BBQ Lunch Box

So- my new phone has a camera and I thought it would be a great way to take a picture of my lunchbox for the blog. As you can see, it was not the best idea ever and the rice looks positively radioactive, which I promise you it was not. So, if you will excuse the picture, let me tell you about my lunch.

First off, I like tofu. I always have and it's nothing that I'm forcing upon myself (or Zach) for the vegan challenge. I don't really understand it when people say they don't like tofu, as I think it's fairly neutral in terms of taste and texture. What I love about tofu is it's ability to soak up flavors in a sauce or a marinade. I would say that about 90% of the time that I eat meat, I'm not actually after the meat itself, but the delicious curry, sauce or marinade that it's in, so tofu is a perfect substitute for me. In preparation for the Vegan MoFo, I got Vegan with a Vengance from the library and marked a ton of recipes that I wanted to try, including BBQ Pomegranate Tofu.

I'd never made BBQ sauce before, so I thought I would try it, along with some coconut rice and roasted broccoli. I made a few changes to the recipe, substituting fresh pomegranate for the pomegranate molasses as my grocery store didn't have it, and leaving out the peanut butter, since Zach can't stand it. I've also decreased the amount of oil and soy sauce that the tofu is baked with, as I thought it could do with less. The BBQ tofu took a bit longer to make than expected (45 minutes total) so by the time dinner was finally ready, I was starving, but it was totally worth it. I can't remember the last time I made a protein plus two sides, so that in itself was novel. The BBQ sauce was great on the tofu, and the roasted broccoli was crisp and delicious, both with and without the sauce. I overcooked the rice a bit, but I'm sure you won't have that problem. Recipes after the jump.

BBQ Pomegranate Tofu
Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance
Serves 4

For the tofu
1lb/450g firm tofu, cut into 12 pieces
1 t. olive oil
2 t. tamari

For the BBQ sauce
1 T olive oil
1 C/2 large shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1t five-spice powder
4oz/120g tomato paste
2 C/500ml vegetable broth
2 T pomegranate molasses
1/2 C pomegranate arils
1T Tamari or soy sauce
1/4C/60ml maple syrup
1t hot sauce (or to taste)
1t liquid smoke

-Preheat oven to 350. Put the tofu in baking dish, pour the olive oil and soy sauce over it, and turn to coat. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the pan from the oven, flip the tofu and bake for another 15 minutes. While the tofu is baking, start the sauce.

- Heat a saucepan over medium. Add the oil and saute the shallots for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic, 5 spice and tomato paste and sauté 1 minute more. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

-Put a few ladle fulls of sauce over the tofu and bake for 15 minutes longer.

Coconut Rice
Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance
Serves however many you'd like it to

Jasmine Rice
Light coconut milk
1 Lime

- Prepare rice according to package directions, substituting coconut milk for about 1/4-1/2 of the water.

- When rice is finished cooking, add the zest of one lime and fluff.

Roasted Broccoli
Serves 4

1.5lb/700g broccoli
olive oil
salt
pepper

- Preheat oven to 350F (you may already have it going for the tofu).

- Cut broccoli into florets, put in on a large baking sheet, drizzle on a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Give it a good mix and stick it in the oven for 20-30 minutes, stirring once. It's done when it's crisp-tender and starting to brown.

Lentil Chili

Since the weather had suddenly gotten cold here and I've had to pull out my winter biking gear for my daily commute, chili seemed like the perfect thing to help me defrost after the ride home from work. One of my favorite cooking magazines, Cuisine at Home, had a recipe for lentil chili which was practially vegan so it I thought it would be a good start to my Vegan MoFo. I will admit to being slightly sceptical of a lentil chili, thinking that chili had to include beans, but I was completely blown away at how delicious it was. Smoky and full of spice without being too hot, it was absolutely perfect with fresh hot corn muffins and even better for lunch the next day along with a hunk of fresh bread and avocado. You won't miss the beans- I promise. Recipe after the jump.

Chicken Saagwala and a Challenge

Was it really a month ago that I was promising new posts and recipes with regular frequency? Alas, my innate laziness has manifested itself in the blogosphere was a severe lack of postings. As I need a swift kick to get the posting started again, I have joined the NaBloPoMo- the National Blog Posting Month Challenge. The official big month of daily blog posting was in November, but NaBloMaPo goes on every month and I'm looking forward to the challenge so check back every day (gasp) for a new food related posting.

And now, for my first November posting, what could be better than this Chicken Saagwala? After all the Thanksgiving turkey and cranberrry sauce, and with all the holiday parties with cookies, hams and the rest of it, this light chicken and spinach dish is full of flavor but easy on the waistline. Did I mention you can make it in about 30 minutes?

This recipe is based off one I found in the Weight Watcher Cookbook. Before you write it off as 'diet' food and therefore tasteless and me as having abandoned good food altogether, hear me out. We all, from time to time, need to focus more on healthy eating. For me, that time is now, and I have to think that some of you out there would like some lighter options to make at home during a month when there are tempting holiday treats at seemingly every turn. I'll never post anything on the blog just because it's healthy- it also has to be delicious and something that I would be happy to serve to guests in my home.

I made this recipe last night fully expecting it to be a mediocre homemade Indian dish but Zach and I were blown away wth how tasty it was. The spices really pop thanks to a quick toasting in oil and since it cooks quickly, the spinach and tomatoes retain their color and the chicken breast doesn't dry out. I added some yogurt at the end to round out the flavors and add a hint of creaminess dish and served it with some (leftover) white rice. This really is one of the tastiest dishes I've made in a long time and I'm excited to have another winning Indian dish in my repertoire. Also a plus- it's gluten-free and could easily be made vegetarian with the substitution of tofu instead of the chicken. Don't have yogurt on hand? Stir in a little cream for a richer flavor or leave it out all together if you're lactose intolerant.

Note: this flavor of this dish depends on the quality of your spices. If you curry powder has been hanging out in the spice rack since the last administration it's probably time to get a new one. I used McCormick brand curry powder (the one in the glass jar with the green lid) and would recommend it.

Chicken Saagwala
Adapted from the Weight Watchers Cookbook
Serves 4

1 T plus 2t vegetable oil
2 T minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T + 1 t curry powder
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t ground cumin
12oz/350g chicken breast or tenders or tofu, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
12 oz/300g frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/3C/75g low-fat plain yogurt
hot white or brown rice, naan, or pita bread (optional to complete your meal)

- Put the oil, ginger, garlic and spices in a non-stick skillet (that has a lid) and turn the heat to medium. Once the mix starts sizzling and bubbling, stir and toast for 2-3 minutes until very fragrant.

- Add the chicken and stir to coat with the spice mixture. Add the tomatoes, mix again and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, still on medium heat, stirring occasionally.

- Add the spinach, stir, re-cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

- Add the yogurt, stir and and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with your accompaniments.

