If You Can't Take the Heat......Make Pasta Salad

This is really one of my favorite summer dinners, but seeing as it was nearly 80 all last week I gave in and made it even though it's still spring. It's delicious, healthy and can be made almost entirely from things in your pantry. Best of all, it's something you can make even when it's insanely hot outside. I speak from experience. My kitchen is the only room in my apartment that has absolutely no air conditioning, so I am well familiar with perils of adding more heat to already hot.

PASTA SALAD

INGREDIENTS
(for 2 hungry people)
1/2 lb to 3/4 lb of pasta (I usually use rotini, but used penne this time)
1 C of chopped tomatoes (I like cherry/grape tomatoes cut in quarters)
3/4 C chopped kalamata olives
3 oz feta cheese
1-2 cloves garlic
1 C chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
2 T plus 1 t lemon juice (this was the juice of 1 lemon for me)
1 T red wine vinegar
6 T extra virgin olive oil + a bit for cooking the garlic
1 t oregano
salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS
Boil the water for the pasta. While waiting for the water to boil, chop the tomatoes and garlic and set aside. Chop the kalamata olives. When the water is boiling, lightly salt the water and add the past and cook according to the directions on the box. Add a small amount of olive oil to a small pan and cook the garlic on low heat until golden. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 3 minutes over low heat, just enough to bring out the flavor in the tomatoes. When the pasta is done, drain it and return it to the pot. Add the olives, tomato and garlic mixture and the chickpeas. Crumble the feta into the pasta. Mix just enough to evenly distribute the ingredients. Then make the dressing. In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice and red wine vinegar. Then stream in the 6 T of olive oil mixing all the while. Add your seasoning (salt, pepper and oregano) but go really easy on the salt because both the olive and the feta are salt. Pour the dressing over the pasta, mix to coat and then let it sit for 5 minutes. Serve lukewarm.

BONUS INFO: If you are cooking for someone who refuses to consider something a main dish unless it has meat, you could add some cooked chicken to this. I made it that way before I discovered that I really much prefer it without the chicken and it's much less work without the chicken. But I understand some people won't eat vegetarian, and that's no reason to skip this recipe.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

This year we finally broke down and ordered the MLB Extra Innings package through our cable provider. This means we can watch the Red Sox almost every night. We are very happy people. It also means that I need to extend my "game food" repetoire beyond hot dogs and baked beans.

Here is my very first hot dog alternative.


BUFFALO CHICKEN SANDWICHES
adapted from Rachael Ray's recipe
(serves about 2)

INGREDIENTS:
2 chicken breasts (I usually cut them into large chunks to speed cooking time)
salt & pepper
2 T butter
3 T hot sauce
rolls
1/4 C sour cream
.08 lb blue cheese (so I had a .25 block and used about a third does that work out right?)
lettuce

DIRECTIONS:
Chop chicken into managable chunks and salt and pepper. Cook in a small amount of butter or olive oil. While they are cooking, melt 2 T butter in a large microwavable container. Add the 3 T of hot sauce to the butter and mix well. When the chicken is done, use a fork to shred it. Toss the shredded chicken in the butter and hot sauce mixture. Mix the blue cheese with the sour cream until blended. Spread the blue cheese mixture on rolls, and then add the chicken and lettuce.

Chocolate-Covered Carmelized Matzoh Crunch

Frankly, I feel like a bit of a poser posting a recipe for a Passover dessert, what with not being Jewish and all, but I've been going to seders for off and on for a good 7 years now, and this year, for the first time, I was responsible for dessert. For those unfamiliar, Passover desserts are notoriously not great (since they must be flourless), especially when you consider the selection available at a regular supermarket in Rhode Island, so I volunteered (completely selfishly) to try out this recipe I'd been eyeing jealously for nearly a year. It is insanely easy. It is delicious.
And you still have time to make it for the seder tonight!

I completely stole the recipe from David Lebowitz. I did not alter it in any way, and it turned out perfectly.

