Oh, Zucchini.

I'm sorry to have been such a delinquent hostess around these parts... I was on a lovely vacation, which has been followed by what can only be described as a data analysis frenzy. As a result of said frenzy, by the time I finish for the day the last thing I want to do is look at my laptop, I'd rather do more important things like pander to Charlotte's whims and watch the first season of Game of Thrones. You know, the important stuff.

At any rate, boy do I have a lot of backlogged recipes for you! To get through them, I might get a bit thematic... so today's post is brought to you by our old summertime friend, zucchini.

Zucchini #1
First, I'm going to tell you how to make the best grilled zucchini ever. You might be thinking "meh, I know how to grill zucchini" and planning to skim right past. But, do you really want to be making sub-par grilled zucchini for the rest of your life? Do you? I didn't think so. Fortunately, it's super easy, and only has 1 secret ingredient.

Here's what you do... take your zucchini and slice into appropriate sized pieces- small enough to cook through, big enough not to fall through the grill slats. Coat with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and... tumeric! It's the tumeric that does it. Much like when I used it in eggs, it doesn't give an aggressive flavor, but rather just adds another subtle level of taste that really really makes it delicious. Try it!

Zucchini #2
This recipe was borne of a need to put something together fast out of the things in my kitchen, but was actually delicious. It was inspired by this Egyptian style spicy couscous recipe, but here is my version.

The Stuff:
1c couscous
2c water
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1/3-1/2c carrots, grated
1/2 tsp corriander
3/4 tsp cumin
pinch cayenne
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/8c water
1 can drained and rinsed garbanzo beans

What to do with it:
Prepare couscous as usual (either according to package directions, or just boil the water, pour in the couscous, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit).

Heat oil, sautee onions, zucchini, and carrots until soft; add garlic, cayenne, cumin and corriander. Stir in beans, and add the extra water so the mixture is moist. Mix in with couscous, and there you go!

This was so simple, really flavorful, came together quick and reheated really well for lunch- what else can you ask for? Plus it's vegan, if you're into that kind of thing. Well worth a try!

Public Service Announcement: Puffed Brown Rice

In case you are ever wondering, putting brown rice in your air-pop popcorn maker (circa 1985) will not, in fact, result in homemade puffed rice. It will, however, result in a hurricane of hard dry rice flinging itself into every nook and cranny of your kitchen and into your face.

I'm just glad I didn't start this experiment with the quinoa, which was going to be Phase 2.

Barbecue Popcorn- A revelation.

I have recently confessed my love of all shapes and sizes of cheap gummy candy. As long as I'm confessing my terrible food loves, I might as well tell you the next one... barbecue potato chips. I can't even buy these things, and I can barely even be in the same room with them. I loooooove them. Unfortunately, eating vats of potato chips does not fall in line with my attempts to eat healthy, whole foods.

However, today I made an amazing discovery. Behold... barbecue popcorn:

It turns out, a very simple spice mix, sprinkled on popcorn (with a bit of the healthy oil of your choice or butter to get it to stick), actually does a decent job of mimicking the bbq flavor, with way WAY less calories and fat than there are in a bag of chips. This is barely a recipe, but I thought it was pretty yummy and definitely worth sharing:

The stuff:
1 regular size bag microwave popcorn (OR an equivalent amount of normal plain popped popcorn).
1 tsp paprika (I used half regular, half smoked paprika)
.5 tsp brown sugar, packed
.5 tsp salt (reduce this by half if you're using microwave popcorn, because that stuff is already pretty salty)

What to do with it:
Pop the popcorn (duh). Mix together the spices thoroughly. Put a bit of oil (I used an oil mister) on the popcorn and stir/shake, then sprinkle on the entire batch of spice mix, tossing the popcorn as you go.


That is it! This will probably be my go-to snack in the face of a barbecue potato chip craving, and makes a fun twist on popcorn (which, by the way, is a very budget friendly snack if you buy it and pop it yourself) that you could easily serve to a group of people for a football game (or, more likely around here) an Oscars viewing event (my particular Oscars viewing event is all planned out, we are intending to focus 99% of our attention on awesome dresses and on George Clooney in a tux, because George in a tux is timeless. And maybe a little bit on Mark Ruffalo in a tux, just because he's adorable. The point is, we have our priorities in line). Anyways, whenever you eat it... enjoy!

