Some tahini here, some lemon there, and kale everywhere!

Posted on February 18, 2015 by melsmosaic

Had some friends over for dinner and was going on an Asian theme. Was making some stir-fry like chicken dish and was looking for a salad to go with it. I found a great Cooking Light recipe to pair with it based on a whole page of kale salad ideas they had.

I went with the Tahini-Lemon Dressing — quick, easy and refreshing!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon tahini

2 teaspoons lower-sodium soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon pepper

6 cups thinly sliced stemmed Lacinato kale

3/4 cup cooked quinoa (I did not include this)

Prep:

Combine water, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, soy sauce, and pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Add kale (and cooked quinoa; toss) — I did this in a more normal salad way. After making the dressing, I dressed the salad/kale.

Delicious, I’m addicted. I’ve made it twice since they’ve been over. And the dressing keeps/holds well, so you can make a good amount and just keep it in the fridge.

Beet Me!

Posted on February 18, 2015 by melsmosaic

Found some lonely beets the other day that I had to use. Didn’t find anything exciting while researching recipes, so decided to just throw some stuff together.

So, first the fun — taking those innocent beets and peeling them.

And getting some beautifully colored hands in return (didn’t have any gloves).

I hadn’t used my toaster oven for ages so decided to put it to good use since I didn’t have a ton of beets. Warmed that up to about 425 and then tossed the beets with some olive oil, oregano, basil and a couple other spices. Covered the toaster oven sheet in foil and put the (quartered) beets on there.

Roasted them for about 30-40 minutes, until they were done enough for me. When they were finished, I tossed them with some hearts of palm and pistachios. So good!

Bulgur & Chickpea Salad with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette

Posted on December 25, 2014 by melsmosaic

Was at a friend’s place a couple weeks ago and she made this mouth-watering salad. Decided to make it as part of Christmas Eve dinner last night. It’s definitely one that you have to take seconds, or thirds of. I think it’s from the dressing.

Bulgur & Chickpea Salad with Cranberries, Toasted Almonds + Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette

Salad
2 cups water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup Bulgur Wheat (I used quinoa — you can basically use any grain)
1 cup chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup dried unsweetened cranberries (the store didn’t have them, so I used dried cherries, just as good)
1/4 cup almond slivers, toasted
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
Fresh cilantro, chopped (use as much or little as you’d like)
2 scallions, sliced thin crosswise

(last night I made half the recipe — it makes a ton)

Vinaigrette (this is the part that’s the best)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice + lime zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, smashed (though you can always use more!)
1/3 cup good quality olive oil
Pinch salt and fresh ground pepper

Bring the 2 cups of water and salt to a boil and add the bulgur. Turn down to a simmer, cover and let cook for 12-15 minutes until water is absorbed and bulgur is soft but still has a bite to it.

Toss all the salad ingredients in a big bowl until combined.

In a small bowl, combine the vinaigrette ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour half of the dressing over salad and stir to coat the salad in dressing. Taste and add more dressing as needed.

Good warm but it’s best after it sits in the fridge for an hour or two.

So, so good. And, it’s dairy free and gluten free! You can even play with all the ingredients that go in the salad. Give it the taste that you want. I could not stop nibbling on the stuff.

Fennel and Carrot Soup

Posted on December 7, 2014 by melsmosaic

Was in the soup mood last night and remember tearing a new recipe out of the recent issue of Bon Appetit. Was the perfect time to make it — Fennel and Carrot Soup. I love fennel and enjoy carrots when they are cooked (or covered in hummus). For some reason I just cannot acquire a taste for them when they are just plain and simple, perfectly orange and raw. We all have our things.

