Lunchtime fun - Freekeh Salad and Hazelnut Butter Cups

Having friends over for lunch is really just an excuse for me to get creative in the kitchen without my wife rolling her eyeballs at me. I can justify: "But we're having guests!" So even though we have a baby, I am still making meal plans that involve 3 days of prep or wait, maybe that's happening because we have a baby!

Anyhow to continue my trend of unusual and interesting grains, one of my friends who knew that a) I love free food and b) I'm a bit of a foodie, bestowed upon me four packages of freekeh. Freekeh instantly reminded me of bulgur, but is actually roasted green wheat. I love both the texture and the nutty flavor. Can't wait to try out some more recipes with it!

Freekeh, roasted squash, and kale salad  - serves 8-10 (who doesn't love leftovers)

1 1/4 c. uncooked Freekeh
1 whole carrot, chopped or diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 bay leaf
1/2- 1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp tarragon
3 c. water


1 delicata or butternut squash, or 2 kabocha squashes, 1/2- 1" chunks, roasted (use 1 1/2 -2 c.)
1 -2 bunches of kale, destemmed and chopped into small pieces, sauteed (1 -2 c. cooked)
1/4- 1/3 c. dried cranberries
1/8 - 1/4 c. chopped parsley
goat cheese
toasted pumpkin seeds

Dressing
1/3 c olive oil
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
2 Tbs lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp whole grain mustard
1 Tbs honey
2 garlic cloves minced
salt/pepper

Instructions
1. I prepped the squash and kale the night before - you'll probably need about 35 min - 1 hr to roast the squash (350 degrees F) til tender.
2. Lightly toast the freekeh in a bit of oil, then add the carrot, onion and herbs, sauteeing for 2- 3 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 20 minutes until freekeh is tender. Remove from heat.
3. Toss freekeh with squash, kale, cranberries, and parsley. (I give variations in the vegetable amount because I just eyeballed it until I was happy with the amount and colors of the veggies compared to the freekeh).
4. Make dressing, adjust to taste, and then use about half on the salad. Let sit in fridge, preferably overnight, but at least a couple of hours. Then taste again and use more dressing, salt and pepper as needed. Serve sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and goat cheese.


This recipe also looks gorgeous to try: pomegranate, kale, and squash freekeh salad

Hazelnut butter cups - makes 23-24
Adapted from Scaling Back
One of my friends who tried these started tapping her feet immediately after her first bite - she said you know something tastes amazing when that happens. I love how simple this recipe is and how impressed people are by the effort to make these from scratch. Plus they're just a bit more elegant than Reese's by substituting hazelnuts for peanuts. I'll happily confess that I intend to try these again with almond butter!

Ingredients:
1 cup toasted hazelnuts 
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt (this is important that you use kosher! If you substitute table salt, use much less)
3 Tbs honey
9 oz dark chocolate
1-2 tsp coconut oil

1. Process the hazelnuts, cinnamon and salt in a food processor until nut butter is formed. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in honey. Taste - it should taste a bit salty, a bit sweet, and full of hazelnut flavor.
2. Line mini-muffin tins with muffin cups (I used parchment cups)
3. Melt chocolate and coconut oil together until smooth. Spoon ~ 1 tsp into the bottom of each muffin cup. Use 1 tsp to scoop a ball of hazelnut butter, flatten into a disk, and place into each muffin cup. Spoon another ~ 1tsp of chocolate on top of the hazelnut butter and put in the fridge to chill.
4. Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

Two delicious meals - quinoa pad thai and vegetarian split pea soup

Last week's cooking experiments were both huge successes in terms of deliciousness, large quantities of leftovers, and healthy eating!

Here's what I have to recommend to you:
Crock pot vegetarian split pea soup - extremely economical, healthy, and fast! I think I spent maybe 20 minutes total prepping the ingredients and then simply setting it to cook in the crockpot was a life saver with a little one demanding so much attention.
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetariancrockpotrecipe/r/crockpotpeasoup.htm

I did make a few substitutions: yellow split peas instead of green, an extra carrot and celery rib, and parsnip instead of potato. The essential ingredient that made this soup a knockout was adding 1/2 tsp of liquid smoke. Incomparable!

I also tried out a quinoa pad thai which was much more effort but totally worth it! I did make quite a few changes so have shown the adapted recipe below. And as always, I just use the vegetable amounts as a guideline and visually compare the vegetable amount to my pile of quinoa and adapt to my personal preference.

