Sunday, May 31, 2009

Dinner - May 28, 2009

This week I am going to try out some recipes from the New York Times. I would make nice links to them with their pretty picture but I don't want to get threatening letters like Apartment Therapy did. (Hint to New York Times: Links from blogs equal more traffic.)

These are healthy recipes that show up in the health section of the paper. Search for "Recipes for Health" on the Times website.

The first one that I tried might be the least healthy since it is pizza and I made it with some actual cheese. I only used a total of about 2 oz of Parmesan for 3 to 4 servings so like I told Matt, don't get too excited.

The first picture is from a potato pizza. The second picture is from a fennel and onion pizza. The third picture is showing both halves of the pizza before it went into the oven.

I don't have any fancy pizza pans or pizza stones. I stuck with the 50% whole wheat crust recipe from the Healthy Hedonist that I have used on previous posts. My recipe is about 2/3 per volume of the recipe in the Times. The Times recipe makes two crusts and the toppings are for one. I made one rectangular pizza that would be below the same area as the Times for toppings but I compensated by reducing the border area. I ended up with one crust at 2/3 the volume for the same area as the two separate crusts. (Yes, I am an engineer.)


Not having a pizza pan I am always working for the way to get a crispy crust. This time I over baked the pizza making it dry, but I think I am on the right track. I baked in the pan at 450 degrees for 10 minutes then removed it from the pan and baked for 10 minutes and then turned on the broiler for 5 mintues. Next time I will try 8 in pan, 4 out of pan, and 4 under the broiler. I had the oven shelf one step below the middle.

Besides overcooking this pizza I also over salted it. I am blaming my inexperience with cooking with cheese. I really should have backed way down on the salt due to the salt in the cheese.

I liked the potato pizza and thought the fennel pizza was okay. It was nice to have the two different parts to break up the meal a bit. These really don't have much cheese and it is located inconspicuously below the toppings, so I am interested to try them with out the cheese.

I will not be sharing these pizzas with any one yet.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Wednesday - May 20, 2009


This is the Garlic Soup with Tortillas, Avocado, and Lime that I was suppose to make with the Rice, Beans, and Peas that I posted previously. I was making this our whole meal for the night so I doubled the broccoli and upped the tortilla strips a touch. (Maybe I did it because that was how much broccoli I had or because the tortilla strips were so good.)

The recipe doesn't specify how large the tortillas that you cut up and fry are suppose to be so maybe I didn't up the amount at all. I would suggest frying in two batches using the same oil.

I think this came together pretty easily but I was sort of stalling for Matt to get home for work so I am not sure how long it really took. Eventually I ate my two servings. When Matt got home I heated the soup back up and then poured the hot soup over the avocado and tortilla strips.

I thought this was pretty good. Matt was won over by it after a reluctant start. He even suggested we could serve it to his parents on their upcoming visit. (We didn't but we did make a meal from Berley's Flexitarian Table cookbook).

I will be making this again. We ate two servings each to make it a meal. For guests I will go with one serving and an additional dish. I tried to calculate the calories but I had a hard time coming up with a number for the tortillas. I came up with just over 300 calories for each serving (based on 4 servings).

Tuesday - May 19, 2009

Another meal from the spring section of Berley's Fresh Food Fast. This is Charmoula Baked Tempeh with Vegetable Couscous. I never got around to making the carrot salad on the menu.

This dish is not baked in the oven but cooked on the stove top. I used a 1 lb bunch of asparagus rather than the 1/2 lb called for in the recipe. I only had half the couscous that was called for so I substituted half bulgur wheat. I soaked the bulgur in boiling water before adding. The recipe said to simmer the tempeh for 15 minute with the lid on until the liquid is absorbed. I did 15 minutes with the lid on and then 15 minutes with the lid set ajar to get to liquid under control.

I found the tempeh too salty but the couscous about right for salt. Matt said he liked the tempeh salty but I am going to try less salt next time. Matt like the spice on the tempeh but did not get that into the couscous. I thought the couscous mixture was good even without the tempeh. I thought the mushroom added a nice richness. I will consider chopping instead of slicing the onions next time for appearances.

I would say this dish has potential but I will not be serving up to any guests. I will be trying the two parts again separately as I think they are both nice fundamental dishes with good flavor.

