PLATED: Chickpea Bowls with Roasted Vegetables and Tahini Sauce

I have been using the Plated service for dinners for awhile now. Plated sends me the ingredients and the recipe, and I cook it up. Last night's dinner was especially good. The trouble with recreating their recipes is that they often don't give amounts that easily translate to real life. For example, providing you with the "ounces" of a butternut squash rather than the cups of cubed squash. So I'm winging it on this recreation:

Chickpea Bowls with Roasted Vegetables and Tahini Sauce

1 clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, halved
6 oz cubed butternut squash (1-2 cps 1-inch cubes)
6 oz cauliflower (1-2 cps 1-inch florets)
1/8 oz fresh parsley, finely chopped and divided (about 1 tablespoon finely chopped)
6 oz broccolini (a "bouquet" of broccolini), chopped into 2-inch pieces- Note: Asparagus may work as an acceptable substitute
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon sumac
1 cup brown rice
1 tablespoon tahini paste
1 tablespoon plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Olive oil
1 tablespoon warm water
Kosher salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. While oven is heating, prepare vegetables and put on a medium pot of water to boil (for the rice).

Place chickpeas on half of a baking sheet. Toss with sumac, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt.

On the other half of the baking sheet, toss squash, cauliflower and broccolini with 1 tbs olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt.

Arrange ingredients in a single layer, and transfer to the oven. Roast until chickpeas are crisp and vegetables are tender, about 15-18 mins.

While chickpeas and vegetables roast, add salt to boiling water. Stir in the rice and cook until tender, about 10 mins (it took me more like 15-17 mins). Drain and return the rice to the pot, sitting off heat.

While the rice cooks, whisk together tahini paste, yogurt, juice of 1/2 lemon, soy sauce, and 1 tbs warm water until fully combined. Season with 1/8 tsp salt and pepper as desired. Set aside.

Add 1 squeeze of lemon juice, 1/2 of parsley, and 1 tsp olive oil to pot with rice and stir to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

Serve rice with roasted vegetables and chickpeas on top. Drizzle over tahini sauce. Garnish with remaining parsley. Makes 2 hearty servings.

Tips for Perfect Boiled Eggs

I did some research online to find out how to make perfectly boiled eggs, where the shells peel easy and don't crack while cooking, and are well done without being overly dry. These are the tips I've compiled, which have worked well for me:

• Use old eggs that are a few days before the expiration (or maybe even a few days after). To test them, fill a bowl with water. Put the egg in the water. If it stands up, it's too fresh. If it lays on its side, it's perfect for boiled eggs. If it floats, throw it away. (Note: Older eggs will peel more easily after boiling.)
• Let the eggs come to room temperature before boiling them, or they may crack.
• Put a few eggs in a saucepan and cover with water to an inch above the eggs. Bring it to a rapid boil.
• Once they come to a rapid boil, put on a tight-fitting lid and remove from the heat. Let the eggs cook in the hot water: Soft-cooked sit 4-5 mins, medium 6 mins, hard 17 mins (mine needed more like 19 mins for really hard, like for deviled eggs).
• To make deviled eggs that have a yolk centered, turn the egg carton on it's side for a few days before boiling.
• Once cooked, allow the eggs to cool. Store in the fridge and eat within one week.

ZUCCHINI: 3 1/2 year Progress Report

I found an old list I had when Zook was only a few weeks old of things I wanted him to learn. I wanted to see how we'd come along with his training, and decided to update his progress on the list.