Tossed Salad with Indian Spiced Chicken

I remember reading an article a few years ago stating that the average American family has about a dozen core recipes in its meal lineup, and repeats them, with a few variations, most of the time. At the time, I thought that would be awfully boring, but I've given more thought to it lately, as I haven't been making things I thought were interesting enough to post on the blog. Part of why I started writing this blog was to encourage myself to try new foods and techniques in the kitchen and it's worked, but lately I found myself in a culinary rut. Granted, this was after a summer of heavy travel when I had simply gotten out of the habit of meal planning and into the habit of pasta and veggie burgers. Now that some big life things have happened- Zach and I got married, I'm leaving my job to take some time off before the new job starts (a luxury I really do appreciate), I am ready to get the blog fired up again.

I thought I would start with a 'make the old new again' kind of recipe, turning Indian Spiced Chicken Bites into a meal but putting them on top of a tossed salad with an Indian spice dressing and serving it with warm pita. Is it the most magnificent thing I've ever made in the kitchen? Certainly not; but it was a quick, balanced meal that combines everyday ingredients with a few new tastes to add some excitement to a weeknight dinner.

Tossed Salad with Indian Spiced Chicken
Serves 2, easily doubled
Dressing based on this recipe

1/2 recipe Indian Spiced Chicken Bites
1/2 head romaine (or your preferred) lettuce, torn into pieces
2 carrots, shredded
1/2 C. raisins or chopped dried apricots

salad dressing (below)

- Toss all the ingredients for the salad in a large bowl. Top with dressing and toss again. Serve.


Salad dressing (you'll probably have leftovers)

a bit of lemon zest
2T lemon juice
1/2t turmeric
1/2t cumin
1/2t coriander
1 small glove garlic, mashed into a paste
1/2t sugar
2t grated fresh ginger
chili paste to taste
salt to taste
1/4-1/2C light flavored oil

- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a wisk.

Smoky Grilled Chicken

Back in D.C. from a lovely long vacation and thought I would post on this smoky grilled chicken I made a few weeks ago. It's from a recipe my co-worker S- and I saw on the Food Network (don't worry, it was after hours) and we both thought it looked amazing. First, a spice rub and then a long, slow cook on a grill with wood chips to give the chicken great flavor and color. It was fantastic, easily the best grilled chicken I have ever made, and quite simple too. The only problem was that the chicken took about 2 hours to cook so we had dinner at around 10pm... which meant there was a little too much time for mojitos beforehand.

I followed the Neely's recipe closely, so I will leave you with the link and few notes:

1) We used a 'sweet' smoking mix S- picked up from World Market that included applewood but had other things too
2) We have a kettle style charcoal grill so followed Alton Brown's suggestion of making a foil pouch for the (pre-soaked) wood chips and snipping little holes it and it worked well
3) The chicken might take a long time to cook through- have some tasty drinks on hand and friends to keep you company while you wait

Turkish Style Baked Eggs

I was reading Chocolate and Zucchini the other week and saw Clotilde's link to The New Vegetarian Column in the UK's Guardian newspaper. I was intrigued as I had read about the column's author, Yotam Ottolenghi, on other blog posts as he is the owner of a delicatessen, in the true meaning of the word, in London. I'm always on the lookout for meals that don't involve meat, and Zach and I love getting Turkish food out, so I eagerly read through Ottolenghi's recent columns looking for things to make.

When I had found this recipe and announced to the office that I was going to make baked eggs with yogurt and spinach for dinner, my co-worker S- actually started laughing. I will admit that it might sound a bit strange, but if you think about it like a variation on eggs florentine, with the spinach, yogurt instead of hollandaise and a bit of chili oil on top, it starts to sound a lot more normal.

It only took about 10 minutes to put everything together and it should have only taken another 10-15 to bake but I can never tell when baked eggs are done and cooked them for way too long. The finished dish was still really good though, topped with garlicy homemade yogurt, even if the eggs were overcooked. The chili sauce was a revelation though-- as its very similar to an amazing sauce that Zaytinya, one of our favorite DC restaurants, puts on its manti.

I made a few changes to the original recipe, as I couldn't find arugula and reduced the fat content a bit (per usual) so my version of the recipe is below.

Turkish Style Baked Eggs
Adapted from The New Vegetarian
Serves 2-3 for dinner

1 bunch (300g) fresh spinach
2 t. olive oil
4 eggs
3/4 C (150g) Greek yogurt
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2 T (20)g unsalted butter
1/2 t. sweet paprika
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
6 sage leaves, shredded
salt for topping

- Preheat the oven to 300F (150C). Wash the spinach, remove the stems. Head a big frying pan over medium high heat with the oil. Add the spinach and a pinch of salt. Cook until the spinach is wilted and all of the water has evaporated. If you can, use a spatula to squeeze more water out of the spinach.

- Put the spinach in a small, ovenproof dish and make four wells that go almost to the bottom of the spinach. Break and egg into a custard cup (try to keep the yolk whole) and then pour into a well; repeat with remaining eggs. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the egg whites set. (you might want to give it a stab with a fork to check doneness as it's very hard to do by sight)

- While the eggs are cooking, mix the yogurt, the crushed garlic and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Leave on the counter till ready to serve.

- Wipe out the pan you used for the spinach. Add the butter and turn on the heat. Cook until the butter stops foaming then add the paprika and red pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Add the sage leaves, cook for another minute and turn off the heat.

- Remove the eggs from the oven when they're done. Fish the garlic out of the yogurt mix, then pour the yogurt on the center of the egg dish. Pour the butter mix over the top and serve immediately.

Quiche in a Crepe

The final push has begun, T minus 5 days until my comprehensive exam. As you can imagine, I've spent very little time in the kitchen lately and when I have, it's just been to throw a few things together for dinner without regard for a recipe or making things presentable enough for a photo. Last Friday I couldn't stand it anymore and decided to find a recipe and make something new for dinner. I didn't want anything too heavy, or that would take to long, and after throwing some ideas around at the office (it's great to have co-workers as interested in food as I am) I decided on a quiche.

Though I love getting quiche out, it's always seemed a bit too fussy and indulgent to make at home. Pastry crust, for me, is reserved for special occasions and Friday night dinner is not one of them. I poked around a bit on the internet and came across an Alton Brown recipe for quiche made with a crepe crust instead of a short pastry. It seemed like the perfect solution and so it was. Zach made the crepe batter while I was at yoga and used some dried herbs de provance in place of the fresh called for (he even looked up the equivalency for dry to fresh herbs online!) and the crepe batter was ready to go when I got home. We cooked the crepes, sliced up the taylor ham, quickly sauteed an onion in a bit of olive oil, beat the eggs and milk and things were ready to go. I don't have a jumbo muffin pan, as Alton calls for, so the recipe made about 10 mini-quiches instead of the 6 in the recipe.

The quiche came out perfectly. It had light, delicate texture and the herbs de provence complimented the flavor of the eggs and ham. A little cheddar cheese on top added color and richness and with a spinach salad, it was a complete dinner.

I made very few changes to the recipe so I will give you the link if you'd like to try it and I'll list my changes below.

