Lunch has always been an issue for me. I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but I spent almost all of middle school eating pesto and fresh mozzarella sandwiches that my mom made lovingly for me every day. Besides being not healthy at all, it is safe to say that I almost never eat pesto sandwiches for lunch.

However, this week I made an exception. Pesto made a comeback. I decided to make quinoa with tons of vegetables and seasoned with pesto. First I cooked up some tofu with a shallot, then I added hericot verts and peppers. A whole bunch of kale and some vegetable broth gave it some flavor, and then I added in cherry tomatoes and a few heaping spoonfuls of fresh homemade pesto. Throw in some cooked red quinoa and you have a complete one-pan meal. For full discretion, the original idea came from a recipe I read on 101 cookbooks last year, but I think I did a good job making this my own!

Like most things my mom and I make (and especially stir frys) please feel free to use your favorite vegetables/what’s in season.

Cook time: 35 minutes

Serves 4-6 for dinner

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small shallot, diced

1 package extra-firm tofu, cubed

1 pepper, diced

2 handfuls hericot verts

6 cups kale, shredded

1 cup vegetable broth

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/3 cup pesto

Directions

1. Cook quinoa. I use 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water. Bring to a boil, then lower and simmer. Add more water as necessary. Quinoa is done when it is slightly firm but not crunchy, about 30 minutes

2. Meanwhile, saute shallot in olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add tofu and saute for a few minutes. Add in hericot verts and peppers. Continue stir-frying for 6-7 minutes.

3. Add in kale and vegetable broth. Cover, lower heat slightly, and cook for 7-8 minutes, or until kale is wilted.

4. Add in tomatoes, pesto, and cooked quinoa. Cook for a few more minutes and enjoy!

The first time I made biscotti was with the urging of my mom (shocker). She said they are the type of dessert that look difficult, but are actually easy to make. Well, I burnt my first batch. Totally charred it. However, with her help, the second time around was better. By the third time, I was loving it, and by the fourth I was like a pro. Then, I forgot about how delicious homemade biscotti are and stopped making them. When I was home for Thanksgiving my mom made biscotti with white chocolate chunks and hazelnuts that were then dipped in chocolate. Divine.

For a small dinner party with friends last week, I decided to make biscotti for dessert and serve it with gelato. Biscotti are great for entertaining because you can make them the day before and they taste just as good a day later (just keep them in an air tight container). I was going to make chocolate dipped biscotti, but then the thought of washing two additional dishes stopped me. A quick glance in my cabinet and I saw nutella. Bought in preparation for a winter snow storm last year that never materialized (because everyone needs at least a two week supply of chocolate at all time..), I saw the nutella and knew what to do! I added two tablespoons to my biscotti dough, blended it with chopped hazelnuts, and voila–no dipping necessary!

Below is a modified version of Giada de Laurentiis’ recipe, which can be found here.

Makes 12-15 biscotti

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 stick of butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons nutella

1/3 cup hazelnuts, chopped

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with parchment/wax paper

1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl

2. Blend sugar and butter using an electric mixer in a large bowl. Add eggs and blend again.

3. Slowly blend in the flour mixture.

4. Add nutella and the hazelnuts.

5. Form the mixture into a 14-15 inch log, about 3 inches wide. Cook for 35-40 minutes, until log the biscotti looks set, but not burnt. When you touch the top it should give a tiny bit (aka slightly soft to touch)

6. Cook on a cooling rack, then cut using a sharp knife into 1 inch segments.

7. Lay biscotti flat, and cook again for about 15 minutes, until biscotti have hardened. The trick for me was to stop cooking before it was completely hard because the biscotti continue hardening when cooling.

8. Store in air tight container (they last about a week if you keep them in the refrigerator).

I first became intrigued with making my own granola when I ran out of my TJ’s low fat almond granola that I put on my greek yogurt every morning for breakfast. Then I was on pinterest looking at all these adorable homemade Christmas presents, and someone suggested giving granola as a good present! In a fit of craftiness, I bought containers with chalkboard paint from World Market and decided I would make granola for Bill’s family for Christmas! Naturally my containers looked nothing like I imagined ( I got a little crazy and was envisioning ribbons and cursive font and fabric container tops. yeah right. I am not crafty), but the granola sure was tasty!

The beauty of granola is that you can mix and match whichever dried fruits and nuts you want! I used an Ina Garten recipe for the base but thought she used way too much oil, so I used less. I also did a combination of maple syrup and honey, but feel free to use one or the other. I bet agave syrup would work too. Throw in whatever dried fruit you have around! If you want granola clusters, you need to add more oil and more honey. The first time I made this recipe I used a lot more oil and also got clusters. This time around, I greatly reduced the oil, got the same great taste, but no clusters.

Stores in an air tight container in the fridge for at least month (mine still tasted great at week 4, but then I ate it all…).

Cook time: 50 minutes (10 active)

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients:

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup shredded coconut

3/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons good honey

3 tablespoons maple syrup

2/3 cup dried apricots, diced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup dried cherries, diced

1/2 cashews

Directions

1. Pre heat oven to 300 degrees

2. Mix oats, coconut, almonds, oil, honey and syrupe

3. Spread the mixture evenly on a baking sheet with some pam spray

4. Place in oven, using a spatula to move oats around every 7-8 minutes for about 3-40 minutes. The oat-coconut-almond mixture should look toasted and your kitchen should smell heavenly

5. While your mixture is baking, chop up your dried fruit.

6. Once the oats are cooled to room temperature, mix in the dried fruit and cashews. Serve with greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey!

Prep Time:  45 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

1 pound pasta–I used macaroni

1 large cauliflower, cut into flowerets

3 plum tomatoes, cut length wise

1 cup chopped spinach

1 1/2 cups skim milk

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 cup pecorino romano, grated

1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions

1.  Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in flour until the mixture becomes paste-like.  Slowly add milk, whisking constantly.  Cook over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.

2.  Add grated cheddar and pecorino cheeses and stir.  Set aside.

3.  Place cauliflower and tomatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper.  Place in oven and cook for about 10 minutes, until the cauliflower just turns brown and is tender.  Turn oven down to 350.  

4.  While the vegetables are roasting, cook the pasta until al dente.  Drain and set aside.

5.  Cook the spinach.

6.  In a large bowl, place the pasta, the white sauce, vegetables, basil, and walnuts and gently toss.  Place in a greased 8 x 10 serving dish.  Spread bread crumbs and parmesan over top and bake for about 15 minutes, until the top is nicely browned.  

This recipe is similar to a soup I used to enjoy at The Elephant Walk restaurant, a Cambodian/French restaurant–until I discovered they used chicken broth.  The sweetness of the pineapple is a nice foil for the tartness of the lime.  I used a dash of fish sauce, but you can use just soy sauce if you want to keep this strictly vegetarian.

Prep Time:  25 minutes

Serves:  4

Ingredients

1 lb firm tofu, drained and diced

1 20 ounce can diced pineapple with juice

1/2 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes

1 package udon noodles (if possible, get the fresh ones found in the dairy section of most grocery stores)

1 32 ounce container of vegetable broth (I used Imagine’s organic)

3-4 limes, juiced

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce (optional)

2 cups chopped broccolli

1 cup chopped cremini mushrooms

2 tbsp chopped lemon grass (remove tough outer layers and use pieces from the bottom of the stalk)

1 tbsp peeled and chopped ginger

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes

1 tbsp canola oil

Directions

1.  Heat oil in large sauce pan.  Add ginger, lemon grass and cook for 1 minute.  Add mushrooms and cook until liquid begins releasing, about 4 minutes.

2.  Add broth, lime juice, tomatoes, pineapples with juice, sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce.  Simmer for 5 minutes, adjusting spices if necessary.  You may have to add another lime for more a more acid base, depending on how juicy the limes are.  Add tofu.

3.  Add broccolini and cook until bright green and just tender, about 3 minutes.

4.  Add fresh noodles–they cook in about 1 minute.

5.  Add fresh basil and hot pepper flakes.

This past fall on one of my many trips home, my mom had the most amazing red lentil soup waiting for me in the fridge. You know from previous posts that my mom and I have a friendly competition about lentil soup.  You should also know that this majorly bums my dad out because he hates lentils, but I’m okay with that because it means more soup for me!

On this trip particular trip home, Bill joined me and loved the soup as well. He enjoyed it so much that he has been asking ever since. Unfortunately, Linda didn’t post the soup, so after a few phone calls back and forth this afternoon, I think I have made my mom’s latest lentil soup! We used red lentils because they cook quickly (compared to green lentils) and I think are slightly sweet. To add more flavor, we added nearly an entire can of tomato paste, turmeric, potatoes and carrots. The trick to pull everything together was the juice of an entire lemon squeezed on top. All and all it was a really easy soup to make–and I’m sure we will enjoy as leftovers the rest of the week!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups red lentils

2 small potatoes, diced

5 carrots, diced

2/3 can tomato paste

6-8 cups water or vegetable stock or combination (I added 1/2 a vegetable bouillon cube because I didn’t have vegetable stock)

salt and pepper, to taste

dash hot pepper flakes

2 shakes turmeric

Directions

1. Saute onion in a large pot over medium heat until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, saute for 30 seconds

2. Add lentils, carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, and 4 cups of water

3. Bring soup to a boil, lower heat, and then cover. Check on soup every 10 minutes and add more liquid as necessary. I ended up using about 8 cups of water. Simmer on low for 45 minutes until lentils are tender.  Squeeze lemon, and add salt, pepper, turmeric, and hot pepper flakes to taste.

Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt and/or cilantro!

Re-heating note–this soup, like so many, tastes better the next day! If it is too thick,  add some water or vegetable broth when you re-heat it.

Post-edit: I didn’t think that the potatoes and carrots cooked well. When I consulted my mom she said that she left the soup at a boil for longer. So, if you like your potatoes and carrots tender Iwould cook at a boil for longer!

My mom decided to try making shumai last summer while I was home.  We both were pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to make, and I have made them three or four times since. They are great for a dinner party to serve as an appetizer because they are really flavorful, relatively inexpensive to make, and look impressive!  The base of the recipe is from a Tyler Florence recipe, but we omitted the pork and scallops and added a few other ingredients.

Makes 40-50 dumplings

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

2 tablespoons minced shallots (one small shallot)

2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 egg whites

1 tablespoon corn starch

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 package of square wonton wrappers (about 40-50 wrappers)

Directions

1. Add all ingredients except for the wonton wrappers in the food processor and pulse until mostly smooth, about 10 pulses.

2. Set up a bamboo steamer. Alternatively, place a vegetable steamer in a large pot and fill with enough water to just touch the steamer, but not get the wontons wet.

3. Using one wonton at a time, place about 1.5 teaspoons of the filling in the center of each wonton. Bring the four corners of the of the wrappers together and gently seal the sides into a dumpling shape. If you are having trouble getting the corners to stick together, mix one egg with some water and “wash” the four sides of the wonton wrapper before pulling the four corners together.  I prefer to make 6-8 dumplings at a a time so they don’t dry out and become hard to work with. That being said, make sure the wonton wrappers stay colder than room temperature or they mush together! It helps to have another set of hands when you assemble the wontons If you are making these ahead of time, place them on a cookie sheet with pam spray, and then cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

4. If using a vegetable steamer (which is what I use), spray with Pam spray, and then add 6-8 dumplings at a time into the steamer. Cover for 4-5 minutes. The dumpling are done when the wonton wrapper is slightly translucent. You will be making a ton of these, so try one after 4 minutes to check to make sure the shrimp is cooked, and then continue cooking if need be.

5. Continue cooking in small batches and re-spray with Pam spray before every batch. Add more water to the pot as necessary.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce, soy sauce, or plain!

Image from epicurious--mine don't look quite as pretty!

Last summer, my dear friends Ashwin and Tim hosted an appetizer and dessert party. The evening was filled with great friends and great food!  When it was time for dessert, the only thing I can remember is these cookies. Incredible. And gone in about 10 minutes. High quality chocolate melted to goeey perfection, heath bar cooked into a crunchy caramel mess, and a hard cookie shell to top it off.  Needless to say, the recipe was in my inbox the next day!

I wish I could say that I adapted the epicurious recipe, but it is perfect just the way it is. I have never added the walnuts because I don’t tend to like nuts in my cookies, but if that’s your thing, I’m sure it’s great!

Makes 2 dozen

Cook time: 1.5 hour (about 15 active minutes)

Ingredients

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups (packed) brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

5 1.4-ounce chocolate-covered English toffee bars (such as Heath), coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl

2. Over a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter until smooth. Remove from heat

3. Using an electric mixer, combine sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Beat in chocolate mixture (at room temperature–you don’t want scrambled egg cookies!)

4. Beat in flour mixture and heath bars.

5. Refrigerate for 45 minutes. I have also left the batter overnight and had excellent results the next day. You just need to leave the batter out for 15 minutes before you want to scoop so that you can get the batter out of the bowl.

6. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment or wax paper (pam spray has worked in a pinch). Using a large spoon, spoon heaping tablespoons onto the cookie sheet. Leave space between the cookies, because they will expand as they cook.

7. Bake for 13-15 minutes. The cookies are done when the top is slightly cracked and they are still soft to touch.

ENJOY!!!!

I saw this recipe on the blog “tales of me and the husband” and thought it looked delicious–and easily adaptable to be a veggie-friendly recipe.  Instead of the hamburger used in the original, I used a package of frozen soy boca crumbles.  You could, of course, omit the soy product and use just beans.  The original also called for a package of Trader Joe’s corn bread recipe, but I just made my own following the one in Joy of Cooking.  TJ’s is definitely easier, but if you have the right ingredients, homemade is not hard and it has the benefit of not being as sweet.

Serves 6

Prep Time:  45 minutes

Ingredients

1 package frozen boca soy crumbles or quorn crumbles

2 red peppers

1 onion diced

1 bag frozen corn

1 can of salsa–I used a jar of Trader Joe’s corn and chili tomato-less salsa which has just enough heat, but you can use any jar of salsa

2 cans of black beans or kidney beans

1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream (I used plain, Face Greek yogurt)

1 cup cheddar or Monterey jack cheese

1 can diced tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp cumin

1/2-1 tsp hot pepper flakes, depending on how hot your salsa is

salt and pepper to taste

Alyssa’s  post-edit: When I made this–because of course I have to make whatever my mom makes–I added 1 diced sweet potato to the pot with the corn and then mixed that in. I also used the TJ’s corn bread mix and thought it came out great!  Oh, and I only used 1 can of black beans and thought that was plenty.

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.  Spray a 9*12 pan with cooking spray.  

1.  Saute onions and peppers in oil until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add boca crumbles and diced tomatoes and spices, and stir until soy is cooked through.

2.  In a small pot, cook corn.

3.  In a large bowl, mix beans, yogurt or sour cream, salsa, and cheese.

4.  Add onions, peppers, soy crumbles, and drained corn to the bean mixture and spread in pan.

5.  Add the raw corn bread mix (see below) and cook for about 20-25 minutes, until the top is browned.

Corn Bread

Ingredients

1 cup flour

3/4 cup yellow stone-ground cornmeal

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk or yogurt

2 eggs

3 tbsp melted butter

Directions

1.  In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients.

2.  In a medium bowl, mix wet ingredients.

3.  Stir the liquid into the dry with a few swift strokes.

I am a nervous baker. I don’t like how I don’t have control over the proportions, how I can’t taste everything along the way. However, I felt somewhat emboldened to try making bread tonight after making Challah on Friday. I have made challah many times because as my mom says “it is forgiving.” Other breads have always come out dry. Tonight I decided to adapt a recipe from the Joy of Cooking, and was really happy with the results! I halved the recipe because there is no way Bill and I could eat 2 loaves of bread before it goes stale, and I wasn’t sure I had enough flour for two loaves anyway!  I think the trick to not making dry bread is that I had a slightly higher egg-to-flour ratio, and cooked it for 8 minutes less than the recommended time. Any bakers out there have advice for me?!

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

1/2 package dry yeast (1 teaspoon)

1/8 cups hot water (the hottest setting on my faucet–I just used a 1/4 measuring cup and filled it about 1/2 way–I guess it’s really impossible for me to be exact!)

1 egg

5 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup warm water

1.5 cups white flour

2.5 cups whole wheat flour

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in hot water in a large mixing bowl

2. Once yeast is dissolved, about 3 minutes, add egg, butter, salt and honey to yeast and mix thoroughly.

3. Add in water and the two types of flour. Knead in the bowl (seriously minimizes the mess). Add up to 1 cup more of whole wheat flour. I added about 3/4 cups more, but lost track because my hands were too dough-y to measure! Knead for 5 minutes. The dough should be pliable and not sticky. If it sticks to your fingers and you can’t get it off you fingers no matter how hard you shake, add more flour!

4. Add a tiny bit of oil to the bowl and coat the dough. Cover with  a clean cloth and place in a warm location for 1 hour ( I placed mine in my oven–the oven was off. clearly)

5. After dough has risen for 1 hour it should have doubled in size. Add the dough to a greased bread pan, and cover with the cloth again. Let the dough rise for another 35-45 minutes.

6. Place the bread in a 350 degree oven. Cook between 35-45 minutes. The bread will rise more in the oven, so don’t be worried if it doesn’t look quite high enough when you place it in the oven initially.  The bread is done when the top is brown and looks crunchy. You can double check by taking the bread out of the oven, flipping it over, and tapping on the bottom–it should sound hollow if done.

7. Cool on a cooling rack, and enjoy!