Monthly Archives: October 2011

Dinner for Le$$ – Fettuccine with Shrimp, Garlic and Broccoli Recipe – Fitness Nov/Dec 2011

28 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by in Cooking, Fitness, Healthy, Pasta, Recipe, recipe development, Shrimp

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I’m finishing 2011 on a high note – with yet another recipe published in Fitness Magazine – check out their November/December issue!  In the past, I’ve developed four recipes for the Dinner in 20 (September 2010 Curried Shrimp with Mango Couscous, November 2010 Chicken Soba Bowl, April 2011 Lemon Thyme Chicken, and May 2011 Beef Stir-Fry with Avocado Salad). 


This current recipe is the first one for me in the new Dinner for Le$$ section.  Fettuccine with Shrimp, Garlic and Broccoli is a nutritious, healthy, and delicious meal for under $3 per person.  What’s not to like?


For the recipe, I drew my inspiration from home cooked meals that are perfect for a cold fall or winter night.  You get the comfort of pasta, the sweetness of homemade tomato sauce (the secret to sweetness is carrots!) and much needed energy from shrimp and broccoli.  Add extra red pepper flakes for spice.  I hope you give this one a try and let me know your thoughts!  Happy cooking.  See you in 2012.

Go get your copy on the newsstand.  Page 128, November/December 2011, Fitness Magazine.

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For the Love of Pho – Vegetarian Pho at Home

24 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in Cooking, Pho, Soup, Vegetarian

≈ 3 Comments

How I wish I could remember the first time I had pho.  But I can’t.  It must’ve been years ago, most likely on a cold rainy day.  I must’ve fallen in love with pho instantly.  Maybe it was the do-it-yourself approach, where you mix your own special combination of Sriracha, chili paste and hoisin along with cilantro, thai basil and lime. Maybe it was the slurping that went along with each bowl of pho.  Maybe the brisket, who knows!  I fell in love fast and hard.

Here in Seattle, I have had pho too many times for me to count.  More often, than not, I have been accompanied by my awesome pho buddy – Alla!  We’ve shared bowls of pho in the heat of summer and in the gloom of fall.  We celebrated life’s happy moments with pho, and met over pho to heal broken hearts and soothe sore throats.  Last week, when I had a chance to try pho at home, there was nobody else I would’ve rather shared the experience than with her.

Unfortunately, the commercial pho broth I was testing lacked in flavor, and I would rather not recommend it, but the experience of pho at home was fantastic!  Next time, I will make my own broth, steeping cinnamon, cloves, star anise, ginger, and garlic for a few hours.  For now, I will share with you the how-to on enjoying pho at home.

Alla and I always ask for extra vegetables with our pho.  Sometimes we hear a welcomed “yes, absolutely!”  Sometimes, our server stares at us and gives us the most definitive “no.”  In my kitchen, we get to do what we want.  I chopped up carrots, broccoli and cabbage and quickly blanched the vegetables in boiling salted water. Once the vegetables were drained, I used the water to cook rice noodles.

While the broth was simmering and the noodles were cooking, I prepared the condiments for pho: soy sprouts (they are heartier and sturdier than regular bean sprouts), cilantro, Thai basil, and extra lime wedges.

I used a small plate as a painter’s palate and colored it with chili paste, Sriracha, and hoisin sauce.  We were ready to eat!

Place vegetables on the bottom of a large bowl.  Top with rice noodles and ladle hot broth to cover.  What’s next is up to you!  Garnish with condiments, give it a stir and slurp away.

Want more pho?  Check out these posts from the past: Pho on the Floor, Do re me Pho so la te do, and Pho in Birmingham.
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Individual Frittatas with Roasted Vegetables and Cheddar Cheese

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by in Breakfast, Brunch, Cooking, Eggs, GlutenFree, Recipe, Vegetarian

≈ 8 Comments

I’m not sure what you have for breakfast, but I’m guessing it’s not soup.  I, however, have had soup for breakfast twice this week.  On Monday I had hot and sour and on Tuesday it was egg drop noodle – both leftovers from Chinese take-out dinner my friend Alla and I had over the weekend.  While slurping peas, carrots and some sliced baby corn, draped in whispy egg whites, I considered that perhaps I should have something more appropriate for breakfast than soup.

Almost immediately, I thought about the Mother’s Day post I wrote two years ago: Broccoli and Italian Sausage Egg Muffins.  Would you believe me if I told you that the post has had almost 52,000 views?  I’m not going to assume that every viewer has made the recipe, but even if one out of every 100 viewers prepared these broccoli and sausage frittatas, it would mean there have been 520 dozen of them out in the world, consumed for breakfast, brunch, lunch and possibly dinner.  I have received so many comments on this post that I decided to bake these frittatas one more time.


