Chopped Mediterranean Salad

This recipe falls into the category of “whatever was on hand”, and turned out to be a hit! I had initially planned on making a simple green salad with olives, tomatoes and sweet onion to go with last weekend’s Polenta Lasagne, so I picked up a box of organic greens a few days before. A few minutes before the lasagne was due to exit the oven, I grabbed the salad fixins out of the refrigerator and set myself up for assembly. Let me just say, there is no disappointment worse in the kitchen than opening what you suspect to be perfect good produce only to find it is RUINED. Sad panda face. The greens were beyond salvage- slimy, limp and in the throes of decomposition. Being someone who doesn’t like to waste food, I reluctantly pitched the greens in questions and set about finding a suitable side dish on the fly.

With the other ingredients ready to play, I pilfered the fridge and windowsill for a couple of additions to bulk up the salad, and ended up with a very refreshing, crisp chopped salad that gave a great play of cool to the piping hot lasagne. The portions made enough for 3-4 sides and can be easily doubled. The salad would be best with super fresh produce, however the use of a light dressing and the fine chop on all the vegetables can help mask the lack of farm fresh vegetables in the off season. It’s also incredibly easy to throw together for a quick lunch or weeknight meal side or as an appetizer topping for bruschetta.

Chopped Mediterranean Salad

- 3 Plum tomatoes, chopped
- ½ English cucumber, chopped
- ¼ Vidalia onion, chopped
- 4 Kalamata Olives, chopped
- 4 Greek green olives, chopped
- 1/3 Cup crumbled feta
- Handful flat leaf Italian parsley, rough chopped
- 5-6 Basil leaves, chiffonade
- 3-4 Tblspns olive oil
- ½(ish) Tblspn balsamic or red wine vinegar
- Wedge of lemon
- Sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper

Comine all ingredients in a wide, low bowl and toss well to coat with olive oil & vinegar. Season to taste with salt & pepper, squeeze lemon over and toss again to incorporate. Allow to rest for 15 or so minutes before serving to allow vegetables time to marinate. Cover any leftovers tightly with plastic wrap & refrigerate. Salad will lose brightness after a day or two in the fridge, but is still very tasty!

If making ahead, combine all vegetables and herbs, but hold off on adding in oil & vinegar (this mixture can be made a day in advance if needed). Add o&v 15-30 minutes before serving, season with salt, pepper & lemon, and serve.

Curry Roasted Cauliflower with Crispy Chickpeas

I started messing around with different cauliflower recipes a couple of years ago, but the two I continue to go back two are either mashed (a favorite in Kyle’s family) or roasted. Roasted cauliflower is so simple and is ready quickly, which makes it perfect for any weeknight or a quick snack. Normally I just break apart a head a cauliflower, toss with a little salt, pepper and olive oil and roast off in the oven for half an hour or so. I love the way it gets crispy, but retains most of its shape, and is great for dipping. I’ve been on a curry kick for the past year or so, and I’ll usually make a quick curry dipping sauce (as in spicy curry powder and mayo or sour cream) to go alongside.

While tooling around on Epicurious I stumbled over a recipe for Spice-Roasted Chickpeas that really spoke to me. I am a huge fan of chickpeas in almost any application. My one grievance is on occasion they tend to get really soggy if out on a salad bar. I love the creamy texture of hummus, and the crunch of roasted wasabi peas, and spice roasted garbanzos sounded like the perfect middleman.

I started thinking about ways to roast the chickpeas and cauliflower together, and the end result was a mutant dish with so much flavor, I had to restrain myself from not eating it all in one sitting. Mixing the curry powder in with the oil gave the dish a lovely bright color, and helped spread the seasoning evenly over all components. The pine nuts were a last minute gamble, and I loved the secondary crunch they brought in addition to the chickpeas.

I ended up serving this alongside some outstanding striped bass Ky provided for dinner with a friend, and the combination was a knockout. Kyle had originally told me we had might have a last minute addition to dinner, and concerned that we wouldn’t have enough of the side, I par boiled off a couple of red potatoes and tossed in with the cauliflower-chickpea mixture (I had roasted it off the night before with plans to heat before dinner), and it was a great addition and budget friendly way to stretch the dish. I will for sure be making this on a pretty regular basis- no lie, I have the fixins in the apartment now, and plan on whipping it up over the weekend. My only point of caution would be to make sure that your chickpeas are as dry as humanly possible- drained in a colander after rinsing and pressed between two kitchen towels seemed to do the trick. Just make sure you have a good size batch made up, as it will develop legs quickly!

