Greens and Grains

For 2012, my boyfriend and I are planning to eat more more vegetables and try to substitute them for meat in many meals.  Here's a perfect side dish that I easily created from items in my fridge/pantry one night.  It pairs well with seared tofu, tempeh, chicken, pork, or really any kind of meat.  And it's just as good alone.  I sort of threw it together so the measurements aren't exact but it's hard to mess it up.  Totally healthy, totally delicious.

Brown rice with chick peas, spinach and pine nuts

• about 2-3 cups of cooked brown rice
• half a bag of spinach, washed
• 1 t. chopped garlic
• 1 t. extra virgin olive oil.
• 1 small can of chick peas
• handful of pine nuts
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook brown rice and set aside.  I like to use Trader's Joe's frozen bags of brown rice.  Each bag only takes 3 minutes to cook.  Sauté spinach and garlic with olive oil in pan.  Drain and rinse can of chick peas.  Once the spinach is wilted, mix everything together in a bowl and sprinkle in pine nuts.  Season with salt and pepper.  Enjoy.

 

How to Take the Chill Away

Today was nothing but cold and rainy and after a day full of running errands outside, all I wanted to do was enjoy a warm bowl of soup while watching a movie.  I was feeling a bit lazy but refused to buy ready-made soup so I made this recipe from scratch.  Admittedly, I did take one shortcut and bought a roasted chicken to add to the soup.

Roasted Chicken & Egg Noodle Soup

-1 roasted chicken, about 2 lbs. (meat cut up into bite-size pieces)
-1-2 T. olive oil
-2 medium-sized carrots, peeled and chopped
-1 cup onion, diced
-3 celery stalks, chopped
-1 t. garlic, chopped
-2 cups egg noodles (I actually used German spaetzle b/c it was in my cupboard but any egg noodle will do)
-1 bag fresh spinach
-2 T. fresh dill, chopped
-8-10 cups chicken broth

Sauté onion, celery, garlic and carrots in stock pot w/ olive oil.  Once slightly tender, add chicken stock and bring to boil.  Add egg noodles and cook until cooked through.  While noodles are cooking, chop up roasted chicken meat into pieces and add to soup.  Add washed spinach and simmer until wilted.  Garnish with fresh chopped dill.  Enjoy!

 

Roasted Butternet Squash w/ Couscous

One of my favorite things about fall is cooking with all the different kinds of squash available at the market.  Here's a simple recipe that pairs well with a roasted pork or chicken....

Roast Butternut Squash w/ Couscous

Ingredients

• 1 box of Israeli cous-cous
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• minced garlic according to your taste
• salt & pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Prepare cous-cous according to directions on package.  I usually boil the cous-cous in chicken stock instead of water for added flavor.    Peel and dice butternut squash.  Chop red onions.  Place on sheet coated with cooking spray.  Coat squash with cooking spray or use basting brush with olive oil to coat.  Dress with salt and pepper and place it in the center race of the oven for about 35 minutes (depending on your oven). 

Mix squash, red onions and cous-cous together and serve warm.  Yum.

I Say Tomato

I'm so looking forward to tomato season....that's all for now.  :-)

Garden Variety

Last weekend my boyfriend Wendel and I attended an outdoor performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night that was produced by a theatre company that tours around the South Bay every year called, "Shakespeare by the Sea."  It was a great way to spend a Saturday evening.  In my opinion, an outdoor performance like this isn't complete without a tasty dinner.  I always wanted to have a picnic under the stars but wanted to make something relatively easy and transportable.  For an appetizer, I chose a homemade edamame pea spread with toasted pita wedges (recipe will follow on the next post).  Our main dish was homemade steak sandwiches on sourdough bread with roasted tomatoes, arugula, muenster cheese and dijon mustard.  I picked a light side dish that I found while perusing through the August issue of Bon Appetit magazine.  Check out the recipe below.  Super easy to make and super delish!  It's even better with home-grown tomatoes.

Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1 t. coarse kosher salt

1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 t. dried crushed red pepper

2 pounds medium zucchini, trimmed

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Small wedge of Parmesan cheese

Kitchen Notes:  *I added a handful of cherry tomatoes for extra flavor and used a different peeler than the recipe recommended b/c I don't like the large ribbons.

Whisk oil, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, 1/2/ teaspoon black pepper and crushed red pepper in small bowl to blend.  Set dressing aside.  Using vegetable peeler or V-slicer and working from top to bottom of each zucchini, slice zucchini into ribbons (about 1/16 inch thick).  Place ribbons in large bowl.  Add basil and nuts, then dressing; toss to coat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Using vegetable peeler, shave strips from Parmeson wedge over salad.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Shaved-Zucchini-Salad-with-Parmesan-Pine-Nuts-360251#ixzz0vDWLOIpF