Roasted Cauliflower, Bulgar and Toasted Walnuts with Pumpkin Sauce

This recipe is perfect for a crisp fall evening- its light, but it is also very satisfying. It was borne out of the list of things that existed in my kitchen, but turned out surprisingly well. It's close to being vegan, but doesn't quite make it although I'm sure where there's a will, there's a way.

What you need:
1c bulgur wheat
half a head of cauliflower
1 cup mashed pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix!!!)
1/2 large onion, diced
3/4 c broth (chicken or veggie)
3/4 c milk (I used plain almond milk)
1/4c parmesan cheese
2 tsp ground sage (or, fresh if you have it)
3 cloves garlic
1/4c fat free greek yogurt
walnuts
olive oil

What to do with it:
Cauliflower- cut into florets, toss in a little olive oil, roast in 400 degree oven, stirring a few times, until nice and brown

Bulgur - this is very easy to cook. You can actually just boil water, pour 1 c bulgur into a bowl, pour 2.25c water on it, cover,  and let it sit while you do everything else. Stir once while it sits.

Walnuts- for me, toasted walnuts are like crack. Seriously, I don't even like plain walnuts but when you toast them they turn into something amazing and decadent, and they added a really critically delicious crunch that you don't want to miss. So, toast the walnuts. I did this under the broiler, which resulted in an initial batch of blackened burnt nuts. The second ones... delicious!

Pumpkin sauce- this is based on a very delicious recipe that I found out in the Washington Post.  Saute the onions and garlic in a bit of the olive oil until soft and brown. Add sage and cook a few more minutes. Add the broth, the pumpkin, and the milk, and cook for about 10 minutes, letting it thicken a bit. When your cauliflower, walnuts and bulgur are ready, remove the sauce from the heat, and stir in the cheese. Then, at the last minute stir in the yogurt (the sauce shouldn't be boiling when you do this). You could do this without the cheese and yogurt to make it vegan, but I can't make any promises about the cheesy goodness in that scenario.

Assembly... basically, serve some bulgur, top with cauliflower, add sauce, and then the walnuts! I had my doubts about whether the sauce would be overly pumpkin-y, but it actually was amazing, and I plan to make it again. It would also be delicious on pasta. Enjoy!



(FYI, this post refers to a dinner prior to receiving my glorious CSA box, so despite all my hype about using that for the next 2 weeks, none of this was in there).

Cherry Walnut Spinach with Israeli Couscous

This is an interesting dish, it could be a side dish, or you could serve it over rice or pasta. I chose Israeli Couscous. If you haven't had this, #1 it means that you haven't had my Rosemary Couscous Chickpea Salad, and I'm going to tell you right now that means you are missing out. It is very different than regular couscous (which I also love)- its more like little balls, and has a really fun unique texture.

 What you need...
.25 cup dried cherries
.25 cup chopped walnuts
.5 onion
about 3 garlic cloves, chopped
10oz fresh spinach (baby, probably is best)
olive oil
a splash of chicken/veggie broth, white wine, or more oil
.5 -2/3 cup dry couscous
2oz soft cheese (goat cheese, feta would be best)

What to do with it...
First, start the couscous. Heat up a few teaspoons of oil in a sauce pan and lightly toast the couscous. I made .5 cup for a light dinner that served 2, if you're hungrier, make more. Once its getting brown, put in twice as much water as you had put in couscous, cover, and lightly simmer.

Now, start with the topping. First, heat a few teaspoons of onion and brown the garlic and the onion. Once the onion is about halfway done (so, sort of getting soft, but not brown), toss in the walnuts and the cherries. The walnuts will toast a bit, and the cherries soften and plump up. I put my cherries in right when I put in the onions, and I think they were a bit overcooked.

Now, dump in about half a cup of broth, and let it cook for a minute to get hot and start steaming, then throw in the spinach. If you're making this as a side dish for a bunch of people, put in more- there enough of the onion/cherry/walnut mixture that you could probably have almost twice as much spinach if you wanted. I never cease to be amazed at how much spinach shrinks up.

Once its all cooked toss in the crumbled cheese. Now, I had on my hands some super delicious soft cheese from the kind of friends who come and stay and leave the fridge stocked with multiple super delicious cheeses. Now, the thing is, I think that was a mistake. The original recipe called for goat cheese, and I think they were right- because, my cheese kind of melted away.

This was unique and tasty. I think mine would have been tastier with different cheese and less cooked cherries, but I will definitely be trying it again!



*note- this recipe would be veeeeery easy to make vegetarian (use veggie broth not chicken broth) or vegan (skip the cheese). you could even add small piece of firm tofu to add some protein.

