Category Archives: Cooking

We’ve got the beets (finally)

30 Tuesday Oct 2012

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Beets.

These blood-colored and highly staining vegetables have inspired curiosity and frustration in me for a couple of years now.

It started when our supper club hosted a root-vegetable-themed dinner last January.  I Googled tubers and investigated which to contribute. Eventually I went the direction of carrots and turnips in a soup, while my neighbor Amy made an ingenious Beet Ice Cream. A root-vegetable dessert! It was pink as any dream Valentine’s Day treat and as mildly dirt-flavored as only beets can be.

Later that season I made a beet soup that turned my microwave pink but did nothing to inspire my taste buds. Dirt flavor strikes again! I do like things earthy and, some would say, on the bland side, but these beets took the cake (mmm, cake).

However, beets have remained de rigueur in my foodie magazines, so I kept hope alive that I’d find the right recipe to throw beets inthe limelight (mmm, limes).

In Better Homes and Gardens‘ August 2012 issue, I found the one. Beet Blue Cheese and Almond Salad* included that coveted layer of flavors and textures, as well as my new true love, fresh parsley (why haven’t I grown you all my life?!)

My friend Susan had regaled me with her latest beet recipe the week before, so I decided to try this one for her birthday potluck, with beets I bought at the Market Square Farmers Market. What a winner! The beets are sweet and lose that garden soil aftertaste in a light bath of olive oil and lemon juice and salt and pepper. (I recommend you use olive oil you really like, as its flavor comes out strong around the beets.) The creamy/tangy blue cheese and crunchy toasted almonds add the perfect balance to the barely soft beets. I left out the garlic and used roughly chopped regular almonds.

I’m so pleased my diligence paid off and that I found a way to prepare beets that suits my tastes. I will continue to try more beet recipes (although they are more expensive than I expected for a root vegetable) throughout the winter. Maybe even a Borscht!

* I would’ve used the direct link to the Better Homes recipe, but the website user login was giving me fits. So there.

Penne Broccoli Salad

07 Friday Sep 2012

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When I heard a recent news report that Americans throw out about 40 percent of their food each year, I cringed with recognition. I feel so guilty when I let a cucumber or zucchini wrinkle in the bottom of the vegetable drawer, let sweet potatoes sprout long curling roots, or allow perfectly good cheddar cheese grow green with fuzz. I don’t have the money to waste on food I don’t eat, yet I still let these things happen. Shame on me.

So it was in the spirit of repentance and conservation that I improvised this pasta salad, which served to rescue a half-head of broccoli from being snubbed completely and saved a last bit of feta from the garbage can. Plus, it tasted so delicious that I cheered my culinary genius—until I ate the last serving so fast I gave myself a stomachache. Clearly I’m not a genius about everything.

Penne Broccoli Salad
Makes 4-6 side dish servings

2 cups penne pasta (I used rainbow penne)
2 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
fresh basil, chopped, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
roasted sunflower seeds, hulled (optional)

Prepare penne according to the package directions. Add broccoli florets to the boiling water & pasta in the final two minutes of the cooking time. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and bring the temperature down.

In a large serving or storage bowl, mix feta cheese and vinegar with a whisk until the cheese breaks down. Whisk in olive oil, yogurt, dried oregano and salt and pepper.

Add well-drained pasta and broccoli to the dressing and stir to coat. Add chopped basil and mix to distribute. Top individual servings with a tablespoon of roasted sunflower seeds for a delicious crunch!

An eyeful of taste

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

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Here are a few photos of dishes I’ve made over the past two months. All were as satisfying and delicious as they look.

Ripe tomatoes stuffed with a mixture of roasted zucchini, wild & brown rice, feta cheese, Parmesan and fresh basil, topped with breadcrumbs.

After seeing a McDonald’s billboard declaring their Egg McMuffin has 300 calories, I created my own delicious version on a whole-grain English muffin, with scrambled egg, spinach, Sweetwater Valley Farm buttermilk cheese and Emily’s Chipotle Strawberry Jam.

What do you do with a gift of fresh mozzarella from Jungle Jim’s? You make homemade vegetable pizza!

Return of the Chickpea-Brown Rice Burgers

13 Wednesday Jun 2012

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Last week I tried Handle the Heat‘s recipe for Chickpea-Brown Rice burgers. Since it was just me, I halved the recipe to make just two patties. One for dinner, one for later. But the results were so delicious that I ate both for dinner! Fortunately for me (and my husband, who will be dining according my whims tonight), I have plenty of extra chickpeas and brown rice for a new batch, which we will be eating falafel-style in whole-wheat pita pockets with a yogurt dill dressing and cucumbers.

I already eat a lot of chickpeas and brown rice, and I was interested in a new way to use these healthy, high-protein ingredients. These burgers (I’m starting to think of them as fritters) are a satisfyingly crunchy option.  I removed the garlic & onions from Tessa’s original recipe, but it still turned out perfectly. I also tried frying them in a thin layer of canola oil, but that side came out a bit more done and brown than the second side, for which I used the recommended olive oil.

I’m curious how these would turn out if they were baked, but I won’t find out tonight because I’m too hungry to wait!

Pearl barley with butternut squash

15 Sunday Jan 2012

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I hoard whole grains.

Currently stocked in my cupboard are: brown rice (instant and long-cooking), white and brown Basmati rice, wild rice blend, quinoa and toasted Israeli couscous. (I also have steel-cut oats, but I don’t know if that counts).

These grains are the perfect bases for the other staples of my diet: beans and roasted vegetables. The former I hoard in cans and bags; the latter majorly consists of sweet potatoes and the key ingredient of tonight’s dinner.

Tonight I’m trying a Real Simple recipe for Baked Barley Risotto with Butternut Squash. It’s in the oven now, and my house smells like toast mixed with apple cider vinegar, which is what I used instead of dry white wine. I guess I shouldn’t be nervous; I do like toast and vinegar. Although maybe not together.

I also removed the onion from the recipe. Once I started leaving onions out of recipes, I realized that onions have a lot of liquid, so I accommodate with a little water or, in the case of tonight’s recipe, a bit more homemade vegetable broth. The real key here is getting that pearl barley fully cooked.

After 35 minutes, there was still a lot of liquid in the bottom of the pot, so I put it back in the oven for 5 more minutes. The photo with the recipe shows some liquid in the dish. As long as the barley is cooked.

Forty minutes, and resting on the stove for a few minutes, did the trick. The barley absorbed all the liquid and was fully cooked—chewy with that funny snap between the teeth. The Parmesan cheese and the tomato in my broth added a nice richness (dare I say umami?) The squash wasn’t as sweet as I’ve had it, but it worked for this savory dish.

All in all, a good dish… and husband approved, to boot!