On two separate occasions I have tried to make red lentil soup, but both times I end up with not enough soupiness.
But both times the dish was so enjoyed by everyone that it doesn't seem to matter. I made it last night where it was eaten by vegetarians and carnivores alike. It's 100% healthy, involves very few ingredients, and is one of the easiest things in the world to make.
First thing you'll want to start is your pilaf, as this takes a bit longer to cook. Here's what you'll do for 4-6 people. Reduce the recipe if you're just cooking for yourself; or make it all, and have some tomorrow (I prefer this method as it means I won't have to cook one meal the next day).
Basic Brown Rice Pilaf
-2 cups brown basmati rice (long grain)
-Olive oil
-1/2 a white or yellow onion, chopped
-1 or 2 stalks of celery, chopped
-Sea salt
-Black pepper
-Flat leaf parsley
(To move this recipe from basic to fancy, you can add pine nuts and currants. I keep it simple as we will be putting a flavorful dish on top).
Measure your rice into a sieve/strainer and rinse. Heat the oil in a pan deep enough to hold about four cups of rice. Add your onion and celery and saute until both have become soft and translucent. Then put in your salt and pepper, to taste. Now put in all your rice, and stir it very well. You want the rice to absorb the oil and to become well coated in the flavors. You should mix it around for about 2-3 minutes. Now add 4 cups of water. (1 cup rice = 2 cups water; 2 cups rice = 4 cups water, and so on). Stir once, then turn the flame to high to let it come to a boil. Once it is boiling, bring the heat to low, cover it, and let it simmer for 40 minutes.
In the mean time, you can start your lentils.
Red Lentil "Soup"
-Olive oil OR very high quality coconut oil**
-1/2 a white or yellow onion, chopped
-1 organic carrot (optional), chopped
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp coriander
-Sea salt
-Black pepper
-2 cups dried red lentils
-1 large container (32 ounces / 4 cups) of Imagine Low Sodium Vegetable Broth (You can buy this at Whole Foods or Sprouts. If you can't find this one, just make sure it's an organic, low sodium broth. This one is extremely high quality which means your soup will be of a high quality as well.)
(Replace salt and pepper with allspice if you have it.)
**Post on coconut oil to follow
In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat a few teaspoons of olive or coconut oil on medium heat. The coconut oil will not make your soup taste coconut-y. Instead it will give it a wonderful flavor, and coconut is most appropriate here as many Indian recipes contain coconut milk and the like.
Place your chopped onion and carrot in the pot, and stir for about five minutes until the onion is translucent. Now add all your spices: the cumin, the coriander, salt, and pepper (or allspice). Note: if the spices are getting stuck to the bottom of the pan, you don't have enough oil. Make sure there is plenty oil to coat all of your ingredients.
Place your red lentils in a sieve or small-holed strainer and rinse them. Do this now rather than earlier because your lentils will start clumping together if you do this too early. Once the spices and oil have thoroughly coated the onion and carrot, add in your two cups of rinsed lentils and stir very well. Coat the lentils with the spices and make sure everything is mixed together evenly.
Now add in your four cups of vegetable broth. If you are using the Imagine brand, this will be the entire 32-ounce box. Stir everything around so your lentils do not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Now bring the flame to high and let the soup boil. Once it starts to boil, turn it down to a simmer, and let it cook for 30 minutes with a lid on, but partially opened.
Stir occasionally. Once your thirty minutes are up, open the lid and you'll have a very thick, rather un-soupy dish of delicious lentils to place on top of your pilaf.
30 October 2011
16 October 2011
POMODORI al RISO!
Today was a beautiful day. It's the beginning of fall, but today was warm. It was a perfect kind of warm: low 80s, all sunshine.
Anyway, mamma and I have started working on our winter garden. I'd love to post pictures but it's still a terrible mess. We were out there with our saws and clippers, because we're making a natural fence out of sapling wood to protect our snap peas (we have dogs who love to trot through our vegetables).
It was a lot of work: we were cutting young, green branches from our trees. Then we had to dig deep holes in the ground to put the wood in, and from there, we threaded thinner, younger branches to create a fence.
After a while, we sat to look at the mess of leaves we'd created. "Want to eat?" she asked. Yes. I was hungry.
So off to the kitchen I went to figure something out. There were two organic tomatoes on the counter, and our basil plants are just on their way out but still have a few leaves left.
This is what I made, because we often have these ingredients on hand.
