While in Kansas, it seemed like every time we turned around someone was trying to feed us. No light food either, there was nary a salad in sight. In one day we had a cheesy potato breakfast casserole with bacon, ribs with potato salad and beans for lunch, and supreme pizza for dinner (then beer, lots of beer). Now I'm not saying it wasn't good (the ribs were some of the best I've had) there was just so darn much of it.

Since I've been home I've been craving really light food (and spicy Asian-style food, but that's another story). Today I decided to make myself a light, but indulgent lunch. And, I decided my tomato was finally ready.

Here's the ingredients (for one person):

A couple handfuls of campanelle pasta (I decided on this shape because I thought it would hold the diced tomatoes nicely)
1 Roma tomato
several leaves of basil (these are from my garden, too)
1 clove of garlic, mashed to a paste
olive oil (the good stuff)
a bit of really good Parmigiano-Regianno cheese

I started by cooking the pasta in well-salted water. While this cooked, I diced the tomato (into 1/4" dice), julienned the basil and mashed the garlic. If you've never done this, here's how.

Start by chopping the garlic.

Sprinkle it with kosher salt.

With the knife almost parallel to the cutting board, mash the salt and garlic together.

Keep going until you get a paste.

Once the pasta was cooked through, I drained it, returned it to the pan and added the garlic paste right away (just to take the edge off of it). I added a generous drizzle of olive oil, the diced tomatoes and the basil. The heat of the pasta warmed the tomato and made a nice light sauce. I topped the dish with a bit of cheese and a sprinkle of sea salt.

So good, and exactly what I had been craving. Light and summery and so flavorful. It was so exciting to take my first harvest from my garden and turn it into something so delicious.

Labels: garden, pasta, summer, vegetarian

Last night I had my first Triathlon training session in the pool. I knew that I was going to need to eat before I swam, but I wanted something light and quick to make. Soup and salad fit the bill perfectly.

Earlier in the day I had been doing a bit of research about the green garlic in my box (because I had never used it before and I wasn't sure what to expect). Most resources said you could use it just as you would use garlic, but to expect a milder flavor. I wanted to really highlight the flavor of the green garlic so I kept my soup very simple, just five ingredients (I'm not counting olive oil and salt and pepper).

Here they are:

2 shallots (mince about a tablespoon for the salad, chop the rest)
3 bulbs green garlic, divided
a large bunch asparagus, stems trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
about 2 cups chicken broth
a couple tablespoons of cream

I minced a half bulb of green garlic (about 2 teaspoons) then set it aside. Then I chopped the remaining green garlic (bulbs and the light green part of the stems) along with the shallots (you don't have to take a lot of time chopping this nice because it's all going to get pureed at the end anyway). I sat a large saucepan over medium heat and heated up a little olive oil. When it was warm I added my chopped shallots, green garlic and a good pinch of kosher salt.

I let this sweat (saute without browning) for a while until the shallot was translucent. I added my asparagus and enough broth to just cover. Then I let this simmer for about 15 minutes.

While the soup was cooking I started on my salad. Here's the ingredients:

1 Tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon olive oil
a big pinch of sugar
salt and fresh ground pepper
a handful of salad greens
a few radishes, sliced thin
a few carrots, sliced thin on the bias
a couple of sunchokes, peeled and sliced thin (these aren't in the picture because they were a last minute crisper drawer find)

In a bowl I whisked together the shallot, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. While continuing to whisk, I drizzled in the olive oil to create an emulsion. At this point I tasted the dressing and decided to add the sugar. To the bowl I added my greens and sliced veggies and then tossed everything together.

At this point my soup had been simmering away and the asparagus was nice and tender. I added a splash of cream and then used my stick blender to puree the soup. A blender would have made this a much smoother puree, but I happen to like a little bit of texture in my blended soups, plus the stick blender is easier to use and clean.

I seasoned the soup with salt and pepper then topped the soup with a drizzle of olive oil and some of the minced fresh green garlic. I served the soup and salad with a piece of Parmesan-topped toast.

How was it? Well I am now a true believer in the power of green garlic. It is my mission to search this stuff out and use it every spring (the only time it is available). I make asparagus soup a lot (my clients love the stuff) and this just added a really nice flavor to the mix. The salad was also delightful (I'm really happy I found the sunchokes, they are so good in salad). The husband really liked everything too, which is a little surprising because he is not a fan of salads (unless they have lots of ranch dressing).

Dinner was so easy to make, we finished in plenty of time so that everything could settle before my swim (Mom always said to wait an hour after eating before getting in the water). So I guess I accomplished my mission of light and quick to make (with the nice addition of tastiness)

Labels: asparagus, salad, soup, spring, vegetarian

Last week my local QFC had two pounds or grape tomatoes for only $3.99. What a deal. And as I like to say, when life gives you tomatoes make tomato confit.

So, yesterday I did just that. I use the method from the Tom Douglas cookbook Tom's Big Dinners, but I switched the herbs around a bit to use what I had on hand.

I put all the tomatoes I had left (I had to eat a few) on a baking sheet (I used a small one so that I could roast in my toaster oven) added a few cloves of garlic and a bunch of fresh oregano. I topped this off with olive oil (not the really good stuff, just the kinda good stuff) plus a generous helping of salt and fresh ground black pepper.

I roasted this at 225 degrees for 3 hours, then let it cool before stashing it in the fridge (it is sooo much better the next day).

Now, tomato confit is one of my favorite things on the planet. It smells so good while it is cooking and can be used for so many things, as a condiment for meat or poultry (maybe even fish but I haven't tried it) as a bruschetta topping, or, as I am going to use it, as part of a pasta dish.

I took a look in my very full crisper drawer and found a lot of vegetables that I would usually like to roast. The problem with that is, it's almost 80 degrees out, so grilling seems like a much better idea. Luckily I remembered one of my favorite cooking tools, my grill saute basket. With it I'm able to take produce that is too small to grill (broccoli, for example) put it in the basket and get the high heat cooking of roasting with the ease of sauteing.

Here's the ingredients for the veggies:

broccoli
carrots
sugar snap peas
asparagus
sweet onion
3 clove garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper

You'll notice that I didn't really put any amounts, that is because I used what I had, and other veggies would work here too (cauliflower, zucchini, bell peppers, etc.).

I chopped the broccoli, carrots and asparagus into bite-sized pieces, julienned the onion and chopped the garlic. In a large bowl, I combined these with the snap peas, olive oil and salt and pepper.

I put all this into my grill basket and put it on the grill.

I tossed the veggies every few minutes (for about a half hour) until they were crisp tender and char-cooked.

For the pasta:

1/2 pound spaghetti
1 Tablespoon olive oil from the tomato confit
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1/2 cup ricotta cheese

I added the pasta to boiling water and coked it until it was al dente. I drained it, reserving some of the pasta water.

To the now empty pasta pan I added the olive oil and anchovy paste, then stirred in the ricotta cheese and the pasta, adding enough reserved pasta water to loosen it up (make it saucy).

To finish:

1 cup tomato confit
2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
really good Parmesan

I doused the tomatoes with the vinegar and then heated it for one minute in the microwave. Then I stirred in the parsley.

In my bowl I placed my finished pasta, then layered on my grilled veggies, and topped it with the tomato confit and a dusting of Parmesan.

How was it? Well, the tomato confit smelled insanely good while it was cooking, then the grilled veggies smelled insanely good while they were cooking, so I had very high hopes, and I was not disappointed. Each part of this dish was sooo good on it's own, but together, wow. I loved this so much, light, but filling and just good.

The husband, though, well, I have to discount his opinion a bit since he doesn't really like broccoli, asparagus or tomatoes. So while he ate it, he certainly didn't enjoy it as much as me. But it doesn't look like he cares.

As an aside, while I was making my tomato confit, I was also making strawberry sauce and strawberry-rhubarb jam. I have more of this than I know what to do with, so if you would like either one, the first five people that let me know their preference shall receive it.

Labels: grill, pasta, vegetarian

Tonight I took a look in the crisper drawer and came up with bok choy. Bok choy led me to think of Asian food. Thoughts of Asian food led to peanut sauce. And so on...

Here's the ingredients:

5 cloves garlic
3/4 cup peanut butter
4 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoon sriracha (or more, or less)
4 Tablespoon hot water (not pictured)

2 blocks of ramen noodles, without the nasty seasoning packets (don't judge, they're cheap, they cook in three minutes and they're tasty)
1 cup frozen peas
4 small carrots, diced
1 bunch baby bok choy (about half of them chopped)

1/4 cup peanuts, chopped (also not pictured, a last minute addition)

I started by putting some water on to boil. In the meantime I got out the food processor and whirred together all of the peanut sauce ingredients (the first 8 listed, garlic through hot water). You could add more or less water, depending on how thick you want the sauce to be.

One the water was boiling I tossed in the ramen noodles, peas and carrots, then added a steam pan above the water with the bok choy. I let the noodles boil and the ramen steam for three minutes. I drained the noodles then tossed the chopped bok choy, noodles, carrots and peas together with about 3/4 of the peanut sauce. I put this into my serving dish, added the whole bok choy and then put the remaining sauce and the chopped peanuts on top.

This was super easy (it took less than a half hour to cook) and really tasty. The husband even said "this is really tasty" without even being prompted for comments. I would make this again in a heartbeat. I think it would be good with some chicken or shrimp in it too, but sometimes it's good to go vegetarian.

Labels: Asian, greens, vegetarian

I was kind of tired tonight, and my sprained ankle is still bothering me, so I was looking for a lazy meal. Whenever I'm feeling lazy I turn to soup.

Soup is also a great way to empty out the crisper.

Here is what I found in the crisper (and the pantry).

1/2 leek, chopped
8 tiny yellow and orange carrots, peeled and chopped
4 really tiny russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cup chicken broth (veggie broth could be used)
2 cup water
1 cup french green lentils, rinsed
1 bunch of chard, leaves and stems chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
2 tablespoon sumac
1 lemon zested and juiced
2 tablespoon parsley, minced
1/2 cup sour cream

In a large pot I combined my leek, carrots, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, broth, water, lentils and the chard stems. As this simmered I added the juice of half a lemon, the sumac and some salt and pepper. I let this simmer for about 40 minutes then added the zucchini and chard leaves. I let this simmer about 10 minutes longer.

While the soup was cooking, I combined the lemon zest and minced parsley with a bit of salt and pepper. I combined half of this mixture with the sour cream and then set them both aside.

I tested the soup for seasoning and decided to add the juice from the other half of the lemon and a bit more salt. To serve, I ladled my soup into a bowl and topped it with a dollop of the sour cream mixture and a sprinkle of the lemon zest-parsley mixture and sumac. I served the soup with a slice of toasty sourdough bread that I had sprinkled with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper.

While his was very tasty I think I may have liked it better without the potatoes, however the husband strongly disagreed. The soup was good on it's own (very fresh tasting with the lemon), but the addition of the sour cream made it wonderful. The toasty bread was a very yummy accompaniment (way better than crackers).

Labels: beans, soup, vegetarian

I had no ideas for dinner last night, none at all. I took a look at what was left in the crisper drawer and was not inspired at all. Luckily I happened to peruse one of my favorite Web sites, Serious Eats where I found my inspiration, a link to an article titled "What to do with Leftover Bread". Without even reading the article I had my inspiration.

Bread pudding is a versatile dish that can be made sweet or savory and with just about ant ingredients you like.

Here's what I used

10 or so slices of stale sourdough bread, cubed
1 zucchini, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 leek, chopped
1 handful arugula, chopped
4ish ounces Parmesan cheese, divided
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
2 Tablespoons pesto (not pictured because I added it at the last minute)

Once I chopped all my ingredients I tossed together my bread, zucchini, red bell pepper, leek, arugula and half of the Parmesan as well as some salt and pepper and a few red pepper flakes.

I put all this into an 8" x 8" dish that I had sprayed with cooking spray.

Next I combined my eggs, milk and ricotta cheese. While I was working I kept thinking that the dish could use some herbage. I thought about tarragon or thyme (because that is what I happened to have) but realized that what I really wanted was basil. So, I busted out a couple of cubes of my homemade pesto out of the freezer, thawed them in the microwave and added it to the egg mixture (along with a touch of salt and pepper). I then poured the egg mixture over the bread mixture.

The great thing about bread pudding is that it needs to sit for awhile (it's often better if it sits overnight) so if you want to make something for, say, breakfast, you can prep it the day ahead and then just pop it in the oven in the morning. However, since I decided to make this at about 2 p.m. I needed to speed up the bread/egg soaking process so I covered the pan with cling wrap and weighted it with my grill pan to make sure all the bread stayed submerged.

I popped this in the fridge for about 2 hours. When I started getting hungry, I heated up my oven to 350 degrees and I took the dish out of the fridge. Once the oven was warm I put my dish in, uncovered, to bake for an hour adding my remaining Parmesan at the 30 minute mark.

While the bread pudding cooked I threw together a little salad with a few things I had on hand. I combined a clementine, a few cherry tomatoes and a bit of fresh thyme and tossed them with a touch of olive oil and a splash of Spanish Golden Vinegar (apple cider vinegar that I infused with basil, thyme, chives, oregano, garlic and hot peppers).

The bread pudding came out nicely crisp on the top and was filling and delicious, especially on a cold, snowy night (by the way, it's March and I am done with snow, enough already). The pesto was a very welcome addition so I'm glad it occurred to me to add it to the dish. The Orange-Tomato Salad had a nice tang that contrasted well with the richness of the bread pudding. The husband also liked it very much, even helping himself to seconds (a surprising outcome knowing his feelings about both zucchini and arugula).

This is a dish that can be made in hundreds of different combinations with whatever veggies, cheeses and meats you happen to have on hand. If you come up with a great combination pass it along, I always like to have new ideas.

Labels: bread, eggs, vegetarian, winter