mung bean tomato soup with kale

This is another recipe from Anna Thomas's Love Soup - a great cookbook. I had some mung beans in the pantry left over from making this amazing salad. Also, I found out that this little Indian spice shop in Providence sells the dried beans in bulk, so I was thinking about what else I could use them in when I came across this recipe in the "summer soups" section of Thomas's cookbook. She cooks them down so that they partially disintegrate, thickening the soup.

roasted tomato couscous salad

This salad is based on a memory of a tomato salad I remember making from101 cookbooks that involved toasted capers and half raw, half oven-roasted tomatoes. Instead of a green salad, I used an Israeli (pearl) couscous. It's a really tasty combination of flavors. If you had them on-hand, you could use more fresh herbs (parsley, mint, thyme), and/or olives instead of the capers for some saltiness. 

ingredients:

1 lb heirloom tomatoes – mix of colors

balsamic vinegar and olive oil

1 cup couscous (I used Israeli/pearl couscous)

1 T capers

1 garlic clove, crushed or fine minced

salt and pepper

fresh basil

Heat oven to 425-450. Cut the tomatoes into chunks. If using cherry tomatoes, cut in half. Line the baking sheet with parchment if you want to spare some mess. Roast about half of the tomatoes with a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (and a sprinkle of salt and pepper) until they burst and soften (about 20 minutes), and save the other half to use raw in the salad. Meanwhile, make the couscous according to directions. While that's going, fry the capers in a 1 tsp of oil (careful – they splatter!), until some of the moisture evaporates and you can see them start to brown (they will smell good, too). Mince or crush/press a clove of garlic into the salad, and top with fresh basil.  Mix everything together! It might seem a bit wet at first, but the couscous absorbs the liquid, and the leftovers are good the next day, too! 

chicken with roasted tomatoes

Ooh, this is a good one. Very easy, 30-40 min prep/cooking time, and amazing flavors. It's the end of summer tomato season! Celebrate it! :)

ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds cherry tomatoes
olive oil
2 tablespoons herbes de Provence
salt and pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or red wine
herbs to garnish

1. Tomatoes: Heat oven to 450 F. Cut tomatoes in half and combine with 2 T olive oil and herbes de Provence in a bowl, salt and pepper, toss, and lay out on a cookie sheet in the oven to roast. They will soften and start to brown and caramelize (about 20-25 minutes).

2. Chicken: Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat 2 T oil in an ovenproof skillet. Brown the chicken on both sides, about 6-8 minutes, over med-high heat. Then put in oven and cook 8-10 minutes. Remove to a plate or cutting board and let rest, covered in foil, at least 5 minutes.

3. Sauce: In the chicken skillet, add 1 T more oil, then add shallot and garlic. Stir 1 minute, then deglaze the pan with some red wine or red wine vinegar. Add the tomatoes in at this point and stir the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve chicken in slices with the tomato sauce on top and a nice green salad on the side.

inspired by a recipe from Bon Appetit: Chicken with Herb-Roasted Tomatoes

summer vegetable pie with cornbread topping

I'm back in Ann Arbor just for a week, working during the new student orientation and getting some of my work in order. While I'm here I'm staying with two good friends of mine who are also great cooking companions (I've mentioned them a few times...). And they have a great summer CSA share, which is a plus. :) We got home from the airport and the fridge was stocked with veggies waiting to be transformed. We made this vegetable pie with lots of summer vegetables they had on hand. It would work with many other combinations though. Just be careful with the spice - if you add in hot peppers don't add in much other spiciness.

filling:
1 T olive oil
1 pepper (or poblano chile)
1 hot pepper (like jalapeno, if not using poblano)
1/2 red onion (or shallot)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 med yellow summer squash (or zucchini)
1 small eggplant
2 fresh tomatoes, cubed (or can diced)
1 tsp chili powder (if not using hot pepper)

other ideas: 1 ear corn, kernels cut from cob, fresh cilantro

cornbread topping*: 

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 T sugar (or 2 T honey)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 T unsalted butter
*may want to double, especially if using 10-inch skillet

1. Preheat oven to 450. In an ovenproof skillet (8 or 10 inch), saute the onion and peppers, then add garlic and cook until soft. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook until they cook down  and get soft. I covered them for a while and checked them occasionally while prepping the cornbread. Salt and pepper to taste, watch the spice level.

2. Make the cornbread. Mix the wet and dry separately, (not butter yet), then add wet to the dry, and stir in melted butter last.

3. Pour the cornbread mixture over the top of the vegetables and put in the oven 12-15 minutes. The cornbread will brown slightly.

inspired by a recipe from Cook's Illustrated, Cooking for Two

bagel bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella

This morning Michael and I went on a 36-mile bike ride down the East Bay Bike Path, from Providence to Bristol, Rhode Island. It's one of those rails-to-trails paths, so it's very flat and easy, with little cross traffic. The scenery was gorgeous: salt marshes, forest, harbors full of boats, mansions along the coast... On the way back we stopped in the cute little town of Warren, RI for a lobster roll. But we were still hungry when we got home and needed a fresh, summery snack. This tomato salad would be good on its own as well, especially with some fresh basil (which I unfortunately didn't have on-hand). 

Instructions: Toast bagels and rub the toasted side with a (peeled) clove of garlic. Top with tomato-mozzarella salad.

Tomato-mozzarella salad: dice a few tomatoes of different colors, squeeze with half a lemon, drizzle some olive oil, and add a little salt and pepper. would also be good with fresh basil. 

We saved the extra dressing from the bottom of the bowl to make salad dressing. It's a beautiful tomato-lemon-olive oil mixture. 

garlic tomato pizza with lemony arugula

My sister's boyfriend and I were standing at the checkout at Target, and the kid behind us was eyeing all the candy. He was touching Skittles and candy bars, and held up an M&Ms container with a fan attached to it.  I had to smile and turned to Paul and said, "Since we're adults, we could buy all the candy we want!" He laughed, and apparently had just had the same thought, and was tempted to taunt the child with it. :)

I guess since we're adults we are (sometimes) better at balancing these voices in our heads.

This recipe is basically just a way to be an adult and still eat garlic cheese bread for dinner. This combination was a (lucky) accident due to what was in the fridge. The runner part of me was like, "pizza! carbs!" and the adult voice in my head was saying "vegetables! arugula!" It turned out to be a pretty good combination. :)

Make some pizza dough (try this one, or this one if you have a day) and let it rise. (Optional: go for your run at this point - or walk the dog or do laundry or watch the Game of Thrones finale.) When the dough is ready, stretch it out thin, and top with some minced garlic (1 clove) and olive oil, and red pepper flakes (spread this around with a spoon). Cut a tomato in thin slices, blot with a paper towel and put on pizza. Add some chunks of fresh mozzarella, and or any other cheeses you want. Bake at 450 until the cheese gets brown and bubbly. While this is happening, mix an arugula salad: a handful of arugula, a dash of olive oil, squeeze of lemon (generous), salt and pepper. If you use good sea salt you will notice a difference. You will be piling those salad greens on the pizza. :) When the pizza comes out, top with arugula. Every bite will be a mix of lemony arugula, and garlicky cheesy tomato bread. Yum!

cheesy baked orzo with leeks, asparagus, eggplant and oregano

My somewhat crazy summer begins this week, as I head to Minnesota for a month. I get to see my friend Sarah get married in Duluth, take care of my parents' dog while they're on a trip, run Grandma's marathon with Michael and see Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros in Minneapolis. And spend the Fourth of July with the extended family. I'm really looking forward to some time at home. And after that I'm off to Germany, and then soon thereafter Providence, with a brief trip to North Carolina for Michael's family reunion. Quite a lot ahead - and somehow I have to be working along the way...

So last night I had a little potluck gathering to get friends together before I head out of town. Potlucks are my favorite. Especially when you have friends who are super talented cooks. Although it was a bit last-minute, people showed up and brought delicious food: a spicy vegetarian vindaloo, a rice pilaf, thai coleslaw, dulce de leche and a citrus champagne punch... It was really wonderful. Good food and good friends.