Pomodori al Riso (Rice-stuffed tomatoes)
For two people, you'll need:
-2-4 round tomatoes (preferably organic, but most certainly very red and aromatic. Roma will not work here. You want short, big, and round, not tall and oval.)
-Arborio rice OR short grain brown rice (I used the latter because it's healthier. Arborio rice is the traditional way to make this, and cooks faster)
-Extra virgin olive oil
-Fresh basil
-Fresh oregano (or dried)
-1 clove of garlic, minced
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Wash the tomatoes, pat dry, and then cut the tops off. You'll be saving these for later. If your tomatoes come on a vine, leave the stem on, for cute purposes.
-Using a sharp-ended spoon (like a grapefruit spoon), scoop out all of the pulp and seeds from the tomatoes and save in a bowl.
-Place the carved out tomatoes in a baking dish, and sprinkle each with some salt on the inside.
-Mince your garlic and put it in a medium sized bowl.
-In the same bowl, add your rice: about a handful per tomato.
-Add in torn oregano and torn basil, and then dress the whole thing with olive oil. Now stir.
-Now take the bowl of saved tomato pulp. You remembered to save it, right? Using a knife and fork, cut the chunks and then mash them with your fork. (Note: if you're making more than two tomatoes, then just pour it into your blender and blend it for just a few seconds. I use a fork for smaller amounts because I hate having to wash the blender later).
-Spoon about half of the tomato into the bowl of rice, and mix.
-Now, spoon the rice mixture into your tomatoes all the way to the top.
-Put the tops back on the tomatoes, pour the remaining tomato juice over them and into the pan, and drizzle with some extra olive oil.
(I added in a yellow pepper because I had extra rice left over. If you want to do this, follow the same method as with the tomatoes, but cut the top down so that the rice reaches the top of the pepper. Then add the cut slices into the pan so they can cook as well.)
-Cover with tinfoil, and into the oven it goes. For arborio rice: cook for 40 minutes. Short-grain brown rice: at least an hour, perhaps longer.
Check after noted time to make sure rice is cooked thoroughly (use a fork and taste it). If not, put it back in the oven for some time. When finished, add some more oregano and basil into the dish and re-cover with the tinfoil until ready to serve. The end result should have your tomatoes soft and delicious, overflowing with rice, and it will be irresistibly aromatic.
Anyway, mamma and I have started working on our winter garden. I'd love to post pictures but it's still a terrible mess. We were out there with our saws and clippers, because we're making a natural fence out of sapling wood to protect our snap peas (we have dogs who love to trot through our vegetables).
It was a lot of work: we were cutting young, green branches from our trees. Then we had to dig deep holes in the ground to put the wood in, and from there, we threaded thinner, younger branches to create a fence.
After a while, we sat to look at the mess of leaves we'd created. "Want to eat?" she asked. Yes. I was hungry.
So off to the kitchen I went to figure something out. There were two organic tomatoes on the counter, and our basil plants are just on their way out but still have a few leaves left.
This is what I made, because we often have these ingredients on hand.
Pomodori al Riso (Rice-stuffed tomatoes)
For two people, you'll need:
-2-4 round tomatoes (preferably organic, but most certainly very red and aromatic. Roma will not work here. You want short, big, and round, not tall and oval.)
-Arborio rice OR short grain brown rice (I used the latter because it's healthier. Arborio rice is the traditional way to make this, and cooks faster)
-Extra virgin olive oil
-Fresh basil
-Fresh oregano (or dried)
-1 clove of garlic, minced
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Wash the tomatoes, pat dry, and then cut the tops off. You'll be saving these for later. If your tomatoes come on a vine, leave the stem on, for cute purposes.
-Using a sharp-ended spoon (like a grapefruit spoon), scoop out all of the pulp and seeds from the tomatoes and save in a bowl.
-Place the carved out tomatoes in a baking dish, and sprinkle each with some salt on the inside.
-Mince your garlic and put it in a medium sized bowl.
-In the same bowl, add your rice: about a handful per tomato.
-Add in torn oregano and torn basil, and then dress the whole thing with olive oil. Now stir.
-Now take the bowl of saved tomato pulp. You remembered to save it, right? Using a knife and fork, cut the chunks and then mash them with your fork. (Note: if you're making more than two tomatoes, then just pour it into your blender and blend it for just a few seconds. I use a fork for smaller amounts because I hate having to wash the blender later).
-Spoon about half of the tomato into the bowl of rice, and mix.
