Pasta-Less Salad

 I wanted pasta salad, but because of the diabetes I shouldn't eat pasta.  So I came up with this, and it worked just fine.

Ingredients:

1 bag of mixed broccoli and cauliflower

1/2 a small onion (red is better, yellow is fine)

Handful of olives, sliced

1 zucchini, sliced thin

2 oz of salami, sliced into strips

2 oz of pepperoni, sliced into strips

4 oz of fresh mozzarella, cubed

Dressing:

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp prepared pesto (in a jar)

pinch of black pepper

Instructions:

1.    Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into bite-sized pieces

2.    Toss in a big bowl with the other ingredients

3.    Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over the salad

4.    Toss thoroughly, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Protein Ranch Dip

For when you want to munch veggies with something creamy:

½ cup Greek yogurt

½ cup cottage cheese (blended or well-stirred)

¼ tsp garlic powder (or more to taste)

¼ tsp onion powder

½ tsp dried dill (plus ¼ tsp parsley or chives if you have them)

Pinch of black pepper

Optional splash of lemon juice or vinegar for brightness

Tips:

Blend or process if needed to smooth out the cottage cheese — that creamy texture is key 

Adjust consistency by adding a splash of water, milk, or buttermilk if it's too thic

Boost flavor with a pinch of parsley, chives, or a touch of salt if needed.

I added a bunch of garlic to half of it and some water and poured it over a salad with chicken, it's very versatile.

Let it chill for 30 minutes to meld flavors—makes a big difference in taste depth.

Zucchini Mushroom Fritatta

Ingredients:

1/2 large zucchini, grated and moisture squeezed out

1/4 cup finely chopped mushrooms

Pinch of black pepper

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sage

2 eggs beaten with a splash of milk

2 tablespoons grated Asiago cheese

Steps:

While your nonstick pan is preheating on medium high,

1.    Grate the zucchini, squeeze the moisture out in a kitchen towel.

2.    Finely chop the mushrooms.

3.    Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of butter to the pan.

4.    Add zucchini and mushrooms to the pan and spread out thin.

5.    Beat the eggs with the splash of milk.

6.    Grate the Asiago cheese.

7.    Stir the mushrooms and zucchini, add a pinch of salt and pepper and sage and stir a few more times.

8.    When the mushrooms and zucchini are wilted down a bit (after 3-5 minutes), pour in the eggs and stir.

9.    Top with the grated cheese and cover with a lid until the eggs are set.

10.  Plate and enjoy!

Notes:  I used Jacobsen's black garlic salt instead of regular salt.  Any cheese would work and give you different flavors, I just happened to have Asiago and I thought the nutty sharpness would be good (and it was).

Shrimp & Garlic Pasta

Do you ever get cravings that you just can't explain?  Yeah, me too.  I think all foodies go through it in different ways.

Last week, my soul was crying out for shrimp and garlic.  I also really really wanted some parmesan cheese, so that means pasta.

I made enough to last a few days, so I'm going to tone down the proportions a little from what I did.  These are approximations, so you'll have to use your best judgment and trust your instincts when you make it.

I've had a glass of wine tonight, so please understand that in the Directions section I'm assuming you know how to cook.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat spaghetti  (I don't use any other kind these days), enough for two people.
1/2 pound of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed
4 garlic cloves
1/4 of a large onion
Parmesan cheese

Directions:

This dish doesn't take long, so right away start the water for your pasta.  Add the pasta when the water comes to a roiling boil and put in tablespoon or so of salt.  Cook til al dente.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large non-stick pan.
Finely chop the onion and garlic.
Put the onion in the hot oil, and stir til it's softened.
Add the garlic and spinach, sprinkle with some freshly ground black pepper.
Stir 1-2 minutes and add the shrimp.
Stir until the shrimp is all pink, and turn the heat off.
Add the cooked spaghetti and toss to mix thoroughly.

You can add the parmesan at the table per serving, or toss 1/4 cup or so with the whole thing, that's up to you.  Ordinarily I'd use fresh grated parmesan, but I was out used the dried stuff.  I think for this purpose, it worked better than fresh grated would have.

Serve with a glass of white wine and a salad, and dinner's done.

Bon Appetit!

Everyday Wheat Bread

Bread is one of those things we take for granted, especially if you’re a big toast or sandwich eater.  But have you noticed lately that a lot of the bread is costing up to $5 per loaf?  That is a LOT of money for something that really isn’t that hard to make.

You’ll need about 3 hours really for this.  Most of that time is sitting around and waiting, the actual time you’ve got your hands on it is about 20-30 minutes.  I’m doing this by hand, not using any machinery that you may not have.  I have cut the recipe in half and just made one loaf, and it works just fine.

So you’ll need 2 loaf pans, measuring cups, microwave, a sturdy spoon, a nice big bowl, and the ingredients listed below.

