Melty Leeks

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

One of my favorite spring and summer finds is the leek.  This is an onion, but when cooked down is all melty sweet goodness and none of the usual onion sharpness.  Leeks work as a great topping, accompaniment, flavor addition, etc. etc.–they do it all!  In this recipe, they are going to add flavor to my favorite quick dinner:  a frittata.  I love frittatas because in a pinch you can still have a filling and veggie-laden dinner on the table within 20 minutes.  Serve with fruit and maybe some whole grain bread, and you’re set!

Leeks are pretty easy to clean.  First, slice in half lengthwise, second, rinse all the fronds individually and let dry, third slice thinly, and fourth, cook down with olive oil, salt and pepper.  It looks like a lot of onions in the pan, but they cook down quite a bit.

spring fritatta 12

This frittata has leeks, potatoes, red pepper, and mixed greens.

spring fritatta 1

Once you cook down the leeks, add the red pepper and cook just a few minutes more.  Add the leeks and red pepper in a bowl with the greens and set aside.

spring fritatta 6

Sauté the potato rounds, add the greens back to the pan, pour on the eggs.

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Let it cook for 7-10 minutes on the burner, then slide the oven-safe pan into the oven to finish cooking through.

Frittatas also work great as a sandwich on the go!

spring fritatta 11

VEGGIE FRITTATA

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 6-10 eggs
  • 1 cup milk or half-and-half
  • 2 leek stalks, cleaned and thinly sliced
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 3 small potatoes (red or gold preferable), thinly sliced
  • 2 loosely-packed cups of mixed greens

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Beat the eggs and milk or half-and half, salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.  Set the mixed greens in a mixing bowl and set aside.
  3. Coat a large (oven-proof) sauté pan with olive oil and heat to medium-low.  Add the leeks and salt and pepper to taste, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are golden and melty looking.  Add the red pepper and sauté for a few minutes more until the pepper is crisp tender.  Remove from the heat and add to the bowl with the mixed greens.
  4. Put the sauté pan back on the heat and coat with olive oil.  Raise heat to medium-high and add the sliced potatoes in one single layer.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until golden brown.  Flip and cook again until golden brown on the other side.
  5. Reduce heat to low and add the mixed green mixture on top of the potatoes.  Pour the egg mixture evenly over top of all the veggies.  Cook until the egg is just set on the bottom, about 7-10 minutes.  Place the pan in the oven and cook for about 15-20 more minutes, until the eggs are slightly jiggly in the center but not wet.

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Farm Stand Harvest

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

My oldest started kindergarten a couple weeks ago.  He’s done fantastically well, no tears at all, and comes home every day with a grin on his face.  After his first week, though, he did ask if he was done.  So we had the conversation about what the school year means vs. summer break, and “first kid school” {elementary school}, “second kid school” {middle school}, and third kid school {high school}, and then there’s even more school–“adult school” {college}, and then more adult school, for more specialty {graduate school}!  Yesterday my son said to me, “Mommy, when you grow up you’re going to be a cooker, right?  You love to cook.  Are you going to cooker school when you grow up?”

I just smiled and said, “Yup.”

You don’t need cooker school for this recipe–just a Farmer’s Stand–Run and get some corn, zucchini, and tomatoes, and you’re halfway there to making a fresh summer succotash!  The rest:  leftover rice, a can of cannellini beans, breadcrumbs…and you have a crispy rice cake to have with the succotash.

summer succotash with rice cakes 1

Chop up all your succotash ingredients about the same size and start sautéing,

summer succotash with rice cakes 2

summer succotash with rice cakes 3Add chopped tomatoes and parsley for a little freshness,

summer succotash with rice cakes 4Pan-fry your rice cakes, and voilá!

summer succotash with rice cakes 6 summersuccotashwithricecakes

RICE CAKES WITH SUMMER SUCCOTASH

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy, but there are two different components you have to keep and eye on
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INGREDIENTS FOR THE SUCCOTASH

  • 4 ears fresh corn, shucked and kernels cut off into a bowl
  • 2 small to medium zucchini, diced
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2-3 small tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 tablespoons butter