- Substitute a few slices of taylor ham for bacon
- Use olive oil in place of butter
- Cut back on the cheese to 4 ounces
- Make sure to grease your muffin tin!!! I didn't and had a heck of a time trying to get the final quiches out
- My quiche took about 20 minutes to cook in the regular size muffin tins- the quiches will get all puffy when they are done.

Southwestern Spiced Beef Tenderloin with Chipotle Mashed Potatoes, Lemon Crema and Wilted Spinach

Long name but what if I told you that you could have all of this on the table within 40 minutes? You might be doubtful at first, but with a little planning you can do it quite easily.

I couldn't decide what to make for Valentine's Day dinner, but after getting the recipe for the spiced flourless chocolate cakes I thought that the main course should have a similar flavor profile, a bit spicy, to make it seem like a real menu, not just things thrown together for dinner. I went through my old issues of Cuisine at Home, looking for inspiration and came across the recipes mentioned above. It seemed like more fuss than I usually bother with, but as it was Valentine's Day I decided it would be worth it. Once I started cooking though, I realized that this menu is deceptively simple.

Nothing about it is hard, tricky or complicated and it's easy to keep components warm as you make them, so there is no last minute freakout as you realize that the steaks are done but your potatoes have 5 minutes to go. The chipotle mashed potatoes add a new flavor to an old standby and the lemon crema tames the heat and brings a bit of richness and extravagance to the party. Garlicky wilted spinach adds a burst of bright green color and texture contrast and serves as the perfect nest for a piece of spice encrusted beef tenderloin.

I'm usually a bit nervous about butchering a decent cut of steak since I only make it twice a year, but the cooking technique I used (a mash of America's Test Kitchen and Alton Brown's methods) makes it foolproof. I hope that you'll try out this menu for your next dinner party, or special occasion at home dinner- I will definitley be making it again.

When I was cooking I wished that I had a breakdown of when to do what, instead of 5 recipes on a page without any direction so I've put together this timing list. I hope it's helpful

Southwestern Spiced Beef Tenderloin with Chipotle Mashed Potatoes, Lemon Crema and Wilted Spinach
Adapted from Cuisine at Home
Serves 2, with room for dessert

Timing Notes:
-1 hour before cooking, put beef on the counter to take the chill off
-15 minutes before cooking, turn oven on to 200F, take out all your ingredients and line them up on the counter
Cooking starts:
-Put steaks in oven
-Peel potatoes, chop and set to boil boil
-Make lemon crema
-Make compound butter
-Prep additions to the potatoes
-Drain and mash potatoes, reserving the liquid.
-Take steaks out of the oven and sear on the stove, set aside to rest.
-Wilt spinach.
-Plate and enjoy.

For the Beef:

1 t. brown sugar
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. paprika
1/4 t. chili powder
a few grinds of pepper
2 beef tenderloin filets, about 4oz (120g) each
1 t. vegetable oil

- Preheat oven to 200F.

- Mix the sugar and spices and press the top and bottom of each fillet (leave the sides unseasoned)) in the mix. Insert a probe thermometer into one of the filets and set the alert temp. to 95F (for very rare). Bake filets on a wire rack above a pan for 20-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature is achieved.

- Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat with the vegetable oil until it begins to smoke. Sear the steaks for about 45 seconds on each side or until they develop a brown crust. You can sear the sides as well if you like. Set the filets aside to rest for a few minutes and serve.

For the Spuds:

1/2 lb (500g) potatoes
1/2 C. half and half
1 T. scallion, thinly sliced
1 chipotle en adobo, minced (start easy on the peppers, they're spicy)
salt and pepper to taste

- Peel the potatoes and cut into uniformish chunks. Put in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain the potatoes (I drained the water into a metal bowl so I could pour it back into the pot and use it as a double boiler to keep the potatoes warm)

- Let the potatoes dry in the pot for a minute or two. Heat the half and half. Put the potatoes in a heat safe bowl and then mash them with as much cream as you like and chipotle as you dare. Mix in the scallions and add salt and pepper to taste.

- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set over a double boiler to keep warm.

For the Lemon Crema:

2 T. lowfat sour cream
2 t. lemon juice
zest of about 1/4 a lemon

- Mix it all together in a little bowl and chill till ready to plate

For the Compound Butter:

2 t. butter, softened
1 t. chopped parseley, or celery leaves
a bit of lemon zest (depends how much you like it)
a little squeeze of lemon juice

- Mix it all together and then stash it in the fridge until ready to use

For the Garlic Wilted Spinach

1 clove garlic, smashed
1 t. olive oil
6 oz (180g) baby spinach leaves
salt and pepper to taste

- Add the garlic and olive oil to a skillet large enough to hold the spinach. Heat over medium low until the garlic get lightly browned. Add the spinach and stir to coat with the oil. Cook until just wilted and then plate immediately.

For the assembly:

- Divide the spuds evenly between the plates.

- Top each with half of the lemon crema.

- Split the spinach between the plates and set it on top of the crema.

- Perch a filet of beef on top and finish it all off with a pat of the compound butter.

- Enjoy.

Black Bean and Chard Enchilada Pie

Sorry for the flashy photo- it was the only one of the bunch that came out and as I liked this recipe so much, I just had to post it, even with the bad photo.

K* and I have been attempted to have Saturday study sessions this semester. With roommates stopping by, the Saturday paper inserts and about a hundred other things more interesting than our schoolwork, these sessions are never as productive as we'd want them to be. Especially for me, as I generally spend the last hour trying to decide what to make for dinner that night so I can stop at the grocery store on the way home. Last Saturday was really cold here so I wanted something comforting and warm but not too heavy. I came across an enchilada pie on one of the blogs that I read and decided that would be the perfect thing.

Of course, I'm almost never content to make the first recipe for anything that crosses my path, so I kept searching until I came across one for a chicken and swiss chard enchilada pie on the Food Network website. The chard intrigued me, as it's one of my new favorite vegetables, but I didn't really feel like dealing with chicken. It's not that I have anything against chicken per se but it seems to get thrown in a lot of recipes as a sort of protein filler, without regard to enhancing the flavor of the recipe at all. The chicken in this recipe, just cooked and shredded with no seasonings, filled that role to a T, so I decided to substitute black beans instead. Cheaper, easier and hopefully tastier.

I had the choice of two types of canned black beans a the store- regular and seasoned. Normally I'm skeptical of pre-seasoned products but these black beans only had onion, garlic and oregano added and were 35 cents cheaper than the plain beans so I was sold. When I got home and ready to cook, I noticed the recipe called for frying the tortillas in oil before assembling the pie. While this would prevent the tortillas from getting mushy, it would also add a layer of fat and fuss to the recipe that I really wasn't looking for. Instead, I popped the tortillas in the oven to dry out a bit while it was preheating.