-Now, spoon the rice mixture into your tomatoes all the way to the top.
-Put the tops back on the tomatoes, pour the remaining tomato juice over them and into the pan, and drizzle with some extra olive oil.
(I added in a yellow pepper because I had extra rice left over. If you want to do this, follow the same method as with the tomatoes, but cut the top down so that the rice reaches the top of the pepper. Then add the cut slices into the pan so they can cook as well.)
-Cover with tinfoil, and into the oven it goes. For arborio rice: cook for 40 minutes. Short-grain brown rice: at least an hour, perhaps longer.
Check after noted time to make sure rice is cooked thoroughly (use a fork and taste it). If not, put it back in the oven for some time. When finished, add some more oregano and basil into the dish and re-cover with the tinfoil until ready to serve. The end result should have your tomatoes soft and delicious, overflowing with rice, and it will be irresistibly aromatic.
12 October 2011
Blanch Time
A recent study has declared that broccoli, and other cruciferous vegetables (such as kale and cabbage) are depleted of their best nutrients after cooking too long. They are no longer so good at fighting cancer.
I read this on an npr article, which claims that the best way to eat such vegetables is raw.
Perhaps if this were several hundred years ago and the soil in this country were good and clean and healthy, I would agree. But I take issue with eating raw, even after a good wash. For one thing, raw food is difficult to digest, but on top of it all, our soil is so full of nasty bacteria and farming practices are so wretched that I have a hard time eating raw food and thinking it's nothing but good for me.
There are many proponents of a raw-foods diet. However, I know many health conscious people who feel the opposite about it.
All of this brings me to a happy alternative, which makes food taste good but does not deplete it of its best nutrients: Blanching!
It's so easy and quick: you boil a pot of water, you drop your vegetables in there for maybe 30 seconds or one minute, and then you pull them out and submerge them in iced water. Alternatively, you can blanch them in the water and set them aside to cool. And, voila. No bacteria to cringe about, no digestive issues to worry about, and alas, vegetables that are still intact, still full of all their nutrients, and oh so tasty.
All week we've been in an October heat wave, a sudden change from last week's storm. Here is a spring/summer recipe that still works in October (as long as you can find the broccoli and cauliflower). It's a salad with a killer dressing, but not the kind of salad with iceburg lettuce where you pour ranch on top and think you're somehow doing something good for yourself. No, no no: this is all vegetables my darlings.
Cruciferous Salad with Garlic Parsley Dressing
2 cups fresh organic broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups fresh organic cauliflower, cut in bite-sized pieces
2 cups leek, sliced thin
2 organic carrots (optional)
-fill a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil. Individually blanch each vegetable for 1 minute, then set aside in a large bowl to cool.
Garlic Parsley Dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup parsley, minced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (preferably Bragg's)
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt to taste
For dressing: combine all ingredients in a blender. Add water to achieve desired consistency.
Pour dressing over your blanched vegetables. Oh mah gaw. It's delicious!
I read this on an npr article, which claims that the best way to eat such vegetables is raw.
Perhaps if this were several hundred years ago and the soil in this country were good and clean and healthy, I would agree. But I take issue with eating raw, even after a good wash. For one thing, raw food is difficult to digest, but on top of it all, our soil is so full of nasty bacteria and farming practices are so wretched that I have a hard time eating raw food and thinking it's nothing but good for me.
There are many proponents of a raw-foods diet. However, I know many health conscious people who feel the opposite about it.
All of this brings me to a happy alternative, which makes food taste good but does not deplete it of its best nutrients: Blanching!
It's so easy and quick: you boil a pot of water, you drop your vegetables in there for maybe 30 seconds or one minute, and then you pull them out and submerge them in iced water. Alternatively, you can blanch them in the water and set them aside to cool. And, voila. No bacteria to cringe about, no digestive issues to worry about, and alas, vegetables that are still intact, still full of all their nutrients, and oh so tasty.
All week we've been in an October heat wave, a sudden change from last week's storm. Here is a spring/summer recipe that still works in October (as long as you can find the broccoli and cauliflower). It's a salad with a killer dressing, but not the kind of salad with iceburg lettuce where you pour ranch on top and think you're somehow doing something good for yourself. No, no no: this is all vegetables my darlings.
Cruciferous Salad with Garlic Parsley Dressing
2 cups fresh organic broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups fresh organic cauliflower, cut in bite-sized pieces
2 cups leek, sliced thin
2 organic carrots (optional)
-fill a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil. Individually blanch each vegetable for 1 minute, then set aside in a large bowl to cool.
