Grilled Chapati recipe from NYT

When I buy a new grill, I’ll have to try this. My foray into grilled pizza this summer was less than perfect, but this looks easy to do. Here’s the recipe.

101 Cookbooks 5-Minute Tomato Sauce

I tried this sauce last night with my Fusilli with Cauliflower and Olive recipe. Not only is it fast, it is incredibly zingy and tasty. The special ingredient is lemon zest. And if you don’t have a micro-grater, run to your favorite gourmet kitchen store and buy one. For $10, it is worth it!

Noodles and Veggies in Peanut Sauce

This was a recipe that I got years ago from a Cooking Light cookbook. The original recipe used chicken, but since it is one of Mark’s favorites, I just adapted it by using more veggies to fill it out. It sounds fussy to make, but it’s really pretty simple.

• 5 ounce package of chucka soba noodles (the curly ones are best, but I couldn’t find them for this photo)
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil, divided
• approx 1- 1 1/2 pound of assorted veggies (good way to clean out the fridge)
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 clove minced garlic

Cook noodles according to package and drain.

Heat 1 teaspoon sesame oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add veggies and saute. Start with veggies that take longer to cook – broccoli, cauliflower, carrots. Once they start to get tender, add any other veggies, such as onions and bell pepper strips. Add veggies like tomatoes and spinach last so they don’t overcook. Remove veggies from pan and add the cooked noodles to the veggies.

Combine broth with the next 5 ingredients (through red pepper) in a bowl and whisk to blend.

Add remaining teaspoon sesame oil to pan used for veggies and place over medium high heat. Add ginger and garlic and stir, cook for 15 seconds. Add broth mixture and cook 30 seconds, stir constantly. Add veggies and noodles to the pan and toss to coat with the peanut sauce.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

From the NYT. The secret trick is to chill the dough for 36 hours, apparently Toll House left this info off their package recipe. Here’s the link to the recipe.

Provencal Chick Pea Salad

 Another easy recipe from Martha Schulman that’s perfect for summer.

• 3 cans of chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 small red bell peppers (original recipe calls for one red and one green pepper), chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1-2 garlic cloves (to taste), minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Toss the drained chickpeas with the parsley, tomatoes, and peppers. For dressing, whisk together the remaining ingredients and then pour over the chickpea mixture. This can be served warm, room temp, or chilled.

Israeli Couscous Salad

 

I got this recipe from Giada de Laurentiis on her Food Network show. I’m actually not a big viewer of cooking shows, except for Top Chef. I’ve been using this recipe for about 2 years now, and I love making it every summer because it’s quick and delicious. Israeli couscous is like king-size couscous – about 1/4 inch in diameter. It’s usually found in the kosher section of the grocery store. It’s like pasta, and you could use small pasta to make this, but the israeli couscous is small and firm and doesn’t get flabby. Cooking the couscous in stock gives it a wonderful richness and makes it really flavorful. Do not skip the mint in this recipe- it smells wonderful and really makes the dish for me.

• 1 1lb box of israeli couscous
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil + 1/4 cup olive oil, separated
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 2 lemons, juiced and separated
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup toasted, slivered almonds

Add the 3 tablespoons oil to a medium saucepan and warm over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Then add the couscous and cook until toasted and light brown, about 5 minutes. Stir often. Then add the stock and juice of one lemon and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, about 8-10 minutes, until couscous is firm but tender. Stir occasionally. Drain the couscous.

In a large bowl, toss the couscous with remaining oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt and pepper. Let couscous cool.

Once the couscous is at room temperature. Toss the remaining ingredients with the couscous and serve or chill.

Lentils and Potatoes with Curry

 

This is a quick and easy one adapted from Mark Bittman. I had a bag of carrots strips that I  was using for salad, but I got bored with that and decided to throw them in this curry. 

• 1 cup dried brown lentils, washed, drained, and picked over
• 1 can of coconut milk (I use “light”)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 bag of carrot strips (or what remains after using for salad)
• salt and pepper

Put the lentils, coconut milk, and curry powder in a stockpot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn the heat down so the lentils simmer. Cover partially and cook about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have absorbed some of the milk.

Add the potatoes and cover the pot completely. Cook for 10 minutes, then stir gently and check to make sure the lentils are not getting too dry. Add some water if they do. Add the carrot strips and season with salt.

Cover and continue cooking until the lentils are soft and starting to get mushy, and the potatoes are tender in the center – about another 5 to 10 minutes. Add water if necessary. The mixture should be more like a stew and not a soup. Add black pepper to taste.

Tortilla Soup from 101 Cookbooks

I found this at one of my favorite sites. I haven’t tried any of her recipes yet, but they always look so good. Here’s the link for this.

Chickpea Minestrone

I got this recipe from the book “The Food Lover’s Guide To The Gourmet Secrets of Rome”. We are going to Rome next year, so we bought this for inspiration. This is a really hearty soup that is great with some fresh bread. It’s the kind of really simple peasant food that is so great in Italy.

• 1 1/4 cups chickpeas, soaked in water overnight or 12 hours
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary needles
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 dried chile pepper
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 10 ounces of fettucine, broken into short lengths

Drain the chickpeas and place in a large pot. Add 6 1/2 cups of cold water and the rosemary. Bring to a boil, cover, then lower heat to simmer. Cook for about 1 hour or until beans are tender.

Heat the oil in a pan and lightly fry the garlic and chile pepper, until the garlic starts to change color. Add the boiling water and tomato puree and stir to combine.

Puree half of the beans, then stir back into the remaining beans. Add the garlic mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to a boil and add the pasta. Note – I had to add some additional water because there didn’t seem enough to boil the pasta at this point.

Cook the pasta, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick, until al dente and serve.

 

Blueberry Granola Whole Wheat Muffins

This is another great recipe from Small Batch Baking. This is a super healthy  treat when you want to make something special for breakfast, especially when you have fresh blueberries on hand in summer.

• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup granola
• 1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 medium egg
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup fresh or thawed blueberries

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and then preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 4 muffin cups.

Place a flour sifter over a medium bowl. Put the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in the sifter and sift the ingredients into the bowl. Mix in one half of the granola.

Place the buttermilk, brown sugar, egg, oil, and vanilla in another medium size bowl. Whisk to blend, making sure that any brown sugar lumps are dissolved. Add this mixture to to the flour mixture and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Gently stir in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, they should be about 3/4 full (use another one or two muffin cups instead of filling the original four too full). Sprinkle the remaining granola over the muffins and gently press pat the topping down so it won’t fall off. Fill the remaining muffin cups with some water to avoid scorching.

Bake the muffins about 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Place the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Then carefully pour out the water in the empty cups. Take the muffins out of the cups and let them cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm or room-temperature. The muffins will keep for one day in a sealed plastic bag.