Saturday - May 16, 2009

I am a bit behind on my posting. This is from the week I was using the spring recipes from Berley's Fresh Food Fast. This is Sesame Noodles with Tofu Steaks and Baby Asian Greens. I never found the sunflower sprouts and pea shoots that were to be paired with it but felt it was a complete meal without the salad.

I liked this dish. I over cooked the bok choy and found it a bit stringy. The noodles are cold with the warm tofu on top making for a nice spring dish. It also kept well for left overs but left the dilema of whether to eat it hot or cold.

I did not make any notes when I was cooking this and with all the time I am struggling to remember any issues. I used udon noddles and black sesame seeds. The noodle package was slightly less that the 3/4 pounds in the recipe but I felt there were pleny of noodles. I had to use my extra large fry pan to fit the tofu in one layer and even with that I had to run them up the side a bit. I cooked the bok choy whole and then cut in half after words. I am not a fan of raw onions even the scallion variety but Matt likes them. I believe I cooked the entire meal in under 40 minutes but that it took me about 10 minutes to get it on the plates.

I would say this is easy enough for a week night and good enough to serve to vegetarians. I need to work on the bok choy cooking.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Iced Coffee - Try #1

I was just walking home in the hot sun and saw several people on the street sipping iced coffee. Being unemployed I thought this would be a great time to work on a sweetened iced coffee recipe. I imagined some steps of caramelizing the sugar and maybe working in a little banana, but my desire for a cold drink made me go for a short route.

Here is today's recipe:

3 shots decaf espresso (made from a little over 1/3 cup of Starbucks House Blend)
3 Tbsp of turbinado sugar
1/8 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of unsweetened soy milk
cup full of ice

I mixed the vanilla into the sugar and the sugar into the hot coffee. I poured the hot coffee over the ice and then mixed in the soy milk.

I thought it was pretty good. I want to say it was too sweet but I really enjoyed that sweet. As I am approaching the bottom of the glass it looks like there is a bit of undissolved sugar.

175 calories

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Tabbouleh & Hummus


From Berley's Fresh Food Fast I made Spring Menu #4 for lunch today. I really like cookbooks that have the recipes arranged by season.

The hummus is a Lemon Walnut Hummus. I had made it before and enjoyed it. It was good today although my can of chick peas could have been a little fresher smelling. I added a 1/4 cup of water to thin out the hummus. I also used smallish garlic cloves which still appeared to be enough. I forgot the one caveat on this cookbook which is you need to cut back the salt. We enjoyed the salt here but I have to remember for the future.

The tabbouleh is called Spring Tabbouleh. It calls for 2 cups of chopped fresh mint. As an unemployed urban apartment dweller I was not able to pull off that much mint. I ended up with about a 1/3 of cup from one package at the store and increased the parsley from 1 to 2 cups to make up some of the difference. I also doubled the cherry tomatoes because they added a nice flavor and moisture to the Tabbouleh. I really like this recipe and find the radishes add a nice crunch. I may add some cucumber next time. The salt in this was about right.

I warmed the pitas in the oven and we enjoyed a nice fresh tasting lunch. I would probably make this once a year as it is enjoyable but not that much greater than what you can get at Mediterranean restaurants for a very reasonable price.

Rice, Beans, and Peas


This week I jumped back to Peter Berley's Fresh Food Fast. The recipes are generally easy and good. I have had a pretty high success rate with these recipes. About half the recipes are dairy free and all are vegetarian. I am posting a menu with dairy for what I think is only the second time. (The only other one I can remember is a strawberry and balsamic with mozzarella recipe from Immer).


The Rice, Beans, and Peas were suppose to be paired with a Garlic Soup with Tortillas, Avocado, and Lime. We ended up snacking on chips and salsa as a first course. I will be trying the soup later in the week.

This recipe was incredibly easy and took just the time for the rice to cook. I used fresh peas but if you rely on frozen peas you could call this a pantry classic.

I used brown basmati rice so my cooking time on the rice went from 20 minutes to 50. I was just using up some left over swiss slices that were in the fridge so it was probably a little stringer than the Monterey Jack would have been.