Curry Roasted Cauliflower with Crispy Chickpeas (morphed from here and here on Epicurious)

- 2 lbs. Cauliflower, stemmed & broken into florets
- 15oz. can Chickpeas, rinsed, drained & well dried
- ¼ - ½ Cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tspn. Cayenne pepper
- 2 Cloves garlic, well minced
- 4 tbspn. Pine nuts
- 3(ish) tbspns. Spicy curry powder
- 2 tspn. Hungarian hot paprika (optional)
- Sea salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste
- Handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, mix olive oil, pine nuts, garlic & all spices until well combined. Toss cauliflower & chickpeas with oil to coat and season with salt & pepper to taste. Spread evenly onto high lipped sheet pan in one layer. Roast off in oven for 35-25 minutes, until cauliflower is well browned & chickpeas are crispy. Stir occasionally throughout roasting time. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes & transfer to a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve warm or at room temperature. Great as a side, over greens or as a snack.

Slow Roasted Goodness

August- where did you go?! It’s hard to believe tomorrow is September 1st, I feel like this summer flew by, as most of them do. In a way, I am glad August passed so quickly, as it was a long six weeks of waiting for Kyle to come back from sea. The ship made it back safely into its homeport this past Saturday, and we spent the weekend celebrating his return all over Newport (I’ll be posting an update of our adventures over on The Humble Home later). It’s been absolutely awesome to have him home, and I’m doing my best to not think about him heading back out to sea again after Labor Day weekend.

Last week I hit up the local farmer’s market and bought a HUGE sack of Roma tomatoes- I think I was so excited about fresh tomatoes, that I got a little ahead of myself! While I did my best to get through as many as possible, I knew I would have to use up the rest before they turned. I adore slow roasted tomatoes, as it is a very simple and delicious way of prolonging the enjoyment of your tomatoes while concentrating the flavor. There really is no limit to the application of slow roasted tomatoes- over pasta, grilled meats, on toasted bagels or sandwiches, blended in with hummus, or just as is with a little fresh basil (my favorite application!). The tomatoes can be roasted off in large or small batches, depending on how many you have on hand in surplus, and when stored properly, can last a couple of months in the refrigerator. Additionally, if you roast off a large batch, once cooled, the tomatoes can be portioned off into freezer or vacuum bags and will last even longer in the freezer for use all winter.

When I roast my tomatoes, I usually throw in a couple of heads of garlic to roast as well. As my friend Brianne over at Sweet Cheeks in the Kitchen said: “Garlic. How I love you. Let me count the ways”. Roasted garlic, like the tomatoes, is a wonderful addition to really any dish. Once roasted, it keeps well, and has a wonderfully mellow flavor. I roasted one head with plain olive oil, and the second with white truffle oil, and they both turned out incredibly flavorful! Although the roasting process usually takes a couple of hours, the hands on time is quite minimal (good for a Sunday night roasting, so you can use them all week), and the end product is really worth the time.

For a beyond easy hors d’ oeuvres, toast up some baguette slices, spread on the roasted garlic, add a fresh basil leaf, top with a slice of roasted tomato, and voila!- instant satisfaction, and a treat that appeals to all, as it’s vegan friendly, but the meaty, robust flavor of the tomato more than compensates for the carnivores. You can even take it a step further and top it off with a little crumbled chevre or fresh mozzarella and pop it under the broiler to brown for a few minutes. Once cooled, I packed my tomato slices and garlic with a couple of sprigs of fresh picked basil, and we took it to the park for a snack with pita chips. There is nothing better than a treat that is simple, rich with flavor and easy to transport, and slow roasted tomatoes & garlic fit the bill perfectly!