While they were drying, I chopped and cooked the chard with garlic and made the blender tomato sauce and Zach shredded the cheese. Assembly took 5 minutes and after 20 in the oven, dinner was ready to go. I was a little nervous for my first forkful with all the changes I had made to the recipe, but I am happy to report it all went well. The beans had just the right amount of flavor and the chard added a hint of sweetness. The tortillas did get soft, but I sort of like that in a casserole. The sauce had great flavor but I would have liked it with more spice and in a greater quantity, so I've reflected that in the recipe below. This one is definitley going to make a reappearance (it would be great for a pot-luck and is also gluten free).

Black Bean and Chard Enchilada Pie
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine/FoodNetwork
Serves 6

2 t. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch Swiss chard (can close your hand easily around the stalks), leaves and stalks separated
1/4 C (60ml) water
2 cans (14oz/400ml each) seasoned black beans, drained and rinsed (or use plain and add a pinch of cumin and coriander
12 small corn tortillas
I recipe Mexican-style tomato sauce, recipe follows
1/2 C (125ml) chicken or vegetable broth
8oz (225g) sharp cheddar or monterey jack or a blend


- Preheat the oven to 350F. While the oven is heating, spread the tortillas directly on the racks and allows to dry until they are leathery but not brittle. Set aside for later.

- Cut the chard stalks into small pieces. Add the chard stalks, water and garlic to a large skillet, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Chop the chard leaves into pieces and add to the stalks. Cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the chard is tender. Drain well. Mix the chard with the beans.

- Spread about 1/2 C(125ml) tomato sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish and top with a single layer of 4 tortillas. Spread on half of the chard and bean mixture, 1/3 of the cheese and 1 C. of tomato sauce. Place another 4 tortillas on top and repeat. Place the last 4 tortillas on top, top off with the remaining sauce and then the rest of the cheese.

- Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve immediately.

Mexican Style Tomato Sauce

1 35oz (1000ml) can plum tomatoes with their juice
1 onion, chopped coarsely
2 garlic cloves, chopped coarsely
2 fresh jalapeno chiles (use more or less depending on your spice preference)
1 tablespoons vegetable oil

- Blend first 4 ingredients in your blender until smooth.

- Heat oil in a large skillet. Pour in tomato sauce and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Use in recipe above.

Spaghetti with Crispy Garlic Chard Ragout*

This is another recipe I found in one of my mum's magazines- Gourmet, to be exact. You might remember I mentioned making a Giada de Laurentiis recipe a few weeks ago for pasta and chard that was utterly underwhelming.  Well this Gourmet recipe was exactly what I was hoping for the first time around: delicate chard infused with garlic punctuated by sharp bites of feta cheese, briny olives and bursts of sweet raisin, all topped off with crunchy garlic chips. Basically perfect. So good in fact, that I ate the leftovers for 3 meals running, something that I never do.

The recipe below is very similar to the original with some minor modifications. I cut back on the amount of pasta from a carb overloaded 1 lb. for 4-6 people to 10 oz. and shifted the other proportions accordingly (well maybe I decreased the amount of oil significantly to...). Give this one a try- it does take a little time but it's well worth it. Recipe after the jump.

Spaghetti with Crispy Garlic Chard Ragout
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine
Serves 4-5

10 oz. whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 c. pasta cooking water
3 T. olive oil
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/3 c. raisins
bunch of Swiss Chard (a small handful when you grab around the stems), stems and center red ribs chopped into bite sized pieces and leaves roughly chopped
1/2 t. salt
fresh black pepper
1/3 c. kalamata olives, roughly chopped
4-5 oz. feta cheese

- Set a large pot of water for the pasta on to boil.

- Add oil and garlic to a large skillet (I used a non-stick since that's what I've got) over medium heat and cook garlic until golden, around 3 minutes. Remove garlic to a paper towel lined plate.

- Add onion to remaining oil in skillet ad cook until softened, 3-5 minutes. Add the raisins and cook for a minute than add the chard stems and give a good stir. [Timing note- add the pasta to the pot of boiling water now] Add in 1/2 c. water, the salt and several grates of pepper to the onion and chard stems and turn the heat up to medium high. Pop on the lid and let it bubble away for 5 minutes then stir in the leaves, recover and cook for another 5 minutes (until the chard is tender).

- Drain spaghetti (don't forget to save 1/2 c. of the pasta cooking water). Toss the spaghetti with the chard mixture and olives, added as much pasta water as you need to coat everything. There won't be that much sauce, but it shouldn't look dry. Plate the pasta and top with crumbled feta and garlic chips and enjoy.

*I know this doesn't seem like a traditional ragout and it isn't but I needed a better name for this dish than pasta with chard and garlic.   I wanted something that would convey a little sophistication and excitement and since one of the meanings of ragout, according to Merriam-Webster, is mixture I though it would work just fine.

Crock Pot Cassoulet

Finals and some technical problems have kept me out of the kitchen and away from the computer for a while so thank you for your patience with the lag in between posts. Just one more week to go and I will finally be done with the semester and able to cook and catch up on everyone's blogs but for now I'll try to do a few quick posts.

One of my favorite things to do when I'm home is look through my mum's cooking magazines. She gets them all: Gourmet, Bon Appetite, Cooks Illustrated and a few smaller ones as well. I love flipping through and picking out recipes that look good, even though I'm not sure everyone else does as I'm constantly interrupting to read out recipe titles and say 'oh-doesn't this sound good.'

I found a recipe for a slow-cooker version of cassoulet, a French bean stew that generally takes days to make otherwise, and, as I'd just discovered my grandma's old Rival crockpot from circa 1972 in the basement of my dad's house, I decided I'd give it a try. I had to modify the recipe a bit to reduce the scale as I think modern slow-cookers are bigger than the older ones and I also left out the chicken as the recipe just called for it to be cooked in a foil packet on top of everything else in the cooker which sounded sort of odd to me. I also used bone-in St. Louis style ribs as opposed to boneless country style pork ribs (that the recipe called for), but feel free to use whichever you can find.

The cassoulet turned out very thick, with a rich sauce that was perfect to soak up with French Bread. Recipe after the jump (one last note-- you can make this in a Dutch oven if you don't have a crock pot.)

Slow Cooker Cassoulet
Adapted from Cooks' Country Magazine
Serves 6-8

1 lb. navy beans (any small white bean will do)
2 lb. Pork ribs, cut into 1 in. chunks
1 T. vegetable oil
8 oz. reduced fat kielbasa, slicked into thin pieces
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. dried thyme
3.5 C. chicken stock
1/2 C. white wine
1, 14 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 t. salt
pepper

- Pick through beans to remove any non-bean objects. Put in a saucepan and add water to about 1 in. over the beans. Bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes to soften. Drain beans and add to slow cooker.

- While the beans are cooking, pat pork dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and brown pork on both sides, working if batches if needed so as not to overcrowd the pan. As each batch finishes, toss the pork into the slow cooker.

- Once you have finished browning all the pork, add the kielbasa to the pan and brown for a few minutes. Remove kielbasa to a paper towel lined plate, cover and stick it in the fridge until later.