INGREDIENTS FOR THE RICE CAKES

  • 2 cups cooked rice
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

  1. Start with forming the rice cakes.  Prepare two shallow bowls, one with  2 eggs, beaten, and the other bowl with the breadcrumbs.  Place a sheet of parchment paper on your work counter to place the rice cakes on to rest.
  2. Mix the rice, 1 cup of corn, the other beaten egg, and salt and pepper to taste in a mixing bowl.  Divide the rice mixture into 4 or 6 equal balls, and press each ball firmly together.  Gently flatten to form a patty.  First cover the rice cake with egg, and then pass to the breadcrumb bowl and cover both sides.  Lay on the parchment paper to rest.
  3. Prepare the succotash:  Coat a large sauté pan with olive oil and heat to medium high heat.  Add the remaining corn, zucchini, onion, and beans, and salt and pepper to taste.  Sauce until the onion is translucent, and the other vegetables are crisp tender, about 7-10 minutes.
  4. Add the water, tomatoes, and parsley and let simmer until the broth has reduced by half.  Reduce heat to low, add butter and stir until a thin sauce develops.  Let the succotash stay warm on low heat while pan frying the rice cakes.
  5. To pan-fry the rice cakes, coat another sauté pan with olive oil and heat to medium.  Add the rice cakes, 2-3 at a time, and fry on each side until golden brown.  To serve, place a rice cake on the plate and top with a few spoonfuls of the succotash.

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Fava Bean Succotash and Camping with Dinosaurs

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

We just ended a weeklong vacation camping trip.  In a tent.  Without a fridge.  We camped through dinosaur country, checking out dinosaur fossils, dinosaur tracks, 10,000 year-old petroglyphs, and rockhounding.  My husband and boys love this stuff.  I’ll be honest, my happy place is not in a tent, un-showered for five straight days.  {My happy place is more along the lines of a beach, crystal blue waters stretching to the horizon, something all-inclusive would be great–because then I don’t have to do the dishes…and it’ll have a shower…}  I will tell you from personal experience that squeeze cheese + crackers, raisins + cream of wheat, and non-perishable fruit containers in heavy syrup do not satisfy a fresh food craving.  I am high-tailing it to a Farmer’s Market tomorrow, and drooling while writing today’s post.

One of our camping nights was pretty chilly and rainy, and other than hot chocolate, I kept thinking of a dish I’d made a few weeks ago:  A warm bowl of creamy polenta topped with succotash.  Succotash is traditionally a Southern dish cooked with corn and lima beans.  I substituted fresh fava beans in place of the lima beans {lima beans never were my favorite growing up}, and asparagus tips I had on hand.  I am going to have to figure out how to turn this meal into one of those “Just Add Water” camping meals and pack it along next time!!

Fava beans are like lima beans in size, but where limas are kind of starchy, dry, and flavorless, favas have a sweet flavor and juicy texture.  They are also packed with a nutritional punch:  Per 1 cup of favas, you get 10 grams of Protein (20% of your daily nutritional need), 418 mg of Potassium (11% daily need), 9 grams of fiber (36% daily need), and throw in some Vitamins A and C, Iron, and Magnesium for good measure.  And, when mixing a legume with corn, you are also getting all the protein essential amino acids in one bite.

There are only a few beans per pod, so count on purchasing at least one pound of fava pods per person/serving.  You open the bean pod by pulling the “seam” of the bean from the top down, like opening a zipper on a jacket.  The beans are encased in a white, waxy shell.  That shell is removed by boiling for about 5-7 minutes, then running under cold water to stop the cooking process.  I cook mine in a colander for the easy pull-out-and-run-under-cold-water method.

fava bean succotash 1 fava bean succotash 2

The succotash is super easy to make–just get the fresh corn shucked, the fava beans shelled, and the asparagus tips cut up, and sauté everyone together, adding water halfway through the cook time, and then some butter at the very end to make a buttery succotash sauce.  I served this meal on top of creamy white polenta–it was filling, sweet, savory, and Farmer-Stand-Fresh.

