Mexican Black Bean Quinoa Burgers

This week I started a new job so I've been overwhelmed with meeting new people, training for this new position, and altering my daily schedule.  I'm really excited about this change in my life, but when I came home from work after a long day of learning a brand-new area of law, I was pretty exhausted!  Luckily before I started this new job, I came up with an idea for a quick and yummy dinner that I was excited to test out.  After day one on the new job, I came home eager to see if my idea actually worked!

I love finding new ways to enjoy my favorite cuisine: Mexican food.  And when a recipe also includes some healthy components and is easy to put together, it's a jackpot.  These little burger patties are chock full of healthy ingredients.  Quinoa is a delicious source of protein and fiber, and I absolutely love to make quinoa into patties and burgers because it develops an amazing, nutty flavor when fried.  So this recipe was perfect for throwing together on a day when I was mentally and physically beat.  Everything goes right into the food processor, making it super simple to whip up.  And the ingredients are extremely healthy, so I felt good about eating more than my fair share of these tasty burgers.  I paired mine with some heart-healthy avocado and fresh salsa.  These Mexican black bean and quinoa burgers were an absolute delight.  I'm sure you and your family will agree!

Mexican Black Bean Quinoa Burgers
serves 2

Ingredients
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup regular bread crumbs
1 1/2 tbls chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 cloves garlic, grated or minced fine
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
4 scallions, diced
1 cup cilantro
Juice from half of a lime
1 egg, lightly beaten
Salt & pepper
2 tbls olive oil

Directions

Put the diced carrots into a food processor and pulse until the carrot is finely chopped.  Add the scallion, black beans, quinoa, bread crumbs, chili powder, cumin, garlic, cilantro, and salt and pepper.  Pulse until combined.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  Once the mixture is seasoned to your liking, add the beaten egg and pulse until combined. 

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil.  Form the mixture into 4 patties.  Cook each patty until heated through, about 5-6 minutes per side. 

Serve with avocado slices and fresh salsa. 

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Ricotta and Scallion Gnocchi

There are certainly perks to being single and not having a roommate.  One such perk is that nobody is around to judge you when you want to eat chips or popcorn for dinner, or when you eat pasta with butter and garlic salt for three days straight.  When things in my life get really busy, something has to give, and occasionally it's cooking.  These past few weeks I've been moving nonstop, working on a fundraiser, meeting up with friends, getting ready to start a new job, and preparing for the marathon this Saturday.  With all of that going on, my kitchen time has fallen by the wayside and I've enjoyed many atypical meals!  I also had a stellar brunch at Tilia and another one at Wild Acre Eatery, and had the pleasure of a few lunches at the food trucks in St. Paul.  So I haven't been a complete lost cause!

But things are settling down and I was feeling unbalanced.  I stole a friend's cookbook while babysitting her kids and realized I needed to get back into the kitchen and start eating deliciously again.  A recipe for gnocchi made with ricotta cheese and scallions sparked my interest and I figured it would be a great preparation meal for Saturday's marathon! The pasta turned out wonderfully.  The scallions added a little bit of spring freshness to what can sometimes be a dense dish and the ricotta made the pasta light and creamy.  Paired with a simple tomato sauce, you'll have a perfect springtime pasta dish. 

Ricotta & Scallion Gnocchi
from Simply Organic by Jesse Cool
serves 4

Ingredients
16 ounces full-fat ricotta cheese

7 scallions, minced

1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1 1/2 cups - 2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

Place the ricotta in a colander and allow it to drain over a bowl for 15-30 minutes.  Discard the liquid.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil. 

In the meantime, combine the ricotta, egg, salt, pepper, green onions, and Parmesan cheese in a medium bowl.  Gradually add the flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, and combine the ingredients with your hands until the dough holds together in a ball and is no longer insanely sticky. 

Remove a teaspoon-sized piece of the dough and roll it into a ball on a floured surface.  Drop the ball into the boiling water.  If the dough falls apart in the water, add more flour to the dough by tablespoons until it forms into a ball.  Repeat the test until the ball holds together and floats to the surface. 

Divide the dough in about 6 equal parts.  Roll out each section on a floured surface into a rope about one inch in diameter.  Cut the dough into one-inch pieces and lightly press each piece with a fork.  At this point, you can toss the gnocchi in flour and freeze for later. 

If you plan to cook the gnocchi immediately, salt the boiling water generously, and gently drop the gnocchi in the boiling water in batches.  Stir gently to prevent them from sticking.  About 5-10 seconds after the gnocchi rise to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon and place into a serving dish.  Repeat as needed. 

You may serve these gnocchi with a simple tomato sauce or even with olive oil or butter.   

Sundried Tomatoes, Ramps, and White Beans

Have you ever tried ramps?  If not, then you definitely should get on that.  I had read about ramps in some of my cookbooks, but was never curious enough to try them out.  But ever since joining the group of Minnesota Food Bloggers and following some very talented cooks on Twitter, I've really learned a lot about delicious ingredients.  My Twitter feed has exploded lately with talks of ramps, and this season I decided that it was time to try them out.  Ramps are wild leeks and that are harvested in the early spring, and are one of the first greens to pop up from the ground in April.  Their season is also quite short, and they will be disappearing just as quickly as they came, at the beginning of May.  So it makes sense that everyone is talking about these greens, because the time to talk about ramps is fleeting.



