Dip Baby Dips

And... we're back.  Sort of.  Amy and I have been severely MIA lately.  It's summer.  Who wouldn't rather be out in the fresh summer air sipping wine on patios and enjoying dinner on decks?  In fact, dinner what?  The summer heat has me craving things like fresh vegetables and fruits... snacking items really.  In fact, I have lost about five pounds since summer started. 

 

YAHOO!  for swim suit season!

 

I also started a new job about four weeks ago, which has me working 50+ hours a week.  I landed a Chief of Staff to the CEO type role at a small start up and couldn't be happier.  It's exactly what I was looking for and the role has turned into so much more than I expected.  Career Kelley has arrived!  Which between my new job, my workout schedule, my girlfriends and my man candy, there isn't much time to be had in the kitchen.

 

I made these delish dips for a Memorial Day BBQ at my beau's.  They are amazing.  If you have to make one, make the corn salsa and eat it for lunch and dinner.  It's awesome. 

 

 

First up:  Chickpea and red pepper salsa: (from Real Simple)

• 1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, rinsed and roughly chopped
• 4 scallions
• 1 cup arugula, chopped
• 2 jarred roasted red peppers, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• salt and pepper to taste

mix all ingredients together.  Serve with pita chips

 

Homemade Hummus, created by me:

• 1 15 ounce can of chickpeas
• 1/4 cup of cilantro
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 1/8 cup of fresh lemon juice

puree all ingredients in a food processor, blend until mostly smooth

 

Roasted Red Pepper Salsa (as adapted from Tasty Kitchen)

1-½ whole Large Red Bell Peppers

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

12 whole Green Onions

1 can (about 3 Oz. Can) Chopped Black Olives

⅓ cups Parmesan Cheese

4-½ Tablespoons Lime Juice

3 Tablespoons Fresh Cilantro, Chopped

½ teaspoons Salt

¼ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper

Mix all ingredients together. 

 

 

Corn and Red Pepper Relish (as adapted from Tasty Kitchen):

2 ears Corn, Kernels Removed (or frozen corn, defrosted)

1 whole Red Pepper, Very Finely Diced

¼ cups Red Onion, Finely Diced

1 Tablespoon Minced Cilantro

2 Tablespoons Cider Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Turbinado Sugar

2 dashes Hot Pepper Sauce

Salt To Taste

 

mix ingredients together and enjoy. 

 

Tomato and Olive Stuffed Portobellos

Portobello mushrooms are an obsession of mine.  In fact, ANY sort of mushroom is an obsession of mine.  While in NYC two weeks ago, I ordered an appetizer of polenta, stuffed with Gorgonzola, topped with roasted mushrooms and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.  It was amazing.  Drool worthy.  I have been thinking about making it at home ever since, but to be honest, it's amazing how quickly time moves.  I haven't had much time to whip up any masterpieces in the kitchen lately.  I feel as though most of the things I have been cheffing up have been easy, on the fly, weekday meals.  I'm really craving a night in the kitchen, followed by a dinner I am proud of, served to a deserving soul.  But honestly, when the weather is awesome, wouldn't you rather be out dining al fresco?  Or enjoying a glass of wine on the water?

As usual, I digress.  Back to the homemade portobello mushrooms.

Tomato and Olive Stuffed Portobella Mushrooms (as adapted from Eating Well.)

•2/3 cup chopped plum tomatoes

•1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese (or mozzeralla)
•1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives
•1 teaspoon minced garlic
•2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
•1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, or 1/8 teaspoon dried
•1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
•4 portobello mushroom caps, 5 inches wide
•2 tablespoons lemon juice
•2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

You can grill or broil these - so pick your method and fire it up. In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, cheese, olives, garlic, 1 tsp of the olive oil, pepper and rosemary into a bowl. 

In another bowl, combine 1 tsp of the olive oil, lemon juice and soy sauce.  Remove the stems from the caps and wash well.  You can spoon out the gills if you want, but I like these, so I just wash them well.  Pat dry.  Cover in marinade, brushing both sides and toss onto the grill or into your broiler.  Grill until soft, about five minutes. 

Drain any liquids from the caps and then stuff with your tomato/olive mixture.  Back into the broiler or grill they go.  Cook long enough for cheese to melt.

And dinner is served!!  I love arugala, so I served mine with a messy side salad.  I love this vegetarian option.  It's filling and tasty and best of all, very low in calories.  The kalamatas add a nice salty touch and surprisingly, the soy marinade holds up well through the cooking process. 

