Tapas Sunday

In my house we have a "Pizza Friday" tradition, as I mentioned in my post White Pizza with Zucchini, Summer Squash, and Manchego. Starting this week, we have a new tradition: Tapas Sunday!

I go to the farmer's market every Sunday morning, and when I get back I am always eager to cook something up. Tapas are the perfect way to try a taste of several ingredients without depleting our supply for the week ahead.

What are tapas? Tapas are a Spanish tradition: simply prepared small snacks meant to accompany a glass of beer or wine. They're becoming increasingly popular all over the United States as well. Tapas bars offer a selection of wine, beer, and small snacks like olives, garlic shrimp, or herbed almonds.

For our initial Tapas Sunday, I made Crunchy Spiced Chickpeas, Patatas Bravas, and sauteed Padron peppers. Alongside these yummy treats we drank a slightly chilled 2009 "Tempra Tantrum," a wine blend of Tempranillo and Grenache grapes from Toledo, Spain. It's a very subtle, easy to drink red wine, and was the perfect accompaniment to our casual Sunday afternoon spread.

Stay tuned this week for the tapas recipes!

Sticky Coconut Rice Balls with Coconut Sugar Syrup

Looking for a creative way to reuse leftover rice, I remembered a sweet coconut rice dessert my Indonesian 4th grade teacher brought to class one day. After scouring the internet, I found several close-enough recipes to try my idea out. Using leftover jasmine rice instead of "glutinous rice powder," and brown sugar instead of shaved coconut sugar, my mission was successfully accomplished. The result is a starchy, very sweet dessert that pairs well with a strong, sweet cup of tea.

Sticky Coconut Rice Balls with Coconut Sugar Syrup

For the Rice Balls:

About 2 cups Jasmine rice, cooked

1 T brown sugar

About 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

For the Syrup:

1/3 C Coconut Milk

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Add brown sugar to cooked rice; stir vigorously until well blended, mushing the rice up a bit as you go. Scoop the rice mixture into 1" balls, then roll in flaked coconut. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, heat coconut milk, brown sugar, and salt. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until thickened and syrupy, careful not to burn the sugar. 

Place rice balls in a serving dish, and spoon over the coconut sugar syrup. Bon appetit! 

Spicy White Bean Dip with Crusty French Bread

I had no idea what I was going to make this weekend. My mother can attest to this fact; on the phone I was complaining about how I had nothing to cook and she said I should just post whatever I make anyway. But I couldn't in good conscience just post spaghetti with diced tomatoes from a can...so I dug deeper in my cupboards to see what I could find.

I had an old can of butter beans, and plenty of flour and yeast...I could make french bread, with a white bean dip! After some internet research I found a recipe that didn't call for lemon juice (I am out of lemons probably for the first time since I moved to California!), and that also incorporated one of my favorite condiments, Sriracha sauce.

You can see the tasty results below!

Spicy White Bean Dip with Crusty French Bread

For the dip:

1 15 oz can White Beans

1 Clove Garlic, chopped

1 T Olive Oil

1 T Sriracha or other Asian chile sauce

1 tsp Soy Sauce

2 tsp Sesame Oil

1/4 C Water

Juice of 1 lime

Drain the beans and rinse. If using a large bean (like butter beans), remove the thin skins from the beans. 

Add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor, adding the beans last. Blend until smooth. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, Sriracha, and sliced green onions.

For the bread:

2 3/4 C flour

1 packet active dry yeast 

1 C warm water (110­° F)

1 T olive oil or melted butter

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Add water to a large bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Cover bowl and set on counter in a draft-free area, to let yeast proof. 

After about 10 minutes, when yeast is foamy, add the other ingredients except for the egg white. Mix until dough comes together (it will be very sticky!) Flour a flat dry surface, and turn dough out. Knead 8-10 minutes or until elastic and smooth, using additional flour as necessary to prevent sticking. 

Spray a clean bowl with cooking spray; add dough ball and roll so dough is coated. Cover bowl and place in a draft-free area to rise until doubled, about 1 hr.

(These initial steps can be done in a bread machine as well. Proof the yeast in the bread pan in the machine, add the other ingredients, then select the dough cycle. When dough cycle finishes, remove dough from pan and continue with the steps below).

Punch dough down. Roll out into a rectangle, then roll up the dough into a log. Sprinkle corn meal on a baking sheet; place dough log on sheet, seam side down. Cover and let rise 30-40 minutes.

Bake in a 375° F over for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with lightly beaten egg. Return to oven and cook 15-20 minutes. The bread will be golden brown, and when you rap on the crust it should sound hollow. Let sit 15 minutes before cooking.

Slice 1-inch thick, brush with olive oil, and broil until golden brown. Serve with Spicy White Bean Dip.

Kung Pao Tofu and Veggies

I had planned on making Kung Pao chicken and tofu. All day I was craving something spicy, salty, and tangy, and I new that anything Kung Pao'd would fit the bill.

