Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update and let you all know that I haven't given up on my writing, cooking or Friday bins. Between cupcakes, work and my daughters schedule, it's been just a tad hectic around here the last few weeks!

I haven't gotten to do as much cooking as I normally do, in fact I haven't made anything outside of the pickled garlic and spicy carrots that I canned for Christmas gifts the other day. This makes me very unhappy, but I am hoping to be back on some sort of schedule by the end of next week so that I can start cooking again!  I've eaten more fast food in the past 2 weeks than I've had in probably the entire last year and it's definitely time to break that habit!

I think that even Dylan is starting to wonder if I'm ever going to have time to cook again. It really is something that I continue to look forward to, getting to make dinner with my daughter. She has some really great ideas and always gets excited to see what's new in our bin.

Unfortunately, I also won't be doing much cooking for the holiday tomorrow outside of maybe making some mashed potatoes for dinner. Once again, work takes precedence over having any fun. However, I do plan on doing some holiday cooking next month using produce from my bins so stay tuned!!

I also want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels! 

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

I knew that tonight's dinner had to include a lot of vegetables, and while strolling through the store with Dylan today, we found some boneless skinless chicken legs. This resulted in us coming up with the idea for roasted chicken, to which I decided why not just roast the veggies as well?

After rinsing and patting dry the chicken, I placed on a foil lined baking pan and sprinkled with smoked sea salt, black pepper, paprika and garlic powder.

For the vegetables, I chopped fennel, golden beets, leeks, purple and white potatoes, carrots and parsnips into bite sized chunks. I placed these into a large bowl and sprinkled with sea salt, black pepper and fresh thyme. I drizzled with a bit of olive oil and stirred until fully combined.  The vegetables were then poured out onto a large foil lined baking sheet.

I placed both the chicken and vegetables in the oven at 425 degrees, until beginning to brown and fully cooked through. I finished with a sprinkling of fresh fennel fronds.

I have to say that this was a definite fall meal. The chicken was really moist and flavorful and the vegetables all worked great together. There was a bit of sweetness from the beets and a bit of savory from the fresh thyme, very tasty.

I'm also looking forward to using the leftovers in my meal tomorrow!

Fig and Pear Sauce with Pistachio Gelato

I had adriatic figs in my bin and didn't know how to use them. After doing a bit of research online, I decided that I wanted to make a sauce with them, but I also wanted to use up some of the other fruit that I had. Since my pears were reaching that really ripe stage, these were the ones to use.

I chopped the figs and pears adding them to a sauce pan with 1/4 cup of blackberry merlot and a tablespoon of rose blossom honey.  This was brought to a simmer and allowed to cook until beginning to thicken.

To serve, I scooped some pistachio gelato (Ciao Bella brand) onto a plate and topped with a few spoonfuls of the sauce.

Despite the fact that I do not like the gritty texture of the figs, it didn't seem to bother me in this sauce at all. I thought that the flavor of the figs and pears along with the wine worked very well together. Using the sauce to top my all time favorite gelato, was also an excellent idea!

Easy Steak Fajitas!

I seemed to be acquiring quite a few green onions and wasn't entirely sure what to do with them all. Then the idea of fajita's came to mind!  Although I had no idea how exactly to make fajita's, I set off to make my own version, with a twist of course.

I added 3 minced cloves of garlic, 2 thinly sliced (lengthwise) green onions, thin strips of red gypsy pepper and chopped broccoli to a pan with a little toasted sesame oil and red pepper flakes.  Once the broccoli began to soften, I added the steak strips, thinly sliced (in this case, I just purchased the pre-packaged stir fry steak).  When the steak was mostly cooked through, I removed from the heat and allowed to sit for a minute while I warmed the flour tortillas.

We added a scoop of the mixture to the tortilla, topped with a spoonful of tomatillo salsa and dinner was done!  This was so fast, used minimal ingredients and was probably the healthiest thing that we've eaten all week long!!

Dylan loved it, eating 4 entire fajita's! (I was stuffed after just 2.) She would have eaten more too, but there wasn't any left, I should mentioned that this made a large pan full of food! 

Turns out, I do know how to make a tasty tortilla and I didn't even over cook the meat! =)

Friday Bin 10/21/11

So many delicious vegetables! I love it!!!

Gold Beets with Tops
Parsnips
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Leeks
Red Cabbage
Acorn Squash
Collard Greens
Broccoli
Fennel
Banana Sweet Peppers
Honey Crisp Apples
Local Bartlett Pears
Bananas

I am so happy to have fennel today! This is a vegetable that I never expected to enjoy so much. Mostly because of it's close resemblance to black licorice when in its raw state (yuck!), but when cooked, fennel takes on a delicious, creamy texture with a wonderfully mild flavor to it. The collard greens are also a great item in my bin, a nice change from all of the kale we've had lately.

Red cabbage is one of those items that I'm still not quite sure what to do with. As much as I love the flavor of it, I'd like to find a way to use it outside of it's raw form in a salad. I've been trying to stay away from salads lately, I find that when I start making them I can't seem to stop and fall into a sort of salad funk. So no salads, at least not as a main dish.

I think that with all of the remaining produce from last week, in addition to my new bin, I should be able to come up with some really great meals. I'm thinking that I will try to make extra of most dishes so that they can be frozen and eaten on those days when I am just not in the mood to cook, but want something that doesn't resemble the cardboard box it came in.

Sausage and Veggie Stew

The other day, I spent all night tossing and turning in bed thinking about this great stew recipe that I had come up with. I decided that slow cooking it would be the best way to make it and forced myself out of bed when the first alarm (at 6:30am) went off, just so that I could make it!

I layered chopped kale and chard into the cooker, then added quartered potatoes, sliced carrots, broccoli, sliced delicata squash, leeks, green onions, sliced bratwurst and fresh thyme.  I also added 2 cups of beef broth, 1 bottle of Pyramid Apricot Ale and 3 cups of water. Then I set the timer on low for 5 hours, covered and let it cook away.

When I walked into my house later that day, it smelled delicious! I could hardly wait to try it out (after adding salt and fresh ground pepper to taste), only to realize that in all of my excitement and grogginess from waking up way to early (for me anyways), I had forgotten to remove the rind from the squash. However, aside from the fact that I had to go through my bowl and remove all of the rind before I could eat it, my stew turned out pretty excellent!

This recipe also made so much that after Dylan and I both helped ourselves to a few bowls each, I still had enough left over to freeze for another time.




I think from now on I will stick to getting up at my regularly scheduled time and do my prep work at night so as to avoid any more ridiculous mishaps (at least those related to a lack of sleep anyways).

Friday Bin 10/14/11

Today's bin is full of beautiful fall produce!

Local Carrots with Tops
Local Green Onions
Leeks
Delicata Squash
Red Chard
Lacinato Kale
Broccoli
Mixed Potatoes
Gypsy Sweet Peppers
Flavor King & Queen Pluots
Honey Crisp Apples
Local Bartlett Pears
Adriatic Figs
Bananas
Tough as Nails Coffee Blend (Middle Fork Roasters)

I'm looking forward to cooking with the delicata squash, this is an item this week that I'm not all that familiar with so hopefully I won't mess it up!  Another item I am excited to have in my bin are leeks! I haven't had them for far too long, and they have such a wonderful flavor.

