Cranberry Balsamic Salad with Cheddar Cheese (adapted from Southern Living Nov 2011 – Turkey Salad with Cranberry Dressing)

Serves 8

• 1 package spring greens mix
• 1 head of romaine, washed and chopped
• 1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and shredded
• 1 cup snap peas, ends removed and cut in half
• 4 ounces of extra sharp cheddar cheese, thinly shaved
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 – 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine greens, cucumber, carrots, snap peas and toss.  Top with cheese.  Process vinegar and next 6 ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Serve with salad.

I will admit I love kitchen gadgets.  Not useless ones that fill up the kitchen drawer, but useful ones that I use each and every day.  Some of my favorites are the Microplane zester, my Polder coach timer, the Zeroll ice cream scoop, my Salter Kitchen scale, my thermometers (candy and instant) and my Penguin drink maker (the photo at the top is my favorite seltzer water made with the Penguin). I don’t go a day without using these guys.  I consider my timer and scale absolutely necessary kitchen gadgets.  They make my life so much easier.  It’s amazing how often you need to weigh ingredients or put a timer on so you don’t forget something in the oven. My favorite of the fun gadgets is the Penguin.  It makes carbonizing water so much easier.  I love that I can do a ton of water on one canister and the company takes the empties back to refill.  Awesome!  How about you guys?  Any gadgets you can live without?

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or so they say.  I tend to agree.  I love breakfast in all of it’s incarnations.  I love omelets, waffles, french toast, fruit salad, breakfast sandwiches, and the like.  There’s something so wonderful about a nice cup of freshly squeezed juice and a little something to nibble on.  I am also a big fan of making breakfast as painless as possible.  It’s tough to have a hundred things going at once that’s why I love anything that works in the oven while I am working on other things. This weekend we were looking at making something quick and delicious for breakfast.  I recently have stumbled across many variations on what I would consider to be eggs in a basket.  They often use bread or grated potatoes to make a cup for an egg mixture.  They are then baked in the oven.  I knew that I could adapt Tim’s favorite omelet into one of these little eggies to go.  I love the idea of letting the oven do the work for me.  It would be easy to make a dozen of these for a large group or a brunch.  You could easily make different styles of these eggies to go in the same 12 cup muffin pan.  Got someone whose a vegetarian, then mix in vegetables.  Got a meat eater, then add some cooked sausage.  You get the picture.  It’s a nice way to make individual flavored omelets for a crowd without slaving over a pan.  It’s easy to let the oven cook them to perfection while you finish the rest of your breakfast items. Want a great side to go with these western eggies to go?  Consider putting some hashbrowns on or making oven roasted potatoes to serve on the side.

Western Style Eggies to Go (Makes 12)

• 4 whole eggs and 4 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 slices of vegetarian bacon (or regular, if you like)
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 1 red pepper, finely diced
• 1 green pepper, finely diced
• 12 slices of whole grain gluten free bread or 12 slices of whole grain regular bread

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray bread slices with cooking spray on both sides.  Grease a nonstick muffin pan.  Press a slice of bread into each muffin cup.  (I cut my bread slices into 6 equal pieces, it made it easier to fit the pieces into the cups).  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the bread is toasted.  When toasted remove from the oven and set on wire rack to cool for a minute.  Reduce oven to 350 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a medium sized nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions, bacon, and peppers.  Saute for 4 to 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent.  Remove from the heat.
3. In a large bowl combine the eggs, egg whites, salt, pepper, milk, and cheese.  Stir to combine.  Add the cooled bacon, onion, vegetable mixture.  Stir to combine.
4. Divide the egg mixture among the 12 muffin cups.  Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until the eggs are set.  Serve.

One of the most difficult things about making veggie burgers is getting them to hold together.  Recipes use all sorts of binders to try and get veggie burgers to stay together, including bread, rice, eggs, and in this case oatmeal.  To be honest using oatmeal as a binder is the last thing that would have crossed my mind, but I recently read an article on the New York Times Veggie Burger and I was intrigued.  Would oats really be able to bind all the ingredients together without giving it an oat-y taste?  Would I notice a flavor difference?  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the texture of these burgers.  I decided to spice them in the same manner I normally do.  I love chili burgers so I went with those flavorings and I am happy I did.  I have one suggestion for these burgers.  Make them a day ahead and either refrigerate them or freeze them for later use.  The flavors really pop if you let them sit for a bit.  I baked them and then let them sit in the fridge over night and then I popped them back in the oven the next day to heat them through.  The best thing about these burgers is how well they hold together.  These held together more like a store bought burger with a taste that is 100 times better.  This recipe makes quite a few (8 individual burgers), enough for a couple of servings.  If you are looking for a burger that stays together and reheats well, then these burgers are definitely for you.