• Learn name
• Learn command "sit"
• Learn command "down" (for laying down)
• Learn command "show me your belly"
• Learn command "sit pretty" (to get him to sit up and "beg")
• Learn command "roll over"
• Learn command "come here"
• Learn command "stay"
• Learn command "get in your bed"
• Learn what "Wanna go outside" means
• Learn what "Wanna go for a ride" means (What dog doesn't know this one?)
• Learn what "eat" means (He knows this in addition to "food" and "hungry", and will bring me his bowl on command.)
• Learn to walk properly on a lead (And does very well obeying commands like "wait" and "stay with me" when he's off-leash as well.)
• Learn to ask to go outside
• Learn to fetch (He'll "fetch" almost anything I ask for.)
• Become "crate trained" (He enters his cage at work on command, but I rarely need to command him to go in. Usually he lays wherever he wants in my office.)
• Learn the meaning of "toy" or "baby"
• Try different foods. Get him to eat rice and veggies and such.(He eats almost everything but turnips.)
• Become good friends with Katy (Mom's dog) so that maybe the two of them can even play together. (They became best friends before she died, and now he's best friends with our new dog Tiki.) 

Additionally he has learned:

• "Drop it"
• "Leave it"
• "Off" (for getting down off of things or people)
• "Wait" (he'll wait at the road for me to tell him it's okay to cross, or slow down to wait for me)
• "Treat"
• "Go see" (to "go see" a certain person, or what a noise was, or something. It's basically a release command that gives him permission.)
• "Bath" (he's learned to walk into the shower and "submit" to a bath. He isn't happy about it, but he'll do it without being forced)
• "Go to work" (he knows these words mean going to work with me, where he gets to see the other people he loves)
• "Go home" (he knows this means we are going home)
• "Stop" (When off-leash, he's been taught to "stop" at the road and wait for me to say it's okay to cross)
• "Load Up" (for "loading" into the car)
• "Clean up" (to clean up any food that fell on the floor)
• "Inside" (to go inside)
• "Watch" (To get him to focus on me rather than the treat, but I hope to expand on this eventually and get him to watch something else I indicate)
• "Bring your bowl" 
• "Bring it here" (he'll bring anything I indicate)
• "Come see me" (usually means for him to climb into my lap)
• "Let me see" (for him to bring me whatever he has, so I can see what it is or take it away from him) 
• Bedroom/Office (tells him what room he needs to go to)
• "Get out of my kitchen"
• "Take it nice" (to get him to take food nicely from my fingers) 
• "Move over" 
• "Settle" (when he's excited and needs to settle down)
• "Back" (it can mean for him to back up, but when we're in the car and he's in my lap, it means for him to get in the backseat)
• "Treat" (what dog doesn't know this one?)

There's probably more that I'm not thinking of. He's so smart and learns so fast! He is such a sweet dog with adults, although he can mistrust some kids and can be aggressive toward some dogs (never hurting them, but threatening). The day I chose to adopt him has proven to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. He's the best dog I could have ever hoped for.

And now Zook has a friend. Tiki (now 10 yrs old) joined our family last year. I had intended on just fostering her while I found her another home, but Zook took to her and loved having her around. So I kept her on permanently for him.

It's all worked out very well. We have a happy little family.

RECIPE: Peachy Oatmeal with Bittersweet Chocolate Bits

This recipe is from my newly purchased 50 Best Plants on the Planet by Cathy Thomas. I decided to try the recipe for Peachy Oatmeal, and it was so good, it was like eating dessert! And the recipe is easily halved.







Peachy Oatmeal with Bittersweet Chocolate Bits
Makes 4 servings

2 1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
pinch of salt
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 tbs agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used about 1 tbs semi-sweet chips per serving)
2 ripe peaches cut into thin slices

Bring milk and and salt to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Mix in oats, agave, and vanilla. Lower to medium heat and cook until thickened, about 4 minutes. Divide mixture into four bowls, sprinkle with chocolate and press lightly into mixture and top with peach slices.

WILDLIFE REMINDER

I posted this on Facebook today, as I see these things every spring, and I thought I would use this forum as well to try and get the word out to people...