Garlic Parsley Dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup parsley, minced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (preferably Bragg's)
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt to taste
For dressing: combine all ingredients in a blender. Add water to achieve desired consistency.
Pour dressing over your blanched vegetables. Oh mah gaw. It's delicious!
30 September 2011
Things a Good Kitchen Should Always Have
Here are a list of things that are always found in my kitchen, and if they are missing, all hell breaks loose.
1. Olive oil: extra virgin, cold pressed. The greener, the better. It's expensive but worth it. This is the olive oil you dress your salads with, and eat raw.
2. Olive oil to cook with: Should still be extra virgin and cold pressed, but a cheaper variety is ok here. Buy a bottle that doesn't come with a nozzle.
3. Fresh garlic. This lasts a long time and I cook with it every day.
4. Onions, especially red and yellow. These also last a long time if they haven't been cut yet.
5. Red chili pepper, dried or fresh.
6. Herbs, depending on the season. Fall and Winter: Rosemary, thyme. Spring and summer: endless basil, and oregano.
7. A forever rotating collection of fresh, organic vegetables, depending on what's good during the season. During spring, summer and fall we are never without zucchini. Fall and winter we collect all kinds of squashes, as well as greens, like kale and collards. Spring and summer are asparagus and artichoke time. Summer and early fall are when to eat tomatoes.
8. Brown rice, never ever white rice. Replace all white rice recipes with brown. To keep it interesting, I also buy wild rice, red rice, mixed rice, etc.
9. Other grains, like millet and quinoa.
10. And, because this is an Italian kitchen, endless pasta: We are never without spaghetti, penne, linguine, fusili, and orzo. Don't bother with the whole wheat kinds, because they're no better for you than the white kinds, unless if it's protein you want. Pasta, and all wheat products, is unfortunately not healthy for you and should be eaten only occasionally, though I have to admit here that pasta is just a part of my daily life. (I do buy brown rice pastas, which aren't bad if you try the penne kind.)
11. Organic, cage free eggs. Why organic? Why cafe-free? In general, you may want to watch the film Food, Inc if you can't answer that yourself. But basically, eating eggs otherwise is the equivalent to consuming tons of antibiotics and other gross things I don't want to mention here.
12. Dry white and full-bodied red wines to cook with. They need not be expensive. But they should at least taste good. An example of a dry white: chardonnay. An example of a full-bodied red: Bordeaux. An example of the opposite: Beaujolais.
13. Dried beans, especially red lentils, cannellini, and garbanzo. I'll explain what to do with these in a later post.
14. Vegetable broth, of a healthy variety. I make my own. Post to come.
15. Rustic, simple breads from good markets. Your bread should contain no ingredients that you've never heard of before, no additives, no preservatives, no sweeteners, etc. Simply yeast, wheat, water, etc. Don't throw them out if they go stale. There is so much you can do with stale bread!
16. Seasonal fruit, though you should only be eating a little of this (definitely not 5 servings a day -- try 1).
17. Coarse sea salt and black peppercorns for grinding.
And that's it. That describes, in a nut shell, all I ever need to eat.
Photos of the Palma pantry to come soon.
1. Olive oil: extra virgin, cold pressed. The greener, the better. It's expensive but worth it. This is the olive oil you dress your salads with, and eat raw.
2. Olive oil to cook with: Should still be extra virgin and cold pressed, but a cheaper variety is ok here. Buy a bottle that doesn't come with a nozzle.
3. Fresh garlic. This lasts a long time and I cook with it every day.
4. Onions, especially red and yellow. These also last a long time if they haven't been cut yet.
5. Red chili pepper, dried or fresh.
6. Herbs, depending on the season. Fall and Winter: Rosemary, thyme. Spring and summer: endless basil, and oregano.
7. A forever rotating collection of fresh, organic vegetables, depending on what's good during the season. During spring, summer and fall we are never without zucchini. Fall and winter we collect all kinds of squashes, as well as greens, like kale and collards. Spring and summer are asparagus and artichoke time. Summer and early fall are when to eat tomatoes.
8. Brown rice, never ever white rice. Replace all white rice recipes with brown. To keep it interesting, I also buy wild rice, red rice, mixed rice, etc.