fava bean succotash 3 fava bean succotash 4 favabeansuccotash

FAVA BEAN SUCCOTASH WITH WHITE POLENTA

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: pretty easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup white cornmeal
  • 1 cup milk (optional)
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast flakes to keep vegan)
  • 4 pounds fresh fava bean pods, shelled from the main pod
  • 4 ears fresh corn, shucked and cut from the cob, reserving 1 fresh cob
  • 1 small bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut in thirds
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 4 tablespoons butter (or vegan butter option)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Prepare the polenta.  Stir 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup milk (or water), and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and set aside.  Heat 3 cups water to boiling in a large pot.  Once boiling, add the cornmeal mixture and stir vigorously to keep the mixture smooth and lump-free.  Turn the heat to low and continue cooking for another 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently.  You may need to add another 1/2 cup-1 cup of water, 1/4 cup at a time, while cooking, depending on the consistency you like.  Adding more water while cooking will give the polenta a looser consistency, less water will make a thicker polenta.  Once done, add the parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast flakes and put a lid on the pot to keep warm while preparing the succotash.
  2. Place the fava beans with the waxy, white exterior shell in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and let cook for 5-7 minutes.  Drain and run under cold water for 2-3 minutes.  The beans will pop right out of this waxy exterior with a little pinch.  Completely shell the beans into a bowl.
  3. Coat a large sauté pan with olive oil and heat to medium-high.  Add the fava beans, corn, asparagus, and onion, and salt and pepper to taste.  Sauté, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent and the beans are just tender, about 5-7 minutes.
  4. Add 1 cup water and the cob, and allow to come to a gentle boil.  Lower the heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half.  Remove the cob and add the butter, stirring until a smooth, velvety sauce has brought all the vegetables together.
  5. To serve, divide the polenta evenly among the bowls or plates, and top with the succotash.  If desired, sprinkle with more parmesan cheese.

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Garden Vegetable Eggs Florentine

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

In our family, two of us have a “sweet tooth switch” and two of us do not.  You know, the switch that flips when you’ve had enough sweets and you know it’s time to put down the spoon and not even have that last bite.  I have that switch; I prefer savory to sweet, breakfast included.  Breakfast for dinner included.  Throw hash browns into any breakfast for dinner meal and I’m a happy camper!
primavera eggs florentine 1 primavera eggs florentine 3

Eggs Florentine is the perfect recipe to add garden vegetables.  The eggs and milk are creamy and soft and the summer garden vegetables add a savory note that deepens the flavor of the dish.  After the first bite my husband and I looked at each other and sighed.  Ok, maybe I was doing the sighing, but both of us cleaned our plates–down to the last bite!

primavera eggs florentine 2

GARDEN VEGETABLE EGGS FLORENTINE

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
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Adapted from Weeknight Vegetarian

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 thick slices of rustic bread, diced into course crumbs
  • thyme (fresh, 2 teaspoons finely chopped, dried, just a few shakes)
  • 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
  • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • 5 cups mixed greens
  • 2 small to medium zucchini, quartered and sliced into little triangles
  • 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup half and half

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F.  Spray two 4-cup baking dishes with cooking spray and place them on a timed baking sheet.
  2. Coat a large sauté pan with olive oil and heat to medium.  Add the bread crumbs, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the bread crumbs are browned and crisp, about 5 minutes.  Pour into a bowl and set aside.
  3. Add another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat to medium-high heat.  Add the diced onion, garlic, and zucchini and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the mixed greens and salt and pepper to taste and toss with tongs until the greens are wilted, about 2-3 minutes.
  4. Evenly divide the vegetable mixture between the two baking dishes.  Crack two eggs into each dish, on top of the vegetable mixture.  Evenly divide the half and half among the dishes, pouring around the eggs, and evenly divide the tomatoes among the baking dishes.  Bake, rotating the baking dishes once, until the egg whites are set and the yolks are slightly runny, about 12 to 15 minutes.
  5. Before serving sprinkle the toasted bread crumbs over top, and salt and pepper, if needed.