How about you guys?  Any interesting veggie burger recipes you want to share with the rest of us?

New York Times Veggie Burgers (Adapted to make Chili Burgers)

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced finely
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1  can of low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can of low sodium diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup finely grated carrot
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2 cups Old fashioned rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and jalapeno and saute for 4-5 minutes or until translucent.  Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt and saute for another minute.
3. Add the onion mixture to the bowl of a food processor.  Add the beans, tomatoes, carrot, and cilantro to the bowl.  Pulse for 10 – 1 second pulses.  Remove from the processor and add to a large bowl.  Mix in the oats.  Form 8 patties and place on a lined baking sheet.  Spray with a little cooking spray.  Bake for 15 minutes or so.  Serve.

One of the reasons people hate salad is the idea that salads are flavorless and boring.  A bowl of anemic iceberg lettuce with a couple of slices of tomato comes to mind when I think of boring salad.  Iceberg lettuce has it’s place, but there are so many other options iceberg is honestly one of the last things I think of when I think of salad.  I tend to think of the darker, leafier greens, things like arugula, romaine, baby spinach.  The darker greens have more flavor and add a nice textural element to any salad.  It’s okay to think outside of the box when you start making salads.  Think about adding seeds or nuts (candied, plain, or seasoned), soft cheeses, roasted vegetables, unique or interesting vegetables, beans, fruit (dried or fresh).  Salads are a fun way to play with flavors you enjoy.  I tend to enjoy spicy, smokey foods, that’s where the idea for this salad was born.  A mix of roasted butternut squash, chickpeas, and petitas seasoned with cumin, paprika, a little brown sugar, and a little cayenne pepper served over a bed of rocket lettuce (arugula, you could also use baby spinach) makes for a wonderful winter salad.  I love chickpeas roasted.  They get a little crunchy.  It’s wonderful.  The addition of goat cheese rounds out this dinner salad.

Spicy Sqaush Salad (Serves 4)

• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 can of rinsed and drained chickpeas
• 1/2 cup unroasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika (sweet)
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. fresh black pepper
• 5 ounces of arugula, washed and spun
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 ounces of goat cheese crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Mix seasonings together in a small bowl, set aside. Toss squash, chickpeas, pepitas with 1 Tbsp. olive oil.  Coat with seasoning mixture.  Cover a half sheet with nonstick aluminum foil.  Pour the squash mixture onto the pan and roasted for 35 minutes.  Flip the squash halfway through cooking.  Allow to cool to room temperature.
2. In a large bowl toss the arugula with 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar.  Then toss with 1 Tbsp. olive oil.  Divide the arugula among four plates.  Top with 1/4 of the squash mixture and 1 ounce of goat cheese.  Drizzle each plate with 3/4 tsp. balsamic vinegar.  Serve.

Belkin Fridge Mount (photo from Amazon.com)

The first one is the Belkin Fridge Mount retails for $29.99 at amazon.com.  It looks like a pretty neat mount.  You can use it on your fridge or on the cabinets and it can repositioned.  This one works with the IPad II.

Belkin Cabinet Mount (photo from Amazon.com)

This mount is a little more expensive at $39.99 at amazon.com .  The thing I like best about this model is you can fold it down and store it when you aren’t using it.  The only downside is the mount only holds the IPad in the horizontal position.  (Although, that works nicely for REMV)

In the REMV app there is a recipe for pot pies.  It mentions the recipe for the sweet potato biscuits could be found here.  These biscuits are an awesome topper for these pot pies, but they would work wonderfully for a number of things.  You could easily change out the cheese to cheddar and add a little cayenne pepper (1/4 tsp.).  This would make the recipe a little spicy and a great accompaniment to a chili dinner. This recipe is designed for a small number of biscuits, so you wouldn’t have a ton leftover after making your pies.  You could easily double the recipe and make 12 – 13 biscuits.  Sweet potatoes add a nice sweetness to a standard biscuit dough.  The flavor is subtle without being overwhelmingly sweet potato.  They also provide a nice texture to the dough.  This recipe couldn’t be easier to put together, especially if you have a standing mixer.  I let it do all the work for me.  It’s also a nice way for someone who is new to biscuit making to make the biscuits without overworking the dough.