9. Other grains, like millet and quinoa.
10. And, because this is an Italian kitchen, endless pasta: We are never without spaghetti, penne, linguine, fusili, and orzo. Don't bother with the whole wheat kinds, because they're no better for you than the white kinds, unless if it's protein you want. Pasta, and all wheat products, is unfortunately not healthy for you and should be eaten only occasionally, though I have to admit here that pasta is just a part of my daily life. (I do buy brown rice pastas, which aren't bad if you try the penne kind.)
11. Organic, cage free eggs. Why organic? Why cafe-free? In general, you may want to watch the film Food, Inc if you can't answer that yourself. But basically, eating eggs otherwise is the equivalent to consuming tons of antibiotics and other gross things I don't want to mention here.
12. Dry white and full-bodied red wines to cook with. They need not be expensive. But they should at least taste good. An example of a dry white: chardonnay. An example of a full-bodied red: Bordeaux. An example of the opposite: Beaujolais.
13. Dried beans, especially red lentils, cannellini, and garbanzo. I'll explain what to do with these in a later post.
14. Vegetable broth, of a healthy variety. I make my own. Post to come.
15. Rustic, simple breads from good markets. Your bread should contain no ingredients that you've never heard of before, no additives, no preservatives, no sweeteners, etc. Simply yeast, wheat, water, etc. Don't throw them out if they go stale. There is so much you can do with stale bread!
16. Seasonal fruit, though you should only be eating a little of this (definitely not 5 servings a day -- try 1).
17. Coarse sea salt and black peppercorns for grinding.
And that's it. That describes, in a nut shell, all I ever need to eat.
Photos of the Palma pantry to come soon.
Homemade Butternut Squash Soup
Olive oil, or coconut oil if you don't mind the flavor
1 large carrot, diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
1 medium yellow or white onion, diced
1 butternut squash, cut into cubes (instructions below)
Fresh thyme
4 cups Imagine Low Sodium Vegetable Broth (Found at Whole Foods)
Sea salt, freshly ground pepper
Cutting a butternut squash is not difficult, it just takes some time. Lay the squash on its side and cut large circles with a good, serrated knife, in the same way you would cut a zucchini into circles. Slices should be about 1/2-inch thick. Leave the wide, bottom half alone, we'll deal with that in a minute.
Remove the skin from the flesh with your knife. Then chop the flesh into small little pieces.
Discard the skins. Take the wide part of your squash and cut it in half. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and pulp as you would with a cantaloupe. Now, using your imagination, find a way to cut this into pieces that resemble what you have already cut, being sure to discard any skin.
Ok. Now, in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, add some oil on medium heat. Once that has heated, add your diced onion, celery, and carrot. Cook them for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent.
Add in all the butternut squash and your fresh thyme, about a half teaspoon or so. Stir the vegetables together. Should look something like this:
Serve hot and garnish with thyme.
(Photo credit: Dana Marr)
<3
1 large carrot, diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
1 medium yellow or white onion, diced
1 butternut squash, cut into cubes (instructions below)
Fresh thyme
4 cups Imagine Low Sodium Vegetable Broth (Found at Whole Foods)
Sea salt, freshly ground pepper
Cutting a butternut squash is not difficult, it just takes some time. Lay the squash on its side and cut large circles with a good, serrated knife, in the same way you would cut a zucchini into circles. Slices should be about 1/2-inch thick. Leave the wide, bottom half alone, we'll deal with that in a minute.
Remove the skin from the flesh with your knife. Then chop the flesh into small little pieces.
Discard the skins. Take the wide part of your squash and cut it in half. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and pulp as you would with a cantaloupe. Now, using your imagination, find a way to cut this into pieces that resemble what you have already cut, being sure to discard any skin.
Ok. Now, in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, add some oil on medium heat. Once that has heated, add your diced onion, celery, and carrot. Cook them for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent.
Add in all the butternut squash and your fresh thyme, about a half teaspoon or so. Stir the vegetables together. Should look something like this:
Now add the four cups of broth, and your pepper. If you want salt, do a little. I didn't think it needed any.
Let everything come to a boil. Once it does, reduce the heat to low and simmer it for 30 minutes, or until the squash is tender when you pierce it with a fork. If your squash is cut small like mine, it won't take as long to cook. Stir occasionally.
Once it has cooked, remove from heat and take out your blender. Then carefully ladle the soup into a blender and blend it until completely smooth. You will have to do this in sections, pouring out the blended soup into your serving bowl, adding more soup and blending, etc, til all is blended.