It's that time of year. Spring is when nature is pretty hyperactive, and danger is high for wildlife. Some things to keep in mind while you are out and about:

1)  Keep an eye out for turtles crossing the road. Females and males are on the go, seeking out new venues and females looking to dig nests and lay eggs. If you see one crossing the road, please try to stop and help it in the direction it was heading. They commonly get run over and need all the help they can get. Sometimes they can't get over the curbs to get back to safety. Sometimes people forget how tall the turtle shells are, and how low their cars are, and they think they can safely straddle them. They are often wrong.

2)  Likewise look for squirrels and such. Remember that squirrels are prey animals, created to avoid birds of prey. Their avoidance technique is zig-zagging. So people think they can just straddle them with their car, not realizing that the squirrel will dart in the opposite direction and run in an unpredictable zig-zag path. When you see a squirrel, slow down and just give it time to realize you are coming and head back to safety. It really isn't that difficult. I do it all the time!

3)  People also believe that they can just head down the road at 50 mph, and birds will always get out of the way. Especially this time of year, that may not always be true. Birds are focused on courting rituals and building nests right now. They are distracted. And you may easily see something like I saw the other day, with a bird so distracted with the nesting material he was collecting, he didn't think to get out of the way of cars leaving the intersection at the light, and he was plowed over before he could get out of the way, because the drivers are too impatient to edge forward to warn the bird and get him to move. Often the birds are in the middle of a dispute, chasing one another, and are so focused that they forget the cars.

4)  And, in situations like the above, realize that birds are often stunned for awhile after being hit. So they may appear dead, but are actually just in stasis. Like the one I saw get hit last week. He actually laid on his back, feet in the air, for several minutes and appeared dead. Then he flipped over, as cars whizzed inches from him, but was still too stunned to fly off. I grabbed him and given time to recover, he wound up being fine and I could let him go back in the area I'd found him a few hours later. I've picked up stunned birds from the side of the road a few times now.

5)  Remember that animals that are hit by cars aren't doomed. They often can recover, if given an extra hand. If you see an injured animal, try to capture it and get it to a wildlife clinic like CROW on Sanibel Island. They have pick-up locations all over Lee County. (I picked up an injured opossum a couple of years ago that I spotted in the road. He had a broken jaw. They monitored him and were able to release him after a week or so.)

6)  Speaking of opossum, realize that if you see a opossum hit (or hit one yourself), that they are often females carrying young in their pouch. If possible, check for babies. I once had a maintenance crew find a dying mother opossum and a pouchful of babies covered in fire ants. They took the babies from the dying mother and gave the little pinkies to me. I took them to CROW. Unfortunately that bunch couldn't survive the fire ant venom, but often they can be saved!

7)  And, just in general, be patient and thoughtful. If you see an animal in the road, or near the side of the road, SLOW DOWN! Don't expect it will just get away from the road and be fine! If it is in the road, don't keep speeding on, assuming it will just get out of your way!

We are the keepers of the earth and its inhabitants, and let's keep it well!

RECIPE: Maki's Yakitori Stir-Fry

Last night I decided to make up a batch of Yakitori sauce. The recipe comes from a Japanese family friend who shared it with us decades ago. It's very simple to make.

Maki's Yakitori Sauce

1/4 cup Mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
2 cup soy sauce (I use organic Tamari)
2/3 cup sugar
4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 ginger root, chopped fine (I used about 1/2 tbs)

Cook all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook on low flame 25-30 minutes, uncovered. Check after 20 minutes to see if sauce is thick enough. It has cooked too long if it is too syrupy or candy-like.

(Mine doesn't thicken. Perhaps I need to turn the heat up a little. Or bring to a boil and then simmer.)

Double the recipe for about 1 quart of sauce.

For a BBQ variation, add ketchup and Tobasco sauce. Use on chicken.

For my stir-fry, I add chopped carrots, sliced onions, chopped green pepper, and a store-bought stir-fry mix that included broccolli and snow peas.

After this cooked for a few minutes in hot oil, I added in some sliced button mushrooms.

I cooked until about crisp-tender, and then add day-old leftover brown rice.