Slow Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic

-Roma, Cherry or other fresh tomatoes
-2 or 3 Full heads of garlic
-Sea Salt
-Fresh Cracked Pepper
-Thyme sprigs
-Extra Virgin Olive oil (I recommend using a high quality oil here- given that the ingredient list is short, using top notch components will make a big difference. For a little more of a twist, a flavor infused oil, such as the white truffle oil I used on one the garlic heads)

Pre heat the oven to 225 degrees. Halve cherry tomatoes, or cut Romas into thirds or quarters. Cut off the top quarter of each head of garlic to expose all cloves. Arrange tomato slices and garlic on a baking sheet. Sprinkle tomatoes generously with sea salt, fresh pepper and olive oil. Lay thyme sprigs across the top of tomatoes. Drizzle olive oil over garlic heads, fully covering exposed garlic. Top with sea salt & pepper. Place baking sheet on the middle oven rack and roast, checking every 30 minutes or so. Depending on the size and moisture level of your tomatoes and the capacity of your oven, complete roasting should take between an hour and a half to two hours. To intensify the flavors, during the last 30 minute cycle, turn the oven up to 275 to draw out any additional moisture. When done, the tomatoes should have a rich red-brown color and appear dried around the edges, and the garlic should be “popping” out of its jacket. Remove pan from oven and let cool. If not using immediately, store tomatoes in a glass jar or dish with a tight fitting lid, covered by a layer of olive oil. Once cooled, the garlic cloves should slip right out of the skin, and can be left whole or made into a paste, and also stores well in a covered dish.

Curried Eggplant Delight

As we are now officially into the summer season, my menu planning takes a turn to lighter, more refreshing meals. I get a lot of daily recipe and cooking emails, and one such recent email fit the bill perfectly for using fresh summer produce, and employing fresh herbs from my windowsill. Real Simple is hands down one of my favorite magazines (I’ve been an avid reader and subscriber for the past two years), and a lot of their recipes ascribe to my cooking philosophy of keeping it simple (no surprise there!) in order to showcase the natural flavors of the ingredients. When the recipe for Curried Eggplant & Tomatoes with Basil popped up in my inbox, I knew it would be a smash success, and it was! I used the original recipe as a guide a tweaked for my own taste. My husband and I both really enjoyed it- the combination of eggplant and chickpeas made for a substantial vegetarian meal that left us both really satisfied. I used just a bit of light yogurt to add a little richness to the sauce, and the basil and curry played off of each other really well. Instead of serving it over rice (as suggested in RS’s recipe), we opted to use cauliflower mash, which cut out some of that heavy carb feeling and upped the veggie intake. I actually had the leftovers the next day for lunch, and the curry flavor was more saturated after a night in the fridge. It’s an easy weeknight meal to pull together, and I would even recommend serving it at a casual dinner party- it would be great for a homestyle dinner where large dishes are passed, and would go well with homemade pita chips on the side. All in all, a wildly tasty dish!

Curried Eggplant with Tomatoes and Basil
(Adapted from Real Simple, Cauliflower recipe my own)

For the Cauliflower Mash:
-1 Medium head of fresh cauliflower, broken into florets
-2 Tbspns salted butter (optional)
-2 Tbspns low fat Greek yogurt
-Sea salt & fresh cracked pepper

Steam cauliflower florets over boiling water in a vegetable steamer until fork tender. Remove from heat & transfer florets to a large bowl heatproof bowl. Add in butter & yogurt and mash using a handheld masher, stick blender or hand beaters until smooth. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Mash can be kept warm over a low simmering pot of water for up to 30 minutes. Give mash a good stir before plating.

For the Eggplant Curry:
-1 Large eggplant, about 1-1 ½ lbs. cut in 1 inch pieces
-1 Pint cherry tomatoes, halved
-1 Medium onion chopped (I recommend a sweet onion, such as Vidalia)
-3 Medium cloves of garlic, minced
-1 15.5-16oz Can of chickpeas, rinsed & drained
-3+ Tblspns good curry powder (I used Spice Island’s Spicy Curry Powder for a little extra kick)
-Good handful of fresh basil, chopped
- ¼ - ½ Cup of low fat Greek yogurt
-Olive oil
-Sea salt & fresh cracked pepper
-Red pepper flakes (optional)
- Couple tspns fresh cilantro, minced (optional)
-Crumbled goat cheese (optional)

In a large sauté pan or wok, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until slightly translucent- about 3 minutes. Add in tomatoes and continue cooking for a few minutes, seasoning with salt & pepper. Add in eggplant, and cook until it begins to soften slightly about 5-7 minutes. Stir in garlic, curry powder and red pepper (if using), and cook another few minutes until fragrant (adjust curry powder to your personal taste, I tend to be a bit heavy handed personally). Add in chickpeas and about 1- 1 ½ cups of water and stir to combine all ingredients well. Simmer, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender and chickpeas are heated through, about 15 minutes or so. Turn off heat, add in basil and yogurt and stir to combine well. Adjust salt & pepper seasoning to taste. Serve over cauliflower mash with chopped cilantro and goat cheese sprinkled on top.

