I can never have enough hummus, it is one of my favorite snacks (although I tend to eat so much of it, it’s not really a snack!) I’ve had hummus on the brain for a while now. Be Well Philly must have read my mind, because they posted this great Cilantro Lime hummus recipe that I just had to try. As a plus, cilantro came in my CSA share this week!
I think I’m on a hummus kick. Or maybe I’m feeling particularly lazy dinner-wise this week, and hummus is a quick and easy thing to make. Whatever the reason, it is hummus overload on this website. I have a good feeling no one is complaining though. One of the most appealing things about hummus is how versatile it is. Here is my version of roasted red pepper hummus.
Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained
1/3 cup tahini
The juice and zest of 1 lemon juice
1 jar of roasted red peppers (about 3 peppers)
1 garlic scape, chopped (or 2 garlic cloves)
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
For dipping:
Grape tomatoes
Pita bread
Cucumber
First, prepare your red peppers. Remove the peppers from the jar. Take two of the peppers and roughly chop. You will use these in the actual hummus. Finely chop the remaining red pepper as a topping for the hummus. Set the finely chopped red pepper aside.
Combine everything (chickpeas to salt and pepper) in a food processor.
Blend until smooth.
Top with some of the remaining red pepper. Serve with pita, cucumber slices, or tomatoes.
Roasted red pepper hummus is one of my favorite. It always ends up tasting so smooth and creamy, it makes me so happy. The tiny addition of cumin gives a light heat to the hummus which I really enjoy. If you’re not a fan, feel free to omit the cumin. I loved the scapes in this hummus. Raw minced garlic can sometimes be overbearing in hummus, so the subtlety of the scapes was perfect.
I was so excited to receive red potatoes in my CSA share this week. I love roasted red potatoes with fresh herbs, but I had a little bit of white truffle oil left that I wanted to use. I found this recipe for Truffled Roasted Potatoes from Cooking Light which sounded delicious.
Ingredients:
1 small container of red potatoes, washed and quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic scapes, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon white truffle oil
1 teaspoon each of chopped fresh thyme leaves, sage leaves, and rosemary
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Wash your red potatoes thoroughly, but gently. (The skin of red potatoes is fragile). I used a little brush to lightly buff off the dirt under warm running water.
before
after
Cut the potatoes into wedges: quarters for the larger potatoes, and halves for the smaller potatoes, and arrange on a cookie sheet.
Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and sprinkle with garlic scapes, salt and pepper.
Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are brown and slightly wrinkled.
While the potatoes are cooking, chop your thyme, sage, and rosemary. Combine.
Remove the potatoes from the oven, drizzle with truffle oil, and sprinkle with the herb mixture.
This was fantastic. I honestly couldn’t stop eating the potatoes. Truffle oil is such a great ingredient, although it is a bit of a splurge. Truffle oil is usually added at the end of a dish, the oil is too delicate to be subjected to high heat. A little bit of truffle oil goes a long way though so do not overpour! When I make this recipe in the future, I plan on using normal minced garlic (2-3 cloves), the garlic scapes were quite burnt from the oven so I didn’t get any of the garlic taste from them. Boo.
My CSA share came with Swiss chard this week. I wasn’t in the mood to do another leafy green side, so I looked for a recipe that incorporated the Swiss Chard within the main dish. I found this recipe in the Health section of the New York Times and thought it was worth a try.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of Swiss chard, stemmed and washed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 red bell peppers, finely diced
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 garlic scapes, thinly sliced
Salt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram
1 box of orecchiette
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
To begin, boil a pot of water over high heat. While the water is coming to a boil, prepare your Swiss chard. Add ice water to a bowl. When the water boils, add salt and the Swiss chard.
Boil for 2 minutes and remove using a slotted spoon and transfer to the ice water.
Reduce the heat of the leftover boiling water to a simmer. Drain the chard and squeeze the excess water out. Chop the Swiss chard and reserve.
In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and add the finely chopped peppers and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring often.
Bring the pot of water to a boil again. Add the pasta, cooking until al dente as directed on the box. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside.