I added some coffee this week too. Middle Fork Roasters is a small local roaster that gets excellent reviews. I've been wanting to try their coffee for a while now and New Roots just started offering it on their site. I can hardly wait until tomorrow morning to have some!

Veggies and Toast

It's been quite a long week already, so when Dylan asked me "What are you making tonight mom?", I replied with my usual "I have no idea" response. Once again, I just took all the veggies that I have out of the fridge and threw them in a pan, thus creating veggies and toast.

I needed something that was easy and there isn't a whole lot easier than just chopping veggies and cooking them up. I was however motivated long enough to grill up some slices of Texas toast to serve alongside though.

The veggies tonight consisted of onion, red and green bell pepper, chard leaves and stems, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower and corn sauteed until just beginning to soften. I added about 1/2 cup of chicken broth and brought to a simmer just until the cauliflower was fully cooked and the chard leaves completely wilted.  To finish, I added my usual seasoning of salt, red pepper flakes and fresh ground pepper.

I will say, for being completely unmotivated to cook, this wasn't half bad.  Dylan thoroughly enjoyed it (eating two full plates).  The toast was also a great side for this, soaking up what little liquid there was, but not getting too soggy because the slices were so thick.

And the best part....it was ready in under 10 minutes!

Deviled Eggs with Beets

I came across a photo the other day of deviled eggs that were topped with beets and I thought well, if this tastes good it would make a great appetizer for dinner parties and get-togethers. With that in mind, I knew I had to try it out.

I made my version of deviled eggs by mixing the cooked egg yolks with horseradish dijon mayonnaise, finely chopped onion and diced pickles (in this case I used a brand called Wickles, they are an excellent spicy pickle, my favorite!!!).

I filled the cooked egg white halves with a spoonful of the yolk mixture and topped each deviled egg with diced cooked beets.

As weird as this dish sounds, it was pretty good. In fact, I do not like deviled eggs at all, however I could definitely see myself making these again for my next dinner gathering! (In fact, Dylan was lucky that I even shared any with her because I liked them so much!)

French Onion Soup

Earlier today I was flipping through a magazine and saw a recipe for french onion soup. I immediately realized that I have onions to use up and knew that this was what I was going to make for dinner tonight. I did not however have any brandy on hand to make the recipe in the magazine, so I decided to get a little creative and come up with my own version.

I thinly sliced two red onions and added to a large stock pot with a few tablespoons of butter. The onions were cooked over medium heat until caramelized, roughly 15 minutes for a deep golden color. I then added 2 1/2 cups of beef broth and 1 1/2 cups (or one bottle) of Pyramid red ale (Juggernaut), as well as a few sprigs of fresh thyme and a cheese rind (in this case I chose gouda because that's what was in my freezer).  When the soup began to boil, I lowered the heat to a medium low and simmered for about 45 minutes.

I added two large spoonfuls of soup into each of two bowls and topped with a few slices of french bread and shredded apple smoked gruyere cheese. The bowls were placed into a 425 degree oven for about 5 minutes, just until the cheese was melting and beginning to brown.

This soup turned out exactly like I was hoping it would...Delicious!!  Even Dylan enjoyed it. Not that I really had to worry too much that she wouldn't, but there were a few interesting flavors going on between the smoked gruyere and the red ale.

Braised Chicken with Port Fig Reduction

The inspiration for dinner last night was the beautiful, plump figs that I hadn't had a chance to use yet. I wanted to use them in a more creative way than just stuffing with goat cheese or topping a pizza, and decided on a sauce for chicken thighs.

I started by removing the skin from each thigh, rinsing and patting dry. The thighs were then dredged in flour and browned on each side in a mix of butter and olive oil over medium high heat.  I then lowered the heat to medium and added one half of a lemon, thinly sliced, quartered figs and thinly sliced red onion. Next I poured a mixture of dry white wine (3/4 cup), port wine (1/3 cup) and balsamic vinegar (1/4 cup) over the chicken, covered the pan and allowed to simmer for about 15 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally. Once the chicken was fully cooked, I removed the chicken from the pan and set aside. The heat was brought to medium high and the sauce boiled until thickened and slightly reduced. To finish, I added 1/2 cup of heavy cream and placed the chicken back into the pan, turning to coat in the sauce and removed from the heat.

To serve with the chicken, I made green beans (simply boiled until heated through and sprinkled with garlic seasoning) and herbed mashed potatoes.  I made the potatoes by adding cream cheese, heavy cream, finely chopped fresh parsley, fresh thyme, butter, salt and fresh ground black pepper to cooked, mashed potatoes.

I have to say, the entire meal took less than half an hour to make and if you like sweet dishes, then you would definitely enjoy this one. I myself am not a huge fan of the grittyness of the figs, but aside from that, I really liked it and thought the flavors went very well together. Dylan enjoyed it so much that she ate the remaining potatoes and helped herself to more chicken. She thought that the fig sauce was delicious and probably would have licked her plate and the pan clean if I would have let her!

Kiwiberry Shortcake

Personally, I don't think that there is anything better than having dessert for dinner, especially after a rather difficult day. So I decided to make good use of these gorgeous kiwiberries.

I started off by making the biscuits, just a simple mixture of Bisquick mix, sugar and milk. This was then kneaded, shaped and baked in a 450 degree oven for about 6 minutes.

I also made a quick raspberry sauce, by heating half a cup of frozen sweetened raspberries over medium low heat until all of the raspberries were heated and falling apart. The raspberries were poured into a fine mesh strainer and all of the juice was pressed into a bowl.

While the raspberries were cooking, I sliced the kiwiberries and thawed the Cool Whip.

To assemble, I placed a biscuit on each plate, topped with a spoonful of kiwiberry slices, a spoonful of Cool Whip and a light drizzle of raspberry sauce. I topped with another biscuit, a bit more Cool Whip and garnished the plate with more kiwiberry slices and raspberry sauce.

This was my favorite dinner ever! I might even go so far as to say my favorite dish ever! Super simple to make, the right combination of sweet and tart and the perfect end to a rough day.

Sausage, Spinach and Potatoes

I hade to make something for dinner tonight that would allow me to use up the rest of the delicious apple gouda sausage, so I grabbed a bunch of items out of my refrigerator. 

The result was the usual adding of onion and garlic with a little olive oil to a pan, this time I also added some chopped gypsy peppers, diced potato, salt and pepper. This was cooked until the potatoes were fully cooked through and beginning to brown. I then added the sausage (which had been removed from the casings and chopped into large chunks), spinach, tomatoes and black beans.  I continued to cook the mixture until everything was fully heated through and the spinach was wilted. This was served with a little sour cream.

This turned out pretty good, aside from the fact that half my potatoes were not fully cooked through like I thought! (Turns out, it actually cooks better if you dice the potato into uniform sized pieces...duh!)  Dylan however really seemed to enjoy it, in fact she not only finished my bowl but all the rest too! Atleast now I don't have to worry about how to heat up the leftovers tomorrow (still no microwave yet).

Friday Bin 9/30/2011

I am extremely excited about today's bin! It is absolutely full of amazing fruits and vegetables that I can't wait to get cooking with.