Then I opened up my package of chicken and gagged from the smell. Usually that's not something you want to have happen with food you're about to eat!

So, I took out some tofu, and used twice as many mushrooms as I normally would in this dish. Honestly, I didn't miss the chicken, though if you're wary of tofu, you can substitute chicken, pork, or shrimp.

Kung Pao Tofu and Veggies

Chop your veggies. I used six large white mushrooms, a red bell pepper, two stalks of celery, 3 green onions, half of a sliced yellow onion, and three cloves of chopped garlic.

I used dry roasted, unsalted peanuts in this dish. 

Toast about 1/4 cup peanuts in your walk, sans-oil, until lightly toasted. Cut the tofu into 1/2" cubes. Heat 1-2 TBSP in your wok on high heat, until almost smoking. Add 3 dried chiles and saute until fragrant; remove from pan. Add tofu and stir fry until golden brown; remove from pan.

Stir fry veggies in batches with wok on high heat, removing from pan when crisp-tender and charred. My wok seems to finally be seasoned properly; ingredients don't stick to it, and it actually gets hot enough to put a nice char on everything. I started with the mushrooms, removed, stir fried the celery, removed, stir fried the red peppers, removed, stir fried the onion, added the white parts of the green onion, added the garlic, then added all of the veggies and tofu back to the pan.

Add the Kung Pao sauce. Mine was: 1 1/2 T rice vinegar, 2 T soy sauce, 1 T white wine, 1/2 T grated fresh ginger, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 2 tsp hoisin sauce, 2 tsp chile paste, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 T sesame oil, and 1/4 tsp ground black pepper. Whisk in about 1 T corn starch before adding to pan with veggies; let cook 1-2 minutes, or until thickened.

Serve with Jasmine rice, and garnish with the tops of the green onions.

Full Recipe

Kung Pao Tofu and Veggies

1/2 lb tofu, cut into 1/2" cubes

6 large white mushrooms, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, choppped

1/2 large yellow onion, sliced

3 large cloves garlic, chopped

3 green onions, slices, white and green parts separated

3 dried red chiles

1/4 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts, toasted

For the Sauce

2 T soy sauce

1 1/2 T rice vinegar

2 T soy sauce

1 T white wine

1 tsp oyster sauce

2 tsp hoisin sauce

2 tsp chile paste

1/2 T grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp sugar

1 T sesame oil

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 T corn starch 

Heat 1-2 T canola oil in large wok until almost smoking. Add chiles and saute until fragrant; remove from pan. Add tofu; stir fry until golden brown and remove from pan.

Stir fry mushrooms, remove from pan.

Stir fry celery, remove from pan. Do the same with the red bell pepper.

Stir fry the onion. Once charred, add garlic and white parts of green onion. Stir fry until fragrant.

Mix together all ingredients for the sauce until smooth. Add to pan and cook 1-2 minutes or until thickened.

Serve with Jasmine rice and garnish with the green tops of the green onions.

Oatmeal with Blueberries and Agave

I've been having oatmeal for breakfast most mornings. It's very filling and packs a ton of soluble fiber. This morning I had it with fresh blueberries and 1 tsp of agave. The blueberries were so pretty I just had to snap a  picture.

A side of mango completed a delicious meal!

Borscht

Borscht.

Is there any natural food more violently colorful than Borscht?

This is only my second time making Borscht. I made it last year after my friend Malina visited. Malina speaks Russian and has spent a lot of time in Russia, so we went to a restaurant called Traktir, which specializes in authentic eastern european cuisine.

The Borscht was AMAZING. Savory, lighty sweet, and tangy, garnished with sour cream and fresh, aromatic dill.

We eat a lot of beets anyway, so Borscht is the perfect addition to my repertoire of recipes for the sweet, earthy root vegetable. There are an infinite number of ways to make this dish — every region has its own method of preparation, including a Polish version that uses parsnips instead of beets.

This recipe is the result of research, experimentation, and taste-testing. Use it as a guide, and but adjust it to make a Borscht that is truly your own.

Borscht
Scroll to bottom for full recipe

The star of this dish is, obviously, beets.

Grate the beets, and julienne one. Grate two carrots, slice an onion, chop three cloves of garlic, and peel and cut a celery root into large chunks.

Celery root sort of looks like a tumor that has been cut in half, only to reveal a fetal twin

Slice the sausage. Heat about 2 TBSP olive oil in a large soup pot (omit if using pork or beef sausage).

Brown the sausage on all sides. 

Remove from pan. 

Add carrots, beets, garlic, onions, celery root, and 1/2 tsp of caraway seeds to the pan. Cook for ten minutes, or until softened. 

Add 2 T tomato paste, 1 T paprika and a bay leaf to the pan and cook for two minutes.

Pour in 6 cups of beef broth and 1/2 can of diced tomatoes.

Taste the broth and season with salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar until broth is well balanced and slighty tangy. 

