Swiss Chard With Chickpeas and Couscous

Swiss Chard With Chickpeas and Couscous


Ingredients
1 10-ounce box couscous
1/2 cup pine nuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
1/2 cup raisins (dark or golden)
2 bunches Swiss chard, stems trimmed
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
1. Place the couscous in a bowl. Add 1 ½ cups boiling water and stir. Cover tightly and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, over low heat, toast the pine nuts, shaking the pan frequently, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
3. Return the skillet to medium heat, add the oil, and heat for 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the chickpeas, raisins, chard, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chard is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Fluff the couscous with a fork and divide among individual plates. Top with the chard and sprinkle with the pine nuts.

Courtesy of Real Simple magazine, February 2007

Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter, Lemon, and Radish Tops

This recipe uses radishes in a different way: by baking them. You may have some remaining in your garden, or be looking for a way to use them other than on a raw salad.
courtesy of epicurious.com
Ingredients

2 bunches medium radishes (such as red, pink, and purple; about 20)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse kosher salt
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush large heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Cut off all but 1/2 inch of green radish tops; reserve trimmed tops and rinse them well, checking for grit. Coarsely chop radish tops and set aside. Cut radishes lengthwise in half and place in medium bowl. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and toss thoroughly to coat. Place radishes, cut side down, on prepared baking sheet; sprinkle lightly with coarse salt. Roast until radishes are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. Season to taste with more coarse kosher salt, if desired.

medium-high heat. Add pinch of coarse kosher salt to skillet and cook until butter browns, swirling skillet frequently to keep butter solids from burning, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in fresh lemon juice.

Transfer roasted radishes to warmed shallow serving bowl and drizzle brown butter over. Sprinkle with chopped radish tops and serve.

Bon Appétit
April 2011
by Tasha de Serio
2011-03-15 16:53:08.0

Oatmeal with Baked Apples and Pecans

This is an EASY make ahead breakfast. You can put a few bowls of it in the fridge and just take them out and reheat them in morning.
It is great because it is a WARM breakfast, uses seasonal ingredients, and is very filling. This recipe will be enough for about 4-5 bowls of oatmeal.

To make the baked apples:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel and slice into 1/4 or 1/2 inch pieces 4 apples (any seasonal variety) - and even if they have started getting mushy they will taste fine once baked
3.Arrange the apples in an 8x8 baking dish
4. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, a dash of lemon juice.
5. Then put a few (about 5-6) little slices of butter over the apples. About a tablespoon total.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.

To make the oatmeal:
Bring to a boil: 4 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan.
Once boiling add 2 cups of rolled oats and turn the heat down a little. Cook for about 10 minutes. Then cover, turn off the heat and let sit to thicken about 10 more minutes.

Chop pecans or walnuts to taste (I like about 1/4 cup per bowl).

Once the oatmeal is done cooking, divide it among 4 or 5 bowls. Top with the chopped nuts. Once the apples are done baking, divide them among the bowls of oatmeal.
You can just cover the bowls with foil or saran wrap and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to eat. Just reheat uncovered in the microwave about 2 minutes, stirring halfway.

I don't know if you've heard of the Dr. Oz "Just 10 Challenge" but this meal would easily fit into that plan.

Couscous with Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes

This is a good recipe that uses the produce that is ripe at this time of year.

Ingredients
2 TBS. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2.5 cups vegetable stock
1.5 lbs. medium zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
2 TBS. fresh thyme, or 2 tsp. dried
1.5 cups quick-cooking couscous
1 TBS. butter or olive oil
24 cherry tomatoes

Directions
1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the onion and cook 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
2. Stir in the vegetable stock and zucchini and bring to a boil. Cook until the zucchini is tender, but not soft, 3-5 minutes. Stir in the thyme.
3. Stir in the couscous and the butter/olive oil. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand until stock is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork and stir in the cherry tomatoes.

I prefer tomatoes roasted...sometimes I preheat oven to 400 degrees, coat the whole cherry tomatoes in oil and minced garlic and roast for 20 minutes, and then add them to my recipes.

Savory Millet Cakes

This recipe is nice because it contains some ingredients that are in season from the Farmers Market (zucchini, carrot, onion, garlic).

