Sweet Breakfast Quinoa

For years and years and years it was cereal as breakfast for me.  When I started hitting the gym in the morning, I finally realized why people drink their breakfast instead of eat it.  So a blueberry banana protein shake became the new morning routine.  But on the weekends, with no gym plan in the works, I wanted something a little different.  Tired of the cereal, loving the eggs (but who can eat them every single weekend,) I saw this recipe, scrounged the cupboard for the ingredients, got busy and fell in love....with my breakfast.

The most important part of this meal is the ricotta...without it, it is just sweet mushpaste.  But the ricotta elevates it to a super happy, this is not your mother's oatmeal kind of place.  And, no, my kids wouldn't touch it.  But now I have an inkling as to why.

Not super low fat (especially if you put in twice as much ricotta...yum,) but high in protein and iron and unlike cereal or even oatmeal for that matter, I stay full until lunchtime (a miracle!)  This recipe is adapted from Jill Donenfeld of Food & Wine.

You can make half a recipe, or you can make it all and store the leftovers to be heated up the next morning (well, don't reheat the ricotta, please.  That would be disgusting.)

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 cup red quinoa, rinsed
2. 2 cups water
3. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4. 1/4 cup slivered almonds
5. 1/2 cup dried apricots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6. 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
7. 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
8. 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
9. 1/4 cup fresh ricotta

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small saucepan, cover the quinoa with the water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. Lightly fluff the quinoa with a fork and cover it again.
2. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the almonds and cook over moderate heat, stirring a few times, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the apricots, maple syrup, orange zest and cinnamon and stir well until heated through.
3. Add the quinoa to the skillet and stir gently to incorporate the almonds and apricots. Top each portion of quinoa with a tablespoon of ricotta and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The recipe can be made through Step 1 and refrigerated for up to 5 days. Reheat as needed or serve cold.

NOTES One Serving 311 cal, 44 gm carb, 11 gm fat, 2 gm sat fat, 10 gm protein, 4 gm fiber.

Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad

This amazing carrot salad is adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's gorgeous cookbook, Plenty, not to be confused with Diana Henry's same titled and equally awesome tome.  No, it isn't particularly kid friendly, but I promise that if you bring it out when friends are over, maybe with a simple lemon roast chicken (or, hell, for that matter, a chicken from Costco), you will receive rave reviews and a couple of requests for the recipe....(yup, happened to me the other night!)

The hard part is the preserved lemons.  You can't just buy them at the market, not even at Whole Foods.  (UPDATE:  I was just at WF:  you CAN buy them....Meyer lemon variety..but I would still make them...it will be cheaper for sure.)  You have to make them (click on the link below in the ingredients section.)  But it really isn't difficult.  And you will have loads of leftovers sitting in your fridge forever.  And you can spend your days trolling the internet for other recipes to use them up. All you need is a glass jar (mason jar works fine), organic lemons (available at Ralphs), kosher salt and olive oil.  And 5 full days in advance to wait for them to do their magic once you have assembled them. 

Spicy Moroccan carrot salad

Total time: 45 minutes, plus cooling time

Servings: 4

2 pounds carrots

1/3 cup olive oil, plus extra to finish (I used less than a quarter of cup, myself)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 serrano chile, finely chopped (and seeded, if you want less heat, but I went whole hog)

1 green onion, finely chopped

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon

Salt

2 1/2 cups cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped, plus extra to garnish (about 2 bunches)

1/2 cup Greek yogurt, chilled (honestly, totally forgot this step...still amazing.)

1. Peel the carrots and cut them, depending on their size, into cylinders or semicircles one-half-inch thick; all the pieces should end up roughly the same size. Place in a large saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until tender but still crunchy, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and leave to dry out.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the onion over medium heat until soft and slightly brown, about 12 minutes. Add the cooked carrots to the onion, followed by the sugar, garlic, chile, onion, cloves, ground ginger, coriander, cinnamon, paprika, cumin, vinegar and preserved lemon.

3. Remove from the heat. Season liberally with salt, stir well and leave to cool.

4. Before serving, stir in the cilantro, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve

in individual bowls with a dollop of yogurt, a drizzle of oil and a garnish of the extra cilantro.

Each serving: 317 calories; 5 grams protein; 29 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams fiber; 22 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 5 mg cholesterol; 14 grams sugar; 193 mg sodium.

Salmon, Mango and Wild Rice Salad with Ginger and Chile

Are you sick of salmon recipes yet?  I know I go a bit heavy on the salmon stuff but it is just the most ubiquitous fish around and it is so good for you and it sears up so nicely that it is my go to fish these days.  So for those of you tired of the salmon dishes, don't fret, because this salad works nicely with any cooked protein: tofu, chicken, steak...whatever you feel like.  But it is especially good with a seared on the pan salmon filet.

This recipe is adapted from Diana Henry's book, Plenty.  It is a favorite book for sure...with lots of different regional influences and gorgeous pictures to look at and drool on.