Note: This dish would also be wonderful over brown rice, Israeli (or regular) couscous or any other hearty grain.

Fresh From the Sill

I want to start off by acknowledging that I have been massively behind in my updating and posting, apologies all around! It has been an extremely busy season around our little home in the past month or so (details of the adventures over on The Humble Home soon!), but I am now starting to feel a bit caught up, and ready to kick into summer into full swing!

One responsibility that most certainly went unattended would be my container garden. While I kept up with watering and daily maintenance, it really wasn’t not getting the care it deserved, and I began to feel the guilties. As a result, I spent all afternoon this past Sunday giving my containers so much needed TLC- trimming, cutting back, re-potting, feeding, the whole rigamaroll! One look at my lovely basil plant, and I knew it was time to use up a good amount to make way for fresh growth, and the easiest way to accomplish this is making pesto.

I have been making pesto for at least the past 10 years, when my friend from college began requesting it as often as possible. My mother-in-law makes a fabulous pesto with a couple different variations, and I remember her handing us a cooler stocked to the brim with fresh sauce before our move to Annapolis a few years back, it was much appreciated! It is such a simple and beautiful sauce that not only uses up a large surplus of fresh basil, but is also quite economical if you grow your own. It can be applied to just about and scenario (pasta, dressings, pizza, over grilled meat or fish, sandwich spread, etc.) and freezes well- a trait I greatly appreciate! It abides by one of my favorite cooking rules of taking simple, fresh ingredients and working them together so that each element is still acknowledged and highlighted by the other components.

Much like a red tomato sauce, pesto sauces come in a wide range of variations, and each chef touts theirs as the best. Another parallel to red sauce would be the execution- for me it’s predominantly eyeballing the ingredients and adjusting as I go each time, so stick with your instincts. For this latest evolution, I was practicing the “use what you have” mantra, and set out to only incorporate what I had on hand. Absentmindedly, I had tossed the last of my pine nuts into my lunch salad, and only after finishing my lunch did I realize that maybe I should have had a little forethought. So I turned to plan “B”. I had a big bag of raw almonds in my pantry, toasted them up, and threw them in- what a fabulous addition! Almonds have less calories and a lower fat content per serving, which gives you a slight nutritional edge as well.

I’ve been eating my Almond Pesto for two days now (currently as I type, mixed with mashed cauliflower and a little lemon zest for lunch!), and it still is just as bright and fresh. If anything, I find it best after it has been refrigerated overnight- it gives the flavor more time to come together.

There is a certain sense of pride one feels when you are able to not only make something completely from scratch, but also be able to create a dish or element out of something you have personally cultivated from the ground up. Homegrown always tastes the sweetest!

Toasted Almond Pesto Sauce

-2 Good sized bunches (handfuls) of fresh basil leaves, stemmed
-4 Cloves of garlic, peeled & smashed (easier to blend)
-1/2 to 2/3 Cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese
-2/3 Cup raw almonds
-1/2 to 3/4 Cup good olive oil
-Sea salt & fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Heat a dry sauté pan over medium heat and add in almonds. Occasionally shake pan to toss almonds to toast uniformly, about 7-10 minutes. Remove almonds from heat & cool. In a blender/food processor, pulse almonds until roughly chopped. Scrape down sides, add in garlic, basil, parmesan and a little oil and pulse. Scrape down sides, and continue adding oil until proper consistency is reached (I like my pesto to be a bit chunky, so I try not to over process). Season with salt & pepper to taste, transfer to a dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap if storing in the refrigerator, or use immediately.

Excellent additions include: fresh lemon zest, sun dried or oven dried tomatoes, black olives, flat leaf parsely (if you are stretching your basil a bit), marinated mushrooms, balsamic reduction, etc.

Almonds

Fist 'Fel of Chickpeas

It’s been a very busy week in my little world- my husband and I spent the weekend up in Maine for Fisherman’s Festival with our family and friends, I drove down from Boston on Monday morning after dropping him off at his ship, my Mother-in-Law came for a visit, and work has been a zoo. As a result of all these happenings, I have had very little motivation to cook, at least until last night. I had thinned out our fridge stock before leaving for the weekend, and it finally got to the point where I had to go to the store yesterday and re-stock. I had spent a good portion of the afternoon trying to figure out what I wanted to make for dinner (nothing too time consuming, something relatively healthy and light), when it finally dawned on me: falafel!