This recipe is inspired by the baked orzo from Yottam Ottolenghi (via the Guardian). I changed the veggies slightly to make it more seasonal (asparagus and leeks). It takes a while to do all the vegetable prep, but the flavors are great and it's both fresh and comforting.  I also made these sesame noodles (pictured above left) and an apple cake, which I will post later. I shouldn't even be taking the time to post this one right now... but blogging is so much more fun than packing for a month, cleaning my room, and organizing my office! :)

orzo salad with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and pine nuts

This salad transports well and is good for lunches and/or picnics.  It's also full of veggies and has lots of options for variation. Make the orzo according to package directions (about 1 cup dry). While it's cooking, sautee the mushrooms and toast the pine nuts. Either add onions/shallots in raw, or cook them with the mushrooms. Cut tomatoes in half. Roughly chop the spinach, add some lemon zest and mix everything together.

ingredients: whole wheat orzo pasta / shallots or red onion / mushrooms / spinach / pine nuts / cherry tomatoes / lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice
vinaigrette: dijon, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt and pepper
other options:  feta cheese / chopped olives / fresh basil / fresh tarragon

winter to spring? a cheery carrot-ginger soup with orange

Well we're 2/3 the way through April and it is not feeling very spring-like. Minnesota has 30 inches of snow...and here in Michigan we still don't have any leaves on the trees--hardly even visible buds. It's getting old. Although as soon as the warm spring sun comes out, all I want to do is sit and bask like a lizard in the sun, so I guess the unusually cold spring is good for my dissertation.

In fact, my infrequency of posting is correlated to two things: first, I started a new chapter and have been very productive and making good progress in my work; and second, I have jumped on the sandwich-train. Two guys in my office starting bringing sandwich fixings to the office, and having lunchtime sandwich time. It's been a while since I have made sandwiches for lunch...and it seemed super practical, not to mention economical. So I got a good loaf of bread, avocado, cheese, turkey breast, some spreads (humus and a spicy black bean spread), brought in some of our good CSA greens...and that is what I have been eating all week. Rather boring and not too blog-worthy. Although Joy the Baker did a fun sandwich post a while ago: on baguette and bagel.

Anyways, it is the weekend and it's time to cook again. I am feeling very vegetable-hungry and wanted some bright colorful meals.  Carrot-ginger soup is perfect because it feels vibrant and sunny without requiring spring veggies. :)  I posted another variant of this from Sara here, as part of our soup swap. This one forgoes the coconut milk, and adds a little tomato and orange. It feels so healthy and so flavorful - always a good combination. I used quite a lot of ginger (a 2-inch piece), which gave it a nice spiciness.  

hearty soups III: jamaican jerk chicken chili

 This soup relates to one of my favorite cooking memories with Michael. We were making this chili in Berlin , and in German grocery stores you of course can't buy Jamaican Jerk seasoning. So Michael made the seasoning from scratch, combining various spices and herbs with the mortar and pestle. Very impressive. But then he forgot to check how much of the spice blend the recipe called for - just adding all of it to the soup. It was so spicy we were both crying, trying to eat the (really good!) soup with yogurt on it. haha!  Here is the recipe, with the addition of chicken.  It's a good one...Michael said it's his favorite so far in the hearty soups series. Just watch the spice level. :)

By the way, I could have called this post: no horse meat in this chili. Have you heard about the latest Horse Meat Scandal, aka "Burgergate," in Europe? Horse meat has been "masquerading" as beef across Europe, mislabeled in all kinds of prepared dinners, and now in Nestle products. A poll in Britain found that 1 in 4 people is now eating less meat, and 65% mistrust food labels. See also NPR, Why is some food taboo? and Salon's 5 Lessons from the Horse Meat Scandal. It's strange: in the US I very rarely eat meat that has been processed in any way. In Germany, however, where you can get so much good sausage, I do occasionally do so, in Salami form. Stories like this do make me cringe a bit though. What do you think?

hearty soups: shredded pork stew with chipotle tomato sauce

 When we're planning what to cook, Michael often tells me he feels like something "hearty." I'm spending a few days in Providence and my goal is to make him some hearty soups, putting all the leftovers in the freezer so he misses me lots when I'm gone. :)  The first one I came across in a book series from Food & Wine: Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes, taking recipes from what they consider the 25 best cookbooks of the year. (This was a find at the Ann Arbor Public Library, which has an amaaazing selection of cookbooks. Except also a long waiting list for new and popular items. I guess it's a community with a lot of good cooking going on!) This particular recipe is from Lourdes Castro, from the cookbook Simply Mexican. It looked so good, I just had to try it. It was a little on the spicy side, so be careful with the adobo sauce and chipotles - but don't leave them out. This gives the soup its spicy, smoky flavor.