Rather than replicating the previous recipe exactly, I decided to make a vegetarian version using some roasted vegetables that I already had on hand.  I tend to try to conserve energy, so when I was roasting butternut squash for the Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Red Onion and Cherry Jam, I popped in a tray of chopped up red bell peppers, Japanese eggplant, red onion, and zucchini.  Feel free to create your own combination of roasted vegetables – sweet potatoes, beets, and even some butternut squash would be perfect this fall.

Ingredients


8 large eggs
1/4 cup milk (or half and half depending on how you’re feeling that day)
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon smoked sweet Spanish paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 cups roasted vegetables*
4 ounces grated extra sharp cheddar (I used my favorite, Tillamook)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Whisk together eggs, milk, oil and baking powder.  Season with paprika, salt and pepper.



4. Lightly spray a 12-cupcake pan with oil. Spoon roasted vegetables into each cupcake “cavity”.


5. Pour the egg mixture over roasted vegetables.  I like to pour the eggs out of the measuring cups to prevent the mess, but you can use a ladle if you prefer.


6. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes.  


8. Allow the frittatas to cool slightly before removing them from the cupcake pan.  Serve 1-2 per person with a side salad and toast.



*Roasting vegetables: super easy! Cut up your vegetables into similar size, about 3/4 inch dice.  Liberally drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Transfer the vegetables onto a baking sheet, making sure the vegetables are in a single layer and are not overcrowded.  Roast in a preheated 425 F oven, stirring once or twice.  Roasting time will depend on your ingredients and how small or large you cut them.


I’ve been told by quite a few readers that these frittatas are perfect for freezing and breakfast on-the-go!  I’m planning to eat a few and freeze the rest.  Come back to find out how that works.


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Random Ingredient Recipe Challenge

16 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in Cooking, Recipe, recipe development, Vegetarian

≈ 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I received an invitation from Marx Foods to participate in their recipe challenge.  I was intrigued – especially when I found out this was a random recipe challenge.  I said “yes” and started checking my mailbox on a daily basis for the box of ingredients.  When the box finally arrived, I found quite a collection of players inside – tri colored couscous, coconut sugar, dried lobster mushrooms, granulated dried chipotle chilies, and dried habanero chilies.  What to do?

I went ahead and selected couscous, dried lobster mushrooms, coconut sugar, and a dried habanero (I shall use the dried chipotle chilies some other time, perhaps in a flourless chocolate cake).  After some brainstomring, virtual tasting and visualization, I pulled out coconut milk, golden raisins, coconut oil, onion, garlic and kaffir lime leaf from my refrigerator/pantry and began to cook.  Below is my creation.  I invite you to taste it and let me know your thoughts.


Tri Colored Couscous with Habanero Coconut “Lobster” Curry

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried Lobster Mushrooms
1 dried Habanero chili
1 Kaffir Lime leaf
2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup tri colored couscous
salt to taste
Cilantro to garnish





Directions


1.  Place mushrooms, habanero and kaffir lime leaf in a large bowl and cover with boiling water.  Tightly cover with a lid or plastic wrap and allow to sit for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, remove the mushrooms and roughly chop.  Discard the habanero chili and kaffir lime leaf.  Strain the broth and set aside.

2.  Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion, garlic and mushrooms.  Saute, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes.  Add coconut sugar, chickpeas, raisins, coconut milk and 1/2 cup of reserved hot “stock”.  Cook for 10-15 minutes, adjust the flavor with salt, if needed.

3.  Pour the remaining “broth” into a small pot and bring to a boil.  Pour over couscous and allow to sit, covered for 5 minutes, or until the liquid is fully absorbed.  Fluff couscous with a fork.

4.  Serve couscous with the Habanero Coconut “Lobster” Curry, garnished with cilantro.

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Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Red Onion and Cherry Jam and Toasted Pecans

13 Thursday Oct 2011

Posted by in Book Club, Cooking, Dinner, Fall, Lunch, Nuts, Recipe, Salad, Vegetarian

≈ 3 Comments

I’ve had a butternut squash prettily nestled in an orange colander on top of my kitchen counter for longer than a month.  It’s been sitting there quietly and patiently, waiting to be used up.  In the past, it most often had been used for soups – Pureed Butternut Squash, Potato and Poblano Coconut Curry and the simple Pureed Butter Squash.  I thought it was time to branch out and turn this buttery, slightly sweet squash into something else – why not a salad?  I was going to a food-centric book club potluck and thought everyone would enjoy a fall salad with butternut squash and a few other ingredients.  


Roasting is one of my favorite ways to cook butternut squash – it allows the natural sugars to concentrate and caramelize.  Roasting the squash cubed, rather than whole or halved, gives you even more caramelization and sweetness.  I decided to continue the fall theme and use nuts and cranberries.  Looking through my pantry, I realized that my cranberries had gone missing, but I did find a little bag of dried sour cherries.  