Roasted Vegetable Tomato Pasta

I think I crossed a line in making this dish.

This dish calls for vegetables to be roasted at extremely high heat for long periods of time.  Which might not be that big of an issue for most people.  But I chose to make this dish on one of the only hot, humid summer days we've seen in Boston so far. 

And I live in 300 square feet. 

Bad idea on paper.  Even worse idea in reality.

Making this dish filled my tummy with a delicious meal and my fridge with lunch leftovers, but it also made for a very uncomfortable night of sleeping.  Why do I torture myself?  Can't I order takeout like normal Beacon Hillers?

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables:

• 2 zucchinis, chopped in chunks
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 eggplant, chopped
• 1 or 2 tbsp EVOO
• 4 roma tomatoes, quartered
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 box of pasta - a sauce catching noodle
• Salt/Pepper

The chopping is the most tedious part of this recipe.  Preheat your oven to 400 and start chopping up all your vegetables.  Tomatoes go into a baking dish to roast and the zucchinis, eggplants and onion (tossed with EVOO) go on a rimmed baking sheet. Salt the tomatoes a bit and sprinkle with basil or oregano.

 

 

 

It doesn't really matter which one you roast first.  I did the tomatoes first and then tossed in the vegetables.  Flip a couple times.  You want to roast them for about 35 minutes, giving them a bit of carmelization.  While you're roasting, fire up a salted pot of water and start cooking your pasta.

 



Confession: I ate a lot of these straight off the pan. I love roasted vegetables. Or any vegetable for that matter...

 

 

When the tomatoes are done roasting, they go into a food processor for a few quick pulses until they are pureed.  Life just got easier for me, as my mom and her fiance got me a pretty red food processor for my birthday.  Woo!  It has a much bigger capacity than my mini one and doesn't take up all that much room in my cabinets.

 

 

Now comes the easy part - in a bowl, add your vegetables and tomato puree.  Add in pasta one cup at a time until you reach the desired mix.  I had extra pasta, as I didn't want pasta that didn't feel as though it was covered in sauce.  Sauce is the most important part - pasta is just a vessel in which to shovel lots of sauce into your mouth.  Yep, I said it.

 

Best part of this - low calorie, great caramelized flavor from the vegetables and a very control amount of sodium.  YUM!

 

Lazy, lazy picture taking these days.

 

But delicious!

Roasted Bell Pepper Soup

This was really tasty. I modified a recipe from the complementary Lunds & Byerly's Real Food magazine. This recipe is perfect for meatless Mondays! The acidity reminded me a lot of my favorite Tomato-Basil soup.

Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups roasted red peppers (from jars)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 T honey
1/2 cup sour cream or crème fraiche (plus more for garnish)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
dash of salt
1/2 cup fresh basil (roughly chopped or julienned)


Saute the onion with heated oil in a Dutch oven for five minutes. Toss in the peppers (drained) and vegetable broth. Cook for 10 minutes in a covered Dutch oven on medium low heat.

Next, blend in a food processor or blender. Once pureed, put the mixture back in the Dutch oven on low heat. Add in the honey and sour cream (or crème fraiche). Mix well with a spoon or whisk.

Serve warm with the fresh basil and a dollop of sour cream (or crème fraiche) in each bowl. The basil was really delicious in this soup.

Portobello Mushroom Stroganoff

I'm addicted to the Haymarket Farmer's Market.  Yes, you Bostonians know which one I am talking about.  The one near Fanueil Hall that trashes up the streets and brings that dead fish smell to the city.  Yes, that one.  Now that my typical grocery trip is comprised primarily of produce, I am at an advantage having this market so close to both my work and home.  This market has a reputation for having some less than desirable produce.  In fact, in past experience, I myself have fallen victim to cutting open moldy bell peppers and having produce go bad the very next day.

But I am telling you folks, it's hella cheap.  Insanely cheap.  Out of your mind, are you Shaw's folks fricken' kidding me cheap. 

I have gotten less than desirable produce from Shaw's as well.  And paying $4 for eggplant is hot damn ludacris.

Anyways, long story short.  I grabbed a $20 from the ATM and headed over to Haymarket last Friday.  I left the market with two dollars and about four bags of groceries.  Everything from red/yellow/green peppers to more basil than you can handle to 2 pounds of tomatoes to rosemary to portobello mushrooms and scallions to onions and more.  At Shaw's this loot would have easily run you $30+.  Conservatively.  I love a good deal.  And because I am more familiar with produce now, I can easily spot the good stuff, over the stuff about to expire. 