Ingredients

2 cups of water

¼ cup of melted butter

¼ honey

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 envelopes active dry yeast

4 to 4 ½ cups whole wheat flour

(the following are optional)

½ cup raw sunflower seeds

½ cup wheat germ

Directions

Put the water, butter, and honey in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds on high.  You want it warm but not steaming.  If you can put your finger in it comfortably and it feels warm, you’re good.  If it is uncomfortable, let it cool off for 2 minutes before proceeding.

In a large bowl, mix the warm liquid, all-purpose flour, salt and yeast with a whisk until there are no lumps, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the seeds and wheat germ if you’re using them.  Now add the wheat flour one cup at a time until you’ve got all 4 cups in.  If it’s not really sticky, you’re ready to move forward, otherwise add a tablespoon or two more of wheat flour.  Use the remaining wheat flour to dust a large cutting board so you can knead the dough.  Wipe out the bowl after you put the dough on the floured board, and then grease the bowl with soft butter.

If you’ve never done any bread dough kneading, what you need to do is push the big lump a little flattish and then fold it over towards you and push it away from you with the heel of your hand.  Do this for about 5 minutes, rotating the dough so it turns into a smoother shape.  By the time the dough is ready, it will be smooth and elastic – trust yourself, you’ll recognize it when it happens.  Put the dough into the greased bowl, and turn it over so it’s got a greasy side facing up.  Cover with a cloth and let it rest in a warm place for an hour.  Wash your hands, clean things up and go relax.

At the end of the hour, grease 2 loaf pans with soft butter.  Punch the dough down (put your fist in it, you don’t have to use the same force you’d punch your ex with).  This will release some of the air.  Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, shape into vaguely loaf-like shapes and put in the greased loaf pans.  Cover and let rise another hour, wash your hands and clean the bowl out, and get back to your relaxing.

Preheat the oven to 350, and when it’s ready uncover the loaf pans and put the pans in the oven.  Set your timer for 35 minutes, and come back to look at it when the timer goes off.  Because it’s wheat bread, it may be hard to tell when the loaves have achieved a “golden” state.  Open the oven and pull the rack out so you can tap the top of the loaf.  If it feels sort of hollow when you tap them, they’re ready.  If not ready, check again after 5 minutes, keep doing that until you feel they are ready.  Take them out, close the oven, turn it off, and turn the loaves out to cool. 

I know, I know, you’re tempted to cut into it immediately.  Don’t do that, give it at least 10-15 minutes before you cut it, it’s still coming down from 350 degrees and finishing the last of the baking inside and firming up its structure.  Because this bread is more dense, it’s not as full of fillers as what you buy and less likely to have the same spongy texture as store-bought bread.  You’ll have to slice it thinner as a result, but hey if it turned out right then it’s going to be crazy good and that just means you get more of it, right?  Try the end piece with just some soft butter spread on it to see how it is.  You'll notice that less of it fills you up more than store-bought bread does.

And there you have it – homemade bread good for sandwiches and toast.  I may throw some oats into it next time for even more fiber and texture, but even if you don’t add any of the extras I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

If everything went right and you’re feeling great about your bread making experience, you may also want to try this recipe - Honey Oatmeal Bread

Scottish Oatcakes - Attempt #1

Part of my ethnic heritage is Scottish, and lately I've been thinking about what folks eat in the countries my ancestors came from.  The oatcake comes to mind, and there are various different versions of them.

The thicker, dense variety are also called bannocks.  I've tried those in the past and just didn't care for them, but there's a version that's similar to a crepe so I went looking for recipes.  I found this charming video on YouTube about them:

http://youtu.be/_oaikgG-pNg


Well, after watching THAT and the gentleman talking about eating them with bacon grease dribbling down his chin, I was totally wanting some right away.  I probably shouldn't have watched it without having eaten first, but que sera sera.

I experimented with my own version of a recipe since I didn't have any oat flour on hand and didn't want to try making my own oat flour in the food processor this time.  Here's what I did....

1 cup water and 1 cup milk, warmed in the microwave.

1/2 teaspoon yeast dissolved in the liquid and stir in 1/2 tablespoon sugar.

In a large bowl, mix together 3/4 cup wheat flour, 3/4 cup white flour, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Pour the liquid and yeast mix into the dry ingredients and whisk together.

Cover, and let sit in a warm place for an hour.

Now mind you, I was looking at 3-4 different recipes at the same time, trying to come up with something that would work.  At this point, you were supposed to stir in a tablespoon of melted butter and start cooking them.  It was supposed to be thin like crepe batter (or a very thin pancake batter) but something went a little wild... it was thick as oatmeal and bubbling.  I added a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and drizzled water in while stirring to get it thin again.  It wound up taking another 1/2 cup of water to get it right.

At this point, I heated up a large nonstick pan, threw a little butter in and used a big soup ladle to pour batter in the pan.   Cook til the bubbles firm and flip, brown lightly on that side and it's done.