Once it was all cooked through to my liking, I added some Yakitori sauce.

Very good! Store the Yakitori sauce in the refrigerator. I don't know how long it keeps, but I expect it should last awhile, given the high concentration of soy sauce and wine.

(I also added some chopped tomatoes, only because I had some to use up. Normally I wouldn't include them in a stir-fry.)

NOTE: A week or two later I made another batch of stir-fry, this time with a few snow peas and broccoli florets, but mostly sliced zucchini, red peppers and onions, and it was awesome! Better than the stir-fry with the mushrooms and tomatoes.

RECIPES: Rice and Bean Taco Salad

I already posted this recipe in the past, but this time turned out so good, I wanted to note the couple of subtle changes I made, so hopefully I can duplicate it next time.

The recipes calls for cooking onions and garlic in butter before adding in the other ingredients. This time I just did the garlic, and sauteed it in olive oil. Then added the other ingredients. I also put the can of green chiles in the pan to cook with the rest, rather than with the lettuce and tomatoes.

After warming it through, I put about 3/4-1 cup of the mixture on a bed of torn romaine lettuce. I topped that with grape tomatoes that were halved and sprinkled it with sliced green onions and Mexican four-cheese blend. Then Ken's Steakhouse ranch dressing and some crushed nacho Doritos.

So good! Find the original recipe here.

RECIPES: Heather's Roasted Creamer Potatoes

I was craving a traditional Sunday dinner meal the other day. You know-- the kind that includes mashed potatoes and maybe some roasted veggies and gravy? I came across some creamer potatoes at the farmer's market, and I decided they would do...

Heather's Roasted Creamer Potatoes

Creamer potatoes (or small red new potatoes)
Onions, slivered
Olive oil
Coarse sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
• Put creamer potatoes in a roasting pan with onions. Cut up larger potatoes into bite-size chunks. Drizzle with EVO. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt and ground pepper.
• Roast until done (I don't remember how long it took.)

Very easy, and very good! And very good with caramelized onion salmon.

RECIPE: Heather's Citrus Orange Roughy

I recently needed to use up a piece of orange roughy that I had in the freezer, and I debated on what to do with it. I intended to do a Lemon-Orange Roughy I saw on the web (made with lemon and orange juices and lemon pepper), but I didn't have OJ or lemon pepper and only bottled lemon juice. So I had to make due. It went something like this:

Heather's Citrus Orange Roughy

1 orange roughy filet
Seasoned pepper
Bottled lemon juice
Bottled lime juice
Dried orange peel
Olive oil

Heat olive oil in pan. Sprinkle roughy liberally with seasoned pepper on both sides and place in pan. Saute for a minute. Squirt lemon and lime juices over fish. Sprinkle with a pinch of orange peel. Saute for about 5 minutes on each side.

Very simple way to prepare this fish, and a nice light flavor. It turned out quite well!

RECIPE: Heather's Mexican Rice

I needed a Mexican-type side dish the other day, and I came up with this.

Heather's Mexican Rice

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic
3 scallions, sliced
1 cup long-grain rice
2 cups water or vegetable broth
1/2 chopped tomato
1/2 small can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
Cilantro

1. Saute pepper in EVO for a few minutes. 
2. Add scallions and garlic and saute a minute. 
3. Add rice and toast until turning brown.
4. Add water/broth and tomato. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
5. Stir in tomato sauce and season with chili powder, salt and cumin.
6. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and serve.

Actually you should do the tomato sauce to suit you. I think I'll go a little easier on the sauce next time, as it was a little too tomato-ey for me. Otherwise it was a nice little dish.