Anyway, when I saw the recipe I knew I’d have to make a couple changes/eliminations, which is common in my world since I’m the lactard, but it would be simple.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided (I used some olive oil here because of my dairy issue)
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced (I used one+)
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1 small Yukon Gold potato, peeled, halved (I used a Russet)
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (Trader Joe’s boxes are perfect for this)
¼ cup coarsely chopped roasted chestnuts from a jar (I skipped these because I couldn’t find them anywhere)
¼ cup crème fraîche (skipped this step)
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (ditto on the above)

Directions:

Heat 4 Tbsp. butter (or some oil) in a large heavy pot over medium. Add fennel, onion, carrots, potato, thyme, and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally and reducing heat if needed, until vegetables are soft but not browned and have released their moisture, 45–60 minutes (this will give them deep flavor). ***Right here I was staring at these delicious looking veggies and questioned sanity — WHY was there no garlic in here?!?! I quickly added some.

Add broth, bring to a boil, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until potato is falling apart, 8–10 minutes. Let cool slightly. Remove herbs.

Working in batches, purée in a blender until smooth. (Blender??? Immersion blender!!) Strain into a clean pot; season with salt and pepper.

(Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over medium. Add chestnuts and cook, stirring often, until butter is browned and chestnuts are toasted, about 4 minutes.

Mix crème fraîche and maple syrup in a small bowl. Serve soup topped with maple crème fraîche and chestnuts.

Do Ahead: Soup can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.)

I can’t speak for the last few steps but I’m sure they add quite a bit. But even without them, this soup is AMAZING! Flavor, flavor, flavor! Easy to make, great on its own or with some seafood or meat. I enjoyed it with some chicken. I would highly recommend it. Can likely be frozen, as well.

Avocado Salad with Peaches

Posted on October 5, 2014 by melsmosaic

Was looking for something fun, super fresh and relatively easy to make for dinner. I remembered this salad from Bon Appetit that I found a few years ago. Avocados, peaches and arugula…some of my favorites. It was the perfect thing to make and pretty simple.

Avocado Salad with Peaches
4-6 Servings

Ingredients

1/2 red bell pepper, cored and seeded
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (I got SUPER lazy and used liquid vanilla)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 almost-ripe avocados
8 cups arugula or sorrel
2 peaches, diced and peeled

Preparation

-Roast bell pepper (I do it on my gas stove – so easy).

-Peel and chop pepper; puree with red wine vinegar, vanilla and sugar in blender (I used the mini-prep) until smooth.

-With machine running, gradually add olive oil. Season with salt & pepper.

-Halve and pit avocados and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and place cut side down on and medium-hot grill until nicely charred, about 5 minutes (ok, so I don’t/can’t have a grill. So, I put foil over a burner on my gas stove and made it work. Creativity in the kitchen). Peel and thickly slice.

-Toss with arugula or sorrel and peaches. Drizzle dressing over top (I just toss all of it together — dressing and everything).

I served this with shrimp. Delicious!!!

Chaat (Black Chick Pea Salad)

Posted on September 30, 2014 by melsmosaic

I was going to an event recently and there was a food theme to it. I had to do some research and a friend gave me a great recipe for a Pakistan Black Chick Pea Salad, known there as Chaat (which also refers to many snacks). Check out the Wikipedia info on it. I’d had a bite of this salad from my friends’ fridge the weekend before and it was delicious so I had to get the recipe. It was awesome to get this and translate it because it came from his mom so he was getting the true, true specs while speaking to her in Urdu and bringing it to me while applying some of the thoughts they have in the Middle East that they still use while cooking here to preserve the food. I have brought it down to simple stuff (only took a couple things out).

Ingredients:

Two cups dry black chick peas/garbanzo beans

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes

1 lemon

1 tomato, chopped

1 avocado, cut into small pieces

1/4 packet “Chat Masala” from an Indian Store

1 jalapeno, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

1 medium thin skinned potato with the skin removed after baking or microwaving

Go to a local Indian Store to get (two cups of dry) black chick peas. Rinse several times and then soak in a bowl of water overnight. In the morning, boil until they are the desired consistency and chewiness (about 1.5 hours in boiling water is needed after an overnight soak). If there is a time element, use regular Garbanzo beans/chick peas from a can in place of the black chick peas.

