Summer and Fall Flavors

To me, nothing beats the summer flavors of tomato and basil. A simple caprese salad (tomato, basil, mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil) is one of the most satisfyingly delicious meals you can eat. And after purchasing an additional 20 pounds of tomatoes from our CSA, Brendan and I had our fill of the tomato-basil combo. But just as satisfying as those summer flavors is the warm taste and smell of fall vegetables being roasted in the oven, with just a hint of olive oil, salt, and pepper. This post is a tribute to the best of summer and best of fall flavors.  

Best of Summer: Tomato-Basil Quinoa
Serves 4
Ingredients:
-1 cup quinoa
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
-1 tablespoon tomato paste
-3 small tomatoes, diced
-1 bunch of swiss chard, chopped
-1/4 cup basil, chopped
-1 15oz. can low-sodium navy beans, drained & rinsed
-Parmesan cheese
-salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Cook quinoa according to package
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and stir for another 1 minute. 
3. Add the diced tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes
4. Add chopped swiss chard and cook until wilted (3-5 minutes)
5. Toss in the basil, beans, and cooked quinoa. Mix well to make sure everything is heated through (particularly the beans).
6. Serve with Parmesan cheese grated on top. 

Best of Fall: Roasted Harvest Vegetables 
Modified from: Fight Back With Food, by Editors of Reader's Digest
Serves: 6

Ingredients: 
-1 pound brussels sprouts, halved
-1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
-1 head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-size pieces
-2 apples, chopped into large chunks
-1 onion, quartered (skin still on)
-3 tablespoons olive oil (remember, 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon)
-1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
-2 green onions, sliced
-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
-1 tablespoon dried rosemary
-2 teaspoons garlic powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix brussels sprouts with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Mix well.
3. Spread sprouts on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until browned and crispy. 
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for squash, cauliflower, and apple. Spread onion quarters with remaining 1 teaspoon of olive oil and roast on the corners of one of the baking sheets.
*My oven fits two baking sheets, so I was able to do two rounds of roasting veggies.
5. When onions are done, peel off the skin and chop the roasted onion into bite size pieces. 
6. Combine all roasted veggies (and apple!) in a large bowl. 
7. Add remaining ingredients to the bowl (sun-dried tomatoes through pepper) and mix well. 
8. Serve hot or at room temperature. 

Best of Summer & Fall: Roasted Beet Salad with Basil Dressing
Modified from Cooking Light
Serves 6

Ingredients for salad
-4 beets, roasted and sliced 
-1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
-fronds from fennel bulb, chopped
-1 small head of endive, sliced
-1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
-6 cups baby spinach, or any other type of salad greens
-3 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese (or whatever type of cheese you prefer)
-salt & pepper, to taste

Ingredients for salad dressing
**The salad dressing is out of this world, crazy-good. Be prepared to fall in love. 
-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
-1 tablespoon honey
-1 teaspoon grated orange rind
-orange juice from 1/2 an orange (should be about 2 tablespoons)
-2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
-2 teaspoons olive oil
-2 teaspoons dijon mustard
-1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
You can follow the exact directions from Cooking Light, but I recommend my way of roasting the beets. And you can add the cheese at the very end.
To roast beets: 
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Place whole beets (with skin) in an oven-proof container, with just a bit of water in the bottom, covered with aluminum foil. 
3. Roast for 50 minutes. 
4. When you can easily pierce the beets with a fork, the beets are cooked. 
5. Let the beets cool. 
6. Once you can handle the beets, use your hands to peel off the skin--it should slide right off. 
7. Cut the beets into slices for the salad.

Eat Your Colors

I apologize for such a belated post. As you can imagine, the past week of finishing up work in time for vacation can be quite hectic and to be honest, I just did not have time to finish this post. But, here it is--Eat Your Colors!

You have probably heard it before--eat as many colors of fruits and vegetables as possible. Eat a rainbow. Sure it may sound silly, but this motto has merit. Different colors mean different nutrients. Each color helps your body in a unique way. For example, red fruits and veggies help your heart and blood system, whereas green fruits and veggies help your bones. Do you see where I'm going with this? That perhaps it is a good idea to eat a variety of colors of fruits and veggies? Well it is. Remember what you learned in elementary school...you want your plate to look like a rainbow (or to have at least three different colors present at all times). During the holiday season, it is especially difficult to eat healthfully. But, if you try to keep as many different colors of fruits and veggies on your plate, then at least you'll be giving your body some of the TLC it needs during a time of cookies, cakes, and other not-the-best-foods-for-us. 

In need of some recipes to make the rainbow on your plate complete? I have orange, yellow, green, and purple recipes below! 

Harvest Medley (from Southern Cooking)
Serves 6
Ingredients:
-1 winter squash (I used a sugar pumpkin, but you could use butternut, acorn, delicata, et.), cut into chunks
-2 sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
-2 tablespoons canola oil
-1 apple, chopped

-3 tablespoons butter, melted

-1/4 cup honey

-1/4 cup orange juice

-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

-1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

-1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted (if desired)

-canola oil spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. 

2. Combine winter squash and 1 tablespoon oil in a bowl and mix. Spread onto a baking sheet. 

3. Combine sweet potatoes and 1 tablespoon oil in a bowl and mix. Spread onto another baking sheet.

4. Bake squash for 10-15 minutes; bake sweet potatoes for 15-20 minutes (should be able to easily pierce with a fork).

5. Meanwhile combine melted butter, OJ, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30-60 seconds, until mixture starts to bubble and is hot to touch. 

6. Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with spray oil. Combine the squash and sweet potatoes in the baking dish. Pour the butter mixture evenly over. 

7. Bake for 15 minutes and then sprinkle chopped apple on top. 

8. Serve warm and sprinkle with walnuts. 

Roasted Squash and Brown Rice Casserole with Lemon-Tahini Sauce (adapted from Bon Appetit)
Serves 2
Ingredients:
-1 winter squash, cut into small chunks (I used butternut, but again you can use whatever type you want!)
-1 tablespoon canola oil
-juice from 1 lemon
-1 tablespoon tahini (sesame seed paste...it's what you use to make hummus)
-1/2 cup uncooked brown rice (or any other grain you want--barley, bulgur, quinoa)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit; cook rice according to package
2. Combine squash with oil and spread on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes, checking every 15 minutes to give the mixture a stir.
3. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and tahini. Mix well. 
4. When squash is done roasting, drizzle the tahini sauce on top and mix well. 
5. In a bread pan, layer the brown rice on the bottom and top with the squash mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven.
6. Serve warm!

Brasicca Oleracea Salad
Serves 2
Ingredients:
-1 head of romanesco, cauliflower, or broccoli chopped into chunks
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
-8 black oil-cured olives, pitted and chopped
-1 tablespoon capers
-1/4 cup parsley, chopped (you can add more or less parsley, depending on your taste) 
-2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. 
2. Combine romanesco/cauliflower/broccoli with oil and ground pepper in a medium bowl. Coat well. 
3. Spread mixture onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes (check every 10 minutes and once the veggie starts to brown, it's done).
4. Combine remaining ingredients with roasted veggie in a bowl. Serve at room temperature


Red Cabbage and Apple Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients:
-1 red cabbage, thinly sliced

-2 apples (I recommend honey crisp, gala, fuji, or golden delicious), thinly sliced

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-2 1/2 teaspoons salt 

-1 teaspoon fennel seeds

-4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

-ground pepper

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat
2. Add the sliced cabbage and cook for about 10 minutes--stirring constantly--until cabbage starts to wilt and turns a deep purple color
3. Add the apples, fennel seeds, salt, and cider vinegar. Cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes--stirring occasionally--until apples are soft 
4. Top with freshly ground pepper and serve warm

