Vegetable Quinoa Salad

This is a delicious salad that I've made several times now, most recently for a luncheon that I catered.  It paired well with this Watermelon and Citrus Salad with Mint, is perfect for a protein-packed light lunch or dinner, and is also quite good on top of hummus in a pita!

We love it.  I found this and other fabulous recipes compiled in Alisa's FREE eCookbook, Smart School Time Recipes. The recipe is by Marta of Yummy Veggies, and it is a keeper!  My changes are below, in italics.  Incidentally, I quadrupled (or perhaps quintupled??, I've forgotten now) this recipe, and I believe it would have served almost 50 people!  The original recipe says that it serves 4, but with all the vegetables I'd say it serves more.  You decide.  Anyway, the leftovers keep well, so it doesn't matter!

~~~Picture soon!~~~

Yummy Veggie Quinoa Salad

Salad:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed (I mince)
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water (or vegetable broth and omit chicken-like seasoning)
1 tablespoon chicken-like seasoning (I found this weird, Vegan wet-sand-like bouillon called "Not Chick'n" and used 1 cube per 2 cups water)
1 cup edamame (soy beans, usually frozen, you'll need to shell them, but if you can find frozen mukimame they're already shelled!)
1 cup frozen corn
1 red onion (I omitted this)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cucumber, diced
2 to 3 carrots, diced

Dressing:
juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (optional, but don't use dried)*I omit this
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (optional, I prefer flat Italian parsley)
1 teaspoon sea salt

Add the 1 tablespoon of olive oil, garlic and dried quinoa to a nonstick skillet (that has a lid).  Allow to brown on medium-high heat for about 2 to 5 minutes.  Add water and chicken-like seasoning and turn to high.  Once it boils, turn heat down and cover.  Allow to cook about 15 minutes (this time keeps the quinoa a bit al dente).  You can add the shelled edamame and corn when you have about 7 minutes left.  Once the quinoa is cooked, remove from heat and remove lid, allowing it to cool.

*I'm not sure if it was the quantity of quinoa I was cooking, but I did need to add about 10 minutes to the cooking time, and even then there was a lot of liquid left...*

Meanwhile, chop up the fresh vegetables and set aside.  Marta likes the vegetables small, and I agree, maybe the size of a kernel of corn, but you can decide how you like it best.  Mix up the dressing (I use a jar with a lid) and set aside.  Once quinoa is cool, toss all together and serve.

*This keeps so well in the refrigerator that it can be prepared a day in advance.  To serve, I garnished with a few sprigs of Italian parsley.

Watermelon and Citrus Salad with Mint

I chose to add this salad to the menu when I had been asked to cater a luncheon.  It seemed like a natural, refreshing fit with the other foods we had chosen.  I decided to try it out in advance, at a brunch after my mil's birthday party.  It was a smashing success!  The salad is so deliciously unexpected and truly beautiful, with colorful fruit and citrus Dijon vinaigrette, everyone loved it!

And again at the luncheon, I've been told that people have been raving about it for days.  So here's the recipe.  It comes from The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh, which so far I highly recommend.  

Isn't this beautiful?  The second time I chopped the watermelon smaller, probably about a 1/2" dice.  Still looks fabulous!  I doubled the recipe both times I made it, using an entire watermelon, and it easily feeds 25+ people as a side dish.  I used mint that I harvested from my garden.  Also, the recipe recommends serving this as individual salads, which would be great, but I think it's much more impressive on a huge platter.  Use a set of salad tongs to serve from a platter.

You can make the dressing a day or two in advance, and I chopped the watermelon, sliced the oranges and onion and washed and trimmed the watercress the night before.  Just store each ingredient of the salad in a separate container until ready to assemble.

                                  

Watermelon and Citrus Salad with Mint

 (the book says 6 servings, but I think it would serve more)

"Whole grain mustard is an especially good way to add both flavor and texture to a vinaigrette, but regular Dijon works nicely, too."

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

2 teaspoons whole grain Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 large bunches watercress, thick stems trimmed (I just used kitchen scissors to remove about halfway up the stems)

4 cups 3/4-inch pieces seedless watermelon

4 oranges, peel and white pith removed, each cut into 6 rounds (if the oranges were larger, I cut them into 8 rounds each)

4 thin red onion slices, cut in half and separated

3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint

Whisk first 5 ingredients in a small bowl to blend.  Gradually whisk in oil.  Season dressing with salt and pepper.  *(I just measured the dressing ingredients, including olive oil, right into a small jar with a lid.  Stored in the refrigerator until a couple hours before serving, then shook up and poured on the salad!)