Local Beets with Tops
Local Cauliflower
Local Corn
Local Red Chard
Local Bibb Lettuce
Local Green Beans
Local Blue and White Potatoes
Local Green Bell Pepper
Local Red Bell Pepper
Mixed Summer Squash
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
Flat Leaf Parsley
Local Kiwi Berries
Gala & Buckeye Apples
Local Bartlett Pears
Black Mission Figs

I have to admit, I've never even so much as heard of a kiwi berry but I can't wait to taste them! Kiwi's are one of my all time favorite fruits so I can imagine that I'm going to enjoy these too, I just have to figure out what to do with them first!  I also have another new item, blue potatoes, I've seen them, however I don't actually know what they taste like. Maybe they taste just like regular potatoes?  The mixed summer squash is also a very fun item, I just love the way they look and their flavor is really incredible. As for the parsley, I'm a huge fan of fresh herbs, so this will come in quite handy this week I'm sure. The black mission figs are a great treat too, I've never really been a fan of them but the more that I cook with them the more I really start to enjoy eating them.

Apple Gouda Sausage with Roasted Cauliflower and Sauteed Spinach and Onions

The inspiration for tonight's meal was the delicious apple gouda sausage that I found at Whole Foods Market. I am a firm believer that everything tastes better with gouda and these definitely don't disappoint!

To go along with the sausage, I served them on a bed of caramelized onions and sauteed spinach. I also made some roasted cauliflower by cutting into large chunks and coating in olive oil, applewood smoked salt (which is amazing, even my daughter couldn't stop talking about how great the flavor is) and fresh ground black pepper, placing in a 425 degree oven until fully cooked through and beginning to brown.

I also felt that this meal needed a little starch, so I diced up some red potatoes and pan fried them in a little olive oil and butter until crispy. I finished the potatoes with a light sprinkling of a mediterranean salt blend. (I know I use this salt blend a lot, but it really is the best way to add a bit of flavor to any dish, a mixture of lavender, lemon zest and salt. It is absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend picking some up if you can find it.)

Having a lack of multiple pans to cook with, I had to make dinner in stages so it ended up taking me quite some time to do, keeping things warm in the oven as I went along. However, everything was extremely simple and well worth the wait.

I've also managed to use up most of the vegetables from my bin this week, so I am really looking forward to receiving my new bin tomorrow!

Eggplant and Black Bean Nachos

The first thing I did after work today was go to Target to pick up a can opener and lucky I did! I found a $20 can opener that was on clearance for just $3! Talk about starting the night off right.  I also went to Safeway for a few of the remaining items on my list for dinner.

Since it's just me tonight, I wasn't really in the mood to make anything fancy and more into figuring out something quick and easy. So, I decided to take some of the leftover eggplant mixture (eggplant, yellow squash, gypsy peppers, onion, tomatoes and garlic) from last night and reheat in my large saute pan. To this I added some rinsed and drained spinach. Once the spinach began to wilt, I removed the mixture from the heat.

Time to assemble! I started off with a layer of white corn tortilla chips and sprinkled with a few spoonfuls of rinsed and drained black beans. Next, I added a layer of the eggplant spinach mixture, some chopped tomatoes and covered in shredded cheddar cheese.  This was baked in a 350 degree oven until the cheese was melted and the beans were heated all the way through.  I also served with a spoonful each of guacamole and sour cream.

Okay, so I get that I'm supposed to be eating healthier this week and nachos are not exactly healthy, but this was SO good! And, as far as nachos go, I'm calling this a healthy version because they definitely could have been worse. Besides, I'm sure I will find a way to make up for it tomorrow.

Eggplant Taco's

When I set out to make dinner tonight, I had a plan. I still wasn't quite sure what it was that I was going to make, but still, I had a plan. Since I currently only have a 12" saute pan, the plan was pretty necessary because I have to do everything in stages, however because of one tiny little kitchen tool that I managed to overlook, my entire plan was changed. As it turns out, I don't have a can opener. Why is it that somehow the can opener is always the one thing that you end up not being able to find after a move? (Well, this is usually the case for me anyways, I can't even begin to tell you how many of them I've purchased over the years.)

Anyways, after having to completely change my original idea for dinner, things started to fall into place.  I chopped red onions and gypsy peppers, which were then added to the pan with some olive oil and minced garlic. This was heated over medium until the onion was beginning to brown. Next I added chopped tomatoes, yellow squash and eggplant to the pan, continued to cook until the eggplant was fully heated through and finished with red pepper flakes and a Mediterranean salt blend to taste.

To assemble the taco's, I placed a tortilla on each plate and placed a few rinsed and drained spinach leaves on top. Then I added a large spoonful of the eggplant mixture, a small amount of sour cream (I use Daisy brand because I think that it tastes the best, yum!), and sprinkled some cheese on top (I used gouda parrana, because I didn't have anything else).

I am actually pretty impressed with how this turned out. I personally have never heard of eggplant in a taco, but I guess there's a first for everything. My dishes seem to be getting a bit more creative the longer I have to go without an actual set of pans to cook with, this could be both a good and a bad thing (especially for Dylan).

Friday Bin 9/23/11

Yesterday Dylan and I decided that starting Monday we would start eating healthy again. Since the move, we've been living off of frozen pizza, Eggo waffles, croissants and oatmeal, but now that we are settled in I think it's time.  This week's bin is actually pretty perfect for starting to get back on track too, full of basic produce items that will incorporate well with what we already have.

Cauliflower
Local Celery
Local Red Onions
Crookneck Squash
Local Eggplant
Local Spinach
Gypsy Sweet Peppers
Slicer Tomatoes
Sugar Baby Watermelon
Northwest Gala Apples
Local Bartlett Pears
Local Nectarines
Northwest Dandy Dapple Pluots
Bananas

I look forward to cooking with Dylan next week. Now that my work schedule is getting straightened out and Dylan back in school, we should have more time for creating some healthy meals in the weeks to come.

Beets with Beet Greens

The other night, after Dylan and I had spent all afternoon munching away on various items found in the cupboards, I decided that I should probably make something somewhat healthy to eat. Neither of us was very hungry, but we'd been eating chips and Eggo waffles for 2 days, so I decided that it was necessary.

I wanted to try and find a way to use my beets and their leafy green tops, especially since I've never cooked with beet greens before. I was able to find a simple recipe in a recent food magazine which I altered a bit and I was quite happy with the end result.

For this dish, I started off by adding chopped red onion to a large pan and cooking in a little olive oil until tender and beginning to brown. I then added some thinly sliced garlic and continued to cook until the onions were a deep brown color. Next I added the beets, which I had cut into bite sized chunks along with about a half a cup of water. This was allowed to simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes, until the beets started to become tender. At this point the chopped beet greens were added to the pan and the dish continued to simmer, covered, for another 5 minutes.  The pan was removed from the heat and I added a little red wine vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil, ground red pepper and a bit of salt (I used a mediterranean salt blend, which worked very well).