In the saute pan, add the garlic scapes and salt, stirring to combine.
When combined, add the chopped Swiss chard and marjoram.
Stir and lower the heat to warm. Add the 1/2 cup of pasta water and stir in the goat cheese.
Add the orecchiette to the mixture and serve.
This was a nice alternative to the normal pasta with tomato sauce. The orecchiette helped catch some of the Swiss chard, peppers, and goat cheese so definitely use this type of pasta or another kind that can catch the ingredients. This made so much pasta, it will also be my lunch tomorrow. I have a feeling this will be better the next time around!
The warm days in Philadelphia keep on coming, so I think it’s time to attempt making the summer favorite: gazpacho. I wanted to do an heirloom gazpacho, but I am presently cooking out of Wilmington and the local store does not carry any. Sigh. I used this recipe from Cooking Light and just changed some of the ingredients to fit what I could find in the store.
To begin, prepare all of your ingredients. Peel and seed 2 cucumbers. To learn how to seed a cucumber, check out my post here. Roughly chop the onion and red bell pepper. To peel a tomato, prepare a bowl with ice water and bring another pot of water to a boil.
On the bottom side of the tomatoes, cut an X into the skin.
When the water is boiling, place 2 tomatoes at a time into the water.
Keep in the water for 15 to 20 seconds, remove, and place in the ice water.
Once cooled, use a knife to peel away the skin from the X.
Repeat with remaining tomatoes.
To seed the tomato, cut the tomato in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Discard the seeds and roughly chop the tomatoes.
Prepped Veggies
To make the gazpacho, combine first 9 ingredients (up to the garlic).
Add 1/3 of the mixture to a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl and repeat with the remaining 2/3 vegetable mixture. Cover and chill.
When ready to serve, spoon gazpacho into bowls. Finely chop your yellow and orange peppers and tomatillo. Combine the peppers and tomatillo.
Add 2 tablespoons of the mixture to each bowl. If you’d like, you can also add a piece of garlic bread (or just a crusty piece of day old bread), 1 tablespoon goat cheese, or a teaspoon of sour cream.
This would also be a nice appetizer. Pour the gazpacho into shooter glasses and top with a teaspoon of the pepper tomatillo mixture.
You can also use the gazpacho as a pureed salsa. Prepare garlic bread. Put on a plate with a bowl of gazpacho in the center with a spoon. Guests can spoon gazpacho on top of the bread, or use the bread to dip into the gazpacho.
I love garlic bread. It’s really easy to make and is the perfect accompaniment to spaghetti or soup. Here is a quick recipe to make garlic bread.
Ingredients:
1 loaf of French Bread
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the butter, garlic, parsley, oregano, and Parmesan cheese. Slice the bread, but not all the way through.
Divide the butter mixture evenly between each piece.
Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and cook for 15 minutes.
Serve right out of the oven. You can either slice the bread all the way through, or just serve it as is and tear off a piece as needed. This recipe makes a softer garlic bread. If you prefer a toasty garlic bread, broil the bread for 2 to 3 minutes instead.
I’m sure you read this post title and was wondering why I’m making Garlic Scape Pesto.
This week, I received garlic scapes with my CSA half share. What the heck is a garlic scape you may ask?
When garlic is growing, the scape is the green shoot that pops out of the earth. Farmers need to trim these so that the garlic can continue to grow. But the actual green shoot also packs in a bunch of garlicky goodness, although more mild and with a touch of grass smell.
The scapes are kind of scary looking but I was willing to try using them, who knows when I’ll come across these again! Because they are a more delicate version of garlic, scapes are best used raw.
I came across a recipe for Garlic Scape Pesto on the blog In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie which seemed like a good way to use a bunch of the scapes. I substituted walnuts for the almonds, mainly because my poor boyfriend is allergic and I didn’t want to mistakenly serve him something with almonds in it, and I added in some basil to help cut some of the scape flavor. I also cut the recipe in half to test it out, I can always make more later!
I have been really panicking about using all of my CSA ingredients this week. I am headed to the beach next week and can’t stand the idea of these ingredients going to waste! Thankfully, Cooking Light had a recipe that incorporated a lot of the ingredients I received this week.
