Lentils, Chard and One Fabulous Poached Egg

I don’t even know where to start with this. It was so GOOD. I ate every last bit. I loved it, told Anne about it. She made it pronto, and it got rave reviews from her husband, too.

Hands down, amazing. I like my poached eggs pretty cooked, but I know the pic would look pretty with the yolk running down. Suffice as to say, it didn’t happen with mine. I also wished I managed to get this on the table before the sunset. It would be much prettier in natural light. Oh well – excuses to make it soon! I am not a big meal-repeater usually (exceptions for pizza), but I want to make this weekly.

I found the recipe on Dishing Up Delights‘ blog and copied it, word for word.

Roasted Beet and Blue Cheese Salad

1 bunch of beets, trimmed and sliced into half rounds

1/2 bag of baby spinach

1 ear of corn, kernels cut

blue cheese

salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic

Preheat oven to 350. Put beets in roasting pan. Add a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast about 45 minutes, or until done. In a bowl add spinach, corn (I don’t cook it, and use it right off the cob. Very fresh.), and blue cheese. Add cooked beets to the salad. It’ll melt the blue cheese a little. Add balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Picnic Lunch

I love monograms. If I could monogram our cat, I would do that. Poor Baby Bean. I’m not sure her opinions on monogramming though. This LL Bean bag is our beach and picnic tote. And it has my married initials on it. AND it’s green. I love it.

It was a Friday and shockingly, we both had the day off. We were Vermont bound the next morning (and for the subsequent weekend). Now, generally on a day off, I’ll do this: workout like a lunatic (whoo hoo, extra workout time!), clean the whole house top to bottom, do all the laundry, cook, bake and then collapse. On this day off – I said screw that! We’re going on a picnic. MUCH BETTER use of time.

I made a Panzanella Salad for Michael (see week 10, same recipe), and a cottage cheese salad for me. Cottage cheese salad is my go-to lunch choice. I eat it All. The. Time. And here is a rough idea of what I do:

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup chickpeas (I use all kinds of beans)

yellow tomato

red tomato

avocado

cucumber

dill

salt, pepper

I have about 25 variations on this (I make one with black beans, cilantro and scallions, which I had for lunch on Monday). Mix it all together and nom it up. I use the 2% or 4% cottage cheese. It’s a nice protein hit. I use beans as a carb source and not a protein source, so I don’t feel like I’m missing carbs with this. (Plus, carbs from the vegetables.)

Peach Cobbler

Peaches make me think of my sweet, southern belle of a girlfriend, Zara. She’s off in Mexico with her new husband, and I miss her dearly. She’s from Georgia, and I thought of her when I made this.

4 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup milk

4 peaches, sliced

flour to coat

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add dry ingredients to combine. Add milk and blend until it’s not lumpy.

Cut peaches and toss with lemon juice, zest and a palmful of flour (just to coat).

Put peaches in a greased pan, and top with batter. Bake about 20 minutes or until done. I went a little under with mine, because it looked like it was bubbling and fully cooked.

Top with ice cream or whipped cream, if you desire!

Chickpeas and Swiss Chard: Dinner for One

Alone on a Friday night, I made something that I used to make when I was a single gal in my bachelorette pad. Quick and dirty, and oh so tasty. Recipe is approximate.

5-6 swiss chard leaves, cut into ribbons

1 scallion, diced

bunch of grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup chickpeas

few diced pieces of mozzarella

magical herb salt from farm share

Sautee the swiss chard and scallions until the greens are very tender. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas. Sprinkle with salt. Add cheese when you remove from heat. It will melt on contact. I had it with some of that lovely bread.

Brown Butter Green Beans

Not gourmet and by no means complicated, this is just plain old good food. My husband is a huge fan of green beans. I try.

1 tbsp butter

large bunch green beans, trimmed

salt, pepper

Brown the butter in a pan, and let the pan get very hot. Add the green beans and sautee quickly. You want them to stay green and crisp and too overly cooked. Remove from heat, sprinkle on salt and pepper. There ya go.

Melon and Mint Salad

I’ll open by saying something about my Mom: she has always said cantaloupe is really good for your skin. If you want to glow, have some melon. In addition to making your skin glow, I added some avocado, which is a good source of fat, and also good for your hair. Consider this beauty food. You’re welcome!

1 small cantaloupe, cubed

1/2 English cucmber, diced

1 avocado, cubed

good handful of mint leaves, chopped

ricotta cheese (I dropped small spoonfuls onto the salad and mixed. It blended right in. Note: you need just a small amount.)