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Match Made in Heaven

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know how your summer has been going, but our thermometer has barely dipped below 95F for two months straight.  When it’s so hot, you just don’t get very hungry for dinner.  We’ve been eating lots of smoothies, cucumbers + dip, bananas + nutella, or just nutella.  And running isn’t nearly as fun.  I can tell you there’s a huge difference between running in 100F and 90F.  I discovered yesterday 90F + a breeze is very comfortable running weather.

But when you get a new cookbook, the oven goes on.  And this meal is WORTH it.  This is summer on a plate–a beautiful, soft and fluffy Corn Pudding Soufflé topped with a sweet and flavorful stone fruit salsa.  And for good measure I threw some Citrus Cherry Irish Soda Bread on the side.  I kept waiting for a bite to be not as good as the first, but this meal will take you for an amazing ride on the SummerFlavorTrain.

Soda bread is pretty cool–it’s leavened with baking soda and buttermilk instead of yeast, so it’s like a big biscuit.  And we all know how much I love biscuits.  Just throw in some orange and grapefruit zest and dried cherries, and your biscuit is magically transformed into a citrus loaf from heaven.

citrus cherry irish bread 1 citrus cherry irish bread 2

I hope you have a Farmers Market or fruit stand nearby–fresh corn, nectarines, and plums deserve to be in the summer sun as long as possible before ending up on your dinner plate!  Adding stone fruit to the salsa base makes it sweet and spicy.  You will have leftover salsa great for chip-dipping!

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I know this looks  like a normal pan of cornbread, but you will be surprised at how light and fluffy this soufflé is!

corn pudding suffle with stone fruit salsa 6 corn pudding suffle with stone fruit salsa 5

This sweet, fresh summer corn pudding soufflé paired with the sweet, spicy stone fruit salsa is a match made in heaven!

CORN PUDDING SOUFFLÉ

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: medium-ish
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Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups fresh corn
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 red onion, finely diced
  • 3 tablespoons masa
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 eggs, separated

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F.  Butter a 6-cup soufflé dish.  [I didn’t have a dish that size, and was nervous the soufflé would overflow in the oven, so I filled 2 small ramekins as well.  If you use a smaller dish, just watch them during the cook time!]
  2. Puree 1 1/2 cups of the corn with half and half, then pour through a fine sieve, pressing the liquid through with a rubber spatula into a bowl.  Set the bowl aside.
  3. Heat a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, add the butter, red onion, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the onion is translucent.  Stir in the flour, then whisk in the corn-milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is slightly thickened.
  4. Remove the mixture from the heat, and stir in the remaining corn, feta cheese, 1/2 salt and pepper to taste.  Warm the yolks with 1/2 cup of the mixture, then add the yolk mixture to the rest of the corn milk mixture, stirring until smooth.  The mixture will be thick, just make sure you make it as smooth as possible.
  5. Beat the egg whites until they hold firm peaks, then gently fold them into the corn milk egg yolk mixture.  Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and set in a large roasting pan with boiling water that comes halfway up the side of the baking dish.  Bake until a golden puffy soufflé crown rises over the top of the baking dish, about an hour [watch bake time in smaller baking dishes, check every 20 minutes until the soufflé is set and no longer wet-looking in the middle.]

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STONE FRUIT SALSA

  • Servings: males about 6 cups
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 2 nectarines, diced
  • 2 plums, diced
  • 4 small tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 red onion, finely diced
  • 1 jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed, finely diced
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. Add all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Let sit and allow flavors to combine.
  2. Serve as a topping with the Corn Pudding Soufflé, and later with chips!