Ingredients:
4 flour tortillas
Cooking spray
2 portobello caps, chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below)
1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon minced green chilis
1 cup preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
1/4 cup chopped red onions Fresh Salsa
Sour Cream, optional
Ingredients for the balsamic vinaigrette:
(you’ll have some leftover for a salad later)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced (I used 1 garlic scape… came with my CSA share)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
To make the vinaigrette, add the vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper to a bowl and whisk until the salt dissolves. Add the oil in a slow steady stream, whisking constantly. You can also just add the ingredients to a jar and shake to combine.
Place your tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 1 minute and leave in the microwave while preparing the rest of the dish.
Cook your mushrooms in a saute pan coated with cooking spray. If you don’t have cooking spray, use a bit of olive oil, maybe a teaspoon. Saute the mushrooms for 2 minutes, or until tender.
Add the vinaigrette, black beans, onions and green chile. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the liquid evaporates. Mash the mixture slightly. If you have a potato masher, Cooking Light suggests using that. I don’t, so a fork will have to do!
Spoon 1/4 of the mixture onto each tortilla.
Divide the cheese equally among the tortillas.
Fold the tortillas in half.
I have a panini grill/griddle, so I used that to cook the quesadillas. If you do not have one, just use the same saute pan you used to make the black bean mixture, just wipe it down well before! Coat with cooking spray and place two quesadillas on the griddle/pan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until the cheese is melted. If using a griddle, I cooked them for about 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining quesadillas.
Cut each quesadilla into three wedges. Serve with salsa and sour cream.
I was afraid this wouldn’t have much flavor, but the vinaigrette and slight spice from the green chilies added just enough interest without going over the top. I couldn’t get enough of this dish! The salsa was a perfect complement as well. I am definitely adding this to my list of repeat meals.
I wanted to make quesadillas, and it called for salsa. I realized I had all of the ingredients needed to make my own on hand, so I decided to try coming up with my own salsa.
Ingredients:
3 chopped and seeded tomatoes
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic scape, finely chopped (or 2 garlic cloves)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup corn kernels (I just used frozen)
I have no clue why I put olive oil in the pic, sorry
To make the salsa, first rinse the chopped onions under very cold water. This will help remove some of the bite associated with raw onions.
To seed the tomatoes, cut off one end of the tomato and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
Dice the tomato.
Chop the scape as finely as possible
Cut the cilantro.
Combine the onions, garlic, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, corn, and salt. Allow to refrigerate for a few hours to get the best flavor, or overnight.
The corn will defrost in the fridge
There is nothing like fresh salsa. This recipe can be adapted to what makes you happy as well; feel free to add some jalapenos or another hot pepper to add some spice. As I’ve said before, a lot of color in a dish makes me so happy. The red, green and yellow brighten up the whole meal. There is enough flavor in this salsa to serve at a party with some tortilla chips, but I can’t wait to try it with my quesadilla!
To make the salsa, first rinse the chopped onions under very cold water. This will help remove some of the bite associated with raw onions.
To seed the tomatoes, cut off one end of the tomato and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
Dice the tomato.
Chop the scape as finely as possible
Cut the cilantro.
Combine the onions, garlic, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, corn, and salt. Allow to refrigerate for a few hours to get the best flavor, or overnight.
I have no idea why the concept of a food swap stresses me out so much. But trying to find a recipe for this month was so difficult! I finally found this recipe from a blog called The Bad Girl’s Kitchen; she has a whole section of freezer-friendly meals.
Ingredients (I was making 10 servings):
Salt
2 pounds penne
8 tablespoons olive oil
6 cans of artichoke hearts, rinsed and chopped
1 medium onion, minced
8 medium garlic cloves, minced (about 8 teaspoons)
Zest from 1 lemon
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups heavy cream
2 pounds chicken thighs
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
16 ounces shredded Italian cheese blend (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Ground black pepper
3 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves
that’s quite a few ingredients
To cook the pasta, boil water in a pasta pot over high heat. Add a tablespoon of salt and the pasta and cook for 5 minutes (it will be very al dente– they will cook fully in the oven later). Drain pasta in a colander and toss with two tablespoons olive oil. Set aside.
