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.

“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.

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.

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!

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.

——————————————————————————————————–

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.

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.

Around the World Series: Spain

The menu for this week was developed with advice from Clint, who had recently returned from about a month in Spain. The first course was a vegetable, Green Beans with paprika, for the second course, we had Tortilla Espanola, and dessert was Flan. The Tortilla Espanola was difficult to do with an old pan and probably a little too many potatoes to flip.

Tortilla Espanola

By The Skinny Gourmet
Serves 8-10

7 large eggs (used more egg whites and less of the yolks)
4 medium potatoes (1 lb total)
1 small spanish onion (1/4 lb)
2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
black pepper

Wash potatoes, peel (or leave the skins on), and slice the potatoes ~1/8 inch thin. Peel the onion and slice thin.

Layer the potatoes in a microwave or steamer and steam until a slightly firm al dente. They will still cook up somewhat in the olive oil (four plus minutes).

Add the 2 Tbsp of olive oil to a skillet on medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft and fragrant. Add the potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes until al dente.

In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk the eggs together with the salt and pepper until foamy. Pour the egg mixture onto the onions and potatoes. The egg mixture should just cover them. Cook on medium until the bottom is firm and begins to pull away from the sides.

The dish can either be finished on the stovetop or oven. To finish on the stovetop, you will need to do the classic flip. Non-stick pan is preferable, but with a pan that is not non-stick, use more oil. With a spatula, work your way around the edges of the tortilla, loosening. Agitate the pan to be sure that the bottom is not stuck. Cover the pan with a plate. Flip the pan upside down so the tortilla winds up on the plate with the cooked side facing up. Return the pan to the stove-top and add more olive oil. Using the spatula, slide the tortilla off the plate and back onto the pan. Continue cooking until the tortilla is set throughout.

Soymilk Flan

1/2 cup granulated sugar (or less)
2 Tablespoons water (little less if less sugar)
1 cups soy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolks
pinch salt
1/4 cup sugar

1. You can use a loaf pan and make one large flan or smaller ramekins. Three 6-ounce ramekins or 2 larger ones work well for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Put water on to boil.

2. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan I would use less- this makes a sauce that ends up on top of the flan. Cook over low heat until sugar melts and mixture begins to darken; stir occasionally. When the sugar mixture turns a dark golden brown – about 15 minutes, remove from the heat. Pour enough to coat the bottom into each ramekin, if using, or pour all into the bottom of the loaf pan.

3. Heat the soymilk and the vanilla in a small saucepan until it is just about to boil. Turn off burner and put aside.

4. Beat eggs, egg yolks, salt and sugar in a bowl with a whisk or electric mixer until they are a light yellow color.

5. Stirring constantly, pour the milk mixture in a thin stream into the egg mixture until they are completely combined. Pour into loaf pan or divide equal among the ramekins.

6. Put the loaf pan or the ramekins into a deep roasting dish and put it on the middle shelf in the oven. Pour boiling water into the roasting dish until the water comes about halfway up the sides of the custard dishes.

7. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the custard is almost set, but the middles are still wiggly. Remove from oven and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

8. To serve flan, place ramekin (or loaf pan) into hot water for 20 seconds, run a thin sharp knife around the edge of the dish and invert it onto a dessert plate. For a finishing touch sprinkle the top with cinnamon.

I had chocolate soymilk and so it turned into a delicious chocolate flan (although I didn’t think it looked pretty enough to take a picture). I also used my flexible muffin cups. Just remember if using that they will probably all need to be flipped out at the same time (but in my case, with filling four muffin cups, two on each side, I could flip it out two at a time).

Spanish Spinach, Almond, and Egg Empanaditas

This is now one of my NEW FAVORITE recipes! The wonderfully flaky crust and the flavor explosion combined to make a great dish! I found this in a book called New Vegetarian, however, since it was copyrighted in 2009, its not really new anymore. Oh, and one of my favorite parts was made possible because of my substitution. Instead of corn flour in the crust, I crushed up some pretzels, giving it a wonderfully salty texture. Anyways, here’s the recipe:

Spanish Spinach, Almond, and Egg Empanaditas

Ingredients:

2 ½ c. four
½ c. corn flour (or ½ c. crushed pretzels)
½ tsp. salt, less if using pretzels
1 tsp. baking powder
4 TBSP unsalted butter, chilled
¼ c. EVOO (olive oil)
1 egg
½ c. milk
Filling:
1 ½ lbs spinach, washed and stemmed
2 TBSP EVOO
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large tomato, chopped and drained
4 eggs, boiled, peeled, & chopped
½ c. slivered almonds, toasted (or chunk whole almonds)
½ tsp. salt

1 egg yolk
1 TBSP milk

1. In a large bowl, mix flours, salt, and baking pwd. Grate in butter. Sprinkle in oil and stir lightly to swirl it. Combine egg and milk and stir into dry ingredients. Knead gently until a dough is formed. Divide dough into 16 pieces. Cover and let rest for 30 min. Preheat oven to 400.
2. To make the filling: In a large pot, boil an inch of water and wilt spinach (or use a steamer). Then dry with towel and chop finely.
3. Heat olive oil, sauté garlic, add tomato. Stir in spinach, chopped eggs, almonds, and salt. Stir to mix, remove from heat and let cool.
4. Roll each portion of dough and place 3 TBSP of filling on each. Fold dough over and seal. Just before baking, brush with the egg yolk thinned with milk. Bake until lightly golden, about 20 min. Serve warm.

And I couldn’t resist making dessert empanaditas. I chopped strawberries, added a small amount of strawberry jam, and topped it off with a little bit of dark chocolate. The filling made it an awesome dessert!