Salt, pepper, touch of olive oil

Add all vegetables to a bowl. Plunk the mint on top, as well as the ricotta, salt and pepper. Toss. Drizzle with olive oil. You can serve as is, or over greens. (I saved some for lunch the next day, and ate mine over baby spinach, with a hard boiled egg on the side for protein.)

Cornbread Scones

I adapted these from The Milkman’s Wife‘s recipe. I really love her blog, so send her some love! I took a few liberties, and being without apricots, I did not make the glaze. Instead, I used honey. Turned out to be a win!

2 cups flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, cold and cut in 1/4 inch slices

1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary

3/4 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from about two ears)

1 egg

3/4 cups milk (I used 1%)

Egg wash

Preheat oven to 400. In a mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients. Add butter pieces, and using a pastry blender (or potato masher, haha) mix until butter is about pea sized and dispersed throughout flour. Add a beaten egg, milk, rosemary and corn. Mix to combine. Roll out onto floured surface, and cut into triangles. Arrange on baking sheet, and brush surface with egg wash. Bake 15-20 minutes. Drizzle with honey.

Swiss Chard Wedding Soup

Using Italian Wedding soup as a jumping point, I decided to make a healthier version. There is nothing quite like the escarole and mini-meatball soup, but I wanted turkey meatballs, swiss chard and kidney beans instead. So, maybe it’s not quite the same thing.

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped evenly

3/4 cup cooked red kidney beans (if using canned, rinse well before adding)

1/2 head of chard, sliced into ribbons

1/2 pound ground turkey breast

1 egg

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

salt, pepper, dash of garlic powder

parmesan cheese

3-4 cups chicken stock (I like low sodium)

1 bunch parsley, chopped

In a little olive oil, sautee onion and celery. When softened (5 mins) add the chard. You might need to cook this down in batches. Add broth, salt, pepper and bring to a simmer.

In another bowl, mix the turkey with egg, panko, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Shape into small meatballs and add to simmering soup. Partially cover and cook throughout. This takes about 15 minutes.

Add cooked beans to warm through, and parsley. Top with parmesan cheese.

Panzanella Salad (aka My Lunch)

We had this beautiful smoked mozzarella from CSA and I couldn’t bear to let it sit in the fridge even a moment more. And that french bread? And those tomatoes. One answer: panzanella. It means bread salad. I highly recommend it. It was a heavy running morning, and on those days, I don’t mind a little white carbs at lunch.

No real measurements for this, but this is pretty close. I ate this with 2 hard boiled eggs - my go to staple for protein. Also – this wins big comfort points with me, too. I think it’s the smell of basil.

French bread, cut into even pieces

2 yellow tomatoes, chopped

bit of smoked mozzarella, chopped

fistful of basil, sliced

pepper, salt, balsamic vinegar, olive oil

Once you’ve assembled your salad, top with pepper, salt and drizzle that really spendy balsamic and olive oil over it. I promise it’s amazing.

Roasted Potatoes with Dill

Another comfort dish. I always feel like roasted potatoes taste so truly decadent. And dill and I…we have a thing. I love it in everything. Even salad.

Potatoes

salt

pepper

olive oil

dill

Preheat oven to 375. I prefer the skins on roasted potatoes, but take them off if you dislike. Slice potatoes and drizzle (I say drizzle a lot, but I don’t know what else to call it) with olive oil, salt, pepper, and dill. Toss to coat. Cook about 45 minutes or until fork tender.

Ricotta cheesecake with Blackberry Compote

What’s more comforting that cheesecake? It’s got really good mouth feel. It can be eaten with a spoon. I think we went over my love of spoons before. It’s my preferred utensil. I adapted this recipe from Technicolor Kitchen. Additionally, the blackberries? So bitter. Anne (we have much love for her) suggested a compote, as sugar or honey would help. I went with honey and coconut, and as usual, good call.

I used these 2 sweet dishes to make 2 giant servings. Giant to me. Michael will argue it was definitely not “wife-sized”.

3/4 cup Annie’s Bunny Grahams

1/3 cup coconut

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

juice and zest of a lemon

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 pint blackberries

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp coconut

Preheat oven to 300. You’ll need a food processor for this. To make the crust, combine first 3 ingredients and press into dishes. If you’re using muffin tins instead, press into those.

Combine all remaining ingredients in food processor. Pour over crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on size. Mine took longer due to the larger dish.

In a pot, combine blackberries, honey and coconut. Simmer until the blackberries break up. Top the cheesecakes with compote, and a little sprinkle of coconut, if desired.

My family loves this summer pasta “sauce.” It is a perfect warm summer night dinner. The brie melts onto the pasta and the summer flavors are awesome. Measurements are up to the chef and the ingredients are simple.

