A few things we've been eating lately

I haven't had a ton of time to blog lately, but we've still been eating. I figured that it still might be useful to post abbreviated blog posts with just links to recipes we've liked. It'll not only help us remember what recipes were a success, but also maybe help you find some to try yourself. These are all easy and cheap, because that's what we can handle right now. All but the tortillas are great as leftovers.

Curried Apple Couscous
Super quick and easy. We doubled the apples, halved the butter, left out the pine nuts, and replaced the mint with cilantro and green lettuce. This is a house favorite! I'll probably do a real post on this when I have time. For leftovers, leave the greens separate to top the apples and couscous with after reheating.

Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Soup with Ginger
We followed the recipe exactly and it was great!

Tomato soup and cheese sandwiches
Takes longer from start to finish, but not a ton of active time. I browned the tomatoes in the pan instead of roasting to save time and dishes.

Tacos and quesadillas with homemade tortillas and refried beans
We fried the tortillas in a little oil to cook them because I over-oiled the cast iron, and they were great!
We only loosely based the refried beans off this recipe. Basically we cooked onions in oil until translucent, added pinto beans and garlic. Then we added lime juice, jalapeno- based hot sauce and salt to taste.

Quick Winter Tomato and Corn Chowder

This is a simple, satisfying soup that is really easy to put together. We made it the night after our long drive back from Thanksgiving because it was much easier than even grabbing fast food. Since this soup uses mostly canned ingredients, it's good for when you want something that is healthy and tastes fresh but your fridge is bare. I love the scallions on top, but if you don't have them the soup is still good without.

Tomato and Corn Chowder

adapted from White on Rice Couple

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with juices

1 (15 oz) can corn with liquid

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup skim milk

3 to 4 chopped scallions for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until translucent and they start to color. Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute more. If you have a couple extra minutes, you can drain the tomatoes and reserve the liquid and then brown the tomatoes as well for some extra flavor. Then add the brown sugar and corn with liquid. If you're in a rush, just add the tomatoes and juice at the same time along with the brown sugar and can of corn with liquid. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the flavors meld well together. Add the crushed red pepper and season to taste with salt and pepper. Take the soup off heat and stir in the milk. Check the seasoning again before serving. Top with chopped scallions and enjoy alone or with good bread or grilled cheese!

Fresh Corn Risotto

We had a good friend over for dinner last week and made this. She requested the recipe, so I figured I'd share it with all of you too! My version is pretty similar to the original, but I adopted it to include more corn because that was my favorite part. Also, I used the Cooks Illustrated technique, because it involves less stirring. You'll have to hurry with this before fresh corn goes totally out of season, but I promise it's worth it!

Fresh Corn Risotto

adapted from Food and Wine

technique from Cooks Illustrated

6 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock, divided

1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, very finely chopped

12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) cups arborio rice 

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 cups white corn kernels (from 4 ears)

3 ounces (1 cup) freshly grated Parmesan

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Keep the stock warm in a medium saucepan with the bay leaf while you're working on the rest of the risotto. 

In a heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium to medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook for about 3 minutes, until opaque.  Add the white wine vinegar and 1/2 cup vegetable stock. Stir until absorbed. Add another 3 cups of stock and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally until it is mostly absorbed. 

Stir in the corn. Add the remaining stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring pretty well constantly until each addition is absorbed.  The rice is done when it's creamy, but still has some chew in the center. If you run out of stock and the rice isn't done, add some water. 

When the rice is cooked, stir in the Parmesan and butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove the bay leaf before serving. 

Smashed Chickpea Salad

This is a really simple salad to throw together. I love chickpeas. They're an easy and delicious way to add substance to a meal. Canned chickpeas are a pantry staple in our house. Here, combined with red pepper, red onion and olives they make a filling lunch or dinner. The recipe is from smitten kitchen. Deb suggests it as a sandwich topping, but we loved it on some pearled barley instead. If you're not a fan of the intense flavor of red onion, you can soak the chopped pieces in cold water for 10 minutes before using them in the recipe. 

Smashed Chickpea Salad

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup chopped red pepper

2 tablespoons chopped black olives

1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ to 1 teaspoon salt, to taste

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Combine all the ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Smash some of the mixture for textural contrast. Serve on cooked barley, another grain, or a piece of bread. 

Quinoa Patties and Tuscan Kale Salad

I've been posting a few of our regular favorites lately, and this is another one of those! Both of these are great to make ahead. In fact, I prefer the kale salad (recipe here) made the day before so it has time to marinate. Just don't add the breadcrumbs until you serve it or they will lose their crunch. If you don't have time for that, you can just rub the oil in an hour before dinner and then add the rest of the dressing right before. That will also serve to help soften up the kale. Also, I usually use Parmesan instead of Pecorino, just because that's what I have on hand.

