hook ups and hummus

Tonight Dusty and I are going to a little dinner party at his cousin's house (we're trying to set him up with one of my girlfriends ;-) ) and I was asked to bring appetizers. My friend is a gluten-free vegan so the options were somewhat limited but I decided on hummus (recipe follows). I'd never made hummus before and I must say, it's quite easy and the results were pretty f***ing delicious. I'm really hoping that tonight works out well, and that even if the two don't fall in love we at least have a good time. Have you ever set anyone up? How did it turn out? (Photo of Brigitte Bardot from this blog).

Simple Hummus  (adapted from this recipe)                         

Serves 4-10 as an appetizer (depending on how hungry everyone is)

Ingredients


2 cans garbanzo beans (15 oz. each)
2 good-sized garlic cloves, pressed or minced
4 tablespoons tahini sauce (available at Trader Joe's)
2-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-3 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
2 tsp ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions


1. Drain both cans of garbanzo beans fairly well (it's okay if there's some liquid left) and then pour both cans into a small sauce pan and heat on medium high for 15-20 minutes, or until the garbanzo bean skins begin to come off, stirring frequently.

2. Pour out the beans into a colander and rinse with water. Peel off as many of the garbanzo bean skins as you can (this will give the hummus a smoother texture) and discard them.

3. Pour the beans into a good blender or a food processor with the garlic and blend until smooth. Add the tahini sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, and cumin, blend and taste, adjust seasoning, add salt and pepper if needed. Serve in a bowl drizzled with olive oil with pita bread, chips, or veggies. Enjoy!

greens

Hello, I thought that I would share my favorite recipe for vinaigrette with greens. I think that this is one of the most useful recipes to have in one's arsenal. Homemade dressing immediately elevates any dish, and greens are versatile enough to be served with nearly any meal. Some of my favorite (but certainly not original) ideas for greens include: with eggs for breakfast, atop crusty bread with goat cheese, or next to a hearty seasonal minestrone. This recipe is very flexible and I suggest playing around with it, please let me know if you have suggestions or ideas.

Simple Vinaigrette


Ingredients:
1 teaspoons whole grain dijon mustard
1-2 small garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3 tablespoons vinegar (I generally use balsamic, but any other kind will do)
Optional: 1-2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup olive oil (other vegetable oils work too, or flavored olive oils)
Greens mix
Optional: any chopped fresh herbs (dill, cilantro, parsley, or any combination work great)

Directions:


1. In a small bowl whisk together the mustard, garlic, vinegar, juice (if using), salt, and pepper.

2. Continue whisking and slowly drizzle the olive oil in to the mixture is emulsified.

3. Toss or drizzle over mixed greens. Enjoy!

Another great tip, which I learned from watching The Barefoot Contessa is that if you want to make the dressing and salad ahead but don't want the greens to get saturated and wilted you can pour the necessary amount of dressing into the bottom of your salad bowl and then gently place your greens on top of it, without mixing. Then you can put the bowl in the refrigerator and toss together just before serving. (Image from Smitten Kitchen, my favorite food blog)

hasty tasty lasagna

the layering process: sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese...

So, a couple of weeks ago I decided that I wanted to try to make lasagna. Though I've had lots of experience in the kitchen, I'm ashamed to admit that I'd never tried to make this classic dish before. Unfortunately, I was quite limited in time and so I had to develop a recipe that would be quick to make but also (hopefully) taste delicious. So, I did what I always do in these situations and googled easy lasagna, the first thing that popped up was this recipe. At first glance (sorry to the creator of the recipe) the recipe seemed lacking. First, I don't eat beef or like to cook with it and second, canned mushrooms? Gross. However, the "bones" of the recipe seemed good, so I reworked it a bit (recipe follows below) and now I've made my version twice, both times with excellent results. Once again, all of the ingredients I used were purchased at Trader Joe's, so I suggest going there to obtain ingredients if you have the choice. Also this lasagna can be prepared, cooked, and ready to eat in about an hour and a half. (Photo Credit: Me)

Hasty Tasty Lasagna
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 pound uncooked Italian seasoned chicken sausage, removed from casings
3 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound sliced brown mushrooms
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce (I used Trader Joe's Tuscano Marinara Sauce)
1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 15 oz. containers of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese (divided)
3/4 cup part skim mozzarella cheese (divided)
3/4 cup chopped chives
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles (you'll probably only need 1/2 the package)
Crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet or saute pan, cook chicken sausage over medium-high heat, breaking chicken up into pieces as you go until sausage in cooked through, and lightly browned on the outside. Add the garlic, onion, and mushrooms to the pan, and saute until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the can of tomato sauce and cook until sauce is heated through. Stir in the parsley. Season with crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, and the chives. Season with black pepper to taste.

