homemade Egg Rolls

I had extra wonton wraps so Patrick said I should make egg rolls! We didn’t use the ginger because Patrick doesn’t like it, but they were still great!  Here they are.

Baked Vegetable Egg Rolls (For the Love of Cooking.net)

1 tsp olive oil
2 cups of savoy cabbage, chopped
2 cups of shredded carrots
2 cups of bean sprouts
1 can of water chestnuts, chopped
2 tbsp green onions, sliced
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup water
14 egg roll wraps
Sweet chili dipping sauce or sweet and sour sauce (for dipping)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot add the cabbage, sprouts, carrots, chestnuts and ginger to the pan and cook, stirring frequently for 4-5 minutes, until the vegetables just begin to wilt but still remain a little bit crisp. Mix the corn starch with the water and mix thoroughly. Add the corn starch mixture and soy sauce to the pan along with the green onions. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Place two tablespoons of the cooled mixture on the center of the egg roll wrap. Fold the bottom up over the filling. Next, fold the two sides over, making it look like an envelope, then roll it up like a burrito.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the rolled up egg rolls on a baking sheet. Once you have rolled them all, spray the top of each egg roll with cooking spray.
4. Place in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes then turn them over. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Serve with sweet chili sauce or sweet and sour sauce. Enjoy!

Around the World: Morocco

For our Moroccan dinner, we ate on a low table, sitting on cushions on the floor. We began by eating eggplant salad with bread made of semolina flour. Next, we ate the tajine on couscous with the bread and our (clean) fingers, like in Morocco. We ate melon slices next, which would typically be dessert, but with guests, there are pastries too. So we finished with a cup of mint tea and semolina cookies.

Batinjaan Zalud- Eggplant Salad (upenn cookbook)
Yield: 8 small salads. This Eggplant Salad may also be served as an appetizer. Be sure that the salad is very cold when served.

Ingredients
1-2 eggplants, peeled and cut in 1” slices
½ cup olive oil
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tbs. sugar
tomato for garnish
olive for garnish
parsley for garnish

Directions
1. In a large skillet, fry eggplant in olive oil until soft.
2. Mash eggplant and add onion, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and sugar.
3. Chill in refrigerator.
4. Presentation: Heap 1/2 cup eggplant mixture on a 6- to 7-inch plate. Mash it down to form a circle within 1 inch of edge of plate.
Dribble with 1/2 tsp. olive oil (if mixture appears dry).
Place: 1 slice tomato in center of circle and 1 black olive in center of tomato. Garnish with parsley sprigs.

For the Moroccan Semolina Bread Recipe (Khobz dyal Smida), I used about.com. I didn’t like it and wouldn’t make it again, but it was fun. Therefore, I’m not even adding this recipe.

Moroccan Chicken with Olives and Lemon (aka Chicken Tagine)
(America’s Test Kitchen)

Serves 4
Bone-in chicken parts can be substituted for the whole chicken. For best results, use four chicken thighs and two chicken breasts, each breast split in half; the dark meat contributes valuable flavor to the broth and should not be omitted. Use a vegetable peeler to remove wide strips of zest from the lemon before juicing it. Make sure to trim any white pith from the zest, as it can impart bitter flavor. If the olives are particularly salty, give them a rinse. Serve with couscous (see related recipe).
Ingredients
1 1/4teaspoons sweet paprika
1/2teaspoon ground cumin
1/4teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2teaspoon ground ginger
1/4teaspoon ground coriander
1/4teaspoon ground cinnamon
3strips lemon zest (each about 2 inches by 3/4 inch)
3tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 to 2 lemons
5medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 5 teaspoons)
1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), cut into 8 pieces (4 breast pieces, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks; wings reserved for another use) and trimmed of excess fat
Salt and ground black pepper
1tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, halved and cut into 1/4-inch slices (about 3 cups)
1 3/4cups low-sodium chicken broth
1tablespoon honey
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick coins, very large pieces cut into half-moons (about 2 cups)
1cup Greek cracked green olives, pitted and halved
2tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
*I also added chopped green pepper, chopped tomato, apricots, raisins and chickpeas!

Directions
1. Combine spices in small bowl and set aside. Mince 1 strip lemon zest; combine with 1 teaspoon minced garlic and mince together until reduced to fine paste; set aside.
2. Season both sides of chicken pieces liberally with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large heavy–bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until beginning to smoke. Brown chicken pieces skin side down in single layer until deep golden, about 5 minutes; using tongs, turn chicken pieces and brown on second side, about 4 minutes more. Transfer chicken to large plate; when cool enough to handle, peel off skin and discard. Pour off and discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot.
3. Add onion and 2 remaining lemon zest strips to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have browned at edges but still retain shape, 5 to 7 minutes (add 1 tablespoon water if pan gets too dark). Add remaining 4 teaspoons garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spices and cook, stirring constantly, until darkened and very fragrant, 45 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in broth and honey, scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add thighs and drumsticks, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add carrots and breast pieces (with any accumulated juices) to pot, arranging breast pieces in single layer on top of carrots. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Transfer chicken to plate or bowl and tent with foil. Add olives to pot; increase heat to medium-high and simmer until liquid has thickened slightly and carrots are tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Return chicken to pot and add garlic-zest mixture, cilantro, and lemon juice; stir to combine and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
TO MAKE AHEAD: The recipe can be prepared through step 4, cooled, and refrigerated for up to 2 days. To serve, gently warm until the chicken is heated through, then proceed with the recipe from step 5.