Quinoa Pad Thai

Author: Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 4-5 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 small head of napa cabbage shredded or sliced thinly
• 2 large bell peppers, sliced thinly
• 3-4 large garlic cloves minced
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced thinly and divided
• 4 tablespoons tamarind paste
• 8 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons fish sauce
• 4 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons sirracha
• 2-3 large eggs
• ½ cup chopped peanuts
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• lime wedges
• Salt

Instructions

1. Make sure to have all of your ingredients ready to go.
2. In a small saucepan over a medium low heat, whisk together tamarind, brown sugar, water, sirracha and fish sauce. Heat just until brown sugar is dissolved, set aside. If you have tamarind pulp instead of paste, make sure to remove the seeds and once you heat the ingredients together, blend until smooth in a food processor or blender.
3. In a large skillet or wok heat 1 teaspoon of canola oil over a high heat.
4. Quickly stir-fry garlic, half of green onions, carrots, bell pepper and cabbage, about 1-2 minutes, remove from pan.
5. Heat another teaspoon of oil in pan, add quinoa, stir fry about 1-2 minutes.
6. Add half of sauce.
7. Make a well in the center of the pan and scramble eggs til cooked, then combine with everything and the rest of the sauce.
8. Serve with chopped peanuts, remaining green onion, cilantro and lots of fresh lime.

Things that happen in a year

Oh blog - you have been sorely neglected for 10 months. 10 months where everything changed in my life! Let's see, I began doing course work for an instructor diploma, I took leave from my job to teach two classes (my first time ever doing courses from start to finish) and I had a baby! All very legitimate reasons for not having any time or energy to post on the blog. But now that our little one is almost 5 months old, I am in need of some creative outlets to remind me of the "me" part of myself that is not "mommy me".  mommy me is the baby tracker - for the first 3 months it was how often and how long baby fed. once eating was under control, it switched to how often and how long baby slept. Having a baby has been the most rewarding and challenging experience of my life. Nothing prepares you for a) the pain of labor b) the revelation that all that pain resulted in a beautiful baby c) this beautiful baby is helpless and depends on you for everything d) that you could love and worry so much about one tiny being and oscillate from being overwhelmed with joy and in the depths of despair (mostly due to the sleep deprivation) all in a one hour cycle.

Our little one at almost 5 months!

Also since I am very rationally/analytically minded, how much I need to turn that behaviour off with a baby because so much happens that is inexplicable! I have never been so superstitious as if I can just leave my shirt in the crib, have her on her left side, tip toe out of the room at 15 minutes, make sure the temperature is between 21-22 degrees F, ocean sounds playing at the appropriate level, etc then she will nap for longer than 40 minutes and be a delightfully happy baby when she wakes.

But back to food. Since I am now a full-time stay at home mom, it is incumbent upon me to provide sustenance for my family and even more so for myself to be eating as healthily as possibly (ignoring all the days of stress-eating of donuts, chocolate bars, and coffee......) and be able to make meals that are QUICK. or at least can be prepared and cooked in 40 minute increments as that may be all I have.

One of my current favorites is sushi bowls  (also known as sushi in a jar)! minimal cooking, minimal effort and very easy to prepare in steps. Plus it also seems like arts and crafts when you cut up the nori into strips.
Here is a link to the recipe I use:http://kristaandjess.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/jar-lunch-deconstructed-sushi/

I basically use whatever vegetables I feel like in whatever ratios I desire, but generally carrot, cucumber, radish, bell pepper and avocado are a lovely mix. I fry up some tofu or scrambled egg (in large batches) to add as protein on top, though you could also swap out the rice for quinoa and get a protein in that way.  Top with nori strips and some finely cut up pickled ginger along with some extra rice vinegar or low sodium soy sauce.  Usually I prep enough that we can get 3 days worth of sushi bowls out of it.

The other perk of making these bowls is you could easily just have a fresh veggie and rice bowl without nori and top with some miso gravy (or use the miso gravy with a roast veggie/rice bowl). This is a delicious recipe I have made 3 times in the past month:
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-naam-miso-gravy-is-perfect-for-your-thanksgiving-feast-and-it-s-gluten-free

Black bean kale quesadillas and Soba noodle peanut salad

The quickest post of all to say that life is incredibly busy for me right now so likely not too many food posts showing up in the near future! This is an easy weeknight meal that is quick to prepare assuming everything is on hand. Whole wheat flour tortillas, cooked black beans (either fom scratch or from a can), cooked quinoa (optional), kale, sliced black olives, cheddar cheese, and some salsa and/or yogurt/sour cream to go on top. Wash and destem the kale. Chop the leaves into 1/2" or 1" wide ribbons and saute in a bit of canola or olive oil until the kale is cooked. Then take your tortilla and layer the kale, black beans, shredded cheese (cheddar or Monterrey jack), sliced olives and fold the tortilla in half. In a skillet on medium high heat with a bit of canola oil, place the tortilla in the pan and cook until the tortilla is crispy on one side. Flip and repeat. Serve and cut into halves or thirds. Excellent with tomato soup!