3. In the bottom of a 13x9" baking pan, spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce mixture. Place the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce mixture, and then layer some of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles, then layer more of the tomato sauce mixture. Continue in this way until all of the sauce and cheese have been used up. I did three layer of noodles for mine a layer of cheese and small layer of tomato sauce over the very top (see photos if this doesn't make sense). After that, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and the remaining 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese on top.

4. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes. During the last 5-7 minutes of cooking time I cranked the oven up to 500 degrees to allow the top to get lightly brown and crispy which I highly recommend (but make sure to monitor closely while doing so). Remove the dish from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy with greens and bread.

*Variation: The second time that I made this lasagna, during the time that I was cooking the meat, garlic, mushrooms, onion etc. In a second saute pan I wilted some kale which I then layered on top of the tomato sauce mixture while assembling the lasagna. When the lasagna was cooked the kale added a delicious flavor and was slightly crispy around the edges---certainly a welcome addition.

warm days and warm food

Lately, the weather has been very sporadic--rainy and cold one day, and sunny and hot the next. Thankfully, over the weekend it was sunny and hot and so Dusty and I decided to grill on Saturday. At first I wanted to do something super complicated but then I realized that we were a bit crunched on time so I decided to jazz up something easy (and healthy)---turkey burgers. Below you will find my recipe, all of the ingredients were purchased at Trader Joe's so if you have the choice, I'd buy ingredients there. I apologize for not taking a picture, but I was too hungry to stop and take one before I'd eaten! (Photo credit: Me!) Also, sorry this blog has been nothing but food lately, I've just been cooking up a storm!

Simply Jazzed-Up Turkey Burgers or Turkey Burgers with Chevre and Mango Chutney

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 turkey burger patties (I bought mine pre-made at TJs)

4 small pain rustique rolls

mixed greens

herb flavored chevre (soft goat cheese)

mango chutney

olive or other vegetable oil

salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the grill to medium-high heat. Lightly brush the turkey patties with olive or vegetable oil and lightly season with salt and pepper. Grill the patties until cooked through, about 7 minutes per side. 

2. Cut the rolls in half and lightly brush with olive oil,  place the rolls cut side down on the grill until lightly browned, 1-2 minutes. 

3. Assemble the burgers--give a generous spread of chevre on each side of the rolls, then on the bottom side of the rolls press down a generous handful of mixed greens, place the turkey patties on top, and top the patties with a generous dollop of mango chutney. Enjoy!

I served my burgers with baked sweet potato fries (also available at Trader Joe's) and a curried yogurt dipping sauce. Below you'll find my recipe for the dipping sauce (which would taste good on just about anything).

Curried Yogurt Dipping Sauce

3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup or more yellow curry powder
1 tbs honey
1 tsp brown sugar

Instructions


1. Place the yogurt in a small mixing bowl, mix in curry to taste (some people like more or less, and different curry powders are stronger or weaker in taste). Mix in the honey and brown sugar, taste and adjust seasoning. Enjoy!

Ginger

I've always loved the flavor of ginger, there's something so intriguing about its unique spice and the scope of versatility it offers. Besides that though, ginger has several healing properties. Did you know that ginger helps with nausea, morning sickness (during pregnancy), digestion, feeling down (consumption of ginger releases dopamine in your brain), and works as an anti-inflammatory medicine? In celebration of ginger I made this delicious gin and ginger based beverage the other night. I've also used ginger when I made this roasted corn and edamame salad the other day, and lately I've enjoyed simply thinly slicing fresh ginger and adding it to my tea for extra flavor. What do think? Do you enjoy ginger as much as I do? Have you ever found it to be medicinally helpful? (Image credit: Joyful Belly)

Mean Streets and Meatballs

Look at baby DeNiro!

Tonight Dusty and I are planning on watching Mean Streets--I'm a huge Scorsese fan and the sound track is perfection, I highly recommend (by the way the film is currently available on Netflix Instant Play). The only thing that could make watching a good old Italian mobster movie better is having a good bottle of wine and some delicious pasta to go along with it. My go-to recipe when it comes to Italian is spaghetti, homemade (or doctored up store bought) sauce with tons of mushrooms, and these meatballs from The Joy of Cooking cookbook. The only changes I make to the recipe are that I substitute turkey (I recommend Jennie-O Italian Seasoned ground turkey) for the beef, and sometimes use cilantro instead of the parsley because I use cilantro more often and therefore it makes more sense to buy a bushel of it. What are your plans for tonight?