What To Do With a Head of Cauliflower

To some, this post may be incredibly random. Well, it kind of is. I had no intention of dedicating an entire post to cauliflower; but this past week I found myself with an excess of the pearly white vegetable chillin' in my fridge. So, after making four incredibly delectable dishes (five, if you include the soup Brendan made for my birthday), I thought that I would share my newfound appreciation for the overlooked, easily forgotten, wannabe-broccoli, that is cauliflower. For those of you who insist that you hate cauliflower, I have one thing to say to you: come on now, are you 5 years old? Seriously, what mature, intelligent, adult pulls the "mommy, I don't like it" line (said in a whiny voice) anymore? Grow a pair, and start opening your taste buds up to new experiences. Who knows, perhaps trying new foods will inspire you to be more adventurous in other parts of your life...just saying ;)


In order to explain why I had so much cauliflower at my house, I need to quickly tell you one awesome aspect about my job. As you know, I work for a program that coordinates and teaches healthy cooking courses for low-income families. We have a relatively small office, with not nearly enough pantry or refrigerator space for the copious amounts of ingredients we use for and bring back from these classes. So on Fridays we do a clean-out of the office refrigerator, and anything that is going bad or won't be used the next week, we get to take home. Last Friday, I called dibs on the cauliflower - no recipes in mind, no concrete plans of how to use it. I brought my bounty home, but quickly realized I wouldn't be doing any real cooking over the weekend, as it was my birthday - I was either eating out, or others were cooking for me. For the time being, cauliflower had to be put on the back burner.


Then on Sunday, Brendan cooked a wonderful three-course meal for my birthday. The first course was a Cauliflower Soup with White Truffle Oil (snazzy, I know, and DELICIOUS too!). 

But Brendan hadn't seen the large amount of cauliflower already in my fridge, and therefore bought his own head of cauliflower in order to make the soup. The leftover cauliflower, not used in the soup, was added to my stockpile of the crunchy white vegetable. Even more cauliflower with which to experiment...


I doubt that many of you find yourselves with an overflow of cauliflower in your refrigerators. As I referenced above, cauliflower is not a go-to veggie for most people. But take it from me, the recipes I discovered - while trying to use up my cauliflower supply - are mouth-watering and easy to make. For those of you who are intrigued, here's what you can do with a head of cauliflower:

Dinner #1: Cauliflower Steaks with Olive-Relish over Sauteed Kale 

(adapted from Bon Appetit)

It looks complicated because there are so many components, but I promise this is actually a rather quick meal to make!

Serves 1

For Olive Relish:
-5 cured black olives, pitted & minced
-1 garlic clove, minced
-1 tablespoon capers
-handful of parsley, chopped finely
-1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
-1/2 tablespoon olive oil
...Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl



For Cauliflower:

-1/4 cauliflower head, cut into thick pieces (i.e. "steaks")
...Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
...Sautee cauliflower in pan with a little bit of olive oil, until golden brown on both sides (about 2 minutes each side
...Transfer cauliflower to baking sheet & bake in oven for 20 minutes



For Tomato Sauce:
-1 plum tomato, diced
-2 garlic cloves, minced
...Sautee garlic cloves (use same pan from cauliflower) with a bit of olive oil for about 1 minute
...Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes become a sauce-like consistency (10-15 minutes)
...Keep warm over low heat 


For Sauteed Kale:
-2 cups kale, chopped
-1 small shallot, minced
-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
...Sautee shallots in pan over medium heat, until translucent (about 5 minutes)
...Add red pepper flakes, stir for 1 minute
...Add kale, cook until wilted

To Serve:

-Layer 1: sauteed kale

-Layer 2: tomato sauce

-Layer 3: cauliflower steak

-Layer 4: olive relish

Top with fresh grated parmesan or pecorino cheese!

Lunch: Cauliflower Tabouli Salad

(Adapted from Moosewood Cookbook: Cooking for Health)

Serves 1

Mix together: 2 cups cauliflower (chopped), 1/2 plum tomato (chopped), 5 cured black olives (minced), 1 clove of garlic (minced), large handful of parsley (chopped), 1/4 avocado (chopped), 1-2 scallions (chopped), 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil (or more to taste), pinch of salt & pepper

Eat with pita bread!

