Cook (Recipes)

impromptu southwest quiche

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southwest quiche

Partly out of necessity to use up a spaghetti squash and a boat-load of blue corn tortillas, and partly out of a burst of Sunday evening creativity, I invented a little Southwest quiche.  In full Off-White fashion I avoided any white flour and I didn’t really measure too much, so I’ll try to be as detailed as possible in the recipe.

It is actually pretty good, although spaghetti squash is REALLY high in fiber, so watch out.  It was a nice simple dinner, eaten over a bed of greens with an apple.  Before you go thinking about how saintly my diet is, I also made so no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies (recipe maybe coming if  they turn out after being in the fridge).

SOUTHWEST QUICHE
The good stuff:  I used farm fresh eggs, so the yolks are beautiful orange (full of B vitamins and folate!).  Less cheese and no milk, so it’s not as heavy and has less dairy fat.  This dish has a lot of flavor from the salsa and spices, which helps make all the veggies tasty.

4-5 blue corn tortillas, cut in 1/2 and 1/4th (a mix)
4 eggs + 2gg whites
1/2 cup of cooked shredded spaghetti squash
1 cup of greens: I used a mix of Kale and Swiss chard
1/2 cup of roasted salsa
1/2 cup of shredded white chedder
1 tsp each: cumin, pepper, salt, paprika

In a 13×9 pan, lay down tortillas:

layered tortillas

In a bowl, beat the eggs and add spices:

mix the spices into the eggs

Add the veggies and cheese.  Mix. Add Salsa.

veggies, cheese and salsa mixed in

Finally, pour over the tortillas and cook at 350 for about 30 minutes.  Serve warm or cold.

ready to bake!

aaah…refreshing (recipe)

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rainbow on Vernal falls, Yosemite

Ahh….there is nothing like feeling the mist of a high-altitude waterfall caress your face to remind you how amazing it is to be alive.  I was fortunate to experience just that during the weekend family camping trip to Yosemite.  This trip was especially important to me because it was the first time my sister and I camped together since she graduated High School…..and without totally revealing our ages, let’s just say about a decade has past.

sisters by the campfire

While camping in general is a true source of peace and inspiration for me, the food element of camping is something different.  I get stressed about being around so much treat food, and I know my tendencies to munch mindlessly when bags of chips and homemade cookies sit open on the camp picnic table.  Soo, I make a point to bring tasty food that is healthy and interesting so as to offer up something delicious for the group but also to help me make good choices.

This time, in addition to a 17-spice chilli (which I won’t share the recipe b/c it wasn’t that good and apparently that combo of 17 spices annihilated a few people’s GI tracts), I brought a Jicima Apple salad.  This is about as refreshing as the dewy spray of a mountain waterfall on a warm spring day.  Enjoy!

1 jicima (about 6″ diameter) sliced into 2-3″ thin slices, like shoestring potatoes
1 large or two small Fuji apples, sliced just like the Jicima
Juice of 1 lemon
1tsp vinegar, pref. apple cider
1 tsp cinnamon
Chopped parsley (optional).

Very Simple:  once chopped, mix the jicima and apple together.  Mix the vinegar, cinnamon and lemon juice in  cup.  Pour onto the jicima/apple and toss immediately to evenly coat.  When serving, top with  a pinch chopped parsley.  It’s very refreshing.  This serves about 4-6 for a standard side dish or 2-3 for a larger (1 cup or so ) bowl.

Roots

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Holidays always remind me of how much family activities are rooted in tradition.  For instance, here it is Easter.  While we’ve all grown older, evolved to new levels of maturity and experience, and are living somewhat different lives than we did when I was 7, certain traditions stay the same.  They are rooted, so to speak.   Sometimes that means we all partake in the same tradition as we’ve always done, such as watching golf on TV with Dad between exits to the front yard to toss the frisbee, play with a ball or check on the bbq.  It’s something you can set time to, it never changes.  Sometimes it means the new generation takes on the tradition, such as my nephew devouring his jelly beans before 12pm.  That used to me my job, but I watch proudly as he takes the helm on O.D’ing on candy 😉

The Easter meal is also a very much rooted in tradition.  It’s always lamb.  As a kid I HATED that but now my palate is a little more savvy, so it’s a real treat.  Given that mom is Greek and Easter is a big deal in Greek culture (though it’s celebrated NEXT Sunday, which is Orthodox Easter), it was all about Greek food.  How could I grow up detesting the tray of Kalamata olives, feta and spanikopita that kept us fed until the big mid-day meal?  Who knows?  Apparently those decadent tastes don’t mix well with peeps.

