Pumpkin Carving

 

I decided against baking for my company's Halloween Bake-Off today, and decided to carve pumpkins instead! I don't particularly enjoy being judged on my baking abilities, so I'd prefer to bake on my own time and bring in treats when I feel like it! The mummies and the ghosts I made over the past two weeks turned out pretty well, but wouldn't win the competition, so I'd rather save my time to get other things done, like running on this beautiful (?) October day. The streets are pretty wet/slushy after last night's snow storm, but I can't run after work any more as the sun is setting around 5 45, and getting earlier every day. Dave semi-helped with the carving...he was mostly there for moral support. I don't think I've carved a pumpkin since before high school, so I'm glad I finally got this done this year!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Wheatberry Salad

I made this a month or so ago, when I was trying to find some new recipes with wheatberries. I really enjoy wheatberries, but it can be hard to find good recipes for them! This isn't my favorite recipe and I may not make it again - but it was definitely good to try. I'm not a huge fan of red onions, and this had a bit too much red onion in it, which was minorly overwhelming.

I remember I didn't follow the ingredient list very well - I used a whole can of chickpeas, a whole red onion, and a whole butternut squash (no idea how much it weighed) - so this may have been better if I had stayed true to the recipe. I don't like to throw food away, and if I had used 1/4 cup of the red onion, I probably wouldn't have found another use for it. I do this often and it's usually a non-issue, but, I can't cheat all the time and get away with it! :) I also tend to not measure spices if there are many different spices to measure and add - I can be pretty lazy sometimes!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Wheatberry Salad

1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 pound squash (peeled, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces)
1 cup wheatberries (cook as directed)
1 cup chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup red onion (chopped)
2 tablespoons cilantro
1/4 cup tahini, lemon and yogurt dressing

1. Toss the squash in the oil, salt and pepper to coat.
2. Bake in a single layer in a preheated 400F oven for 30 minutes flipping once in the middle.
3. Mix the squash, chickpeas, red onion and cilantro and top with the dressing.

Tahini, Lemon and Yogurt Dressing

2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup cup Greek yogurt (or regular plain yogurt)
1 clove garlic (grated)
salt and pepper to taste
* olive oil or water

1. Mix everything and add olive oil or water to get it to the desired consistency.


Original recipe here

Tex-Mex Stuffed Portabellas

(I promise there's a mushroom under there!)

I'm a bit behind on posting recipes....but I made this recipe a few weekends ago with Dave, and it was pretty easy and absolutely delicious! Surprisingly, being a vegetarian, I don't think I have ever cooked portabella mushrooms before. I like them, and have ordered them in restaurants many times, but haven't ever cooked them on my own. This is definitely a good introduction to portabellas for people who haven't tried them before - you can't dislike them in this recipe! (This is another great find from the Moosewood cookbook!)

Each mushroom is supposed to be one serving, but Dave and I each had one and split a third one. So, I would say this makes about 3-4 servings, unless you have a side dish as well.

1.5 cups chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and finely diced (about 1 cup)
6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
4 large portabella mushrooms (4 to 5 inches in diameter)
minced scallions

1. In a skillet on medium-high heat, cook the onions and garlic in the olive oil for a couple of minutes. Add the chipotles and bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the peppers are tender but still firm. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cilantro and tomatoes and two-thirds of the cheese.

2. Break off the stems of the portabellas and save them for another use or discard. Rinse the caps (gently, so they don't break), and place smooth side down in a lightly oiled baking dish large enough to hold them in a single layer. Mound each mushroom with about a cup of the filling. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cover the baking dish with foil folded lengthwise to form a little tent so that the foil won't stick to the cheese. (This was a little tricky....but it doesn't need to be perfect.)

3. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the cheese browns, 10-15 minutes. Serve topped with scallions.


Dave and I were so excited to eat these, we forgot the scallions! They aren't necessary for the recipe if you don't want to buy them or don't like them.

Black Quinoa with Vegetables and Feta

My friend Julie sent me this recipe the other day, and it was pretty intriguing so I had to try it. Both the black quinoa and the strange array of spices really piqued my interest. I would have made this sooner but I knew I would have to venture into Whole Foods to find the black quinoa. And that I did. A bag of black quinoa (about 2 cups, I think) was $7.99!! Outrageous. Maybe worth it about once a year. I need to read up on the health benefits of it and see if it's actually better for you than regular quinoa...