Haymarket, I love you.

I took those portobellos and whipped up a stroganoff.  Because the real recipe is loaded with butter and sour cream, I adapted it to be less calories.  I barely noticed the difference.

Portobello Mushroom Stroganoff (All recipes.com)

• 1 tbsp butter or EVOO
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3/4 pound portobello mushrooms, sliced (About two large)
• 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 16 ounces plain yogurt
• 4 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 8 ounces egg noodle, or other swirly noodle. 

 

Fire up a salted pot of water and get your pasta going.  Once that's going, heat 1 tbsp of butter or EVOO and start sauteing your onions.  Go about five minutes and add in your sliced mushrooms.  Saute until soft, remove from pan and set aside in a bowl.

Add your vegetable broth to the pan and be sure to scrap up all of those scrumptious brown bits from the pan.  Bring this to a boil and let it reduce by about 1/3.

Add back in your onion and mushroom mixture.

 

In a side bowl, mix your yogurt and flour well.  Add to broth mixture.

 

Allow mixture to thicken slightly over a medium to medium low heat.  This should just take a few minutes.  Add in chopped parsley and salt and pepper to your tasting. 

Serve over noodles and presto - dinner is served. 

 

 

 

Blueberry & Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these Blueberry & Chocolate Chip Muffins for our morning Easter celebration. They were really easy. I modified this Dark Chocolate Blueberry Muffins recipe from How Sweet It Is.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup blueberries


Combine the first six ingredients.
When well mixed, add in the egg, butter, milk, and vanilla extract. Use a whisk to mix. Then, fold in the chocolate chips and blueberries. Pour the mixture into muffin liners in a muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes. Do the toothpick test.


Isn't that easy? They were really delicious, especially when they were still warm.

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Tomatoes

The week I left for Thailand was a very busy week.  I had a full fridge, but also a busy social calendar.  As I was preparing to leave Friday morning, I took a look in my fridge and thought, what a waste.  I had gorgeous tomatoes, goat cheese, fresh arugala, herbs.... so many things that would clearly not make it to the other side of being gone for 11 days. 

So I did what any self respecting person would do.  I cheffed and froze.  Cheffed and froze. Which means that I threw together a pasta dish I had been meaning to make and I literally put everything else into the freezer.  Herbs.  Cheese.  Ricotta.  Leftovers.  In it all well.

It's awesome being single and getting to make judgment calls like this. 

With everything packed and ready to go for Thailand, I whipped out the i4 and got to work on a recipe I had been drooling over at The Chubby Cook.  I haven't met Scott, but I consistently drool over the amazing creations that come out of his kitchen.  And his food photography is top notch.  Head over there and prepare to get hungry.

Pasta with Goat Cheese, Tomatoes and Argula (as adapted from The Chubby Cook)

• 1 box rotini or other pasta which will catch the sauce
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, rinsed and dried, or four medium size tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 ounces goat cheese
• 2 cups loosely packed arugula
• Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper

See what I am talking about here?  These tomatoes were gorgeous and just asking to be cheffed up.  It would have been a crying shame to let them go bad.  If you can't find cherry tomatoes (neither Trader Joes, nor Shaw's had any!), you can go with four or so really good looking tomatoes.  When sliced, try to retain the juices, this is a key element in making the sauce. 

You know the drill - heat a tablespoon of EVOO in a pan.  Once it's hot, add in the tomatoes.  Keep these moving around the pan so they don't burn.  The juices will start to loosen out of the slices and the tomatoes will begin to soften. If you're using cherry or grape tomatoes, some will start to burst.  Cook about six minutes and add in the garlic for another few minutes.   There's no science to it, so feel it out.

Now it's time to add in the goat cheese.  You're going to go from red to pink almost immediately.  I didn't need any extra salt, but it did definitely need some fresh ground black pepper.  Depending on how thin your sauce is at this point, add your reserved pasta water to achieve desired consistency.  I didn't need any at all.  Remove from heat and add in argula.  Stir to wilt it a bit into the sauce.   

Take your pasta in bowl, add in the sauce.... and

SERVE! 

 I topped with a bit of parmesan. And at 9 o'clock in the morning, right before I left on a 20 hour trip to Thailand, I ate a bowl of this. Awesome. It's fresh. It's light feeling. It's tasty and I can't believe how fast it all came together. I packaged the leftover into tupperwares and into the freezer they went. You know, along with the rest of the goat cheese, ricotta, herbs...  I then quickly did some dishes, wiped down the kitchen and plopped on the couch for a moment of peace before heading off on the vacation of a lifetime.