Grilled Rosemary Chicken with Lemon Almond Bulgur

Well, the cooking around these parts has been a little sparse. I'm working on a grant deadline, which basically means that I'm doing things like cooking mass quantities of chicken and bulgur and then proceeding to eat it for every meal. Fortunately for you, this was some freaking delicious chicken.

Chicken:
-1 ziplock baggie (I swear, this makes a difference)
-juice of 1 lemon (REAL lemon juice, people)
-a few sprigs fresh rosemary (I suppose dry would do, but fresh is exponentially better)
-boneless skinless chicken breasts (despite living alone, I used 4, because of the aforementioned plan to live on it)
-salt, pepper
-garlic (a few cloves, or if you're lazy like me and use the stuff in a jar, a teaspoon)

Bulgur
-1.5 cups dry bulgar
-2.5 cups water
-diced onion (2-3 tablespoons)
-garlic (a few cloves, or 2 tsp)
-red pepper flakes to taste
-chopped toasted almonds (I toasted mine in a dry skillet)
-just enough olive oil to saute the onions
-lemon zest (from the lemon you used for the chicken)- 2 tablespoons
-a squeeze of lemon juice if you have more

Basically, the chicken is the easiest thing ever- I dumped everything in the list in the ziplock baggie, pushed the air out of the bag, and stuck it in the fridge for 3-4 hours. The reason I swear by the baggie is that I think that it keeps the marinade closer to the meat. Also, periodically I go and squish around the meet to rearrange it. When I was ready, I popped it on the grill, and voila! I also tossed some zucchini and onions on the grill as long as it was on, as you can see- really, these could be any veggies you like.

The bulgur is also easy, I love bulgur because it tastes good and has a cous-cous like feel, but is more nutritious. Plus, it cooks incredibly quickly which is always a plus. Basically, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until a little brown, then pour in the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off heat and dump in the bulgur. After 5 minutes, stir in zest and almonds, and make sure that there is still a bit of water to absorb. Let sit 5-10 more minutes, then fluff and serve.

This was simple, and delicious (and, healthy). Of course now I've had about 6 meals out of it in different permutations (it was a lot of chicken) so I'm a little sick of it, but still, it was good! Very light and summery, and I really enjoyed the texture of the almonds in the bulgur and the freshness that the lemon brought.

Lemon Curd, Holy Smokes

I'm not sure what made me pick up some Lemon Curd on a trip to Trader Joes, but OMG am I ever glad I did.

Fruit curd is apparently meant for a dessert-like spread on scones and tarts. I am 100% on board with this, but I don't really eat enough scones to make this a viable way to make my way through this jar. I wouldn't have thought it was such an emergency... until I tasted it. It is like distilled down lemon meringue pie, and let me tell you, do I ever have a weakness for lemon meringue pie.

At any rate, in addition to the traditional uses, there are some other possibilities. One is to add a small teaspoon to sweeten up a green smoothie (by the way my green smoothie kick is still going strong). But my new favorite way is to really make oatmeal into something awesome. I've mentioned before about how much I love oatmeal, but this, this adds something special. Try it. You'll like it.

Breakfast Quinoa

I've been looking for some new breakfast ideas (although I'm not really over the whole smoothie thing quite yet, it seems good to diversify). So, over at Cara's Cravings I found this recipe for breakfast quinoa, which I had never really considered... its appealing because quinoa is so good for you, and I thought it might fill an oatmeal type role but with more protein.

She recommends using Almond milk, which I've been curious about but never tasted, so, I went for it! I cooked 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water, with a splash of Almond milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Then, I let it cool a bit and stuck it in the fridge, and poured a bit more Almond milk to soak in overnight. In the morning, I put some in a bowl, topped with some cinnamon, a few frozen blueberries, and a drizzle of honey, and microwaved it.

It was pretty good! I think tomorrow I might put in some nuts or something to add a little different texture, and I also got some awesome plums at the farmers market and I'm planning to cut one up and throw it in there. I think I also just have to get used to the taste of quinoa as a breakfast thing. But, its worth continuing on (and, I have a lot left over so will be eating this for a few days, so there are more chances to try!). Give it a shot...

_____
****UPDATE!*****
I did get to try this with the awesome farmers market fruit, and it was much better (or maybe I just liked the fruit?). I also added additional almond milk. Anyways, check out how beautiful it was, here!