- Add the onion and salt to the same pan, along with a little extra oil if needed. Turn heat down to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion is softened. Add garlic and thyme and cook for an additional minute. Pour in the wine, broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan to get the fond (tasty brown stuff on the bottom of the pan). Carefully transfer the hot onion liquid mixture to the slow cooker.

- Cook the cassoulet on low in the slow cooker for 6-7 hours,* stirring every 30 minutes or so (or when you remember-- you just want to make sure the beans on the top cook too) until the pork is tender.

- When you are ready to eat stir the reserved kielbasa into the slow-cooker and allow to heat for about 10 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper and serve with crusty bread.

*If you haven't got a slow cooker, just do this part in the Dutch oven over low-heat. You want the cassoulet at a low simmer for the entire cooking period.

Weeknight Curry

I love curries. Indian, Thai, East Asian, I love them all. I didn't grow up eating curry and in fact never had it till I was an exchange student in Denmark (strange place for it I know). While I was there I took a Danish cooking class with some of the other students. We made the basics- meatballs, leek stuffed meatballs and anything else you can imagine with ground pork. My strongest memory though is going into the spice pantry and getting the jar of curry at the beginning of every class. My group was a bit obsessed and we put curry in everything. Most of the time it worked out and, well, everyone has to try curried spaghetti sauce once in their life right?

I hope the intervening years have given me a bit more appreciation for the flavors that make up curry and less desire to dump it on anything and everything. I still usually resort to a premixed curry powder but when I was searching for some recipes on the Food Network website last week, I came across one for curry that didn't call for curry powder. Normally, these kind of recipes seem to call for about 10 specialty spices I don't have but this one called for spices I knew I had on had. As an added bonus it also called for a bag of frozen veggies (not usually something I do, but as we just moved and I wasn't sure I could find a knife it sounded perfect).

I made a few small adjustments to the recipe as I most of my spices were ground and not whole and I left out the fennel seed as usual (no anise flavor for me, thank you). To thicken the curry, Alton Brown called for plain yogurt and cornstarch, an idea which I really liked as it would give the curry a creamy flavor without all the fat of coconut milk. I decided to use a low-fat Greek yogurt for extra creaminess, as it's already so thick, I left out the cornstarch called for. The last change was to add a third a cup of raisins since I always like something sweet in curries.

Zach and I both really liked the curry. Easy, cheap and healthy and it had so much flavor. To go with it we had basmati rice and spiced chicken, which I will post about this weekend.

Weeknight Curry
Adapted from Alton Brown
Serves 4 (along with a protein) or 2 on its own

Tip: I think it's helpful to measure out the spices and put them in bowls according to when they get added.

1, 1 lb. bag mixed frozen vegetables
2 t. vegetable oil
1/2 t. mustard seeds
1/2 t. ground cumin
1 t. ground turmeric
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 t. ground coriander
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, crushed with the flat of your knife and skin removed
2 dried red chiles (stems and seeds removed if less heat is desired)
1/4 t. sugar
1/2 t. kosher salt
2/3 C. (6 oz.) lowfat greek yogurt
1/3 C. raisins or chopped dried apricots or other dried fruit
ground black pepper to taste

- Poke a few holes in the vegetable bag and defrost the vegetables in the microwave.

- Eat the oil in a medium non-stick skillet. Add the mustard seeds and cover with a splatter screen. Cook until the seeds begin to pop.

- Add the cumin, turmeric, onion powder, coriander, cinnamon, garlic and chiles. Cook gently for 3-4 minutes to lightly brown the garlic. Add the vegetables, sugar and salt and cook on medium-high until the vegetables are hot.

- Put the yogurt in your serving bowl along with the raisins. Add the hot vegetables and stir to combine. Add pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Mustard Glazed Salmon

For the first night in our new house not eating pizza, I made two recipes I found on the food network website, both from Giada De Laurentiis. The first- spaghetti with chard sounded amazing but wasn't that remarkable but the second, broiled salmon with a mustard glaze that I was ambivalent about making turned out great. It was one of those, 'why haven't I been doing this all along' moments and a recipe I will come back to again. It took about 3 minutes to put the glaze together and 5 to cook the salmon and that was it.

I did change up the recipe a bit... as Zach and I aren't the biggest mustard fans around. I decreased the amount of mustard and didn't add any full grain mustard or mustard seeds. I also used dried herbs and fresh garlic, as that was what I had on hand. And since we had a bottle of bubbly open (well we had to celebrate the house) I added a tablespoon of champagne instead of white wine.

One other note on the fish. I went to the grocery store fully intending on getting fresh fish but the only salmon they had was farm raised with added dyes. As I am really trying to stick to the recommendations on my pocket card (well worth printing out if you don't have one) I decided to buy frozen wild Alaskan sockeye, one of the best choices according to seafood watch. I thought the fish had great flavor and cooked well under the broiler.

The mustard glaze provided just enough bite to enhance the flavor of the salmon without overpowering it. I went really lite on the glaze as I was a bit afraid of the mustard flavor but I found myself wanting to put more on.

Mustard Glazed Salmon
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
Serves 2

2, 4-6 oz. sockeye salmon fillets
1 T. quality mustard (not the kind that comes in the yellow squeeze bottle)
1 t. vegetable oil
1/4 t. crushed dried rosemary
1/4 t. crushed dried thyme
1 t. white wine

- Preheat broiler to high. Grease a sheet of tin foil, place it on the broiling tray thenplace the salmon on it and season with salt and pepper. Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl.

- Broil the salmon for 2 minutes then spoon on the mustard sauce and broil for another 3-6 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked to your liking. Serve immediatley.

Daring Bakers- I Love You or How I Made the Best Pizza Ever

Well the title pretty much said it all. I had given up hope of ever making a decent pizza at home but thanks to Rosa from Rosa's Yummy Yums, host of this month's challenge that's all changed. This was the easiest dough to put together-- the recipe even calls for cold water so there's no chance of accidentally killing the yeast. The overnight rise in the fridge allowed the flavor of the dough to develop but I think the secret was patting the dough (in pizza size balls) out into disks before the second, room-temperature rise. That made it so much easier to toss the dough into a the pizza form. I say toss the dough like I'm a piazzola or something but the truth is that my first attempt at tossing the disk on my knuckles to stretch it out went a bit too well too quickly resulting is a torn mess that was paper thin in some parts and an inch thick in others.

I was a bit disheartened but just mashed it back into a ball and started on the second dough. This time I treated the dough very carefully as I realized how light and delicate it was. I floured my hand and very gingerly picked up the dough disk and set it on top of my folded knuckles and started using a gentle outward and upward motion of my hands to stretch and rotate the dough. Once it was thin enough (which for me is pretty much paper thin) I set it down on a floured cookie sheet and topped it with olive oil, fresh chopped tomato, torn fresh basil and mozzarella cheese, all in very small quantities.