Ingredients:

Salad

1/3 c wild rice
1 c brown rice (yes, you can get both the wild and brown rice on your next Trader Joes run.)
3 c chicken stock, veg stock or water
8 oz green beans (I used haricot verts), cut in half
2 small mangoes, peeled and cut up (yes, this is the WORST part of the recipe.)
14 oz cooked salmon, broken into chunks (heat up canola or peanut oil in a pan, salt and pepper your salmon, throw it in and cook until it gets a nice crust on the bottom, flip it to get another nice crust and you are done!)
1/2 c pistachios, shelled
cilantro leaves (I left these out because they weren't at TJs on the day I got all the ingredients)
squeeze of lemon juice (critical...brings it all together...don't skip this step.)

Dressing

1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp grated ginger
2 fresh red chiles, seeded and chopped
3 tsp peanut oil
1/4 c olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Put the rices into a saucepan with the stock or water and bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat to low, cooking for 30 minutes.

2.  Cook the beans in boiling salted water for a couple of minutes, then drain and place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and keep the pretty green color.

3.  Put all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk OR in a small tupperware/jar and shake (my preferred method.)  Stir into bowl with rice and green beans.  Be judicious...you probably won't need all that dressing.  Add the rest of the ingredients, squeeze lemon juice on top and add salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Revel in your delicious, healthy and beautiful meal.  Brag about your meal sanctimoniously with all who will listen.  And then eat lots and lots of cookies for dessert.

Farro with Broccoli and Shitakes

Easy, delicious and adapted from a very aptly named blog:Umami Girl.  Husband Jeff (he of the chicken parmesan and all things red checker table clothey persuasion) was not at all enthused when told that this was going to be dinner the other night.  So he only took a small amount and was ready to ditch it for the leftover thai noodles in the fridge.  But lo and behold.  He took seconds.  And THAT is how a dish makes it to this blog.  Please make it and if you feel the need to protien-ify it up with seared tofu or leftover animal parts, go for it! 

Farro with Broccoli and Shiitakes

-serves 4 as a main course or 8 as a side dish-

Ingredients

1 cup whole farro
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
15 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium head broccoli, cut into small florets (reserve the stems for another use)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place the farro in a medium pot with cold water to cover by an inch. Soak for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, drain the soaking water and add fresh water to cover the farro by two inches. Add the salt. Bring the farro to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle boil. Cook for about 25 minutes, until the farro is tender but still chewy. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, mushrooms and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and the mushrooms have reduced substantially in volume, about 7 minutes. Lower the heat if necessary to prevent the onion and garlic from browning. Add the broccoli florets, soy sauce and water to the pan. Cover and simmer until the broccoli is quite tender, 3-5 minutes more. (Cook the broccoli only as much as you like it cooked. I prefer this dish with a bit of crunch.) Remove the lid and cook one minute more to reduce any remaining liquid to just a few tablespoons.

3. Off the heat, add the drained farro and the parmesan cheese to the pan. Stir well and season to taste with pepper. Serve warm.

Leek Soup with Dill Oil

This recipe comes from a wonderful blog called 101cookbooks.com which is written by Heidi Swanson, author of one of my fave cookbooks called SuperNatural Everyday...pretty healthy food with a gourmet sensibility.  This soup is fast, easy, delicious and at least one of my kids professed that it was good.  And those of you who know my kids know that they are of the "Kraft Mac n' Cheese" school, not of the "I will taste the beautiful vegetables on my plate and expand my universe" school.  So that is high praise, indeed.

Looking at this recipe, I thought the hardest part would be cleaning and slicing the leeks.  That is, until I just happened to find frozen cut up leeks at Trader Joes...Hallelujah!  That chore gone, the rest is simple.  I used two russet potatoes and peeled them, but feel free to use other potatoes and don't bother to peel them.  I also left off the cheese, just because I didn't have it and it still tasted great.  I am sure that if you add the cheese, you will swoon just that much more.  

1 small bunch of fresh dill ~ .5 oz 

9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3.5 pounds leeks

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

fine grain sea salt

2 large, thin-skinned potatoes, thinly sliced

3 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced

6.5+ cups good-tasting vegetable broth, preferably hot

toasted almond slices, for topping

grated gruyere cheese, for topping

Use a hand blender or food processor to puree the dill and olive oil into a creamy green emulsion. Set aside.

Cut the dark, tough green leaves from the leeks, trim off the roots, and wash/rinse well. You can slice the leeks lengthwise to get in between the layers, or make a few rough chops and give them a quick soak, or whatever method you prefer. Use a food processor to chop the leeks in two batches. You can also chop them by hand, but I was in a pinch for time here, and the processor made quick work of this step.

In a large soup pot, heat the butter and 5 tablespoons of the dill oil over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted and is bubbling, stir in the leeks and a couple big pinches of salt. Stir well, then cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the leeks soften up and collapse, 6 - 8 minutes. Now, stir in the potatoes and garlic and cook, uncovered, stirring regularly, for another 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are very, very soft. If the leeks at the bottom of the pot are getting too much color, dial back the heat a bit more and be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan when you're stirring. At this point you can mash everything with a potato masher or large fork. If you prefer a smoother soup, use a hand blender, but this soup is great a little on the chunky side. Stir in the hot broth, adjusting the amount based on whether you like a thick or thin soup. Bring back to a simmer, serve topped with almonds, grated cheese, and a generous drizzle of the remaining dill oil.

Makes a big pot - enough for 8 -10 servings.

Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 25 min

Broccoli and Potato Gribiche

One of the problems of getting a new cookbook that you love is that you spend a whole lot of time cooking out of it and then posting subsequent blogs from it to the point where you bore your friends (we should all have such problems, right?)  Well, bored friends, sorry to say this recipe is another from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day.  

That said, this gribiche it is one of the very best ways that I can think of to eat broccoli.  Because no one really loves broccoli. Oh sure, there are those that profess to hate it (G. H. W. Bush) and those that don't mind eating it.  But no one ever says, "wow, I am craving a stalk of steamed broccoli," the way they might crave a slice of watermelon, or a glass of cold milk, or a triple scoop sundae with salted caramel sauce. Make it this way and you might find yourself actually thinking about it the next day and hoping that there are still leftovers in the fridge.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds potatoes (waxy type as opposed to baking potatoes are best), unpeeled and scrubbed (I just bought the little potatoes from TJs)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt
12 ounces broccoli cut into florets
4 large eggs, hard-boiled and peeled (directions for pretty egg yolks are below)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 to 2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (don't skip this...it really makes the flavor pop.  If you aren't growing some in your backyard, go to a Persian or Kosher market to buy it.)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil, chives, or green tops of green onion

Directions

Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs 


Place the eggs in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil.  Turn off the heat and cover the pan.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes then rinse in cold water.  Put them in the fridge to cool further.  You can do this days before you make the dish.

Broccoli and Potatoes

Preheat the over to 400 degrees and put a baking sheet in while it is warming up.
Cut the potatoes into chunks about the size of your thumb.
Using your hands, toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and turn them onto a sheet pan and sprinkle with salt.
Put the potatoes on the preheated baking sheet and return to the oven, roasting them until they are cooked through and browned (about 30 minutes); do not stir or move the potatoes during this time for best results.
About 15 minutes before you think the potatoes are done, add 1 tablespoon of oil to the broccoli and toss to coat.
Arrange the broccoli in a single layer on a sheet pan and sprinkle with salt.
Put the broccoli into the oven and roast untouched; the potatoes and broccoli should be done about the same time and both should show signs of browning and slight char (on the broccoli).

Gribiche Dressing

Remove the yolk of one of the hard-boiled eggs and mash in a medium sized bowl.
Slowly add 1/2 cup of olive oil beating constantly with a wire whisk; the dressing should look smooth and glossy.
Whisk in the vinegar, followed by the mustard, whisking each ingredient into the dressing for uniform consistency.
Stir in the capers, shallots, herbs, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Chop the peeled hard-boiled eggs and add them to the dressing.

Assembly

Place the warm potatoes and broccoli into a large bowl and gently fold in three-quarters of the dressing.
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed, adding more of the dressing if desired.
Serve.

Serves 6

Tortellini Veggie Salad

I pulled this recipe from Heidi Swanson's (of 101 Cookbooks blog fame) book, Super Natural Every Day. It is a kind of a weedsy seedsy, but really delicious recipe collection and every dish turns out well and pretty gorgeous to boot. It has definitely inspired me to get more vegetables into my diet, even if it has no such effect on any other human being living in my household.

Ingredients:

1 16 oz package cheese tortellini  (or any fresh stuffed pasta)

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch spears

1/2 head of broccoli or broccolini, cut into small trees

1 small clove garlic, smashed with salt with a butter knife (in the parlour with Colonel Mustard) or you can try just mincing it really really well

2 T lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

small handful mint or cilantro

1/4 cup pine nuts or almonds, toasted (please, please, please toast them...really enhances the dish.)
1 medium avocado, cut into small pieces

salt and pepper

Other options can include radishes, freshly shelled peas, fresh spinach and whatever crunchy happiness you can come up with (no, not gingersnap cookies.)

Directions:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath and prep vegetables.  Combine garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt in a small jar and shake, shake, shake to combine.

When the water is boiling, add the tortellini. It will cook in about 5 minutes (or follow package directions). After the first 3 minutes, add the asparagus and broccoli.  Strain the pasta and vegetables and place immediately into the ice bath. Once they've cooled, strain again and pour into a mixing bowl. Toss the pasta and cooked veggies with half the dressing.  If it needs more, add more.  Add the avocado and nuts and gently toss.

Serves 4.