Chickpea Tomato Quinoa

Have you gotten on the quinoa bandwagon? (I believe the bandwagon left the station sometime circa 2005, so this is not new news, but I'm still on it so here you go).

Basically, its awesome for you. Its a complete protein. Its high in fiber and protein. And, its yummy. So, there you go. This dish is the perfect package for the quinoa- its hearty and tasty and you could take it in a lot of directions and run.

(the picture turned out badly, so you get this extra jazzy version to make up for it).

-some olive oil
-1 onion, chopped (mine was very small, and it was fine)
-.5tsp cumin
-2 tablespoons corriander/cilantro seeds, smushed a bit with the back of the spoon to break them up
-red pepper flakes
-3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
-1tsp salt
-1c quinoa (I get mine at Trader Joes near the pasta)
-1 can chopped tomatoes (unsalted), including the liquid
-1 and 1/2c broth (I used chicken, you could make it vegan with veggie broth)
-1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained

Heat the oil and brown the onions. Once they're pretty brown, throw in the garlic, the corriander, cumin, red pepper flakes (to taste), and salt and cook for a few minutes. Then, toss in the quinoa and heat it up for a few minutes. Put in the tomatoes, chickpeas, and broth. Let it boil for a minute then turn it way down and cook for 20 minutes.

This is delicious! And, you can see I've served it with my beer bread, which I am still completely enamored with.

Wheat Berries Round III: Butternut Squash, Walnuts, Gorgonzola, mmmmm....

Well, I told you you were done with Wheat Berries, but clearly I lied.

I have to post this, because I just made it for dinner AGAIN, and I LOVE IT. It is heavily inspired by the previous 'Balsamic Gorgonzola Deliciousness' recipe, but that was more summery, with crispy apples and fennel, and this is more wintery.



The stuff:
--Butternut squash (I told you that was my new food kick!), cubed and roasted
--wheatberries, about a cup and a half or 2 cups, cooked
--toasted walnuts
--crumbled gorgonzola
--carmelized onions
--balsamic vinegar
--olive oil
--salt & pepper

Now basically, the reason that this is so awesome and delicious and easy, is that you just mix together that list of stuff, taste to make sure you like the proportions, and gobble up. (and trust me, you will gobble). But, some of that stuff is kind of time consuming, so now I'm going to share the system I arrived at for making it weeknight-friendly.

Wheatberries- now, I have mentioned these previously, and they take a LONG TIME to cook. As in, over an hour. Anything cooking for over an hour is not weeknight friendly at all. Knowing full well that I'm obsessed with these things, obviously I had to take action. So, a while ago, I bought a big bag of these little lovelies from Whole Foods, filled up my biggest pot with water, and then let them boil and boil until they were edible (1-1.5 hours). After they were cooked, I scooped them up in 1 or 2 cup increments, dumped them into individual ziplock baggies, and stuck them in the freezer- voila! microwave, and you have instant wheatberries!

Butternut squash- these little bags from trades joes are awesome. Just buy, open, toss with a little olive oil, and put in the oven at 400 until nice and soft and browned (stir as needed). Obviously its always fine to buy a whole squash, seed, peel, and cube it, but thats a lot of work.

Onions- carmelizing onions takes a while, but luckily you have to roast the squash so you have time, because just frying them would not be as delicious. Basically, stick the squash in, and then quickly slice about half an onion, and put it on LOW LOW HEAT with some butter or olive oil. cook them slowly and let them become delicious and sweet and brown (since they're on low, you can just leave them, and go over and stir occasionally).

Roasted walnuts- buy them pre-chopped, and store in the freezer. pull out a handful, put on a cookie sheet, and let them heat up while you stir up all the other ingredients

Gorgonzola- you can buy this crumbled. it is more expensive, but its in a nice sealed container, and is pretty easy to deal with, and is very week-night friendly.

The skinny:
So, here is your system- walk in the door. Toss the squash in the oven and the onions in the pan, remove walnuts and berries from freezer. For the next 30 min or so, do whatever you do when you come home, occasionally going in the kitchen and stirring the onions and squash. When its almost ready, just pop the wheatberries in the microwave and the walnuts in the hot oven. Pull it all out, dump in a big bowl, pour some olive oil, balsamic, salt, and (lots of) pepper, stir in copious amounts of cheese, and you're good to go! So warm and savory and delicious!!

