Whole Grain Rice Salad

I missed last year's cherry season.  I don't know how it happened, but it came and went before I even realized it had happened.  This year I overcompensated with a mixed flat of sweet and sour cherries.  What I did with them is another post for another day, but I set aside a few to make the Whole Grain Rice Salad from Super Natural Every Day.

I had to make a few adjustments based on what I had on hand.  There was no baby spinach, but there was... either Swiss chard or beet greens, I can't even be sure.  Pecans had to take the place of walnuts, which I didn't have.  I opted for feta over goat cheese, and for the all-important grain base, I chose wild rice.  The salad was fine, but honestly, not exciting to me.  I can't exactly place why.  I'm sure, though, that it wasn't the dressing.  I had some of the leftover dressing on a green salad, and it made that green salad worth eating.  I'm not typically a fan, but the cherry dressing was such a unique flavor, it seemed to make it worthwhile.

So the bottom line here is that I can't judge too harshly having made so many substitutions, but it's unlikely that I'll try this salad again.  The dressing, however, is one I'll come back to.

Shaved Fennel Salad

The Shaved Fennel Salad from Super Natural Every Day is my new favorite twist on the cucumber salad I've made for the past few years.  Like many who have the book, I've gravitated toward recipes with beautiful photos, and this salad has none.  When Heidi posted it on her website, complete with photos to remedy the fact that it's photo-less in the book, I took notice and mentally filed it away to make.  Whenever we start getting new goodies from the CSA again, I like to search the sites I love for recipes I haven't tried, and I rediscovered this one.  The recipe instructs you to let the sliced zucchini sit to absorb the lemon juice and dill for 20 minutes to an hour, which I found to be too little time.  (The first time I made this, I let it sit in the fridge for 2 days out of necessity, and the second time I actually followed the instructions with poor results.)  The lemony salad is a great match for the arugula, but does not work at all with regular lettuce.

The salad also made a lovely accompaniment to the Rye Soda Bread and Dill Butter from the same book, which we took on a picnic to Duke Farms (a lovely picnic for a lovely place).

Swiss Chard and Onion Frittata

I made this Swiss Chard and Onion Frittata based on the Frittata recipe in Super Natural Every Day.  Chopping all the Swiss chard was time consuming, but the frittata is tasty!  We used 2 eggs and 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon egg whites.  In addition to the Swiss chard and two smallish onions, I tossed in two tiny potatoes, sliced paper thin.  They were good, but not necessary.  We topped the frittata with crumbled feta.  I'm grateful that I found a way to use this week's Swiss chard - I've been throwing it away and I feel really guilty about it.

Frittata

This beautiful Frittata is from Super Natural Every Day.  I made it as part of a brunch for friends, along with the Baked Oatmeal from the book.  I've never made a frittata before, and it was a bit of work, but it worked out really well in the end and everyone enjoyed it!  Best of all, the recipe is endlessly adaptable - you can use whatever veggies are in season.

Harissa Spaghettini

I always buy produce for a certain purpose and never get around to using it.  I had some kale that had been meant for a dish that I never ended up making, and I needed a quick, easy recipe to use it up.  I skimmed through some kale recipes online and decided on the Harissa Spaghettini recipe from 101 Cookbooks.

The harissa oil was super spicy!  We added feta, which gave it some saltiness as well as a cooling element.  I tried the chopped black olives that were in the recipe, but I preferred it without them.  We used blanched slivered almonds instead of the pine nuts, which I didn't have on hand (plus they're so expensive now!).  I forgot the lemon zest, which is too bad because I'm sure it adds a fresh refreshing flavor, but I'll be sure to try it next time.  This was pretty good and was an easy, quick weeknight dinner and a nice way to use up kale.

Giant Chipotle White Beans

I have been trying to eat more beans lately, but so far I have limited myself to chili and soup.  In an effort to try something new, I decided to make the Giant Chipotle White Beans from 101 Cookbooks, which are large white beans baked in a chipotle tomato sauce with flecks of kale, topped with feta and drizzled with a cilantro pesto.  I skipped the bread crumbs that are in the original recipe - I didn't feel that they would really add anything to the dish, so I just left them out.

