Food goodness

I've been experimenting with this and have found a few different ways to make it. I find I generally prefer red quinoa to the plain stuff, too, because it seems to hold its texture better when you let it sit a few days. Blueberry quinoa : Heat 1c frozen blueberries with a little bit of maple syrup, agave, or water until it's boiling. Remove from heat and stir in 2c cooked quinoa, plus a generous splash of something creamy -- milk or half and half. Serve with plain yogurt and chopped nuts on top, plus a drizzle of something sweet if desired. Coconut quinoa : Cook quinoa with coconut milk instead of water (using the same proportions). Sprinkle with that really good flaked coconut, nuts, chopped fruit, etc. Quinoa with nut butter : Pretty much what it sounds like. You can use the coconut-milk-cooked stuff for some creaminess, or stir in a little milk too. Sliced banana on top. I also want to try this breakfast grain salad but haven't yet. Mm, grains.

YUM. I never would have put this combination together if I hadn't been perusing this cookbook , trying to figure out more things to do with quinoa. The original recipe calls for pancetta, which I left out but which would probably be delicious. It also wanted you to cook the fennel and I have no idea why, because it adds nice crunchiness when it's raw. And there was also some nonsense about putting a lemon in the fennel water that seemed entirely unnecessary. (All that said, I really like this cookbook and am using it more than any other these days, and you can get it on Amazon right now for one (1) cent. Just one penny! Plus shipping, but still! You should buy it.) Also, I just bought some red quinoa at TJ's, and I think it tasted the same but looked prettier than regular quinoa. Vinaigrette: 3 T frozen orange juice concentrate 2 T red wine vinegar 1 T balsamic vinegar 3 T olive oil 1+ T spicy mustard salt and pepper to taste Salad: 3+ c cooked quinoa 1 ...

I love me some muesli. This recipe was a good starting place... I made some modifications below. Warning: It makes a TON -- J & I both ate it for breakfast several days in a row.    The recipe thinks it only lasts 2 or 3 days, but I may or may not have eaten it an entire week after I made it and it was still fine. 3 cups whole milk (I used low-fat) 2 cups plain whole yogurt (I used some of TJ's vanana yogurt) 1 cup apple, skin on, grated (2 apples) 3/4 cup yellow raisins (I added some dried cranberries too) 1 ripe banana, sliced (I skipped because I thought it would make the muesli go bad too quickly) 9 tbsp cracked wheat or bulgar wheat (I used bulgar. warning: do not toast this... I stuck it in the toaster because I'd already mixed it with the next two ingredients, but it burned a bit.) 9 tbsp rolled oats, toasted 9 tbsp wheat germ, toasted 1/4 cup honey (I skipped because the yogurt was sweet... but I do think this mixture needs a little sweetness to it o...

From: Honest Fare We ate muesli almost every morning when we were in Ireland a couple of years ago, and it was so much better than muesli I've been able to find here in the States.  Weaver's in Lancaster now makes a version of it that you can buy in quart-size containers, and theirs is pretty good.  It's kind of expensive, though, especially if it's going to be an every-morning kind of thing.  So, I decided to make my own.  I'm kind of using this post from Honest Fare as a basic formula, and I like her instructions regarding the order to add the ingredients so the dates don't clump together and everything gets dusted with cinnamon, etc.  Obviously you can mix up the ingredients to your taste.  I added some dried apricots instead of raisins, and pepitas instead of sunflower seeds.  I'll be eating this for breakfast this week.  I also recently figured out that I like muesli even better when I add the milk the night before and let it soak overnight...

From Brown Eyed Baker I have never made homemade granola bars before, but now that I know how easy it is, and have this handy formula, I see a lot of homemade granola bars in my future.  I mostly followed the recipe for Fig, Date and Almond Bars , but I subbed out the dates for dried apricots because I didn't have any dates in the house. I also used a little sorghum instead of all the honey, because I didn't have quite enough honey and I did have a jar of sorghum from our trip to Tennessee last year.   But - look at all the possible combinations! I think you could also use different kind of jams, too, but I'm not sure if that would count as a sticky sweetener or a binder....hm.  Will have to keep trying different combinations.  I'm thinking of a dark chocolate, coconut and pecan version..... yum! Basic Granola Bar Formula: 1. Rolled Grains (2½ cups) Suggestions: Oats, Rye flakes, Barley flakes, etc. 2. Nuts, Seeds & Spices (1 cup) Suggestions: Almon...