RECIPE: Heather's Breakfast Burrito

I made the best breakfast burrito yesterday, and it was so easy to make! Here's what I did:

Breakfast Burrito
Makes 2 small burritos

1 tbs butter
1/4 cup onion, chopped small
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, chopped small
1/8 cup tomato, chopped small
2 eggs
Almond milk
Salt and Pepper
Cheese
2 flour tortillas

1. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Saute onion until it begins to caramelize.
2. Add in pepper and tomato and saute a couple of minutes until heated through.
3. Meanwhile combine eggs and a little milk (I use almond milk) in a small bowl and beat to combine well. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add eggs to veggies. Scramble eggs until done. Top with cheese to melt. (I used a Swiss slice this time, torn into pieces).
5. Remove egg mixture from pan (reserve in a small bowl), and warm tortillas in saute pan. Assemble egg mixture in tortilla and roll up to serve.

RECIPE: Mushroom Soup

This is an old favorite of mine. I got this recipe out of a book of Native American cooking. They say that it makes 6-8 servings, but I would say that would only be possible if they were small side servings to an entree. I'd say this will make more like four decent-sized servings.

Mushroom Soup
serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 medium shallot, minced
1 lb button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup flour
4 cups beef broth (I now use vegetable broth)
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp dried marjoram
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1.  In 3-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium-heat. Add shallot and cook until transparent.

 2.  Raise heat and add mushrooms. Allow shrooms to render slightly.

3.  Reduce the heat and stir in flour. Cook for about 2 minutes, and gradually pour in broth, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming.

4.  Remove from heat and gradually stir in sour cream. Season.

Always easy and delicious! I serve it with garlic toast, and maybe a side salad.

NOTE: You can add rice before the sour cream, if desired. Add a box of wild rice (without the seasoning packet). Increase the broth by 1 - 1 1/2 cups. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer 20 minutes. Then go to step 4 above.

RECIPE: Fish Tacos with White Sauce

I decided to try my hand at homemade fish tacos. I bought a book the other day called Power Foods, and it had a good recipe in it that I felt was a good candidate.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9265477-power-foods

However I wanted my fish tacos with a sauce. So I did a little research and found another recipe that had a white sauce that people raved about. So I adapted the white sauce from one recipe to go with my fish tacos from another recipe.

Grilled Fish Tacos
adapted from Power Foods
(original recipe was for a dozen tacos. This recipe makes about 4 tacos.)

Ingredients:

1/3 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chili powder
Coarse salt
4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 tsp finely chopped cilantro
Red snapper fillet
1 cup shredded green cabbage
4 corn tortillas
Lime wedges, avocado, sour cream, hot sauce, tomatoes, or any other fillings desired

Directions:

• Stir together cumin, oregano, chili powder, and 3/4 tsp coarse salt. Mix in olive oil and cilantro.

 

• Use sharp knife to make shallow slits about 1 1/2 inches apart into the fish skin; transfer to a large dish and rub both sides with spice mixture (I put it in a ziploc bag instead). Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

 

• Toss together cabbage and 1/2 tsp salt in a small bowl. Let sit 30 minutes.

 

• The recipe called for grilling the fish (on an outside grill), but I just cooked it in a saute pan. Saute about 4-5 minutes on each side.

 

• Transfer fish to a platter and cool slightly. Squeeze half of a lime over the top, and then shred into bite-size pieces. Garnish platter with lime wedges and cilantro sprigs. Serve warm or at room temperature (within 1 hour).

 

• Heat tortillas one at a time in saute pan.
• Have guests assemble their own tacos with white sauce (below) and other desired fillings like tomato, cabbage and avocado.

 

White sauce:

1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup mayo
Lime juice
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dill
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne

Mix together. Put in enough lime juice to thin to a sauce consistency, and do to taste.Can include some minced jalapeno. This makes substantially more sauce than needed for 4 tacos.


I made four tacos, and even though they are small, it was too much. I made these again tonight, but this time I only made two tacos, so I can have two more tomorrow night.

Very good! Tangy from the lime juice and cilantro, a little mild heat (more heat if you decide to add jalapeno to the white sauce), juicy, tender fish. Very tasty! I obviously loved them, since I made them again for dinner tonight!