I can report on meal plans at least. For this week we'll be having:
for lunches: homemade pizza with kale, mushrooms, olives and italian salami; & a kale, sweet potato, apple salad
For dinners: green lentil curry with rice; roasted potatoes, eggs & kale; and if we need another meal, I'm going to attempt homemade veggie corndogs!

Last week we whipped up another bowl of soba noodle salad which was our lunch for the week and I made a batch of vegetarian dolmades which provided 2-3 dinners. The soba noodles salad is a great lunch dish with lots of veggies and protein, served cold, and it can last for most of the week. The one downside is you will have green onion breath so feel free to leave those out if like me, you interact with a lot of people in your job :) Also this recipe is adapted from a cookbook but I don't remember which one, apologies!

Whole-Wheat Soba Noodle Salad
Sauce:
3 Tbs peanut butter (we use Adam's natural, crunchy, no salt)
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
hot water as needed to thin

Salad
4 oz whole wheat soba noodles
1/2 long english cucumber, diced
1-2 large carrots, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (optional)
sliced radishes (optional)
2 Tbs cilantro, chopped (really as much as you want)
2 green onions, diced
7 oz firm or extra firm tofu, cubed
2 Tbs salted peanuts, chopped (or as much as you want)

1. Drain the tofu and press as much water out as possible. If you want to, marinate the tofu for 20-30 min. We used some teriyaki marinade we happened to have in the fridge which was great. In a skillet on medium high heat, with 1-2Tbs canola oil, saute the tofu cubes until browned/crisped on all sides. Remove from the skillet and place on a paper-towel lined plate.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the soba noodles in and cook per the package directions. Strain the noodles and run under cold water once. Then set aside in the strainer for a bit longer.
3. Whisk all the sauce ingredients EXCEPT the hot water together. Slowly whisk in hot water as needed until the sauce seems the right thickness for tossing in the salad.
4. Combine the noodles and other salad ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the sauce on and toss until well mixed.

Party Review #3 - Desserts

 I will now take a moment to gloat just a bit about how darn good every single dessert item was. Admittedly two of them I had to find a second recipe that was actually worthwhile but the search paid off.

#1. Pumpkin seed brittle. If you only make one thing, make pumpkin seed brittle. I'm pretty sure it would keep in a freezer for a good two months. It's a great foodie gift, it's economically viable as it consists basically of sugar, butter, and pumpkin seeds, it looks a bit like stained glass, and its so addictive! Also you should know, if you have a candy thermometer this recipe is pretty darn easy but beware of boiling sugar! It is REALLY hot and if you spill it on yourself - blister burns.....

#2. Orange spice pumpkin cakes. If you had slightly adventurous children, I think these would be delightful at a birthday party. Two-bite sized, golden-hued, and redolent of fall. I did make these in advance and freeze them, but in retrospect, I would only make them the day before or the day of and keep them at room temperature in a sealed container. I think they stay moister that way. I have not tried the glaze, as I found them perfect without. The only questionable instruction is the juice of two oranges - size is not specified. I ended up going with some larger oranges rather than smaller oranges.

#3. Chocolate peppermint cookies. My one piece of sage advice: things have changed since childhood. DO NOT assume that red candy canes are peppermint  - oh no, it's part of a grand conspiracy to trick you into buying revolting cherry flavored candy canes! I loved this recipe and the children seemed drawn to the sparkly crushed candy cane bits on top of dark chocolate cookies.

#4. Walnut jam thumbprint cookies. This recipe was for childhood nostalgia. I can my mom baking these at Christmas time and the way they tasted - buttery walnut crust and sweet tart jam.

Raspberry thumbprint cookie (48 cookies)

1  c. walnuts

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. butter (salted is fine)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 c. flour

1/4 c. seedless raspberry jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In food processor, blend  1 c. toasted walnuts with sugar until finely ground.  Add butter, salt, and vanilla-process till evenly blended.  Add flour and blend until mixed.  Remove knife blade, and press dough together.  

3. Roll dough into 1 " balls using about 2 tsp dough per cookie. To make this easier, you can break the dough in half, then in halves again, then in halves, then in thirds to get right amounts.  Place balls about 1 1/2 " apart on large cookie sheet.  With thumb,make small imprint.  Fill with 1/4 tsp jam.  Bake 20 min.. Cool on wire rack. 

