I love all the things I'm currently seeing at the farmer's markets around town. The wonderfully communal culture in Portland also brings with it some generous friends and co-workers who share fresh produce from their fruitful gardens. This is so welcome, as our garden has been unfortunately neglected this summer, so I'll take all the help I can get.
Last week, I uncovered some amazingly supersized zucchini in my office kitchen, which got me thinking about zucchini recipes. My mini happens to love zucchini, which is a blessing on its own and she seems to like anything in quiche form, which gave me the idea for this zucchini quiche. Hope you like it and are able to adapt it to your own tastes and preferences:
Fooditka's Zucchini Quiche (serves 3)
Ingredients:
1 - 1 1/2 cups of diced zucchini
1 small red onion, diced
4 eggs
3 tbs of milk
1/4 cup of shredded smoked gouda cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place round casserole dish into the oven to heat it up.
In the meantime, sautee the zucchini and onion until golden brown and add salt and pepper. Whisk the eggs until light and fluffy and add the milk. Whisk for another few seconds.
Take the hot casserole dish out of the oven and add the sauteed zucchini/onion mixture. Then add the egg/milk mixture and distribute evenly. Add the cheese at the end.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and puffed up.
Enjoy with a crusty piece of bread or simply on its own!
I've been on a baking kick lately - mostly because there have been many occasions to bake for including the 4th of July, a few block parties and also just for the sake of sharing something yummy with others. These gooey chocolate chunk blondies came about when thinking of something tasty, comforting and transportable to make for our neighbors who recently did something lovely for us.
Getting the recipe from Food Network's Ina Garten - the master of classic comfort food recipes - I thought they'd be welcome by adults and kids alike. The recipe was relatively simple, but definitely uses lots of rich ingredients such as butter, sugar and generous amounts of chocolate. While I skipped the walnuts in this case simply because I didn't have them and also because you never know who's allergic, I imagine it would give this dessert some nice texture and complexity.
The whole thing took about a half an hour to put together and another half hour to bake - so overall not a huge investment. Our neighbors seemed to appreciate them and commented on how heavenly they smelled. I must agree that they did!
Chocolate Chunk Blondie Recipe, as adapted from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa
I saw something very diabolical the other day on Thrillist, which caught my eye and made me want to try it in the worst way - a lasagna pot pie! Yes...some crazy genius figured out that putting a buttery, flaky crust on top of a homemade lasagna dish would actually be a great idea. And since I happened to have some puff pastry in my freezer, I had to take the plunge and try it for a weekend dinner.
The recipe is awesome because it also provides a homemade method for making beef-based Bolognese. While I have my own way that I do this, I appreciated the instruction and almost followed it to the T. As for the cheesy filling, I created the ricotta filling as they suggested but lighted it up in terms of muzz and parmesan. The amount of cheese can be to your liking of course and you can make it a lot lighter than the recipe suggests. It would also be a good idea to substitute the beef Bolognese for a veggie filling.
Without further ado, here's the fabulous recipe, courtesy of Thrillist. Enjoy this showstopper of a meal with some good friends at a future dinner party.
It's become Saturday morning tradition that I make breakfast and it's one of my rituals here in Portland that I really enjoy. Usually craving something carby, and also aiming to perfect my technique for pancakes, I made these lemon/blueberry ones just yesterday.
Using everything I already had in my pantry and fridge, the pancakes came together easily and the best ingredient was the fresh lemon juice and zest that was clearly felt in this dish. Giving the pancakes a delicious zest and freshness, I also decided to couple it with a sprinkling of frozen blueberries that I warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds. The natural blueberry juice formed a pretty syrup on top and made the pancakes even moister.
One other thing to note is that instead of using regular flour, I substituted with Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 baking flour, which did the trick and made these pancakes super light. If you're on a gluten free diet, I'd highly recommend using this brand of flour, as you really can't tell the difference.
The recipe for these pancakes came from My Name is Snickerdoodle blog - it's really cute and I hope you check it out.
Dan and I had a little Hanukkah get together the other day with friends, Moses, Sonya and Moses' mom, Georgia who's visiting from Greece. Putting together some traditional foods such as potato latkes was surely in the plans, but I also supplemented the meal with inventive dishes such as this elegant vegetable roulade.
The recipe for this dish came from Food Republic, and I must admit that it was their enticing video of the roulade being made that sold me on it. While the video is surely captivating, it's a bit misleading in my honest opinion, as the assembly for this dish is a lot harder than it looks. Not to say that it can't be done - it absolutely can and the above photo proves it, but it takes a lot of time and patience. A tip would be to make sure you have a good vegetable peeler, especially when dealing with eggplant, which can be hard to cut through. The carrots and the zucchini are easy to slice, but I ended up having to use my knife for the eggplant.
In the end, all worked out well and the pie made for some great leftovers too. If you're planning something special for the holidays, I'd recommend taking the plunge and challenging yourself with this dish. Enjoy!
Vegetable roulade recipe, courtesy of Food Republic
In a city full or rich eats, it's important to balance all that with healthy food so I've been cooking a lot. Trying to keep things fresh and earthy, I whipped up a good soup the other day, consisting of pretty basic ingredients one usually has in their pantry. It's easy to substitute certain ingredients like the barley with something else like quinoa or other kinds of pasta. What makes the soup unique are the spices, including cinnamon and coriander, which gives it almost a curry flavor.
Although this soup tastes great right after it's made, I think it's even better when it sits for a day and makes for tasty leftovers. I served it up with a rustic piece of bread that kept us satiated for the evening.
Tomato Soup with Barley (or Bulgur) and Warm Spices - recipe courtesy of Whole Foods Market.
Now that we're slowly settling into our new home in Portland, I'm happy that I have plenty of opportunities to cook - no less with delicious, seasonal ingredients. Exploring nearby markets, I've been keeping a close eye on seasonal squash and decided to improvise this easy and tasty stuffed acorn squash recipe. You don't need too many ingredients and it cooks in just about 45 minutes, which is relatively quick for a weeknight dinner.
Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe (serves 2)
Ingredients:
1 medium acorn squash
3 links of uncooked chicken sausage
1 small red onion, chopped
Handful of dried cranberries
Shredded smoked mozzarella cheese (2 small handfuls)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Cut the acorn squash in half and drizzle the inside with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 30-40 minutes skin side down until tender inside.
In the meantime, sautee the onions together with the chicken sausage, breaking it apart. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove the acorn squash out of the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Stuff with the chicken sausage mixture and then also dot with dried cranberries and the shredded cheese. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese melts and gets golden.
Enjoy with a glass of white wine or a tall glass of Pilsner.
With the big blizzard coming our way tomorrow, we'll no doubt be inside, keeping warm and cozy. And it's a perfect opportunity to cook up something hearty and delicious, such as this different take on chicken parm. I made this a few weeks ago when I had a huge amount of leftover zucchini, and decided to add it to this simple chicken dish. It worked out well and provided something earthier but still low carb. Coupling it with a simple arugula salad with slivers of grapefruit, it filled up our bellies but still left us feeling light and energized.
Fooditka's Non-Traditional Chicken Parm (serves 2)
Ingredients:
2 large zucchini (green or yellow), cut into large circles, 1/4 inch thick
2-3 medium tomatoes, sliced into circles
2-3 pieces of chicken cutlets
Pre-made marinara sauce
1 cup, shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
2 large handfuls of arugula
1 large grapefruit, cut into segments
Olive oil or vinegar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Season chicken with salt and pepper and then grill on an oiled grill pan until cooked through (4-5 minutes on each side). In the meantime, prepare a square casserole dish and layer it with tomato sauce, zucchini, and then the grilled chicken. Top with a little bit of cheese and then continue layering with the zucchini and the chicken. Top with cheese and sliced tomatoes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. If you need to turn up the heat in the oven, don't be afraid to do so.
Make salad by topping the arugula with the grapefruit wedges and then season with olive oil, vinegar and a bit of salt and pepper.
Enjoy with a nice, big glass of vino.
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