MAKE AHEAD:  The dressing can be made 1 day ahead.  Cover and chill.  Bring to room temperature and rewhisk (or shake well!) before using.

Scatter watercress on platter (or divide among 6 plates).  Top watercress on platter or on each plate with watermelon pieces, orange rounds, onion slices and mint (dividing equally if dividing).  Drizzle salad with dressing and serve.

Taste & Create Partner List

It's that time again! Here is the T&C partner list for April! Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by April 24th, 2012!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com. Sorry the list is so small, I'm assuming everyone is busy? Referrals welcome!

Have you heard of Taste & Create? It's a monthly food blog event in which participants are randomly paired off, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is great fun! A picture of everyone's creation and a brief "review" gets posted on the Taste & Create website, linking back to your own blog post. Your photo and link will also be featured on Taste & Create's new facebook page!

If you'd would like to sign up for the NEXT event, please email me by the 8th of the month. You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin! And if you know of anyone else who might like to be included, please let them know about our event!

Can't wait to see what you all create!

3 Sides of Crazy & Seduce Your Tastebuds

Study Food & No Reason Needed

Hash Brown Casserole

Throw together this simple casserole. Then, while it is in the oven, make a tossed green salad and slice some strawberries to make a nice, no-stress spring lunch or dinner. Or, make the casserole and serve it for breakfast with scrambled eggs and sliced strawberries.

Hash Brown Casserole

Serves 8

1 26-ounce bag hash browns

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup minced onion or shallots

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup milk or half-and-half

1/2 cup vegetable, chicken, ham, or beef broth

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine hash browns, shredded cheese, onion, and garlic in a large bowl.

2. In a small bowl, combine milk, broth, melted butter, salt, and pepper.

3. Pour liquid over hash-brown mixture and stir to combine.

4. Spoon hash-brown mixture into a lightly greased 9x13-inch baking dish.

5. Bake in 425°F oven for one hour, stirring at least twice to insure thorough cooking. After baking for one hour, casserole should be golden brown on top. Let sit 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

NOTE: Diced ham or sliced black olives can be added. Recipe is quick and easy to throw together or to make ahead. Leftovers are even better than original.

Southwestern Breakfast Burritos

The other day, I did a search for Southwestern Breakfast Burritos. I was asked to bid on a catering job, and that item was one that was suggested that the client may want for breakfast. So I googled. I ran across several different recipes, all of which I'll be trying and reporting on here.

This one sounded the best, in particular because Joelen makes these in advance and keeps them in the freezer. That, as you know, is right up my alley. I haven't gotten it together to prep these during the day, so we decided to make them for dinner and freeze the leftovers.

I made a few changes, and next time I will make a few more. We ended up with 9 burritos (and despite doubling the eggs from the original recipe, I still had to scramble up a few more to use up the rest of the sausage). When I make chorizo and eggs, I use a pound of chorizo and a dozen eggs, so that is the formula I will stick with next time. I also increased the peppers and added half & half to the eggs because that is how I roll.

For the original recipe and more, please visit Joelen's wonderful blog, What's Cookin' Chicago?!

These burritos were a hit! Our somewhat-picky 6 year old ate an entire burrito! Everyone in the family liked them a lot. We can't wait to have them again for breakfast, and I can definitely see these becoming a staple around here as well as spawning many many variations.


*The only problem I can see, is that after 2 weeks in the freezer, upon reheating, the tortillas became somewhat chewy, not the best texture, although the filling was still good. This does limit their "make ahead-ability."

Southwestern Breakfast Burritos

Adapted from an original Joelen recipe

1 pound pork sausage
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
9 eggs *(next time I will use 12 eggs)
2 tablespoons half & half
salt & pepper to taste
9 burrito sized flour tortillas
shredded taco cheese

In a medium skillet, crumble in sausage and cook until browned. Add onions and bell peppers; cook until softened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs and season with salt and pepper as desired. Cook the eggs in a hot skillet and scramble. Add the eggs to the sausage and pepper mixture; toss to combine. Allow mixture to cool.

Heat flour tortillas on a dry skillet until warmed and pliable.

Place a desired amount of cheese on one side of a flour tortilla. Top with a couple spoonfuls of sausage & egg mixture. Carefully roll up the tortilla in a burrito fashion. Wrap the burrito in foil and place in a gallon sized freezer bag; freeze.

To serve, no need to defrost - just cook up from frozen. Heat up foil wrapped frozen burritos in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes... or remove frozen burrito from foil, wrap in a damp paper towel and microwave for 2-3 minutes on high until warmed/hot.