Serve hot and garnish with thyme.
<3
15 September 2011
Fall = Rosemary
I didn't post all summer, which is unfortunate because I missed the opportunity to share summer recipes, which are my favorite. It's only now that I remembered this thing existed. From now on, more recipes! More posts!
Rosemary is, believe it or not, one of my least favorite herbs. In general, I find it too strong, and the taste reminds me of chicken, something I stopped eating over five years ago.
But rosemary, in moderate amounts, is delicious, and above all it is one of the best herbs for fall. Its flavor goes perfectly with fall vegetables, and stuck under the broiler, it's amazing.
This is what I just had for lunch. Enjoy.
Rosemary Scrambled Eggs with Roasted Peppers
(roasted peppers can be bought in a jar at any market, but homemade they are about 500,000 times better. so, below is my dad's old method for roasting bell peppers.)
Roasted Peppers (You will need):
-bell peppers, preferably organic, very fresh and crisp (wrinkly, soft skin will not work)
-tongs
-brown paper bag
1. Set oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. After oven has heated, remove stems of peppers, and place cleaned and dried bell peppers (whole) on a cookie sheet in the broiler.
3. Let the peppers roast for 5 or more minutes until charred black. Use tongs to flip to other side, and let them roast 5 minutes again.
4. Put the peppers in brown paper bags; leave alone for an hour or more.
5. The charred part comes right off, and voila, you have roasted peppers.
Scrambled Eggs with Roasted Peppers (serves one)
-2 organic, cage free large or jumbo eggs
-white onion
-cherry or grape tomatoes (need I say organic again?)
-fresh rosemary
-sea salt and black pepper to taste
This can also be made with garlic, in which case you'd use only a half clove of garlic if it's small or a quarter clove if it's big. Trust me, garlic comes out really strong in eggs.
1. Heat oil in a skillet, and add onion and your roasted bell peppers, cut in big slices. Heat them up, and season however you please.
2. Chop about 1/4th of a white onion.
3. Wash the tomatoes and cut in halves, preferably cross-wise.
4. Crack two eggs into a bowl, and whisk with a fork, or a wire whisk, if you're feeling that fancy. Whisk, and whisk, and keep whisking, and then whisk some more. Your eggs should be completely blended and smooth. Add sea salt and black pepper in the bowl, and whisk some more.
5. Using the same skillet, add some more oil and reduce heat to low.
6. Saute the onion til translucent, then add the tomatoes. Then take your rosemary, and add a pinch to the pan, stirring quickly and constantly so it doesn't burn. If you have a stem of rosemary, you'd hold the stem at one end and run your thumb and pointer over the entire stem, going in the opposite direction of how the leaves grow, and it will come off easily.
7. Add the eggs immediately after, stirring them continuously with a spatula. This method, provided the skillet is kept on low heat, will assure that your eggs come out moist and fluffy, as opposed to dry and congealed.
Serve the peppers next to or on top of the eggs.
Rosemary is, believe it or not, one of my least favorite herbs. In general, I find it too strong, and the taste reminds me of chicken, something I stopped eating over five years ago.
But rosemary, in moderate amounts, is delicious, and above all it is one of the best herbs for fall. Its flavor goes perfectly with fall vegetables, and stuck under the broiler, it's amazing.
This is what I just had for lunch. Enjoy.
Rosemary Scrambled Eggs with Roasted Peppers
(roasted peppers can be bought in a jar at any market, but homemade they are about 500,000 times better. so, below is my dad's old method for roasting bell peppers.)
Roasted Peppers (You will need):
-bell peppers, preferably organic, very fresh and crisp (wrinkly, soft skin will not work)
-tongs
-brown paper bag
1. Set oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. After oven has heated, remove stems of peppers, and place cleaned and dried bell peppers (whole) on a cookie sheet in the broiler.
3. Let the peppers roast for 5 or more minutes until charred black. Use tongs to flip to other side, and let them roast 5 minutes again.
4. Put the peppers in brown paper bags; leave alone for an hour or more.
5. The charred part comes right off, and voila, you have roasted peppers.
Scrambled Eggs with Roasted Peppers (serves one)
-2 organic, cage free large or jumbo eggs
-white onion
-cherry or grape tomatoes (need I say organic again?)
-fresh rosemary
-sea salt and black pepper to taste
This can also be made with garlic, in which case you'd use only a half clove of garlic if it's small or a quarter clove if it's big. Trust me, garlic comes out really strong in eggs.