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CITRUS CHERRY IRISH SODA BREAD

  • Servings: 1 loaf
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2-1 3/4 cups buttermilk
  • zest from 1 large grapefruit and 1 large orange

DIRECTIONS

  1. Position rack in the center of the oven and heat to 450F.  If you are using a baking stone to bake the bread, place it in the oven to heat up.
  2. Sift all the dry ingredients and the zest into a large mixing bowl.  Make a well in the center and pour in 1 1/2 cups of the buttermilk.  Stir with one hand to incorporate the buttermilk.  If necessary, add more buttermilk 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough just barely comes together {Think biscuits–be very gentle and soft, not a lot of kneading, and it’ll stay moist and fluffy and not overworked}.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and pat into a round about 6-7 inches in diameter and 1 1/2-2 inches high in the center.  Invert the rounds the floured side is on top and transfer to the baking sheet or stone, covered with a sheet of parchment paper.
  4. With a thin, sharp knife, score an “x” on the dough about 1/4 inch deep, and extend from one side to the other.  Bake on the baking sheet for 15 minutes.  Lower the oven temperature to 400F and bake until the bread is browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, another 20-30 minutes.  Cool to room temperature on a rack before slicing and serving.

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Dreamy Polenta

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

Growing up I called my mom’s friends by their first names, with the addition of the Southern conventional title of respect, Mr. or Miss.  To this day, in my mid-30’s, I still think of my mom’s friends as “Miss Irene and Mr. Joe”; “Miss Trina and Mr. Stuart.”  My brothers and I called our stepdad “Mr. Bob”, simply because that’s how my mom introduced us to him, and the name stuck, even during their marriage.

Mr. Bob loved grits for breakfast.  Cooked smooth and creamy with a dollop of butter on top.  I didn’t realize until I was older that polenta is just a fancy name for grits.  It’s all stone-ground cornmeal, whether white cornmeal or yellow.  Although I remember Mr. Bob’s grits were always white, while all polenta meals I’ve made and eaten have been made with yellow cornmeal.

This polenta meal I dreamed about.  Literally.  It was the middle of winter, and I guess my subconscious wanted summertime because I dreamed of creamy polenta topped with grilled vegetables.  Here’s what my summertime grill prep looks like:

summer grilled vegetables and creamy polenta 1

Super easy: chop the veggies in large chunks, skewer the onions so they don’t get all wiley on you and fall through the grill grates, olive oil, s+p, and lemon zest.  While the veggies are grilling, cook up the polenta, and then serve family style.

summer vegetables and creamy polenta 3

My husband doesn’t mind sharing a plate with me…and I love eating family style mainly because it means less dishes.  Doing dishes is not so dreamy.

summer vegetables and creamy polenta 4

summer grilled vegetables and creamy polenta

SUMMER GRILLED VEGETABLES WITH CREAMY POLENTA

  • Servings: 2-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup polenta
  • 2-3 medium zucchini, cut into thirds
  • 1 large yellow or sweet onion, cut into large chunks
  • 8-10 mini sweet peppers
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • fresh chopped basil for garnish

DIRECTIONS

  1. Make the polenta according to package directions.  The key to creamy polenta is to really follow the directions and let it cook for a full 30 minutes while stirring!
  2. Prep your grill and allow appropriate time to get sizzling hot.
  3. Prep the veggies:  Place in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil, s+p, and lemon zest.
  4. Grill the veggies, turning occasionally, until yummily charred and cooked.
  5. To serve, divide the polenta evenly among plates, top with an assortment of grilled veggies, sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and basil.  Alternately, serve family style, piling the polenta and grilled veggies on one large plate.

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Crostini Trio

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

I’ve always loved sandwiches–one of my favorite memories is going to visit my Grandparents and Aunt and cousins for a couple weeks every summer, and the first thing we did after tumbling out of the hot and sticky East Coast summer car was run into my Grandparent’s kitchen and pull out all the sandwich fixings.  Rye and pumpernickel breads, crispy, cool lettuce, lunch meats and cheeses, mustard and mayonnaise.  I’ve always regarded the sandwich as a comfort food and associated it with happy times.

Oh, Sandwich!  Such melodrama!

I decided to make a trio of crostini one Saturday–little pan-fried bread slices topped with three different toppings.  Maybe it was due to my having just run a 12-mile trail run, and my husband cycling 40 miles around a mountain, but this meal was a smashing success!  One crostini {crostino?} topped with a cannellini bean spread with fresh cucumber slices; one topped with creamy guacamole with olive oil tomatoes; one topped with pistachio basil pesto with fried potato rounds.  These toppings are simple enough for a family gathering, or sophisticated enough for a dinner party.

crostini trio collage 1 crostini trio collage 2

This was a perfect meal for the two of us {although I admit we ate as much as a dinner party would have}.  We treated the pan-fried breads like tortilla chips and dipped away!  I have to warn you–if you ever come over for chips and dip, or crostini, for that matter–we liberally and unabashedly double dip.

crostini trio 7

CANNELLINI BEAN SPREAD WITH CUCUMBER SLICES

  • Servings: makes 1 1/2 cups
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 1 15oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
  • 3 mini sweet cucumbers, finely sliced
  • 1 baguette, if serving as crostini

DIRECTIONS

  1. Smash the Cannellini beans with a fork or a potato smasher to a rough paste.  Add the lemon zest and juice and parsley, salt and pepper to taste, and a swirl or two of olive oil.  Stir together and serve with breadsticks, crackers, or crostini.
  2. To make crostini, slice a baguette on the bias.  Brush with olive oil and bake in a 400F oven until browned on each side, or pan fry in a skillet with olive oil, turning until each side is golden.

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CREAMY GUACAMOLE WITH OLIVE OIL TOMATOES

  • Servings: makes 1 1/2 cups
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 1 avocado, peeled and pit removed
  • 1/4 cup red onion, very finely chopped
  • 2 scallions, green ends finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • zest and juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
  • 1 baguette, if serving as crostini

DIRECTIONS

  1. Smash the avocado with a fork or potato smasher to a rough paste.  Add the red onion through the lime zest and juice and gently stir together.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
  2. For the olive oil tomatoes, slice the grape tomatoes in half or in quarters, if they are larger in size, and place in a small bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and stir.
  3. To serve with crostini, slice a baguette on the bias.  Brush with olive oil and bake in a 400F oven until browned on each side, or pan fry in a skillet with olive oil, turning until each side is golden.

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PISTACHIO BASIL PESTO WITH FRIED POTATO ROUNDS

  • Servings: makes 1 cup pesto
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups fresh basil
  • 1/2 cup pistachios
  • pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 2-3 small red, white, or yukon gold potatoes
  • 1 baguette, if serving as crostini

DIRECTIONS

  1. Place all ingredients in a blender, add salt and pepper to taste and start with 3 tablespoons of olive oil.  Pulse the blender until slightly mixed, clean the sides of the blender with a spatula, and blend again, adding more olive oil while blending until the pesto comes together in a smooth consistency.
  2. Slice the potatoes very thinly.  Coat a large skillet with olive oil and heat to medium-high.  Place the potato slices in a single layer in the skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and pan fry until golden on each side.
  3. To serve with crostini, slice the baguette on the bias.  Brush with olive oil and bake in a 400F oven until browned on each side, or pan fry in a skillet with olive oil, turning until each side is golden.

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Balance and Oodles of Noodles

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes life just takes over, doesn’t it?  For the past three months I have felt like I need an extra 5 hours in a day, at the very least, to accomplish my To-Do List.  In some ways it feels whittled down, and in other ways it’s only grown.  One of my first college roommates was a powerhouse of activity, attention to detail, and living life with such clear direction.  She lives this way still–a woman with such purpose!  She recently shared a quote from a book I’ve never read, but was struck enough by the quote to feel like I need to figure out a bit more focus and purpose.

“We fool ourselves if we think balance means giving equal attention to everything in our lives.  Balance only happens in dynamic tension.  Balance is giving not equal but appropriate attention to each of the various categories of your life.”  {-Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy in “Living Forward”}

Children seem to naturally give not equal but appropriate attention to the various categories of their life, and let all else go.  Before Mile-Long To-Do Lists and Adult-Sized Responsibilities you only had a clear Hope of the What-Could-Be.  And What Could Be was huge.  It could be anything.  How bright and how simple.

