Quinoa Medley

After a glutinously delightful weekend filled with incredible midnight dinners and too many cocktails, I decided to get back on track today with a jog through central park and a dinner overloaded with vegetables. Yum. 


By nature a recipe like this is pretty flexible. But please don't try to make it without the toasted pine nuts! I know pine nuts can be pretty pricey, especially in Manhattan, but it's one item I like to stock up on at Costco. It's great to have them on hand to add to salads, use in pesto, and stir into recipes like this one. 


If you'd like you can grill a chicken breast to go with this (fresh herbs, garlic, lemon and you've got a great marinade). Quinoa is already a good source of protein. I bet this would be good if you threw a handful of spinach in it, too. So go buy some veggies and start your week off right! 


Quinoa Medley

• 1 Cup quinoa, uncooked
• 2 Cups water + 1/2 veggie bouillon cube (or just use 2 cups chicken stock)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 Red pepper
• 1 Zucchini 
• 3-4 Spring onions
• 2 Cobs of corn
• 2 Plum tomatoes
• 1/4 Cup pine nuts
• 1/4 Cup ricotta salata cheese
• 1/4 Cup chopped parsley
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil, plus a little for sauteing 
• 1/2 Teaspoon each salt and fresh ground pepper, plus more to taste
• 1/4 Teaspoon dried oregano

Start by rinsing and prepping your veggies. Stand the red pepper up and slice the four sides off of the pepper; this gives you flat pieces of pepper that are easy to slice thinly, about 1/4 inch, and then dice. 

Dice the zucchini slightly larger than the pepper. Usually you want your vegetables about the same size but zucchini cooks faster than peppers. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into about 1/3 inch slices, make a quarter turn then cut the same way so that you have long strips that are easy to dice. Clean the corn and slice the kernels off of it. Chop the spring onions and mince the garlic. Slice the plum tomatoes. 

Heat a tiny bit of olive oil in a pot and cook one smashed clove of garlic until fragrant then add the 1/2 veggie bouillon cube. Add the 1 cup dry quinoa and stir for a few minutes to toast the couscous. Add 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and put the top on the pot. Cook for 15 minutes.

Take out your largest sauté pan and heat it on medium with nothing in it, then add the 1/4 cup pine nuts to the dry pan and toast over medium heat stirring regularly. They'll start to sizzle and turn brown, this brings out an amazing nutty flavor and is definitely worth the short time and effort it takes to toast them! Take the nuts out of the pan and save them for later.

Pour about 1 teaspoon of olive oil (or less) into heated pan and add the red peppers for just about 1 minute.

Add the diced zucchini, spring onions, and garlic and stir. Add about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper.

After a few minutes or so add the tomatoes and corn. I like to use plum tomatoes because they hold up well to a little heat. Once you add the corn and tomatoes you'll just want to heat the mix for another minute or two then turn the stove top off. You want the vegetables fresh and just cooked, don't kill them with heat!

While you're waiting for the quinoa to finish cooking, juice the lemon. It should be about 3 tablespoons of juice. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1/4 teaspoon oregano and whisk until blended. 

By now your quinoa should already be done cooking. 

Add the vegetables to the quinoa and stir. Add the olive oil and lemon dressing. I used just about 4 tablespoons of the mix, but add according to your taste. 

Add the toasted pine nuts, 1/4 cup shredded ricotta salata and 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley. Stir and add more salt and/or pepper to taste. Top with a little shredded ricotta salata and enjoy. And don't feel bad about going back for seconds!

Grilled Veggie Sandwich



Please excuse the uneven knife work on that tomato- not sure what happened there!

As you may have gathered by now, I'm in love with my new grill pan. I also love a good sandwich. My family used to go to Rehoboth Beach most summers and there was a little sandwich shop that had the best roasted veggie sandwich. It was a tradition to eat there each visit (or...multiple times each visit!) and I figured it was time to recreate the deliciousness. As a side note, the name of this recipe is deceiving because only one item is grilled, but that is besides the point. If you choose to roast the eggplant instead it would be just as good.

Grilled Veggie Sandwich

• 1 Eggplant
• 1 Red pepper
• 1 Tomato
• 1 Mozzarella ball
• Mixed lettuce greens
• 1 Loaf of good bread, I used ciabatta
• Olive oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Mayonnaise (optional)
• 1 Clove Garlic
• Salt & freshly ground pepper

I started by roasting the red pepper. I've always bought jarred roasted red peppers which works fine, but roasting it yourself is easy and really takes it to a new level. Sadly and strangely, I don't have a pair of metal tongs (I'm already planning a trip to the closest Sur La Table) so I had a really awkward technique for roasting the pepper. I stabbed the bottom of the pepper with a large steak knife as I roasted it over the open flame on my stove top- but surely I would recommend using metal tongs if you have them! If you have an electric stove top then you can use your oven broiler to roast the pepper.

Brush the pepper lightly with olive oil. Hold the pepper over the flame and slowly rotate the pepper until it is blackened evenly all over. Try not to catch the stem on fire!

Once it's blackened, put it in a bowl and cover with a lid or saran wrap and let it steam while you prepare everything else.



Next I cut the eggplant evenly into about 1/3 inch thick slices.

Use a brush to lightly coat each side of the eggplant with olive oil and add salt and pepper.

Cook the eggplant on the grill pan once the pan is hot. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side, depending on how hot the pan is and how thick your slices are. You just want to be sure the eggplant is nicely cooked through.