I decided to take on the tradition of  contributing to the family meal this year buy whipping up my own version of Spanikopita – Off White style.  It’s a new twist on an old tradition.  Here is the recipe.  I think it’s a good one:

1 package of Whole Wheat Phyllo dough (Health food store)
1 large onion, diced
2-3 lbs of greens, chopped (I mixed kale and spinach)
2 stbsp chopped parsley
4 whole eggs, lightly beaten
8 oz part-skim ricotta
5 oz feta (I used an Israeli feta because it’s the only deli feta I could find)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp: dill, nutmeg, pepper, oregano
2 tsp sea salt
Olive oil to baste the phyllo dough, preferrably with a basting brush

Sautee the onions in oil for 3 minutes.  Add the greens/parsley and cook down until they are soft.  Mix the pepper and lemon juice and 1tsp of sea salt with the greens in the pan while cooking.  Cook down for about 5 minutes.  In the meantime, mix the eggs, ricotta, feta, spices in a very large bowl.  Add the spices and mix.  When the greens are done cooking, mix into the egg/cheese mixture.

In a 9×12 pan, lightly coat the bottom of the pan w/oil.  Add 3 layers of phyllo dough and lightly baste with oil.  Repeat 3-4x so there are 9-12 pieces of phyllo.  Add the greens/egg mixture.  Cover with 3 layers of phyllo dough and lightly coat with oil, just as we did for the bottom layer.  The top should have about 9-10 pieces of phyllo.  Trim the edges of dough so it’s not hanging over the pan (it bakes and gets crispy and just flakes off, making a mess).

Bake on the middle rack @350 for 45 minutes, covered.  You can uncover for the last 5 min if you want a browned top.

Serve warm or cold, but always with love!

A twisted treat

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mamma and baby pretzel

Today I was inspired to do something unique with my sourdough start.  For some reason pretzels came to mind.  5 minutes on the internet, and I landed on this recipe as the chosen one.  I only modified by using whole wheat flour and omitting the sugar.

It was easy enough.  Adding the flour one cup at a time was easy when the dough was moist.

But, it took a little more hand work at about cup 3.5-5.

Matt turned out to be quite the pretzel twister.  He twisted and I tossed into the boiling water.

15 min in the oven and….voila!

 

Delicious bean salad

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What can I say, when it rains it pours.  2 postings in a 1/2 hour period.  What is the world coming to?

I was at a Poltuck for my running group (oh, I’ve added Running Coach for Women to my bag of tricks).  One gal brought this amazing salad and since Potluck/Picnic season is underway, I think you should know how to make this.  It’s easy, low fat, high fiber and tasty.  Enjoy!

PS: if you don’t have  NUGGET (Which is only in Nor. Cal, then translate ‘Nugget” into whatever specialty market you have, or try Whole Foods market).

1 can Black Beans, drained
1 can Shoepeg Corn, drained. (Find it at Nugget & Safeway; costs more but worth it.)
1 can Black Eyed Peas, drained. (Don’t use frozen ones and check the label – Nugget is the only store where I can find them without bacon as an ingredient.)
1 small jar diced Pimentos (you could use a large jar if you like pimentos.)
1 medium Red Onion, minced (I use about half of a large one)
Finely chopped Celery to taste (I use 2 ribs. If you don’t have it, I don’t think it adds that much, maybe a little more crunch)

OPTIONAL: diced red bell pepper and diced avocado

Dressing

1/4 cup vinegar (either red wine or white wine vinegar. I use red.)
2 tsp unrefined sugar
Mix to dissolve, then add 1/4 cup olive oil

Mix all the beans & stuff together. Beat dressing until well mixed. Pour over all ingredients. Cover & refrigerate 3 hours (1 hour is fine). Remove bean mixture from liquid with a slotted spoon, leaving liquid in the original bowl.

No your mama’s breakfast sandwich

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I can't believe I held out long enough to take a pic before I dived in!

Move over Jimmy Dean.  Step aside McDonald’s Egg McMuffin.  There is a NEW kid in town.

