I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!

I'm about to lose control and I think I like it! I'm so excited! Sing it with me, all you Pointer-Sister-big-hair-wearing foodies! :) I'm posting my very own creation this week here on Madame Munchies, but I am also pinning my recipe to Pinterest - Red Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad. What I love about this salad is how versatile it is! If you don't care for certain vegetables or are related to picky eaters, you can easily chuck it out for something you love or that appeals to your family's preferences. Even if you adore the vegetables I suggest, the farmer's markets will inspire you to change it up with vegetables at their peak.

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH) is increasing in popularity among foodies and health nuts. Not only is it recognized as a grain that is a high in protein, but I recently found out it's a complete protein too. This ancient grain (the Incas ate it!) is related to spinach and swiss chard. Enough facts, go out and buy some quinoa!


Red Quinoa & Roasted Vegetable Salad (serves 6-8 as a side dish)

1 c. quinoa, uncooked 
2 c. water 
2 zucchini, chopped
1 small eggplant, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c. small tomatoes, halved
1 yellow, red or orange bell pepper, chopped
2 c. arugula, washed and dried


Herb and Shallot Vinaigrette

1 shallot, finely chopped 
1 lemon, juiced 
White wine vinegar, splash 
2 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (I used thyme and oregano)
Salt and Pepper
Scant ¼ c. of good quality extra virgin olive oil


Making the Quinoa: 
Besides, being a powerhouse grain, quinoa is an easy grain to cook successfully. Mark Bittman’s, How to Cook Everything, includes a user-friendly recipe for cooking quinoa. In a small saucepan, add 1 c. quinoa and 2 c. water. Do yourself a favor, add a good pinch of sea salt to the mix and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn down the heat to a low simmer and cover the pot slightly. It should take about 15 minutes for the water to absorb and then the quinoa is ready.

Roasting the Vegetables: 
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spread your zucchini, onions, eggplant, bell peppers and tomatoes onto sheet pans in a single layer. Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and toss together with your hands. Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper over the vegetables. Roasting time may depend on what vegetables you choose for this salad, but mine took about 30 minutes or so.


Making the Dressing: 
In a small bowl, add the shallots. Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper over the shallots, add the lemon juice and a splash of white wine vinegar. I allow the shallots to swim in the lemon juice for a while to mellow out. Then add the herbs and the olive oil. Whisk together, taste for seasoning and adjust to your liking.

When you are ready to serve the salad, choose a pretty big bowl, add the quinoa, cooked vegetables and arugula. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss together and serve.

Livin' on the Edge.

When you think of Friday nights, you probably think of grabbin' dinner with a friend, maybe meeting up with someone for a drink or even a hot date.  When I think of Friday nights, I think of baked kale chips. Please insert the phrase," foodie" nerd now. 

I have had Smitten Kitchen's recipe for baked kale chips bookmarked for well over a year and finally made a batch tonight. No excuses this time around. What inspired me to make it is the fact that Whole Foods sells bags of them for around $4.50 and while I was tempted to try a bag, I knew I could make it at home for less than 50% the cost (kale at the farmer's market is around $1.50-2.00 for a bunch).  I'm all about saving the "mighty" (or maybe not so mighty these days) dollar. 

I deviated from the recipe slightly - I used less olive oil (about 1/2 a tablespoon) and I sprinkled on a little cayenne before popping them in the oven to crisp up and meet their maker.  The beauty of this recipe is that you can really make it your own, season it up with some cajun spices or maybe some garlic powder.  Get crazy with yo' bad ass self and yo' kale chips, go on now!

Beet you to the punch.

I am going to "beet" you to the punch with what turned out to be one of the highlights at an intimate gathering of friends who craft, converse, eat, drink and were spreading merriment all on an overcast Sunday afternoon. This past week, Clothilde, from Chocolate & Zucchini posted a recipe for beet hummus. I am a sucker for hummus, whether it's homemade or I pick up a tub from Trader Joe's.  It's a staple in my fridge and my heart.

I wish I had taken a picture of the beet hummus I made yesterday, but thanks to the original blog post, you can find the recipe and an image, here. I bought my beets at the farmer's market yesterday morning and the beet hummus turned out bright and cheery looking, a real showstopper on the table.  Tah-dah! It screamed, "look at me, over, here, yeah, the pretty purple dip, yeah that's me, aren't I purty?"  The fact that it was pretty wasn't only appealing, it was a real sweet treat to spoon on top of pita chips or dip baby carrots in.  It would probably make an incredible spread on a grilled veggie panini too. Hmmmmm.....now I can't wait to finish the rest of what's left off.

Cabbage Cravin'.

I've tooted the horns of Molly Wizenberg and Matthew Amster-Burton's radio program, Spilled Milk. The topic of the last episode was spouseless eating and Molly mentioned that she braises a lot of veggies, and cabbage is one her favorites. And while I'm temporarily spouseless, I thought I'd give this recipe a whirl. I adore braising, it's so effortless and all it requires is good ingredients.

Braised Cabbage with Apples and Caraway Seeds is a super simple recipe - red cabbage, diced red onion, shredded tart apple, apple cider vinegar, salt, honey and caraway seeds. Braise for an hour and voila, something sweet and a lil' zingy too. So good solo, but Molly recommended serving it with pork chops or a grilled cheese with sharp cheddar. I think it would also be a great side dish along with a farro salad.

Tomato Soup.

I've been making a lot of soups lately. Not only are they good lunch choices, but it's a one pot meal that can't be beat. I can't remember the last time I made tomato soup, but I think it was when I was still living in the midwest. It's also been a while since I've made a grilled cheese sandwich and what goes better with grilled cheese, then the perfect bowl of homemade tomato soup?!?!?

Without time to peruse all of my cookbooks, I opted for a "google" search and ended up selecting Michael Chiarello's tomato soup featured on the Food Network site. A few red flags upfront, this recipe calls for 3/4 c. evoo and 2 tbs. butter. That's alot of evoo and alot of butter, even for my taste buds, let alone arteries. Given that the recipe calls for only 1 14-oz can of diced tomatoes, I highly recommend cutting the amount of olive oil by at least 50% (if not a little more) and if you're going to use cream, I'd leave out the butter. It's decadent enough with one or the other. But it's your call and your arteries.

Now tomatoes are not in season this time of year, it's a great recipe for using canned tomatoes (just make sure you get a brand that is organic or at least super high quality like San Marzanos, it really does make all the difference). What's different about this recipe is that M.C. instructs you to roast the canned tomatoes (after draining and reserving the liquid), which intensifies the sweet, subtle nature of these apple-red jewels. In under 40 minutes, four servings of homemade creamy tomato soup are ready and all you need is that grilled cheese sandwich, of course. I made mine on sourdough with asiago, fontina and mozzarella.

2011 Entertaining.

Like most folks I fail at keeping resolutions when it comes to the "new year" and the past couple of years, instead I have resolved to making a list of intentions. A list of intentions does not quite have the same "effect" in that there isn't a looming dark cloud of pressure surrounding you. And at the end of year, when you reflect on that list of intentions, it's pretty neat to see how much you have accomplished.

One of my intentions for 2011 is to entertain more - last February I moved into my place, but I haven't christened it with many gatherings of friends and family. So I kicked off the new year this past weekend by hosting a small brunch and crafty party with two girlfriends. There was laughter, storytelling, crafting, bubbly, sharing, and of course, dining. The menu included a frittata, hash brown casserole, and banana nut muffins (as depicted above).

Frittatas are fun, inventive, and have a mind of their own. I understand the irrational fear of omelette making, but I'm still puzzled by those who are afraid of a little thing called a frittata. Not only are they easy to make, there are an infinite number of possibilities when it comes to ingredients to add to this baked egg wonder. I added ribbons of kale, purple asparagus, sundried tomatoes and shredded pecorino romano cheese.

The hash brown casserole was a recipe I found online (the link above will take you there) and turned out to be a carb/cheese lover's dream. This isn't exactly "healthy" but it sure did fit the bill and makes a great side dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

The super moist banana nut muffins were from one of my most reliable baking books, The Weekend Baker. What's great about this book is its layout. Abigail (the author) separated recipes based on timeframe. So if you're looking for quick last minute baking recipes, there's a section devoted to that. if you're looking for more labor-intensive baking, there's a section for that. And her recipe writing skills are hands down some of the best.

A Blissful Marriage of Eggplant and Cheese.

A couple of weekends ago, a girlfriend and I went to see a matinee of Sex and the City II. Guilty pleasure you could call it (I loved the series). Anyway, prior to the show we grabbed some grub to go from Buca di Beppo. I happen to think they do a fantastic eggplant parmesan and I thought to myself, "Self, have you ever made eggplant parmesan before?". I couldn't recall if I had taken on that challenge, so this week I took it on. The eggplant, cheese, tomatoes and I duked it out in the culinary ring, so to speak.

I did a little research online and pulled up a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan from Epicurious. With a rating of 4 forks, I had to give it a go. Mind you, I did not cook for 8 people, I cut the recipe in half and managed to put away several servings in my freezer. Not too sure how well it will hold up but I will find out soon friends.

All I can say about this recipe is LABOR INTENSIVE. This is not a recipe you just pull out of your hat on a weeknight (of course I made it on a weeknight, but that doesn't mean everyone will want to make this on a weeknight). It definitely required patience and time, but it was well worth the hard work and the wait! The eggplant slices were battered with a 3 step process: flour, egg and panko bread crumbs (which were seasoned with a little grated parmesan). I think the panko bread crumbs really took it a whole other level too. The sauce was simple - peeled and pureed roma tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, red chile pepper flakes and torn up fresh basil - simmered for about half an hour. The only downside was that I should've made the entire batch of sauce instead of only making half a batch. There just wasn't enough sauce for my liking. Lesson learned. Next time, if there's plenty of leftover sauce, I'll just freeze it for pasta or another dish. Regardless this recipe is fantastic and is a great dish for entertaining, especially if you have any vegetarians over for dinner. I would serve it with a simple green salad and maybe some roasted garlic bread.

Eat Your Greens!

I recently joined a CSA near my house, Silverlake Farms. Tonight I picked up my share and I have to admit, I'm a bit overwhelmed by the bounty. This week's share includes, greens, greens, and more greens. Some familiar and some totally unfamiliar, but I am up for the cooking challenge! Are you? So here's what was included in this week's share: mustard greens, swiss chard, golden and red beets, dill, parsley, butter lettuce, baby romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, arugula, green garlic, chrysthanthemum greens, young celery, and dandelion greens.

Tomorrow I'm planning on making a big beautiful salad for the Ripple Effect gang, with all the salad greens. I'm hoping that by taking part in the CSA, I'm not only supporting community agriculture, but I'm also eating more veggies. Made an impromptu curry with the dandelion greens and green garlic. I also made some brown rice for a satisfying meal this evening. Coconut milk and red curry paste are the base of this curry and it honestly couldn't be any easier than this.

Curried Coconut Lemongrass Soup.

Perhaps not the most "pretty' photograph I've taken, but it was so satisfying, that I had to share it with you! I have been venturing out more and more into the world of vegetarian cooking. It's a hit or miss out there, but Mark Bittman's, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian has proved to be very useful, so far. I adapted the recipe from his book. I added fried tofu (which I learned how to make from his book) and instead of porcini mushrooms, I used straw mushrooms, typical in many Thai soup recipes. In fact, straw mushrooms are the only "canned" mushroom I am unopposed to. One of the things I love about Thai cuisine is the play on your taste buds - sweet, sour, salty and spicy. Thai cuisine interlaces all of these unique flavors so well and I just can't seem to get enough of it. I'm an honorary Thai. The leftovers proved even tastier with the added flare of some garlic chili spice to kick up your sinuses.

Chana Punjabi.

Scatterbrained. That's where I am today, but over the weekend I made this lovely Indian vegetarian dish called Chana Punjabi. After reading the blog post from The Wednesday Chef, I just had to make this dish. By clicking on the link above you can access the recipe yourself, today I'm too lazy to type it out for you! Heck, at least I'm honest! Lately, I've been having problems with certain animal proteins ( I think my body is rejecting them) and I'm looking into more plant-based recipes, no I'm not completing giving up meat, but I am reducing the amount of it that I consume as a "trial". If you dig Indian food, no doubt you will enjoy this simple and satisfying meal. Chickpeas are simmered (for about an hour) in this delicious tomato-onion based sauce spiced with garam masala, turmeric, chiles, salt, pepper, and conriander. Two heaping spoonfuls over fragrant steamed basmati lunch make a delight meal, day or night.