My mom once made us Oodles of Noodles, served in our very fine china with painted red, white, and yellow flowers and gold around the rim of the bowls.  {Was Top Ramen once called Oodles of Noodles?}  I cradled the tiny tea bowl in my hands and felt like I’d just been served the dinner of a king.  All those noodles!  In such a fancy bowl!  Just for me!

This bowl of Coconut Lime Soup with Forbidden Rice and Sweet Potato Noodles won’t make your To-Do List magically disappear, but with nutty forbidden rice, sweet potato noodles, hot peppers and chile sauce, zippy lime juice, cool cilantro, and creamy coconut milk, it will make you feel like a giddy kid with a What-Could-Be possibility.

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Here’s your super quick view of ingredients.  10 items.  No, 11 items, including vegetable stock.  That’s all you need to feel like a king!

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And a noodler.  My brother was nice enough to send this to me and I’ve LOVED making oodles of noodles of all sorts!  First peel the sweet potato, slice off the ends, use the petite-est noodle blades, and noodle away.

sweet potato noodles 2

sweet potato noodles 3

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COCONUT LIME SOUP WITH FORBIDDEN RICE AND SWEET POTATO NOODLES

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup forbidden rice
  • 1 medium to large sweet potato
  • 1/2 cup diced sweet red pepper
  • 1-2 diced red jalapeño pepper (seeds and ribs may be used or discarded, depending on how much heat you like)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 1-3 teaspoons Sambal Oelek (depending on how much heat you like)
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 15oz can of coconut milk
  • juice of 2 limes
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
  • 3 green onions, sliced on the diagonal

DIRECTIONS

  1. Prepare the rice according to package directions.
  2. Prepare the sweet potato.  Peel it and slice off the ends to get flat surfaces.  Attach to the noodler and using the finest setting, turn the whole sweet potato into fine noodles.
  3. Coat the bottom of a large stockpot with olive oil and heat to medium.  Sauté the peppers, garlic, ginger, and Sambal Oelek quickly, until you can smell the garlic and chiles.  Add the vegetable stock and coconut milk,  and let come to a gentle boil.  Add the sweet potato noodles and let simmer until the noodles are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
  4. Add the lime juice, cilantro, and green onions.
  5. To serve, evenly divide the noodles and broth between four bowls, divide the rice in fourths and scoop one fourth into each bowl.  Garnish with extra fresh cilantro, green onions, and fresh lime slices.

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Chickpea Zucchini Burgers and Sriracha “Just Mayo”

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

chickpea zucchini cakes 1

chickpea zucchini cakes 2

Three common concerns I hear about eating a meatless meal is first, it takes too long to prepare, second, eating so much produce is too expensive, and third, that it doesn’t taste as good as a meal with meat as the main star.  This meal will not just change your mind, but it will blow your mind {and not your bank account}.  Big Time.

If you have time to pat together ground meat for burgers, you have time to make these chickpea zucchini burgers–and you’ll be impressed at how filling and delicious and not greasy these burgers are.  I ate these patties with a salad, and my husband dressed them up as a full-fledged burger, but we both had baked sweet potatoes on the side, and we both topped them with Hampton Creek’s Sriracha Just Mayo.

{In case you haven’t tried Just Mayo yet, here’s the big plug:  Hampton Creek is bringing down the house with their eggless, plant-based products!  This “vegan spread has rattled the egg industry“, it will rattle your world, and it will rattle your ham chickpea burger!  The Sriracha Mayo has just enough zing to add enough flavor without too much heat–so it makes your meal taste better instead of totally overpowering your tastebuds.  It’s The Best.}

CHICKPEA ZUCCHINI BURGERS

  • Servings: makes 6 patties
  • Difficulty: easy
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Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Meatless

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • zest and juice of 1/2 of a lemon
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 scallions, finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 egg, lightly whisked (vegan option: substitute with 1 tablespoon ground flax seed, 3 tablespoons water mixed together)
  • salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. Grate the zucchini and let drain in a colander to remove extra liquid.
  2. Meanwhile, place chickpeas in a large mixing bowl.  Mash with a potato masher until you have a mostly homogenous mixture.  Add the grated zucchini and the rest of the ingredients, and stir until well-mixed.
  3. Separate the mixture into 6 equal portions, and form each portion into a ball, then flatten into a patty.  Alternately, I used 2 scoops with a #40 scooper to make a patty.
  4. Coat a large skillet with olive oil and heat to medium.  Sauté patties until golden and crisp, about 3-4 minutes on each side.
  5. Enjoy with a salad or with your favorite burger toppings.