• Fresh garden tomatoes cut into bite size chunks
• Handful of chopped basil
• Garlic clove, chopped (or two depending on your love of garlic)
• at least 8oz or more of Brie cheese

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Drizzle with a good quantity of quality olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste
2. Cover and let marinate at room temp.
3. Put a big pot of pasta on the stove.  Cook, drain, and mix “sauce” with hot pasta.  Enjoy hot or at room temp.

Did you see those Japanese eggplants? This haul was: collards, yellow watermelon, basil, mint, grape tomatoes, green peppers, aforementioned eggplant, white onions, paches, apples and more of that Iggy’s bread we love.

Roasted Tomato and Corn Risotto

I have a thing for risotto. It’s like love, but stronger. I will order it anywhere it’s on the menu. I also love arancini (The only real answer to what to do with any leftover risotto. Come to think of it, it’s the excuse I use to make too much risotto.) Made with arborio rice, it’s heavenly and creamy and comforting and you can eat it with a spoon. I love things you can eat with a spoon. Here’s something – I have successfully made risotto with pearled barley, and in some ways I prefer it. It makes me feel a bit more virtuous.

3-4 cups of vegetable broth

1 cup arborio rice

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 small onion, sliced into very thin half moons

2 ears of corn, kernels cut

2 big handfuls of basil

Grated parmesan or romano cheese. Maybe a cup or so.

the usual suspects: olive oil, salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Put tomatoes in a dish for roasting, and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. I cooked mine for about 30 mins, until they were very soft.

In a small stockpot, heat the broth and keep the flame low (so that the heat is consistent. You want to add only hot broth to the rice and vegetables.) In a large sautee pan or soup pan, sautee onions and corn in olive oil, until softened. Add the uncooked rice and stir. It’ll make a kind of cracking noise. At this point I add a little butter (about a tablespoon) just to get a little creaminess in there.

Now, you’ll add the hot broth one ladle at a time. This process takes a bit. You want the rice to absorb the liquid and cook slowly, stirring all the while. You do need to babysit the process. When the last of the broth has been added, stir in the cheese. I go slowly with this, because you can always add more as you need to. When rice is fully cooked and liquid is absorbed, add the roasted tomatoes to the mix (if you add them sooner, they’ll fall apart) and the basil. Top with a little more cheese if you like. This made 4 servings for us.

Greek Yogurt with Peaches

I started making my own yogurt because 1) we were spending so much on it a month, the budget was getting out of control, and 2) because the much-mentioned Anne said it’s so easy, and I might as well.

We have a Salton YM7 maker, and it came from Amazon for about $23, on sale. It’s here for about $35 now:

http://www.amazon.com/Salton-YM7-42-Ounce-Electric-Yogurt/dp/B000FG0TSM

Once I make the yogurt, I cool it in the fridge for at least 2 hours, and then strain with a cheesecloth. Instant greek yogurt! I typically use Brown Cow plain yogurt as my starter, and I don’t use powdered milk or a culture. I know everyone does it different though. Once you have your starter going, you can reuse your own a few times.

So, this is a typical breakfast, seen here in its handy-transport-to-work-Snaplock.

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1 small peach, diced into pieces

1 tablespoon walnuts

very small drizzle of maple syrup

Assemble like a little parfait. Enjoy!

Sesame Chicken with Udon

Stir fry is such a quick and easy solution! Every time I make it I wonder why I don’t do this more often.

1 bundle of udon noodles, cooked

1/2 onion, sliced into rounds or half moons

1 green pepper, cut into cubed pieces

2 celery stalks, sliced on an angle

2 carrots, cut into matchsticks

1 Japanese eggplant, skin on, cut into thin half moons

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 large chicken breast, cut into small, even sized pieces

For the stir fry sauce:

1/4 cup vegetable broth

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp balsamic or rice wine vinegar (all I had was balsamic and it came out really good! though, rice wine is the usual suspect for this dish.)

2 tsp hot or regular sesame oil

pinch of sugar

Cook udon according to directions and set aside. Mix all sauce ingredients well and set aside. In a wok or stir fry pan, heat a little oil and add your veggies to a very hot pan. Cook until they’re starting to soften. Add your chicken and sauce, reduce heat and partially cover. When chicken is cooked through, spoon over udon and garnish with sesame seeds if you like! Made 2 servings.

Roasted Eggplant Salad

I realize it’s kind of brown and not much to look at, but it was probably my favorite dish of the whole week. Mint, basil, eggplant, feta, balsamic…..the flavors all want to live together. I was sad to be out of eggplant, after this.

2 Japanese eggplants, skin on, cut into rounds

tomatoes to taste, diced

cucumber (I like the English cucumber, skin on and quartered)

small head red leaf lettuce, cut into ribbons

good handful each of basil and mint

crumbled feta cheese

olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Add your eggplant to roasting dish with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast until it looks like the above photo. I think mine took about 40 minutes. Assemble salad: mix the lettuce with basil and mint. Add tomatoes, cucumber and then warm eggplant. Top with crumbled feta. Sprinkle pepper, salt (if you need any) and drizzle the olive oil and balsamic over to taste. We had this as a very delicious meal! No leftovers.

Marinated Panko-Tofu with Fried Rice

This kind of mock-fried rice is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. I cook the rice in advance, so it’s ready to go when I want to make this. I prefer Jasmine for this dish. I quickly sautee some vegetables, add a little low sodium soy sauce and a beaten egg. I have been known to throw in chickpeas too, in search of a little extra protein. Laugh if you will, but it goes down easy! I’ll confess I like this best with broccoli and peas, but I sadly had neither. I was doing a use-it-up challange with the fridge, so I was reluctant to go shopping.

1/2 block extra firm tofu

2 scallions, minced

2 stalks celery, cut into small diced pieces

3 carrots, cut into similar size pieces as celery

~10 cabbage leaves, thick stems trimmed and cut into very thin ribbons

1 green pepper, cut into small matchsticks

1 cup panko bread crumbs

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup cooked rice

soy sauce to taste

black and red pepper

3/4 cup San J Szechuan Sauce (or you can make your own)

sesame oil

Cut the tofu in half width-wise, then in half length-wise. These are your four pieces for the dish. You can then cut the tofu into fingers or cubes (I went with cubes). Arrange on a plate between several layers of papertowels and cover with a heavy pan, so that the water is pressed out. This will make for tastier baked tofu.

Once water is pressed out (takes about an hour), marinate the tofu. I really love the San J sauce, and you can find it at Whole Foods. It’s gluten free and spicy. Good stuff from a bottle! Marinate in marinade of your choice or the San J sauce. I left in it about 2 hours. Then coat each cube or finger in panko breadcrumbs.

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange tofu on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

In a sautee pan, heat a little bit of oil and add your vegetables. Cover and simmer to cook the cabbage thoroughly. Add cooked rice slowly, until the rice to vegetable ratio is the way you like it. Pour 2 beaten eggs over the mixture and cook on low until eggs are set. Drizzle on soy sauce and sesame oil. Top with baked tofu. Happy, happy.

Another Pizza?

Yes, another one! The recipe from the Week #8 is similar, though I used a can of crushed tomatoes here and added lots of oregano, red and black pepper, sea salt, a sprinkle of garlic powder and a pinch of sugar. Everything else is the same! (We love pizza in the Wade house!)

Spa Water

When life hands you mint and cucumbers, make spa water.

You need:

filtered water

a bunch of mint

cucumber sliced into thin rounds

Add mint and cucumber to the bottom of a pretty pitcher. Fill with water. Chill in the fridge. Ahhhhh.

The goodies:

Week #5 was chockful of: black raspberries, blueberries, zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, beets, carrots, walnut sourdough, basil vinegar and arugula.

I love the photos my husband takes!

It seemed to be a little cooler this week (or perhaps I have acclimated finally?) so I did more than just salad assembling. What did I do with this lovely haulage? Check it out.

Black Raspberry Bread with Whipped Creme

I was imagining a spongey, lemony, fluffy goodness of a bread. My husband pretty much wants everything with whipped cream (I am incredibly grateful for my KitchenAid stand mixer!) and I wanted something light and refreshing to accompany it.

I adapted it from this Lemon Blueberry Bread recipe over at All Recipes, which is a handy site (espescially if you’re wondering what to do with an ingredient you’ve got on hand. You can simply enter random ingredients into their search feature. It gives me lots of ideas when I get stuck.)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

juice and zest of 1 lemon

 2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1 pint black raspberries

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Cream together eggs and butter for three minutes. Add milk, lemon juice and zest. Add dry ingredients. After washing black raspberries, toss in flour before adding to cake batter. This assures they won’t sink to the bottom of the bread. Which makes for prettier pictures.

Bake at 350 until it’s done. My oven took about 25 minutes.

For the whipped cream, I used about a cup of heavy cream (I prefer this to whipping cream as I feel it’s got too many unnatural ingredients and I don’t want monoglycerides in my food) and 2 tablespoons of organic powdered sugar. You can use a hand or stand mixer, or, if you’re looking to work your upper body, whisk it by hand! I topped the whipped cream with mint, because mint makes things look fancy. 