The quinoa patties (recipe here) are the perfect healthy airplane snack. They are so versatile. I skip the sun dried tomatoes because I never have them on hand, but they've always turned out great for me. I've also skipped the kale when I don't have any and have played around with the seasonings. You can use the basic formula and add whatever flavors are your favorite. They're delicious warm, cold, or room temperature. 

Happy National Zucchini Day!

In honor of this national celebration of the giant green squash, I decided to share with you some ways we've been enjoying the bounty of our garden. Even if you don't have a garden, zucchini are really cheap this time of year, so I hope you can use one of the following recipes to take advantage of the savings!

The pasta pictured above is Farfalle with Zucchini and Gorgonzola from Serious Eats. We halved the cheese because we like a milder blue cheese flavor, but besides that we stuck to the recipe. This was Kyle's favorite way we've prepped zucchini so far (besides cake). 

Above is a Zucchini Potato Frittata from the kitchn. We omitted to bacon to make it slightly healthier, and it was still very good! We made it twice in two weeks, which for our ever-changing menu is a big deal. This and the next preparation have been my favorite so far. 

This is adapted from a grilled zucchini salad from the kitchn. We don't have a grill, so we used a different technique for the zucchini. We made it twice. Once, pairing the zucchini with uncooked cherry tomatoes as in the original recipe, and the second with cooked full size tomatoes. The amounts are very flexible, but here's a basic outline of the recipe:

Zucchini and Tomato Salad

2 medium zucchini

1 to 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved or 3 to 4 regular tomatoes, diced

1 ounce Parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved

2 tablespoons basil, chopped or chiffonaded

1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat up a cast iron pan. Cut the zucchini into quarters. Add olive oil to the cast iron pan and cook the zucchini on all sides until charred, about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove the zucchini and dice. If using good tomatoes, combine everything together and you're done. If you're tomatoes aren't amazing and they need a little help to be more flavorful, char them as well in the cast iron pan for a few minutes. Either way, this is a really easy summer side dish to throw together! Add some beans and grain and you've got a whole meal.

Farmers Market Stir-Fry

What do you do if you come home with more produce than you planned from the farmers market? Well we decided to stir fry it! For this round we used peas, carrots, broccoli and green onions, but I think it could be good with lots of different vegetables! This is my favorite kind of meal- simple and delicious. I'd highly recommend checking out the vegetable stir fry tutorial at the kitchn that I adopted this recipe from. They have some great tips for making an exceptional stir fry!

Farmers Market Stir Fry
Serves 3 to 4, depending on how many vegetables you use
Adapted from the kitchn

1 1/2 to 2 pounds assorted vegetables
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 minced jalapeño (optional)
8 scezchuan peppercorns
2 tablespoons vegetable or chicken broth
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
3 medium cloves garlic, smashed
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Toasted sesame seeds to top (optional)
4 cups cooked rice

1. Chop the vegetables into uniform pieces, and put them in a bowl so that you can be ready to dump them in quickly. Leave the ginger and jalapeno separate.

2. Combine the broth, soy sauce and rice vinegar in a small bowl to make the sauce.

3. Heat your wok or cast iron skillet on medium with 2 tablespoons oil and the sczechuan peppercorns for about five minutes to let them infuse the oil. You can use more or less depending on your heat tolerance. I like to smash the peppercorns so that more of the flavor gets in the oil. After the oil is infused, take them out, unless you particularly like big bursts of heat in your food.

4. Turn up the heat on the burner to high and let it heat for another minute or two. When the oil starts smoking, add the ginger and jalapeno and stir vigorously, so they don't burn, for about 30 seconds until fragrant.

5. Add the rest of the chopped vegetables. Add more oil if necessary. Salt them and stir fry for a few minutes until the vegetables begin to brown (hard vegetables) or wilt (soft, leafy vegetables).

6. Add the sauce and stir fry for a couple more minutes until the vegetables are crisp tender.

7. Serve over rice and top with toasted sesame seeds. I think cashews or peanuts might be good as well. If you try them let me know!

Cauliflower Steaks with Tomato Sauce and Olive Relish

This was a fun experimental meal. I'd never heard of roasting whole slices of cauliflower before, but the technique was a hit! I didn't love the relish, so I'd skip that next time since it took the most work. I found out later that our sundried tomatoes weren't that good, so maybe that was the problem. If you want to give it a go, the relish might be better for you with good tomatoes. I'd probably use this cooking technique and the tomato sauce again since we really enjoyed those components. We made this as a main, but I think it would be a better side. You can find the recipe on Bon Appetit. 

Farro Salad with Roasted Vegetables

This has become one of our go to dinners. We absolutely love it! If you can't find farro, you can substitute kamut berries.

Inspired by these recipes at 101 cookbooks and at the kitchn.

