This refreshing summer dish is from Ottolenghi’s Plenty, which is a cookbook full of interesting vegetarian fare. Chilled with smoky notes from the eggplant, sweetness from the mango, and tartness from the dressing, it’s a colorful and fun light dish. Continue reading
Did you know you can use the slow cooker to turn dried beans into perfectly cooked beany goodness? No pre-soaking necessary! Really: ANY BEANS. That being said, the best dried beans come from Rancho Gordo. (Also they have awesome popcorn if you want to make this.) I used their Vaquero beans for this recipe (aren’t they cool looking?) and honestly every single bean in that bag is so good. Yum! Also… bonus side effect… your home will smell really good as these beans are cooking. (And how to put this delicately… your home can continue to smell good thanks to the geniuses at Beano. Check it out. Thank me later.) Continue reading
If I’m ever stumped on what to do with a mysterious vegetable, there are a few places I turn for inspiration, and Smitten Kitchen is one of them. I am such a fangirl! I was looking for a spaghetti squash recipe that didn’t pretend the squash was something else, like actual spaghetti, since Mom sprang that one on me as a kid and I haven’t been the same since (sorry, Mom!). My beloved SK delivered a lovely recipe and here is my spin on Smitten Kitchen’s Moroccan-Spiced Spaghetti Squash. She suggests adding chickpeas if you want to bulk it up, so I did, since more veg-based protein is this girl’s best friend, and who doesn’t love a chickpea? We devour this with a few other veg-based dishes for a highly satisfactory dinner. Continue reading
Every time I make this slaw, which is about once a week, my husband exclaims “This slaw is awesome!!”. It’s very refreshing, non-mayo-based, and full of fresh and good-for-you stuff. Continue reading
Quinoa is fun to say (KEEN-wah… I like to sing it) and it’s definitely having a moment, due to being delicious *and* high in amino acids and protein. I make this salad at least once a week for a quick and scrumptious dinner for two. If you make the quinoa and vinaigrette ahead (or buy pre-made), you can throw this together in a few minutes – no big deal. It’s still pretty fast even if you make everything from scratch (quinoa takes about 20 minutes). If your quinoa is still warm, you can still put it right into the salad and you’ll have a nice wilted spinach effect, if you like that sort of thing (if you don’t, just wait for it to cool). Continue reading
Have you ever been to a tapas bar where they serve little plates of delicious small dishes to accompany your drinks (very good idea from Spain)? There is almost always a version of Spanish tortilla on the menu – you get a big wedge of translucent potato slices with just enough egg to hold them together, often drizzled with garlic aioli (fancy mayo). (This is not a tortilla like the ones you use to wrap a burrito.)
Turns out the reason for the beautiful translucent potatoes is OLIVE OIL. A lot of it!! Traditional recipes I looked at call for up to 1-1/4 cups. YIKES. Luckily, the venerable Cooks Illustrated has a version that “only” uses 1/2 cup. Before you freak out, remember this is for a whole pie that you cannot possibly eat by yourself or all in one sitting. We ate one large slice each for dinner which was quite filling and probably contained 2 T. of olive oil. We accompanied it with mushrooms in Spanish sherry and our favorite kale salad. Leftovers are absolutely delicious for breakfast the next day. Continue reading