#5. Orange candied ginger cookies - vegan from Extraveganza - I'll post this recipe soon. But very gingery, and quite nice fresh from the oven.

Party Review #2 - Mains

By mains, I mean something a bit more elaborate than dips! Though dips can be an art form in themselves.

Mains that we had:

#1) Miniquiches - the one photo!! I believe I made about 120 or so of these in advance and froze them. They were ALL gone by the end of the night. I sing the praises of this beautiful recipe: you don't have to deal with mini pie crusts, incredibly flavourful and you can make it two weeks in advance, freeze, and have it taste spectacular on the day of. Follow exactly other than substituting vegetarian sausage for meat if needed AND pay attention to the quantity/type of salt. In fact I'm posting the recipe below because of my fear that one day this link won't work...

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup Panko* bread crumbs
4 large eggs
⅓ cup half and half
**½ teaspoon sea salt  OR  1/4 tsp of regular kosher/dinner table salt**
1 small potato, about 2 ounces, cooked, cooled and diced
1 link chicken sausage, pre-cooked, crumbled
3 medium green onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Generously spray 24 mini-muffin cups with cooking spray, then wipe with a paper towel to completely coat. Place a small amount of melted butter in each muffin cup (about 1/4 teaspoon)
3. Pat 1 rounded teaspoon of Panko in the bottom of each cup.
4. Beat eggs, half-and-half,  salt & ground pepper in medium bowl until blended.
5. Mix cheese, potato, Italian sausage, green onion and fresh basil in a separate bowl. Spoon about 1 tsp of filling into every muffin cup. Add enough egg mixture so the muffin cup is about 3/4 of the way full. Spoon evenly into the mini-muffin cups, about 1 tablespoon each.
6. Bake on lowest rack in 350°F oven until lightly browned and set, about 15-20 minutes (err on the side of 15 if not certain!). Cool on rack 5 minutes. Loosen quiches from sides of muffin cups with a thin knife. Remove from cups; serve warm. Garnish with finely chopped fresh herbs, if desired.
7. If freezing, place on wire racks of baking tray in freezer. Once frozen, transfer to freezer ziplock bags. To reheat, place quiches on baking tray and bake directly from freezer at 350 degrees F for 12-14 minute until hot.

#2) Prosciutto cups with minced pear & goat cheese - so incredibly popular I could not keep these on the serving trays. The goat cheese addition is an absolute must! You can bake the prosciutto cups one day before and prep the pear the morning of (as long as you squeeze a bit of lemon juice over it) and assemble as the party goes along.

#3) Feta Walnut Date Cigars - basically a feta walnut date mixture rolled into buttery phyllo goodness. Delectable! Can be made up to a week in advance & frozen. The only thing I would say in retrospect is they were a little dry -- perhaps a Tbs or so of cream or evaporated milk in the filling might help with that? Also, adding in a Tbs of chopped dried rosemary to the filling is a must. Can y also use a bit more dates if desired - I probably used closer to 2/3 c.

#5) Peanut butter & scallion topped pineapple cubes - oddly addictive and more of a hit than I anticipated! This recipe required some tweaking though which was not recorded - if I had to stretch my memory, I would say it required more peanut butter, a lot of coriander, possibly some sweet chili sauce and a lot of lime. I would make the topping one to two days in advance to really let the flavors develop but don't cut up the pineapple early - as I learned the hard way, it turns brown! And canned pineapple  just doesn't compare.

#6) Smoked salmon on rye with horseradish cream. Surprisingly the least popular and the most effort to assemble right before/during the party. If I did it again, I think I would just have the smoked salmon on a tray with sauce in a bowl along side and baguette or crackers for people to serve themselves. Note that I am not complaining about having 300 g or so of freshly smoked salmon left over to eat during the week!

#7) Stuffed grape leaves (dolmades) from scratch! Honestly quite proud of myself for this one. I've never bought grape leaves before and I had so many that I ended up testing two recipes: one in a crockpot which I would not recommend - it seems the dolmades fall apart quite easily and become like a stew at the bottom, and the one I linked to above which was so flavorful and looked beautiful piled in the cast iron skillet. My only substitution was veggie broth for chicken broth. No other changes needed! The ONE downside of serving this for a party food is if you are like me and only like dolmades hot, it's very difficult to pull off. In the future, I would save this as a dinner party recipe as opposed to a finger food that is out all evening becoming colder and colder...