Notes: Other vegetables work well too. I've added mushrooms and radicchio (add to the other vegetables about 10 minutes before done cooking) before and used butternut squash instead of cherry tomatoes. Thyme is a good substitution for the rosemary. Almonds can sub for the walnuts. If you can find farro for a decent price, I highly recommend it. 

1 pound farro or kamut berries (could substitute barley or wheat berries, but wouldn't be quite the same texture)

4 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 pound of carrots (about 6 small), chopped small

2 large red onions, chopped small

3 garlic cloves, minced

Rosemary, crushed dried (about a tablespoon dried or double that fresh)

1 cup toasted walnut pieces

Olive oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Cook the farro or kamut berries in boiling water (3 cups water for every cup of berries) until softer, but with some texture retained. It takes about 25 minutes for semi-pearled farro and  about 45 minutes to an hour or more for un-pearled farro or kamut berries. They should be similar to al dente pasta. Drain off any excess water.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 F. Combine the vegetables, rosemary and garlic in a bowl with olive oil (2-4 tablespoons), about 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. Spread them evenly on two baking sheets and roast for 20-30 minutes, until soft and the cherry tomatoes have browned to your liking. Stir the vegetables and rotate the baking sheets halfway through to ensure even cooking.

Once everything is cooked, combine the draind kamut berries, roasted vegetables and toasted walnuts in a large bowl. Add additional olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy warm, at room temperature or cold. My  favorite is warm, but it's good any way!

TWD: Oasis Naan

This weeks Tuesdays with Dorrie recipe was a nice break from all the super rich desserts lately. It was some awesome naan! Besides turning the oven to 500 during a heat wave, this was wonderful. The cumin seeds weren't my favorite, so next time I'll try the sesame seeds like for the Persian Naan in the book. Overall, it was a success and I'd definitely make it again.We served it with our favorite curried lentil soup from Bon Appetit, which we always add extra carrots to because one is not enough.  You can find the naan recipe here or here.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad with Dried Cherries

This is my new favorite salad. It's pretty easy to throw together and tastes wonderful! It's inspired by the house salad at the Tree Room restaurant at Sundance Resort. It was the best part of the meal there. The rest of the food we had wasn't that impressive, so save yourself some money and make this at home instead!

Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad


10 oz spinach
2 oz goat cheese
1 cup toasted pecans
1/2 cup dried cherries
1-2 oz balsamic vinaigrette (as desired)

Dress the spinach with the vinaigrette. Spread the goat cheese around the leaves as well. Top with the toasted pecans and cherries. Enjoy!


Balsamic Vinaigrette
Adapted from Serious Eats

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon dried herbs (I used  basil, parsley and tarragon)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 Emulsify all ingredients. You can do that by whisking the vinegar, honey and water and drizzling in the oil in. Or, you can take the easy way out and combine everything in a bottle and shake it like crazy. 

White Bean Israeli Couscous Salad with Roasted Radicchio and Asparagus

This was a super simple and delicious meal. Wash and cut a bunch of asparagus and a half head of radicchio. If you don't like the bitterness of radicchio you can soak it in water for a bit after you cut it. Lay the vegetables on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and salt and pepper. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes at about 400 until somewhat browned. Meanwhile cook 2-3 servings of Israeli couscous according to package directions. Combine the vegetables with the couscous and a drained and rinsed can of white beans. Sprinkle some lemon juice, Parmesan and salt and pepper as desired on top. Enjoy!

Apple, Spinach and Feta Salad

So where have I been? Well, I was enjoying relaxing during the holidays and didn't feel like blogging much. Then the new semester of school started and it's been a crazy whirlwind of TA prep, starting class and trying to get research done, but I'm back now!

Since January is the time of eating healthy, I thought I'd share this awesome salad I've found recently. The recipe is over at Annie's Eats. We've made it twice in one week! One time was on it's own and the other time topped with grilled chicken breast. It was delicious both ways! The only thing we changed is halving the feta since I don't like a ton. This salad has a spinach base topped with sliced apples, buttered almonds, and feta. Although that all sounds good, my favorite part was actually the dressing. It has sesame seed, sweet onion, and apple cider and white wine vinegar awesomeness going for it. I think I'll make it for other salads in the future. 

How are your eating resolutions coming? I didn't actually make any because the thing I need to change most is not having as much dessert and you know how much a fan of that I am.

Santiago Salsa

This is basically a bean, rice and cheese dip. We made it a couple weeks ago for a quick dinner. Yes, I know it's supposed to be an appetizer, but there are only two of us! 

This is so extremely simple. You just combine all the ingredients (canned beans, rice, cheese, canned diced tomatoes, jalapenos and onion) and bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with some more cheese stick it back in the oven for a bit to melt, then serve with chips, salasa and sour cream. It was pretty delicious! I'd recommend using a good flavored cheese because that's where a lot of the flavor come from. I think this could also be good wrapped up in a tortilla!

