Grown-Up Mac and Cheese (Sort-Of)

This is delicious and fast…highly recommended!

Pasta with Butternut Squash

http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/recipe-of-the-day-pasta-with-butternut-squash/

A very French tuna salad

This is an untraditional salade nicoise, which is to say made the way I like it. Yes, it’s a summery side or main, but some of us are lucky enough to be enjoying perpetual summer for the moment…

Salade Nicoise

200g cherry tomatoes, cut in half
190g tin of tuna packed in water, drained
125 – 250g green beans, topped, tailed and cut in half cross-ways
4 – 6 medium-sized potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
1- 3 T extra-virgin olive oil
A squeeze of fresh lime juice

1) Cook potatoes until tender. Drain
2) Bring water to boil and blanch green beans until just tender, about 3 minutes maximum
3) Mix together potatoes, green beans, cherry tomatoes and tuna into a large bowl. Toss to mix.
4) squeeze over the lime juice and add the extra-virgin olive oil. If the salad seems too dry, add a little more oil. Taste. Add salt if you like.

This served about two as a main. But we were really hungry.

Eat well…life’s too short not to!

Chloe

Stuffed Peppers (another version!)

Ingredients:

1 large pepper per person
25 g. peas
handful of mushrooms
50 g. rice
1 Tbsp. Cream Cheese
3-4 meatballs (or veggie balls) optional
olive oil

Slice the top off the pepper, and cut in half lengthwise if it will not stand upright of its own accord.  Remove all pith and dice a good bit of top.  Put aside.

In a small-medium pan, boil the rice for 10 minutes.  Add the peas after 4 minutes.  When ready drain and return to pan.

Mix the cream cheese, mushrooms, and meatballs into the rice and peas.

Place pepper on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, and stuff with mixture.  Drizzle again.

Place baking tray on middle shelf of oven preheated to 190 C for 20-30 minutes.  The longer they are cooked, the crispier the rice becomes.

Enjoy!
-Juliet

Small Batch Baking

Every time I feel like trying out a dessert recipe, im struck with the same old notion : it’ll probably go to waste! Coming from a family of fairly health conscious eaters (Im sure most of us are these days…..although i have a very very demanding sweet tooth), and one thats not very large, my sweets often get comfortable in a little corner in the fridge, only touched once in a while, when someone gets that intense sugar craving or if friends come to visit. As a result of this, i went in search of a recipe that produced a small quantity of my all time favourite snack : a crispy, granola inspired cookie. I baked them yesterday and I’m proud to say they are hardly any left, probably because there were only about 10 cookies to begin with!

This recipe was originally for chocolate chip cookies but i substitued the chips for oats, sunflower seeds, coconut, cashews and almonds! You can use anything really.. all that matters is that you get the basic dough right.

2 tbsp + 2 tsp butter (room temp)

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tbsp egg (well beaten)

1/4 tbsp vanilla

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour

scant 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup chocolate chips or A handful each of oats, sunflower seeds, dessicated coconut, chopped almonds and chopped cashews

1. Cream the butter and sugar.

2. Mix in eggs and vanilla.

3. Stir in the dry ingredients.

4. On a greased cookie sheet, place balls of dough (size according to your prefference) and press them slightly so they flatten. Be sure to leave some space between each ball as the cookies expand as they bake.

5. Bake at 190 degrees celcius for about 8-11 minutes.

Tina

It’s not Easy Eating Greens

Actually, it is with this tasty and simple recipe!  Try this to avoid any Kermit the Frog related complaints at the dinner table.  You can use any kind of greens: kale, chard, collard greens, spinach, brocolli leaves…they’ll all have their own flavor, but will be tasty.  Keep in mind that the greens will melt down to practically nothing, so you need to start with quite a lot to get a decent serving.

For approximately 1/2 pound of greens

2 tbsp. olive oil
a pat of butter
3 cloves of coarsely chopped garlic
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
chili flakes or cayenne pepper to taste

Warm the olive oil and butter (the blend gives a wonderful flavour, but isn’t necessary) over medium heat and add the greens.  Once the greens are approximately half their original size, add in the chopped garlic and let it sautee, now is also the time to add the spice if you’re using any.  After the garlic has been sauteed, add in the balsamic vinegar, and let it carmelise.  Now turn off the heat and serve.

The result is a wonderful medley of sweet, sour, and spicy flavours.

Enjoy!
-Emma

Pico de Gallo: Fresh Salsa

Salsa doesn’t have to come from a jar at the store!  It’s delicious when you make it yourself, and is a good way to use garden tomatoes when an onslaught comes. 

You can obviously increase the quantity easily, but I’m giving proportions for one normal-sized tomato.

1 fresh tomato
1/2 onion (I prefer red) (optional)
1 clove garlic
1 TBSP cilantro
1 TSP salt
juice of 1/2 lemon (can use lime, too)
a dash of hot sauce or a chopped chipotle pepper

Cut everything up and throw it in a bowl.  Simple and tasty.  You can experiment with some additions for fun;  my mom sometimes adds mango, and it’s delicious.  Use it just like salsa from the jar; dip in tortilla chips, or add to tacos or burritos.

-Emma

Black beans and rice

This rather marvellous dish was introduced to me by Emma. As delicious as it is lovely to look at, it, like many one-pot meals, improves with age.

Black beans and rice

Serves about 4 – 5

about 250g black beans, soaked for six hours
about 250g rice
about 1 red capsicum, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 onion, chopped finely
2 tomatoes, diced

Boil beans for ten minutes and then simmer for about 50 minutes, until cooked. Black beans need to be boiled for ten minutes at least to destroy the toxins.

Suate onion, garlic and capsicum until slightly soft. Add tomato.

Add black beans, raw rice and water (a bit more than you would normally use to cook the same amount of rice). Simmer for 20 – 40 minutes – however long it takes for the rice to cook through. Not all of the water should be absorbed, though…

Serve with hot sauce.

Eat well…life is too short not to!

Chloe

Something on the side

Everyone needs their little bit on the side. Side dish, I mean. Stuffed capsicums are a sunny, summery side which are delicious and flavourful. What I really like about them, apart from their simplicity, is that they are robust and present beautifully. Their strong, though not overwhelming, flavour means they can stand up to whatever other mains you provide – I think they would be marvellous with plainly grilled meat or steak (mm…steak) – but they are also filling enough for any vegetarians you may be catering for (as a former vegetarian, I can attest that a little thoughtfulness in this area is much appreciated!).

The recipe below reflects what I did. The recipe easily stretches and measurements are versatile. My capiscums were somewhat small and I had a little zuchinni left over; you could use more capiscum or different stuffings. I considered adding a topping of dried breadcrumbs and cheese to add a little crunch!

Zuchinni-stuffed capiscums

4 capiscum, halved, with the stalk and white pith and seeds inside removed (I halved either lengthways or sideways depending on which side seemed most stable; generally I would say halve the capsicum along the width)
1 zuchinni, grated using the largest holes on a box grater
Pinch dried thyme and dried basil
4 tomatoes, diced
2 – 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and oil a baking sheet.

Combine zuchinni and dried herbs. Stuff inside hollowed-out capsicum halves.

Place diced tomatoes on top of zuchinni inside the capsicum halves.

Sprinkle with parmesan.

Place on oiled baking sheet.

Bake until filling is cooked and capsicum are soft but not collapsed, about 20 – 30 minutes depending on the size of your beasts.

Eat well…life is too short not to!

Chloe

Baked Pears

One of my family’s favorite desserts are baked pears.  Mom makes them stuffed with hazelnuts, with a syrupy coating that I think involves apple juice and maple syrup.  As a student, I had none of these three ingredients, but thought a baked pear would hit the spot.  My version isn’t quite as good as Mom’s, but it uses more store cupboard ingredients.

Store Cupboard Baked Pears:

1 pear, halved and with the seeds and woody bit removed

Filling:
1 TBSP butter
1 TBSP brown sugar
2 TBSP oats

To serve:
milk, cream, or ice cream, depending on what level of dessert you’re going for

After removing the woody parts from the pear, you’ll be left with a little hollow in each half.  Fill these hollows with the oat mixture.  Pile on as much more oat mixture as is structurally possible.  Put the halves of pear in a baking dish, and bake at about 300 F for about 20 minutes, or until the pear gets soft and the topping gets golden.

Enjoy!
-Emma

Sicilian pasta

I didn’t expect this recipe to be as good as it was. I’d never eaten anchovies before, but I’ve resolved to be more adventurous in my eating habits, so I tried not to let my apprehensions stop me; besides, I was cooking for two, and this looked simple and quick… Still, when I was frying the anchovies and garlic, I was feeling nervous and started to wonder if my friend would be able to polish off most of the pasta…

I tasted it to check the seasoning and started eating out of the serving bowl. If not for the fact that I’d had two square meals prior, I could have eaten the whole bowl. Something about the combination of anchovy, parsley and parmesan drove me completely wild. This is delicious. This is beyond super-speedy. This is extremely, extremely cheap. This is based on store-cupboard staples and a bit of parsley. And it is wonderful.

Sicilian pasta

What I made would serve four (I have leftovers)

I used about 250g pasta
3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped finely
50g tin anchovies, drained of oil and rinsed, chopped fine
About 1 cup breadcrumbs, preferably fresh (I didn’t measure; it was a couple of handfuls).
About 1 cup parsley, chopped finely
about 50g freshly grated parmesan, grated finely
4 tablespoons olive oil (didn’t have any; used vegetable oil and a little butter for flavour, which worked fine)

Cook pasta. While cooking, heat oil in a frying pan and throw in garlic and anchovies. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Smush up the anchovies as much as you can; they do something magical and seem to simply melt away…

Throw in the breadcrumbs. Take off the heat. Add the parsley. Toss.

Drain pasta, but not too completely (there should be a little cooking water included to prevent the breadcrumbs-sauce from becoming too dry). Throw pasta in frying pan and toss through.

Transfer to serving bowl. Scatter over parmesan and toss to distribute it evenly. I did this in a couple of batches so that it transferred evenly.

Eat well!

Chloe

PS original recipe here