(source)



But is the talk worth it?  Absolutely.  As soon as I cut into one of these delicate greens, I knew I was going to fall in love.  The flavor of a ramp is reminiscent of both onion and garlic in their most subtle forms.  Think about a garlic chive, but then add a wild, earthy note.  That's what you'll get from ramps.  I'm legitimately upset that I have been missing out on these greens all of these years, and even more so that I finally came around so late in the ramp season.  I plan to stock up some ramps and have a wild, ramp cooking spree until the season is over.  If you were to try one or two ramp recipes this season, be sure to try this one.  The mellow flavor and texture of the beans allows the ramp-ness of the dish to really come through.  And the ramps pair nicely with the sundried tomatoes.  But don't be shy....you can certainly add more ramps to this dish! 

Sundried Tomatoes, Ramps, and White Beans
adapted from Clean Start by Terry Walters
serves 2

Ingredients
1/2 cup boiling water
4-5 sundried tomatoes
4 ramps, washed, roots removed, bulb and greens sliced thin
1-2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp mirin
1 15-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
2 large slices of thick country bread, toasted

Directions
In a small bowl, soak the sundried tomatoes in the hot water for about 15 minutes or until they are soft.  Remove the tomatoes but reserve the soaking liquid.  Chop the tomatoes and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the sundried tomatoes and saute for about 2-3 minutes.  Add the ramps and mirin, and continue to saute for another minute.  Add the tomato liquid by tablespoon as needed to prevent sticking.  Pour the beans into the skillet and add another 2 tablespoons of the tomato liquid.  Continue cooking until the beans are heated through and there is no liquid left in the pan.

Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.  Remove from heat.  Serve over a piece of toasted bread.

Chettinad Tofu

About two years ago, a couple of my friends and I started an informal cooking club, which we aptly named "Calorie Club".  The three of us would get together once a week to try out new recipes, drink wine, and talk about food.  Each week we'd alternate hosting responsibilities -- and if you were the hostess that week, you picked the menu!  Some weeks had themes, whether it was all appetizers, desserts, Julia Child cooking; other weeks were opportunities to have help cooking something we'd always wanted to try.  We made everything from fish cooked in cream, to homemade refried beans, to steak pinwheels, to blue cheese stuffed tortellini, to grilled pizzas, to chocolate desserts.  (I was a meat-eater during part of this!)  With three of us working in the kitchen, we were able to tackle a variety of dishes in a single meeting and build off of our collective kitchen strengths.  We created some amazing dishes, and along the way we encountered a few failures.  But after we finished eating, we would discuss the dishes and journal our experiences.  Every week, we learned something new.  And the Calorie Club met faithfully, once a week, until one of our founding members moved to out-state Minnesota. 

But this last weekend she was back in town, and the Calorie Club was revived for another meeting.  This time, our hostess and menu planner decided on an Indian theme.  And the two of them graciously offered to substitute tofu for the chicken in the main dish.  Love these ladies!!  The three dishes we made at Calorie Club this weekend had my mouth on fire (in a good way), and the kitchen was warm with lovely aromatics and sizzling sounds.  We all made mistakes as we went (I forgot to add a collection of spices at the right time!), but the finished meal was divine.  Acorn squash, green beans, and this chettinad recipe, made with tofu instead of chicken.  Served with basmati rice and some garlic naan, and I was in heaven.  Thanks for the great Calorie Club reunion, guys!

Chettinad Tofu
adapted from Healthy South Indian Cooking by Alamelu Vairavan
serves 4

Ingredients
1 package extra firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbls neutral-flavored oil
2-4 very small cinnamon sticks
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1/4 tsp whole black peppercorns (about 6)
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup diced onion (or about one small onion)
1/4 cup chopped tomato
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 heaping tbls fresh minced ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper and cumin combo (1/2 black pepper 1/2 cumin)
1 cup tomato sauce

Directions
Drain your tofu and press it between towels to squeeze out the excess liquid.  You can also place it between two plates and put something heavy on top.  Once the tofu is drained, cut it into small cubes.  Then in a bowl or on a large plate, dust the tofu cubes in the flour, shaking off any excess flour. 

In a large non-stick skillet with a cover, heat the neutral-flavored oil over medium heat.  Once hot, add the tofu in a single layer and fry.  Turn the tofu cubes as needed to fry all sides.  Do this in batches if needed.  Once the tofu has fried, set aside. 

Add more oil to the pan if needed, then reheat if necessary.  Once the oil is hot, add the cinnamon sticks, crushed bay leaf, and peppercorns.  Cover the pan and heat until you hear the peppercorns pop.  Then add the fennel and cumin seeds.  Saute until the cumin seeds are browned. 
Add the onion, chopped tomato, garlic and ginger to the pan and saute for until the garlic is fragrant.  Then add your turmeric and curry powder.  Stir and continue cooking until the onions are tender.

Add the cayenne pepper, salt, and the black-pepper-cumin combination.  Stir well and let heat for a few minutes. 