The pizza stone was fired up in the oven and I attempted to transfer the pizza from the sheet to the stone. That attempt was quickly thwarted as the pan was too big for the oven (ah the joys of my old kitchen). I didn't know what to do but felt I had to make a quick decision before I let all the heat out of the oven so I stepped back and sort of threw the pizza off pan and onto the stone. It made it about 2/3 of the way on the stone and the rest was on the floor of the oven and hanging out the door. There was no way I could move the pizza at that point, so I just folding over the part that was hanging out and left it to cook.

After about 5 minutes the toppings were bubly and more importantly, the crust had achieved the much vaunted state of crispy blackness**- you know, the one where the crust is crispy and golden-brown except for a few spots that have gotten black and crisp? Not burnt-- just so crisp I never thought I could achieve them in my home oven.

Well-- to sum up this long story-- this dough is amazing and you must make it at home. Also-- do yourself a favor, get a pizza stone.* My cost about $15 at Target and now I'm planning to bake all sorts of yeast breads on it.

*Well, after my incident, you may want to invest in a pizza peel too.

** I was so impressed by the crispy blackness I though it should be the picture for this post. Oh- my kitchen table is not usually so messy but I made the pizza a few days before we moved...


Pizza Dough
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter)

Ingredients:
4 1/2 C. (607.5 g) bread flour or all purpose flour
1 3/4 t. Salt
1 t. Instant yeast
1/4 Cup (60g) Olive oil
1 3/4 Cups (420ml) ice water
1 Tb sugar
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting (I just used AP flour)

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl.

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky.

3. Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

4. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

5. You need to refrigerate the dough overnight. Your options are to place the dough on a oiled baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap or to put each dough ball into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. The point is that the dough must be separated into individual balls and shouldn't touch each other.

6. Put the dough into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

7. 2 hours before you make it the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

8. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

9. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.


NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

10. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

11. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.


NOTE: Your crust is very thin-- it can't support a 'pizza hut' set of toppings. Less really is more here.

12. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes or until toppings are bubbling and the bottom is brown and crisp.

13. Remove from oven and eat!

Borscht is Beautiful

Borscht always seemed like one of those things that my grandparents ate but was so hopelessly out of date that it would never pass my lips. This summer, I began to develop a mini fascination with it, especially after seeing beets crop up all over the food blogs that I read. When Zach and I went to our CSA pickup and red beets were labeled as 'acye' (as much as you can eat) I took three but as we were biking away I suddenly stopped (not the world's best idea on a busy bike trail) and told Zach we had to go back and get more beets as I was going to make borscht.

After loading up our canvas tote with beets we headed home. There was no time to make a soup that evening but I started to look up recipes the next day. Even though I had never had borscht before, I knew I was looking for a smooth soup that would be a violent maroon color which meant any recipe that didn't involve pureeing or enough beets was out. I also found a few recipes that called for mixing sour cream directly into the soup, resulting in a very strange Play-doh purple color, but that really did not seem appetizing. Finally, I came across a recipe by Tyler Florence that looked reasonable yet interesting. He roasted the beets before pureeing them in a soup and made a grated dill and apple topping for it.

I did make a few little changes to his recipe though. I added about 50% more beets than it called for, as I really wanted a rich beet flavor. I decreased the amount of oil called for from 6T to 3T and added a lot more dill. Fresh dill is really essential for finishing off the soup, but I used dried herbs where the original called for fresh in other places.

The borscht came out just as I hoped, a shocking purple-pink color. The taste was phenomenal too, with just the right balance of sweet balanced by the tart apple and sour cream and everything was perfumed by the fresh dill. I served the borscht at a warm room temperature but Zach decided he prefers his piping hot but I like it chilled too. For us it was dinner, with a loaf of fresh bread and a glass of wine, but it also made a great lunch the next day and would be a rather pretty first course for a fancy dinner-- in fact, I'm thinking about serving it at Thanksgiving.

Roasted Beet Borscht
Adapted from Tyler Florence
Yields 8-10 bowls

Note: The beets need to be roasted for 1 hour before you can make the soup. I did this the night before.

For the Roasted Beets
1.5 lb (700g) fresh red beets, cleaned with greens removed
1 t. dried thyme
1 T. olive oil
salt and pepper

- Preheat oven to 400F. Set the beets on a baking sheet (you might want to cover it with foil for an easy cleanup) and pour on the olive oil then sprinkle with the thyme, salt and pepper. Use your hands to rub the oil and seasonings all over the beets.

- Roast for about one hour, or until beets are fork tender. Allow to cool for a bit then carefully peel of the skins (they should slide right off) and cut into chunks. Reserve beets until you want to make the soup.

For the Soup
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/4 t. dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, chopped
6 C. chicken (or veggie) stock
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T honey
1 green sour apple
1 t. lemon juice
4 T fresh dill, roughly chopped
Sour cream, for garnish

- Heat the oil in a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add in the onions, carrot and dried thyme and allow to soften for 8 minutes. Add in the chopped garlic, give a stir, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add in the stock and the roasted beets, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.

- While the soup is simmering, shred the apple and toss with the lemon juice. Chop the dill and mix with the apple. Set aside until ready to serve.

- After the soup has cooked, carefully transfer it to a blender and puree in batches (SEE NOTE) or use a stick blender if you have one. Return soup to pot over a low flame and stir in vinegar and honey then taste and check for seasonings. Serve immediately with the dilled apple and a dollop of sour cream or chill and save for later.

NOTE: Always be careful blending hot liquids. Don't fill the blender more than 1/3-1/2 was full. Remove the center plug in the blender lid and place a folded up kitchen towel on it. Use one hand to hold the kitchen towel wad on top while you hit the 'pulse' button with the other. This will allow some steam to escape while you are blending. If you leave the plug in the steam will build up in the blender and literally blow the top off like Old Faithful and you will be wearing borscht in your hair like I was.

Summer Gratin

After a weekend of eating beach food (read fried things, ice cream and brownies) I really needed some vegetables. I happened to come across a new-to-me blog, Flexitarian Menu, and was immediately inspired to make not one, but two things from it, starting with this summer vegetable gratin. The recipe was so simple it took hardly any time at all to put together and the simplicity highlighted the flavors of the fresh tomatoes, squash and zucchini.

I modified the original Flexitarian recipe quite a bit (both because I forgot to print it out and was looking to cut the fat.). The sliced veggies (which you can see above) rest on a bed of sauteed onions and where the original recipe called for olive oil for sauteeing I used butter. While this does add a bit more saturated fat, I decided to do it to follow Marcella Hazan's (the best Italian cookbook writer ever) principal of not mixing olive oil and cheese and because onions cooking in butter may be the best kitchen smell ever.

Once the onions were softened I spread them out on the bottom on the gratin dish and arranged the other vegetables on top, sprinkling some parsley, oregano, salt and pepper on each layer. The original recipe called for liberally topping the dish with olive oil before sprinkling on the breadcrumb and cheese topping but I wasn't sure that would actually improve the flavor and skipped it entirely. For the topping, I used a combination of panko bread crumbs, fontina and Gruyeres cheeses and it baked into the most deliciously crispy crust.

This recipe will easily feed four for a main course and has only 1 T. butter and a little more than half a cup of cheese (shredded) but tastes so good, you'd never think it was a lower-fat dish. The onions on the bottom get caramelized during baking and add a hint of sweetness to balance the tang of the cheese and the oregano adds just a hint of flavor. If Zach will happily eat this for dinner without a piece of meat in sight, I think you'll like it too. I served it with a whole wheat drop biscuit, which I will be posting about later this week.

Update: I liked this so much I've made it a second time using eggplant in place of the squash and basil in place of oregano- also delicious.

In the recipe below I've given approximate measurements for the vegetables but it really depends on the size of your baking dish and the size of the veggies.

I'm submitting this post to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Ruth at Kitchen Experiments a roundup of recipes that one has been meaning to make...


Summer Vegetable Gratin
Adapted from Flexitarian Menu
Serves 4 as a main dish, 8 as a side

1/2 large onion, sliced (about one cup)
1 T. butter
3 tomatoes
1 small zucchini
1 small squash (or eggplant)
fresh oregano (from about 5 stalks)
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1/2 c. panko
1/3 c. fontina cheese, grated
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

- Preheat oven to 350F. Heat a skillet on the stove with the butter, add the onions and cook till softened, about 10 minutes.

- While the onion is cooking, slice the vegetables into rounds about 1/4 in. (1/2 cm) thick. Mix the cheeses and panko in a small bowl. Mix the parsley and oregano together and add 1 T. to the cheeses and mix again.

- When the onion in cooked, spread it over the bottom of your baking dish (8x8in works, as does an oblong casserole) and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then arrange the vegetables on top in alternating rows, sprinkling with the herb mix, salt and pepper every few rows. When your dish is filled, top with remaining herb mix and sprinkle on the cheese and panko topping. Bake for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown, serve immediately.

The gratin does pretty well as leftovers, especially if you heat in in the toaster oven the next day.

Moussaka Minis

This week in eggplant we travel to Greece. I've really been struggling to come up with some way to use the eggplant that we seem to get in every week's CSA delivery. Some of my past attempts have turned out better than others and I think Zach and I are actually starting to like our purple, egg shaped, former vegetable nemesis. Last week I was trying to find a recipe when I, for the very first time discovered the 'search' feature in my Google reader. I'm sure most of you have done this before, but if any of you haven't, the search feature lets you search all of the blogs you are subscribed to to find key words, in my case 'eggplant'.

As I scrolled through the search results I came across a recipe for moussaka by Allen at Eating Out Loud that he adapted from a recipe by Peter at Kalofagas. I don't think I've had moussaka since I quit my job waitressing at a Greek diner in high school, so I thought it might be time to give it a try again. I checked out both Peter's traditional recipe, and Allen's modified low-fat version and while I did combine some aspects of both, I used Allen's modified topping instead of making a full on bechamel sauce.

I'm not afraid of bechamel sauce or a bit of fat in cooking but as I was making the moussaka on Friday night and we were going to drive to the beach (yea!) that night as well, I didn't want the extra time commitment of the sauce. I also cut the recipe in half (which was 1/4 of Peter's original recipe) as I only had 4 tiny eggplants and there were just two of us to feed as usual. I didn't think I had enough eggplant to use my casserole dish, so I decided to make 4 individual servings in my 6 oz. ramekins.

For the first step, I sliced my eggplants, brushed them with oil olive and fired up the grill pan. As Zach ran around removing the smoke-detector and putting the fan in the window (this is a rather regular occurence at our house, especially when the grill pan is involved) I grilled the eggplants and started on the meat sauce. Traditional moussaka uses ground beef, and the low-fat moussaka called for ground turkey. I literally stood in the grocery store for 5 minutes debating my choices and ended up going with ground turkey. In retrospect, especially considering each portion only has 2 oz. (before cooking) of meat, I really should have used beef. The turkey was ok but beef would have added a lot more flavor and would (I think) have pushed the dish from just ok to really great. I would recommend that you use beef if you make this, or at least a 50/50 mix of ground beef and turkey. The bit of fat that beef adds to the recipe would be totally worth it, especially considering that the topping is much lighter than the original.

After the meat had browned I added the tomato sauce (I actually had some homemade on hand) and let it cook down while I made the topping. I was a bit skeptical of Allen's faux bechamel (cottage cheese? in a blender?) but it worked out perfectly. I used low-fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt (for me the added taste it totally worth the calories) and added a whole egg even though I had halved the recipe. Once I layered the eggplant and meat in the ramekins I poured the sauce on top and set everything in the oven to bake.

30 minutes later, the sauce had set and turned a lovely golden brown and the moussaka minis were ready. We liked them, but as I said earlier, using beef would have added more flavor and made the finished product much tastier. The quick, low-fat topping, on the other hand, turned out perfectly and tasted wonderfully creamy. Overall, this was another victory for eggplant and I will be making this one again, but with beef next time.

I'm submitting this post to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Ruth at Kitchen Experiments a roundup of recipes that one has been meaning to make...


Moussaka Minis
Adapted from Eating Out Loud and Kalofagas
Makes 4, 6oz. ramekins

4 tiny eggplants, or their equivalent
4 t. olive oil, divided
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 c. tomato sauce or tinned tomatoes
1 t. fresh oregano
1 T. fresh basil
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Blender Topping
1/2 c. cottage cheese
1/2 c. Greek yogurt
1 egg
1/4 c. finely shredded romano or parmesan cheese
a few grates of nutmeg

- Preheat oven to 350F. Have 4 ramekins and 1 cookie sheet at the ready.

- Heat a grill pan (or your grill if you're lucky enough to have one) over medium-high heat. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the eggplant slices with 2 t. of the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill for 2-3 minutes on each side or until softened and well grill-marked.

- Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a medium sized skillet and add the onion. Cook for a few minutes until softened then add the garlic and bay leaf and continue cooking for about a minute or until the garlic is fragrant but not browned.

- Add the ground beef and brown, using your spatula or spoon to break it up into small pieces. Add the tomato sauce and cinnamon and cook for a few more minutes until the sauce has reduced and is quite thick. Stir in the fresh herbs.

- Make the blender topping by pureeing the cottage cheese, yogurt and egg until completely smooth. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the nutmeg and cheese.

- To assemble: Place a layer of eggplant in the bottom of each ramekin. (This doesn't need to be exact). Use half of the meat sauce to cover the eggplant and then cover with another layer of eggplant. Spread the remaining meat sauce on top and pour the topping over each ramekin. It should cover the meat sauce but if there are little bits sticking out that's fine to.

- Place the filled ramekins on the cookie sheet and insert into the oven. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the topping is slightly browned and the juices are bubbling up the sides. Remove from oven and allow to set for 10 minutes then serve.