Directions:

While the boiling is taking place…

Bake potato (I nuked it for a couple minutes) and chop into small pieces.

Combine salt, pepper, red pepper, jalapeno pepper, and chat masala in a medium sized bowl.

Get out a second bowl and add the chick peas (once done), tomato, avocado, lemon juice, chopped cilantro. Mix together (hands work well to do this). Add the potato.

Mix the second mixture with the first mixture and adjust salt, pepper, red pepper, to taste and add lemon juice.

This salad was awesome! It can be enjoyed warm or cold, I prefer the latter. So fresh and so many flavors. Would be great for tailgaiting!!!

From Quinoa to Cookie

Posted on August 25, 2014 by melsmosaic

I make birthday cookies for my friends and for a recent one I emailed her with an idea because of dietary concerns. I know she’s big into quinoa and I looked for (cookie) recipes with quinoa in them. She was kind enough to send me a link to the cookie (recipe) she would like for her birthday goodies. They where basically simple chocolate chip cookies, but with a coconut kick.

As I investigated the recipe, it of course called for quinoa flour. I went to Whole Foods and they had it (I was just talking to them about it, didn’t actually see it but could only fathom the price — just googled it $10-$13). But then I thought, there has to be a way to make this stuff. Of course! This makes it much more fun, and beyond less expensive. You pay $3-$4 for the quinoa and you’re set.

So, found a great recipe for it on Homemadeadventure. You just take 2 cups of quinoa and put it in a skillet over medium heat.

Toast it for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The quinoa will start to make a light popping sound, kind of like popcorn, when the toasting starts. You want this sound for about a minute or two. Then it gets nice and brown.

Let it cool then put it in a food processor.

Blend until fine. I did mine for probably about 8-10 minutes.

Then baking started!

The recipe was from Ambitious Kitchen and named The BEST Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups quinoa flour (homemade or store bought)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled (Trader Joe’s has great stuff)
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl whisk together quinoa flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. (I always tend to just put this on top of the wet mixture later).

In bowl of an electric mixer beat together melted coconut oil and brown sugar until smooth. Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; beat again for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.

Add in flour; and mix on low speed until just combined. Slowly add in chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 2″ balls and place on cookie sheet leaving 2″ apart. Love the Silpat mat! It didn’t say whether you would spray the cookie sheet or not so glad I have it. Bake 8-11 minutes or until edges just being to turn a golden brown. If you noticed that your cookies are baking flat, then you may want to chill your dough for 10-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool at least 5 minutes on baking sheet. The cookies will need to set and will be very fragile at first so you have to be a little patient for the edges to harden a bit before removing them. Once the edges and bottom harden a bit, transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. Makes 18-20 cookies. I got about 2 dozen out of this recipe!

My friend loved the cookies and not sure how many are left. Very coconut-y and the great chocolate in there.

These Chips are(n’t) BS!

Posted on August 17, 2014 by melsmosaic

Was in Whole Foods the other day roaming through the chip aisle to grab some pita chips (of course, right?). I always have to see what else is on the shelves that I really don’t need. Well, a couple years ago I had some chips after running a race that were so good! They were just so unique and I haven’t been able to find them again. I couldn’t quite remember what they were, unfortunately, so have been on this endless hunt. I see these sweet potato chips and try them and realize they aren’t quite right. Well, finally I have found what I was looking for! Garden of Eatin’ Butternut Squash Chips! They are and aren’t BS! So good! The bag says NEW, no, they were around a couple years ago and now are finally back! The chips are made with corn, butternut squash and some spice. They have a bit of sweetness, they’re crunchy and something unique to them. I don’t even think they need salsa to pair with them. I did put some hummus on them once or twice, though — the pita chips didn’t have to get all of it, right? They are also gluten free and dairy free. Check them out, let me know what you think. And, if you find them at different stores, let me know.