I made a stack of about 12 of these babies up.  Fortunately, one of them broke on me so I could nibble at a few fragments while I continued cooking the rest of the batter.  After one bite, I grabbed a little strawberry jam and tried that too.  Then some butter with the jam.  It was awesome.  I was sad that I'd only had 1/3 of an oatcake, and I still had 5 more to cook before I could stop.

I had cooked some breakfast sausage up, so the other 2/3 of the broken one wound up with a bit of maple syrup on it and wrapped around the sausage while I continued to cook.

It was *very* satisfying.   I had a really full day of housework ahead of me, so after they'd cooled I wrapped all but 2 up and put in the freezer.  I figured that if I couldn't freeze and reheat them, they were useless to me for something quick on the go.  To be honest, I can't remember how I ate the 2 I'd held out, but I remember being happy with it.

The next day, I cooked some bacon, 2 eggs (over medium) and sliced a little cheese while 2 oatcakes thawed out in the microwave, with my fingers crossed.   The texture held up to it, and they were slightly warm after about a minute on high.  So I put some bacon and cheese on half of each, egg on top and folded over to pick up and eat sandwich-style.  One would have been sufficient, I wound up skipping lunch that day because I was so full.  And the texture plus flavor made me blissfully happy.  I also tried them with some apples I'd sauteed with a little cinnamon, topped with ricotta cheese and a very thin drizzle of maple syrup over the top.  Again, pure bliss.


The rest - well, my roommate never got to try any.  I was completely selfish and didn't even tell him about them.  I'm calling my first attempt a huge success, but next time I will try with some oat flour and see how they come out.

If you decide to try these gems, do let me know how it works for you, or feel free to ask me any questions.  Bon appetit!

Real Men DO Eat Quiche!

I was going to make this for breakfast yesterday, but wound up going to the movies instead so Sunday morning quiche it was destined to be!

In my goal to balance healthy eating with good flavor, sometimes I get off on the wrong track, and sometimes (like this morning) the Tastebud Express glides into the station with a gentle whisper of culinary bliss.  Does that sound conceited to say about my own cooking?  Perhaps so, but man… it was really good!

The concept:  A quiche I could eat on for the rest of the week to avoid cooking in the summer heat.  I wanted it to have a whole wheat crust (for fiber), and enough veggies in it that I could feel good about the fat going into it.  All things in moderation, right?

The final outcome:  A quiche with a rather firm crust, filled with bacon, mushrooms, spinach, swiss cheese and the usual delectable custard.

Quick note:  This is a LARGE recipe, to fit my 11” quiche pan.  If you’re using a regular 9” pie plate then you’ll definitely have excess crust and filling. 

Planning:   Make the crust while your bacon is cooking and your oven is preheating to 425, then pre-bake the crust while you’re cooking the vegetables.  While the pre-baked crust is cooling, grate the cheese and beat the custard together. 

The ingredients:

(some measurements approximate, so use what you think sounds good)

Crust:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp garlic salt (yep!)

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

(at this point, mix it all together in a big bowl)

1 tbsp garlic butter (I had some from last night)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 tbsp cold water

As you can see, I threw some flavor into the crust.  I hate when you have just a little piece of crust on your plate and you eat it and it just tastes like fatty salty flour.  So, as with any pastry recipe, mix in the oil and butter with a fork until the flour is crumbly instead of powdery, then sprinkle over the tablespoons of cold water and mix until you get a ball.  Roll between pieces of wax paper to the right size for your pan, trim off any excess and bake at 425 for 10 minutes, after pricking with a fork to avoid bubbles.  Remove to cool, you do NOT want it browned at all.

Filling:

6 slices lean bacon cooked crisp

1/3 red onion, diced fine

1 cup diced crimini mushrooms

1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

Pinch of dried thyme

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 dashes cayenne pepper

1 dash nutmeg

Cook the veggies until soft in the bacon fat (why waste flavor?), add the pepper, cayenne, and dried thyme and stir it in before turning off the heat.  You will be putting it in a colander to drain excess liquid out so it doesn’t make the quiche watery.

In a big bowl beat 4 eggs, add a cup of heavy cream and a cup of 2% milk  (or whole milk, though it will be richer.)

Assembly:

To your now pre-baked crust, add the cooked vegetables that you’ve mixed with your chopped crispy bacon and spread evenly on the bottom of the crust.  Top with about a cup of shredded swiss cheese, then pour the custard over.  Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 for 30 minutes.  You’ll wind up with a golden brown top that is the crust of cheese (nom nom nom) and just let it cool for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.  But, um, don’t serve for at least 5 minutes if you don’t want your guests (or yourself) to have their mouths scorched!  

So there you have it, that's what I did for breakfast this morning before mowing the lawns.  I did snitch another bite after mowing to see how the flavors were when it was room temperature, and the flavor was fabulous.  Nothing overpowering, every ingredient making an appearance on the palate.