Spring is here!

First day of planting! Our nights are still cold but the crocuses are in full bloom and the first couple of daffodils are popping open! Today I planted: peas, beets, scallions, spinach, and poppies outside. Inside, I planted the 4 healthiest-looking dahlia tubers. The other 4 I have in pots outside, which might be a little early but we'll see how it goes!

Falafel and Quinoa

Tonight we went Turkish—and carbo-loaded—with falafel, quinoa, naan and hummus. The hummus and naan were store-bought. The falafel and quinoa were loosely based on recipes found on Epicurious. The whole shebang took us (2 people) about an hour to prepare, but it would have been better if we had prepared the falafel mix in advance and let it sit for a while in the fridge.

Falafel
Serves about 4. Adapted from Joan Nathan's recipe, "My Favorite Falafel."

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas [aka garbanzo beans], drained
1/2 onion, chopped
Small handful fresh chopped parsley (2 tbs)
Small handful fresh chopped cilantro (2 tbs)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp hot red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp baking power
6+ tbs flour
Vegetable oil for frying

Garnishes:
Chopped tomato
Diced onion
Diced green bell pepper
Tahina sauce [Sesame seed based—I skipped this because I didn't have it.]

Prep:
In a food processor or blender, put: uncooked chickpeas, most of the onion, parsley, cilantro, salt, red pepper flakes, garlic and cumin. Pulse until blended but not pureed.

Sprinkle in baking powder and 4 tbs flour, pulse. Add enough flour so the dough stops sticking to your hands. Refrigerate, covered, for a few hours. [I just put it in the freezer for 20 min. but I think it would have been less sticky if I waited longer!]

Form balls about the size of walnuts. [Mine were a little bigger, and I coated them with flour for better frying.]

Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a deep pot and fry one ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Fry falafel balls until golden brown and drain on paper towels.

*The recipe then says to stuff the balls into a pita with all the garnishes. We didn't do that but it sounds delicious!

Quinoa
Serves about 4. Adapted from Bruce Aidells and Nancy Oakes's Bon Appétit recipe for "Quinoa with Moroccan Winter Squash and Carrot Stew."

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1 tbs butter
1 tbs EVOO
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 to 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced [can also use carrot]
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp tumeric
2 cups water
Handful of chopped cilantro
Small handful of chopped mint

Prep:
Rinse quinoa and drain it. Melt butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sweet potato. Cover and cook until the veggies begin to brown, stirring often, for about 10 min.

Add garlic, salt and tumeric, sautéing for a minute. Add quinoa and stir for a minute. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med/low and simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 15 min.

Stir in most of the cilantro and mint. Use the rest as a garnish on top.

Skinny Not-Vodka Pasta

I have to admit I don't fully believe the claim that this pasta dish is healthy because it turned out to be so flavorful. That said, the Cook Yourself Thin cookbook says each serving only contains 371 calories. Finding evaporated milk in the grocery store was the hardest part, but I think it was worth it for a rich, creamy texture.

Skinny Tomato Cream Pasta
Serves 4. Based on "Penne alla Not-ka" recipe.

Ingredients:
2 tsp EVOO
3 cloves garlic
1/2 red onion, chopped
3/4 tsp salt
14 oz can diced tomatoes, pureed [I chopped up fresh ones and skipped the puree step.]
1 tsp red pepper flakes [feel free to be liberal!]
8 oz pasta [penne is recommended, we used gemelli]
1/4 cup cream
6 tbs evaporated milk
1/3 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded basil
1/8 tsp black pepper

Prep:
Boil a large pot of water with salt for the pasta.

In a large saucepan on low heat, heat 2 tsp EVOO and garlic about 3 min, until it starts to brown. Add the onion and 1/4 tsp salt, cover and cook about 2 more min until the onion is soft.

Add the tomato, 1/2 tsp salt, and the red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and gently simmer for 10 minutes.

When the sauce has cooked 5 minutes, add the pasta to the water and cook until just shy of al dente, about 6 minutes. Reserve about a half cup of water before draining.

Stir in the cream and evaporated milk and simmer 1 more minute.

Combine the cooked pasta and the sauce. Simmer 1 or 2 minutes until the pasta is al dente, adding a little pasta water if it's dry. Stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the basil and black pepper.

Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan.

Brown Paper Packages

Finished wrapping for Christmas! Trying to go green—didn't buy any paper this year. I cut up paper Stop&Shop bags and used those. The only real problem was running out of tape, it turns out staples aren't so cute for giftwrapping.

Christmas Tree!

December 1, 2012: Christmas tree shopping! Done and done.

Ombre Cake with Dark Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

We're celebrating the Mollidays! For Molly's birthday, I made a pink ombre cake with dark chocolate buttercream frosting. Mom and I had to go  to the store to get 2 more cake pans so I'd have enough to bake all 4 layers at once. After mixing up 1 box of yellow cake mix, I poured the batter into 4 cups and added 1 drop of red food coloring to one, 3 drops to the next, and a about 8 drops to the last one. In retrospect, I should have added more than 1 drop to the first layer, as it turned out to be too pale.

Dark Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
3.5 cups confectioner's sugar
1.5 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
12 tbs unsalted butter
10 tbs milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs corn syrup

Combine sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl. In another bowl, cream together the butter and 1/2 cup of the cocoa mixture. Alternate stirring in milk and cocoa. Keep beating until it comes to the desired frosting consistency. Stir in the vanilla extract and corn syrup.

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Spinach and Bacon

"Healthy" Sweet Potato Skins
Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 tsp EVOO
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bag baby spinach
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 slices turkey bacon (I used 4 slices regular - not so healthy!)
4 oz low-fat cream chese
1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Bake sweet potatoes on a baking sheet for 45 min or until fork-tender.

2. While potatoes cook, heat EVOO in a deep saute pan and cook onion 2-3 min until soft. Add garlic and cook 1 more min.

3. Add the whole bag of spinach and scallions, cover and cook 3-4 min, until spinach is wilted.

4. In another sauce pan, cook the bacon until crisp and transfer to a plate with paper towels until cooled. Chop into small pieces. *Note: I cooked the bacon in the microwave.

5. Let the potatoes cool 5 min. Carefully slice them in half and scoop insides into a bowl. Add cream cheese, buttermilk, s+p. Mash together.

6. Brush the outside of each skin with veggie oil. Fill each shell with filling and sprinkle with cheese. Cook 15-20 min until golden brown and crispy. Top with bacon bits.

Source: Cook Yourself Thin