Honey See, Honeydew

Posted on August 10, 2014 by melsmosaic

It’s summer, which means it’s melon time! Bon Appetit came a couple weeks ago and I was flipping through it, of course, and there was a recipe with honeydew. I haven’t seen many recipes with honeydew in them. The most I’ve ever done with it is either (1) cut and eat or (2) the aforementioned topped with prosciutto. So, this recipe was game! This delectable food-bearing treat I keep mentioning is Shaved Honeydew, Fennel, and Olive Salad. The last two key ingredient are some of my favorite foods! It’s a no-cook (in the sense of no heat) recipe which is great this time of year. And, gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 ½ pounds honeydew melon, rind and seeds removed, shaved on a mandoline
½ fennel bulb, shaved on a mandoline, plus 2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fennel fronds
¼ cup brined green olives,  such as Castelvetrano, pitted,  very coarsely chopped

Directions

Zest the orange (and then make sure you don’t add this to the dressing!!!). I carefully took it out of the bowl after I more carefully read the directions. Why should you read ahead, right?

Whisk orange juice, lemon juice, and  2 Tbsp. oil in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper.

Shave the honeydew…hmmm….what’s the best way to take the skin off the melon? Carrot peeler, not that great, knife ended up being the best bet. Then I quartered the melon and it took awhile.

Next, you do the same thing to the fennel. Much easier to prep/cut!

Add melon, shaved fennel,  and olives to vinaigrette and toss to coat. Top salad with orange zest and fennel fronds, drizzle with more oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Final product (VERY green!)

It was very light and refreshing, though it seems like it was missing something and I can’t tell if it was lemon juice or S&P. I did add more S&P at the table so don’t know if it was the lemon. But overall, very nice. Perfect for summer! Was served with scallops and some delicious grains. Would highly recommend it.

Asparagus Salad with Manchego and Almonds

Posted on June 26, 2014 by melsmosaic

As I continue going through some Cooking Light recipes, the next one I tried was an awesome asparagus salad. The proper title — Shaved Asparagus Salad with Manchego and Almonds. What was unique about this is that the asparagus is raw. I can count on less than one hand the amount of times I’ve eaten un-cooked asparagus. Game on! When I made this, I did not add the egg because of everything else I was making for dinner, I didn’t need that extra bit of protein/food.

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar (I used tarragon vinegar because I didn’t want to buy a fresh bottle of sherry vinegar just for this and that’s what I had on hand)
1 1/2 teaspoons walnut oil (again, didn’t want to buy something new, so used some sesame oil)
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic (of course I used more than that!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound large asparagus
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
8 cups water
2 tablespoons white vinegar
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted
1 ounce Manchego cheese, shaved (about 1/4 cup)

Directions

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.
Using a sharp peeler, thinly peel asparagus to equal 3 cups asparagus ribbons. Add asparagus and parsley to bowl; toss gently to coat. *They make this sound SO easy. Not so much. With a carrot, yet, but with a smaller asparagus spear/stalk, not so much. After awhile on each one, I’d stop and just throw a larger piece in the bowl.
*THIS IS THE PART I DIDN’T DO* Combine 8 cups water and white vinegar in a large skillet; bring to a simmer. Break each egg into a custard cup, and pour each gently into pan. Cook 3 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove eggs from pan using a slotted spoon.
Place about 2/3 cup asparagus mixture on each of 4 plates. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons almonds; top each serving with 1 egg. Sprinkle evenly with Manchego cheese. *I don’t get this fancy. I tossed everything in a bowl.

It was DELICIOUS! Crisp, fresh and some nice tang with all the flavors. Highly recommend it! I can’t decide if next time I’m going to try cutting the asparagus with a mandolin or V-slicer or cutting them in half and using the food processor with the proper blade. I just need to hope the hit the blade horizontally to slice properly. Though, I guess even if not, they’ll taste the same!