Greek Salad (p.248)

We felt like a light lunch today. We had some cherry tomatoes and romaine, and my mind went to a Greek or Turkish salad. Since it was Saturday, a trip to the farmers market in Del Ray sounded like a good solution. We found some fantastic Persian cucumbers that were perfect for this. We think we like them even better than hothouse cucumbers. No seeds, no waste, delicious. Add feta, kalamata olives, and a fresh herbed dressing and yum!

I admit that I did not follow the recipe exactly. I did not have roasted red peppers packed in oil, and I opted to use some shallot instead of red onion because I knew the flavor would be mild. Because it’s early in the season, I used some fresh oregano from the herb garden but opted not to take too much off the plant. I added some dried oregano to taste to the dressing to get it to the right place. We microplaned the garlic, which was great. There was nothing particularly tricky, and it’s a very typical dressing. But if you don’t have a Greek dressing in your head, this does the trick. I think the secret ingredient was mint.

Oh. And Bruce wanted radishes (good addition) and a cornichon (bad choice).

Smashed Potatoes (p.310) & Sautéed Snow Peas (p.311)

Playing catch-up here. We made two more dishes a week ago: Smashed Potatoes (p.310) and Sautéed Snow Peas with Lemon and Parsley (p.311). They were both excellent. Nothing tricky to report. The potatoes really would serve 4. The snow peas we thought should be made with a pound of peas. Also, the peas were good cold to snack on; wonder if they would be a good salad portion as a leftover.

This is the finished meal with a freshly baked chicken (spatchcocked, of course).  Mmmm.

Potato Vindaloo pp. 63-4

Hey bloggers, how’s it going?  It’s been pretty quiet here on the boards.  I challenge us all to post once more in April!  

I made yummy vindaloo last night.  It has onions, sweet potatoes, and red potatoes in about equal portions.  Mmm, onions. 

The recipe asks for paprika, but I used a medium-hot chili powder I had

 from Penzey’s.  It ended up at a good heat level for me.  

You add canned tomatoes and the spices and let it simmer.  I think the magic comes from adding red wine vinegar, and then later finishing with chopped cilantro.  It was warm and savory and just tasty. Perfect for when it’s sleeting in April.  Some yogurt is nice to contrast with the heat.  

Zucchini Quesadillas p. 368

Not fancy but fast and tasty, that’s the story here.  This literally took less than 15 minutes start to finish.  You slice and sauté the zucchini, then add a little garlic and cumin.  Then you add that to the cheeses and sauté the quesadilla.  I used cheddar instead of Monterey Jack because cheddar is my friend.  

So, really simple, but the zucchini tasted great in the dish and the spices add something so that it’s not just cheesiness.  I will make this again as a quick lunch or dinner, and not just because I have ingredients left! 

It’s Spring Break so maybe I’ll find the time to make another recipe this week.  Or maybe grand-nephew #2 will be born... 

Stir-Fried Tofu and Bok Choy (p.58-59)

I had Tofu and Baby Bok Choy out a restaurant last week and decided that I wanted to try it at home.

Above is the restaurant's version.

I cooked the rice (sushi rice) using our Zojirushi rice cooker.
I bought baby bok choy instead of 1 big head.

I let the tofu sit for longer than 20 minutes - but that certainly didn't hurt anything

 

As suggested, I made the sauce and combined the scallions, garlic and ginger before I started cooking

I cooked everything in a 12-inch skillet - but not nonstick - at it was still okay

 I liked it a lot and will make it again (I served it over the rice - which is a bit hard to see)

Shakshuka! p. 390

Raise your hand if you’ve made or eaten shakshuka before!  Me neither.  But it sounded like fun.   It is apparently Tunisian.  I made a half recipe - the full recipe has 8 eggs. You sauté onions and yellow peppers, then add diced tomatoes and jarred peppers.  It’s flavored with garlic, cumin, and turmeric.  

So you cook the sauce for a bit, then purée about half of it in the blender.  After returning the sauce to the pan, you make wells and crack eggs into them, then cover and simmer until the whites are cooked.  It said 5-10 minutes, and it was definitely more like 10.  Then you sprinkle with cilantro and a bit of feta cheese.

I served it over a toasted English muffin.  Kind of like a messy eggs Benedict.

It was yummy.  Lots of flavor in the sauce, and the egg was cooked just right for me (i.e. just barely runny). I’m excited for the leftovers and will likely make this again.  Couple of action shots below.

Eggplant Involtini (page 35)

Made this on Sunday during the snowstorm - the authors think of this as a summer dish, but I think that it is a great winter dish.

The idea is to bake the eggplant and then fill it with cheese (no eggs) and just finish it in the broiler.  You brush the eggplant with oil - I used olive oil.

The tomato sauce is from a 28-oz can of plum tomatoes.  I broke them up using my hands.

The filling....I used part-skin ricotta

I was worried that my cast iron fry pan would be too small (it's only a 10"), but it worked well.

Here is the finished dish:

M suggested that it would go well with pasta... I tried that last night - cooking some spaghetti.  It worked well.