CHOCOLATE-COVERED CARMELIZED MATZOH CRUNCH
recipe from David Lebowitz

INGREDIENTS:
4 to 6 sheets of matzoh
1 C butter (sliced) - you can use margarine if needed
1 C brown sugar
1 t vanilla
1/2 bag (160 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375. Find a baking sheet with a lip, and line it with foil, making sure to cover up and over the sides. Lay the sheets of matzoh in a single layer over the baking sheet, breaking it as necessary to fill in all gaps. Heat the butter and brown sugar together on the stovetop stirring frequently until boiling. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and pour mixture over the matzoh, smoothing to cover all the matzoh. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Cook matzoh for 15 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn't burn. It will bubble, but if it starts to burn lower temp to 325. Remove from oven, and pour chocolate chips over the surface. Let sit for 5 minutes, then use an offset spatula to smear chocolate all over the top. Let harden, preferably in the fridge, and then break into pieces. Bring as a gift, share with your guests, or shut yourself in the bathroom and gobble it all down yourself.

The 15 Day Disabled List

I won't lecture you on the inadvisability of engaging in Newcomb volleyball wearing high heels on a highly polished floor. I'll simply mention that I've tried it and allow you to draw your own conclusions from the above photo. In another 2 weeks I go back to the nice orthopedic wrist specialist, and if all my bones are properly healed, then I'll be back to cooking as usual. In the mean time, I'll be trying my best to come up with recipes that can be done one handed, and staying far away from inappropriate footwear at sporting events.

Eileen's Irish Soda Bread

There's nothing that makes me homesick for Boston like St. Patrick's Day. Okay, that's not entirely true, there's also the Red Sox, snow, and anyone speaking without using the letter R, but St. Patrick's Day is easily top 5. I mean, how can the rest of the country compete with a city that made up a holiday in order to get St. Patrick's Day off. I'm not kidding. It's called Evacuation Day and it is a recognized government holiday, schools are closed, all that. Now, while I honestly believe that the best way to honor the holiday, particularly if homesick for Boston, is to get as drunk as possible (preferably off Guinness), I can acknowledge that for those of us who a)could not start drinking at 9am today or b)have to work tomorrow, this may not be a practical choice. I suggest instead that you drown your sorrows in Eileen's Irish Soda Bread. It's just about the best soda bread I've ever tasted and so easy you could probably manage it even if you were lucky enough to start drinking this morning.

EILEEN'S IRISH SODA BREAD
courtesy of Eileen (who I'm guessing is considerably more Irish than I am, and has no end of talent when it comes to the soda bread)

INGREDIENTS:
3 C unsifted flour
1/3 C sugar
3 tsp baking soda
1/4 C butter
1 1/4 C milk
1 C raisins (optional if you are anti-raisin)

DIRECTIONS:
Mix dry ingredients well. Cut in the butter. Mix in the raisins and add milk. With a fork, mix into a ball shape. With well floured hands knead 8-10 times. I often find the dough wet, so feel free to sprinkle a bit more flour while you're kneading. Put on a well greased cookie sheet, cut an x in the top, and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Lentil Dilemma

Generally, I am not afraid to try new recipes. Trying new ingredients however, can be a bit more tricky. Let's take lentils. Now, I'm just trying to cook more healthy, vegetarian meals and I think, "Hey, I should make lentils!" And just like that, we have several different colors of lentils in the cupboard, and I've searched and bookmarked several promising lentil recipes, and tonight I am ready to make Red-Lentil Soup. There's just this one tiny thing. I had no idea that lentils behave exactly like clumping cat litter. So I'm going about my business, and following the directions, and reading my little lentil bag, which advises looking for pebbles amid my lentils, and rinsing them for a wholesome meal. And I rinse the amount of lentils I need. But some liquid escapes (honestly, this is a theme tonight, something escaping, you'd understand if you could see the mountain of cumin lurking under my right front burner, but I digress), and makes it's way into the section of dry lentils. Instant cat litter. So in order to salvage these lentils, I do what anyone who's had a completely horrible day at work and has just made dinner and has an immobilizing wrist splint on their dominant hand would do...I start a second pot of Red Lentil Soup. And it comes to me in a flash. I am Martha. And I should probably watch Ryan carefully to make sure we don't arrive at the point where he is pouring lentil soup into his loafers. And the kicker? I'm not even sure that I like red lentil soup.
Kitchen Stadium: Battle Lentil


Oh yeah. Also? Red lentils? Totally not red once you cook them.