I had been trolling one of the cooking chat posts I frequent and Josie of Pink Parsley had posted a recipe for baked falafel that suddenly struck a chord with me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had falafel, and knew it would be the perfect easy dinner, and it was! I made a couple of amendments (noted in italics) to Josie’s recipe for what I had on hand, and they turned out wonderfully. I was thrilled to be able to use some of the fresh herbs I’ve been growing, and the flavor of these little patties was on point. To serve with the falafel, I picked up some marinated olives, mushrooms, garlic and feta off of the olive bar, mixed up a quick batch of Fantastic World Foods tabouli from their mix (my go to for quick items when I just don’t have the energy, with wonderful organic ingredients!), made a quick zucchini Tzatziki sauce (which has been long evolving from various sources) and threw on a little Sabra roasted garlic hummus for good measure with some with some lentil & black bean pappadum snacks and had a perfect light meal! I found the papadum snacks in the world food aisle at our local grocery store (think bright blue Pringles canister, but much more tasty holdings), and I am already addicted to these crispy little lentil treats. They’re about the size of a silver dollar and packed with flavor. As an added bonus, they are already cooked, so you don’t have to worry about frying.

Although this wasn’t one of my usual “from scratch” meals, it was wholly satisfying without being overwhelming to make. I noticed in putting this post together that Josie’s recipe had been an evolution of a recipe from Kate’s World Kitchen, which had come from a recipe on Epicurious. I love that idea within the food blogging community, recipes can be passed down and altered along the way and shared with others, and each time the dish takes on a new personality and a new story. The possibilities for falafel are endless, and I know this will be a go to again and again!

Falafel with Fresh Herbs and Zucchini-Lemon Tzatziki

For the Falafel (adapted from Pink Parsley’s Baked Falafel):

- 1 Cup dried chickpeas or 16oz. can of Goya chickpeas, rinsed & drained
- 1/2 Large onion, roughly chopped
- 4 Tblspns. finely chopped fresh parsley (flat leaf)
- 2 Tblspns. finely chopped fresh dill
- 1 Tblspn finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 Tspn. Cayenne- I upped it to about ½ tspn or so, I like a little extra kick!
- 4 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 Tspn ground cumin
- 2 Tspn. dried coriander
- Juice of 1 lemon- also added in ¼ of a lemon’s worth of zest for brightness
- 1 Tspn baking powder
- Up to 4 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour- I used regular whole wheat flour as I had it on hand
- Sea salt & cracked black pepper
- Olive oil

Place chickpeas, onion, spices, lemon and salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse several times to form a paste (I used our Magic Bullet. Don’t laugh- it worked!). Transfer paste to a good sized bowl, check salt & pepper seasoning and adjust if necessary. Mix in baking powder until well incorporated. Adding 1 tablespoon at a time, mix in flour until dough comes together in large firm mass (if mixture becomes too dry, you can add a little extra lemon juice or water).

Set oven warm, and place a metal rack over a baking sheet in the middle of the oven. Using your hands form chickpea mixture into approximately 2” balls and flatten into patties (work quickly so that mixture does not fall apart). Place patties on parchment paper.

Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Just as oil begins to smoke, add patties in and cook for 4-5 minutes per side, working in batches. Transfer patties to rack in oven to keep warm. Add additional olive oil as needed between batches. Once all patties have been cooked, serve with your favorite accompaniments, either in pitas with fresh greens, Tzatziki sauce and veggies, or as part of a platter with marinated olives, hummus, feta and tabouli salad. Falafel patties also freeze well, as there is minimal moisture and heat up quickly on the stovetop or oven.

For Zucchini- Tzatziki Sauce:

-1 ½ cups plain Greek Yogurt
-1 Small zucchini, minced (you can sub with a small cucumber, seeded and chopped too)
-2-3 Tblspns fresh dill, minced
-1 Large or 2 small cloves garlic, minced
-Juice from ½ a lemon
-1-2 Tblspns fresh lemon zest
-Sea salt & cracked black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, adjust salt and pepper to taste, and let sit as long as possible to allow flavors to come together. In addition to being an excellent falafel accompaniment, this sauce is wonderful when served as a dip with fresh vegetables or homemade pita chips. Also great on grilled lamb as well!