Sweet Potato Biscuits (for Veggie Pot Pies in the REMV app)

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted, chilled butter, cut into 8 small pieces
• 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup shredded parm
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup cooled mashed sweet potatoes

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix on low speed for 10 seconds.  Add the cold butter chunks and turn up to medium speed.  Mix for 1 minute or until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add the parm and mix for a couple of seconds.  In a measuring cup combine the buttermilk and sweet potatoes.  Add the buttermilk and sweet potatoes and mix on low speed until the dough comes together.  It won’t take more than 30 seconds.
2. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead a couple of times to make sure the dough comes together.  Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out 6 – 3 inch rounds (if you need to gather the dough and reroll to make enough biscuits).  You can either place these on the hot pot pie filling and bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown.  Or you can bake them separately on a parchment lined sheet for 15 to 17 minutes at 400 degrees F.

A good cook knows the adage of want not waste not better than most.  One of the best things about cooking for yourself is finding ways to make the most of the items you have in your pantry or fridge.  I have a serious love of jamming.  It started a few years ago and I just can’t stop it now.  I make all sorts of quick jams throughout the year with whatever fruits are available at the market.  I find quick jams can help people who have an aversion to canning.  A quick jam can be stored for a month in the fridge in an airtight container or in the freezer for 6 months.  And the best thing is it requires no canning.

Right now it’s high season for citrus and I love it.  Marmalade has a different flavor profile than most jams and jellies.  Jams and jellies tend to be quite sweet and that’s wonderful, but the bitterness of marmalade is undeniably addictive.  I guess like all good things in life the bitterness balances out the sweetness in a wonderful marriage of flavors.  Marmalade is amazing on it’s own with a piece of toast, but it can easily be used in sauces and glazes.  I also love using marmalade, jam, or jelly to make my own quick flavored yogurts.  Most of the flavored yogurts you find in the grocery store use a flavored fruit syrup with a ton of preservatives and very little flavor if you ask me.

The only daunting task of some marmalade recipes is removing the seeds from the citrus you are using. Tangerines are pretty seedy, so be prepared to be removing seeds for quite some time.  The recipe you see at the top is from the December 2011 issue of Everyday Food.  This recipe helps to illustrate one of my favorite kitchen rules, weigh your ingredients when you can.  The recipe calls for 3 lbs. or 18 tangerines, but I found that my tangerines were much larger and I only required 10 tangerines to reach the 3 lb. limit.  If you don’t have a kitchen scale in your kitchen, then I highly suggest finding a decent one to make your cooking that much easier.  It’s particularly important for things like jams, jellies, and marmalade.  These recipes rely heavily upon ratios and having accurate measurements can mean the difference between success or failure.  Here’s a link to my favorite kitchen scale over at amazon, keep in mind there are lots of features on a scale, so find the one you like the best and purchase that one.

 Tangerine Marmalade (Everyday Food – December 2011)

Ingredients

• 3 pounds tangerines (about 18), unpeeled, washed, ends trimmed, and cut crosswise into thin slices
• 4 cups sugar

Directions

I absolutely love soup.  I love all varieties from creamy soups to thick and hearty chilis and stews.  Often times the only problem I find with vegetarian soups is the lack of flavor.  Some come across as watery, others as bland, and others have mushy vegetables.  I can see how people would hate any soup that was flavorless.  The best way I know to make a really flavorful soup is to start with simple, fresh ingredients and build layers.  I start with a nice base of aromatics, you know, onions, shallots, garlic, leeks, things like that.  Then I use the freshest vegetables I can find.  I am a huge fan of beans, so those always make it into the mix.  A great way to finish off a soup is a herbal swirl.  In this case its a mix of basil, garlic, olive oil, and parm cheese.  It’s just like basil pesto without the nuts.  Feel free to use the nuts too, that would work out equally well.  Arugula would also make a nice substitution for the basil.

This recipe is the kind of hearty vegetable soup that makes winter seem not so bad.  The basil really adds a nice pop of fresh flavor.  It only gets better with time.  It couldn’t be easier to prepare and it will serve at least 4 or maybe even 6 people easily.  The base is super simple, diced tomatoes.  I love any vegetable soup with a tomato base.  It’s similar in flavor to Minestrone.  Serve this with a nice hearty, toasted slice on country bread drizzle with oil and rubbed with a little fresh cut garlic and it’s heaven in a bowl.