Taste & Create Partner List

It's that time again! Here is the T&C partner list for March! Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by March 24th, 2012!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Have you heard of Taste & Create? It's a monthly food blog event in which participants are randomly paired off, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is great fun! A picture of everyone's creation and a brief "review" gets posted on the Taste & Create website, linking back to your own blog post. Your photo and link will also be featured on Taste & Create's new facebook page!

If you'd would like to sign up for the NEXT event, please email me by the 8th of the month. You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin! And if you know of anyone else who might like to be included, please let them know about our event!

Can't wait to see what you all create!

Study Food & Seduce Your Tastebuds

Searching for Spice & Always Eat on the Good China

No Reason Needed & The Low Fat Chick

Sizzling Veggies & The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage

I don't recall ever trying one of Emeril's recipes before. I could be wrong, but I know I don't have any of his cookbooks, and I just can't think of one that I've tried. This recipe came from Everyday Food magazine, which you know I love.

Anyway, it's a great, easy recipe, and you likely have almost everything you need in your pantry. All I had to buy was fresh broccoli and I happened to be out of sausage. That's it! I will be looking more closely at Emeril's recipes too after this one...

It has a secret ingredient, which I haven't told anyone about, because people have such strong feelings about it. We've made it two or three times already! I took a batch of this pasta to a Boy Scout banquet last week, and more than one person liked it. A friend of ours even asked for the recipe, which I planned on posting here regardless.

We LOVE it. At least Number One and I do. H-Bomb picks out the sausage, Sawed Off picks out the broccoli, they trade and everyone is happy!

The text in the magazine says, "Anchovies are the secret ingredient in this dish. They give it a deep, savory flavor without a bit of fishiness, so if you're tempted to skip them, don't." I agree, DON'T. I have actually used an entire tin in one batch of the pasta, although for the banquet I stuck to the 4 fillets. The first time you make this, unless you're a huge fan of those little fishes, you should probably use 4 fillets. But a whole tin is delicious too!


On to the recipe. Enjoy!

Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage
Serves 6
Active time: 25 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes

coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound pasta (Emeril uses rigatoni, we've used penne, farfalle, etc.)
2 heads broccoli, cut into florets (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 anchovy fillets, minced
1 pound Italian sausage (I just use a package of Jimmy Dean's Italian)
Parmesan, grated, for serving

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. In last 2 minutes of cooking, add broccoli and cook until bright green and crisp-tender. (just cook for the 2 minutes) Carefully reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta and broccoli.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, anchovies, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Add sausage to empty pasta pot and cook over medium-high, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned and coked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, return pasta and broccoli to pot, and add oil mixture. Toss well to combine, adding enough pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats pasta (I usually end up using about 1/2 cup water). Serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

Taste & Create Partner List

It's that time again! Here is the T&C partner list for February! Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by February 24th, 2012!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Have you heard of Taste & Create? It's a monthly food blog event in which participants are randomly paired off, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is great fun! A picture of everyone's creation and a brief "review" gets posted on the Taste & Create website, linking back to your own blog post.

If you'd would like to sign up for the NEXT event, please email me by the 8th of the month. You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin!

Can't wait to see what you all create!

Veg Junction & Pinks Recipe Diary

Searching for Spice & Vegetarian Food and Me

Samayal Arai & Study Food

No Reason Needed & The Low Fat Chick

Taste & Create: Shrimp Laksa

*Taste & Create is an amazing monthly food blog event, created by my friend Nicole of For the Love of Food. Participants are paired up randomly, and each create a recipe from their partner's blog! It is so fun! Please join us. The deadline to sign up is the 8th day of each month, email me at cowgirlmin07[at]gmail[dot]com if you're interested!

My partner this time was Vicky from Avocado Pesto. I'm sorry to say this recipe is embarrassingly late, but better late than never, I suppose.

So initially I was intrigued by these pork/dough things on Vicky's blog, called Cha Sui Bao, don't they look fabulous, and Vicky even emailed me the recipe! I decided I didn't have the ambition, let alone the ingredients, to prepare that dish now. But I WILL. Some day.

After some more searching, I decided to make Vicky's Almond Macaroons. And then that just didn't happen. Am I glad that I didn't settle for making some cookies with which Vicky herself wasn't thrilled.

I was searching again, in desperation now, when I found it. A recipe that sounded so delicious, I just had to make it that night. It is called Shrimp Laksa, and it is heavenly. A fairly simple Malaysian shrimp soup, with coconut milk and curry paste and a dollop of peanut butter, shrimp and lightly crunchy fresh vegetables. It was so good. I will definitely be making it again!

My pictures look different than Vicky's, perhaps because her cilantro appeared to be used whole, as more of a garnish, while I just chopped mine and tossed it in the pot. You can see what a colorful, flavorful soup this is! Did I mention, I'm making this again? ;-)

I do have two young boys, and although one of them eats Cholula sauce by the spoonful, he doesn't like his regular food to be spicy, so I modified a bit. Also couldn't find lemongrass (no surprise) in my teeny tiny grocery. But hey, we even had a box of rice noodles in the pantry! It was destined. You'll find my modifications below in parenthesis. Follow the link to check out more of Vicky's creations!

So the verdict from the boys: the 8-year-old loved it, the almost-6-year-old did not. We also loved it, so the 6 year old is out of luck, I'm making it again!!

a very bad, poorly lit iPod photo, but here it is served up with the noodles!

Shrimp Laksa
Serves about 6

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 small red onion, finely diced

2 teaspoons fresh lemongrass, finely diced (I used a few long strands of fresh lime peel, knowing that cilantro would be added at the end, I read online that citrus peel + cilantro is a fair substitute although not exactly the same)

1-2 teaspoons red chili, chopped (I wasn't sure which type of chile, so I didn't use any)

2 teaspoon ginger, grated, DIVIDED

10-12 oz raw shrimp, halved lengthwise (we left them whole)

1 can coconut milk (400 ml)

1 liter chicken stock

1 tablespoon chunky peanut butter

4 teaspoons lime juice (I used juice from one half a lime)

3 teaspoons red curry paste (I used 2 teaspoons)

2 teaspoons fish sauce

4 oz sugar snap peas, thinly sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

4 green onion, sliced into 4 pieces lengthwise and then into long strings (this was hard, I did it the first time but next time I'll probably just chop them up)

handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

8 oz vermicelli thin rice noodles, cooked according to package directions and rinsed with cold water

sriracha, to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and cook onions over medium heat for 3 minutes and then add lemongrass, red chili and 1 teaspoon ginger and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. (I didn't read this, and just added everything together. It still turned out)

2. Add the coconut milk, red curry paste and peanut butter to pan, whisking until smooth.

3. Add the fish sauce, chicken stock, ginger, shrimp, sugar snap peas and red pepper. Cook until shrimp is pink and vegetables have cooked a little but are still crunchy.

4. Add lime juice, green onions and cilantro.

5. Serve with vermicelli noodles and add sriracha to taste.

C-3PO Pancakes

Santa brought my boys the A Star Wars Cookbook last year, and they have been having a blast with it! So far every recipe we've tried has been good, but I think our favorite has to be the C-3PO Pancakes. Yum. I think they would eat these almost every morning, alternating only with Princess Leia Danish Dos (that's right, they are rolls shaped like Leia's hair).

Not only does the cookbook have good recipes, the photos are particularly inspired. Princess Leia shooting her gun over a pile of Danish Dos, Han Solo squirting ketchup out of the Millennium Falcon onto one of his Han-Burgers. Fun! Buy the book for the pictures, keep it for the recipes! Your Star Wars fans will be ecstatic.

The boys think these look like C-3PO's eyes...

C-3PO Pancakes
Makes 8 pancakes

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cans (8 1/4-ounces each) pineapple rings
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
butter and maple syrup for serving

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Put the butter in a small saucepan and switch on the heat to low. When the butter has melted, turn off the heat. Let the butter cool slightly (5 minutes).

Meanwhile, open the cans of pineapple. Drain off the juice from the cans into the sink. Set aside.

Put the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed.

Break the eggs into a medium bowl. Add the milk and 4 tablespoons of the melted butter. Whisk until well mixed. Slowly whisk in the flour mixture until well blended.

With a pastry brush, lightly brush some of the remaining melted butter in a large skillet. Set the skillet on the stove and switch on the heat to medium-high.

Fill a 1/3-cup measuring cup with batter. When the skillet is hot, after 1 minute or so, pour in the batter. Cook the pancake until golden underneath and bubbles burst on the top, about 3 minutes.

Place 1 pineapple ring in the center of each pancake. Using a spatula, carefully flip the pancake. Cook until golden brown on the second side, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer the pancake to a baking sheet. Using pot holders, put the sheet in the oven. Repeat until all pancakes are cooked, then serve warm with butter and maple syrup.