I have to say, I made these a while ago.  At least two weeks ago.  I've been really, really busy with school and I have barely been cooking, let alone writing about it.  But I remember that they tasted good.  Specifically, the sauce was delicious.  I'm not big enough on beans yet to really love a dish that consists only of beans.  (I'll get back to you after I try some of my Rancho Gordo beans, which have not been sitting in a silo for 10 years like the giant limas I used for this recipe.  I have a feeling it will make a difference.)  So I think it would be interesting to try half beans, half something else.  I'm not yet sure what exactly, but pasta comes to mind.  So kind of like a baked ziti with beans and Mexican flavors.  I don't know, it works in my brain.

Anyway, this was tasty, it was.  But I wish I hadn't made so much, because we threw most of it away.  :(  I'm not sure how it would have held up in the freezer, but maybe next time I'll try that.

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 was cooked for only 7 people, so we didn't go too overboard.  It was a lot less stressful this way.  We had no appetizers to worry about, either.

Pumpkin and Feta Muffins

These are first because they are the coolest thing we made.  I got the recipe from 101 Cookbooks a few weeks ago and they were the first thing on my Thanksgiving recipe list.  I followed the directions exactly and got excellent results.  The only thing to note was that we ended up with 18 muffins instead of 12, but that's certainly nothing to complain about.

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts

When my sister got wind of the menu (the day before Thanksgiving, of course) she greeted me with: "Can we PUHLEEEAAASE make a DIFFERENT VEGETABLE?!?!"  Right after these were cooked, I saw her stick her hand right in the skillet to try one - and of course she loved it.  Super simple, and the caramelized edges were the best part.  This is another recipe from 101 Cookbooks.

Lemon-Barley Stuffing

This recipe from the New York Times was kind of a wild card, but it worked out in the end.  The mushrooms shrunk into ribbons when roasted, and I thought there wouldn't be enough lemon, but it shined right through.  The chive butter was fun to make and pretty much made the dish.  This is where I gained a deeper knowledge of where the line lies between browned and burned.  Note to self: more liquid next time, trust your instincts.

Sandra Lee's Turkey

Well, of course there was a turkey.  This one had butter massaged into it.  I never liked turkey before, and I still only ate a very small bit of it, but it was very good.  This picture is gross.  (Thanks to Haley for the photo.)

Mashed Potatoes

Yuck.  That's all I have to say about that.  This is a picture of what later became mashed potatoes.  There's no finished picture because there's nothing pretty about mashed potatoes.  (Thanks to Haley for the photo.)

Garden Vegetable and Potato Lyonnaise

I've got these giant rutabagas sitting in my fridge, plus a few turnips, and I've never had these things before, of course, so I had no idea what we could do with them.  I found this recipe through the "look inside" feature of Amazon - it's in Homegrown Pure and Simple by Michael Nischan.  Naturally, Amazon wouldn't let me look at the second page, but I found an adapted version online and used it to sort of wing it, and it turned out alright.  The strong flavors weren't appreciated by all, but I finally got to try a bunch of things through this dish.

Pumpkin Cornbread

When we were little, my dad used to make us biscuits.  Of course, they came from a box, but I had to remind him to channel those times from the past when my mom asked him to help us by making the cornbread.  This alone was the most hectic time of the day, as he insisted on lining up each ingredient, did not know the difference between liquid and dry measures, and refused to stop whisking even when I said he was finished.  Then we ended up having to bake it in the microwave (it makes sense if you've seen my mom's space-age microwave) and since we're all too short to see the top it got a bit toasted.  Fortunately, it tasted fantastic.  This was another New York Times recipe.  (Thanks to Haley for these photos.)

Winter Green Salad with Sugared Walnuts, 

Crispy Pears and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

I made this last year, but did a different candied walnut.  Though we had to make some substitutions, these walnuts were delicious.  Everyone kept walking by them and snatching a few - we're lucky we had any left for the salad.  The vinaigrette was my favorite part.  This recipe is from Clean Food.

"Best-Ever" Apple Pie

Haley made her famous apple pie with lattice crust.  It's the best-ever apple pie!  This particular pie contained a variety of apples known as "whatever we had lying around."

Spice-Kissed Pumpkin Pie

This pumpkin pie recipe is from 101 Cookbooks.  It features a special spice blend and a hazelnut paste between the filling and the graham-cracker crust.  Delicious.

Pumpkin and Ginger Scones

These were not for Thanksgiving, in particular, but they were there when I arrived to cook on Thanksgiving, and they were delicious.  I liked them plain, but they were very good with Haley's cinnamon glaze.

