Saturday, October 31, 2009

Pizza Snack

Level: Beginner
Ingredients:
Sliced bread
Sliced tomato
Italian herbs blend
Salt & Pepper
Basil infused olive oil (or regular olive oil)

1. On a slice of bread put slices of tomato. Sprinkle herbs, salt and pepper and olive oil . Toast in toaster over for less than 10 minutes.

I usually have these for dinner when I'm really, really lazy (or busy with stats homework). I've tried the cheese variation, but this is really how I like them best.

**You can also top these with your choice of cheese. And I sometimes add sliced hot dog and ketchup.**
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Don't let the recipe be the boss

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about good cooking is that it follows the recipe word for word. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Good cooking is about making the recipe yours, adding the spices you like to enjoy, and substituting ingredients and their amounts depending on your tastes and what you have in the kitchen.

For example, here's the inspirational recipe for my Italian hummus:

  • 1 cup non-fat cottage cheese
  • 1 (15.5 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained
  • 1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 pint grape tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Hummus/Detail.aspx

  • The comments for the recipe said that it was too watery and more like a soup, and that it had too much basil. I wouldn't know if these are true or not, for I just took inspiration from the combination of ingredients and started adding things together until I came up with my own recipe. Even in my recipe the measurements are just an approximation, you have to add or subtract what tastes right to YOU. Here's my version again so you can compare them:

    1 can cannellini beans
    1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (loosely packed)
    1/3 cup of canned tomatoes
    1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
    2 tablespoons of sour cream (or more to taste)
    1 garlic clove
    Olive oil
    Water
    Salt and pepper

    One simple substitution for this recipe, was the sour cream for the cottage cheese. We didn't have cottage cheese, and that wasn't going to stop us, so we decided sour cream would taste better anyways. We also added canned tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes, fresh ingredients are great, but we're on a college budget here, so let's get real.

    Conclusion: A cook using recipes is like an architect using blueprints, it's a guide but the building is not set in stone yet. Use your creative freedom. Remember, cooking is an art.

    Tuesday, October 27, 2009

    Grapes and cottage cheese dessert

    Level: Beginner
    Ingredients:
    Red seedless grapes
    Cottage cheese
    Light brown sugar (or light)
    Walnuts (optional)

    1. Mix all together, amounts to taste.

    **For some reason I like to add salt to this recipe, I think it goes nicely with the cheese. BTW, I didn't think I liked cottage cheese, but I gave it a second try recently and it was thoroughly good! Cottage cheese also has a lot of protein, this is good for our vegetarian friends. :}**
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    Italian hummus with tuna meddley

    Italian hummus

    Level: Intermediate
    Ingredients:
    1 can cannellini beans
    1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (loosely packed)
    1/3 cup of canned tomatoes
    1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
    2 tablespoons of sour cream (or more to taste)
    1 garlic clove
    Olive oil
    Water
    Salt and pepper

    1. Blend all ingredients in blender. Add water if needed to help the hummus blend properly. Consistency should be thick.
    2. Serve with toasted pita bread, crackers, or just by itself. (Don't limit yourself! Work with your kitchen.)

    **This was just simply delicious! I like this hummus a lot better than the regular kind. Maybe because it has sun dried tomatoes. In this recipe they are a must. I also quite enjoyed the cannellini beans, and not having to worry about the Tahini(or sesame 'peanut' butter). From the inspired recipe I read that you can make this into more or less a soup if you add more tomatoes, and I think a little bit more of everything else, except the beans.**

    Tuna meddley

    Level: Challenging

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    Green fried tomatoes with ponzu sauce and apple couscous


    Green fried tomatoes
    Level: Challenging

    Apple couscous

    Level: Beginner
    Ingredients:
    1 cup couscous
    1 cup vegetable stock (in place of the water)
    1 teaspoon of butter
    1 medium apple (red is actually better)
    1/4 cup oven roasted almonds (we roast the almonds ourselves in a small toaster oven, keep an eye on them, they roast really fast!)

    1. Follow the package instructions.

    **We tried the green apple but it was a little bitter. Most couscous cooks in 5 minutes.**
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    Curry vegetables with tofu

    Level: Intermediate
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    Curry cream fried gabanzos with Tzatziki (cucumber-yogurt) salad

    Curry cream fried garbanzos
    Level: Challenging
    Ingredients:
    Half large onion
    3 large cloves of garlic
    1 teaspoon caraway seeds (cumin seeds will also work but they are both optional)
    1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
    1/2 tablespoon curry powder
    2 cups largely chopped cabbage
    1 can garbanzo beans
    1/2 can of roasted tomatoes
    1/4 cup of chopped red bell peppers
    1/4 sour cream
    1/4 heavy cream
    1 1/2 cup of cooked cubed potatoes
    Olive oil
    Salt and pepper

    1. In olive oil fry the onions, garlic, caraway seeds, curry powder, pepper flakes, and add salt and pepper.
    2. After 2 minutes add cabbage.
    3. When cabbage is translucent add the garbanzo beans, tomatoes, red bell peppers (we used ones in a jar).
    4. Mix sour cream and heavy cream separately (this is our version of Central American cream :}). Add to mixture and cubed potatoes. Toss everything together.
    5. Let everything simmer for 5 minutes and continue adding salt and pepper to taste.

    **Our wonderful cook of a mom did not like the idea, but we sure showed her because it really was great! We had it with plain white rice. My sister probably added more curry than the amount on the recipe. We don't really measure things so its hard to know. Always taste and trust your tastes buds since after all they are the ones that will be the final judges.**

    Tzatziki salad
    Level: Beginner
    Ingredients:
    1 garlic clove
    1 large cucumber
    1/2- 1 cup plain yogurt
    Dried mint
    Olive oil
    Salt and pepper
    Spinach (to serve the salad on, optional)

    1. Mince the garlic and cut the cucumber in small squares.
    2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and drizzle olive old and add salt and pepper to taste.
    3. Serve on spinach leaves.

    **We usually have this salad right on the plate, but we decided to put it on top of fresh spinach which is a staple in our meals. Believe me, once you start eating the stuff to just combine it with the rest of your meal you won't be able to stop! The spinach was great in containing the yogurt from getting all over the other food on the plate.**

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    Fish with dill sauce and vegetable couscous

    Dill sauce
    Level: Challenging
    Ingredients:
    Sour cream
    Celery salt
    Dried dill

    1. Mix ingredients in slowly to taste.

    **This little dip came as a last resource while my sister was trying to find something to put on top of her fish fillet. Think about the flavors in the ingredients, if you think they will go well together, chances are you'll probably like it.**
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    Tomato-basil egg burrito

    Level: Beginner

    1 whole wheat flour tortilla
    2 scrambled eggs with green onions and garlic
    Tomato-basil bruschetta (the picture was pre- olive oil, salt and pepper)
    Cheddar cheese
    Spinach

    1. Fold and eat!
    **Great quick dinner, breakfast, lunch, whatever!**
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    Caramelized red peppers dip

    Level: Intermediate
    Ingredients:
    1/2 bell red pepper (in small cubes)
    1/2 cup of sugar
    1/2 cup vinegar (in this red wine was used)
    8 oz. Cream cheese (one package)

    1. Simmer the peppers, the sugar and the vinegar together until thick.
    2. Pour over cream cheese while mixture is still hot.
    3. Serve with choice of crackers.

    **This recipe was really easy to make, except you have to watch for the mixture not to overcook because then it becomes too caramelized. We just love the sweet and sour taste of the sugar and the vinegar. In this picture we made only half of the recipe as we thought it would be too much for us to eat the whole cream cheese block ourselves. LOL!**
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