February 1st, 2010
For my Tu B’Shevat feast on Saturday, I decided to go beyond the plethora of fruit and go-green with a vegetarian dinner. I find myself constantly excited by the recipes on 101 Cookbooks, and I had plenty of creative vegetarian recipes saved to make a full meal. I’ve modified Heidi’s Arugula Pesto Wheat Berries recipe and made it my own here. I had a tough time finding wheat berries and substitued for barley since it comes from Israel, making it one of those special foods to eat on the holiday. Its super starchy character yields a risotto-like quality when blended with cheesy pesto. Barley needs a better PR department. You rarely find it as the shining star in a dish. But this recipe was mine and E’s favorite of the meal.
Let’s give barley its moment in the sun!
Serves 6
3 cups barley
3 garlic cloves
2/3 cup walnuts
1 bunch or 3 cups arugula leaves
1/2 cup Parmesan
2 big pinches salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
10 black Kalamata olives
Simmer the barley in 6 cups of water for about an hour, until plump and soft. While the barley cooks, place the walnuts in a small pan and toast on the stove for 2-3 minutes. Place the walnuts aside.
Make the arugula pesto by combining the garlic, lemon juice, Parmesan, salt and most of the arugula and walnuts (leave some out for garnish) in a food processor. Pulse a few times and then slowly drizzle the olive oil into the food processor as the mixture blends. Stop it a few times along the way and add extra salt or lemon juice as needed. When it is smooth and the barley is done, empty the barley into a serving bowl and pour the pesto over the barley. Mix together so that the pesto evenly coats the barley.
Top the pesto-barley with the remaining arugula leaves, olives, and walnuts. Enjoy!
Filed under Kosher Recipes, Recipes, Side Dishes | Comment (1)
December 2nd, 2009
Stuffing may be the last word you want to hear right now, but there was so much interest in my challah stuffing experiment, I thought it worthy of a follow-up.
Since E was celebrating Thanksgiving with us for the first time, I had to reconsider all of my recipes to make them kosher. My typical spinach-artichoke-brie stuffing wouldn’t work with turkey (no milk and meat mixed). I found a recipe for stuffing with fennel, apples and raisins on Williams-Sonoma (perfect!) but when my Mom shopped for baguettes she returned with challah, not wanting to trip-up with something unkosher. My feathers were ruffled at the thought of soggy stuffing since challah has a different texture but I asked for opinions on Twitter.
Since the majority of replies were favorable, I decided to give it a go. Then I encountered the next stuffing issue: milk! Milk can be substituted for soy in many recipes, so I knew what I had to do. But could challah soy milk stuffing actually be good? Oh yes it can! A bonus is that this worked perfectly for my vegetarian relatives. It really satisfies a lot of food restrictions without skimping on flavor. If you don’t need a non-dairy stuffing I would still encourage you to shake your fear of soy! It adds a lovely sweetness that works perfectly with the apples and raisins.
Here is the recipe for the “perfectly pareve” stuffing with fennel, leeks raisins and apples. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
I multiplied to yield a dish for 30 people but adjust according to your guests.
3 challah torn into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 sticks margarine
10 shallots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick
slices
3 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 leeks, thinly sliced
3 cups toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
6 Fuji or McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and cut
into 1/4-inch dice
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tsp. finely ground coriander
6 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
6 tsp. chopped fresh sage
3 cups golden raisins
12 cups soy milk
Directions:
Spread the challah out on a baking sheet and let dry overnight.
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Spread margarine on a 13-by-9-inch baking dish.
In a fry pan over medium heat, melt the margarine. Add the shallots and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the fennel, leeks, walnuts and apples and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is tender, 3 to 4 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, combine the bread and the shallot mixture. Add the coriander, thyme, sage, raisins and the soy milk and stir gently to mix. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until the milk is absorbed, about 30 minutes. If the dressing seems dry, add more milk as needed. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.
Transfer the dressing to the prepared baking dish and bake until browned and crispy, about 1.5 hours.
Filed under Occasion/Special Feature, Recipes, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving | Comment (0)
November 10th, 2009
It has been a long time since I made orecchiette but when I caught this recipe in our pairings book , I remembered how much I love the little parcels of pasta. This is a real hearty, healthy pasta dish that would be plenty on its own but I made it as a side with a rack of lamb, for a terrifically huge Shabbat dinner.