On occasion I sell by body to science. Well, not the whole thing – just my blood.  It’s a win-win.  I eat a fatty breakfast.  They take my blood to look at cholesterol and I get $20.  Everybody is happy!

The downside is the fatty breakfast.  I’m not opposed to fat, by any means.  But the first couple times I did the study I ate at ….um…I hate to say it: McDonalds.  It was nasty, just like I expected.  Something had to change if I was going to do this on a regular basis.

Being the lover of fiber and creative cook that I am, solutions unfolded right before my eyes.  Thanks to my new local Trader Joe’s, I concocted a more err, sophistocated breakfast sandwich.  It’s easy, filling, and oh yes, quite fatty 🙂

1 piece of sprouted rye bread, toasted (from TJ’s)
1 whole egg, cooked sunny side up (cooked in the fat of the sausage)
1 Chicken Sicilian Sausage link from TJ’s (Their brand).  Trust me, one is PLENTY.  These bad boys are big
1 tbsp tomato paste, spread on the toast.

YUM!

Eating out of the box

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Can you believe I did not even have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year?  That’s almost unheard of in my personal history.  This year something was different…well, frankly, every year for the past few years there has been some kind of food or mindset change, so it’s not that surprising, really.

This year I actually wanted to choose foods that were delicious and made me feel better (physical and mental).  Such was the mindset when I offered up to make a dessert: Vegan Bread Pudding.  Yup, no cream, eggs, butter and very little sugar.

Buy boy, oh, boy, what a tasty treat.  This high fiber meal ender will have your guests humming with delight…but maybe running to the bathroom.  It’s err….packed with a LOT of fiber.  Who doesn’t need more fiber, especially on a holiday!  You could always use less whole grain bread, but what fun would that be!

VEGAN BREAD PUDDING

8 cups whole grain bread cubes (I used homemade bread, but you use whatever works), chopped into 1″ pieces
4 cups vanilla Almond milk, pref. unsweetened
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I went for T. Joe’s orange sweetened cranberries)
1/2 cup – 3/4 cup whole cranberries
1/2 cup agave, honey, turbinado or ‘brownish’ sugar
1/2 cup chopped almonds2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp each: nutmeg, allspice, ginger
1 tbsp oil

Mix the nuts, cranberries, spices together in a LARGE bowl.

mixed berries, nuts and spices

Add the 8 cups of chopped bread and mix together.

8 cups of bread is a LOT of bread!!!

In the meantime add the oil to the almond milk.  Add to the bread and mix.  It won’t look pretty.  Don’t worry.  Set it aside for 15 minutes to ‘saturate’.  Make sure all bread pieces have some moisture on them.  While the pudding is setting you can clean the kitchen, call your mom, pay some bills, hug your kids (or your dog, or your husband, or whatever).

After 15 minutes, pour into either individual ramekins for baking, or a bread loaf pan, or whatever you want.  Make sure the pan you use is greased/ buttered since there isn’t a lot of fat in this dish.

Cook at 350 for 25 (ramekins) to 45 minutes (bread loaf pan).  Cook uncovered so the tops brown.  Serve warm or cold, for dessert or breakfast, or both!

My next venture is to make this with pumpkin bread, which I just got from my in-laws!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (cookies, that is!)

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…and you know what that means: Holiday treats.

I may be adding to the abyss of sweet treats you are inundated with this holiday, but I wanted to share a lovely, fun recipe that I think you might enjoy that is also relatively benign in terms of the sugar situation.

Checkered molasses and vanilla cookies (adaptations from the Bob’s Redmill baking Book).  Essentially its a hybrid of two recipes, formed together to make checkered cookies.  Sorry no pics – the camera is currently out of commission.

For both cookie doughs, prepare them the day ahead of baking, partition into 4 small balls of dough, cover and refrigerate overnight.  Take them out and warm up for about 1 hr before baking at 350 for about 8 minutes.

Molasses cookies:

1.5 sticks softened butter
1/3 cup Turbinado sugar
3 cups of whole wheat or whole spelt flour, or a mix
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp each: ginger, allspice
2/3 cup blackstrap Molasses (high in Iron and calcium; it should look like black sludge!)

Cream butter and sugar until light lemon-yellow; about 3-4 min.  In a medium bowl, sift flour with soda, salt and spices.  Beat half the flour mix into the butetr mix, then beat in half the molasses and then add the remaining flour and molasses in the same fashion.  Once mixed, store as mentioned above.