RED-LENTIL SOUP as shown above. Not to be confused with Red Lentil Soup
adapted from epicurious

Ingredients:
1 C lentils
1/2 C carrots, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
6 1/2 C vegetable broth
lemon wedges
olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a large stockpot. Add the onions and carrots and saute until soft about 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, bay leaf and thyme and cook for 1 more minute. Add the lentils and broth, 1 t salt and 1/2 t pepper. Simmer stirring occasionally until lentils are soft, about 30-45 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend until soup is smoother, but still has some texture. Serve and squeeze a lemon wedge over each bowl.

P.S. Turns out we both like red lentil soup. Also, I bet you're still wondering about that second pot of red lentil soup. Ah, well. Tomorrow is another day.

Portobellos Stuffed with Sausage

I went through a phase about two summers ago when I became inordinately fond of stuffing portobello mushrooms. I just couldn't help myself. Turn one of those babies over, and it's just like a little dish. How can you NOT want to stuff it? And then, flightly creature that I am, I moved on. I honestly hadn't made this in over a year, but last week I found myself bringing back the stuff.

It's a better dish when tomatoes are in season, but plenty hearty to stand up to the chill of winter.


PORTBELLOS STUFFED WITH SAUSAGE AND TOMATO

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Juice from 1/2 Lemon
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Portabello Mushroom Caps (I got pretty big ones, maybe 2" diameter?)
1 cup chopped tomatoes (I used cherries because that's what's we can get that tastes good)
2 links turkey sausage (hot italian) - check labeling to ensure gf
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (grate your own or check labels, some pre-shredded cheese contains gluten)
parmiggiano regiano
salt and pepper
thyme

DIRECTIONS:
Mix together first three ingredients, along with salt and pepper, and marinate mushroom caps while preparing the rest of the dinner. Chop tomatoes, shred mozzarella, grate some parm. Slice through sausage casing and put sausage insides in a pan, cook until browned, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Turn off the heat and toss in chopped tomatoes and a bit of thyme (or whatever herb appeals to you).

In a cast-iron or on a grill, cook the mushroom caps turning over from time to time. About 4-6 minutes on each side.

If using a cast iron - transfer mushrooms cap side down to tin foil and add tomato/sausage mixture. Top with mozzarella and parm. Put under the broiler (I use the toaster oven) for 1-3 minutes.

If using a grill/grill pan - put mushrooms cap side down and add tomato/sausage mixture. Top with cheeses and either close grill lid, or cover with a tent of foil for 1-3 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread to absorb the yummy juices.

Where there's smoke, there's bacon.

If my senior year in college had been a soap opera it surely would have been entitled As the Smoke Detector Bleeps, because really, it was the soundtrack of our life. In the fall, the six of us girls quickly learned that the seemingly innocuous act of showering triggered the smoke alarm, bringing to our house a full complement of the city's finest firemen. All the while, we stood on the lawn in rather indecent states of undress waiting for the all clear. After a few weeks, the city doubtless informed the university that despite the increased job satisfaction ratings among fire fighters, they needed to fix the alarm. And so, by winter, we could shower without incident, but the smoke detectors would not be deterred. They went off frequently, interrupting all manner of hijinx, (most of which are best left to the imagination), but most importantly, they signaled the cooking of bacon. Remember that commercial for Beggin' Strips? The one where the dog runs around the house shouting, "bacon. BACON! BACONBACONBACON!!!" Oh, but we were not so very different. Cooking bacon meant that doors would slam, footsteps would echo down the hall, and all housemates would appear in the kitchen wiping drool and trying to look casual, like maybe they'd been on the way to the kitchen anyway. Bascially, all you really needed to make a meal in college was bacon. Tonight, in the spirit of a true college cook, I made quiche. With bacon. I know, I know, it doesn't sound collegiate, but truly, it is. College dinners tended to consist of anything you could scrounge up out of the fridge. Plus bacon. A quiche is no different. Gather leftover ingredients. Saute. Dump in crust. Cover with milk and eggs, and ooh, everyone thinks you're all gourmet. They don't need know that you're really the kind of person who has left the house on a crisp October morning in nothing but a towel.