RECIPE: Shrimp Santorini

I recently had dinner at a local Greek restaurant, and they have this dish on the menu. I decided to give it a try, and it had great potential, but I was essentially unimpressed. It was like they took big chunks of peppers and onions and mixed them in with some spaghetti sauce and shrimp. I decided that I could find a way to make it better.

I checked online for some recipes, and I found a video made by executive chef Milos Estiatorio of Boca Raton showing how he makes this dish. I decided to give it a go. He didn't really give amounts, so I had to sort of wing it.

Shrimp Santorini
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 red pepper, chopped small
1 green pepper, chopped small
1 onion, chopped small
Olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
2 scallions, sliced (about 2 tbs)
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 basil leaf, minced
Few sprigs of parsley, minced
3 medium tomatoes, chopped and mashed
1/2 tsp fresh oregano, minced
1/2 cp white wine
1-2 handfuls of crumbled feta


Directions:

Clean, devein, de-shell shrimp and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Saute onion and peppers in oil for a few minutes.

Add garlic and scallions, rosemary and basil.

Cook for a few minutes, then add parsley.

Chop the tomatoes and mash them with a potato masher to make them "juicy".

Add the tomatoes to the mixture, and season with salt and pepper and oregano. At this point, you have a sort of sofrito.

Add the shrimp and the white wine. Let it reduce some.

Stir in the feta.


That's it! Ready to serve!

Well, my Shrimp Santorini turned out better than the dish I ate at the authentic Greek restaurant in town! It is quite tasty. Just serve over rice, and maybe add a small salad, and you're good to go!

RECIPE: Penne with Tomato Sauce, Arugula and Parmesan

This was a great dish that I made the other night, and it will definitely make a repeat in my kitchen.

Penne with Tomato Sauce, Arugula and Parmesan
Bobby Flay (Serves 4)

1/2 pound of penne
Salt
(reserve pasta water)
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz can of diced tomatoes
Sugar, if desired
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Couple of handfuls of baby arugula
Fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Bring water for pasta to boil in a large pot and salt water. Stir in pasta, cover and bring to boil. Cook until just slightly under al dente (about 8 minutes), since it will finish cooking in the sauce. Remove 1/2 cup of the pasta water and reserve. Drain the pasta well. Set aside.

To make tomato sauce, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large high-sided pan. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Add the tomatoes and half of the reserved water and bring to a simmer, cook for 15 minutes and then gently crush the tomatoes with a potato masher until slightly smooth. Taste for seasoning and add sugar if needed. Add the red pepper flakes and continue cooking until thickened, about 25-30 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Add the drained pasta to the sauce and toss to coat evenly. Stir in some of the reserved pasta water if needed, and 1/2 of the cheese.

Toss in a couple handfuls of the arugula (about 2 ounces) and herbs. 

Serve with garlic bread and sprinkle with extra parmesan. This was very good, and good for you! It's even better the next day!

RECIPE: Creamy Sweet Potato and Rosemary Soup

I think I saw this recipe on the Today show. I jotted it down and halved it for myself tonight. This half recipe makes about 2 full bowls, or 4 small side-dish servings. Sweet and flavorful, it's almost like having dessert for dinner!

Creamy Sweet Potato and Rosemary Soup
Giada de Laurentis (serves 2)

1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1 1/2 tbs unsalted butter
2 shallots, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 stem of rosemary
3 cups of vegetable broth
1/4 cup marscapone cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 tbs maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Heat oil and butter in large soup pot
• Add shallots and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until soft.

 

• Add sweet potatoes, rosemary stem and broth. (The recipe called for chicken broth, but I'm pescatarian and only use vegetable broth.) Season with salt and pepper.

• Bring to boil, then reduce heat and bring to a simmer. Cook 20-25 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
• Once cooked through, remove rosemary from soup. Either use immersion blender to process until smooth, or ladle soup into blender and process in batches until thick and smooth. Return to pot.

