Wheatberry Salad

I wanted to make wheatberries for a long time - and my first attempt was a Mark Bittman recipe that I didn't really enjoy. I found this recipe just by searching for a wheatberry salad recipe on Google - and I love it! It's really easy, and good to cook/have around in the summer. It has a lot of olive oil - and you probably don't need to add as much as is called for - but it's delicious if you do :)


1 cup hard winter wheatberries
Kosher salt
1 cup finely diced red onion (1 onion)
6 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 scallions, minced, white and green parts
1/2 red bell pepper, small diced (I just used a whole one...what to do with 1/2 a pepper?)
1 carrot, small diced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Place the wheatberries and 3 cups of boiling salted water in a saucepan and cook, uncovered, over low heat for approximately 45 minutes, or until they are soft. Drain. (The package on the wheatberries I bought said to cook for 25 minutes - which was enough. This may differ greatly depending on the kind of wheatberries you get - just test them and they're ready when they're nice and chewy!)

Saute the red onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the remaining 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, combine the warm wheatberries, sauteed onions, scallions, red bell pepper, carrot, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes for the wheatberries to absorb the sauce. Season, to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Original recipe here 

Cheesy Black Bean and Pepper Enchiladas

I haven't blogged in quite some time - I've actually had this recipe ready to post for almost a month, but haven't gotten around to it.
Work and life in general has been crazy over the past month, and I have been cooking, but haven't had any time to post! Granted - I've stuck with some of the same few recipes to get through the hot days...I have a great soba noodle salad recipe and a wheatberry salad recipe that I'll post soon.

Anyway, these enchiladas are great. I bought spicy enchilada sauce, and it was certainly spicy!! I suggest using small tortilla shells, as I used the large kind and there was a low filling to tortilla size ratio. Also - mix with your hands....you sort of need to, and it's awesome.

8 tortilla shells
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature (reduced fat if you want...)
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 handfuls fresh spinach, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 can enchilada sauce
4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
2 jalapenos, sliced thin (optional)
chopped cilantro for garnish


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl combine black beans, cream cheese, bell pepper, onion, spinach, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly using a spoon or your hands.

Lay your tortilla flat and spoon 2 tablespoons of filling in center. Roll up tight and place in large greased baking dish. Fill and roll all 8 shells and lay side by side in baking dish. Top with enchilada sauce, shredded cheese and jalapenos. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted and slightly browned. Sprinkle chopped cilantro over enchiladas before serving.

Original recipe here 

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