This dish was very light and flavorful, perfect after the unhealthy eating routine that we had fallen into. Dylan especially enjoyed it, although she happens to be pretty partial to beets

Bread, Eggs and Veggies

My dinner last night started off with bread from the store which the cashier gave to me for free. Apparently there is a new policy at Safeway that they can't charge customers for bread that isn't warm. I'm not complaining, fresh baked bread for free? Sign me up!

However, when I got home and jammed the sharp end of a garlic clove (unpeeled) under my fingernail, I should have known I was about to screw something up.

I sliced and buttered a few slices of the fresh bread, placed on a baking sheet and baked in the oven on 425 just until the butter was melted and the edges began to brown. For the veggies, I added diced onion, sweet peppers and minced garlic to a saute pan with a bit of oil and allowed this to cook until the onion became translucent. I then added halved cherry tomatoes and diced striped zucchini (unpeeled for color) to the onions. I continued to cook the vegetable mixture just until tender and set aside. 

All was going quite well until I got the bright idea to top the vegetables with a light sprinkling of flaked sea salt.  Turns out, you have to be smarter than the container it's in to open it.  Finally I managed to get the lid off and sea salt went flying everywhere throughout my kitchen (and pan).  Needless to say, my dish got some salt and I will probably be finding salt in various hiding spots for the next few days.

I decided to add eggs to my dish as well, mostly because I didn't have anything else and felt we needed something besides bread and a few veggies for dinner. So I simply cracked two eggs into the pan and fried in a little butter until cooked through.

To assemble the dish, I placed a slice of bread onto a plate, topped with a fried egg and a spoonful of the vegetables. I also sprinkled a little cheese on top.

Despite the overly salty taste, this turned out pretty good. My daughter also seemed to like it.  Next time though, I will make sure to open the salt over top of the sink (just to be safe). I think that I would also finish it off with some fresh chopped basil and maybe add some ham or bacon or even use shredded chicken in place of the egg to make it a heartier meal.

Prosciutto Wrapped Figs Stuffed with Goat Cheese

I was really looking forward to making this dish last night, so I set off to Whole Foods to get some of the specialty ingredients for it and found the most delicious Prosciutto Coppa at the deli counter!  I would have been perfectly happy just eating this for dinner but, being the first dish that I was making at my new place, I held out.

I started off by adding some balsamic vinegar to a small sauce pan and simmering over medium low heat until it was reduced by half.  Then I sliced the Black Mission figs in half lengthwise, added a slice of goat cheese on top of each half and wrapped each in a slice of prosciutto.  The wrapped figs were then placed onto a foil lined baking sheet which I had sprayed with cooking spray.  I baked these in a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

To serve, I placed the figs on a platter and drizzled with the reduced balsamic vinegar.

Although, I don't think that I'm as crazy about figs as some people are, this turned out pretty good. I also love that it was so easy to make. I think that the next time I'm making dinner and trying to impress someone this will definitely be making it to the menu!

Friday Bin 9/9/11

Sadly, I was so busy moving this weekend that I have hardly even had a chance to look at the produce that I received on Friday! So, I am really looking forward to getting home today and being able to plan out a few delicious dinners for the week.

Local Red Onion
Local Purple Beets with Tops
Italian Striped Zucchini
Local Lacinato Kale
Local Spinach
Gypsy Sweet Peppers
Local Cucumbers
Local Slicer Tomatoes
NW Grown Cantaloupe
NW Gala Apples
Local Peaches
NW Dapple Dandy Pluots
Bananas
Black Mission Figs

First up, I'm going to tackle these beautiful figs!! These are a fairly new item for me, since I don't have very much experience cooking with them and I've really only eaten them once or twice. However, I'm going to hope for the best and choose an easy recipe so that I don't screw it up! (At least I hope that I don't!)

I'm also very excited to have the Gypsy Sweet Peppers again this week, they have a really great flavor to them and should go quite well with several other items in my box.

Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

I was looking for a way to use up the rest of my eggplant and decided on sandwiches. It's been rather hot this week and that's always a quick and easy idea for dinner.

I sliced the eggplant, sweet peppers, onions and bread and brushed each with a little olive oil (on both sides). These were then all placed on a baking sheet and put under the broiler for a few minutes per side, just long enough to heat through and add a little color (or a lot of color as was the case with my bread, oops!).

To assemble the sandwiches, I spread a little goat cheese on each slice of bread, added a layer of arugula, spinach, eggplant, sweet peppers, onions and topped with another slice of the bread.

Although my bread did get a bit overly toasted, we found out that if we placed our sandwiches in the microwave for about 30 seconds, it softened up.  They turned out pretty tasty, I do think that the addition of pesto or maybe even a grainy mustard would have been good too and I will definitely add tomato slices the next time I make this.

Eggplant with Sweet Pepper and Cherry Tomato Sauce

Although this dish may not look like the most appetizing meal that I've ever made, I swear it was delicious!

I made a wonderful sauce by sauteing up some chopped onion and garlic in some butter until just beginning to brown, then I added the chopped red bell pepper, sweet pepper and halved cherry tomatoes. I allowed this to simmer until all of the juices had been released from the tomatoes and the peppers cooked through. To finish, I added a little salt and some fresh chopped basil.

Next, I peeled and sliced the eggplant into medium sized strips using a mandoline slicer. The strips were then cooked in a little olive oil, just until starting to brown and set aside on paper towels to drain.

I then layered a spoonful of the tomato pepper sauce in the bottom of a small loaf pan, added a layer of the eggplant slices and repeated until all of the eggplant was in the pan. I finished it off by adding the remaining sauce on top and sprinkling with shredded mozzarella cheese. This was placed in an oven on 425 degrees until the cheese was melted. To brown the cheese, I turned the broiler on for the last few minutes of cooking.

Despite the fact that I threatened to burn the house down by forgetting about my meal in the oven, under the broiler, until it was just about too late to salvage, this meal turned out great! The cherry tomatoes and the peppers made such a great sauce that I wish I had made twice as much so that I could use it for something tonight too!  I do think that if I were to make this dish again though, I would use half as much oil to cook the eggplant. My portion of the meal turned out a bit on the oily side (the eggplant is like a sponge and soaked up the oil).

Friday Bin 9/2/11

I subbed out most of my leafy greens (kale, chard, lettuce) this week because, well I haven't been in much of a salad mood lately and thought it would be best if I replaced them with something more fun. I also opted out of the carrots, I already have quite a bit of these in my refrigerator that need to be eaten so I didn't see the point in getting even more! 

Northwest Grown Eggplant
Local Green and Yellow Beans
Local Spinach
Basil
Sweet Peppers
Local Yukon Potatoes
Mixed Cherry Tomatoes
Northwest Grown Cantaloupe
Northwest Ginger Gold Apples
Local Peaches
Pluots

As you can see I have quite the variety to work with this week! I'm most excited about the eggplant, it's one vegetable that I never expected to like, but I really enjoy. The new item for me this week is the sweet peppers,  I am really looking forward to using them in my dinner tonight!

Kale and Potatoes

This meal turned out nothing at all like what I had intended. I started off by making a soup with kale, squash, carrots, red bell peppers, parsnips, some chard, salt and fresh ground black pepper. When the leaves began to wilt, I added about a cup of chicken stock and some white beans.  This was simmered until the carrots and parsnips were cooked through.