Asian Cucumber Salad

I'm in Thailand now, but leading up to my trip, I've a)been watching what I eat and b) been feeling very inspired by anything to do with Asia.  Here's a recipe that I cheffed up out of the Food & Wine Cookbook.  It made a lot of cucumbers and I portioned them out for weekday snacks.  It's actually Joann Chang's recipe, so I knew it had to be good!

Asian Cucumber Salad

• 2 cucumbers, sliced
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 4 scallions

See food porn - 2011 F&W cookbook..... yum.

Start by chopping up your cucumbers.  The recipe calls for spears, just like pickles, but I like cucumbers that are thin and sliced on the horizontal. I also put my cucumbers in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm them up a bit.  The recipe suggested it and I didn't think it was a bad idea.  ??

Mix the sesame oil and rice vinegar together in a bowl.  Whisk well.  Taste test.  This will be a matter of preference.  I preferred mine to have a bit of a tangy, vinegar-y flavor, so I added a bit more rice vinegar.  If you like it sweet, you could also mix in a bit of sugar to balance out the tangy vinegar.  Toss the dressing in the bowl with the cucumbers.

In a food processor, mix salt, sesame seeds and red pepper.  Process until fine.  I have to admit, next time I would skip this step.  My seeds were tiny and it didn't really process like it should have.  Nor did I think it really affected it at all in the end.

Add mixture to cucumbers.  Add in a bit at a time, so you don't overwhelm the cucumbers.  I think I only ended up using half of mine or so.

Top with scallions and serve!  I portioned mine out into fours for a quick roughly 100 calorie snack at work!

Creamless Corn with Mushrooms and Lemon

Before my latest grocery store run, I found myself reading through my new 2011 Food and Wine cookbook and clearly drooling every time I flipped a page.  While my cookbook collection is growing, this one is like food porn to me, mostly because of all the pictures.  Who needs a man next to you in bed at night when a girl has her cookbook to read?

Please, someone else tell me that they like to read cookbooks?  In bed?

Hello?  Is this thing on?

Judgers.  Either way, I found that a majority of the things I have cheffed up lately are more like side dishes than entrées.  Which in my house, side dishes are fair game as entrées, but, to each their own.  The recipe below is my interpretation of F&W's Creamless Corn recipe.  You'll definitely be seeing a lot more creations from this book coming out of my kitchen.

Creamless Corn with Mushrooms and Lemon:

• 6 dried shittake mushroom caps
• 10 ears of corn or a bag of frozen sweet corn
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 2 medium shallots
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon
• salt and ground black pepper

The recipe calls for corn on the cob, but I cheated because it's not in season.  I subbed out a bag of frozen sweet corn instead.  This clearly altered the recipe, but I still felt as though it is a solid side dish.

I am a huge shiitake fan lately.  Give these beauties a good chopping.

In a heated pan, with EVOO, on medium heat, add your chopped shallots, mushrooms and your garlic.  Saute for a few minutes until soft.  While this is happening, you should be working on your corn.  If you are following the recipe, it actually asks you to grate five of the ears along a cheese grater.  Make sure you get all the "corn juice" as well, but scraping down the side of the ear after you grate.  This will help the "creaminess" texture.  The other five ears can just have the corn sliced off.  Since I went the frozen corn route, I defrosted as needed and then tried to smash up the corn the best I could, to release some of the juices.  I'm not sure how well it worked, but I got a good workout using the back of that spoon!

Once you're sauted, add in the corn and heat thoroughly.  Then add in the lemon juice, zest and top with cilantro.  Reduce heat and allow the flavors to mix under low heat.  I don't have a zester (note to self), but I used a potato peeler and then, finely, finely chopped with a knife.  Zest can be used very sparingly because it does have so much flavor.   Once you salt and pepper, you can serve as a side dish.

Don't be alarmed - this got sectioned into four tupperwares for future lunches and snacks!

Kale, Potato and Onion Frittata

I've never made a frittata before, so when I stumbled across this recipe from Epicurious, I thought it would be the perfect thing to chef up on the weekend.  Vegetarian + Kale + (relatively) Low Calorie = yes please.  I'm not sure what the difference is between a frittata and a quiche is?  Maybe that a frittata doesn't have a crust on it?  Either way, I love the basic idea of it - you can really be creative and chef up any sort that you're feeling that day.  Asparagus, goat and arugala?  Sure!  How about we add some proscuitto in there as well?  I was feeling vegetarian, so I went with something that included my latest love:  Kale.