1. Heat oil in a skillet, and add onion and your roasted bell peppers, cut in big slices. Heat them up, and season however you please.
2. Chop about 1/4th of a white onion.
3. Wash the tomatoes and cut in halves, preferably cross-wise.
4. Crack two eggs into a bowl, and whisk with a fork, or a wire whisk, if you're feeling that fancy. Whisk, and whisk, and keep whisking, and then whisk some more. Your eggs should be completely blended and smooth. Add sea salt and black pepper in the bowl, and whisk some more.
5. Using the same skillet, add some more oil and reduce heat to low.
6. Saute the onion til translucent, then add the tomatoes. Then take your rosemary, and add a pinch to the pan, stirring quickly and constantly so it doesn't burn. If you have a stem of rosemary, you'd hold the stem at one end and run your thumb and pointer over the entire stem, going in the opposite direction of how the leaves grow, and it will come off easily.
7. Add the eggs immediately after, stirring them continuously with a spatula. This method, provided the skillet is kept on low heat, will assure that your eggs come out moist and fluffy, as opposed to dry and congealed.
Serve the peppers next to or on top of the eggs.
28 June 2011
Preliminare
If there is one thing that unites us all, it is food. And indeed, the "foodie" revolution has captured the imaginations of all kinds of young folk. Suddenly, it's cool to talk about and love food. It's cool to take pictures. It's cool to have food blogs. It's cool to exclaim, "I LOVE FOOD!"
But don't we all?
This is not so much a food blog as it is a blog for my life, and it will involve many other things than food. However, food is a central part of my life, as the culture I was raised with finds both the preparing and sharing of meals a basic way of life.
I dedicate this blog to the artichoke, or as my papa used to call them, "carciofi." The flower of the desert, a staple of Sicily, and my favorite vegetable. When they are placed on the dining room table in front of me, that thick scent steaming off the leaves, I imagine palm trees and dirt and the wild brush that grows all over my beloved Sicilia. My home that was never mine to begin with, and yet. It is my home.
My papa is the center of culture in my family. He taught us the basic parts of life: family, food, and to always be home for dinner. Always.
As is evident from early photographs, I was a gourmand. I still am; I feel that eating until "satisfied" just does not provide as much satisfaction as eating until full. Luckily, I am not as plump as I used to be, but that is partly thanks to genes, and now it is really because of the healthy lifestyle I have adopted.
So allow me to make it clear here and now, on my very first post: I am vegetarian. I am a health nut, completely. Every day and in every way, I try to balance the Italian lifestyle with my own beliefs. That is, to be a hedonist, and yet, completely healthy.
Now, back to the artichoke. They are beloved in my household. You peel after every leaf as the steam burns your hands, eating faster and faster until you come upon that coveted thing at the very center of it all: the heart. Il cuore.
Say it like this: Coo-or-ee dee car-chioff-ee. Run it all together. Cuoridicarciofi.
Va bene?
But don't we all?
This is not so much a food blog as it is a blog for my life, and it will involve many other things than food. However, food is a central part of my life, as the culture I was raised with finds both the preparing and sharing of meals a basic way of life.
I dedicate this blog to the artichoke, or as my papa used to call them, "carciofi." The flower of the desert, a staple of Sicily, and my favorite vegetable. When they are placed on the dining room table in front of me, that thick scent steaming off the leaves, I imagine palm trees and dirt and the wild brush that grows all over my beloved Sicilia. My home that was never mine to begin with, and yet. It is my home.
My papa is the center of culture in my family. He taught us the basic parts of life: family, food, and to always be home for dinner. Always.
As is evident from early photographs, I was a gourmand. I still am; I feel that eating until "satisfied" just does not provide as much satisfaction as eating until full. Luckily, I am not as plump as I used to be, but that is partly thanks to genes, and now it is really because of the healthy lifestyle I have adopted.
So allow me to make it clear here and now, on my very first post: I am vegetarian. I am a health nut, completely. Every day and in every way, I try to balance the Italian lifestyle with my own beliefs. That is, to be a hedonist, and yet, completely healthy.
Now, back to the artichoke. They are beloved in my household. You peel after every leaf as the steam burns your hands, eating faster and faster until you come upon that coveted thing at the very center of it all: the heart. Il cuore.
Say it like this: Coo-or-ee dee car-chioff-ee. Run it all together. Cuoridicarciofi.
Va bene?
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