This recipe surprised me. It is supremely quick and easy and the pears were perfectly spiced, sweet and delicious. They were so delicious by themselves I didn't even have the urge to use the pears as a topping for ice cream or anything typical of me and the hub loved it too. Score. It's from an ayurvedic email newsletter called Joyful Belly. (They probably would not have approved of using it as an ice cream topping, so we're in the clear there too.) 1/2 tsp Star Anise 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1/4 c Raisins 2 tbsp Oatmeal 1/2 tsp Cloves 4 pear Pears Preheat oven to 350. Powder the spices in a coffee grinder or pulverize with a mortar and pestle. Peel and halve the pears, slicing out the core. Place pears in a baking pan. Add 1/4c of water. Sprinkle with spices and raisins. Bake, covered, for one hour or until pears are tender. Uncover, sprinkle rolled oats and, optionally, pecans. Broil for five minutes for a grilled effect.

One of the other things I cooked during the marathon cooking day was a pot of barley. I had never really thought of using barley as a side dish grain, like rice, but again, that cookbook suggested it, so I gave it a shot. It was surprisingly good, actually. The kids ate rice. I haven’t convinced them yet. They did, however, try this salad. They love beets, but mostly because they make you pee pink. The other prep work I did was to roast some beets in the oven, when I was roasting acorn squash for dinner. I slipped the skins off before I put them in the fridge, which cut down on my work. We had this with the sausages and apple s. It was a lovely fall-ish meal. adapted from "time for dinner" Two cups of cooked barley, in a large bowl. Toss with cooked, peeled beets, 1 can of (drained) mandarin oranges. Toss with a dressing made of 1 part orange juice, 2 parts olive oil.

I'm usually not crazy about tabouli because I don't like the taste of bulgur, for some reason, so using Israeli couscous was a nice substitute. We had friends over for dinner last night and served this with stuffed green peppers , and we made the filling out of couscous, chicken sausage, onions, peppers, Parm and oregano. (Loosely based on this Food Network recipe .) 1 package Israeli couscous, about 1 1/2 c dry salt and freshly ground black pepper juice of 2 lemons a big glug of olive oil  generous servings of chopped herbs to taste; we used a blend of cilantro, oregano and mint  a few shakes of zatar (optional but good) 6 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced bunch of scallions, chopped Bring a medium-size saucepan of water to a boil over medium heat. Add the couscous and cook until al dente, 7 to 8 minutes. Drain the couscous, run cold water over it for a few seconds to prevent clumping, and set aside to cool. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, zatar, and salt and pe...

Summer is a good time to eat Heidi -style. I loved this. Not many others in my house did, so if you're the husband, preschooler daughter or toddler son of a mid-thirties gal, you won't love this as much as your wife/mom did. More leftovers for her! >> This is great with crumbled feta. But it's also perfect with thinned-out, salted, plain yogurt. Also, for those of you who are fans of quinoa patties - I made patties out of the leftovers by combining a scant 3 cups of leftovers with 4 beaten eggs, and enough breadcrumbs to thicken things up a bit - 1/2 cup or so. Press with hands firmly into patties, then pan-fry, covered. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 bunch green onions, chopped 3/4 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt 1 cup / 6.5 oz / 185 g quinoa, well rinsed and drained 2 cups water 1/4 cup / 1 oz / 30g dried currants 1 lemon 2 sm-med zucchini, grated on box grater 4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds 4 tablespoons chopped fres...

Adapted from: Closet Cooking Ok, so I very loosely followed the recipe above and just used what I had in the house. The recipe below is the way I made it. The original recipe calls for summer vegetables, and I had winter vegetables on hand. This salad is along the lines of previous grain salads I have posted here in the past, except that I used quinoa here. Use whatever veg you have on hand - zucchini, eggplant, peppers, and summer squash would be good in the summer. I used carrots, beets and butternut squash here. Try marinated artichokes, sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, etc. Serve as is or over baby spinach leaves. Ingredients: 1 cup carrots, cut into bite sized pieces 1 cup butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, cut into bite sized pieces 1 cup beets, peeled, cut into bite sized pieces 1 tablespoon olive oil salt and pepper to taste 1 cup quinoa 5 sundried tomatoes, chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1/2 teaspoon oregano salt and pepper to t...

