Roasting eggplant for easy squeeze

Cut top off eggplant. Put it in a 400 oven until the skin turns brown, which will happen if you accidentally leave it there for an hour or so. Let it cool under tap water and massage the tough outer skin while you feel the inner, soft eggplant slipping away from it. Then cut off the scar from the cut top and express all the eggplant into your FP or bowl or whatever.

Vegi-thon

And no, I did not spend the weekend "vegging out" in front of a TV though that would have been AWESOME.
I had a vegetable cooking marathon instead. To keep up with my produce box we have to eat a lot of vegetables. So, among other things, I made a huge spring vegetable stir fry, featuring mushrooms, snap peas, squash, spinach and carrots. I made a sauce to go with it, but I ended up just eating it on its own because I wanted to enjoy the taste of vegetables.
Also, a big heatwave last weekend forced a lot of fruits into season on the farm, so we also had cherries, peaches, and strawberries in the box. It was bountiful.
I pleased to report that I have gotten through everything ... except a head of cabbage. Every time I open the produce door it gives me puppy dog eyes. I'm trying to pretend its not there. The guilt, the guilt!

Kneadless Bread: our hundreth post!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102124561

Just tried out this bread recipe from NPR. It's really easy--no kneading at all! You don't even need to have a bread pan. The recipe calls for a dutch oven, but I just used a big pot b/c I don't have one. The long rising time gives it a sour dough-like flavor. The crust is nice and brown but not too thick and, as a result of the no-kneading, you end up with a very puffy and light body.

PIcnic food

Had a potluck dinner last night with my quintet. Two of us brought food that I believe would be PERFECT for picnics. Really simple, but again, coming up with something that's tasty, portable, and doesn't need to be warm or cold can be kinda difficult.

Mozzarella Sandwich (from our dear violist):
Slice loaf of ciabatta bread in half
Spread both sides with pesto
Layer spinach, roasted red peppers, and mozzarella (portabellos would probably be good, too)

Black bean salad (by me):
saute 1 chopt onion in evoo
add 1c frozen corn & brown
add 1 can chopt tomato
season with cumin, chili powder, and a dash of cloves (I know, who woulda thought? I added it on accident b/c it was in the same type of bottle as the chili powder and it tasted good)
1c dried black beans, reanimated
cool, add chopt cilantro
serve over lettuce

AND FINALLY:
butterless peanut butter cookies:
http://www.recipezaar.com/No-Butter-Peanut-Lovers-Peanut-Butter-Cookies-186718
nice and moist! I added 2T or so of butter b/c I had some in the fridge (to make up for using skim milk). Also note that mine took >15 min to cook rather than the 9.5 min suggested in the recipe

Enjoy!

Success with ... green garlic!

I wasn't even sure what it was when it came in my box, but some internet research revealed that the crimson streaked bulbous stalks were indeed green garlic, or young garlic, a delicacy only available in the late spring. I wanted to make a recipe that highlighted the taste of green garlic and nothing else, so I found a simple pasta recipe. The result was pretty good. The green garlic was delicious, it has a mild garlicy flavor that is quite different from regular garlic. The one thing I'd do differently is add a some white wine or stock to the sauce, since I thought the dish was a bit dry. If you are luck enough to find green garlic, give this a shot:

Cook 8 oz spaghetti (I used quinoa pasta). Melt 3 tbs butter in a large saucepan. Thinly slice three stalks of green garlic, and saute until soft. Turn up the heat until the butter bubbles. Add 1/2 cups of water you cooked the pasta in and whisk until you form an immersion. Cook down for a minute. Whisk in some lemon zest and chopped fresh basil. Turn off the heat, add the pasta to the pan and toss. Enjoy with a generous helping of parmesean. Thank you green garlic!

Success with beets!

Cool Beet and Spinach Salad with Tahini sauce

This is a recipe of my own invention. I'm quite proud of it:
For the salad:
6-8 small beets
1 package frozen or fresh spinach
!/2 a red onion

Simmer the beets in water in a big sauce pan with a lid. After about 30 minutes test if the beets are done. If done, you should be able to easily slide a knife through a beet and slip off the skin. Plunge the beets into cool water. Skin them and cut them into wedges. Cook the spinach (either wilt it if using fresh or microwave the frozen stuff). Dice the onion. Combine all the ingredients.

For the dressing:
~ 1/4 cup tahini
1 lemon, juiced
a few grinds of pepper
salt
agave nectar or honey

Whisk all the ingredients except the honey and salt together. Add warm water until the dressing is fairly thin. You want something that will dress the salad easily. Add the honey and salt to taste. Dress the salad. This salad should be served cool.

And I thought I hated beets ...

Baked Tofu and Veggies

I tried this out as an adaptation of one of mom's recipes. It's simple and easy to make as a single serving.

Cubed extrafirm tofu, water squeezed out, marinated with teriyaki sauce
Chop veggies (I used carrots, onion slices, and cauliflower) & toss in evoo
Bake in cake pan for 40 min at 400 degrees
Serve over rice

Strange happenings under the countertop

What to do with beets?

They came in my CSA box. I generally dislike them. Any ideas?

Chef Andres' Moorish Chickpea Stew

I finally made chef Jose Andres of Cafe Atlantico and Jaleo's moorish chick pea stew, which he submitted to an NPR contest asking for recipes to feed a family of 4 for <$10. It turned out wonderfully!

Here's the original recipe:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102854605
I followed it most of the way, except I poured out the cooking water from the chick peas and replaced it with veggie stock, omitted the saffron, changed the pimenton for ~2t cayenne pepper, and changed the Spanish sherry vinegar for red wine vinegar. Below is my revised ingredients list:
1c cooked garbanzos (chickpeas)
6 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
<1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
veggie stock
1.5 slices whole grain sliced bread
2t cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 pound (1 bag) spinach, washed and cleaned
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and white pepper to taste
+ one fried egg per serving

I made most of these changes in order to better accommodate my pantry rather than to make it taste better. It turned out really nicely, though--very hearty and delicious!

Produce - beautiful, beautiful produce!

I got my first CSA (community supported agriculture) box today!

It was very exciting. You can see the english peas, snap pees, oranges, asparagus, greens, onions, carrots, and beets. Nothing like fresh peas! And inside those brown paper bags were the most beautiful strawberries I've ever seen. Needless to say, I'm quite pleased.

Cashew & Cauliflower Curry

The search for the perfect curry continues! I tried out another recipe from 101 Cookbooks. I found myself fortuitously well equipped to try it out after a windfall of cashews (a generous re-gift!) came my ways.

Here's the original recipe:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/cashew-curry-recipe.html
I made a few changes in the proportions and added a dash of cayenne pepper. Here's my somewhat modified ingredient list:
1 cup whole coconut milk
2T curry powder
salt and cayenne pepper to taste
1 onion, chopt
2 cloves garlic, chopt
1/3 cup water
7 ounces xtra firm tofu, cut into small cubes
1 c frozen peas
2 c cauliflower, cut into tiny florets
1/2 cup cashews
a handful of cilantro, loosely chopped

Most of the ingredients are pretty standard, but no ginger, making it easier to accomplish with my pantry. The combination of butter cauliflower, sweet coconut milk, and fresh cilantro really does it for me! This one is most definitely a keeper.