 

• Whisk in marscapone cheese and maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

 

• Keep warm until ready to serve.

Yum! As long as you like rosemary, this is a keeper! A nice light full dinner all on its own, or a small serving as a side to some grilled meat or fish. (The sweetness of the soup would probably pair well with pork.)

RECIPES: Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving, Zook and I went over to my Mom's house. As usual, I spent all morning cooking in preparation for it. Not eating meat, I'm always especially concerned that there won't be enough for me to eat. So I make a lot of side dishes. This year I took as my main course Quinoa Stuffed Portobello, along with Radicchio Apple Salad, Sweet-Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash, Green Beans with Mushroom Sauce, and Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Maple Pecan Sauce for my sides. I also made Pumpkin Bread Pudding.

Quinoa Stuffed Portobello with Pine Nuts and Raisins
from glutenfreegoddess.com

Ingredients:

1 large Portobello mushroom per person
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

For the stuffing:

Chopped fresh garlic, to taste
About 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa per mushroom cap
A handful of yellow and red grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered depending upon size
1 scallion (spring onion) per person, sliced
A sprinkle of raisins
A sprinkle of toasted pine nuts
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
Fresh chopped parsley, basil or mint

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly oil the bottom of a baking or gratin dish.

Gently clean off the mushroom caps; slice off the stems and using a sharp teaspoon carefully scrape out the gills. Place the caps in the baking dish. Drizzle with a scant amount of olive oil and a touch of balsamic vinegar. Season with a little sea salt and pepper.

Pre-bake the mushrooms for about 15 minutes to soften a bit.

In a skillet, heat a little olive oil and toss in the garlic. Stir for a minute. Add in the cooked quinoa, tomatoes, scallions, raisins, pine nuts. Season to taste with sea salt and ground pepper. Stir to combine. Moisten with more olive oil, as needed. Gently heat through, briefly. Remove from heat. Add in the fresh chopped herbs.

Stuff each mushroom cap. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, till the mushroom cap is tender. Tent with foil to keep it moist.

You can also assemble these ahead of time, and refrigerate. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes or more, as needed.

Cook time: 1 hour

Yield: Serves 1 per person

My thoughts: I didn't realize until writing this post that I goofed this one up (that's what happens when you've got so much going on Thanksgiving morning!) I didn't cook the filling in a skillet, but simply mixed it up in a bowl. Perhaps that would have made a big difference. As it was, the mushroom was "okay". When I tasted the filling on it's own earlier in the day, I liked it. It was after stuffing it that I wasn't impressed. I think I would like the filling on it's own with a little fets, like a Mediterranean salad.



Radicchio-Apple Salad
from Makobi Scribe

Ingredients:

    1/2 cup buttermilk
    1/3 Waldens mayonnaise
    4 ounces crumbled feta
    1/4 finely chopped red onion
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/8 teaspoon pepper
    8 cups of sliced radicchio (1 large head)
    3 Granny Smith apples,cored and thinly sliced
    1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

Combine the buttermilk and mayonnaise until smooth
Add the spices
Toss together radicchio, feta, apples, and lemon juice.
Toss the dressing with the radicchio mixture
Chill and serve.

My Thoughts: This was pretty good. Not fabulous, but a nice change of pace. If it doesn't sit too long, it can add some nice crunch to your meal. But you are likely to let it sit for awhile, and it softens up.


Sweet-Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash Wedges
from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

2 whole Acorn Squash, Cut Into 8 Wedges Each
4 dashes Olive Oil
Salt To Taste
1 stick Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar (lightly Packed)
2 Tablespoons Rosemary (minced)

Preparation Instructions

Place wedges in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt, then roast in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes.

Combine butter, brown sugar, salt, and rosemary in a bowl and mix into a paste.

Remove squash from oven and smear paste all over squash. Return to the oven for 30 minutes, until brown and caramelized.

Halfway through roasting, your paste will have become a sauce. Brush sauce over the top of the squash and then continue roasting until time is complete.