Adapted from King Arthur Flour . I love KAF so much I wish I could marry it. Seriously. Anyway, they originally posted this recipe at the end of August and I thought, meh, I could pass on that. But it was in my email inbox this morning and I today I thought, hmm, maybe? KAF will tell you that they aren't intended to be eaten every morning for breakfast and honestly I'm only making them for Michael. He's half Hobbit and requires a second breakfast no matter how big of a bowl of oatmeal he eats in the morning. Also, I think these would be good to take on a weekend trip or make them for a hostess gift next time you spend the night at a friend's house. As with most recipes, I cut the sugar. You won't notice that it's missing. 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup + a little more natural peanut butter 3/4 cups brown sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1/3 cup milk (I used non-fat) 7 oz or 1.5-ish C KAF white whole wheat flour 1/3 cup dried milk (I used no...

Adapted from the latest issue of Cooking Light . We had some friends over for dinner tonight and managed to throw this together along with a spinach salad with herbed goat cheese, apples and sugared walnuts and chocolate pudding cake for dessert. Did I mention that I made this in my electric pressure cooker b/c my stove blew up yesterday and threw sparks at me whilst blowing every fuse in our house. 3 times. Seriously. That aside, this was really good and I can hardly wait to have leftovers tomorrow. 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 8 ounces hot Italian sausage 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced 2 large garlic cloves, minced 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained S&P to taste 2 cups evaporated milk (or 2 cans plus a little water) 3 cups water 1 cup uncooked polenta 4 ounces goat cheese 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt Heat a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Remove sausage fr...

Hm. This is interesting. I have made baked oatmeal many times in the past, but my old recipe just has the standard apple-cinnamon-nutmeg flavor profile. This recipe, though it sounds similar, had a whole new flavor. Maybe it's the cardamom? I don't use cardamom often, so maybe that was it. Anyway, it smelled delicious while cooking, and did not disappoint out of the pan. I liked the combination of steel cut oats and old-fashioned. Adapted from Culinary in the Country . 1 cup apple cider (or juice, but cider is better) 1 cup water 1/2 cup dry steel-cut oats 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 2 medium apples, peeled, diced (try Granny Smith) 1/3 cup dried cranberries 2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger (I didn't have it so added a bit of ground ginger) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 pinch baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg 1 large egg 1/4 cup milk 1 1/2...

So... I have been happily eating my pearled barley, feeling all righteous for eating healthy grains, yada yada. And then I learned that pearled barley is the white rice of the barley family. It has had all the good stuff stripped away. That's no good! So, tonight I made a big batch of hulled barley, which is the only kind of barley that is a whole grain. I used Alton Brown's method , which is just like his method for baking brown rice, but adapted for barley. I made a double batch, used a 9x13 pan, and froze the leftovers to use later. 1 cup hulled barley 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 cups boiling water Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the barley into a 1 1/2-quart ceramic or glass baking dish (with a lid, or just use aluminum foil to cover) and add the butter, salt and boiling water. Stir to combine. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and place the lid on top of the foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour,...

Because I can't leave well enough alone, I made some changes to Gwen's original post . I subbed 1 C white whole wheat flour for the AP, increased the 1/3 C yogurt to 1/2 C and added 1/2 t espresso powder. If baking with whole grains, keep in mind that they absorb more liquid (hence the extra yogurt) but also you want to let the dough/batter sit a while before baking so that the flour can absorb all the liquid. It just makes for a better end product. I used a #18 cookie scoop and got 30 cookies (well, would have gotten 30 cookies except that I ate about 1.5 cookies worth of dough before baking. Ah, well, chef's treat, right?). I did not flatten mine (remember that these don't really spread unless you smoosh them like a peanut butter cookie) and baked for 9 min. Allow to cool on pan for 5 min before placing on a cooling rack. Each cookie is 72 kcals with .6 g fiber. And if you use dark or semi-sweet chips then you get all the health benefits of dark chocolate (pl...