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BAKED SWEET POTATO FRIES

  • Servings: 2-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

  • 1-2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Slice the peeled sweet potatoes into large wedges and place in a large mixing bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Spread on a large enough baking sheet so the wedges don’t overlap or touch each other.  Bake for 20 minutes, stir/flip/spatula-ize the wedges and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden and crispy.
  4. These are so yummy if served with Sriracha Just Mayo!!

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A Little Closer to Home

~ michal ~ Leave a comment

My aim in creating this blog is to showcase satisfying meatless main dishes you can easily throw together without having to totally change your pantry.  I knew I would have a small target audience who already ate in this manner and would have ingredients readily available, but I was hoping to reach out to the “Average Kitchen” and maybe inspire more meatless meals in their weekly prep.

It has recently come to my attention that what I consider “normal pantry items” and a “throw-together meatless meal” is a bit far-fetched for the Average Kitchen.

The last thing I want is for your kitchen to be a scary place.  At the same time, I’d love for your kitchen to become a place where you learn new techniques, new flavors, and try a couple meatless meals, because it’s worth it!  I really, really want eating meatless to be yummy, satisfying, filling, and very not-daunting!!  It really is  easy and can be throw-together, and doesn’t have to be just photos you thumb through in a Williams-Sonoma book and regard as meals prepared in another stratosphere or even another life.

So.  Dialing back the stratosphere…Sandwiches are always good for dinner, right?  Quesadillas?  And there’s nothing wrong with adding some veggies to a quesadilla, is there?  Butternut squash…Poblano pepper…Black beans…Fresh salsa…Cilantro…Drooling yet?

butternut squash poblano quesadilla ingredientsSauté the squash, beans, red onion, and poblano together, layer in the skillet with cheese, and serve it up with fresh salsa and a squirt of lime.  I used Pepper Jack cheese, but if you’d like to keep it vegan, make cashew cream and add cilantro, a diced up jalapeño, red pepper flakes, and some salt and pepper to give it a spicy kick.

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BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND ROASTED POBLANO QUESADILLAS

  • Servings: serves 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Simple Weeknight Favorites

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 poblano chiles
  • 4 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 3/4 cup red onion, diced
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 cup Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
  • 8-12 corn tortillas
  • Serve with fresh salsa and lime wedges

DIRECTIONS

  1. First roast the poblano peppers.  If you have a gas stove, you can roast them right on your open flame of the cook top.  Rotate the peppers every few minutes to evenly char all sides of the pepper.  Once charred, place peppers in a large container with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and let the peppers steam for 5-10 minutes.  Allowing the charred peppers to steam will help the skins peel off easier.  Peel all the skins off and scrape out the seeds, then dice up the peppers.  (This Gal Cooks has a great in-the-oven poblano pepper roasting tutorial.)
  2. Coat a large skillet with olive oil and sauté the diced butternut squash with salt and pepper to taste for 5-7 minutes.  Add the red onion and diced poblano pepper, a little more salt and pepper to taste, and stir everything together.
  3. Add the chopped cilantro to the Pepper Jack cheese.
  4. Stacking the quesadillas.  I always add a splash of olive oil to the skillet to get the corn tortilla a little crispy.  Layer:  Corn tortilla, Sprinkling of cheese/cilantro mix, a couple spoonfuls of the butternut squash/bean/poblano mix, another sprinkling of cheese/cilantro mix, top with another corn tortilla.  Toast until golden brown, then flip, adding another splash of olive oil to toast the other side.
  5. Serve with fresh salsa and lime wedges.

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