QUICHE (with bacon)
all measurements are based on what I had in the house, not necessarily what I would have done, had I stocked pantry

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 recipe dough
2-4 pieces of bacon, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1/2 can of artichokes, drained, squeezed and diced
1/2-3/4 C gruyere cheese
3 eggs
1 C milk
fresh thyme
salt, pepper, nutmeg


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375.
Make the dough and set it in the fridge. Saute up the bacon in a medium fry pan. Fend off any scavengers. Take it out and set aside (watch the bowl carefully). Reserve some of the grease. Saute up the onion along with the thyme. Allow the onions to get soft and sweet. Set aside. Saute up the artichokes. Set aside. Roll out the dough, and put in a pie plate. Grate the cheese and spread across the bottom of the dough. Add the artichokes, bacon and onion, spreading them out to cover. Mix up the eggs, milk, salt pepper and pinch of nutmeg. Pour this over the rest. Pop in the oven and cook for 35-40 minutes. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting in.
Depending on the appetites of your husband/roommates/children/local fire company, this recipe can serve quite a few, or two. Consider making additional foods to supplement. At all costs, make sure the bacon makes it past the initial cooking phase.

Bistro Fare: French Onion Soup

It's been awhile since I've posted, and for that, I apologize to you. In fact, I've had this recipe ready to go for probably a week or two now. Of course, by ready, I mean scribbled down in a cryptic fashion on the back of a torn envelope along with other great notes such as Buy Dixie Cups, Draw Groundhogs and at least two other things that resemble recipes. So heck, it may not even be a recipe for french onion soup. If it is though, it's damn good.

FRENCH ONION SOUP
NB: Makes only 2-3 servings!!

INGREDIENTS:
2 sweet onions halved and sliced so as to create long arcs of onion
1.5 T butter
1 T flour
4-5 cups chicken stock
1 T worcester sauce
1/4 C white wine or vermouth
1/4-1/2 C red wine
salt and pepper to taste

Topping:
1 C - 2 C grated Gruyere cheese
2-4 slices of bread from a baguette.
1-2 T butter

DIRECTIONS:
Add the butter to a saucepan larger enough to contain the soup, and heat until melted. Add the sliced onions, season with a bit of salt and pepper and cook on low heat 20-25 minutes until the onions brown and caramelize. They should be cooked slowly enough that they remain soft, not crisp. Add the flour and cook for 2-3 additional minutes. Do not worry if the onions have created some residue on the bottom of the pan, when you add the broth this will all come up. Add the white wine and allow to cook until liquid has reduced by half, about 3-5 minutes. Then add the worcester saue and the chicken stock. Cook 25-30 minutes or until soup tastes rich and oniony. While the soup is cooking, ready the topping. Cut the bread into large (approximately 1") cubes. Add the butter to a skillet and melt. Add the bread cubes and toss until coated, cook a few minutes until nice and toasty. Then check the soup, add more salt and pepper to taste. Add the red wine and raise heat to a boil. Boil for about 3 minutes, then spoon soup into oven proof bowls. Top with the toasted cubes, and about 1/2 C - 3/4 C of cheese (I use a microplane to grate the Gruyere, so it is very fluffy and not dense, thus seeming to be a greater volume). Put under a broiler until cheese is thoroughly melted.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

This might be the most asked about dish I cook. Whenever I take the leftovers for lunch, my coworkers are peering at my food and begging for the recipe. This was one of the first thing I made when I decided we needed to be eating more vegetarian meals, and I was really uncertain about it that first night. I hadn't grown up eating a lot of beans, and had no solid idea of how I would like black beans. Turns out, I love beans and I love this recipe. Plus, it's easy to cook. My friend M was kind enough to share the recipe with me, and to allow me to share it with you.

M'S SWEET POTATO AND BLACK BEAN CHILI

INGREDIENTS:
2 T olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 jalapeno minced (optional)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander (optional)
1 C frozen corn
1 tsp salt
2 15oz cans of black beans rinsed and drained

optional toppings: grated cheddar cheese, fresh chopped tomatoes, fresh chopped scallion, sour cream

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large pan with a lid, heat the olive oil and saute the onions and garlic until soft.
2. Add the sweet potato, cover, and cook on low for 3 minutes.
3. Add the jalapeno, coriander, cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes. Stir and flip the potatoes. Cover and cook on low for 3 more minutes.
4. Add the frozen corn and black beans. Stir, cover, and cook for 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure it's not sticking.
5. Eat a potato to see if they are soft. If not, add a splash of water, cover, and continue cooking until they are.