Thai Wheatberry Salad

I had an experimental dinner the other night. The version I made involved things like boiled over coconut milk that I have yet to fully get out of my stove, a miscellaneous assortment of leftover grains, and simultaneously burnt and raw chicken. But, surprisingly, the final product was pretty good. I'm going to tell you a bit about how I made it this time, but the recipe itself will be how I'm going to make it next time. Because I definitely will.

The whole idea came because I really wanted cold peanut noodles, but I'm trying to be healthy so wanted to bypass the noodle aspect of things. Instead, I arrived at a plan to use wheatberries cooked in coconut milk. I love wheat berries- they have a perfect texture for hearty grain salads. Unfortunately, I mis-read the internet, and cooked my wheat berries with a ratio of 4:1 liquid to grain rather than 2/2.5:1 which would have been better (hence the boiled over coconut milk). I also realized that I had a lot of extra liquid, so started adding bulgur (which cooks fast) on the fly. Either way, wheat berries have to cook a while so plan ahead. I then used a homemade peanut sauce, similar to this one. But later in the week, when I refreshed the leftovers a little, I realized the Trader Joes Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette (which is delicious) would have been fine.

So, here's what I came up with (which was really quite tasty)


And here is how I would do it next time:

Prepare ahead (or use leftovers):
-3/4c dried wheatberries, cooked in water and chilled (I get mine in the bulk grains area at Whole Foods; put about 2 c water in a pot with the wheat berries bring to to a boil, then simmer. The berries should become soft (but still a little chewy) and split a little. It can take an hour to cook them, or even more, so plan accordingly. You might need to add a little more water, so check on them).
-1 cucumber, seeded and chopped
-a small amount red onion, diced
-1/2 bell pepper coarsely chopped
-one large chicken breast, cooked, chopped
-bonus points for cilantro and chives

Toss all of it with Trader Joes Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette (or the home made peanut sauce below), chill. Enjoy! Makes great leftovers to take to lunch.

Yum! You could make it veggie by just omitting the chicken, or could add marinated tofu, although it would have to be really firm and probably pressed first in order to stand up, because this is not a delicate salad.

Peanut Sauce (slightly different than version for noodles, because more volume was needed as the grains will absorb some of it; all amounts are approximate- adjust it to your taste)
1/4c peanut butter (briefly microwaved, to soften and help convince it to mix with the other ingredients)
1/8c water
2T soy sauce
4T seasoned rice wine vinegar
.5T sesame oil
.5T spicy chili oil
red pepper flakes
diced ginger (1tsp or more)
diced garlic (1 tsp)

Rosemary Chickpea Couscous Salad

Ok, this is... really good. It is PERFECT for a hot day, and let me tell you, it is nothing if not boiling hot around here these days. I made it, as inspired by AllRecipes, but as you well know, I think sticking exactly to recipes is boring. So, here is my take on it in 4 easy steps:

1. Make some couscous. This could be any kind (regular, whole wheat, Israeli- which is what I used) or some other kind of grain. Just make it the way the box says, and let it sit out for a while cooling while you do everything else.

2. Make some dressing.
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
a whole bunch of fresh chopped rosemary (MUST be fresh).

3. Chop up some veggies.
half an English cucumber
some sundried tomatoes (I used the marinated kind from TJs)
a handful or 2 of fresh spinach

4. Stir everything up in a big bowl. Toss in some feta (I used fat free; leave it out to make it vegan), dump in a drained can of garbanzo beans, and add some salt and pepper. Chill for a while to let the flavors get to know each other.

This is good! Beware though, if you use the whole box of couscous like the original recipe says (and I did, because my box was 8oz not 10oz like theirs, so I thought it'd be ok), you will end up with a LOT. I will be eating this all week, apparently! (also, the rest of the things in the picture will appear in later posts, so keep your eye out!)


Now, the other thing I've been meaning to bring up (sit down, lets have a little chat), is that I've gotten a couple comments from different people I know who read this saying that they would love to make the things here except that they're either a. on a budget or b. don't know how to cook. I've decided to try to tackle both these things on this blog in general, but haven't figured out how yet. For this recipe, I'd like to report that it only involves 2 skills- boiling water, and chopping. You can do this. I promise. Really. Also, all of these ingredients (couscous, garbanzo beans, lemons, rosemary, vinegar, olive oil, sundried tomatoes, cucumber, spinach) are available at your local Trader Joes. It may sound like lots of ingredients, but I would estimate that when you break it down, its probably only about $1-2 per serving, which you really can't beat for something so fresh and healthy and homemade! Be brave, try it!