Pasta with Cauliflower, Walnuts and Feta

 
I got two large heads of cauliflower from my final CSA pickup, but I didn't want to make another cauliflower soup.  I searched my favorite blogs and found a recipe for Pasta with Cauliflower, Walnuts, and Feta.  I've finally got my pasta stash under control, so I don't feel so obligated to use up the many cheap varieties and save the fancier ones.  This recipe called for a strong flavor from the pasta, so I reached for a spelt rotini, which stood up quite well to the cauliflower and feta.  The walnuts added a nutty crunch - I only wish there were more of them.  The salty feta went perfectly with the sauteed onions and cauliflower.  I was happy that the cauliflower had both flavor and crunch thanks to the sauteeing rather than boiling.  This was a nice change of pace for all that soup (don't worry, I still love soup) and it reheated nicely for a weekday lunch.

This was easy enough for a weeknight, though there is a bit of work breaking down the cauliflower and slicing the onion - that could be done in advance.  One recommendation I would make is to ignore the white wine vinegar in the ingredients - go with all lemon juice.  The white wine vinegar soaked in quickly and left almost a chemical-y taste, at least compared to the lemon juice.  I can certainly see this appearing on my table again in the near future.

UPDATE (11/26/2010): Here's a picture of this dish the second time I made it (earlier this week).  I used a small-batch artisanal local whole wheat pasta and purple cauliflower and skipped the vinegar in favor of more lemon juice.  Delicious.

Winter Pasta

I'm always happy to find an easy, healthy weeknight recipe.  When this Winter Pasta recipe was posted over on 101 Cookbooks, it reminded me of pesto and the pictures made me hungry!  In fact, I was so hungry that I couldn't even make this for myself.  :)

I love the flavor of kale.  I also love garlic.  And feta.  You can use any kind of cheese here - feta, Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, Asiago could be great, or even ricotta.  It's simple enough for a weeknight dinner, but fancier than tomato sauce from a jar, or pesto from a packet (ick).  You could probably even make the pesto the day before if you want.  And while I love the flavor of kale, this would be great with spinach or maybe another leafy green - or maybe a mix of greens.

Roasted Eggplant Soup

The quantity of CSA produce can get very overwhelming sometimes.  Things sit in my fridge, and I feel guilty every time I open it.  I'm never sure if I'll be able to use ALL of it.  That being said, cooking can extend the life of things, and roasting can concentrate the flavor of veggies past their prime.  I had three fat eggplants sitting in my fridge when this recipe for Roasted Eggplant Soup was posted.  It seemed very simple: just roast eggplant, tomatoes and onion together, then transfer it to a large pot and turn it into a soup.

This was a successful endeavor.  I was honestly a bit skeptical about eggplant soup, but I was also sick of the Moroccan couscous thing, and they were good enough eggplants that it would be wrong to dispose of them.  The recipe notes made me even more skeptical: the soup was described as not "exactly right" and "has a lot of potential" particularly in reference to the spices.  This scared me, because I am not confident in adding spices to things without any direction.  (How am I to know how much is too much?)

Fortunately, the results were pleasantly surprising.  I thought it was a very nice soup and I was not disappointed with the flavors.  Ken described it this way: "it tastes like if you put eggplant parm in the blender."  (My mom thought that sounded gross, and I agree, but I think it tastes more like if you put eggplant parm with not really any cheese and definitely no bread crumbs in the blender.)

I ate this topped with feta and croutons (made from day-old olive oil and rosemary bread).  Ken used shaved Parmesan.  Both were good.  I can't say I'd make this again, but it's a good use for eggplant and tomatoes that are on the way out.  As the original recipe notes suggest, I might try to leave it a bit chunkier if I do make it again - but the immersion blender is just so fun to play with...

Almost Cheeseless Pasta Casserole

I have been meaning to make this Almost Cheeseless Pasta Casserole for a while. I had to wait for butternut squash season to make it, but I had one in my cabinet (they last a looong time!) so I decided to use it. I adjusted it slightly to match the tastes of my household (aka boyfriend) but it came out pretty yummy.

I skipped the mint and kalamata olives and used probably much more feta than intended (I guess I should knock off the "almost cheeseless" part then...). The yogurt mixture had me worried, but I made sure the pasta/squash/spinach was cool before mixing it in so it didn't curdle. I also left the almonds out of the mix because I had read in some of the comments that they got soggy in there, which is understandable given the large quantity of yogurt. I sprinkled some on top near the end of baking so that they wouldn't burn. They definitely added a nice crunch to the dish and it was good to have that different texture.