Kale, Potato and Onion Frittata (as adapted from Epicurious)

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1 yellow or white onion, sliced
• 1 pound kale, trimmed, blanched 3 minutes in boiling water, drained, squeezed and coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups boiled diced potatoes
• 3 whole eggs
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika (preferably smoked) - I used cumin because that's what I had on hand

 While the ingredient list is relatively short, there is some prep involved.  With the Kale, make sure you remove the spines - you can easily do this by folding along the spine and slicing down the side of it.  Blanching is easy, but once it's cooled, you really have to do a good job of squeezing out all the excess moisture.  I then coarsely chopped.    I also subbed out sweet potatoes because I love their flavor.  You'll need to boil and chop these ahead of time as well.  Once all your ingredients are prepped, you're set to go.

 

 

Fire up the oven to 400 degrees and coat a skillet with cooking spray.  Saute your onion for about 5 minutes, until translucent.  Add in your kale and garlic, keep moving for another 5. 

In a separate bowl, mix eggs, egg whites, 2 tbsp water and the paprika (or cumin, or whatever your little heart desires) and whisk well.

Add the potatoes to the skillet.  Here you can go two ways, you can fire up a bigger cast iron skillet and add the egg mixture OR you can do what I did and add the egg mixture straight into the frying pan you used.  Basically, now you combine all the ingredients together in a way that works for you.  I didn't include any pictures because this baby was FULL.  It was messy.  I had to be extremely careful not to get this mixture all over the stove.   

(Seriously, I need to invest in bigger cookware.  Fancier cookware.  The issue is, where the heck will I put it?!  Sigh... the life of living in a studio....)

Cook the mixture on medium heat for about a minute and then transfer to your greased baking dish.  I used this 9 by 9. 

 

Transfer to the oven and bake for about 6 to 8 minutes until the eggs are set and the center is slightly runny.  Then broil the top for about a minute.  It should look a little something like this when done.


 

All set!  I ended up topping mine with a bit of freshly grated parmasen cheese and then I devoured as a perfect Saturday lunch.  I froze two portions and ate one the next day.  I have to be honest, I think it tasted even better than next day!

 

What sort of frittata makes your mouth water?

Cuban Black Bean Soup

I bought a new soup magazine, and the recipes all look pretty awesome. I started by making the Cuban Black Bean Soup (p. 80). This recipe is low fat and does not have any meat. The recipe does call for beef-flavored broth OR vegetable broth. I used beef broth because that's what I had in my cupboards.

This recipe gave me the opportunity to to cook with dried beans. My friend Amanda & some friends on Twitter have given me a lot of advice on dried beans. There advice mostly consisted of "let them soak for a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggg time." This recipe also gave me the opportunity to use two new toys! My sister gave me an immersion blender for Christmas. It was a GREAT gift.

The other toy is a new Dutch oven. I splurged and bought it at an outlet mall. Isn't it pretty?
Remember how I said that I was told to soak the beans for a long time? Well, the recipe only called for 1 hour after boiling and 2 hour with some of the other ingredients. I was very skeptical of this. I let the beans soak overnight in the fridge, and I'm very glad that I did. On the flip side, oversoaking beans can lead to fermenting.

Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups dried black beans
2 T vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cups of beef broth
3 cups of water
1/4 cup dark rum
1 t liquid smoke
1 1/2 t ground cumin
1 1/2 t dried oregano
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped

Rinse the beans. After soaking the beans for at least overnight, put the beans in a 4 or 5 quart Dutch oven. Cover the beans with water and boil, uncovered. Then, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for one hour. This is where I'm really glad that I purchased my Dutch oven. I used to try to do these things with a stock pot, and it just never worked out.

Drain the liquid and remove the beans. In the Dutch oven, now add oil on medium heat. Toss in the garlic and onions. Heat until tender.

Add the rest of the ingredients and the beans. Boil for two minutes. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for two hours. Then, make sure that the beans are tender. Dried beans take patience.

Now I used my fancy new immersion blender to smooth the mixture. You could use a blender or food processor. Once the soup is smooth, serve!

I really liked the unique taste of this soup. It was really different and almost peculiar. The liquid smoke added a lot of character. I recommend serving this soup with a grilled cheese.

Serenity in your kitchen means that you're okay when the magazine photo looks like this:...And your soup looks like this, but it still tastes delicious: