Summer Omelette

Looking for a good summer breakfast?
Try cooking up some fresh zucchini and tomatoes in pesto and scallions, and mixing them into eggs for an omelette. Put grated parmesan and chopped fresh arugula inside.
Delicious!

Asparagus Salad

Somehow when I got fresh arugula from my dad's garden I was inspired to sautee some asparagus in garden-fresh herbs and make a salad. I put garlic, scallions, basil, oregano, salt, and olive oil in a pan with asparagus and let it cook.
I then added some goat cheese, heirloom tomatoes, avocado, raw pecans, fresh ground pepper, and sea salt to the pile of fresh arugula and asparagus (hard to see beneath all the other yummy stuff). I drizzled fancy sweet balsamic vinegar over it all, and it was amazing!

Tortillas

Tofu Stir Fry

The staple of any vegetarian's kitchen, right? Well it seems that I forgot about this for a while, but here's my recent take on it.

I dried out the tofu both by paper towel and in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Then I marinated it.
Marinade/Sauce:
-Low sodium tamari sauce (more flavorful!)
-Ginger garlic paste from an Indian grocery store
-Scallions
-Diced onions
-Red pepper flakes
-White wine
-Orange juice
-Sesame oil
-Water

Then I used the same sauce for the whole thing (fresh peas, carrots, onions, and cashews). All served over brown rice.

Baked shells with zucchini and mushrooms

When I was little my mom would make baked ziti, or quick lasagna, as we'd always call it. It was one of my favorite meals, but when I tried making it as an adult, I realized that my taste buds have matured beyond the rather plain flavors of that dish. I quickly set out to find a more "mature" version of this dish, and here's what I came up with.

Sautee onions, mushrooms, and zucchini (all chopped or sliced really small).
Mix ricotta, parmesan, pesto, a little milk, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Add sauteed veggies when cool. Mix these with the whole wheat pasta. Pour into a baking dish with oil on it. Then cover the top with sliced fresh mozzarella. Bake until golden brown.
Serve with warm tomato sauce on top or on the side. And a salad.

Trout with Couscous

I have recently become a fan of making different types of couscous with veggies and beans, cooked in broth. One day, while looking for something new to cook, I remembered the trout that I used to love eating at my grandparents' house. I set out to cook trout, which I hadn't eaten in years, and had no idea how to cook.

I ended up cooking the trout with citrus juices, garlic, and spices in a pan, and then toasting sliced almonds and spreading them on top. It was delicious!

Coconut Cookies

I bought a fantastic cookbook, called Good to the Grain. It's a whole grain baking book by Kim Boyce, that explains lots of information about baking with different types of flours. I love that it's not just whole wheat, but many other grains, too. Of course this inspired a trip to Whole Foods for different flours, and some other creative adventures (4-grain waffles yesterday...!).

This is the first recipe I tried, coconut cookies. It uses coconut flour, coconut milk, and shredded coconut for the flavor. Interestingly, there is no white flour in the recipe, only coconut and barley flour.

Banana Bread

Banana bread is a staple recipe in any kitchen, right? Well I have a recipe that I particularly like, and I often over-buy bananas so that I have a reason to make it. This time I made it in large muffin cups and in mini loaf pans (about the size of a large muffin).

I got these loaf pans at an outlet in Kittery, ME, and I love the excitement of making tiny little breads!
I missed the opportunity to photograph the muffins in the tin (or afterwards), but I did get a nice shot of them cooling upside down on my cutting board.

Pesto & Ricotta Pizza

It seems to be more and more often that I find myself looking at the basil and tomatoes in the store, and imagining up a tasty pizza creation...!

This time I thought I'd go for something a little bit different. I used a mix of ricotta and pesto as a base-layer instead of sauce (which I never actually use).

Here's the final product:
I was most of the way through assembling the pizza, and I just had to stop and take a picture because it looked so beautiful! This was before the final layer of cheese went on.
And for the pineapple-lover in the house, half was topped with small chunks of fresh pineapple.
Here's a basic summary of the layers for this pizza:
1. whole wheat crust (I used the same one from Trader Joe's that worked so well last time)
2. a tiny little bit of olive oil brushed on (probably could have skipped this)
3. blend of ricotta cheese, pesto, and a little bit of crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper (mixed in a bowl)
4. a little bit of shredded parmesan cheese
5. fresh basil, oregano, chives -- chopped finely (many thanks to my dad and his gardening skills)
6. diced garlic, ground black pepper
7. caramelized/sauteed onion
8. a variety of little heirloom tomatoes, sliced/diced
9. pineapple (on half)
10. diced fresh mozzarella, chevre goat cheese crumbles

Tuna Pasta Salad and Black Bean Salad

On a night when you can't decide on a good dinner plan, why not just make all your little favorites? It's still healthy even if you just make a bunch of sides, right? Well these actually seem to balance out, and make a delicious meal!


Tuna Pasta Salad:
whole wheat pasta
mayonnaise
fresh lime juice
seasoning
cilantro
red bell pepper
canned white tuna

Black Bean Salad:
can of black beans
tomatoes
red bell pepper
cilantro
avocado
fresh lime juice
balsamic vinegar
seasoning

Grilled Swordfish over Coscous and Greens

Couscous:
-leftover black bean salad
-seasoning
-whole wheat couscous made with broth
-chopped up red bell pepper
-lots of chopped cilantro and scallions

Okra

After seeing okra in the grocery store the other day, I have been tempted to make some on my own. I cut it the long way, so it'd be a bit more interesting. Sauteed it in garlic and seasoning in olive oil. Delicious!

Waffles!

I finally caved in and bought a waffle iron! In making the first batch of waffles, I decided to use an old family recipe for lemon waffles. It made for a delicious brunch, and I can't wait to try out more recipes in the future!
And inspired by a friend, I made fresh cinnamon whipped cream.

Blackberry Limeade with Fresh Mint

Juice with blackberry, lime, and fresh mint. Delicious!

Strawberry Pancakes

My favorite way to make pancakes is to use yogurt instead of milk, then add a splash of milk at the end to thin it out enough to spread out in the pan. It makes them fluffy and adds a nice taste. I also experimented with adding a little bit of coconut to the batter today, and it was delicious!
This is how thick the batter turns out.

Raspberry Blueberry Muffins

I'm still avoiding sugar, but trying to re-integrate it slowly. I woke up craving muffins, so set out to make something that would work for me. These muffins are made with splenda and honey, and use half whole wheat and half white flour. I modified a recipe I found online. It's amazing how infrequently I use a cookbook now!

I realized half-way into making my "blueberry" muffins, that I only had about 1/4 cup of blueberries left. Good thing I had some raspberries in the freezer!


Ready from the oven:
Delicious, and with just the right amount of whole wheat flour!

Fun Water

When I was in Mexico last summer, I called these delicious drinks on the street (and everywhere)--fun water. They had agua de fresa (strawberry), jamaica (hibiscus), tamarindo (tamarind) and many more. Every chance I got, I'd drink one of these.
Now that it's summer, it's time to start making these again here! The first of the season was strawberry.

Here's our homemade version. I think we've already gone through almost a liter of it today!
Ingredients:
-Strawberries
-Water
-Sugar
-Lemon (only in mine)
all to be mixed up in the blender, and served in a glass with ice.

Topical Popsicles: Mango Coconut

Could be the best yet!

INGREDIENTS:
-Mango (I used Trader Joe's frozen)
-Coconut Milk
-Plain Yogurt
-Milk
-Sugar

Sunday Cake

My grandfather taught me how to make this cake, and I totally forgot about it until I was going through my recipe book last night. I went out and bought a bundt pan, which I thought I was too young to own, and made it this afternoon. It's a pretty simple yellow cake with lemon, and so cool to know where it came from!


It's actually not too sweet (just how my grandfather liked), so it's a great coffee cake, or accompaniment to fruit for a dessert.

Summer Pasta

I know it's not really summer yet (especially in terms of produce), but the beautiful weather makes me feel like eating summer foods.

So here's a great summer pasta, using tomatoes, zucchini, and basil (among other things).

INGREDIENTS:
whole wheat pasta
fresh basil
baby tomatoes
onions
garlic
dried oregano
zucchini
olive oil, salt, pepper
fresh mozzarella
parmesan
shrimp

mixing everything together

Pizza

Walking through Trader Joes today I somehow felt like I couldn't just walk away from that giant box of fresh basil in front of me... So I had to find a way to use it! I settled on pizza, and just a couple minutes after that encountered the pizza dough. Wow, what a way to save time, I thought. I could even make pizza for lunch! So here I go cheating and using store-bought pizza crust, but using that basil I really wanted.

Like many great foods, this one started with chopped basil and tomatoes.


I also sauteed onions, zucchini, and garlic in a pan.

Then I brushed the crust with olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, and dried oregano, and I added the toppings (including fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, and parmesan).

In the end, it was amazing. All that basil really blended well with everything else, and the whole wheat store bought crust was actually quite good.

Huevos en Chile (Eggs in Chili)

While in Mexico last summer, I discovered a new favorite food. Thanks to Luis's family, I have learned how to make it on my own! It starts with roasted tomatoes and chiles, which are made into a sauce, and put over eggs, then it's served with beans, tortillas, and avocado.

The first step is roasting the chiles, garlic, and onions. I do this on the stove in a pan that gets to be really hard to clean. They're put into the blender with some water while the tomatoes cook, and the eggs are cooked (with some diced onions).



After flipping the eggs, they should look like this:

When the tomatoes are done, they're added to the blender with some seasoning to make:

Then everything is added into the pan to simmer (I break up the eggs first):

While it's simmering, there's time to make tortillas!

Sadly, when everything was all done, we were too hungry to stop to take photos, but I did stop to take a picture of the aftermath. What a mess!

Morning Coffee

I love the way coffee looks in these cups.

Pasta with Salmon and Asparagus in a Smoked Gouda Sauce

Never made a gouda sauce? Well neither had I. But when I walked by the gouda cheese in the store, I was inspired, so I set out to try it.

SAUCE:
-Mushrooms and garlic sauteed in butter
-milk
-grated (or cut up tiny in a cuisinart) gouda
-tiny but of flour
-lots of fresh basil and scallions
-salt and pepper
-steamed asparagus
-cooked salmon



The finished product:

It was a nice change from our usual pastas, and the smoked flavor of the gouda complemented the salmon and the mushrooms really well. The only problem was, we had too much sauce for the pasta we cooked. Guess we're having leftovers!

I don't get credit for the salad, but it was a great accompaniment to the pasta.