One thing I would definitely do differently is cut the spinach smaller. More like in the baked pasta casserole dish that I made a while back (on here... but I just made it the other day also) so that it wasn't so big and weird. I might cut the squash into smaller cubes instead of slices also.

Orzo with Tomato Artichoke Sauce

Tonight I came home wanting a gourmet meal. I didn't want to go to the store, and I shouldn't have to since I constantly have my pantry stocked with deliciousness. I had a Greek salad on my mind which I had no recipe for, so I started googling some ingredients to find recipe inspirations. (Here is one.) I ended up with a very interesting pasta dish instead.

Ingredients:
1 small jar grilled marinated artichoke hearts
about 10 kalamata olives, pitted
2 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
juice of one lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup liquid from the artichoke hearts (or a little less of olive oil)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/2 box orzo

Instructions:
1. Cook orzo according to package directions.
2. Put artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, tomatoes and garlic in food processor with lemon juice and liquid from artichoke hearts. Process (but not too much) to chop everything up. (Keep it chunky!)
3. Toast sunflower seeds (350* for about 5 minutes).
4. Mix the contents of the food processor with cooked and drained orzo over a tiny bit of heat (just to warm) and mix together.
5. Spoon orzo mixture into bowls and top with sunflower seeds and feta.

Now - I will say a few things. I processed too much (I always do), and it is not too pretty... next time I might use the food chopper instead, or a good knife. This was really intended to be chunky. Also, you may not need all the dressing, or you may need less lemon juice depending on your personal preferences (it was pretty lemony). The tomato was kind of overpowering as well. I did eat a bowl of this, but it wasn't very good in the end. I am posting it anyway because I think it had some potential.

I made this entirely with things I had lying around, so adjust to what you have on hand and your personal preferences. This may actually be better (or at least less tangy) with black olives instead of kalamata olives, or canned artichoke hearts instead of grilled/marinated. I also intended to add red onion to this, but I guess I forgot! There is plenty of room for adjustment here. It made about 4 servings.

Egg Wrap

This recipe was inspired by the Skinny Omelette from 101 Cookbooks. I was browsing over there for a quick and yummy breakfast recipe and came across the Skinny Omelette. Obviously, you can adjust fillings easily, so ideas started popping all over my head. While there were a number of things I wanted to try, I opted for leftovers from my Pineapple Rice recipe. I used arugula and the pineapple dressing, and added some feta.

This was pretty yummy. The pineapple dressing is a little spicy, so I think I used a little too much, but it was still good. The egg was nice and fluffy and spongy on the outside and made a good wrap. I am glad I could use a little of what I had left in the fridge. Next time I try this recipe, I might try to use a little less egg to make the wrap thinner. I would also try using whatever I have on hand and not sticking to a recipe!

Ingredients:
2 eggs
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp pineapple dressing (see Pineapple Rice recipe)
1 handful baby arugula
1 Tbsp feta

Directions:
1. Whisk the eggs together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour in a large pan (heated) and quickly swirl to help it reach the edges. Let it cook.
2. Meanwhile, toss the baby arugula with the pineapple dressing.
3. When the egg is cooked, use a spatula to help you slide onto a dinner plate.
4. Put the arugula onto the egg, trying to keep it in the lower half of the circle. Sprinkle some feta on top and roll, starting at the edge nearest you. Try to fold in one of the sides as you go so nothing falls out the bottom.
5. Eat.

Layered Salad

One of the recipes that stood out to me from Food Matters was the Layered Salad. Mark Bittman gives a recipe, but each ingredient line has different choices. So for the bottom layer you would choose tomato or orange, etc. This is his twist on the classic tomato/mozzarella layering which you probably see quite frequently. In this salad there are several layers, and only one of them is cheese, which makes the idea of a layered salad more in line with his plan for "sane" eating - consuming less animal products. I really like this "diet" because you don't have to deny yourself anything; you only have to learn how to enjoy things in moderation.

For this salad, I layered (from bottom to top): oranges, red onions, feta cheese, peaches, and granny smith apples. The dressing (for which he offers a few variations) is lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and two chopped basil leaves. I made this in a small square tupperware to take with me to work. This is just one of many possible combinations for the salad.