The recipe is from the kitchn.

Lentil Pilaf Stuffed Peppers and a Baby Pepper!

The stuffed peppers were pretty good (probably because we added cheese), but I don't think I'd make this again because I didn't really like the lentil pilaf on it's own. The recipe didn't compensate for the extra time brown rice takes to cook so the rice was hard and the lentils were mushy.

I decided to share this anyway because I really liked this picture I took of one of the peppers that had sprouted a baby pepper! 

If you want to have an excuse to take a picture like this, I found the recipe here. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it. Stuff your pepper with something more delicious.

Roasted Sweet Cherry Tomato Pasta

This is one of the easiest dinners ever. Throw some cherry tomatoes and diced garlic into a shallow baking dish, season with salt and pepper and cover with some really good olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes. While they're roasting, cook some pasta. After the tomatoes are done combine with pasta, basil, Parmesan and additional salt and pepper to taste. 

Wow. This is my second favorite meal (next to the homemade pizza) all month. Kyle and I couldn't get enough. We were so sad that we were out of cherry tomatoes and are planning on making this again as soon as we get some more. 

I got the recipe from Bon Appetit. 

Gazpacho

I'd never had gazpacho before, but then I saw this recipe for the perfect gazpacho. I figured it might be good. It wasn't. I'm not into cold soup at all. Also, it made a huge mess, as seen below. If you like gazpacho, I'm sure this would be good, but it was not worth it for me. Do you like cold soups?

Peach Butter

We got a ton of peaches from the farmer's market intending to snack on them, but unfortunately they ripened too quickly and some fruit flies were telling us we needed to do something with them quickly! Luckily Deb at smitten kitchen posted about some great looking peach butter! Peach butter is basically boiled down and concentrated peaches and sugar, like apple butter. It was absolutely delicious and not at all hard to make. It did take some time, but most of that was just stirring a pot.  I'll be really glad to have some of this throughout the long winter! Kyle doesn't really like peaches  that much, but he loves this!

This was the first time we tried canning anything, and it wasn't too bad. Luckily, this recipe used boiling water canning which is much easier than pressure canning. All you have to do is boil the jars and lids in water for 10 minutes before and after putting the hot peach butter into them. Just make sure you turn on the right burner. That will save you a lot of time wondering why your water isn't boiling. Seriously, a lot of time. I really miss having a gas stove where you can always tell which burner is on. Despite that, I think I could get into this! 

So you know, this made us more than the recipe says. We got three pints and a little extra to eat right away. Extra is never bad, but it did take us a little longer because we had only boiled two jars. Still, more for winter!

Strawberry Ice Cream and Peach Ice Cream

Finally! Fresh Fruit Ice Cream Success! Thanks to Zoe Bakes! The secret to the strawberry ice cream is roasting the strawberries with balsamic vinegar. It was absolutely amazing! We'll definitely be making it again. You can find the recipe here. 

The roasted strawberries:

The peach ice cream was pretty good too, but definitely not up to the strawberry ice cream level. It's okay, I was just happy not to have another stone fruit ice cream failure. I like peaches better for snacking, but if you need a decent peach ice cream recipe here it is. Also, if you're around Provo and want some, let me know!

Overnight French Toast Casserole with Pecans

 

Notice the sunlight? It's because morning is the only time I get natural light in my kitchen.

These might beat cinnamon rolls as my favorite breakfast. Maybe. Actually cinnamon rolls have frosting, so probably not, but these are a very very close second. Or maybe a first. Either way, this is the whole reason I made brioche: to make this breakfast. Wow, it was so amazing! Basically it's brioche soaked overnight in an egg, milk, and spice mixture and stuck into the oven in the morning. Topped with real maple syrup (which I finally had for the first time and love!) and powdered sugar, it's divine! You can find the recipe here. 

If you've been in Utah (and some parts of Arizona and Idaho) you may have had Kneaders french toast. This is similar, but I'd dare to say better. I have a couple notes on the recipe: We did 1" slices because 1 1/2" looked too big. Unfortunately, that meant that we had to layer a bit. Next time I'll use a bigger pan instead so that I can put the slices in a single layer. The layered parts got a little soggy, and while they still tasted good, the texture wasn't great. Also, I doubled the cinnamon because I kind of really love it. 

If you don't feel like baking brioche, you can still make this. Just find a local bakery with brioche or challah. If that fails, you can use texas toast or another thick eggy bread. It's definitely worth it at least once in your life to make this from scratch, brioche and all, but I'm sure it'll be good either way. 

One warning: it's filling. Kyle and I both tried to eat two pieces and this is what happened:

Kyle collapsed and we both managed to only eat about one piece. Our leftovers:

But don't worry, it heats up very well. We stuck it in the microwave to warm up and then finished it in the toaster oven so that it was still crispy. My breakfast life is forever changed.