Vegetable Soup Au Pistou (a la Nicky)

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Soup Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 – 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes with juice
• 3 – 4 cups water or vegetable stock (I prefer water, it gives you a nice unadulterated tomato flavor)
• 1 – 2 inch rind of parm
• 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 large yukon gold potato, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 – 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 – 15 ounce can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Au Pistou Ingredients

• 4 cups basil
• 2 – 4 cloves of garlic (depending on how much garlic you like, you could even omit it entirely)
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parm cheese

To Make the Pistou

1. Place the ingredients, except the cheese into a food processor fitted with a metal blade.  Pulse 5 -10 times or until the basil and garlic are chopped and the olive oil is incorporated.  Place in a small bowl and stir in the cheese, set aside.

To Make the Soup

1. In a large pan heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook for 6 – 8 minutes or until translucent.  Add the garlic, thyme, and oregano and cook for 1 minute more.
2. Add the tomatoes, 3 cups of water, parm rind, the carrots and potatoes.  Make sure the vegetables are submerged in the liquid.  Bring up to boil and turn down to simmer for 25 – 30 minutes.  The carrots and potatoes should be almost fully cooked.  Remove the thyme sprigs.  Add the beans and cook for another 5 minutes.
3. To serve dollop 2 tsp. of pistou in the bottom of 4 soup bowls.  Ladle hot soup over the pistou and serve.

Recently a very dear friend of mine has been dealing with food allergies.  It’s  been a difficult process for him to change his diet over.  I guess the problem comes from loving baked goods.  I can see how hard it would be to be without baked goods for the rest of my life.  I consider myself a baker first and foremost and the idea of a life without baking is a sad thought for me.  I have tried many recipes for gluten free baking in the last couple of weeks.  I have to say the hardest thing for me has been the texture of these gluten free treats.  Using rice flour and other substitutions for wheat flour I found problems with gritty textures and off flavors.  I have tried everything from rice flour to potato starch. The real difficulty has been finding the right mix.  I tried Bob’s gluten free baking mix, but I wasn’t entirely happy with the end results of the baked goods.  There were off notes in the flavors and a real grit to the final product.  It was quite disappointing to put the work into baking and have the results turn out not so great.  The other problem I found with gluten free baking is the price of the replacement goods.  I bought a sampling of different gluten free flours at Whole Foods and I had over $90 in total.  I wouldn’t mind paying a higher price if the end results were good, but honestly they weren’t good enough to constitute the high prices.  By a case of absolute fortune one of my favorite cooking magazines Everyday Food had an article on gluten free baking mixes.  It was a god send.  Thomas Keller and company came to my rescue in a big way in C4C flour (it isn’t cheap, but it works – $20 per 3 lb.).  I love Thomas Keller and this gluten free flour is reason to love him even more.  I am looking into the 25 lb. bags that are available through some retailers.  I was ready to give up entirely, but the initial results using this flour have given me absolute hope.  The pancakes I made this morning were reason to believe there is hope for the gluten free folks.  These pancakes were light and airy with a wonderful flavor.  I dare say people would never know the difference if you didn’t tell them.  I was so excited by the results that I am looking forward to more testing and sharing it with you. If you aren’t gluten free, then feel free to substitute all purpose flour for the gluten free flour.

I adapted a recipe for banana pancakes from one of my all time favorite cookbooks, Breakfast Comforts by Rick Rodgers.  Everything I have made from Rick Rodgers recipes has been nothing short of stellar.  This recipe worked out beautifully.  You can easily change out the bananas for raspberries, chocolate chips, or blueberries.  This recipe makes 2-3 servings.  Feel free to double the recipe to serve a crowd.

Banana Buttermilk Pancakes (adapted from Buttermilk Flapjacks by Rick Rodgers)

• 1 cup C4C gluten free flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. buttermilk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• canola oil for cooking
• 1 banana sliced into thin slices

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and butter.  Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined.  The batter will be very lumpy.
2. In a small bowl, using a handheld mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the batter.
3. Place a nonstick pan over medium heat until hot.  Lightly oil the griddle and have a rimmed baking sheet ready.
4. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle and spread slightly.  Cook for 1 to 2 minutes.  Place 3 – 4 banana slices onto the top of the batter.  Flip the pancakes and cook until the other side is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes more.  Transfer to baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.  Repeat until all the batter is used.  Serve the pancakes with butter and maple syrup.