Basic Couscous (America’s Test Kitchen)
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
2cups couscous
3tablespoons unsalted butter
2-3 shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1cup water
1cup low-sodium chicken broth
1teaspoon table salt
¼ cup parsley
½ tsp lemon zest
2 tsp lemon juice
¾ cup toasted almonds

Directions
1. Heat butter and shallots in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, aprox 5 min. Add garlic, cook till fragrant. Next, add couscous and cook, stirring frequently, until grains are just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add water, broth, and salt; stir briefly to combine, cover, and remove pan from heat. Let stand until grains are tender, about 7 minutes. Uncover and fluff grains with fork. Season with parsley, zest, juice, and almonds and serve with chicken tagine.

Moroccan Semolina Cookies – Ghoriba dyal Smida (about.com)
Fine semolina (smida) provides great texture and flavor in this light, traditional variation of a Moroccan cookie known as ghoriba. Additional flavor comes from orange flower water and either lemon zest or vanilla.

Ingredients
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups (175 g) sifted powdered sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons (50 ml) melted butter
3 1/2 tablespoons (50 ml) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla (or the zest from 2 lemons)
2 3/4 cups (500 g) fine semolina, plus additional if needed
orange flower water, for shaping the cookies
powdered sugar or granulated sugar, for garnish

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 350° F (180° C). Line two or three baking sheets with lightly oiled parchment paper.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until thick. Beat in the melted butter, vegetable oil, baking powder and vanilla (or lemon zest). Gradually add the fine semolina, mixing to ensure even distribution of ingredients. The mixture at this point will be sandy and coarse.
4. With a rubber spatula, fold the beaten egg whites into the semolina mixture until the egg whites are fully incorporated and a soft dough has formed. If the dough is too soft to mound without spreading or drooping, fold in more semolina, one or two tablespoons at a time, until the dough can be scraped with the spatula into a mound and hold its shape. Allow the dough to rest a few minutes.
5. Set out small bowls of orange flower water and sugar. Wet your hands and fingers with a little orange flower water, take a small portion of dough and gently shape it into a 1″ (2.5 cm) ball. Roll the ball in sugar and place on the prepared baking pan. Repeat with the remaining dough, allowing two-inch spacing on the pans between the balls of dough.
6. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until light golden with slightly darker edges and cracked tops. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the parchment paper with the cookies to a wire rack. When the cookies are cool enough to handle, gently loosen them from the parchment paper and then leave to cool completely.
Store the semolina ghoribas in an airtight container at room temperature for several days, or in the freezer for up to two months.

Walking Tour of Charlotte

We went on a walking tour of Charlotte today. We had a good time seeing all the sights and enjoying the weather and the city of the trees. At night, we went out for desserts at Roosters Wood Fired Kitchen. I don’t even remember what all we ate but it was delicious- a lemon tart with raspberry, a coconut cake, a carrot cake with gelato, and some kind of chocolate with pistachio gelato. Here are some more of the recipes I made for my family.

Broccoli & Cheese Stromboli (cookingwithmykid)

Ingredients:
1 package pre-made pizza dough (white or whole wheat)
2 cups broccoli florets, chopped
1 cup pizza/marinara sauce
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 cups part skim mozzarella
½- 1 cup grated parmesan
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl mix together ricotta, sauce and oregano.
2. Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface into a rectangle. Spread sauce mixture evenly on dough leaving room on the sides for crimping.
3. Top with broccoli and mozzarella. Sprinkle the top with some Parmesan.
4. Starting at one end, roll the dough up and crimp the edges to seal. Transfer to a greased cookie sheet. Crack egg into a small bowl, add water to egg and whisk to form egg wash. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash and poke a few holes to let steam out.
5. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until crust is well cooked and golden brown. Be sure to let it cook until it’s good and crusty – otherwise the inside will be too doughy. Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with extra sauce for dipping.

Pumpkin Cookie Dough Dip (chocolatecoveredkatie)
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1 can white beans or garbanzos, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup quick oats
1& 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
¼ cup brown sugar (half of the suggested ½ cup)
1& 1/2 Tbsp nut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 & ½ Tbsp milk

Directions: Combine everything in a food processor and whirl until smooth. Add more sugar if needed (most would prefer more sugar but it’s was perfect for me). Serve with graham crackers or teddy grahams for a nice fall flavor.

Patrick says this should be a fall tradition (and he usually doesn’t like sweets)!

Family

Some of my family came up this weekend- Mom and Dad, Laura and Tamara. :-) Our first visitors! We had fun exploring the city. Last night, we went out to a neighborhood of Charlotte called NoDa (stands for the main street NOrth DAvidson). They had an Art Walk. It was fun and adventurous- by the time we got there, after 8pm, it was dark. We walked along this artsy area of the city lit by buildings and streetlights and stepped in the businesses and strolled along the sidewalks. Oh, and I made dinner! Reuben Rolls as appetizers (=awesome, will for sure make these again!), Vegetable Salmon Chowder, Popovers, and Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. I think I cooked an amazing meal!

Reuben Rolls (from spabettie)

Makes 12-14 rolls
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup thousand island dressing (recipe follows)
1/2 sweet onion, caramelized
12 thin slices cheese – cheddar or swiss
2 large dill pickles, chopped
12-14 egg roll wrappers
oil for frying

Mash chickpeas, combine with thousand island dressing, set aside to ‘marinate’. Caramelize the onion.
To assemble rolls: arrange a wrap in a diamond shape, place 2 tablespoons thousand island chickpeas in bottom corner. Top with one slice cheese, one tablespoon caramelized onion, one tablespoon chopped pickles.
Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in pan over medium heat, add 3-4 rolls at a time, turning frequently so they get an even light brown crunchiness all around. Remove to a drying rack or paper towel. Serve warm with thousand island dressing.