#8) Spiced almonds. Doesn't really fit into the mains or dips & crackers list, but SO GOOD. Such a great foodie gift as well. You can make them and store them in the freezer for weeks - they taste perfectly fresh when brought out! (I actually loved snacking on the leftovers straight from the freezer for about two weeks).  spice combination I used was as follows:

1/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp kosher salt (like dinner table salt)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 - 1 tsp cayenne
1 Tbs water
1 Tbs honey
1 tsp olive oil
for 2 1/2 c. almonds

Party Review # 1 - Drinks & Dips

Well I can't say that I made any new year's resolutions about this blog but I at least wanted to get one post up for 2013. Especially after promising so much with the party menu from my last post, I confess I've been putting off the follow-up post because I didn't take any pictures of all the food once it was set out!! I was so busy ensuring continual rounds of hot drinks and hot appies that photo documentation fell by the wayside, but I still want to reflect on the experience. I learned 1) that menu could probably feed a party of about 60, whereas I had a party of about 36 - ergo much unused food; 2) mini-quiches are extremely popular; and 3) pumpkin seed brittle is a huge hit!

DRINKS
#1 Mulled wine by Jaime Oliver. Definitely would make this recipe again - extremely flavorful & the big perk is that you can make the syrup a week in advance and keep it in the fridge. On the day of the party, you simply heat the syrup with a bottle or so of red wine and voila! Done! I actually made three batches of syrup and used them all over the course of the party.  The only change I made to the recipe was to reduce the sugar to about 150g for a single syrup batch. If needed you can always add more sugar later, but you can't take it out!

#2 Mulled cider. Went through almost 2 gallons! Excellent, really you don't need a recipe but you can use Bobby Flay's for a starting point. Use any combination you want of cinnamon sticks, orange, cloves, star anise, allspice berries, cardamom etc.

DIPS & CRACKERS

#1 Curried Sweet Potato Hummus. The most popular dip recipe by far -here's the recipe I created!

Curried Sweet Potato Hummus (*cut this recipe in half for a reasonable amount of dip*)
3 c. roasted (or cooked) sweet potatoes
1 c. cooked chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
1/8 c. sesame seeds (optional, can replace with 1/2-1 Tbs tahini)
Juice of 1 lime
2-3 Tbs olive oil
3 tsp madras curry powder
1/2 -1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala curry powder
1/4 -1/2 c. liquid depending on texture of dip - can use broth from cooking chickpeas, or water from boiling sweet potatoes or a bit of orange juice
salt and or pepper to taste

1. If the garlic isn't minced, put it in the food processor first. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Process until texture and flavor is to taste. Best if it sits for 4 hours or ideally one day and readjust seasoning if needed the following day.

#2 Beet & Walnut Dip
I personally loved this beet & walnut dip made exactly to directions- so beautifully red and incredibly refreshing to eat. A great summer dip! Would be fantastic served alongside goat cheese.

#3 Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip
Of course, every single person I know loves a good hot artichoke spinach dip. This is a recipe I return to time and time again because it doesn't involve mayonnaise which is my complaint about many versions of this dish. I always laugh at this recipe because it says it feeds 54. I doubled it once thinking I would run out - don't double it unless you have to feed a football team :)  It does make a lot, but we only had about 1 cup left at the end of the party :) I unfortunately have no idea where I originally got this recipe but it's not mine!

ARTICHOKE SPINACH DIP
1/4 c. butter (salted)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2-  10 oz packages frozen spinach
14 oz can artichoke hearts drained & chopped
8 oz package cream cheese
16 oz container sour cream
1 c. fresh grated parmesan cheese

1. Sauted garlic in butter until golden. Stir in spinach and artichoke hearts. Cook until tender (or heated through).
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook until thickened about 10 minutes.
3. Spoon into casserole dish. Serve directly or can refrigerate for one day. To prepare from refrigerator: put the dish into an UNHEATED oven. Set to 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes-1 hour (covered) until heated through.

#4 Edamame
I made this edamame dip that looked beautiful but honestly I hated it and it required so much adapting that I completely unrecommend this recipe. I do have a good edamame dip elsewhere that I'll dredge up.

#5 Crackers! People were gobsmacked that we made about 400 crackers from scratch, but compared to the purchase price of raincoast crisps - making them yourself totally pays off. We also tried a new first of making crackers with the pasta maker. If you're making anything like wheat thins or a regular cracker, I'm convinced this is the way to go - makes a uniform thickness dough and thin enough that the crackers reach desirable crispiness in the oven!

Check out this recipe for Olive Oil & Seed Crackers. The two recommendations I would make are reducing the salt to 3/4-1 tsp. And you may need a bit more water in the dough so it doesn't fall apart when rolling through the pasta maker.