Caprese Salad

 I know, right? You can totally taste it. These tomatoes were HANDS DOWN pretty amazing. I wanted to really taste the tomatoes and make them the feature of the dish. I paired with slices of mozzarella, and farm share basil (from the potted herbs in week #1). I arranged in a circle, topped with extra virgin olive oil, cracked pepper and coarse salt. Suffice as to say, there was nothing remaining in short time. We loved it!

Roasted Zucchini and Summer Squash with Lemon Ricotta

Blogging pics of (mainly) everything I cook has opened my eyes a lot. I tend to make a lot of salad! I was trying NOT to do that this week. I decided to roast these up instead.

1 zucchini, diced into even pieces

1 summer squash, diced into even pieces

drizzle of olive oil

pinch of fennel seeds

pinch of cumin seeds

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Salt, pepper

ricotta

Preheat oven to 400. Add veggies and oil to a pan and roast for about 18 minutes. Remove from oven, add spices, toss, and return to oven for five minutes.

In a bowl, add a few spoonfuls of ricotta, and juice of the lemon half. Mix up, and plate next to the zucchini and squash. Add a wee bit more olive oil to the ricotta. They’re really good when you eat them together!

Roasted Beets with Rosemary

My girlfriend Anne and I could talk about food and recipes for days on end – and we sometimes do! So when she sent me a link for a recipe for roasted beets, I jumped right on it. We made the same thing for dinner that night. And when your dear friend is all the way in Kentucky, it’s a nice little feeling.

You can check it out right here: Roasted Beet Wedges

Moroccan Tagine

This is 1) a favorite in our house and 2) a total joke in some ways. I have “threatened” to make this on many a hot night, only to scrap it at the last minute. Hey, I always have the best of intentions. And while I can do lots of things, I can’t control the weather. So now “moroccan” is synonymous with “we’re-totally-getting-takeout-instead”.

I came across this recipe this past winter, and ohhhhh, I have been in love with it since. I used the farm share carrots for this little gem.

Moroccan Tagine from Bon Appetit is a great recipe. I make it exactly as it reads here. I think you could substitute ground chicken, turkey or ground meatless, for the vegetarians. It’s really REALLY good. I hope you make it and LOVE IT!

Rinse Kale and shake dry. Trim and cut off long stalks, rip or cut the leaves in to bite-sized pieces. Heat olive oil in a deep Dutch oven or wok over medium-high heat. Squeeze garlic through a garlic press (or use diced/crushed garlic) into the hot oil. When the garlic starts to brown, drop in kale. Stir frequently during the first minute or two to ensure that all the leaves are coated with oil and turn a brilliant green. Reduce heat to medium and cover, stirring occasionally, or until all leaves are wilted – about another 5-10 minutes. Pour in two cans of spiced diced tomatoes and sprinkle with cumin. Stir. Cook over medium low heat 10-20 minutes more or until kale is tender. This dish can be kept simmering for hours and is delicious when warmed as a leftover or after being frozen.
Adapted from Penzey’s One Magazine, Vol 1 Issue 5.

One bunch kale
a bunch of plum tomatoes, chopped
lemon juice from 1-2 lemons
flax oil
1-2 avocados
sea salt (pinch)
cayenne (optional, to taste)

Wash and cut kale into small pieces.  Add flax oil and sea salt and rub it in with your fingers. It should now get a wilted/cooked look. Scoop out the avocado and blend it in well with your hands. Next add the lemon juice, toss again. Add tomatoes and cayenne (optional) toss again.  Enjoy!

To remove the rind from the brie, chill it well in the refrigerator; cut the wedge in half (like a piece of pie) and stand each piece up, cut-side down. Use a knife with a long, thin blade to slice off the rind. You can omit the sun-dried tomatoes and/or kalamata olives, if you don’t have them on hand.

•  1 lb brie, rind removed, cut into small pieces
• 5 oz sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and cut into thin strips
• 4 ripe tomatoes, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 18 ounces fresh linguine or 1 pound dried
• freshly grated fontina or parmesan cheese, to taste

1.  In a large bowl, combine Brie, sundried tomatoes, tomatoes, olives, garlic, basil, pepper and olive oil. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. (Optional: occasionally remove cover, stir and inhale the heady aroma of your future dinner). 

2.  Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and immediately toss with tomato mixture (the brie will melt a bit, depending on the butterfat content and state of your cheese – the riper the brie, the more melting). Serve immediately with grated cheese. Serves 4-6 as a main course.