I decided to put this somewhat thick soup into a glass baking dish and top with mashed potatoes, because I had a lot of potatoes and needed to use them up somehow.  I also topped that with shredded cheddar cheese and baked in the oven on 425 until the cheese was melted and began to brown.

I didn't actually plan on the potatoes incorporating themselves into what little liquid there was in this dish, but that is exactly what they did.  Fortunately, this "mistake" turned out to be quite alright.  The potatoes turned it into a creamy soup and the added flavor of the cheese was delicious.  I may have to remember this recipe the next time I am in the mood for some comfort food!

Eggs, Sausage and Potatoes

Well, this week I learned that not only should I not be allowed to cook when I'm extremely upset, but that I should also not cook when overly excited.  Both dishes I was looking forward to and both of them failed.

The first was a dutch baby topped with a mixture of pork sausage, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and red bell pepper.  I knew going into it that I should not be cooking, but had already purchased the ingredients and we were hungry, so I made the dutch baby. Should have been easy enough, a simple mixture of egg, flour, milk and a pinch of salt...I was sadly mistaken. It didn't rise! It was supposed to have gotten all puffy and yummy, instead it just sat there and cooked as if it were a cake! But I continued on with the sausage mixture anyways, in hopes that maybe it would still at least taste like it was supposed to. Nope, wrong again!  Although the sausage mixture turned out good, it did not go well at all with the egg cake. Fortunately Dylan enjoyed hers, but I think it was just more her knowing that I was in a bad mood and trying to do anything to try and cheer me up (plus she was probably starving by this point).

The second idea came from an abundance of potatoes and the leftover sausage mixture.  This day I happened to be in a wonderfully excited mood with so many great things happening that I think maybe my brain was a bit preoccupied. However, I had this great idea for dinner in my head and I was determined to make it.  I diced up the potatoes and cooked them in a pan with some garlic until they started to brown, added the sunburst squash, which was sliced, and then added the leftover sausage mixture from the previous night.  I also poached a few eggs, which proved a bit difficult as well (but I won't get into that right now).

Apparently, I should have checked my potatoes better because they were only half way cooked through and somehow I managed to add too much salt, which to be honest I hardly even remember adding.  I also know that this was a disaster of a dinner, because as hungry as Dylan was, she wasn't too thrilled with me for serving it to her (poor thing!).

So now the rule is that Jess is only allowed to cook when in an even, controlled temper. Hmm...this may pose as a problem, considering even tempered and controlled aren't words typically used to describe me!

Tuna with Arugula and Sunburst Squash

Well, I think that it is pretty apparent after making dinner last night that it's time to figure out how to use an actual grill because this little grill pan just isn't going to cut it anymore. Fortunately, dinner still turned out edible just not quite as good as I was going for.

I started out by covering the tuna steaks in a mixture of Trader Joe's Island Teriyaki Sauce and rice wine vinegar and set aside for about 20 minutes. While the tuna was marinating, I made a quick red wine vinaigrette and drizzle over top of some arugula. I also prepared the red pepper strips, watermelon balls, pluot slices and cherry tomatoes for the plate.

I heated a grill pan to medium high and cooked my tuna steaks for a few minutes on each side, however, because of the sticky/sugary nature of the marinade, this burnt to the pan and caused one side of my tuna to turn a bit, well, dark. So I immediately took the tuna out of the pan, calling it officially done at this point and set it aside to rest. 

After cleaning the pan, I returned it to the burner and lowered the heat to medium so that I could grill the sunburst squash on all sides, just until cooked through.

I also took the remaining sauce from the marinade and cooked it down slightly to brush on top of the finished tuna.

The finished product was not too bad, provided you covered the tuna in the sauce. I much preferred the simple arugula salad with red pepper and a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top.

Friday Bin 8/19/11

Friday's bin was full of delicious produce! I can hardly wait to get started this week!

Local Carrots with Tops
Local Cucumbers
Local Lacinato Kale
Local Red Potatoes
NW Corn
Red Peppers
Sunburst Squash
Arugula
Mini Watermelon
Mixed Cherry Tomatoes
Early Dapple Pluots
Early Gold Apples
Local Peaches
1 Jar of Sunny Honey Raspberry Blossom Honey

I'm very excited to have honey included in my order!! Also, the mini watermelon has already begun to inspire tonight's meal, and can you really go wrong with cherry tomatoes? Yum!! 

The newest vegetable to my bin this week is the sunburst squash. It looks like a prettier version of zucchini and probably tastes like it too, but the wonderful color should make for a great addition to any meal!

Zucchini Frittata

I have willingly eaten (and craved) eggs twice this week. I'm blaming it on some sort of chemical imbalance considering this never happens. However, I decided to take advantage of this craving and make a frittata.  It was just me at home and I figured this would be a quick idea for dinner.

I chopped half of a zucchini and a yellow squash into bite sized pieces and added them to a small saute pan with a clove of rough chopped garlic. I added a small amount of butter and when the vegetables began to brown I finished it off with a small splash of white wine (just because).  The vegetables were removed from the pan and set aside.

For the eggs, I simply whisked 3 eggs together with some salt, red pepper and paprika and poured into the small pan.  Once the eggs began to set, I added the zucchini and squash then placed the pan into a preheated 350 degree oven to finish the eggs.

When the frittata was done, I flipped it out onto a plate and sprinkled it with cheese and fresh basil.

I will admit that this was good, very good. In fact, I ate the entire thing. Although I don't see myself falling in love with eggs any time soon, I just might have to start cooking with them a bit more.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Raspberry Plum Sauce and Fresh Grape Juice!

I've been craving pancakes with raspberry sauce for several days now and last night I finally decided that it was time to give in. Because technically, I'm cheating a bit with this dish I decided to use the plums (from my bin) with the raspberries (purchased) so that it would qualify for my blog!!

I started off by making the grape juice because it actually has to sit for several hours.  After rinsing and removing the purple grapes from the vines, they were placed into a large stock pot and mashed with a potato masher. I brought the grapes to a low simmer and allowed them to cook for 10 minutes, mashing again after 5 minutes to make sure that all of the juice was released. The grape mixture was then strained through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl and set aside in the refrigerator for a few hours to allow the sediment to settle on the bottom of the bowl.  To finish the juice, I strained it a second time and poured into a glass.

For the raspberry plum sauce, I peeled and chopped five plums and placed them into a saucepan with a cup of fresh raspberries and 1/2 a cup of sugar.  This was brought to a simmer over medium heat and allowed to cook until thickened, stirring constantly to avoid the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. It took about 10 minutes to cook and was set aside to cool a bit.

I also made fresh whipped cream by adding one cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 tablespoons of sugar to a bowl and mixing on medium speed just until stiff peaks formed.

Then it was time to make the pancakes! I started off by whisking two eggs until frothy and adding 2 cups of sifted all purpose flour, 2 cups of buttermilk,1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 4 tablespoons of melted butter. This was stirred until fully combined and all lumps gone.

I heated a griddle pan and poured half a cup of batter onto the pan, cooking until brown on each side.

To assemble, I placed the pancakes on a plate, topped with a (large) spoonful of the whipped cream and the raspberry plum sauce and drizzled with maple syrup. I garnished with a few fresh raspberries (just because I love raspberries and you can never have too many!).

Had I not had an insane craving for pancakes I probably would not have made this because it was just for myself, however I am SO glad that I did!  In fact, this turned out so good that I even ate it for breakfast today. (I can't remember the last time I had breakfast on a weekday, but it was literally the reason I got out of bed this morning!)

The juice also turned out amazing! I only wish that I had more grapes so that I could make it again tonight.

Stuffed Cucumber

This is a dish that I made for dinner one evening last week.  It was such a big hit that my daughter not only ate all of hers, but finished mine and had the leftovers for lunch the next day!

I started out by peeling my beautiful (and huge) cucumber, slicing it in half and scooping out the seeds. For the filling I mixed together ricotta cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, the last of my garlic scapes, finely chopped onion, and minced mushrooms. I then filled both halves of the cucumber with the cheese mixture, poured a jar of vodka sauce over the top, sprinkled with cheese and chopped basil and finished with some sliced heirloom tomato for garnish.

This was baked in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes, long enough for the cheese to brown and the cucumber to be fully warmed through. I served some sliced french bread alongside.

After this meal, my daughter exclaimed "You can stuff anything!", and has been inspired to try and come up with a few of her own dinner ideas. I think maybe it won't be much longer and she will have a food blog of her own!

Salad with Chipotle & Lemon Herb Shrimp and Creamy Avocado Dressing

I figured it was time to make a salad. It's been a while and I had this beautiful big leafy green lettuce, but what to put on it?  Well, this was my cue to head to the store with Dylan for some inspiration. As we were sampling our way down the aisles, we found some wonderful cheese, bread and shrimp. (The guys at the seafood counter were more than happy to give us samples of pretty much everything, Dylan thought this was pretty cool.)  I also found some beautiful green heirloom tomatoes that I just couldn't pass up along with some avocado, which just sounded good at the time.

Once back at home, it was time to start making dinner.  I began by chopping the lettuce and some fresh kale, placing into a large colander and rinsing with cold water. This was set aside to drain while I prepared the first dressing (yes, there is more than one dressing in this salad!). 

For the basic dressing, I added white wine vinegar to a bowl with chopped garlic scapes, finely chopped onion, sea salt and fresh black pepper. This was whisked while I added in the olive oil. Once fully combined, I poured the oil and vinegar mixture over top of the lettuce (now in a large bowl) and tossed to make sure that all of the lettuce was coated.

Next, I toasted up some slices of both french and seeded french bread in a little olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet.

Finally, I made the avocado dressing. In a food processor, I placed one peeled, pitted avocado, the juice from half a lime and a few tablespoons of olive oil. This was blended until smooth and creamy (adding more olive oil to get the right consistency).

To assemble, I placed a large pile of lettuce in the middle of a plate which was then covered in shaved carrot and shaved cheese (unfortunately, I can't remember the name of this cheese, but it was delicious). I also chopped the remaining hot capicola and sprinkled this on top too.  Next, I sliced some cucumber and zucchini, quartered the heirloom tomatoes and coarsely chopped a bit of nectarine, adding this to the plate as well. Then I topped the whole thing with a large spoonful of the avocado dressing and a few chipotle shrimp, as well as some lemon herb shrimp.

Can I just say, I am getting hungry just thinking about how good this salad turned out last night, although I would have been perfectly satisfied just making the avocado dressing and dipping the shrimp in it, or maybe just grabbing a spoon and eating the dressing as is. (Yes, it really is that tasty!)

Friday Bin 8/5/11

Once again, this is late in coming but better late than never I suppose! (I've been told that the lack of internet at my house is supposed to be getting resolved soon, but we'll see.)

My bin was pretty basic this time, I still have quite a bit of produce left in my fridge from previous bin's so I didn't really see the point in adding to much more to it this time. Basic however, does not mean boring. I have a ton of great looking items that should make for some pretty good meals when added to what I do already have.

Bi-Color Corn
Local Crookneck Squash
Local Green Beans
Local Heirloom Lettuces
Local New Potatoes
Local Cucumbers
Cantaloupe
Bananas
Arctic Jays-White Nectarines
Black Catalina Plums
Black Grapes
Bananas

The black grapes are my favorite as far as grapes go and the ones that I have are big, sweet and juicy! Hopefully I can find a good use for these this week.  Also, the cucumber that I received is rather large, in fact the biggest cucumber that I've ever come across, so I'm thinking I need to figure out a way to showcase this too.

Panzanella...Maybe?

According to Fine Cooking, amongst other places, panzanella is an Italian salad that uses chunks of toasted bread to soak up the flavors of the dish. Although none of the recipes that I came across had cooked greens in them, I'm calling this dish a panzanella too. If for no other reason than I just like to say it! (It makes it sound like I just made a really cool, complicated dish, when in reality I just threw a bunch of stuff into a pot and called it good!)

I first cut up half a loaf of sourdough french bread into bite sized chunks and drizzled with olive oil to coat. This was then added to a large pan and "toasted" until just beginning to brown and set aside.

To a large stock pot I added chopped chard stems, onion and garlic scapes with olive oil and sauteed until soft. Next I added one chicken breast chopped into bite sized pieces. Once the chicken was almost fully cooked, I added a few spoonfuls of fire roasted diced tomatoes, salt and black pepper. Then I added chopped hot capicola, chopped kale and the chopped chard leaves along with 1/2 a cup of white wine.  This was covered and allowed to simmer until all of the greens were wilted, about 4 minutes.

To plate this dish, I added a handful of the toasted bread to the bottom of the bowl, topped with a few spoonfuls of the chicken and greens, a few more bread chunks and finished it off with some diced mustard and ale cheddar.

For not having any clear idea of what it was that I was going to do for dinner last night, I'd say this turned out pretty great. It had a bit of heat to it (from the capicola) without being overpowering. The bread was also a wonderful addition and soaked up all of the juices at the bottom of the bowl quite nicely.

Tomato, Onion and Zucchini Stacks

This was inspired by a recipe that I came across in the current Fine Cooking magazine. It was very simply, very quick and turned out delicious plus I was able to use up most of my ricotta left over from the previous meals.

I started off by slicing tomatoes, zucchini and an onion, brushed both sides with olive oil and heated a grill pan over medium high heat. I grilled the zucchini and onion first for about 2 minutes on each side, then I grilled the tomatoes and wiped the pan out with paper towels.  The assembly was easy, just place a tomato slice on the plate and top with zucchini, then onion, tomato, zucchini and finish with another tomato slice. Each stack was topped with a spoonful of ricotta mixed with fresh chopped basil and garlic scapes, then sprinkled with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

To go with these stacks and turn it into more of a light dinner than an appetizer, I grilled thinly sliced country bread brushed with olive oil and cooked up some bacon.

Even though it was a bit messy to eat, it was well worth it. This was a great way to showcase the flavor of the beautiful tomatoes and zucchini that I got in my bin and would be excellent to make with heirloom tomatoes!

Fava Bean and Ricotta Toasts

Unfortunately yesterday was not a good day, so Dylan and I decided on ice cream for dinner. However, we were really wanting to make something with these fava beans and chose to do a late evening snack while we watched a movie.

This is a relatively simple dish and the only time consuming task about it is the shelling, cooking, rinsing and peeling of the fava bean's themselves. In fact, if I hadn't had Dylan to help me with this, I might still be standing at the kitchen counter peeling each one of those individual beans! Once this was out of the way though, everything else was easy.

I sliced a loaf of fresh country bread into 8 slices and laid them out on a baking sheet. These were baked at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes, just until toasted.  Next I took halved garlic cloves and rubbed them all over one side of each slice of toast. Then I spread a spoonful of ricotta cheese on each slice and topped with the fava beans, a drizzle of olive oil, finely sliced basil, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.

This was delicious. I will say though, if you decide to make this at home, roast the garlic prior to spreading it all over the toast slices. Not only will this give it a wonderful garlic flavor without the harshness of the raw garlic, but your body (and your friends, family and significant others) will thank you for it later. I spent an entire night laying next to my daughter who had eaten 5 of these garlicky treats and insisted on breathing on me all night long!
Lesson learned.

Lamb Sausage with Pilaf and Potatoes

Now that I'm starting to redeem myself in the meat cooking department, I decided that it was time to once again give these lamb sausages a try. They are after all the reason I got the bad rap in the first place. So, I filled a skillet about halfway with water, placed the lamb, sage and garlic sausages in the water, let them simmer for a few minutes on each side and put the lid on. I continued to cook them until all of the water was gone and they were fully cooked through (from experience, I know that they are in fact supposed to have a pink color in the middle so I did my best not to overcook them this time). Then I browned them on each side and allowed them to rest for a few minutes before slicing them.

For the potatoes, I diced some new potatoes, onions, turnips and chopped some garlic scapes and added this to a large frying pan with olive oil and butter. I allowed this to cook until the potatoes started to soften and sprinkled with a little Mediterranean sea salt blend (lavender, lemon zest, sea salt, etc.), red pepper, paprika and fresh ground black pepper.  Once the potatoes started to brown and were fully cooked through, I added about a cup of chopped spinach and some fresh thyme. This continued to cook just until the spinach was wilted.

As for the pilaf, I found a great Harvest Pilaf blend at Whole Foods Market when I picked up the sausages. It has a mixture of wild rice, orzo, red and green lentils. The directions said to add one cup of the pilaf to 2 1/4 cups of boiling water and allow to simmer for 45 minutes. I followed the directions exact and yet somehow I still managed to run out of water and over cook it by about 10 minutes so it ended up a bit dry.

The final verdict...the sausage turned out great! Just like it was supposed to! Yay!!! The potatoes didn't turn out so bad either and even though the pilaf was dry, it still had a really good flavor to it. So maybe now that I have this down I can move onto mastering other meats!

Friday Bin 7/29/11

This whole not having internet at my house right now thing is really causing me to get behind in my posts! Hopefully it will get resolved soon, but for now unfortunately they are going to continue being a bit late.

I have a few items in my bin that I'm really happy about and looking forward to cooking with. I also seem to have an abundance of fruit so I'm thinking it's time to do a bit of baking!

Local Carrots with Tops
Local Fava Beans
Local New Potatoes
Local Zucchini
Local Cucumber
Local Jr. Turnips
Local Lacinato Kale
Local Leaf Lettuce
Walla Walla Sweet Onions
Valencia Oranges
Dark NW Cherries
Black Grapes
Tomatoes
Bananas

The fava beans are a brand new item for me, I'm not even sure that I know what they taste like so I may need to scope the internet for some ideas on this one. As for the rest, I've already got several ideas going I just hope that I have enough time to fit them all in!

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells

Broccoli seems to be the one thing I get in my bin that is always carried over into the next week, I just don't eat it. Not necessarily because I don't like it but because there is just so much of it and I have so many other more inspiring options to choose from. So, for Wednesdays dinner, I was determined to find a way to use this up in a new, creative way and it just so happened that I had these huge funky pasta shells in my pantry. Once the idea for dinner was in place, Dylan and I set off to the store for the remaining items.

I started off by cooking the broccoli until it was just tender, then drained and set aside to cool. Then I cooked the pasta, which for your average person would probably be fairly easy to do, however this is me we are talking about. When the water was finally boiling, I poured the shells into the water (not so gently) forgetting that they would all crack when they hit the bottom of the pan. I ended up losing about half of the shells in the process. Once the shells were finally cooked, I set them aside to cool.

For the filling, I chopped the broccoli, added it to a bowl with some ricotta cheese, cream cheese and mozzarrella cheese and stirred to combine.

For the sauce, I added chopped onion, green bell pepper and garlic scapes to a sauce pan and cooked until soft. Next I added a cup of halved cherry tomatoes and chopped zucchini and cooked until the tomatoes started to release their juices. Then I added half a jar of roasted garlic and parmesan pasta sauce and continued to cook until heated through.

To assemble the dish, I stuffed the shells with a spoonful of the broccoli mixture and placed in a glass baking dish that had a layer of the sauce in the bottom. I poured the remaining sauce over top and covered with shredded mozzarrella cheese. For garnish I added a couple of thyme sprigs.  This was then put into a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes, just long enough for the cheese to melt and the pasta to be warmed completely through.

I have to say that this turned out really well. Dylan enjoyed it so much that she just about finished off the entire pan in one sitting!

Couscous with Mixed Greens and Snap Peas

This meal was inspired by a box of lemon spinach couscous that I found in my pantry. It sounded fairly tasty and when I read that it would only take 5 minutes to make, I was sold.

To serve with the couscous I figured I should try to get some of these greens used, so I added chopped onion, garlic scapes, chard stems and olive oil to a pan over medium heat. When the onions were translucent I added chopped spinach, kale and chard along with about a 1/4 cup of chardonnay and allowed to simmer until the greens were fully wilted.

Being in the somewhat lazy mood that I was, I simply heated the snap peas and mixed them with butter and garlic salt.

Now normally I am not a fan of anything coming from a box but this couscous wasn't overly salty like I expected it to be and there was so much flavor going on in the meal that you would never know it took me less than 5 minutes to prep and only about 10 minutes to cook!

Babble’s Top 100 Food Mom Bloggers of 2011 – who’s your favorite?##

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Babble’s Top 100 Food Mom Bloggers of 2011 – who’s your favorite?##

Thank you!!

Friday Bin 7/22

I know that this post is a bit late, okay really late, but I ran out of time on Friday. We had to get on the road to Portland for our annual Cousin's Party at my aunt's house. Then on the way back we spent the day at Cannon Beach before coming home last night. It was a great trip and we even had warm weather (95 at times)! It was definitely hard to come back to rainy Seattle, but I'm looking forward to cooking this week!

Local Cucumbers
Sweet Corn
Walla Walla Sweet Onions
Green Beans
Local Lacinato Kale
Local Red Chard
Local Broccoli
Local Zucchini
Green Bell Pepper
Mixed Cherry Tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Red Raven Plums
Valencia Oranges
Bananas
Dark NW Cherries

Over the weekend, I made my fruit salad for everyone and it was a really big hit. It used up pretty much all of my fruit. We also brought the cherry tomatoes with us and snacked on them during our drive, which was probably the healthiest thing we ate after we left Portland, considering all the pit stops to buy junk food to and from the beach. (We had to go into Bruce's Candy Shop in Cannon Beach and grabbed a burger and shake from an old favorite spot in Morton while passing through on our detour to miss the I-5 traffic home.)