Thousand Island Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup dill pickle juice
1 dill pickle, finely chopped
1/3 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon sugar

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Keeps covered in fridge for 2+ weeks.

Vegetable Salmon Chowder (adapted from eatingwell and a slow cooker mag)

Ingredients
olive oil
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
2 1/2 cups frozen cauliflower florets, thawed and coarsely chopped
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water or milk
2-3 6-ounce boneless skinned salmon, preferably wild-caught
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or scallions, or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried chives
1 1/3 cups instant mashed potato flakes, or 2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation
1. Heat oil in a large pot or saucepan. Saute onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and cauliflower, until the vegetables just begin to brown. I cooked it in 2-3 batches (since I love veggies and added so many, it was better to not brown it all at once).
2. Add broth, water or milk, salmon, chives, potato flakes (or leftover mashed potatoes), and dill and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook, maintaining a gentle simmer, until the until potato flakes are cooked. Season with salt and pepper (or try to omit for a more sodium friendly version).

Popovers (bakewithamy)

1 cup flour
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

Instructions
1. Butter or spray nine 3/4-cup glass custard cups or 10 1/2-cup muffin cups. If you’re using custard cups, place them on a jelly-roll pan, leaving space between each cup. If you’re using muffin pans, you’ll need to use two 12-hole muffin tins because, to give the popovers ample air circulation, you won’t be filling all of the holes.
2. Pour all the ingredients into the container of a blender and whirl until smooth. (this can also be done in a food processor or in a bowl, using a rotary or hand held beater) Strain the batter if it is at all lumpy.
3. Baking the Popovers For the custard cups, pour 1/3 cup batter into each cup, dividing any extra batter among the cups. For the muffin cups, use 1/4 cup of batter for each cup, filling alternate cups in each tin so that every popover has puffing space. Bake, without opening the oven door, at 425 for 25 minutes, until the popovers are puffed, nicely browned and crisp on the exterior. Turn the temperature down to 350 and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes to help dry out the interior, which, no matter what you do, will always be a little doughy in the center. However, my correction would be to turn down the temp and decrease the time! Mine came out slightly burnt so I would suggest 425 for 15 min then 350 for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.
Note on storing: Popovers are at their puffiest right out of the oven. You can hold them at room temperature for a few minutes, or wrap them airtight, freeze them for up to a month, and reheat them in a 350 oven for 10 to 15 minutes, and they’ll taste good–but never as good as just baked.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling (adapted from Martha Stewart)

Makes 12-14
3 cups Flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar*
1 cup oil
3 cups pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*I used ½ the sugar the recipe called for, and I also used a combination of ½ cup br sugar and ¼ cup agave syrup.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Shift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat together brown sugar, oil and pumpkin. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
3. Using a pastry bag with a round tip, or a big zip top plastic bag with one corner snipped, squeeze out concentric circles of batter, starting from the middle and working outward until the circles are about 2 inches in diameter. Bake for 11 minutes and cool on a rack.

Cream Cheese Filling
1 – 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
4 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of cinnamon (optional)
3 Tbsp maple syrup or agave (optional)

Beat together cream cheese and butter. Stir powdered sugar, vanilla. Add cinnamon or maple syrup if desired. Frost flat side of half the pies and top with another piece. Enjoy right away or chill overnight.

Around the World: Portugal

We were in Whole Foods and were admiring the vast array of dried beans one day, when I saw Fava beans. I knew I had found a recipe I wanted them for but couldn’t exactly remember why but I bought them anyways. I found the recipe and remembered it was for my Around the World Series- Portuguese Favas. Therefore, we are eating foods selected from Portugal tonight. And might I add that the dessert was one of our favorites. Patrick, not really being a dessert person, put this up there as his #2 on the favorite dessert list, with his most favorite of all time being my Peach (and Blueberry) Galette. He said “I never thought a pastry would be one of my favorite desserts” but this simple custardy dessert is indeed. And this potato/kale soup was very good as well, a nice compliment to the spicy fava/onion dish.

Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup) 

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 quart cold water
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 pound kale or collard greens

Directions:

1. Rinse the kale/collard greens and dry with paper towels. Cut and discard the stems. Roll up the leaves and cut into thin slivers, julienning the leaves. Set aside.
2. I a large pot, cook olive oil, garlic, and onion for 3 minutes. Add sliced potatoes, cook until browned about 3 more minutes. This browning gives the soup a good flavor!
3. Add 1-2 cups of water and boil for about 20 minutes until potatoes are soft. Mash or puree the potatoes with some small chunks still in the soup.
4. Stir in the rest of the water and add salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes. Then stir in kale and simmer for about 5 more minutes, until kale is tender. Stir in another tablespoon of olive oil for flavor.

Portuguese Favas**

Ingredients
5 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 mini can (about 1 cup) tomato sauce
2 cups hot water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons paprika
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 (19 ounce) cans fava beans*

Directions
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until golden brown. Stir in red pepper flakes, tomato sauce, hot water, parsley, salt (add this at the end if using dried favas), pepper and paprika.

2.Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Gently stir in fava beans. Remove from heat and let stand for several minutes to allow flavors to meld.