As a hummus freak, I feel silly that I never thought of blending chickpeas in a pasta sauce. The chickpeas thicken things up and coat the pasta perfectly. Tiny bursts of rich chickpea and tomato get trapped in the little ears. The original recipe calls for pancetta and ricotta salata but as I was making lamb and a kosher dish, I ommited these two items. With the pine nuts, currants and chickpeas the dish had a lot going on even without pancetta and cheese. Though maybe I just tell myself that so I don’t feel bad about cutting pancetta from my diet ;) If you do ommit them, you may want to compensate with some extra salt.
Ingredients, Serves 4:
2-3 whole canned plum tomatoes with their juice
1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
4 slices pancetta, cut into 1/4 inch pieces (*optional)
Kosher or sea salt
1 bunch broccoli rabe (recipe also suggests dandelion greens but I made a salad with them instead)
1 pound orecchiette
crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups crumbled ricotta salata cheese (*optional)
2 tbsp dried currants
1/4 cup pine nuts or almost, toasted
Combine the tomatoes and half of the chickpeas in a food processor with 1 cup water; process until smooth.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion and pancetta (if using), stirring often, until lightly browned. Add the rest of the chickpeas and cook a minute or two longer. Stir in the pureed chickpea mixture. Reduce the heat until the mixture is barely simmering.
Meanwhile, combine 6 quarts water with 2 tablespoons salt in a large pan. Bring to a boil. Cook the broccoli rabe a minute or two until just limp; remove with tongs and cool under running water. Add the pasta to the boiling water, stirring well. While the pasta cooks, coarsely chop the greens. Stir the greens into the chickpea sauce. Add salt and crushed red pepper to taste.
When the orecchiete is al dente, reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid, then drain. Return the pasta to the pan and mix in the sauce, adding pasta water as needed for a saucy consistency. Stir in half of the ricotta salata (if using) and all of the currants. Serve the pasta in a large bowl or plate individually. Sprinkle the remaining ricotta salata and the pine nuts on top. Serve immediately.
We enjoyed this with an Eden Valley Syrah since I was serving lamb, but you could also match it up with a lean, juicy Italian red like a Barbera to really make the chickpeas stand out.
Filed under Pasta, Recipes, Side Dishes | Comment (0)
August 19th, 2009
Did you know that quinoa is actually not a grain, but a protein in the same group as spinach? I learned this the hard way in a heated debate with E (I was on the losing side). So you can eat mountains of this stuff without guilt, if you care about that sort of thing. Anyway, here is a healthy, hearty side featuring quinoa and plump chickpeas with a zesty lemon-tahini dressing. Leftovers will stay well in the refrigerator for weekday lunch at the office, just add an extra spritz of lemon to keep the quinoa moist. Inspired from a recipe on 101Cookbooks, where I seem to get all of my side dish recipes these days! She makes the tahini from scratch but I cut a corner with a store-bought Sabra brand (sue me!). Enjoy!
Serves 4
1 cup Quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 can of garbanzo beans
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup (about) creamy tahini dressing, Sabra brand works, or make it from scratch:
Tahini Dressing:
1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
1/4 cup tahini
Zest of one lemon
scant 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons hot water
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
In a medium saucepan heat the quinoa and water until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa fluffs up, about 15 minutes. Drain any extra water and set aside.
While the quinoa is cooking make the dressing. Whisk together the garlic, tahini, lemon zest and juice, and olive oil. Add the hot water to thin a bit and then the salt.
Toss the cooked quinoa, beans, cilantro, red onion, and dressing to taste. Serve garnished with a bit of cilantro. Add more lemon juice and salt to taste if you’d like.
Filed under Kosher Recipes, Recipes, Side Dishes | Comments (6)
July 8th, 2009
Here is that famous recipe mentioned yesterday, with regular cucumbers instead of the long-lost lemon cucumbers. It’s such a fresh and hearty mix of flavors with the crunch of the cucumber, the zest of lemon and creamy avocado. It can be served over beans, lentils, brown rice, or soba noodles says Heidi at 101Cookbooks. I used her original suggestion which was mung beans and played with her ratios a bit. If you’ve never had a mung bean, they are shaped like a lentil but are more round. When cooked they soften and take on a nice nuttiness which I think balanced the pine nuts in the dish well. You can prepare this dish in advance, making it an awesome summer barbeque accessory. Enjoy!
Serves 2-3
2 cucumbers, quartered then sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 handful of fresh dill (about 2/3 cup loosely packed)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 big pinches of salt
12 ounces nigari extra firm tofu
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 large, ripe avocado
1 package of mung beans
Bring a large pot of water to a boil on the stove.