Anyway, this was a fun and easy to make recipe. I never cook with leeks, and I'm pretty sure I chopped them incorrectly, but oh well - tastes the same. I found a video on youtube that shows you how to chop leeks - if you're as unfamiliar as I am and would like to try this recipe, just type "chopping leeks" into a Google search.

Quinoa Ingredients:
1 cup black quinoa (uncooked)
2 cups vegetable stock
½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. coriander
1/8 tsp. cumin
pinch cloves
pinch allspice

Quinoa Directions:
Place all items in 1 quart sauce pan, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes.
Let sit covered 10 minutes.

Vegetables & Feta Ingredients:
2 tsp. pure olive oil
1 ½ cup garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed well (1 small can of garbanzo beans works)
½ cup asparagus, cut ¾ inches
½ cup leeks, sliced ¼ inch
½ cup roasted red bell peppers
½ cup roasted yellow bell peppers, diced ½ inch
(* I found a jar of yellow and red roasted peppers at Trader Joe's, which worked perfectly)
½ cup vegetable stock
3 Tbsp. crumbled feta cheese

Vegetables & Feta Directions:
Heat olive oil to the smoke point.
Add garbanzo beans, asparagus and leeks, saute until asparagus softens. (about 5 minutes)
Add red and yellow bell peppers with vegetable stock and heat well. (about 5 minutes)
Add feta cheese, toss and serve over hot quinoa.

(* Note: in my experience, it's very hard to buy a small amount of leeks or asparagus. After making this once, it definitely wouldn't have hurt to add some more vegetables. So, feel free to add at least a cup or so of each!)

Ghost Meringues

Second attempt at a recipe for the Halloween Bake Off. These guys were (again) quite tedious to make, but so adorable!! I may make some of these again next weekend if I have the time. They taste just like regular, vanilla meringues. Only problem is that it's VERY hard to fill a pastry bag with meringue dough. It doesn't fall down into the bag with gravity like regular dough. Needless to say, I made a huge mess in my kitchen last night. Oh well.

These took about an hour and a half to dry out - I then left them in the oven overnight (with the oven off) as suggested in the recipe. They are now a little bit sticky, so I wouldn't suggest doing this. But, I would suggest making these for Halloween, if you have the time to deal with a pastry bag and lots of mini chocolate chips!


Original recipe here

Mummies!

In honor of my company's annual Halloween baking competition, I started practicing some halloween-y recipes. This is to make up for last year, where the "halloween-y-ness" of my creation was missed (it was a "surprise" in the middle of the cookie). I received full points for taste, but zero points for halloween-y-ness.

So, this was my first attempt at a new recipe for this year. These little guys are a bit tedious to make, and it's hard to make a perfect mummy. I may try this again next weekend for the competition, unless I find something else better. I used the dough that comes in a tube for Pillsbury Crescent rolls, which may not have been the best option. It's a little hard to roll out and shape, since it is supposed to be rolled out into a triangle. Also, I'm not convinced that I'll get top points for taste - these are certainly good (anything with Nutella in it is great in my book), but I wasn't blown away with the flavors. Anyway, this was a first try...I also made ghost meringues, which will be posted next!


See here for mummy-making instructions

Travels

At the beginning of this month, I went on a cruise through Greece and a few surrounding countries with my family. We hit:

Mykonos, Greece
Kusadasi, Turkey
Santorini, Greece
Monemvasia, Greece
Zakynthos, Greece
Corfu, Greece
Kotor, Montenegro
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Venice, Italy

We had a nightmare on the way over with two flights being canceled out of JFK and having to spend a night there - but we met the boat in Mykonos and all was well from there on out.

Our meals were included in our cruise fare, but on most days we were off the boat at lunchtime, and ate local food at restaurants in the area. On our first full day, in Kusadasi, we had a private tour and went to an amazing lunch at a small restaurant with an incredible view. The food there was very similar to Greek food (I thought) - but because of the restaurant we were at, this was probably the best meal we had on the whole trip. I also particularly enjoyed Kusadasi because this is where we saw the most agriculture; they grow many crops including pomegranates (above), figs, cotton, tangerines, and olives.

Anyway, I decided that I really enjoy the Mediterranean diet. I really enjoy tzatziki, grilled eggplant spread, olive oil, pita bread, and I even semi-enjoyed the olives I had there. I generally hate olives, but I had to give them a try in an environment where you see olive trees all around you. So don't be surprised if a lot of my upcoming recipes have a Greek/Mediterranean feel!