In Food Matters, Mark Bittman suggests spending a little extra time when you have it to do prep work like washing and slicing. This way you always have stuff on hand and ready to go, whether it is for snacking or cooking with. These things will keep in the refrigerator for a few days, or you can freeze them. I should have considered that, because I underestimated how long this salad would take me. I did it while getting ready for work, and it took me at least 20 minutes. (If you know me, you know this threw me into a panic and made me almost miss the train... and you also know I prioritized this salad over my hair, putting work clothes on, etc.) Another negative effect of the time crunch was that the top layer, the apple, was supposed to be either chopped finely or grated. I would have liked to grate the apple, but I unfortunately did not have time and had to put small slices on instead.

The combination of ingredients was surprisingly good. The slight saltiness of the feta, plus the salt and pepper in the dressing and the red onion, gives a different taste to this otherwise being a fruit salad. Next time I would cut everything into smaller pieces to get more variety in each bite. The apple definitely needs to be grated and maybe tossed in the dressing to coat it up with lemon so it doesn't brown. I might also use crumbled feta rather than the slices since it was falling apart with each bite anyway. I would also like to try mint instead of basil - I think that would be a very interesting flavor.

I know it doesn't look too pretty in the picture, since it's in a tupperware and there isn't great lighting, but the mix of colors is beautiful and the red onion especially adds to the aesthetically pleasing dish. This could be a great picnic or barbecue salad.

I also have tomato and mozzarella, so I might try another variation of the salad with the more vegetable-y ingredient choices for tomorrow's lunch. But you don't even really need to follow the recipe to make this - you can easily just make up your own stuff. The idea to keep in mind is that you want the bulk of the salad to come from plants, not animals.

Greek Barley Salad

I am trying a bunch of different kinds of whole grains and other healthy stuff. Sometimes I find things I want to try before I find any recipes to try them with. When I bought my quinoa at Whole Foods I saw the barley near it on the shelf, and it really appealed to me because of its size. Barley is one of the largest grains, which is one reason farmers in the Fertile Crescent thousands of years ago decided to plant it to become farmers. (It's a lot more complicated than that, so if you are interested you should check out this book I am reading right now - Guns, Germs and Steel.) So I bought the barley and looked for a recipe to make with it. I came across a recipe for Greek Barley Salad. I like Greek food, so this looked good to me. I decided I would make it down the shore this weekend.

The barley I got is pearled barley, which means that the hard outer shell has been removed. If you want to be really picky about it, this means that it's no longer a "whole" grain. But that doesn't mean it's not good for you! Barley takes a LONG time to cook, so I got it going and had my mom watch it while I got ready. Of course, it wasn't done when I came back. I mixed the dressing and cut the pepper, tomatoes, onions and parsley.


When the barley finished cooking but was still hot, I mixed the dressing in, then after it cooled to room temperature I mixed the rest of the ingredients in. I didn't measure the feta, I just used a full 5 ounce container. My mom, my sister and myself tried it after it was mixed together and they liked it. My sister thought it should be served cold, and my mom thought it should be served warm. I liked it room temperature, but we will have to see what happens when we try it again later (it's now in the fridge). This is a good recipe to try for someone who has never cooked barley before, and if you leave out the feta it is instantly vegan!

Cucumber and Feta Salad

I spend a lot of time looking for recipes online. I found this recipe for Cucumber Feta Salad last summer and have made it a few times since. I like that it doesn't require actual cooking, and that I can toss it in the fridge and have it later. I made it this morning and then went out for a few hours, and I took it out at dinnertime. I was the only one who really ate it but I still think it is good and I'm sure I will make it again since it is so easy.

I adjusted the recipe a lot because the few first times I made it, it was a little overwhelming. This time it was pretty light. I sliced 2 cucumbers and chopped about 1/4 cup of dill. Then I juiced 1 1/2 lemons (we had 1/2 left over from something else so I added it in to have more dressing) and added a little olive oil and some salt and pepper. I added the dill and feta (not sure how much I used exactly, but maybe 1/2 of a 5-oz container) and tossed it with the lemon mixture. Then I just covered it and put it away until we were ready to eat it.

One trick to the salad is not to slice the cucumbers too thick or too thin. If they are sliced too thin, they get pickle-y from the dill. Too thick, and they don't have enough flavor. This time it turned out just right!