Adapted from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times (not yet available online). This recipe is so easy and so delicious and is perfect for lunches as you can eat it cold or room temp--ideal for those without microwaves at the office! 1 15 oz. can of hominy (white or yellow), drained and rinsed 1 small bell pepper (or a mix of red, yellow and green), medium dice 1 small red onion, minced 1 1/2 C lima beans or edamame (defrosted if frozen) 1 C prepared brown rice 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half 1/8 C EVOO 1/4 C red wine vinegar S&P 2 T chopped herbs (I used basil, oregano & garlic chives) generous 1/4 C reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled (I like TJs better than Athenos) In a large bowl, mix veg and grains. In a measuring cup, combine EVOO, vinegar, S&P, and herbs. Whisk to combine and pour over salad. Stir to coat veg mixture with dressing and add in feta. For best flavor, allow to sit 30 min before serving. 5 servings, 397 kcals, 8 grams dietary fiber

Do you stare at your pantry shelves and think "Hmm...what am I ever going to do with all this quinoa?" Okay, I have that thought but it's more like "What ever am I going to do with all of these whole grains, OMG, there's enough here to feed an army." That being said if you don't have or don't like quinoa, just substitute it for a different grain (cooking time may vary depending on the grain). Adapted slightly from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites . I really like this cookbook. You should get yourself a copy. 1 large onion, medium chop 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 T canola oil 1 bell pepper or a combination, medium chop 1 medium zucchini, medium chop 2 t ground cumin 2 t ground coriander pinch of red pepper flakes (optional) 1 C quinoa, rinsed and drained 1 2/3 C water 1/2 C fresh basil, sliced into ribbons 1 1/2 C fresh or frozen corn S&P to taste 2 T toasted pine nuts (pepitas would also be good) In a large saucepan or dutch oven, saute ...

Just when you thought all I did was make dessert... Risotto purists be damned, I say. This recipe came from my MIL but I don't remember where she said she got it. It makes a lot--probably 6-8 servings depending on who's coming to dinner. And it's full of healthy grains with lots of fiber which is good for your cholesterol and your GI tract. You could use different veg here but I think the squash is nice. Next time I will add asparagus as well. 1/2 each grains of your choice that have similar cook times (I used wehani rice, pearled barley and steel cut oats, my MIL uses brown rice, barley and wild rice) 2 T olive oil 1/4 C white wine (I omitted since I didn't have any) 6 C veg or low-sodium veg broth 1 medium onion, small chop 2 small to medium summer squash, small chop 2 large cloves garlic, minced 1 large tomato, seeded and small chop 1/2 C grated parm or low-fat feta or goat cheese 1/4 C fresh basil, thinly sliced into ribbons In your favorite dutch oven, toast g...

Adapted from Kellog's website of all places. I never even thought to go to a cereal website and it turns out they have a ton of stuff on there. Anyway, you an use whatever cereal you like but I used bran flakes. And not K's bran flakes but ones from Whole Foods. Doesn't matter; use what you like here. 1 C AP flour 2 T sugar 1 T baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 1 egg 2 C low-fat buttermilk plus extra on hand for later 2 T canola oil 1 C cereal of your choice (bran flakes really are good here) 1/2 C rolled oats The night before, pour 2 C butter milk, cereal and oats into a bowl and stir well. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, whisk egg and oil together and mix with the cereal mixture. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 C buttermilk. Mixture will be thick. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients and stir well. Add to cereal mixture and stir just to combine. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before cooking. Cook pancakes on a hot greased griddle until golden brow...

Adapted from Vegetarian Times (exact recipe from latest issue is not yet online). I'm including the original spice amounts but I thought it could use more so adapt according to your preference. I'm thinking you'll want to double the cumin at the very least. As for the veg, use what you have on hand, that's what I did. 2 tsp ground cumin 1.5 tsp paprika (either type is fine) 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground turmeric 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon For the tagine: 2 T olive oil 1 large sweet potato 1 medium red pepper 1 medium onion, chopped (red or white is fine) 1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces 1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained 2 cloves garlic 8 dried apricots, chopped 1/2 C dried and cured black olives, optional (I will omit next time--it just didn't taste right with them) 1/4 C chopped cilantro (I didn't have any) 1/2 C feta, optional (what I should have added instead of the olives) S&P to taste Combine spice blend in a small bowl and se...