Prep your artichokes, onion, and garlic.
In a large pot, heat 6 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the artichokes, onion, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook until the artichokes are lightly browned (about 10 minutes).
Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the broth, wine, and cream.
Add the chicken and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken registers 160 degrees.
Remove from heat and discard the bay leaves. Remove chicken and set aside to cool. When cooled, shred into bite-sized pieces. Stir the chicken back into the sauce, adding the pasta, peas, 2 cups cheese and lemon juice. Stir until combined and season with salt and pepper.
I transferred these into tupperware dishes. I included a freezer bag of cheese and put them in the freezer.
To cook, thaw the meal in the refrigerator (about 24 hours). Add to a casserole dish and top with the cheese.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover with aluminum foil sprayed with vegetable spray. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove foil and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with tarragon and serve.
Whew. I heated up a tiny portion of this, just to make sure it was edible. Well, it was more than edible, it was really quite good! I was impressed with how much flavor was in the dish. Thanks for such a great recipe Bad Girl’s Kitchen!
My fridge looks like a forest. I kid you not. I have two of my three shelves of my refrigerator filled with leafy greens. I didn’t want to have just a plain old boring salad, so I decided to try this recipe from Cooking Light (April 2006).
Ingredients for chicken:
1/2 cup panko
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound chicken breast tenders
Cooking spray
Ingredients for salad:
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 spring garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped green onions (scallions)
1/4 bunch of romaine lettuce
1/4 bunch of red leafy lettuce
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To cook chicken, add first 4 ingredients (panko through pepper) to a bowl.
Mix to combine. Add chicken one at a time, tossing to coat. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is done and lightly browned.
To prepare salad, combine vinegar and next 7 ingredients (through minced garlic) in a bowl.
Prepare your lettuce by washing and rinsing the Romaine and red leafy lettuce. Tear with your hands and add to a bowl.
Add halved tomatoes and green onions.
Add vinegar mixture, tossing to coat. Transfer to individual plates and top with the chicken.
Wow. This dressing was fantastic. It has a bit of spice to it without any heat. The chicken was crispy on the outside but really tender on the inside. The original recipe used a clove of garlic instead of spring garlic, but I think the raw mature garlic would be too overpowering. It also called for white wine vinegar, but for some reason I had rice vinegar on hand instead. I will most certainly use this recipe in the future!
This week, I received collard greens as part of my CSA. Although traditionally made with smoked meats and such, I wanted to ease my way into this new veggie. (I’ll try a somewhat more traditional version later this week)
Ingredients:
1 bunch of collard greens, stems removed and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 spring garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon, optional
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a teaspoon of salt. Prepare your collard greens while waiting for the water to boil.
remove large stem in center of leaf
roughly chop
When the water is boiling, add the collard greens and cook for ten minutes.
when initially added
ten minutes in
Drain the collard greens in a colander and rinse under cold water. Squeeze against the colander to remove excess water.
Chop the spring garlic.
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
Add the collard greens and season with salt and pepper.
Cook until wilted, about three to four minutes.
Collard greens have a slight bitterness to them that works well with the subtle garlic taste of spring garlic (versus normal garlic). I added a squeeze of lemon which helped brighten the dish a bit. It’s a nice alternative to spinach, my default leafy green. As with most darker green vegetables, collard greens are high in Vitamins A, C, and K and are high in fiber, so the more leafy greens in my diet, the better.
My mom and aunts make mean tomato sauce. But sadly, they have not signed on to making sure my freezer is sufficiently filled with their delicious sauce. So I’ve finally broken down and attempted my own. Tomato sauce is quite adaptable, you can really throw in whatever you wish. Here’s my attempt at making a tomato sauce my Italian relatives would be proud of…
Ingredients:
2 cans of crushed tomatoes
1 can of pureed tomatoes
1/3 cup of red wine (whatever you already have opened will do)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons each of parsley, oregano, basil, and thyme
1 bay leaf
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Begin by preparing the garlic and shallots. I happened to have shallots on hand, so that’s why I used them instead of an onion. Shallots kind of taste like sweet onions with a bit of garlic to them, so I thought that would work well in the sauce.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and shallots and saute for 1 minute.