I picked up a red onion, sliced it and cooked with cherries and balsamic vinegar for a quick, delicious “jam”.  Next time, I might make a double amount of jam to enjoy it on a toasted piece of sourdough bread.



Ingredients

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 red onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Pinch of sugar
1/2 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped
Balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup pecans, roughly chopped and toasted

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place a baking sheet inside the oven (this is one of the tricks that will make roasting faster – think of this as preheating your saute pan).

2.  In a large bowl, combine butternut squash with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Transfer to a preheated baking sheet and roast in the oven 25-30 minutes, or until the squash is golden brown and tender.  Be sure to stir once or twice while the squash is baking.  Once baked, remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool.

3.  While the butternut squash is roasting, warm up olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add red onion and saute for 10 minutes.  Add garlic and a pinch of sugar; continue to cook for another 10 minutes, stirring often.  When the onions are soft, add cherries and a splash of balsamic vinegar (about 2 tablespoons – you can use less or more depending on your taste).  Continue to cook until the vinegar concentrates and turns syrupy.  The onion and cherries should be tender and “jammy” – that’s why I call this part “Red Onion and Cherry Jam”.

4.  Carefully combine butternut squash with red onion and cherry jam and toasted pecans.  If needed, drizzle lightly with extra olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Doesn’t this just scream “fall” to you?  Perhaps you’ll want to make this for an elegant Halloween celebration.  Give this one a try!

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Roasted Roma Tomatoes

11 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by in Appetizer, Book Club, Cooking, Recipe, Tomatoes, Vegetarian

≈ 7 Comments

Love for tomatoes runs in my family so much that my sister writes a blog called Mango & Tomato.

As little girls, we’d eat tomatoes like apples, biting into the ripe fruit and letting the juice run down our hands.  We also ate tomatoes pickled, marinated, or simply cut into wedges and sprinkled with salt.  We fought over tomato juice that collected on the bottom of the tomato salad bowl, eagerly waiting to soak up its goodness with a piece of crusty white bread.

As a grownup, I discovered the joy of tomato juice in a bloody mary, with lots of Tabasco sauce.  Sundried tomatoes entered my cooking repertoire, mixed with pasta and artichoke hearts or in a couscous salad.


Last week, as I was reading the last few chapters of Molly Wizenberg’s “A Homemade Life,” I came across the recipe for roasted tomatoes.  This is not rocket science – even Molly admits it.  But sometimes I need a reminder of a recipe or a cooking technique that I haven’t done in a while to get me inspired, and that’s where Molly’s recipe came in.

I used Roma tomatoes because they have a higher ratio of flesh and hold up better while cooking.  Rather than roasting tomatoes on a cookie sheet, I decided to take advantage of my cast iron skillet.  I poured a little bit of olive oil on the bottom of the skillet and bathed halved tomatoes in the oil (I didn’t bother with removing the core, but feel free to remove it if you want).  Once the tomatoes were evenly coated with olive oil, I arranged them cut side up and sprinkled their tops with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

I roasted the tomatoes in a 300-degree oven for 2.5 hours.  While roasting, the sugars concentrate and almost candy the tomatoes.  They come out looking shriveled up, darker, and richer.  I store mine in a glass jar and eat them with crackers and cheese.  They are delicious and I hope you give them a try.

I’ve had a bunch of these straight out of the jar, but they would be fantastic as a base for a tomato sauce or soup, or mixed with arugula and goat cheese.
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Fall is for Apple Picking

04 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by in Seattle

≈ 1 Comment

My first experience with apple picking was back in Russia.  I must have been 8 or 10 years old.  What I remember, is climbing trees and picking up apples, loading them into hand-sewn sacks and dragging them back on the train to Moscow.  I don’t remember apple pies or apple sauce ~ I’m pretty sure I didn’t discover either one of these until I moved to the United States.  The traditional use for apples was apple cake, apple compote, and my favorite – marinated apples.

Apple picking, to me, is associated with fall, celebrating the bounty of the season, and connecting to the source of where our food comes from.  This year, I joined JConnect for apple picking at Piper’s Orchard, inside Carkeek Park.  This orchard is over 200 years old and has multiple apple, pear, cherry, plum and quince trees.  There are also walnuts and chestnuts grown on the orchard.  The original plan was to harvest apples to donate to City Fruit, but unfortunately the apples and pears weren’t ripe enough, so we ended up keeping the apples for ourselves.  Most of the apples we picked, weren’t traditionally beautiful or perfect – but they were crisp, slightly sour, and perfect for the Apple Challah Rolls.