Red Lentils with Kale and Green Beans

Dinner last night was inspired by all of the green vegetables that I had in my fridge and needed to use up. I started out by making the red lentils, thinking that this would be easy enough to do while I prepared everything else. Boy was I wrong! I took a large stock pot and added a cup of the lentils along with 3 cups of water and by the time it started boiling, I had water everywhere. So, as my daughter was watching me run to the stove to figure out what was happening and try to prevent the water from spreading anywhere else, I realized that maybe dinner was going to prove to be a bit more difficult than I imagined. When I had the mess finally cleaned up, I added more liquid to the pan (since well it had all overflowed the pot that I had it in, did I mention I was using a really big pot for this?), lowered the heat, placed the lid partially on top and again tried to start with the rest of my meal. Before I knew it water was everywhere again! This time Dylan said, "Mom, you sure you want to make dinner tonight?", but after the lentils being so overly difficult I was determined to get it figured out and put a tasty meal on the table.  I proceeded with the clean up, added a bit more water to the pot and lowered the heat to a medium-low. This seemed to be the key.
Once I had the lentils finally cooking like they were supposed to, I moved onto the kale.  To another large pot I added chopped onion, garlic scapes and red bell pepper with some olive oil. I sauteed this until tender and added chopped kale, two lemon slices, salt, pepper and fresh thyme sprigs to the pot. Once the kale was starting to wilt I added a cup of vegetable broth and a cup of broccoli. I allowed this to simmer until the broccoli was cooked through, but still bright green. Next I added half a cup of fresh corn kernels and half a cup of chopped spinach. This continued to cook until the spinach was wilted.

For the green beans, I simply placed them in a small pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. Just to soften them a bit and get them warmed through completely. I mixed them with a lemon hazelnut butter (lemon zest, finely chopped hazelnuts and butter) and sprinkled additional coarsely chopped hazelnuts on top.

Even though things didn't start out as easy as I had planned, everything else went quite smooth and turned out really tasty, just like I was hoping it would. I've also managed to make a lentil lover out of my daughter even if I'm still trying to acquire a taste for them (but don't tell her that!).

Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

Saturday after the awards ceremony I took my daughter to The Bite of Seattle, I was looking forward to going as I've never been and thought that I might be able to get some inspiration for a few new dishes. Well, needless to say, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting there to be a lot better food choices there aside from the typical street fair food and ultimately we ended up eating curly fries and a funnel cake. We did have fun walking around and looking at all of the vendors, listening to music and people watching, however I was left without ideas for my food!

I remembered the quinoa salad that was at the potluck, which did have black beans in it and thought it seemed simple enough that I could make something at home using this idea.

I cooked my quinoa in vegetable broth, so that it added a richer flavor. I also chopped some onion and garlic scapes, which were placed in a pan and sauteed until soft. To the onion I added one can of rinsed, drained black beans, fresh corn and quartered cherry tomatoes.  Once the vegetables were warmed through, I added them to the quinoa along with some chopped fresh mozzarrella, salt and pepper to taste.

It was a very simple dish and although the end result was hardly anything like the original salad (which had crushed pineapple in it) it still turned out pretty good.  Dylan was quite happy with it saying that the cherry tomatoes were a great addition.

Potluck Pasta Salad

For Saturday's potluck they had me listed as bringing a main dish and since I live so far away from the park that this was at, I spent all Friday evening trying to come up with something to bring as a cold main dish that was also creative. Finally I settled on the pasta salad even though I was well aware everyone else would be bringing a one too. I figured oh well, next time they will just have to ask me, the cupcake girl, to bring cupcakes!

My pasta salad actually turned out quite well in comparison to some of the others that were being offered though (Dylan and I made sure to sample a bit of each one) but there was a quinoa salad that was quite tasty.

I started my salad off by cooking one box each of plain and tri-colored spiral pasta, draining and setting aside to cool. Next I started chopping rainbow carrots, onion, garlic scapes, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes and zucchini which was then added to a big bowl. I also added cooked, chopped bacon and fresh mozzarrella. 

In a separate bowl I whisked together olive oil, white wine vinegar (this was Dyl's choice), salt, pepper and fresh chopped basil until combined. 

I poured a couple of spoonfuls of dressing onto the pasta and stirred to coat, doing the same with the vegetables and finally combined the vegetables with the pasta. I added enough black pepper and vinegar dressing just to get a good taste going, but not so much that it would overpower the wonderful flavors already going on.

This really did turn out great! We ended up having this for dinner Friday night, having more than enough for the potluck on Saturday and we will also be enjoying the last of it tonight!

Friday Bin 7/15

After putting today's bin away, my fridge is completely filled with green produce!

Green Beans
Local Lacinato Kale
Local Spinach
Broccoli
Local Zucchini
Sweet Corn
Walla Walla Sweet Onions
Yellow Potatoes
Cantaloupe
Local Dark Cherries
Red Haven Plums
White Nectarines
Bananas
Blueberries

I fell a bit behind this week in cooking because I haven't been feeling well, so I'm well stocked on produce which is good because I have a potluck to go to tomorrow for my daughters roller derby awards ceremony. I have no idea what I'm making yet. Of course, I guess I should figure out tonight's dinner first!

Pasta with Snap Peas and Bacon

I wasn't quite sure how I was going to use my snap peas this time, I just knew that I wanted to do something a bit more interesting with them than just heating them up and eating them. Pasta sounded like a great way to showcase these tasty peas, but when I went to my pasta drawer I didn't have enough of one kind of pasta. I ended up using a combination of elbow, shells, egg noodles and mixed shapes. While my pasta was boiling, I started on the rest.

I placed about 1/2 cup of chopped bacon into a large saute pan with some chopped onion and garlic scapes. Once the bacon was beginning to crisp and the onions translucent, I added some chopped yellow squash and the snap peas. This was cooked until just warmed through completely. After draining my pasta, I added this to the pan and stirred to combine with the vegetables and bacon. I then added a combination of grated parmesan, gouda parrana and mozzarrella cheese to the pasta and stirred until melted. After pouring the pasta into a serving dish I finished it off with a bit more of the cheese mixture and some chopped fresh basil.

This dish was great, even I had seconds, although I think I was lucky to have gotten any at all! My daughter loved it so much that she pretty much ate every bit of it and there really wasn't any leftovers, I think that her final bowl count was six!

Cherry, Basil and Lentil Salad

It has been years since I've had lentils. My mom used to make this lentil salad recipe that I remember of everytime I see lentils. After running across a recipe that calls for green lentils and halved cherries, I figured I would give it a try.

I simply cooked the lentils for 20 minutes, mixed them with a bit of red wine vinegar, garlic scapes, salt and black pepper and tossed with halved cherries and chopped fresh basil.

Although nowhere near as good as the salad that my mom made, it still turned out pretty good. I do think that it was lacking a bit in flavor and could benefit from a splash of lemon juice.

This is going to be great for lunch tomorrow!