Note- Moussaka minis keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Salad Nicoise

I'm a bit afraid to jinx it by writing anything, but the weather in DC has been amazing lately. Sunny, warm but not hot, and the humidity is actually in a normal and not 'one step out of the house and even the straightest hair will frizz range.' I took the opportunity to get a head start on some baking this weekend as the windows were open and it wouldn't make the apartment insufferably hot and between that and the Olympics, by the time Sunday night rolled around, I really didn't want to do any cooking for dinner. I had picked up a copy of the The Flexitarian Table at the library and had been flipping through it during Olympic commercial breaks when I came across a recipe for Salad Nicoise. The point of the The Flexitarian Table is to give vegetarian and meat options for each of the dishes and for the salad Peter Berley suggests either tuna or cheese with this salad but since I actually like canned tuna (and am slightly ashamed to admit it) I went with the tuna option.

I think I like Nicoise salad so much because of all the contrasting flavors and textures. The crunchy beans and the warm potato, the smooth egg with the flaky tuna and the salty olives make it exciting and way more nutritious than a plain lettuce salad. It's also a great one plate meal since it has all the basics (veg., carbohydrate and protein) on the same plate. My only complaint is that there wasn't quite enough salad dressing but that was completely my own fault, as I decided to just make half the recipe and reduce the amount of oil, as I generally like my salads really lightly dressed. You might want to double the dressing listed below.

Salad Nicoise
Adapted from The Flexitarian Table
Serves 4 for dinner

For the salad:
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and ripped up
4 small red potatoes
1/2 lb. green beans
4 eggs, hard boiled*
15-20 olives, nicoise if you can find them
1 can (6oz.) tuna, your favorite kind

For the dressing:
1 clove garlic
2 t. capers, drained
2 T. white wine vinegar
1/4 olive oil, your best
2 T. mustard
1/4 t. dried thyme
pepper

- Set a steamer basket in a small pot, add water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, scrub the potatoes and cut them into 1/2in. thick slices. Add the potatoes to the steamer basket and cook for 12 minutes, then put the green beans on top and cook for another 6 minutes.

- While the potatoes and beans and cooking, put all of the dressing ingredients into a blender and have at it, until the capers and thyme are well broken up. Arrange the lettuce on 4 plates.

- When the potatoes and beans are tender, drain them and return them to the pot, cooking for another minute or so to evaporate some of the water. Put the potatoes and bean into a bowl, add 2 T. of the dressing and stir to coat.

- Assemble the salad by arranging the potatoes, beans, olives, egg and tuna on top of the salad. Drizzle on the remaining dressing and serve.

*Peter Boyle gives the most perfect way to hard cook and egg so I will share it with you here. Put the eggs in a pan and add enough cold water just to cover them. Bring the water to a boil, wait one minute then remove the pan from the heat and cover for 11 minutes. Drain the water and shake the pan around (sort of like the eggs are doing the hula hoop) to crack the shells really well. Peter Boyle says to just peel them dry, but I think adding some cold water back to the pan and peeling them underwater makes it even easier. Your eggs will be perfectly cooked and the yolks will be a beautiful pale yellow. This method is definitely a keeper.

Summer Squash Soup

Lately we've been getting squash in our CSA bag every week and I haven't quite known what to do with it. It's not that I dislike squash, I actually think it's pretty tasty, but I never really ate it growing up and don't really know what to do with it. I made some chocolate zucchini muffin cakes (which I need to actually post about) and we've had sauteed squash and Greek style squash with feta and pasta but with one giant saucer and one little knobbly (squashes that is) sitting in the fridge all week I decided to hit the internet in search of a recipe. I saw one that looked intriguing on a blog that I've recently come across, Vanilla Basil but it was made with sweet potatoes which I really don't like.

I know- you are probably saying, 'sweet potatoes, how it is possible you don't like sweet potatoes?'. I really wish I did since they are full of vitamins and quite healthy. The only answer I can give for my dislike it that they are just too sweet. Not that I don't like sweet things, but for me the sweet potato has an overwhelmingly sugary flavor, without any tartness, acidity or complexity to back it up. So- I went to the source of the recipe, a post on Smitten Kitchen, a blog which I had vaguely heard about but seem to be the only person on the internet who hadn't actually read. Deb's Summer Squash Soup came from a 2006 edition of Gourmet Magazine and seemed simple enough. 2 pounds of squash with some onion, carrot, broth and the dreaded sweet potatoes, which I decided to skip in favor of a few little red skinned potatoes I had sitting on the counter.

The original recipe also called for 6 T. of butter which seemed to me like a ridiculous amount so I started the onions in 2 T. butter than added an additional 1 T. with the sliced squash. I cut back on the chicken stock as I didn't want it to overwhelm the delicate squash and, while the veggies were simmering, decided to add a bit of turmeric for color and some herbs de Provance for flavor though the oringinal recipe called for no seasonings besides salt and pepper. Since we don't have a food processor, I finely chopped the herbs for the pistou (that's that green swirl in the soup) on a cutting board and stirred them up with the olive oil. For a finishing touch after pureeing the soup in the blender*, I added a little dollop of sour cream.

The soup was quite mild and delicate in flavor and I was really glad I had added the herbs and spices or else I think it might have been too bland. The pistou added a welcome fresh flavor of mint and parsley and the sour cream provided a tart counterpoint to the slightly sweet soup. We ate it piping hot last night, but I'm going to try it at room temperature for my lunch today.

One last note- if you wanted to make this super fancy, you could strain the soup through a sieve after you puree it. This would make it really smooth and elegant and I did sort of want to try it, but when it comes down to it, I'm just too lazy to bother.

Update: The soup was excellent slightly chilled for lunch. Soup always seems to taste better the second day, doesn't it?

*Be careful when blending hot liquids. Don't fill the blender container more than half way and remove the little plug in the blender lid and cover it with a kitchen towel folded into a small square, which you hold on top while blending. This will allow some steam to escape so excess pressure doesn't build up in the blender.

Summer Squash Soup
Based on a recipe from Gourmet Magazine
Yields approx. 16 cups or 8 dinner sized servings

For the soup
3 T. butter
1 medium onion, sliced into thin half moons
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 lb. summer squash, cut into think slices
2-3 potatoes (about 1/2 lb), roughly chopped
1/4 t. turmeric
1/2 t. herbs de provance
2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
2 c. water
sour cream for topping (low fat is fine)

- In a large soup pot, sweat onions over medium heat until softened, about 8 minutes. While the onions are going, chop the remaining soup ingredients. After the onions have softened, add the carrots, squash and potatoes along with the herbs and spices. Give a stir to coat.

- Add the liquids (they should nearly cover the veggies, if they don't add a bit more water) bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes, or till the veggies and potatoes are tender.

- Working in batches, blend the soup until smooth. (Here's when you'd do the sieve thing if you wanted). Pour into soup bowls and top with the pistou and sour cream. Serve immediately.

For the pistou
1/2 c. loosely packed parsley leaves
3/4 c. loosely pack mint leaves
3 scallions
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. olive oil (the best one you've got)
2 T. water

- Using a food processor or kitchen knife, finely chop herbs and scallions. Set in a bowl and mix in remaining ingredients. Swirl 1 T. into each bowl of soup.