Pancakes

I don't really make pancakes, but Misha is visiting again, so I thought of making chocolate chip pancakes: good thing I made only 1/2 a recipe: it would have been too much food. Great and simple recipe.

Hummus

I love hummus! I've made hummus multiple times adding in roasted peppers or sun-dried tomatoes or other little interesting ingredients.

This recipe, however, was pretty straight forward: puree in a food processor chickpeas, tahini, garlic, cumin powder, lemon juice, oil, salt & pepper, and liquid from chickpeas if necessary.

Done!
Thoughts: this was a great recipe! I think after it has time to sit in the fridge, it will taste even better!

Huevos Rancheros

Misha (my brother) is visiting me, so I wanted to make a fun breakfast and settled on Huevos Rancheros recipe. I did not really follow the recipes exactly amount-wise, but followed the steps and the ingredients details (although I could not find any corn tortillas in the store and used flour tortillas instead).

1) preheat the oven to 350

2) make 4 eggs over-easy and season with salt & pepper (the picture is not of finished eggs)

3) cook tortillas in oil for a 5 seconds on each side and smear with refried beans

5) top with an egg over-easy

6) top with salsa and cheddar cheese

7) bake in the oven about 5 minutes, or until the cheese melts; top with cilantro and serve immediately

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Red Pepper Vinaigrette

I haven't cooked Bittman's recipes in a week! Today I spent quite a bit of time deciding which recipe to make and randomly chose Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Red Pepper Vinaigrette.

Ingredients and Directions:

1) Roast peeled and cubed sweet potatoes coated in a bit of oil and seasoned with salt and pepper

2) Puree a red pepper, cumin powder, orange zest, olive oil and red wine vinegar to make a vinaigrette

3) Combine roasted potatoes with the vinaigrette, minced parsley, sliced green onions and minced jalapeno. (Optional: add raisins; I did not)

vinaigrette

The Salad

Thoughts: good thing I like sweet potatoes and that this recipe turned out awesome, because there is a lot of it! I think next time it would be beneficial to roast the red pepper before pureeing it in the vinaigrette.

Raw Beet Salad with Carrots and Ginger

After going to the Dupont Farmers' Market and buying beets, I decided to make Raw Beet Salad with Carrots and Ginger.

I love beets, but have never tried them raw.

Ingredients & Directions: In a food processor grate an equal amount of peeled beets and carrots, and a shallot (I did not have shallots, and used red onion instead). I a bowl combine minced ginger, lime juice, peanut oil (I used walnut oil), salt & pepper and chopped cilantro. Combine with beets, carrots, and shallots and enjoy.

Thoughts: the flavor was superb! Fresh, sweet, slightly sour because of the lime juice, and a bit spicy because of the ginger. This would be a great salad to bring for a picnic.

Chickpeas and Arugula salad

To go with the Curried Potatoes, I decided to make Chickpeas and Arugula salad, because both of them have Indian flavors.

Directions: in olive oil cook minced ginger, garlic and cumin seeds. Add chickpeas and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add honey, a bit of water and rice wine vinegar. Stir everything with a fork, making sure to mash some of the chickpeas to make the vinaigrette thicker.

Add the chickpea mixture to arugula and thinly sliced red onion. Season with salt & pepper. Serve immediately (warm!)

Thoughts: absolutely delicious! I typically don't cook with honey, but this was just a nice touch of sweetness and did a great job of offsetting the sharpness of arugula.

Curried Potatoes

I decided to be slightly more adventurous tonight and made Curried Potatoes. They were absolutely delicious!

Directions: Cook cumin seeds in oil, add 1/2 of a finely chopped red onion, grated Yukon potatoes, garam masala and a pinch of cayenne. Season with salt & pepper and cook for about 10 minutes. Add fresh cilantro, take off the heat and serve with a garnish of raw chopped red onion.

I added a bit of homemade yogurt to cut the heat.

Thoughts: I think this will be a fun way to make mashed potatoes with an Indian influence: instead of adding butter, add cumin seeds, garam masala and cilantro. Or use the original recipe and pour eggs over it for a quick omelet.

Bulgur and Tomato Salad

As I was turning the pages of How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, I noticed a recipe for Bulgur and Tomato Salad. The miracle of miracles: I had all ingredients on hand! In fact, I've had a bag of bulgur for quite a while, but haven't had a chance to use it. In fact, I've never cooked bulgur before and it was fun learning that you cook it the same way as cous-cous: soak it in hot water and it's done!

The salad was ridiculously easy to put together: tomatoes, red onions, feta, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt & pepper, oregano and of course bulgur. This is something I make quite often with cous-cous and a variety of vegetables, but I would never have put oregano in as well (it addde a really nice flavor).


Confession: the recipe called for red pepper flakes, but I was out of them and was too lazy to walk over to World Market.

Thoughts: I think I'll start using bulgur instead of cous-cous from now on. Why? Because bulgur is actually wheat and has more of a bite and texture than cous-cous.