Dave's Cooking Debut

Last weekend I tried to buy food for too many recipes...since Dave and I are going to Acadia this weekend, I didn't need much (and I already had a bunch of food from the week before). So, last minute at the grocery store, I tried to eliminate items for one of my recipes I was planning to make. I mixed up two things - bought dill that I didn't need, and didn't buy jicama, which I did need. However, Dave came to the rescue! I was just going to make this recipe without the jicama, but Dave is very resourceful and helped me use up the extra food I had lying in my fridge. We added some leftover quinoa (that I had made when making Quinoa Pancakes, see below) and two plum tomatoes that I was planning to use for caprese salads (...and failed. I have too much basil and was trying to use it). This may not be the prettiest dish you've ever seen, but it's quite tasty. There's a lot of cumin, but you can barely taste it with all the lime juice flavor. Dave also chose to add some Kashi Country Cheddar crackers (you can see in the photo) - I chose to keep those separate.

Anyway - this is a super simple recipe, and very versatile as I now know :)


Cumin-Lime Black Bean, Jicama, and Corn Salad

1 can corn, drained
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup diced jicama
1 avocado, diced
Juice of 2 limes (about 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 tsp cumin
Dash of salt and pepper
(OR in lieu of jicama: 2 tomatoes, 1-2 cups of quinoa, or whatever you have in your fridge.)

In a medium sized bowl combine corn, black beans, jicama, and avocado. In a separate bowl, whisk together lime juice and cumin. Pour juice over bean and corn mixture. Season with just a dash of salt and pepper. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour (or not...still delicious) before serving.

Original recipe here 

NOTE: This does not keep well. The lime juice causes the avocado to taste acidic after a day or so. Next time I make this, I'm going to keep the dressing separate until ready to eat.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

I've put off using my roomie's ice cream maker since I made avocado frozen yogurt, since that was quite the endeavor. Last weekend I decided it was time to pull it out again, since it has been unbelievably hot over the past two weeks or so. I decided to make strawberry frozen yogurt - mostly because it was one of the first recipes I found for frozen yogurt. I generally don't enjoy eating strawberries alone, but do enjoy strawberry flavored things, like gum and candy. I prefer blueberries and raspberries...and supposedly strawberries carry the most pesticides of any fruit, so I tend to steer clear. The recipe I found says that you can strain out the seeds, but why on earth would you want to do that?? When I make homemade ice cream/frozen yogurt, I want it to taste natural. Leave the seeds in. Also - the only whole milk yogurt I can ever find in the grocery store is Fage Total. I guess everyone in America is on a diet. I don't blame them.
(P.S. - this is incredible. Or maybe I'm delusional due to the heat. Try to get organic strawberries, if possible.)


1 pound strawberries, rinsed and hulled
2/3 cup sugar (you could probably use less than this...mine came out pretty sweet)
optional: 2 teaspoons vodka or kirsch (I left this out, but sounds interesting!!)
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt (Greek works well)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Slice the strawberries into small pieces. Toss in a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch (if using) until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, stirring every so often.

Transfer the strawberries and their juice to a blender or food processor. Add the yogurt and fresh lemon juice. Pulse the machine until the mixture is smooth. If you wish, press mixture through a mesh strainer to remove any seeds (....don't!).

Chill for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (For me, this required about 20 minutes in the ice cream maker.)

Original recipe here

Quinoa Pancakes

 

I found this recipe in the New York Times a few months ago (May 24, to be exact, from the publishing date). I've been wanting to try it since then, but have gone through forgetting and then remembering and asking Dave if he would eat them and getting refusals. So, this past Saturday, I again asked Dave if he would eat quinoa pancakes for breakfast and received the expected "no" in return. But this time was different - I was on a mission to make pancakes. So I made em. And they were delicious. (Beware - this recipe makes quite a few pancakes - for 4 or 5 people - so if you're cooking for one, save some batter for later!)


1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup cooked quinoa (any type)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries or other fruit, like sliced bananas, strawberries or raisins (optional)

1. Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.

2. In another bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the buttermilk and whisk together, then whisk in the vanilla extract and the oil.

3. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and quickly whisk together. Do not overbeat; a few lumps are fine. Fold in the quinoa.

4. Heat a griddle over medium-hot heat. If necessary, brush with butter or oil. Drop 3 to 4 tablespoons onto the hot griddle. Place six to eight blueberries (or several slices of banana or strawberries) on each pancake. Cook until bubbles begin to break through, two to three minutes. Turn and cook on the other side for about a minute or until nicely browned. Remove from the heat, and continue cooking until all of the batter is used up.

5. Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.

Yield: 15 pancakes (five servings).


Original recipe here 

Poached Eggs

I'm the kind of girl who likes her eggs scrambled, and doesn't know much about any other way of cooking eggs....or what "sunny side up" means. However, when vacationing with the family in the Berkshires over the July 4th weekend, my dad found these little egg-poaching boats in a chef's store in Great Barrington. He bought them and gave them to me to use, and I was pretty sure I'd screw this up bigtime. But, these are really easy to use - all you have to do is oil the boat, put the egg in, and float it in boiling water for a few minutes. I only messed up when I scooped the eggs out and punctured one of the yolks. I still prefer my eggs scrambled, but I love new kitchen tools!