Set the eggplant aside once cooked.

Slice your tomato and mozzarella into thin, even slices and set aside.

Now let's get back to that roasted red pepper- by now it should be cool enough to handle and you should be able to very easily peel off all of the charred skin. Cut the pepper into thick slices, drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper.

Toast your ciabatta bread and rub a peeled garlic glove that you've cut in half over both sides of the bread. Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on one side, and add a tablespoon or two of balsamic vinegar to the other side of the bread. If your bread isn't thick enough to soak up the vinegar then you can just pour it over the sandwich once assembled. I assembled the sandwich with the eggplant on the bottom, then roasted red pepper, tomato, salt and pepper, mozzarella and topped with lettuce.

After enjoying this tasty sandwich for two meals in a row, I decided to make a naked sandwich aka salad one night when I just had a few minutes to eat before running out the door. I threw the leftover lettuce on a plate, sprayed with some balsamic vinegar, then just layered slices of the veggies and mozzarella on top, sprinkled with salt and pepper and it was fantastic!

NYC: Baked by Butterfield

Unfortunately the local news had to announce that it was national doughnut week recently, and it induced a craving frenzy that I could only control by succumbing to it. After a quick search I realized that I would need to make my way to Chelsea at some point to visit Doughnut Plant. But my craving called for faster action, and I found a little shop called Baked by Butterfield that just recently opened. Of all things, they make doughnuts that are BAKED and not FRIED. Now, to be honest I have a bit of a problem with this since a baked doughnut is really a small circular cake, but I wasn't in the mood to be choosy.

I bought two doughnuts so that I could have a sampling: Salted Caramel and Creme Brulee. I also got an unsweetened black iced tea which was a little weak for my taste.

The Creme Brulee doughnut had a torched sugar top that looked lovely, and it had no hole (channeling a jelly doughnut) and was filled with a creme brulee-type custard. I had one bite and it was nice, but after trying the Salted Caramel doughnut I couldn't go back to it. The Salted Caramel doughnut had a very thick chewy caramel coating and you could really taste the salt. It was amazing.

Lemon, Garlic & Herb Chicken

I can be pretty scrappy sometimes, and I just threw this together with the ingredients I had on hand in my fridge. It is the perfect example of how easy it is to make healthy, delicious food in a snap!

Scrappy.

We all know boneless, skinless chicken breasts aren't known to be exceptionally flavorful, but if you use fresh herbs and let it marinate over night you'll be pleased with the results. I happened to use basil because that is what I had on hand, but rosemary is one of my favorite herbs to pair with chicken.

If you are cooking 2 or more chicken breasts, you can just double the recipe (no need to triple it for 3 chicken breasts, etc).

Lemon, Garlic & Herb Chicken

• 1 Boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/4 Cup olive oil
• 1/2 Lemon
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 2 Tablespoons fresh herbs (I used basil), chopped
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon pepper

Pour the olive oil, salt and pepper into a shallow container large enough to hold the chicken breast. I had half of a partially squeezed lemon left over, so in addition to adding the remaining juice to the marinade I also sliced the lemon and threw it in the dish for extra flavor. If you're using rosemary I recommend zesting the lemon for even extra flavor.

Chop the garlic and herbs and add to marinade, mixing everything together.





Add the chicken breast, flipping so that it is evenly coated. Don't leave the slices of lemon directly on the chicken, it's best for it to sit on the olive oil. Marinate overnight for best results, flipping at least once.

When you're ready to cook the chicken, scrape off the extra garlic and herbs from the chicken so it doesn't burn, and add a little extra salt and pepper to each side of the breast.

I cooked mine on a grill pan by heating the pan and cooking it for about 6 minutes on each side.

Voila! Healthy and full of flavor. Great with a side of your favorite veggies or you can tear it to add to a wrap or salad.

Simple Scallops & Spinach

I have always loved scallops and have had some fantastic variations at restaurants over the years. Yet somehow, I never tried cooking them at home! Since I will be heading out of town again soon I didn't want to buy a lot of groceries that would go to waste, so I figured a simple preparation would be best. This recipe is perfect because it's not only fast, but it also doesn't take a lot of ingredients to taste great.

It's also easy to splurge on scallops when you're just cooking for one! Adjust the quantities if you have anyone joining you for dinner.

Spinach

• 2 Cups of spinach
• 1/2 Shallot
• 1/2-1 Clove of garlic
• Olive oil

Scallops

• 4 Scallops
• Salt & pepper
• 1 Lemon wedge

Start by preparing and cooking the spinach. Dice the shallot finely and slice the clove of garlic very thinly.

Heat a little olive oil in a pan and saute the shallot for a couple minutes.

Then add the sliced garlic and cook for another minute or two. It's okay if the shallot gets a little brown - they're good that way!- but you don't want to burn the garlic.

Add the spinach leaves and continue to cook until the spinach is wilted. No need to cook the spinach to death.

Put the spinach on your plate and it's time to get started on the scallops! If you need more olive oil, just add a very small amount. I needed just 1/4 teaspoon if that. Heat the pan to medium/medium-high, lightly salt and pepper both sides of the scallops, then place the scallops flat side down and cook for about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the opposite flat side for just 1.5-2 minutes longer. Both sides should have a nice sear.









Plate the scallops and squeeze the lemon over the scallops and spinach, and you've got yourself a meal! For a little more substance, I seared a little ciabatta bread in the pan after the scallops and added salt, pepper and topped with chopped basil to serve on the side. Enjoy.