We both enjoyed this. It was like a rugid rissoto. I would not serve this to most guests but I think it will become a classic worknight meal.


I tried a bite before the cheese and think it is pretty decent that way.

Spring Rolls



I made up a mess of spring rolls from the Moosewood Low-Fat Cookbook. We had enjoyed these before as roll your own at the table. This time I made them all up myself.

The dipping sauce is the key here. The last time I created a ginger infused dipping sauce which I think I prefer.

I used smoked tofu this time in place of the Asian flavored one. The smoked was okay as was the Asian flavored one. I think if I want these to be particularly good I need to cook up my own tofu.

We tried cilantro and basil in these. My preference is for the basil.

The ratios work out well in this recipe and it comes together in about an hour. Last time I served some broccoli on the side which I think might be nice to break up the meal a bit.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Overcoming a Name


Yes, I made another dish from the Moosewood cookbook. This one was called Caribbean Pigeon Pea Salad. When ever I gave Matt the option of this dish he would pick the other. Yesterday I started calling it Caribbean Rice Salad and just decided to go ahead and make it.

I was heading to Fountain Square for some music so I made up the salad early and popped it in the refrigerator. It was pretty easy to make and took me just under an hour. I let Matt know there was some rice salad in the refrigerator for when he got home. He ate it and only later did I tell him it was pigeon pea salad.

I liked the general flavor of the dish although I am not necessarily sold on canned pigeon peas. The seemed like tough little canned lima beans. I like lima beans but canned ones are not my favorite. Matt said it was pretty good and we finished off most of it over the evening. It was a nice cool dish for a warm summer evening outside.

I had small tomatoes instead of the medium tomatoes called for so I used enough to get 2 cups which appeared to be about right. I accidently used a whole teaspon of dried thyme in the rice which also worked out okay. I could not find the annatto or achiote seed that was called for but found a flavor packet that contained some. I used two of the Sazon Goya Unique Seasoning packets in the oil with the rice.

The recipe does not call to cover the rice when it is cooked for 40 minutes which I am going to assume was an oversight. I covered the rice and it came out nice. I used brown jasmine rice.


I would say this could be a weeknight staple in the summer since most of the ingredients are usually on hand. Nothing to brag about but more like something to live with.

Taste: 3
Prep: 3

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Some Redemption


Last night I made another recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Cookbook. Despite some recent disappointments, I am sticking with it since I bought the ingredients last week and haven't had the energy to think of other configurations. Last night's dinner worked out pretty well. Maybe they should have just made the cookbook about half the size and we could have a lot more winners.

I made the Pasta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. It was easy and quick. It took about the time to boil the water and cook the pasta. I thought it was going to be too dry with so little oil but it was not. We enjoyed it hot last night for dinner. Today my dad and I ate it cold as a pasta salad for lunch. I would consider this a pretty good pasta salad. This is not pasta with a sauce but more like a salad with individual ingredients that taste better together.

I used a 50% whole wheat penne pasta. The pasta package was some weird weight of 13 some ounces which I am going to guess is some metric thing. I used the whole thing so we had a tad more pasta. I used a 3 oz package of dried tomatoes which the package said was three 1/3 cup servings so again I went a little over. I used fresh green beans. I think a little more water on the dried tomatoes probably would have been good to soften them up a tad more.

It said it made 4 servings at 561 calories. I have not checked the calorie count but I would say you could easily serve 5 (which is what we did with 2 dinners and 3 lunches).

Sorry about the picture. They all turned out to be out of focus.

Taste - 3
Prep - 4

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Sometimes I wonder why I bother


The other night I made Hot and Sour Soup and a Vegetable and Noodle Saute from the Moosewood Low-Fat Cookbook. No part of it was hard but it ended up being quite time and dish consuming as I had to make broth for both dishes and cook things before they got cooked. We sat down to eat and said "I guess it is okay but it doesn't taste like much."

We then added some hot sauce and some soy sauce and said "I guess this is okay but I am glad no one else showed up to eat it."

I ate the leftovers yesterday for lunch with the added sauces and thought this might be better than frozen entrees. The veggies did taste pretty good but I still had to wonder why I bothered.

I know that I bothered because it is healthy. I am going to have to go back to some different cookbooks next week.