In terms of TCM, millet is sweet, salty, and cool in nature. It is said to enter the channels of the kidney, spleen, and stomach. In TCM, the spleen plays a large role in digestive function and helps break-down foods in order to absorb their nutrition.

This recipe is courtesy of eatingwell.com

Ingredients:

1 TBS. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup dry millet

1 clove minced garlic

3.5 cups water

1/2 tsp. coarse kosher salt

1/3 cup coarsely shredded zucchini

1/3 cup coarsely shredded carrot

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1.5 tsp. fresh minced thyme, or 1/2 tsp. dried

1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 2-4 minutes. Stir in the millet and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add water and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring once or twice, for 20 minutes.

2. Stir in zucchini, carrot, parmesan, thyme, lemon zest and pepper. Cook uncovered, maintaining a simmer and stirring often to keep millet from sticking, until the mixture is soft, ver thick, and liquid has been absorbed, about 10 minutes more. Remove from heat and let stand, covered for about 10 minutes. Uncover and let stand, stirring once or twice, until cool enough to handle - about 30 minutes.

3. With dampened hands, shape the millet mixture into 12 cakes or patties, 3 inch diameter (a scant 1/3 cup each).

4. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray, or coat a pan with sesame oil and heat over medium heat. Add 4 millet cakes and cook until bottoms are browned, 3-5 minutes. Carefully turn the cakes with a wide spatula and cook the other side until browned. Re-coat the pan with oil and cook the remaining cakes in batches, reducing heat if necessary to prevent burning.

Note: prepare up to step 2 up to 2 hours in advance

Italian Stuffed Portabellos

This recipe is courtesy of the Moosewood Restaurant "New Classics" cookbook. It is really one of me and my husband's favorite cookbooks.
I have been seeing a lot of mushrooms at the downtown Farmers Market (although I think they come from Oregon - Utah doesn't have the best mushroom climate).
The mushrooms can easily be served on a bed of pasta, a side of polenta, or on toasted ciabatta bread.

Ingredients:
4 large portabello mushrooms
3 TBS. olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion (can get at farmers market)
3 large garlic cloves minced or pressed (can get at farmers market)
2/3 cup minced red bell pepper (will soon be available at farmers market)
3 TBS. chopped fresh basil (can get at farmers market)
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (can most likely get at farmers market)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (can most likely get at farmers market)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 TBS. bread crumbs

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a baking dish (9x13 or so).
2. Carefully brush or wipe off any soil from the mushrooms. Twist off the stems and discard.
3. In a skillet, warm 2 TBS. of the olive oil and saute the onions for about 5 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add the garlic and red peppers and saute for 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a bowl, mix together the basil, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, salt and bread crumbs. Stir the sauteed vegetables into the cheese mixture.
5. Brush the portabellos with the remaining TBS. of oil and place them gill side up in the prepared baking dish. Mound cheese mixture in each.
6. Back uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until the mushrooms release their juices and the cheese is melted. Serve hot.

Summertime Soup

In Chinese medicine, herbs and foods are ascribed to different properties. For instance, there are 5 taste categories that herbs and food can have: sweet, bitter, acrid (kind of like pungent), sour, or salty. Some foods and herbs are also said to be bland.

In addition to these properties, herbs and foods can either be hot or cold in nature (or fall somewhere along that spectrum, such as warm or neutral).

One food that is commonly used in the summertime is watermelon. Its properties are sweet and cold. It can help keep you hydrated during the hot weather.

The ginger root in the following recipe helps to balance the cold nature of the other ingredients.

This recipe is courtesy of Nicole Tischmak:

Ingredients:

Watermelon from 1/2 of a footlong melon, cut in chunks with seeds removed

1/3 of a fresh pineapple cut in chunks

20 fresh mintleaves

1/2 inch piece of ginger root, sliced or grated

Directions:

Puree the pineapple, mint, and gingeroot in a food processor. You can puree them in batches to puree them thoroughly.

Puree the watermelon in the food processor as well (you can leave chunks if you wish).

Mix all of the pureed ingredients together. Enjoy as a cold soup.

Store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days (but it will probably get eaten before then!)