*I used dried fava beans. These require a bit more work! They need to soak overnight. In order to easily shell the beans, I would also suggest boiling them for 10 minutes, draining, and rinsing in cold water. Next, squeeze each fava so it pops out of its shell. These uncooked beans must be cooked for at least one hour, adding salt only at the end so the beans don’t dry up. I had a hard time figuring out how long to cook and how to get them out of the shell with a lot of contradicting sources on the web. I finally figured it out. This is a good reference.

**This a great sauce. The concept of using so many onions to thicken is genius. We put leftovers on pasta mixed with regular pasta sauce. Delicious! This would probably also be good as a base for cooking meat or casseroles.

Queijadas

Ingredients
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar*
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a blender, combine eggs, sugar and butter. Blend until smooth. Pour in flour and milk, a little at a time, blending until smooth again. Stir in vanilla.
3. Pour into muffin tins, filling 3/4 full. Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot or cold.

*Use less. I used ½ cup of sugar, ½ cup agave and it was plenty sweet. Very delicious!

Suggestion: Top with fresh fruit, jam, or coconut before or after baking. Substitute almond or lemon extract for vanilla. Try alternative sources of sweetener like agave.

Chipotle chicken, black bean, veggie soup

The past couple nights were simple tacos and spaghetti. Today, I made another good soup! I saved half the chicken I cooked in the shiitake soup and put it in this. I also had carrots and celery on hand so I added those in, turning the soup into nothing like the described it as, but so delicious. Also, Patrick wasn’t feeling spicy food tonight, so I left that out and added a couple drops of super hot sauce to mine later. This recipe is from the Soup Chic’s blog and she heated her soup up more with chilies and hot sauce. Here’s my version of the recipe:

Chipotle chicken, black bean, veggie soup

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 cup corn, roasted
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 can diced tomato, drained
1 cup chicken, cooked and shredded
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper

Directions
In a big pot, heat the oil, brown the onion, garlic.

Add broth, water (use less if you prefer it to have a stronger flavor), corn, carrots, celery, tomatoes, chicken, and black beans and simmer for about a half an hour or until veggies are cooked. Season with salt and pepper.

I made rice to make it more filling and added it to individual bowls. For it to be more Mexican, you could top with sour cream and tortilla chips.

Ratatouille Tacos

Tonight I made some tacos, titled below and when eating, realized we were eating ratatouille in taco form. Yum and I really love guacamole.

Smoky Chipotle Roasted Summer Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 yellow squash
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/8 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions:

1. Trim & discard ends of eggplant & squash. Stem & seed bell peppers. Cut eggplant, squash, & pepper & onion into 1 1/2-inch chunks.
2. Combine spice mixture, vegetables, & olive oil in a mixing bowl & toss, coating the vegetables in the spices & oil.
3. Transfer to an roasting pan & spread evenly. Bake at 400 degrees F, for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are fragrant & tender. While the vegetables roasting away, make salsa.

To make the salsa, I made a spin-off of this Spicy Summer Salsa recipe using a jar of mom’s canned salsa (tomatoes, onions, mild peppers, carrots) and adding a banana pepper, poblano pepper (less spicy than a jalapeno), onion, roasted corn, cilantro.

Then I made a quick guac. I mashed 2 avocados with some salsa, some garlic, a bit of the chopped poblano pepper, and a little cilantro.

Once the veggies were done, I prepared our blue corn tortillas, piled on lettuce, the ratatouille-like veggies, salsa, and dollops of guacamole.

Tuscan Bean Soup (with Kale chips)

“Hey Patrick. I made some Kale Chips…but I ate them all.” Haha, he got a kick out of that. Story: I used kale in the soup and decided to make a couple batches of chips with leftover kale. We have a small oven so I made two trays. When the first one came out of the oven it was mostly eaten before I even realized it (it was about ¼ cup of crisps). When the second batch came out of the oven, I bumped it on a nearby chair and they, in slow motion, floated up in the air and down onto the floor. That was Patrick’s share. I still have some left over kale so maybe he will get some the next time I make it…or not. P.S. they’re super easy to make. Wash and cut into small pieces. Coat the pieces with olive oil and seasoning (salt, paprika, etc) bake for less than 10 minutes at 350F until crisp, not chewy.

Tuscan Bean Soup

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 medium carrots, chopped

4 rib celery, chopped

1⁄2 yellow onion, chopped

extra-virgin olive oil

~2cups squash, such as butternut, peeled and cut into 1⁄2″ cubes

4 large kale leaves, stemmed and chopped

1 potato, peeled and cut into 1⁄2″ cubes (I had a sweet potato on hand)

Salt and black pepper

1⁄2 tsp. crushed fennel seeds

8 thick slices country-style bread

1 garlic clove

1. Puree half cannellini beans, carrots, celery, and onions with a cup of water.
2. Saute garlic and 2TBSP oil in large pot.
3. Add 4 cups water, remaining carrots, celery, onion, the squash, kale, potato, puree, and salt and pepper to pot with garlic. Cook covered until vegetables are tender about 25 minutes. Stir in remaining whole beans and fennel seeds.
4. Meanwhile, toast bread and rub with a halved head of garlic and olive oil.
5.  To serve, place 1 to 2 pieces toasted bread in the bottom of soup bowls and ladle soup over the top (or in my case, serve bread on the side). Drizzle soup with oil, if desired.

Spicy Sauté Sandwich with Almond crusted Veggie Fries

Spicy Sauté Sandwich- a variation of Kathy’s blog

Ingredients
1 boca burger, eggplant burger, hamburger burger
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 sweet onion, sliced

olive oil
1/4 cup salsa (I made my own)
fine black pepper
Hummus
Bread, bun, or tortilla

Directions:
1. Cook veggies red pepper, onion, and black pepper in olive oil.

2. Thaw your burger of choice, slice into strips, then cook in another pan.

3. Warm salsa or mix in with veggies.

4. Toast bread or crisp tortillas. Spread hummus, add burger slices, add veggies, top with salsa.

Almond-Crusted Sweet Potato Oven Fries

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into thin strips

3 Tbsp smooth natural almond butter

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 400- 425F. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray.
2. Place the “fries” in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, combine the almond butter, oil, and spices. Drizzle the coating over the fries, and toss the mixture until evenly coated.
3. Put the fries up the baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake 35-50 minutes (depending on thickness of your fries), until the coating is browned and a bit crispy, and the fries are fully cooked.

From dietdessertndogs– She suggests using other root veggies too!

Chicken, Shiitake Mushroom, and Rice Soup

Chicken, Shiitake Mushroom, and Rice Soup

adapted from skinnytaste

Ingredients

1 TBSP butter

1onion

1 TBSP flour

4c chic broth (I always use low-sodium)

3c water

1 cup chopped carrot

3 garlic cloves

3 celery stalks, chopped

2-4 boneless chicken thighs or breasts

2 cups rice

4oz shiitake mushrooms

Rosemary, parsley, salt & pepper

1. Saute butter and onions until soft, add flour and sauté another minute.
2. In a large pot, add chicken broth, water, carrots, garlic, celery, chicken and simmer for 20 minutes. Add rice, mushrooms, and spices and simmer covered for 25minutes.
3. Remove chicken and with forks, shred chicken; add it back into the soup. Serve!

Some suggestions are adding sour cream for creaminess and half white rice, half wild rice for variety. Next time, I would have added more carrots, onions, celery, and mushrooms.

Apartment Searching

It’s that time. The boss says we should get an apartment in Charlotte, NC within the next couple of months. This is good and bad (mostly good though). It will be nice to have a home base, a place to keep our stuff so when we go to hotels (which we will still live in hotels when Patrick is on the jobsite far away). The downside is that we will now face real world bills- after researching, looks like we’ll pay $900-$1200 a month for an apartment in a safe area of Charlotte.  Patrick researched in the morning and I chopped vegetables. Then we went out and were able to visit four places before the leasing offices closed at 5 pm.

The first two places were in a more expensive neighborhood. It is a very nice area (South Park) with a nice mall and lots of stores. These were the first and they were kind of price shock for me. They were about $1,000/month and unfurnished plus utilities, cable, internet, trash, insurance, etc. I wasn’t sold, thinking we could find something a little cheaper. Then we went to a $750/month apartment and I realized that while I don’t care about living in a nice place (I felt they were more fancy then we needed), safety is a concern and it seems like you have to put in the money if you want a safe area.  The last place we visited was one which we are still considering. It is about $1000/month but it’s nice because it’s about a half a mile to Patrick’s work and right on the Lynx rail line, meaning we wouldn’t have to worry about parking when going in the city. We’ll keep researching.

For lunch before we went out, I made some tasty tuna melts (recipe below) and for dinner we ate at Greek Isles (and yes, we did just go to the Greek festival last weekend). The restaurant was near our last stop of the apartment search for the day and it was tasty! We ate Melitzanosalata (eggplant dip) for an appetizer and for dinner, we ate a whole fish! I have never eaten a whole fish and felt pretty brave being served one with all the bones inside and its eyeballs staring at us (though not as brave as Kristen Drake who didn’t even like fish and ate them fresh for a whole summer while a missionary in another country). The Bronzini (fyi $22) was served with grilled veggies which were great dipped in an olive oil, lemon juice, and black pepper mixture. I’m usually the dessert person, but Patrick, seeing their display cart of desserts, decided we should order three of the six dessert, choosing Baklava, Galaktobouriko (custard with phyllo), and Rizogalo (rice pudding) and a to-go box.

Tuna Melts

Ingredients

2 cans tuna

½ red onion

½ red pepper

1 jalepeno

2 hard-boiled eggs (omitted)

4 sweet pickles, splash of juice

3 TBSP mayo

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

salt & pepper

4 english muffins

cheese

1. Combine all ingredients, except the e. muffins. I substituted some of mom’s homemade pepper/onion relish instead of the pickles and did not have any eggs on hand.
2. Put mixture on English muffins, top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes until browned.
3. When done, eat whole, or cut into quarters for party food!

Around the World Series: Turkey

A little while ago, I bought some fresh figs. I realized they’re not my favorite to eat plain, but I made a really good dessert with them- Turkish Fig Cake! This dessert was accompanied by Gozleme and Turkish Cacik (cucumber yogurt kind of dish). This was a fun meal! After dinner we dreamed of our future house and ended up deciding on how we would like our driveway. After that we packed up for an early rise and leaving for Virginia the next day. And for the record, when trying to get egg whites stiff without beaters, it can be a challenge, haha!

Gozleme is a turkish hand rolled pastry. One common version is spinach and feta, I made that with a little more elaboration. I found this random recipe with a dough that I wasn’t too sure of. I had never made a dough out of only flour, water, and salt before- I’ve always added oil or butter or eggs or something else. It worked out in the end, but would have been better if I had a rolling pin. I also cheated-we bought  a lamb meal at the greek festival. I shredded it and used that precooked meat.

Turkish Gozleme

Dough: 1 ½ c flour, 3/4c water, dash salt

Filling: spinach, onion, olive oil, lamb or beef, chili powder, garlic, pepper, red pepper, feta

Directions:

1. Clean spinach, then cook in a little water until wilted.  Then dry on paper towels. Chop onion and red pepper.
2. Cook onions. Add spices and meat until browned.
3. Make the dough by adding the flour, half the water, and salt. Slowly add more water until a ball forms, then knead the dough on a lightly floured surface. Let rest for a few minutes then divide into three balls.
4. Roll out the dough into a thin rectangle. Add spinach, meat mixture, red peppers, and feta to one side and fold over. Cook in olive oil for about five minutes, flipping every minute.

For the cacik:

Mix a cup of yogurt with 2 cucumber (seeded, peeled, and diced), 3 tbsp chopped walnuts, 2 tbsp dill, 1 tsp lemon juice, and a garlic clove. Drizzle 1 tbsp oil on top.

Turkish Fig cake. Have you ever tried to whip egg whites into stiff peaks with a whisk? Have you ever tried it with a fork? We have. The recipe called for stiff peaks, and without having a blender or a whisk, it can be difficult. We whipped the whites for no joke, a half an hour… and ended up with soft peaks. The trick is using a whip motion that pulls air into it. This was a really good recipe and could use any fruit on it. Next time, I want to try it with beaters and a springform pan so it can be about quadruple the thickness. Mmm.

Turkish Yogurt Fig Cake

Ingredients

4 eggs, separated

½ c sugar

3 TBSP sifted flour

1 ½ c Greek yogurt

1 lemon, grated and juiced

Orange zest

½ tsp vanilla extract

3 fresh figs, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour and mix until combined.
3. Add yogurt, orange and lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
4. Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into yogurt mixture (Do not overmix.)
5. Grease springform pan. Pour into pan and arrange fig slices on top. Bake 45-60 minutes until browned.

Mmmm, Cauliflower Steak and Indonesian-Style Fried Rice

We had a good, flavorful dinner tonight with lots of fresh ingredients. I made cauliflower steaks and fried rice.

To make the cauliflower steaks, I literally took the head of a cauliflower and sliced two meaty cross sections out of the middle of the head, it was about half of the cauliflower. The other half, I used in an earlier recipe of cauliflower mac n cheese. Then rubbed on some olive oil and spices (I used oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper) and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping once and baking until tender. Other flavoring suggestions are: tomatoes, olives, onion, basil, parsley sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, and olive oil or olive oil, lemon juice and paprika. Patrick even said he wanted to try it with a gravy, like salisbury steak.

I found a recipe for Indonesian-Style Fried Rice, well actually I watched a video on it (from America’s Test Kitchen) and my own version with the ingredients I had readily available. My version: Saute half a chopped onion in olive oil and add 2 chopped serrano peppers. Add some garlic, then add leftover cooked rice, soy sauce, sugar (they called for molasses, fish sauce, and dark brown sugar but I only had sugar). Meanwhile, Using 4 eggs (I used 3 whole, 2 whites), add some milk, salt, and pepper and mix. Then cook the eggs in butter in two batches, forming 2 omelets. When the omelets have cooled for a min or two, roll them up (like a crepe) and cut into strips/spirals. Now time to serve. Put some fried rice on the plate with egg spirals and garnish with tomatoes and cucumbers.

The meal was so delicious. The flavor combination was surprising with the warm rice and steaks mixed with the cold tomatoes, cucumbers, and pear, but it was great!

Cauliflower Mac n Cheese, Steamed Broccoli, and Lemon Nut Cake

Here’s dinner!

Cauliflower Mac n Cheese

Ingredients

½ head cauliflower

1lb dried macaroni

8oz cheddar cheese

4oz parmesan cheese

sour cream (or I used greek yogurt)

milk

Directions

Cut cauliflower into small florets. Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and all your cauliflower and cook according to the macaroni-package instructions (I actually cooked them separately, steaming the broccoli in the microwave). Drain. Stir in cheese, cream (I used about 1/3 cup of yogurt), and milk. If you’d like to make it more flavorful, add spices. For our leftovers, I added cumin, curry, and a bit of cayenne pepper.

Spaghetti Squash and Corn Truffle

Tonight’s meal wasn’t color pleasing as it was mostly yellow. However, it was stomach pleasing.  I bought a spaghetti squash. They are delicious and simple to make! Prick it,  throw it (well place it) in the oven for 45min- 1 hour at 375 degrees. When it’s done, cut it in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Then separate the strands by running a fork through it; the squash should easily form spaghetti like strands. I topped it with spaghetti sauce this meal. It was delicious.  And below is the recipe for Corn Truffle which was awesome and Meyer Lemon and Nut Cake with Honey Syrup.

Truffled Corn Pudding

(chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com)

5 ears of corn

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tbsp corn meal or grits

1/4 cup half & half

1/4 cup 2% milk

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup parm cheese

1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the corn off the cob. In a large bowl, whisk milk, half & half, salt, eggs, egg yolk, and melted butters.  Add the flour and grits and whisk again.  Add the corn mixture and stir to combine.   Pour into a shallow, buttered  baking dish.  Sprinkle with cheese and a few dashes of paprika.  Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Once cooked, let it sit for 10 minutes to settle.