Serve in the baking dish, drizzling more sauce at the end. Yummy!

My Thoughts: I only did one squash. This was okay. The butter-sugar paste melted off, so it didn't caramelize on the wedges as I had hoped. And the rosemary flavor was a little strong. But it wasn't bad.


Green Beans in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce
adapted from Closet Cooking

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
salt and pepper to taste
1 handful parsley, chopped
1 pound green beans, trimmed

Directions

The recipe called for steaming the green beans, but I began by blanching my green beans first. Bring water to a boil, and then toss in the beans and cook for about 5 mins. I then drained the beans, put them in a foil pan, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 4-6 minutes.

Add the garlic and thyme (I used dried thyme), and saute until fragrant, about a minute or two.
Add the mushrooms and saute until the start to caramelized and turn golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. (The recipe called for cremini and dried porcini mushrooms, but I chose to keep it simple.)

Add the cream and parmigiano reggiano, season with salt and pepper and simmer until it thickens, about 2-4 minutes. (The recipe called for you to add the rehydrated porcini along with the water they had soaked in, which would have possibly made the sauce a little thinner and more diluted. I didn't do that. Solid cream and parmesan.)

Remove the mushrooms from the heat and mix in the parsley. (I just sprinkled some parsley on top of the beans and sauce as it was served, to dress it up and give it some color.)

Serve the green beans covered in the mushroom sauce.

My Thoughts: Oh, this was so good! This is a definite keeper! High in fat and calories, so I wouldn't do it often, but it definitely adds a lot of flavor to an otherwise simple dish. I think I will use the leftover mushroom sauce to serve over a grilled portobello mushroom, like a steak and shroom sauce!


Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Maple-Pecan Sauce
from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

2/3 cup roughly chopped pecans
4 sweet potatoes, cut into large dices
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Heat oven to 450 degrees F and arrange rack in the middle.

While oven heats, place pecans on a baking sheet to toast until they smell nutty and are slightly darker, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and toss to coat. Roast until golden brown and tender when pierced with a knife, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it foams, stir in maple syrup and cayenne and let cook briefly, about 1 minute. Serve sweet potatoes with a drizzle of maple butter and a scattering of pecans.

My Thoughts: Very good! I made some changes that I think degraded the quality of the dish, and it was still very good! Next time I will try it strictly by-the-book, and see how much better it is!

So this wound up being my vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner (with the addition of the AuGratin Potatoes my mother made)...

Lucky me!

Then we finished off later with coffee and Pumpkin Bread Pudding.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding
from Southern Food on About.com

Ingredients:

8 ounces French bread, torn into small pieces, about 5 cups (I used Challah egg bread)
2 cups half-and-half, or half milk and half cream
3 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 cup dried cranberries (or you can use raisins or chopped pecans)
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
cinnamon sugar, optional

Preparation:

Butter an 11x7-inch baking dish. Heat oven to 350°.

In a bowl, cover the torn bread with the half-and-half; set aside.

In another bowl, combine eggs, sugars, pumpkin, cranberries, melted butter, spices, and vanilla; blend well. Pour pumpkin mixture over soaked bread and stir to blend.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with cinnamon-sugar, if desired. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until set.

Serve with a vanilla dessert sauce or brown sugar sauce, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.
Serves 8.

My Thoughts: Very good! I will definitely do this one again, but next time I may try pecans rather than cranberries. I used Challah bread rather than french bread, as I had just recently watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen where they tried to create the best bread pudding, and they found that bread gave them the best texture. I have to agree. It was almost custard-like. Serve it warm with whipped cream or a la mode. Delicious!

The day was enjoyable, and even my boy Zook got a little taste of some of the dishes (he even got a bite of Mom's turkey breast, which is very special, since he is normally a pescatarian like me and doesn't eat meat).

It was a good day, and I discovered some great new recipes to add to the recipe box. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!