Shred the cabbage...

Then add to the pan.

Cover the pan and cook until the cabbage is tender. Remove the celery root and bay leaf. Taste again and adjust seasonings.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and chopped fresh dill.

Full Recipe
Borscht

3 Beets
2 Carrots
1 Celery Root
1 lb Cabbage
1 Yellow Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic
1 Package of smoked sausage beef, pork, chicken, or turkey!)
1/2 can of diced tomatoes
2 TBSP tomato paste
6 cups fat-free beef broth
1 bay leaf
1 TBSP Paprika
1/2 tsp caraway or fennel seeds
1-3 TBSP Red wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper
Fat Free Sour Cream
Dill, for garnish

Peel the beets and grate 2 of them on the largest side of a box grater. Julienne the remaining beet (this adds another dimension of texture to the dish).

Peel and grate the carrots.

Peel the celery root, then cut in large chunks. This will just be used to flavor the broth, then discarded before eating.

Cut the onion into slices.

Roughly chop 3 cloves of garlic.

Shred the cabbage.

Cut the sausage into 1/2" thick medallions. Heat 2 TBSP olive oil in a large soup pot, and brown the sausage on both sides. Removed from pot.

Add garlic, onion, carrot, caraway seeds, beet and celery root to pan. Cook ten minutes, or until softened.

Add tomatoe puree and paprika. Cook about two minutes.

Add diced tomatoes, broth, and bay leaf.

Bring to a boil and taste broth. Add salt, pepper, and vinegar to taste. The broth should be savory, lightly sweet, and have a slight tang from the vinegar.

Add the cabbage and cook until all vegetables are tender.

Remove celery root and bay leaf. Taste again and adjust seasoning.

Serve with a dollop of sour creap and some chopped fresh dill. Can also be served chilled.

Healthy Cherry Lemon Coffee Cake

I bought a pound of cherries at the farmer's market last weekend, and they sat in my refrigerator getting softer by the day until I just HAD to do something with them, before it was too late!

I had originally wanted to make hand pies, but the thought of making and rolling out a crust for all of those little pies was just....thoroughly unappealing.

Cherries are deliciously tart and sweet on their own, but so many of the recipes I came across required cooking them down in cups of sugar.

Then I found a recipe for Healthy Cherry Coffee Cake. No crust, no need to cook the cherries!

I made some tweaks — subbing olive oil for the butter and a combination of whole wheat and unbleached flour for the white, for example — and the result was a light yet hearty tasting Cherry Lemon Coffee cake. The lemon flavor really comes through, and the cake has a nice dimension of nuttiness thanks to the whole wheat flour and oats.

Healthy Cherry Lemon Coffee Cake

First, you need cherries!

I used twice as many as the recipe called for, because they were about to go bad. This made the cake a little soggy (because of the extra cherry juice!) so stick to one cup. You'll need to pit the cherries.

Just use a paring knife to cut the cherries in half, then remove the pit from whichever side it remains lodged in. 

It's time consuming, and lots of juice will get on your hands...

but aren't they just GORGEOUS?

Set the cherries aside, and combine the wet ingredients, along with the sugar and lemon zest, in a large bowl.

Fat free sour cream, olive oil, lemon juice, lemons zest, egg, sugar, honey, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.

Then add the dry ingredients to the wet. The batter will be very thick. I chose to spread half of it in the pan, then layer with cherries...

...then cover with remaining batter.

The batter is very thick, so it might be easier to just add it to the pan all at once, and layer the cherries on top, gently pressing them into the batter.

Combine 1/4 C oats, 2 T brown sugar, and 1 T olive oil until crumbly; sprinkle over top of the cake.

Place in a 350° oven, and bake about 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Yum! 

So, was it as good as coffee cake made with butter, white flour, full fat sour cream, and all white sugar instead of honey?

Well... no. BUT!!! It is a perfectly tasty, healthy substitute for when you just can't pass up the chance to bake a yummy treat!

Full Recipe

Healthy Cherry Lemon Coffee Cake

Topping:

2T light brown sugar

1/4 cup old fashioned oats

1T olive oil

Cake:

1/4 c Honey

1/4 c sugar

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 cup of fat free sour cream

1 large egg

1 Tbsp vanilla

2t lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

3/4 c whole wheat flour

3/4 c unbleached flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

dash cinnamon

1 cup of pitted cherries

Preheat oven to 350

Add honey, sugar, olive oil, sour cream, egg, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest to large bowl. Whisk until combined. 

In a separate bowl, mix together flours, bakin powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until blended. 

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until incorporated. The batter is VERY thick - almost like the batter for drop biscuits.

You can either: spread half the batter on the bottom of an 8" round or square pan (sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper), layer the cherries, and cover with remaining batter OR spread all of the batter in pan and top with cherries.

Mix together oats, sugar, and olive oil until crumbly; sprinkle over top of batter.

Place in oven and back for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown.