Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad

One word, one syllable, yum. It's another Smitten Kitchen success! This recipe was excellent. I served it as a main course, but it would also work well as a side dish. This would also be a great dish to take to a potluck as it can be made a day ahead. I made a few changes based on personal preference and ingredients available to me. The original can be found by clicking on the link above.

Makes 4 (main course) or 8 (side dish) servings

1 large eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 medium zucchinis, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, separated
1 teaspoon salt, separated
1 teaspoon black pepper, separated

1 bunch green onions, sliced thinly

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne 

1 1/4 cups pearl barley (8 oz)
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon sugar (I forgot to add this, it was fine without)
1/2 lb cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and halved
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, rinsed and drained if desired
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint

Roast eggplant and zucchini: Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 425°F. Toss eggplant and zucchini with 5 tablespoons oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl, then spread on large baking sheet. Roast vegetables in oven, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are golden brown and tender, 20 to 25 minutes total. Allow vegetables to cool.

Cook barley: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook onions, cumin, coriander, and cayenne, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add barley and cook, stirring until well coated with oil, 2 minutes more. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until all of liquid is absorbed and barley is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Make dressing and assemble salad: Whisk together lemon juice, garlic, sugar, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 3 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Add barley, roasted vegetables, and remaining ingredients to bowl with dressing and toss until combined well.

Review - I think this dish is in the lead as my favorite so far this year. The flavors are really wonderful and fresh. I found myself closing my eyes after each bite so that I could taste the mint and the olives and the coriander. Josie was the only one who didn't like this dish. The red onion was pretty intense. So there was that and the fact that I had just taken a batch of soft pretzels out of the oven before dinner and it was kind of like torture for her to see them cooling on the counter. Eli went to town. I'm realizing this kid will eat anything. He didn't care for the Kalamata olives, but he ate just about everything else. Jay and I both liked this a lot. If I could have kicked everyone out of the house for an hour, I could have whipped this up pretty quickly (or I could have taken a nap), but it took me all morning to put this together with Sir Climbs on Everything and Princess Asks a Million Questions.

Warm Dijon Lentils

This recipe was given to me from a friend, Erin, whose blog can be found here (It's About Birth is not a cooking blog, it's um, about birth). The original recipe is from Ina Garten's book "How Easy Is That?"

¼ cup olive oil, divided

1 leek, white and light green parts, thinly sliced

2 large or 3 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1 tsp. minced garlic (I used quite a bit more, around a tablespoon)

1 cup lentils

1 whole onion, peeled, halved

6 whole cloves (I skipped the cloves because I didn't have any)
1 white turnip, cut in half
4 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. kosher salt (I think this might be a typo and it should be 1 tsp. because this was way too salty)
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. unsalted butter
chopped parsley for garnish

Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the leek and carrots, cook 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 60 seconds. Turn off heat and set aside.

Carefully pierce the onion halves with the cloves (as you would with a large ham) and add to a large saucepan with lentils, turnip, and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and add leek-carrot mixture. Simmer uncovered 20-30 minutes or until lentils are tender (for some reason this took quite a bit longer than 30 minutes for me). 

While the lentils simmer, prepare the dressing. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 3 Tbsp. olive oil, Dijon, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Once lentils are done, remove and discard turnip halves and onion. Drain lentils and toss with dressing plus 1 tsp. unsalted butter. Let cool about 15 minutes until warm (but not room temperature). 

My pictures of this dish didn't really turn out. They all just looked like piles of lentils on a plate. I should have taken a picture of Eli with lentils smushed all over his face because that would have been cute. Instead I give you this:

The aftermath of dinner. Why am I showing you this? I don't know. This is my life. I should have included the two grub-muffins in the picture, but they were on the run at this point burning off their after-dinner sillies.

Review - This recipe needs some tweaking. I think the tablespoon of Kosher salt was way too much. It was also pretty tangy, almost too tangy. I'm not sure how I would compensate for the tang factor, maybe adding some plain yogurt or cream to the dressing. I'm not going to put too much thought into it because I probably won't be making these again (sorry Erin and Ina). Josie took one bite and spit it out. Eli picked out the carrots. Jay said it was good, but I think he was being nice. He didn't have seconds. He always has seconds. My positive out of this is that I learned what leeks and turnips look like. I'd never cooked with either before tonight. The leeks were really pretty. I'm looking forward to trying another dish with leeks in it, probably sooner than later because I have another one sitting in my vegetable drawer.

Product Plug - After my knives, these are my two favorite (and most useful) gadgets. I've mentioned this garlic press before. It's the Kuhn Rikon Epicurean. I received it over a year ago and I love it (thanks Dad). I use it almost everyday. The other item is my garlic peeler. This one is from Pampered Chef, but you can find them almost anywhere. We are garlic fiends in this house and with the amount of garlic we go through each week these are necessities.

Mushroom Marsala Pasta with Artichokes

I'm hooked on Smitten Kitchen. Every recipe that I've tried has been awesome! 

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 pound mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned and chopped into small bits
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1 tablespoon for pasta water
1 cup dry Marsala wine

1 lb. pasta (I used a 13.25 oz box of medium shells, I think a pound would have been too much)

1/2 pound frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, quartered
1 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup cream (I used half and half)

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Splash of Balsamic vinegar

Place the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for one minute. Add the mushrooms and one teaspoon of the salt. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until all the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms have cooked down, about 10 minutes. Add the Marsala and continue cooking until almost all the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in remaining salt. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta and add it into the mushrooms, Marsala and onions Add the artichoke hearts, Parmesan and cream and cook until the artichokes are heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and pepper, then adjust seasonings to taste. I added a little Balsamic vinegar, as suggested by the original author. It definitely added a nice zing.

  

Review - Definitely a keeper! Everyone devoured this dish. Josie didn't care for the artichoke hearts, but I didn't chop them up so the pieces were a little overwhelming for a three year old. Eli inhaled his pasta. Jay had two servings. I served with my standard spinach salad. Not terribly time consuming. The hardest part was chopping the mushrooms. The rest of the dish goes together fairly quickly.

Chocolate Peanut Spread

What? There's no meat in this dish. It's completely vegetarian.

I don't know how I stumbled upon Smitten Kitchen, but boy am I glad I did. This is the second recipe I've tried (with more on the way) and so far I've been extremely pleased with the results. You could easily whip up this spread in under 10 minutes. However, if you have a 3 year old begging for every snack under the sun even though she's just had lunch, it's going to take you a little longer. Chances are you have all of these ingredients in your pantry right now, so hop to it, try this recipe.

2 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts

1/2 cup unsweetened, dark cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 - 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

2-3 Tbsp oil (I've used olive oil and canola oil, both worked fine)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread peanuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Toast in oven for 5 minutes to deepen the flavor.

Place peanuts in a food processor and grind them for about 5 minutes. First they’ll become a paste and then they’ll liquefy. Scrape down the sides as needed. Add the cocoa, sugar, salt. Turn on food processor and drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil. Blend for about 1 minute. Add more salt if needed. Add the last tablespoon of oil if the consistency seems too thick.

Store in refrigerator up to a week in a covered container. 

Nap time snacks don't get much better than this.

Review - Right out of the food processor, this was heavenly. It was warm from being blended for so long. I've been wandering around my kitchen trying to come up with things to dip into it. The apples were delicious. I'm sure this wouldn't be too shabby on a piece of toast topped with banana slices. This recipe made about 1 1/2 cups and turned out to be a heck of a lot more economical than those tiny jars of chocolate hazelnut spread we all love so much. 

I realize that I didn't include anyone else in this review but me. Well that's because I didn't share. If it were up to me I wouldn't share. I plan on hiding the jar in the back of the fridge, probably behind the spinach, where I know no one will ever find it. 
 

This Mom's Favorite Pizza

...also known as Pioneer Woman's Favorite Pizza

Heaven, I'm in heaven. And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak. This is the song that plays over and over again in my head while eating this pizza. I love it. I love it a whole lot. I'll pretty much tell anyone who will listen just how wonderful this pizza is. In fact, most of you reading this have probably already heard my spiel and you've probably heard it more than once. Well this is the last time, I promise. Just do yourself a favor and make this pizza, please.

Crust

1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

2 cups bread flour

1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

1/4 cup Olive oil

3/4 cup warm water

Pizza

1 large eggplant

Kosher salt 

1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes

2 tsp. chopped garlic

8 oz. mozzarella, sliced thinly or grated

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Olive oil

TO MAKE THE CRUST

Sprinkle yeast over 3/4 cup warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add flour, salt and olive oil. Mix with wooden spoon until combined. Form dough into a ball. Lightly oil another bowl. Place dough in bowl and toss to coat with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in fridge until you need it. Dough will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

TO MAKE THE PIZZA

Preheat oven broiler. Remove dough from refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

Slice the eggplant thinly. Sprinkle both sides with kosher salt and place into a strainer in the sink. Allow to sit for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse eggplant lightly in cold water, then pat the slices dry between layers of paper towels.

Slice grape tomatoes in half lengthwise and toss into a bowl with minced garlic. Set aside.

Cut eggplant slices into fourths, and toss with olive oil. Arrange on a baking sheet and place 8 inches under the broiler. Broil for 3 minutes, then toss around and broil another 3 minutes. Remove pan from oven and add tomato/garlic mixture. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove and set aside. (May do this 1 hour in advance.)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Drizzle olive oil on a large baking sheet and use fingers to coat thoroughly. Remove the pizza dough from the bowl. Stretch pizza dough into a large rectangle, pressing with fingers to finish forming. Dough will be very thin. Let dough rest for 20 minutes. Lightly drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and use fingers to spread. Sprinkle mozzarella over the surface of the dough. Spread vegetables all over the surface of the cheese. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Remove from pan and slice with a pizza cutter.

Are you drooling a little? You should be.

Review - Everyone loves this pizza, toddler, baby, husband, dog, everyone. I've made it around ten times now and it's one of the best things to come out of this kitchen. The key to preparing eggplant is the salt. You need the salt to draw out the bitterness. Do not skip this step. It's my firm belief that people who say that they don't like eggplant haven't had it prepared correctly. Even if you're not a fan of eggplant at least try the crust. It's amazing. Prior to giving up meat, my second favorite pizza to make, using this crust, was an Italian sausage, sauteed red onion, and sauteed mushroom pizza.

Semi-Spicy (but still kid-friendly) Black Bean Soup

Do you like the title? I was pretty nervous while preparing this soup after last week's fire chili. When I lifted the lid of the slow cooker at 4pm to assess the status of my soup, I had already prepared myself that I was going to need to come up with a Plan B for the kids. However, I was pleasantly surprised after the first bite. The heat from the jalapenos had completely cooked out and I actually had to add chili power (albeit, sparingly) before I served it. 

I read so many different black bean soup recipes, none of which screamed "try me." I decided just to wing it and made this up as I went along.

1 lb. dried black beans, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed, discard broken and discolored beans

2 Tbsp. chopped garlic

1 medium onion, diced

2 Tbsp. diced jalapeno, seeds and all

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted with garlic)

3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

Salt and pepper, to taste

1-2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

Pepper jack cheese, lime, plain yogurt, cilantro (optional, but highly recommended, garnishes)

Combine everything in slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 hours, turn down to low and continue cooking for 6 hours or until beans become soft. Dried beans always seem to take forever to cook in the slow cooker, so I have the best luck cooking them on high for the first 2-3 hours and then turning the temperature down. If you'd like a thicker soup you can use the immersion blender before serving (I did). Serve with any or all of the following: grated cheese, fresh lime juice, plain yogurt and chopped cilantro. Serves 4-6.

What you can't see in this picture are the first two limes I tried to float on top of the soup. They sunk. I had to use the cheese as a lime life raft.

Review - Easy, healthy, and everyone liked it. I really enjoyed this soup. I will be enjoying a bowl tomorrow for lunch. Jay liked it. I fished out the beans for Eli. He seemed to enjoy them. There were only a couple stuck to his pants when I lifted him out of his highchair, which is always a good sign. Josie gave me more praise over this dish than ever before. "Oooh, I like this soup. Did you make this mommy? I like beans. I like black bean soup. This is good mommy. These beans are good." This went on for about 5 minutes. She was either in an exceptionally good mood or she actually really liked the soup. Maybe a little of both. Either way, this recipe is a keeper. The only change I'll make for next time is to decrease the stock down to 3 cups. I prefer a thicker soup and even after blending (and adding a little cornstarch) it was too thin for me.

White Bean and Apple Chili

This is another excellent Stephanie O'Dea recipe. The original can be found here. I have pretty good success with her recipes. She keeps the spices pretty tame for her kids, so I typically have to kick it up a few notches. Unfortunately, I kicked this soup up more than a few and it was too spicy for the kids. 

2 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed (or dried beans soaked overnight and then rinsed)

1 onion, chopped 

2 apples, chopped, no need to peel

3 cloves chopped garlic 

3 T butter

2 tsp chili powder 

1/2 tsp ground thyme 

1 tsp cumin 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp pepper 

3 cups stock (I used chicken stock because I still have a ton in the freezer)

1/2 cup plain yogurt 

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

Put the butter into the bottom of your slowcooker. Dump in the drained and rinsed beans. Add the onion, apple, and garlic. Add the spices, and pour in the broth. Stir in the yogurt.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours. I used dried beans, so it took a little longer than 8 hours for the beans to cook. When everything is tender use an immersion blender and blend a few times to thicken the soup. Top with shredded cheddar cheese. Serve with Homesteader Cornbread.

Can you tell I'm playing with lighting techniques?

Review - This was good, but better the second night for one of two reasons, either a) the chili powder calmed down or b) my taste buds were still numb from the night before. This soup was not supposed to be spicy. When I make it again I won't free-pour the chili powder. I also think I'll skip the butter. I love butter, a lot, but I'm not sure it really added anything to this soup. 

The first night was too spicy for me. I added a dollop of plain yogurt to try and kill some of the fire, but it didn't work. There was a lot of water consumed and a lot of nose wiping. Sorry, was that TMI? For those of you who are afraid of trying savory dishes with fruit in them, don't be. You couldn't taste the apple at all. It adds the slightest hint of sweetness, but it's barely noticeable. Jay really liked this soup, heat and all. I didn't even try to give this to the kids because that would have been mean. Instead they ate frozen peas, apple slices and crackers with peanut butter. 

Homesteader Cornbread

I know, I know, cornbread is not a main dish, well at least it shouldn't be. I'm embarrassed to say that I ate more of these muffins than I did my soup tonight. They are vegetarian though, so I'm considering this recipe my bonus recipe for the week. These little muffins turned out too good not to share with everyone.

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. It needs a little tweaking, but not much. You can find the original recipe here. I cut everything in half. 

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 1/4 cup milk

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. 

2. Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together. Combine wet ingredients in separate bowl. Mix well. Add to dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.

3. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Look, it's a muffin on a plate.

Review - Excellent! I decided to pour the batter into a muffin pan (with liners) instead of the square pan. It made 12 muffins. I took them out of the oven at 18 minutes and they were perfect, incredibly moist and I have to say, probably some of the best cornbread I've ever had. I did decrease the sugar a little, down to about 1/4 cup, but I don't care for sweet cornbread. Next time I think I'll try using melted butter instead of vegetable oil. Josie and I both ate too many of these. Jay enjoyed his two muffins. The only thing I could get Eli to eat tonight was mushy carrots from a can of chicken noodle soup. Eh, three out of four ain't bad.

Polenta Pie

I received The New Moosewood Cookbook for Christmas this year and this is the first recipe I've decided to try. We all love polenta, so hopefully this is a winner.

1.5 cups coarse cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups cold water
2 cups boiling water
a little olive oil

Ingredients for filling:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced bell pepper
10 mushrooms, sliced
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons dried basil (or 2 tablespoons fresh basil)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
fresh black pepper
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
2 small, or 1 medium, ripe tomato, sliced

1. Combine cornmeal, salt, and cold water in a small bowl. Have the boiling water on the stove in a saucepan, and add the cornmeal mixture, whisking. Cook about 10 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently. It will get very thick. Remove from heat, and let cool until you can handle it.

2. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 10-inch pie pan. Add the polenta, and use a spatula and wet hands to form it into a smooth, thick crust over the bottom and sides of the pan. Brush the surface with olive oil, and bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

3. While the crust bakes, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium-sized skillet. Add the onion, and saute for 5-8 minutes, or until it begins to soften. Add bell pepper, mushrooms, and zucchini, and saute just a few minutes more.

4. Turn up the oven to broiling temperature. Sprinkle half the cheese onto the bottom of the baked crust, then add the tomato slices. Spread the sauteed mixture over the tomatoes, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Broil until brown (about 5 minutes) and serve hot.

Review - This was pretty good. Even though I took it out early, I think I might have overcooked the crust. It was a tad crunchy on the bottom. I used a 9x13 baking pan instead of a 10-inch pie plate, so I probably should have decreased the cooking time more than I did. Jay said this was a little bland and would be better with a layer of pesto on the crust. I think he's right. Josie ate her square (and three servings of spinach salad, yeah I'm bragging). Eli chewed on a piece of zucchini and then spit it out. Poor guy had 5 teeth coming in, so he's not the best judge.  The veggie combo was great. I'll make this again, but add the pesto.


Please excuse my photography skills. I've never taken pictures of food before. You wouldn't think that taking a picture of something that can't get up and run away would be hard, but it is. Hopefully my photography skills, along with my cooking skills, will improve throughout the year.

Saying goodbye to meat, well kind of

Last year the Air Force decided to throw us all for a loop and moved us down to Texas. I'm going to use that as my excuse as to why I didn't keep up with this blog. Well that and taking care of two kids is a lot harder and more time consuming than one. Can you believe that?

Over the course of the last year I watched Food, Inc., read a few food books and a ton of articles and have decided that we're done buying meat from the grocery store and restaurants. I have decided to buy beef from a local ranch that raises grass-fed, pasture-raised, antibiotic-free, growth hormone-free cattle and keep our meat consumption down to once a week. As it is right now we eat very little meat, so this transition shouldn't be too tough and the occasional pack of bacon is sure to help. I won't lie. I love bacon and have no plan to give it up entirely.

So there it is. I plan to try at least one new vegetarian recipe every week and post the review online. I'll leave up my recipes from last year in case anyone is interested in using them. Maybe I'll try to revamp them and make them meat-less. Who knows? I'm kind of crazy like that.