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I don’t ever remember eating fruitcake. I only know about it as the classic Christmas gift but if I had to think about how it would taste, this cake would be it with a twist. I halved the recipe, put it in muffin cups, and used a variety of mixed nuts as well as a variety of dried fruits. It is heavy but tasty. I had some lemons to use up so I found this recipe on thekitchn.com

Meyer Lemon and Walnut Cake with Honey Syrup

3 cups walnuts
2 Meyer lemons
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sugar
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup golden raisins

2 Meyer lemons
1/2 cup juice (from 4 lemons – supplement with water if not enough liquid to make 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey

Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9″ springform pan. Grind the walnuts until fine in a food processor and set aside. Grate 2 Meyer lemons (save juice for later).

Cream the butter and sugar until very fluffy. Add the eggs and beat on high speed until lightened and fluffy. It is very important that these are lightened and airy before adding the dry ingredients; any leavening the cake has comes from the eggs.

Beat in the flour, salt, ground walnuts, and Meyer lemon zest. Stir in the raisins.

Pour in the pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, juice the two lemons you zested for the cake. Zest two more lemons and juice them as well. Simmer all the juice, sugar, and honey until reduced by about half and syrupy. Stir in the zest.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes on top with a toothpick and pour about half the syrup over top. Cover. When the cake is cool, wrap tightly and leave at least overnight – it is significantly better the next day. Serve with any remaining syrup, reheated.

Quinoa Salad

Today is a little rainy, but the news is that the hurricane will mostly miss us and head towards the Gulf (we’re on the Atlantic Ocean). For dinner we had another Mediterranean dish- Quinoa Salad. I realized we didn’t have a microwave (or stove obviously) so I had to figure out how to make quinoa in the oven. Turns out you can just bring the water to boil (in a covered dish) then add the quinoa for about 20 minutes or until cooked. We actually decided this wasn’t our most favorite quinoa dish.

And it was also $5 movie night so we watched the new Borne movie (Borne Legacy).

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Avocado and Cumin-Lime Dressing
serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 3/4 cup water
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (I only had chickpeas so I used those)
• 1 avocado, chopped into chunks
• handful cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped into chunks
• small handful cilantro, diced
• 1 limes, juiced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• salt, to taste

Directions

1. Warm the olive/coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot add the rinsed quinoa and toast for about 2-3 minutes until it starts smelling nutty and lovely. Add water, stir once, cover, and simmer with a lid on for 20 minutes (or see above about cooking in oven).
2. While the quinoa is cooking, prepare all other ingredients. Prepare the dressing by combining the lime juice, oil, cumin, and salt. Whisk it aggressively. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
3. When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from heat and fluff with a fork. Add black beans and toss to warm them through.
4. Let the quinoa cool for about five minutes and then add all the remaining ingredients, including the dressing, and mix. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Mediterranean Dishes

I prepared some food for the drive and made some things today. It was all fresh Mediterranean food, and was awesome. We had Falafel and Baba Ganoush on the drive and more of it along with pita, Greek Dip, and Cucumber Yogurt for lunch. For dinner, I prepared Fattoush.

Falafel (Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

•  1 15.5 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 small yellow onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander (I didn’t use)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
• 1/2 cup safflower or canola oil
• For serving: pita bread, sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, romaine lettuce leaves, and store-bought tahini sauce.

Directions

1. Place half of chickpeas in food processor and pulse a few times until chopped, transfer to a large bowl.
2. Place remaining chickpeas in food processor with garlic, onion, herbs, spices, baking soda, salt, and lemon juice. Pulse to a thick, chunky paste, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl with chopped chickpeas.
3. Add egg and sesame seeds to bowl and stir to combine. Cover and chill batter in fridge 30 minutes.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil shimmers, drop heaping tablespoons of batter into skillet and gently press batter into 2-inch-round patties. Cook, turning once, until deep golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Baba Ganoush (food.com) (Patrick said it was the best baba he’s ever had, an we’ve purchased it a few times.)

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1/4 cup tahini, plus more as needed
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed
• 1 pinch ground cumin
• salt, to taste
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Tip: Salt first for less oily eggplant. Eggplant soaks up oil like a sponge, but you can reduce its ability to absorb oil by salting the cut flesh and letting it sit for 30 min. or more. Then drain, pat dry, and proceed with cooking. This “sweating” the eggplant also helps it to tenderize the flesh’s texture and to reduce some ot the naturally occurring bitter taste.

1. Wipe the eggplant clean and slice them in half lengthwise. With the tip of a knife, score the flesh deeply in a diamond cross-hatch pattern by making two or three long cuts, cutting at a steep angle, and then rotating the eggplant to make another set of similar cuts. Press on the edges of the halves to open the cuts and sprinkle salt (1 to 1-1/2 tsp. total for all the halves) over the surface and into the cuts. Set aside, cut side up, for 30 min. Heat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Over the sink, gently squeeze the eggplant to extract the salty juice and wipe them dry with a paper towel.
3. Place the eggplant on the foil, cut side down. Place in the oven and roast large, fat eggplants for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size; small, narrow Japanese eggplants (and other varieties) should be roasted for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven when skin has begun to shrivel, the edges and cut surface are browned, and the eggplant has softened but not collapsed. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and peel off and discard the skin.
4. Place the eggplant flesh in a bowl.Using a fork, mash the eggplant to a paste.Add the 1/4 cup tahini, the garlic, the 1/4 cup lemon juice and the cumin and mix well.Season with salt, then taste and add more tahini and/or lemon juice, if needed.
5. Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl and spread with the back of a spoon to form a shallow well.Drizzle the olive oil over the top and sprinkle with the parsley.Serve at room temperature.

5 Layer Greek Dip

-Hummus

-red bell pepper

-kalamata olivws

-cucumber

-feta cheese

-fresh dill

1. Finely chop olive, bell pepper, cucumber, and dill.

2. Spread hummus about 1-2 inches thick in the bottom of a wide serving dish.

3. Sprinkle the vegetables evenly over the hummus.

4. Crumble feta cheese on top.

5. Sprinkle bits of dill and serve with warm pita slices. Enjoy!

Cucumber Yogurt Dip Recipe (Khiyar bi Laban)

Ingredients

• 4 persian cucumbers (or equivalent), finely chopped
• 4 cups of plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• a few leaves of green mint finely chopped, or 1 teaspoon of dried mint powder
• a dash of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice (optional)

Preparation Method

1. In a bowl, whisk the yogurt, water, crushed garlic, salt and lemon juice well.  If you’re preparing this in summer, you can add 2-3 ice cubes in the mix to cool the yogurt and make it even more refreshing
2. Finely Chop the cucumbers into cubes of ~ 1/3 inches, add to the mixing bowl
3. Add the finely chopped green mint or the dried mint powder and salt, mix well
4. Serve in small soup bowls as an appetizer or snack.

Fattoush (Lebanese “Crumbled Bread” Salad with Sumac and Pita Chips)

Makes 4 large main-dish salads or 6 small side salads
Ingredients:
2 whole wheat pita pocket breads, cut into strips about 3/4 inch wide, then toasted and crumbled
1 tsp. chopped garlic (2-4 cloves garlic)
1 tsp. salt (I used fine grind sea salt)
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, about 2 large lemons (I love lemon, so adjust the amount to your own taste)
1 tsp. powdered Sumac, plus more for sprinkling on individual salads if desired)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 heads Romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
1 cup diced tomatoes (let drain a minute or two if extra juicy)
1 cup diced cucumber (same size as tomatoes)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley (leaves only, no stems)
optional ingredients: chopped green pepper or radishes (I didn’t use either of these but Lori’s recipe had green peppers and I saw several recipes that added chopped radishes.)Instructions:

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400F/200C. While oven heats, mash together the chopped garlic and salt using a mortar and pestle, or the side of a knife or spoon. Put garlic-salt paste in a small bowl, then add lemon juice and 1 tsp. Sumac. Whisk in olive oil and set dressing aside. (You can also make the dressing in a glass jar and shake to combine.)

Cut whole wheat pita into strips about 3/4 inch wide and arrange on baking sheet. (Some recipes call for brushing the pita with olive oil, but I didn’t do that.) Bake until pita strips are crisp but only barely starting to brown, less than 10 minutes. Watch carefully because they can go from crisp to overly brown rather quickly.Remove outer leaves from Romaine, trim stem end, then wash and spin dry or dry with paper towels. Cut Romaine into fourths lengthwise, then turn and chop crosswise into small pieces. (If you have a salad spinner, you can chop the Romaine first, then wash.) Put chopped Romaine into salad bowl large enough toss all ingredients.Chop tomatoes, green onions, cucumbers, mint, and parsley and add to lettuce. Add about half of the dressing and toss, then add crumbled pita chops and toss again with more dressing. (You may not want all the dressing, but this salad should be quite wet.) At this point the salad should sit for a few minutes (or longer) to let flavors blend and so the pita chips absorb some of the dressing. To serve, arrange salad on individual plates and sprinkle with a bit more Sumac. You can also serve it in a large bowl with the Sumac sprinkled over.

When I first tested the recipe I made enough for two large salads, ate one for dinner, and put the rest in the fridge overnight. I was surprised how great it still tasted the next day, even though the vegetables were fairly wilted. When I made this for guests I tossed the salad together before they arrived, and it was perfect when I served it about 30 minutes later.

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Quinoa

I enjoyed this dish. For Patrick, it was a little too flavorful so I would tone down the flavor next time. And I made okra for a side- the first time I’ve ever made this south treat! I just tossed it in the oven with a little olive oil and it was lovely!

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu
Serves 2-3

1 Block Tofu, extra firm, 14 oz

Sweet Chili Lime Sauce

3 Tbs Sugar
3 Tbs Reduced Sodium Tamari (or soy sauce)
1 3/4 Tbs Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 Zest of the Lime
1/2 tsp Red Chili Flakes (or 1-2 fresh hot chilies, minced)
1 Clove Garlic, pressed, optional
1/4 tsp Salt
4 Mint Leaves,

Directions

Prepare the sweet chili lime sauce by whisking all of the ingredients together until the sugar

Drain tofu and cut it into small triangles. I slice the block into 8 rectangles, then each rectangle in half to make two squares per rectangle. I cut each square diagonally to make four triangles per square.

Heat a well-seasoned cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat. In order to properly “dry fry” the tofu, you’ll need a pan the tofu won’t stick to even without any oil.

Spread the tofu out in one layer in the pan. Using a spatula, press the tofu. The liquid will squeeze out and boil away, and the tofu will begin to turn golden. The more water that evaporates, the sturdier the tofu will be, so be gentle at first to prevent the tofu from breaking up. After several minutes, flip the tofu over and press the other side, about 10 minutes of frying.

Add the sauce and stir to coat the tofu. Turn off the heat. The sauce will bubble up, reduce, and form a glaze. If it isn’t bubbling up and forming a glaze, turn the heat back on high and cook until it becomes a glaze.