Summer Reading and Diuretics

Hello darlings! I hope that your weeks are off to a fabulous start. I've spent the majority of my day eating excessive amounts of watermelon and guiltily reading Amy Sohn's new novel, Prospect Park West. It's certainly not Dickens but it's also more than a few steps up from Danielle Steel. I've really just started the novel, but so far I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for light summer reading and are the sort of person who can't stand bad writing. What books have you read lately? P.S. If you're feeling bloated watermelon is a natural diuretic---it really works; I've been peeing all day! (Sorry if that was TMI) :-/

Sunday at the Park

Photographs of Irvine regional Park

Dear everyone (anyone) who reads (read) my blog. I'm sorry for not updating it ever (lately). Life had been somewhat stressful but now I'm back, and it's summer and I sure am glad. Happy Sunday everyone! I spent the afternoon at Irvine Park walking my dog and pedaling a surrey with my family. It was really lovely and a wonderful ending to a relatively stress-free weekend.

Healthy Supper

Tonight I decided to stay on the healthy side for dinner. I'm in the process of making a Bobby Flay recipe, featured in Bethenny Frankel's The Skinnygirl Dish, Spanish Spiced Rubbed Chicken with Mustard-Green Onion Sauce. I found the recipe online here, the only difference between the online version and the book version is that the book substitutes boneless, skinless chicken breasts for bone in ones (to make it lighter), I'm sure that either way is delicious. I'll be serving the chicken with a brown rice medley with mint, basil, and lemon as well as a salad with a homemade vinaigrette--yum! What are you making for dinner? 

Monday, yoga, and hip hop

I'd like to do yoga in this bed!

I can't believe that it's already Monday again! I hope you're having a good day, if you've been feeling stressed lately check out this yoga in bed routine. It's really easy and nice at anytime of day. Also a big thank you to my dear friend, Allyn who put this song up on facebook. I can't stop listening to it, usually I'm not the biggest fan of hip hop but I find this particular song really beautiful and surprisingly relaxing to listen to. 

Farmer's Markets

An image from a farmer's market in Portland, Oregon

I'm sad to admit that I haven't been to a farmer's market in quite some time. For some reason I've been dying to go lately! Perhaps it's the fact that I feel that spring is just around the corner and nothing beats delicious fresh fruit! Are you a regular at a farmer's market? Are there any good ones where you live?

Low Calorie Cocktail

Doesn't this drink look delicious? I found it here, it's called a Mojito Fresco and it only has 95 calories per serving! 

Trader Joe's

So I love Trader Joe's, and you probably do to. I can't think of a single person that I've ever met to be like, "I hate Trader Joe's!" It's like hating puppies. Anyway, for Christmas I recieved the book Quick and Healthy Meals from Trader Joe's I have to admit that I have yet to try any of the recipes in it. However, I'm thinking of trying one today. The book is sectioned off by type of protein (chicken, seafood, vegetarian) and then sub-sectioned off by cuisine (Asian, Mexican, etc.) Also there are nutrition facts printed next to each recipe so you know exactly what you're eating! I'll let you know how the recipe comes out if I end up trying it...

If you give a lady a glass of almond milk...

This morning I tried almond milk for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by just how good it is! I had some on a bowl of cereal and then enjoyed it so much that I had some plain! It has a mildly nutty, well almond-y taste that I think would be great with a chocolate covered biscotti, or just a chocolate chip cookie...which got me thinking about one of my favorite kid's books... If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff.

Walks

The clouds have finally cleared around here and it seems like a perfect day for a walk. I've been feeling cranky and am probably vitamin D deficient from all of this gloomy weather. I try to go on at least one walk around Dusty's or my neighborhood everyday (or night) and I'm happy for the opportunity to do it with the company of the sun today. Do you like walking or do you prefer some other (maybe more labor intensive) form of excercise? I hope the clouds have cleared around you too!

Chicken Soup for the Stomach

I absoulutely adore the website www.epicurious.com, it's a fabulous compilation of recipes from various high end food magazines as well as random cook books and healthy eating mags. One of my favorite things to cook now is a chicken noodle soup recipe I found on the site, just type in "old fashioned chicken noodle soup" in the search engine. As someone who grew up eating chicken noodle soup out of the can I appreciate the taste of this simple, healthy recipe.

Some tips: If you don't like mushrooms, substitute an equal portion of a veggie you prefer, for an equally delicious result. Also, I usually halve the recipe and it's more than enough!

Did you grow up eating homemade chicken noodle soup?

Blueberries

So according to WebMD and numerous other sources blueberries are considered a "superfood" as they help keep away all sorts of bad stuff like heart disease, cancer, and high cholesterol. Just now Dusty and I made some delicious banana, blueberry, and buttermilk smoothies. I know that buttermilk sounds like a weird ingredient but it's has all the same stuff as milk with fewer calories and a yummy tart flavor. I highly recommend it!

Speaking of blueberries, did you ever read the book Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (Pictured above)? I have to admit it wasn't my favorite as a kid (I didn't like that the pictures weren't colorful) but now I think it's adorable!