Pour the tomato sauce into the skillet and stir.  Simmer for about 4-5 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Finally, add the fried tofu back into the pan and allow the mixture to simmer for another 5 minutes so the tofu can soak up the flavors.  Find the cinnamon sticks and remove (or warn your guests).  Remove from heat and serve with basmati rice or naan.

Veggie Friendly Shepherd's Pie

I'm always looking for ways to turn some of my favorite meat dishes into vegetarian-friendly fare. Sometimes tofu is a good substitute for protein in a recipe, other times a few containers of mushrooms add a meaty consistency and complex flavor.  It all depends!  I do enjoy experimenting with recipes, but it can be frustrating when something doesn't turn out.  Mostly because that means I'm going to be hungry!  When I was asked by CBS Minnesota to come up with some vegetarian recipes for St. Patrick's Day, I jumped at the chance.  I wanted to come up with a shepherd's pie that was flavorful and meaty....a recipe where you wouldn't miss the ground beef.  I did some homework, checked out other recipes, and came up with this delicious dish.  I gave some leftovers to my parents, and even my dad, the big meat-eater in the family, loved the mushroom substitution!  That's when I knew it was a good one!  Enjoy this hearty meal any time of the year, especially now that we're experiencing chilly, rainy spring weather.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
adapted from Food Network
serves two
Ingredients
2 medium-sized russet potatoes, peeled and in large dice
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces of cremini mushrooms, stemmed, wiped clean, and sliced
1/4 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup mushroom stock
1/4 cup red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Directions
In a large pot, place the diced potatoes and cover with water. Salt the water liberally and bring to a boil. Boil the potatoes until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and return to the cooking pot. Add a tablespoon of butter and the milk and mash until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside (or do this during the remaining cooking).

In a large sauce pan or dutch oven, heat a tablespoon of butter until melted. Add in the mushrooms and cook until browned, stirring infrequently. About 5 minutes. Once browned, remove from pan and season with salt and pepper.

Return the pan to medium heat and add another tablespoon of butter. Add the onion, celery, and garlic, cooking until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the carrot and herbs, cooking again until softened, another 5 minutes.

Whisk together the mushroom stock, red wine, and tomato paste. Add the mixture to the vegetables in the pan to deglaze, using a spoon to scrape up the cooked bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring the liquid to a simmer and allow to cook until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Add the mushrooms back into the pan and cook until the mixture has reduced and thickened, about 8 minutes. Taste for seasonings.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a small baking dish, pour the vegetable mixture. Dot the top of the veggies with the mashed potatoes, using a spoon (or your hands!) to smooth the potatoes over the top of the dish, sealing the edges as best you can. Then pinch the mashed potato topping in spots to create texture, which will help the potatoes get browned and crisp. Bake for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are a bit browned.

Turkish Spinach & Tomatoes

While I own a sizeable library of cookbooks, I often turn to internet sources for cooking inspiration.  I follow a few blogs that regularly post delightful recipes and I love to read the Dining & Wine section of the New York Times.  It's a one-stop foodie paradise, with great recipes, food stories, etiquette tips, and links to other food news.  I was reading some of the articles the other day and found a plethora of spinach-themed recipes.  With spring in the air, I thought it was the perfect time to try out as many of these spinach recipes as I could.  And after a quick trip to the co-op, I had three large bundles of crunchy, fresh spinach.  If you can, I'd always opt for the fresh stuff instead of the containers of baby spinach.  It's so much more crisp and flavorful!

source

The first recipe of my spinach fest is a Turkish spinach & tomato dish with rice.  The rice makes this dish hearty and the combination of spices adds a warmth that is so soothing.  I had a few bites without the goat cheese, and it's great either way!  I just liked the added creaminess and bite that the goat cheese added.  Plus, I'll jump at any excuse to use my CSA chevre! 

Turkish Spinach & Tomatoes
adapted from New York Times
serves 2 as a main dish

Ingredients
1 pound fresh spinach, washed
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can chopped tomatoes in their juice
2/3 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
Juice from 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt
2 tbls fresh goat cheese

Directions

Lightly wilt the spinach by placing it in a steamer basket over 1-inch of boiling water.  Wilt the spinach in batches if needed.  Set aside in a colander over a bowl to drain.  (You can do this step in advance.)

In a large, lidded skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the minced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.  Then add the can of diced tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have broken down a bit, about 5 minutes. 

Add the vegetable stock, spinach, rice, lemon juice, sugar, paprika, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt to taste.  Reduce heat to low and cover, allowing the mixture to simmer for about 5 minutes.  Then uncover and continue to cook as needed until the mixture has reduced and thickened like a stew.  Mine came together almost immediately.  

Taste and adjust seasonings.  Stir in about 2 tablespoons of goat cheese.  Serve with a piece of crusty bread.

Pasta with Roasted Green Beans and Balsamic Butter Sauce

If I've learned anything during my four+ years of marathon training, it's that motivation may not always come to you the morning of a long run.  Once or twice a training season, I'll wake up in the morning with no desire to lace up my shoes and go for a three-and-a-half hour run!  It could be the weather, my attitude, my level of exhaustion...all I know is that I was slated to run 20 miles this morning and as soon as I woke up I knew it so wasn't going to happen!  The dreary, cloudy weather makes me want to brew another cup of coffee and cuddle with the kitties on my sofa instead.  Knowing that physical and mental breaks are an important part of any successful training (as long as they are kept in check!), I'm postponing my long run to next week.  Plenty of time before the Fargo Marathon!  But because I made a killer pasta dish last night and I don't want to waste the carbs, I will run later today.  For like an hour :) 

maybe later....

So now that I've written out my long excuse for not running 20 miles this morning, I'll get to the good stuff: this pasta dish with balsamic butter sauce.  I found the original recipe on Pinterest and it's been sitting on my food board for a few weeks now.  I went looking for a new pasta recipe and decided this would be a good one to boost my carbs on a Friday night.  I was a little worried that the balsamic vinegar would be overwhelming, but the smaller quantity rounded out with sugar and butter created this smooth, silky sauce that was mild and flavorful.  Plus, the whole dish came together with very little effort and in very little time!  I used green beans because they looked a little more snappy at the co-op that afternoon.  I also had to use some chevre in this recipe because I received my first container of homemade goat cheese from my CSA farm yesterday. 

Wow.  This chevre is divine.  In addition to using some to round out this pasta dish, I had a few small spoonfuls...you know...just to test it out!  I can't wait to get more of this amazing chevre from Little Flower Farm.  (You can also sign up for a chevre share with them!)  The chevre gave this pasta dish the extra bit of creamy, tastiness that it needed to round everything out and make me eat an entire second helping.  A very tasty pasta recipe to add into your dinner rotation -- Enjoy!

Pasta with Roasted Green Beans and Balsamic Butter Sauce
adapted from Food & Wine
serves 4

Ingredients
3/4 pound of fresh green beans, washed and ends trimmed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound of tube pasta
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 stick of butter (1/4 pound), cut into pieces
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons goat cheese
Salt & pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Toss the green beans in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet and roast until tender, about 12 minutes. 

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add a small handful of salt and then the pound of pasta.  Cook until al dente according to the package directions.  Drain the pasta and put into a large bowl.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the balsamic vinegar to simmer.  Continue to simmer until the vinegar has reduced to about 3 tablespoons.  Stir in the brown sugar and 1/4 tsp ground pepper. 

Combine the green beans, pasta, balsamic vinegar, and butter.  Top with the Parmesan cheese.  Taste and adjust salt & pepper as needed.  Serve and top each serving with a tablespoon of goat cheese.  Stir in the goat cheese and enjoy!

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Cheesy Potato & Rutabaga Mash

This year I will once again be graced with delicious and tasty produce from a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share, courtesy of Little Flower Farm.  I'm so excited to find new and interesting ways to cook with all of the veggies that I will be getting from June through October.  I really enjoy CSA shares because it expands my eating and cooking horizons.  When I go to the farmers' markets, I tend to stick with what I know.  But when you buy a CSA share, there will inevitably be some vegetable in the box that makes you stop and think.  Last time I purchased a CSA share, it was kohlrabi!  I'm still not 100% sure what to do with kohlrabi, but I anticipate learning more about it this summer.  So to get into the spirit in this unseasonably warm spring, I picked up a random root vegetable at the grocery store and came home without a recipe in mind.  After doing a bit of background reading on my chosen rutabaga, I decided the easiest way to utilize this veggie was in a cheesy mash.  I added some mashed potato just for more starchy deliciousness, and it did not disappoint!  This is just one of many ways you can use rutabaga this year.

Cheesy Potato & Rutabaga Mash

serves 2 as a side

Ingredients

1 medium-sized yukon gold potato, diced into 1-inch pieces

1 medium-sized rutabaga, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the chopped potatoes and rutabaga.  Boil uncovered for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.  Drain the vegetables and return them back to hot pot. 

Add the milk, butter, and cheddar cheese.  Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes and rutabaga, combining the ingredients, until you achieve the desired consistency.  Taste and add salt & pepper as needed.  Serve alongside your favorite meal.

Dulce de Leche Brownies

If you hadn't already noticed by the content of this blog, I'm not a huge sweets eater.  I very rarely have anything sweet or chocolaty in my kitchen (the holidays and girl-scout-cookie season are the main exceptions to this rule), and it never really bothers me.  Any cravings for sweet foods can usually be handled with a bowl of cereal or a spoonful of soy ice cream that I keep in the freezer.  Told you -- not a big sweet tooth!  But on those occasions that I'm really in the mood for something sinful, I figure I can just bake it myself.  Chocolate chip cookies can be thrown together in a hot minute, as can a super easy shortbread recipe that I use from Big Girls Small Kitchen.  But I read a blog post about easy dulce de leche and was intrigued enough to want to test it out.  I didn't want to have random cans of this sweet treat without putting them to good use, so a quick search for "dulce de leche brownies" and I had sealed my fate.  My kitchen would once again be home to some decadent, chocolate treats. 

After some internet research on the best and easiest way to cook dulce de leche from a can of condensed milk, I settled on the slow cooker version.  Stove top cooking had a few references to "explosions" and I didn't want to deal with that.  Slow cooking seemed to be the way to go for no fuss and minimal risk.  Turned out AMAZING.  Sweet, caramely, rich dulce de leche with very little effort.  The brownies were similarly easy to put together.  And they were dense, but didn't turn out overly rich, which allowed the sweetness of the dulce de leche to really shine through.  I'll admit: it was nice to have a dessert option for the last couple of nights!  I still have another can of dulce de leche that needs to be used.  More sweets might be in my future.

No-Fuss Dulce de Leche

Ingredients

1 can of sweetened condensed milk (or as many as will fit in your slow cooker)

Water

Directions

Remove the paper wrapping from the can of sweetened condensed milk.  Check the can to make sure it has no punctures or dents.  And do not open it!  Lay the can in the bottom of a slow cooker on its side.  Cover the can with about 1 inch of water. 

Heat the slow cooker to low and "cook" the can for about 8 hours.  Check every so often to be sure that the can is still covered with water.  Don't leave unattended in case it starts leaking. 

Once the 8 hours are up, remove the can from the slow cooker and allow to come to room temperature.  Once cooled, place your dulce de leche in the fridge (you can keep it in the unopened can) until you are ready to use it....preferably to make these smashing brownies..... 

Dulce de Leche Brownies

adapted only slightly from David Lebowitz

Ingredients

1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 can of your dulce de leche (above)

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Reduce heat to low and add the semi-sweet chocolate, stirring continuously until melted and smooth.  Add the cocoa powder and whisk until it has combined.  Pour the chocolate mixture into a mixing bowl.

Add the eggs, one at a time, to the chocolate mixture, fully incorporating the egg into the chocolate before adding the next egg.  Then add your sugar, vanilla extract, and flour.  Mix to combine.

Prepare a 9x9 inch baking dish with aluminium foil on the bottom and sides of the baking dish.  (The brownies are really sticky, so this step helped a lot for serving and clean up!).  Spray the foil with baking spray.

Scrape half of the brownie mixture into the pan and spread evenly.  Then add large spoonfuls of your dulce de leche to the top of the brownie mixture.  Use about half of the can.  Using a knife, swirl the dulce de leche to even it out.  Scrape the next half of the brownie mixture on top and spread it evenly.  Drizzle the remaining dulce de leche over the brownies and use your knife again to create swirly patterns. 

Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until the brownies in the middle of the pan have just set.  Test with a cake tester or fork if you want to ensure that they are done.  Eat a brownie warm out of the oven.  Take extras to your friends to impress them with your culinary wizardry.

Grilled Cheese & Pickles

I'm sure many of you like kicking back with a beer, some chips, and primetime television after a long day at work.  I certainly enjoy that luxury, but subtract the chips and add a jar of dill pickles with a fork.  No joke -- I can sit down and watch reruns of Friends and simultaneously devour an entire jar of pickles.  I love pickles, and I love discovering ways to add pickles into my cooking.  While shopping at Trader Joe's the other day, I noticed some samples of a sandwich being served near the back of the store.  Upon closer inspection, I realized that what they had termed "The Dubliner" was actually heaven in a sandwich.  Sharp, melty cheese and crisp dill pickles sandwiched between toasted bread thick with Irish butter.  Are you dying yet?  The people around me seemed a little suspicious of this pickle sandwich, but I audibly exclaimed, "OH MY GOD" as I walked toward the frozen foods, munching on my sample.  The next day, I set out to recreate this sandwich of my dreams.

Of course, I had no information about the ingredients used in the sample sandwich, except generic ideas of bread, cheese, and pickles.  I actually baked two loaves of rustic, hearty bread that afternoon, so I went with that.  But any sturdy sandwich bread, or even 1/2-inch slices of a good Italian loaf would be stellar.  I decided to stick with a nice, sharp cheddar to pair with the crunchy dill pickles.  Both have strong flavors of their own, but the cheese and the pickles worked very well together.  Such an easy idea...I can't believe I had never thought of it before.  And now I've had a grilled cheese with pickles twice in two days.  Plus pickles for snacking while cooking.  Of course.

Grilled Cheese with Pickles
inspired by a sample at Trader Joe's
serves 2

Ingredients
4 slices of hearty bread (about 1/2-inch slice)
~ 1-2 tablespoons softened butter
4 slices of sharp cheddar cheese
4 medium-sized dill pickles (I used the full-sized pickles, but you could just as easily use the pickle chips)

Directions
Spread the butter thickly on one side of each slice of bread.  If you are using full-sized pickles, slice them lengthwise into thirds, not into rounds.  I found the rounds to be a little more unwieldy.  Assemble your sandwiches -- bread, layer of cheese, pickles, another layer of cheese, bread.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Place the sandwich(s) into the skillet and cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until the bread is a golden brown.  Flip carefully, and cook the other side until it's golden brown.  If the cheese isn't melting, place a tent of tinfoil over the pan to trap in the heat and melt the cheese.  Once the bread has toasted and the cheese has melted, remove the sandwich(s).  Slice in half, and serve hot.  Be amazed at your grilled cheese with pickles. 

Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake

Every so often, I am completely thrown by how easy it can be to make an amazing dish.  If you know just a few basic cooking points, it's a snap to build off of things you've eaten in restaurants or read about online and create something of your very own.  That's what happened to me this weekend.  Using a simple recipe for a roux from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I whipped up a creamy sauce and added some grated cheese that I just happened to have in my refrigerator.  It needed a little something else, so I opened a can of crushed tomatoes from my pantry and added it by 1/3-cups until I was satisfied with the taste.  I had read a recipe earlier this week about a baked pasta dish from Giada DeLaurentiis, and thought that the added texture of baked, crunchy noodles would be a nice change from my traditional pasta-sauce dinner combination.  Throwing all of those ideas together resulted in this creamy, cheesy, and very easy pasta bake!  And the whole dish began with reading a few recipes online and deciding to make a béchamel sauce.  It can really be that easy!

Tomato Cream Pasta Bake
serves 4

Ingredients
2 tbls unsalted butter
3 tbls flour
2 cups milk
1/3 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus another handful for topping
2/3 cup canned crushed tomato
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 pound short pasta noodles (I used fusilli noodles)
1/4 cup chopped basil
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

In a small pan, heat the milk until it just starts to boil.  Remove from heat. 

In a larger pan, cook the pasta according to the package directions, but cook it just shy of completely cooked.  The pasta will continue cooking in the oven.  While the water is boiling/pasta is cooking, start to cook the sauce. 

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and whisk to combine and cook the flour.  Once the flour and butter has combined into a paste (a roux), remove the pan from heat and add the milk.  Whisk continuously until the rue has dissolved into the milk, then put the sauce pan back under medium heat and whisk occasionally until the sauce just starts to boil.  (Now you've made a béchamel sauce - fancy!)  Add the cheeses, crushed tomatoes, and garlic powder, to the sauce.  Whisk to combine.  Taste and add salt & pepper as needed. 

Add the cooked pasta to the tomato cheese sauce.  Pour the pasta into a shallow 9x9-inch baking dish and top with a handful of Parmesan cheese.  Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the top has some crunch and is browned.  Top with the chopped basil.  Serve and enjoy!

Hearty Minestrone Soup

According to the news reports, snow is creeping into our neighborhoods, ready to surprise unsuspecting Minnesotans who thought we'd beat this year's winter. I have a pretty good memory when it comes to late-occurring winters though, since my birthday is in March! I recall a few times growing up when my birthday parties happened in snowy weather, so I know there's always the possibility for more winter. Because our Minnesota winter might be just around the corner, I thought I would post a recipe for a hearty Minestrone soup. It's tasty and flavorful -- perfect for a surprise blast of winter!

Minestrone Soup
serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 medium yellow onion, minced fine

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 15-oz can white beans

2 carrots, peeled & diced

1 cup green beans, trimmed and chopped into one-inch pieces

1 15-oz can chopped tomatoes

1 15-oz can kidney beans

1 quart of vegetable stock

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 parmesan rind (available at most markets)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 cup short pasta (I used elbow macaroni)

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the onion, celery, and garlic, and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the can of white beans and using a potato masher, mash up most of the beans. This will thicken the base of the soup.

Add the carrots, green beans, tomatoes, kidney beans, stock, oregano, parmesan rind, salt & pepper, and veggie stock. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes. Uncover and add in the dried pasta. Once the pasta has cooked, remove from heat and serve. Top each bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and freshly cut basil. Enjoy!

Curried Wild Rice & Lentils

I love cooking with friends.  I have a great group of friends who share my passion for food and I love it when we can all get together to cook up a storm, enjoy a bottle of wine, and catch up.  A couple of years back, three of us would get together once a week and cook a brand new meal.  We would alternate hosting and menu selection and we rated all of the food in a journal.  The "Calorie Club" as we called it has been put on a bit of a hiatus as one of the founding members, Sarah, has since moved to Grand Rapids.  But whenever Leigh, Sarah, and I get together, we make sure to plan a Calorie Club meeting. 

We also love sharing new recipes and ideas with one another, and today's post is exactly that!  Sarah was in town from Grand Rapids recently, and she passed along some beautiful wild rice and a recipe for curried lentils and wild rice.  I've never had much success with wild rice, but this rice cooked up perfectly.  And it was a lighter-colored rice, so it looked gorgeous when paired with the brown lentils and curry powder.  So simple and so tasty!  The dinner came together in a snap and I enjoyed two generous helpings before I finally cut myself off.  But do be sure to garnish with the sauteed onions -- made such a difference.  Thank you Sarah for sharing this recipe and for letting me post it here!

Curried Wild Rice & Lentils
graciously shared by Sarah M.
serves 4

Ingredients
1/2 cup raw wild rice
1/2 cup lentils
2 tbls butter
1 large sweet onion, sliced thin
3 cups boiling water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tablespoons curry powder

Directions
Rinse the rice and lentils.  In a large sauce pan or dutch oven, heat the butter over medium heat.  Add the sliced onions and saute for about 3-4 minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent.  Remove half of the onions and reserve for garnish. 

Add your lentils and rice to the pan and saute, stirring continuously for about 3 minutes.  Add the boiling water, salt, pepper, and curry powder.  Bring back up to a boil, then reduce heat and cover, simmering over very low heat for 30-35 minutes or until the rice and lentils are cooked.  Don't lift the cover or stir while cooking. 

Serve hot and garnish with your reserved sauteed onion. 

Lentil Fritters with Cucumber Sauce

Often times I'll decide to make something from a magazine or a cookbook but months later, I'm wondering why I have these ingredients in my cupboard.  It usually happens with new oils or vinegars and then I have to page through all of my food sources to find what it is I meant to cook.  I try really hard to menu plan, but I'm easily swayed by my food moods and all plans fly out the window.  After taking inventory of my cupboards and finding two cans of lentils, I decided that it was time to make the lentil fritters I read about months ago.  I made a few changes to the original Food Network recipe and instead of serving the fritters in pita pockets with a cabbage slaw, I paired them with a delightfully flavorful and simple cucumber yogurt sauce.  This was an easy and satisfying dish, perfect for lunch or dinner.  Or both in the same day! 

Lentil Fritters with Cucumber Sauce

adapted from Food Network Magazine

serves 4

Ingredients

for fritters

2 15-ounce cans cooked lentils

1/2 tsp cumin

1 garlic clove

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

olive oil for cooking

for sauce

1 8-ounce container (personal size) plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced

1/2-1 cup chopped cilantro

juice from half of a lemon

1/4 tsp cumin

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

In a food processor, combine one can of lentils, the garlic clove, and cumin.  Place the mixture in a bowl and add the other can of lentils, bread crumbs, cilantro, and salt & pepper.  Stir to combine. 

In a large skillet, drizzle some olive oil and heat over medium heat.  Form small patties with the lentil mixture.  When the oil has heated, place 4-5 lentil fritters into the pan and cook until a deep brown.  Flip and cook the other sides.  Continue until you've made as many fritters as you like (think 4 small fritters per person per serving).

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the yogurt sauce.  Taste to adjust seasonings.  Serve the lentil fritters with the cucumber yogurt sauce on the side. 

Sweet & Sour Vegetables

It seems like winter has finally caught up with us Minnesotans.  By late January, we're usually accustomed to bundling up, wearing arctic-approved boots and mittens, and having our eyelashes freeze during the brief walk from car to work.  But we've been spoiled this year, lured into a false sense of prolonged mild weather.  Then BAM!  Sub-zero temperatures and blistering windchills snap everyone back into reality.  I know it's truly winter when my car is reluctant to start in the mornings. 

Brrrr...that's chilly.  When it's this cold, I like to eat heavier, saucier, meatier (mushrooms!) dishes that will stick to my bones and keep me and my kitchen warm.  But after a few days of indulgence, I begin to crave healthier versions of these decadent meals.  I turned to a favorite cookbook of mine for some inspiration: Global Vegetarian Cooking. 

The cover doesn't lie -- this book is filled with recipes that are both quick and easy.  And as I learned this week, the recipes also lead to excellent food.  It features appetizers, salads, soups, main courses, and desserts from around the world.  I bought my copy at Ten Thousand Villages in St. Paul.  A sound investment on my part.

I decided to cook up some sweet-and-sour vegetables.  I wanted the fresh, healthy snap of veggies, but the soothing comfort of sweet-and-sour sauce.  I used the recipe in the cookbook as a jumping off point, and added a multitude of fresh, colorful vegetables that I found at Whole Foods.  The carrots added a crunch, the cucumbers added a surprising sweetness, and the kale wilted perfectly to round off the dish with some vitamin-packed greenery.  Look at all of those beautiful colors!  You can add any combination of fresh or frozen vegetables you have on hand to create this dish.

I was also excited to break out my wok for the first time.  Turns out, cooking in a wok is pretty great!  A wok allows you greater cooking surface at higher temperature, perfect for stir frying vegetables before drenching them in a sweet-and-sour sauce.  Speaking of which, the sauce was delightfully easy to prepare and had a perfect balance of sweet and sour.  I added a touch more soy sauce than the recipe called for originally, mostly because I have a love for all things salty.  All of this served over a serving of hearty brown rice and you have a great cure for these new, winter blues.

Sweet and Sour Vegetables

adapted from Global Vegetarian Cooking

serves 2

Ingredients

for the rice

1 cup long-grain brown rice

2 cups of vegetable stock

for the stir-fry

1 small white onion, sliced thin

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup of English cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced (it's about 1/3 of a medium-sized cucumber)

Large handful of cremini mushrooms, wiped clean, stemmed, and sliced

1 cup kale, washed, stemmed, and chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/4 cup frozen corn

1/4 cup frozen green beans

1/3 cup diced pineapple

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

*optional: 1 cup of a protein of choice

for the sweet-and-sour sauce

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons pineapple juice
3 tablespoons tomato sauce

Directions 

In a small pan or rice cooker, cook the rice in the stock according to the package directions.

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the sweet-and-sour sauce.  Use a fork or small whisk to incorporate everything.  Set aside.

Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large sauce pan or wok.  Once hot, add the sliced onions and stir-fry until the onions are soft.  Add the minced garlic and saute for another minute.  Then begin to add the vegetables.  Start with the veggies that will take longer to cook, such as carrots or bell peppers.  Once those have begun to soften, add your remaining vegetables and pineapple.  Stir fry for a minute, then add the red pepper flakes.  Continue to cook until the vegetables are softened. 

Pour the sweet-and-sour sauce over the vegetables and saute until the sauce has completely coated the vegetables. 

Spoon a serving of rice onto your plate and top with the saucy veggies.  Breathe in the delicious aroma.  Then dig in. 

Pumpkin Seed Pesto & Goat Cheese Crostini

A few weeks ago I took a cooking class at Whole Foods in Minneapolis.  It was such a different experience than the class I took at Cooks of Crocus Hill, but the recipes were just as fantastic.  The class had about 6 people and we all sat at a counter while the instructor cooked right in front of our eyes.  Each of us had the opportunity to participate, which really meant adding pre-chopped ingredients to a pan or stirring!  But it was still a lot of fun and I left with some great cooking tips and a packet of six new and dazzling squash recipes.  This week was my first attempt at recreating one of the recipes: pumpkin seed pesto.  The pesto is nutty and flavorful, and it has a deeper flavor than your traditional pesto. 

In class, we used the pesto to complement a butternut squash soup (excellent idea!), but it would pair equally well with some cooked pasta and chopped basil.  Or you could feature this pesto in my eighth appetizer dish of the season!  (I'm giving myself until the New Year.....not sure if I'm going to make it!)  I ate these crostini for dinner the other night and they were soooooo gooooooooooood.  The biting flavor of the goat cheese paired insanely perfectly with the mellow pesto.  A sprinkling of freshly grated pepper and you will wow your friends with this great app!

Pumpkin Seed Pesto & Goat Cheese Crostini

for the pesto:

Ingredients

1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

1/3 cup toasted walnuts

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (or as much as needed)*

Directions

Chop up the pumpkin seeds and walnuts in a food processor.  Add the cheese and pulse until finely chopped.  While the processor is on, drizzle in the olive oil slowly until everything comes together into a loose paste consistency.  Taste and season accordingly.

for crostini:

Ingredients

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

1 large Italian baguette, sliced into 1-inch slices

6 ounces of plain goat cheese

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Toast the baguette slices on one side for about 5-8 minutes, or until the exposed side is just getting crisp.  Remove from oven and let cool so you can handle the bread.

On each slice (the toasted side), spread on a layer of goat cheese, a little less than a tablespoon's worth.  Then top with a dollop of the pesto.  Sprinkle the crostini with freshly cracked pepper. 

Serve and enjoy!

*A quick word on the oil.  The original recipe from my class called for pumpkin seed oil in this recipe.  When I went to buy it at the store, I discovered that it's about $20 for a small bottle.  Sorry, but that is so not going to happen!!  Later, I realized that walnut oil would probably make a great substitute, but by that time I'd left the store and was set on using my standard olive oil.  You lose some of the depth of nutty flavor by substituting olive oil, but I still liked the floral sweetness that the olive oil brought to the pesto. 

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili

It's been unseasonably warm in Minnesota, so much so that it felt like I was vacationing over the holidays!  Well...that's a bit of a stretch...but I did drive around with the windows down and went on a nice post-Christmas run with my friend Leigh where I was able to break out my spring running jacket again.  But all of this nice weather put a dent in my cooking plans because who wants to make chili when it's really nice out?  I sure didn't.  Today it finally started to cool down and I figured the time was right for me to cook up a big pot of chili and get ready for the inevitable Minnesota chill. 

Inspired by a delicious lunch this summer from one of the food trucks, I thought a lovely sweet potato and black bean chili would be a nice combination.  I also was able to use some of my delicious Red Gold canned tomatoes!  I loved the "chili ready" tomatoes because they were chopped into a larger dice than ordinary diced tomatoes, making them perfect for a hearty chili.  Kudos Red Gold for that inspired version of canned tomatoes!

This recipe requires very little prep work, so it's easy to throw together after work or when you're trapped inside because of a snow storm.  (It's going to happen people....)  But don't be fooled by the simplicity of the recipe.  It's hearty and healthy, plus the canned tomatoes and sweet potatoes add some softness to the relatively spicy chili.  Work with these ingredients and add more or less seasonings to suit your taste.  If you have a favorite chili recipe of your own, consider adding in some sweet potatoes and black beans to change it up a bit! 

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili

serves about 4 portions

Ingredients

2 tbls vegetable or canola oil

1/2  of a yellow onion, finely chopped

6-8 cloves of garlic, minced

2 medium sweet potatoes, diced into 1/4-inch cubes

2 tbls chili powder

1 tbls cumin

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat two tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil over medium heat.  Add the chopped onions and saute until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.  Then add the garlic and sweet potatoes, and saute for another 5 minutes. 

Add in the chili powder and cumin and stir to coat the vegetables in the spices.  Pour in the vegetable stock and using a spoon, scrape the bottom of the pan to get all of the spices off the bottom.  Add the two cans of tomatoes and stir.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer covered for 10 minutes. 

Add the beans to the pot, and check for seasonings.  Add salt & pepper at the time if you need it.  Cover and let simmer for another 10 minutes.  Recheck for seasonings and serve. 

I topped my chili with about a tablespoon of freshly chopped cilantro for a bit of freshness.  You can also serve with sour cream or slices of avocado.  It's delicious.  DELICIOUS!