Add the cans of tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, spices, wine, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and bring to a boil. (Be careful, the tomato sauce pops up). Feel free to add more spices or sub in whatever you’d like.
see?
Lower the heat and cover. Simmer for 1 hour. If the sauce seems too thin, add a teaspoon of tomato paste to the sauce. Be sure to remove the bay leaf.
Tomato sauce always tastes better after its been frozen and has had time to meld all the flavors, so I still don’t know how well it turned out. I did have a bit with some spaghetti right after it finished cooking and so far, so good. I can already tell it doesn’t stack up to my family’s sauce, but hey, not to shabby for a girl with freckles if I do say so myself 🙂 I wish I had thought ahead and made meatballs with the sauce too. Meatballs add a nice earthiness to the sauce that really enhance the sauce. Next time…
Hummus is really easy to make and can be customized to whatever suits your tastes. I am still working through my parsley, so I decided to try a parsley hummus on Epicurious with a few adjustments.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of parsley leaves
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 can of chickpeas, rinsed
the juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons tahini
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
pita bread
cooking spray
salt, to taste
Preheat the over to 450 degrees. Cut the pita into triangles and arrange on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray.
Cook for 4-5 minutes and set aside. Place the chickpeas in a colander and rinse with water.
Roughly chop the garlic.
Put the parsley and the garlic in a food processor and process until thoroughly mixed, about 1 minute.
Add the chickpeas and process for another minute.
Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest, tahini, olive oil, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt (to taste). Process until smooth.
Place the pine nuts in a saute pan over medium heat. Shake the pan frequently to keep them from burning. When fragrant and browned, remove from heat.
Take 3/4 of the pine nuts and finely chop.
Add the chopped pine nuts to the hummus and mix in with a spoon. Top the hummus with the remaining whole pine nuts.
The spices add great flavor but there isn’t enough in it to give heat. The pine nuts give the hummus some crunch. And for some reason, it makes me super happy that this hummus is such a pretty green color. If you’re not in the mood for toasted pita, tomatoes or sliced cucumber would be quite tasty with this.
I found a recipe on My Recipes for Seared Scallops with Garlic-Parsley Butter. It even includes my other favorite ingredient: mushrooms. And, even better, the recipe is served over a mashed potato puree! I think they might have written this recipe just for me.
Ingredients:
6 oz of larger sized scallops
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons minced spring garlic
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 package shiitake mushrooms, rinsed, stemmed, and thinly sliced
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons canned crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Ingredients for Yukon Gold potato puree:
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons whipping cream
Salt and Pepper
Bring 2 to 3 quarts water to a boil. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces.
Add potatoes to the pot and cook until tender when pierced, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and put in a bowl.
Mash the potatoes with 1/4 cup chicken broth, 2 tablespoons whipping cream, salt and pepper to taste. I just used a fork, but a potato masher would have really sped up the process. Set aside.
Rinse the scallops and pat dry.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Prepare your mushrooms. Remove the stems and discard. Thinly slice the caps.
Mince the shallot and green garlic. Green garlic is also known as spring garlic. It happened to be part of my CSA share, so if you just have normal garlic, that will work just fine.
Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add scallops to the pan and cook, flipping the scallops once until browned on both sides and opaque, about 4 minutes total.
Transfer the scallops to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
Add 1/2 tablespoon butter, garlic, and shallot to the saute pan.
When the butter is melted, add the mushrooms.
Stir often until mushrooms are browned, about 5 minutes.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter, chicken broth, parsley, tomatoes, white wine, and lemon juice.
Bring to a boil and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the potato puree to a bowl. Top with the scallops and spoon mushrooms and sauce over the scallops.
Oh this was so so good. I don’t know how this recipe managed to get so many of my favorite ingredients into one dish and still make it taste good, but I don’t think I’ve ever been happier on a Monday night. Yum.