Vanilla Cookies (AKA Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies)

2 cups whole grain flour (wheat or spelt)
2 tsp baking powder
.5 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp Vanilla almond milk (unsweetened if possible)

In a medium bowl, sift flour with baking powder and salt.   Add cinnamon.  In another bowl cream butter/sugar for about 4 min, and then beat in egg.  Stir in vanilla and Almond milk, then add flour mix to wet mix 1/2 cup at a time.  Once prepared, set aside as mentioned above.

To make the cookies:  take each ball of dough and roll into about an 8-10″ tube. You will have 8 tubes, maybe more (Depends on how much dough you ate and how big the tubes are).  Mine were about 1″ in diameter, I think.

Set a molasses and a vanilla tube next to eachother and gently squish toward teach other.  Stack a molasses on top of bottom vanilla, and a vanilla on top of the bottom molasses.  Thus, they are staggered or checkered.  Gently squish together on all sides without losing the integrity of the roll.

Slice 1/3″ think to 1/2″ thick off the rolls and vioala!  You have your checkered cookie.  Lay flat on a greased baking dish and bake.  The sugar cookie part may rise a bit more than the molasses part, but not much.  This makes A LOT of cookies, so be prepared to give some away, OR half the recipe of each.

 

 

Enchilada casserole – so easy

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1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cut into 1/2 in cubes
2 tsp each: cumin, sea salt, oregano
2 cups enchilada sauce
1/2 cup green onion
1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli
1/2 cup finely chopped Anaheim peppers (I  got mine from mom’s garden)
8-9 large corn tortillas (we like Trader Joe’s homemade corn tortillas)
1.5 cups shredded raw white cheddar, also from T. Joes.

Once enchilada sauce is prepared, set aside 1 cup.  Add the chicken and the spices to the remaining enchilada sauce in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the broccoli to the chicken mix and cook until chicken is done – about another 5-7 min on medium heat.  Stir regularly to ensure the chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, layer a deep dish pie pan with tortillas.  Cut the tortillas in half and lay on the bottom of the dish, covering as much area as possible.  Add 1/3 of the shredded cheese.  When chicken mix is done, add 1/3 of it to the pie dish, then  1/3 of  the green onions, 1/3 of the Anaheim peppers, and 1/3 cup of the remaining enchilada sauce.  Repeat the process of layering.  Once the top layer of tortillas is added, sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of cheese, onion and peppers and sauce on top.  You can garnish with chopped black olives if you like.
Bake at 325 for about 18-20 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Tastes even better the next day.

Serve with refried beans and chopped cilantro

Clean Cuisine

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move over Lean Cuisine...this is better!

This summer I fell in love with a Lean Cuisine dish that was some tasty mix of beans,rice, veggies and a ‘cheese sauce’.  Tasty yes, but when you look at the ingredient list there is a slough of goodies that just don’t belong in everyday cooking.

So I decided to see if I could ‘one up’ my Lean Cuisine favorite by making the same thing at home and freezing it for those busy fall school days.  Boy did I strike gold.

I call this one “Clean Cuisine” because it has all the bennies of frozen entrees with all the goodness of organic, local and fresh foods – it’s also more cost effective per serving that the frozen stuff AND you can customize the flavors to your liking.

The basic ingredients: rice, black beans, peppers, green onions, cheese, spices

Cook 2 cups of brown rice in a rice cooker, adding 2 tsp cumin, sea salt and 2 Tbsp of tomato paste to the water.  Just let it do it’s thing and in the meantime, you can prep the veggies and cheese.

Grade about 4-5 oz of sharp cheddar cheese, set aside.
Blanch 1 large red bell pepper in boiling water for about 30 seconds

Now chop the peppers into small pieces, and dice up about 4-5 green onions.
If you have any salsa (which I did) bring that along too!

The Assembly Line

Mix about 1 cup beans and 1.5 cups of rice in a large bowl.  Add 1/2 the peppers, onions, cheese and about 2 tbsp salsa.  Mix thoroughly.  Separate into two plastic, freezer safe containers.  Close and label.  Repeat with the rest of the rice and beans.  You’ll have some left over rice if you started with 2 cups dry rice – perfect for tonight’s dinner.

I ended up with 4 full servings of this dish plus left over for dinner AND lunch the next day – that’s pretty good ‘bang for your buck’, as my dad would say 😉