Maple Cornbread

I've always been a huge fan of corn bread (mainly corn muffins, from Perfecto's), but haven't made either of the two in far too long. I didn't realize how easy corn bread recipes are - and now I want to make bread/muffins all the time!! I've made this recipe twice, and will likely make it again soon - it only takes about 10 minutes to prepare. The bread has a little hint of maple syrup, which is hard to notice but it is a nice twist on a classic recipe.

1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup stone ground or yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces) whole milk (I used skim milk...it was fine)
1/4 cup (2 3/4 ounces) maple syrup
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 425° F. Pour 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into an 8 or 9-inch square or round baking pan.

2) In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk the milk, maple syrup, remaining butter, and eggs. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir together just until moistened.

3) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm with butter and maple syrup (optional - the bread is delicious on its own!).

Makes 9 servings

Original recipe here 

Gazpacho

This recipe is called "Great Gazpacho," and it really is great. I looked at a lot of gazpacho recipes, and thought it would be good to pick one that doesn't call for tomato juice (and instead uses the juices from the tomatoes you chop up). This may not have been the best idea - the soup turned out great, but it was a lot more work than it needed to be (and took much longer - letting the tomatoes sit and juice). I also used some sort of Thai pepper instead of the jalapeno (since Market Basket did not sell jalapenos individually), and this turned out fine - it wasn't even very spicy. Anyway, this was delicious, and if you can get over chopping in the heat, this is a great summer recipe!

Great Gazpacho

2 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes (about 5 medium), skin scored with an X at blossom end
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 hothouse seedless cucumber, enough peeled and cut into a 1/4-inch dice to yield 2 cups
1 small yellow pepper, stemmed, seeded, and enough cut into 1/4-inch dice to yield 3/4 cup
1 small onion, peeled, and enough cut into small dice to yield 1/2 cup
1 small jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and minced (optional, but nice)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley or cilantro

Bring a large saucepan of water to boil over high heat. Drop tomatoes into the water to loosen skins, about 15 seconds. Remove skins, halve the tomatoes, crosswise, then seed the tomatoes over a small strainer set over a Pyrex measuring cup. With a rubber spatula, press on seeds to release their juices. (If the tomatoes are juicy and ripe, you should have 3/4 to a scant cup accumulated juices.) Reserve tomato juice.

Before dicing remaining vegetables, coarsely chop the tomatoes, sprinkle them with the salt, and place them in a colander set over a medium bowl to drain until they release between 3/4 and 1 cup of juice, 30 to 45 minutes, occasionally stirring the tomatoes and pressing on them lightly.

Mix diced cucumber, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno, garlic, vinegar, and all of the tomato juice in a 13-by 9-inch Pyrex dish or other shallow, nonreactive pan. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 45 minutes (Can be refrigerated up to 3 hours).
While gazpacho chills, transfer half the tomatoes to the workbowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the olive oil and pulse until reduced to a chunky purée, about four 1-second pulses. Transfer to a medium bowl. Cut remaining tomatoes into a medium dice and add to bowl; set aside at room temperature.

When ready to serve, stir tomatoes into soup and serve immediately with optional croutons.


Original recipe here

Mango Blueberry Quinoa Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing

I tried this recipe last week, and it's a pretty good summer salad recipe. Not too hard - unless you get bad mangoes! I bought 2 mangoes for this, and both were stringy and bitter. So, I had my Mango Blueberry Quinoa Salad sans mango. I didn't take a photo of this one (I was probably too angry about the mango), but the photo on the Veggie Belly blog should serve the purpose. I just realized a minute ago that the name of the blog was Veggie Belly....I may have to look into that one further...


For the quinoa
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water

For the fruits and veggies
½ cup fresh blueberries
½ cup cubed ripe mangoes
½ cup cubed cucumbers
1/2 tablespoon dried cranberries

For the lemon basil dressing
1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
10 Basil leaves, chopped finely
Salt and pepper

Place the quinoa and water in a medium skillet and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, and simmer covered for about 15 minutes or till the quinoa is cooked. Remove the lid, and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Let it cool to room temperature.

While the quinoa is cooking, combine the fruits in a bowl and refrigerate till you are ready to serve the salad.

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients, except the chopped basil. Refrigerate till you are ready to serve. Chop and add the basil to the dressing just before serving. If you add it earlier, it will go black.

Add half the dressing to the quinoa and mix gently.

Assemble the salad just before serving – toss the quinoa, fruits and cucumbers together. Serve other half of the dressing on the side. Serve immediately.

(I ate mine in a few batches, and mixed everything together except the basil until I was ready to eat.)


Original recipe here (and Veggie Belly blog!)