While the water is boiling, Toss the cucumbers, dill, olive oil, lemon juice and salt together in a medium bowl. Let sit for at least 20 minutes tossing gently once or twice along the way.
Pour the mung beans into the boil water and let boil until just soft, but not mushy. This should take half an hour.
In the meantime, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet. When the oil is hot add the tofu to the pan with a big pinch of salt, for a few minutes, until the pieces are browned on one side. Toss gently once or twice, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy. Set aside and let cool.
When the tofu is cool cut it into generous cubes.
Spoon the cucumbers out of the lemon-olive oil mixture into a large salad bowl. Add half of the remaining dressing, the tofu, and half of the pine nuts. Gently toss. Taste. Add more dressing or salt if you like.
Remove the mung beans from the water (if any water is remaining) and let cool. Toss with a pinch of salt and pour into a large salad bowl. Pour the cucumber, tofu and pine nuts on top of the mung beans.
Just before serving cut the avocado into cubes. Sprinkle the avocado across the top of the salad and gently toss once or twice to distribute it throughout the salad. Serve topped with the remaining pine nuts.
Filed under Kosher Recipes, Recipes, Side Dishes | Comments (2)
November 17th, 2007
Wanna try something new for Thanksgiving this year? I’ve been making this stuffing recipe for the past few years and it never fails. The addition of the brie cheese and artichoke really packs some unique flavors into the stuffing. It will look more like a quiche in the end than a true stuffing but I promise it is delicious! This one is not an original recipe of mine, it’s actually straight from an Emeril Live episode a few years ago. Enjoy!
Difficulty Level: Easy
Serves: 10-12 (can double the recipe for larger gatherings)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 pounds spinach, washed (3 cups cooked and roughly chopped)
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 tablespoon roughly chopped garlic
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Emeril’s Italian Essence, or other Italian seasoning blend
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 (8 1/2-ounce) cans quartered artichoke hearts, any tough outer leaves removed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons lemon juice
12 to 14 cups cubed (1-inch) day-old French bread (1 loaf)
1 pound Brie, rind removed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water. Once cool, squeeze as much water from spinach as possible, then roughly chop, and reserve.Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until golden brown and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, 2 teaspoons of Italian Essence, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the artichokes and cook, stirring, another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.
Combine the eggs, cream, chicken stock, lemon juice, remaining 1 tablespoon Italian Essence, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the bread, spinach, artichoke mixture, brie, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and parsley and stir to combine. If bread does not absorb all of liquid immediately then let rest until this happens, about 20 minutes.
Pour the bread pudding mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan over the top and drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bake until firm in the center and golden brown, about 1 hour. Serve warm.
Filed under Recipes, Side Dishes | Comments (2)
July 4th, 2007
It’s July 4th and you need a couple of side dishes to go with those juicy burgers you’re about to whip up. You need something quick and hearty that will feed a lot of people. This healthy, tasty dish will do the trick. I’ve made it for countless summer parties and it always works out well. You can make it in advance so you’re not cooking when the guests are having fun. Enjoy! (Adapted from Annie’s Robert Mondavi cookbook) Serve 4.
Merlot Vinaigrette
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Merlot
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bulgar, Couscous, and Orzo Salad
1/2 cup bulgar wheat
1/2 cup couscous
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup orzo pasta
2 cups cold water
2 slices pancetta, coarsely chopped
1/2 head radicchio, thinly sliced
1 cup arugula, thinly sliced
2 scallions, including green parts, thinly sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed
1/2 cup cherry tomato halves, for garnish
Combine all vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to mix. Set aside at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. This will let the flavors in the vinaigrette integrate and mellow out.
To prepare the salad, combine the bulgur and couscous in a large bowl. Stir in the boiling water and let stand until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender, at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the orzo and stir until lightly, toasted about 2 minutes. Add the cold water and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to medium and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and add to the bowl with the bulgur and couscous.
In a small saute pan, saute the pancetta over medium-high heat until barely crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towl to drain briefly, then add to the grains. Add the radicchio, arugula, scallions, parsley and half of thevinaigrette to the bowl. Gently toss to mix and set aside.
To cook the mushrooms, heat the grill pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Brush both sides of the mushrooms with some of the remaining vinaigrette and cook until they begin to turn golden and limp but still firm in the center, about 2 minutes on each side.
To serve, mound the grain salad on a platter. Slice the mushrooms about 1/2 inch thick and arrange over the top of the grains. Garnish with cherry tomato halves and serve.
Filed under Recipes, Side Dishes | Comment (1)
Subscribe in RSS