Dinner #2: Sicilian Cauliflower Pasta

(adapted from Food Network Magazine)

Serves 2

...Cook penne pasta (or any other kind of your choosing) according to package - reserve 1/4 cup pasta water after pasta is cooked

...Sauté  1 garlic clove (minced) and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes in 1 tablespoon olive oil, over medium heat (about 1 minute)

...Add 1-2 cups cauliflower (chopped - small pieces) and small handful of golden raisins to pan; sauté until cauliflower is cooked through (7-10 minutes) 

...Add 1/4 cup parsley (minced) and 1/4 cup basil (minced) to pan, cook for 1 more minute

...Add cooked pasta and reserved pasta water to pan; combine everything well

...Serve with fresh grated parmesan/pecorino cheese

*try adding toasted walnuts or pecans!

Breakfast: Cauliflower Egg Scramble

Serves 2

...In medium skillet, combine 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and 2 scallions (chopped), cook for 2 minutes

...Add 1 1/2 cups cauliflower (finely chopped), cook for 5 minutes (until cauliflower becomes tender)

...Add 1/2 plum tomato (chopped), cook for additional 2 minutes, then add small handful of parsley (minced)

...Whisk 4 eggs together, then add to skillet and cook until eggs are done

...Add a pinch of salt and pepper, optional garnish of extra parsley and/or fresh grated cheese

*Tastes great when served with cheesy grits or toast & jam!

Show Some Love

Why is cooking so enjoyable? Obviously, there is the fact that the end result of cooking is a delicious array of food you get to eat. But why else? Well...perhaps because cooking is a way of expressing your feelings. If you are having a bad day, cooking can help you decompress, release some frustration, and (sometimes) give you that sense of accomplishment you've been craving all day long. If you're feeling creative, cooking is a great outlet to experiment with new ideas and unleash your imagination - sure, the dishes may not always come out great, but at least you're trying. And most importantly, when you want to show people that you love and care about them, then make them a meal. Cooking involves time, effort, and energy, so it is a fabulous way of saying "you're worth it" to whomever  - be it your family, friends, significant other, or you. 


You don't need to be a professional in order to cook for others; and at this point you should know that it is O.K. to make mistakes. Whether the menu is as easy as scrambled eggs with toast, or as complicated as handmade pasta with five-herb pesto, the important thing is the simple act of cooking  - it shows that you care.  Everyone will be grateful for, and impressed by, the effort you put into cooking even if the dish comes out of the oven in flames. Sure, you could skip this minor embarrassment by just going to a restaurant; but, nothing says "i love you", "you're a great friend" or "thanks for always being there for me" like a homemade meal.


This weekend I had some love to show. I was reunited with a couple of dance friends from Bates, and rather than spend an excessive amount of money at a crowded restaurant, we made a stellar three-course meal together. Everyone contributed to the menu: Sarah made a decadent cheese platter with crackers to start; Kate brought angel food cake with fresh blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream for dessert; and I was in charge of the main course - handmade sweet potato gnocchi, a veggie side dish, and a salad. Though I was the primary "chef" in the kitchen, I was assisted by two wonderful sous chefs, without whom the meal would not have been possible. We washed down each course with a glass of wine - white to start and red to finish. Not only did we have a wonderful time catching up on life, but we also had a fun, intimate, and superbly flavorful night because of the food we cooked and ate.  


The next time you step into your kitchen or have plans to see someone special, make sure you show some love. Cook something...anything. Below is the main course from my dinner this weekend (with links to some of the recipes). It was a wonderful meal and certainly showed how much we all care about each other. Feel free to use the recipes during your next dinner date. But in the meantime, what is a dish that you usually make when you want to show someone some love?  

Sweet Potato Gnocchi from the blog Kath Eats Real Food

*I used dried rosemary instead of fresh and I added about 1 tablespoon of maple syrup to the gnocchi while they sauteed in the pan

Roasted Cauliflower, Raisins, and Vinaigrette from Mark Bittman's book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian 

*the recipe I used does NOT include anchovies, so just ignore that part of the directions from the link above

Side Salad: a few handfuls of leafy greens (you choose) + 1 cup chickpeas + 1 orange (sliced) + 1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese + 1/4 red onion (sliced) + whatever vinaigrette you like!