Donut Army

Yum! Protein-rich and tasty quinoa! Easy to prepare quinoa! Fun to look at quinoa! Good for you quinoa! Quinoa paired with some tasty goodies, with enough leftovers to include in lunches throughout the week! Yea, quinoa! Stove Top Quinoa Pilaf The Global Vegetarian 1 T canola oil 1 small yellow onion, chopped 6-8 medium button mushrooms, sliced 1 medium bell pepper, green or red, diced 1 small zucchini, diced 2 c water 1 c quinoa, rinsed 1 c sweet potato, carrot or winter squash (orange), peeled and diced 2 T parsley, chopped 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 - 1 tsp salt In a medium saucepan, heat oil. Add onion, mushrooms, pepper and zucchini and saute 5-7 minutes, until tender. Add water, quinoa, squash and seasonings and cover. Cook over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed. Fluff quinoa and keep warm until ready to serve.

Every time I make this, I start out unsure -- was this really as yummy as I remember, because it sounds kind of weird. And each time, I feel like I could just eat the whole pan of it in one sitting. Delicious fresh off the stove, and even reheats well. Stir-Fried Kale, Carrots and Walnuts Greens Glorious Greens 3/4 lb kale 3 tsp canola oil 1/3 c walnuts, coarsely chopped 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 2 quarter-sized pieces ginger 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks 2-4 T water or stock (if necessary) salt or soy sauce Wash kale and strip leaves from stalks. Discard stalks. Cut kale into 1/*' wide strips, and then cut strips in half. (Or, do what I did and just roughly chop.) Heat a large wok or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tsp oil. Add walnuts and toast, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Set aside to drain on a paper towel. Add remaining oil to wok. Add garlic and gin...

You will remember from a post earlier this week that my local farmer's market had some immature lemongrass it was selling. It's not immature for all purposes, but for using in a stir-fry or curry, that size lemongrass wasn't going to work very well. It does work, however, for things like making tea. There is no set recipe for things like this -- it depends on your taste. For me, I filled my largest saucepan with water and heated it it boiling. While waiting for the water to boil, I chopped the lemongrass into lengths that would fit in the saucepan. On a whim, I also sliced up a lemon. When the water boils, take off heat. Add lemongrass and lemons (if using). Place a lid on the pot and let infuse. At least 20 minutes. I think I got sucked into a movie when mine was infusing, and wound up leaving everything in there for a good 2 hours. No harm done. I took a quart of this tea with me to an outdoor concert recently, and found it very refreshing. I was thinking that it mig...

Definitely one to lick the bowl over! That is, if you love citrus and cardamom, which I know I do. This cake is relatively easy to assemble, and looks fancier than it is. The most time consuming part will be peeling and slicing your oranges. I had this cake for breakfast the next morning, and thought it would also be nice to possibly include some sliced almonds into the topping. Orange and Cardamom Upside Down Cake David Lebovitz Topping: 3 T unsalted butter 3/4 c brown sugar 3 medium navel oranges, peeled and slicd into 1/4" slices 1/2 tsp cardamom, ground Batter: 1 1/2 c flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp cardamom, ground 6 T unsalted butter, room temperature 2/3 c sugar 2 eggs, room temperature 1/2 c whole milk 1 tsp vanilla extract grated zest of 1 orange Adjust the oven rack to center and preheat to 350. In a 10" cast iron skillet, melt butter and brown sugar along with 1/2 tsp cardamom until smooth. Remove from heat and al...

This dish is remarkably simple to put together. A nice, exotic smell around the house. The above photo shows some immature lemongrass - it's not nearly broad enough to be used easily in a dish like this. But, it's all they had at the farmer's market. I used the rest of this in lemongrass tea -- see an upcoming post. Normally, you will want lemongrass that is at least 1/4" in diameter at the bulb. Spicy Tofu and Zucchini with Lemongrass, Lime and Basil cookthink.com 10 oz extra-firm tofu, cubed into bite-sized pieces 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2" half-rounds 2 T vegetable oil 1 habanero, chile, seeded and thinly slicd 1 4" piece lemongrass, minced 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced 1/2 c stock 2 T fish sauce juice of 1/2 lime 8-10 basil leaves, torn Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat. When it's almost smoking, add tofu. Braise on all sides until desired level of crisp-ness -- about 30-60 seconds per side. (If you ge...

This is largely a variation on a post I made a few days ago -- the pasta dish with parsley and garlic. But, I've been wanting to try this dish for two reasons -- to try the totally fun pasta shape, bucatini, and, to use some delicious mushrooms I got from the Mushroom  Lady at the farmer's market. Knowing that I had two simple goals, I can say that this dish surpassed  my expectations! While the simple summer pasta dish posted earlier is great for a quick meal at home, this variation is easily presentable to guests -- especially if you spice it up with some fancy mushrooms. The lemon juice at the end really brightens up the entire dish. Just charming! Bucatini con Funghi The Top 100 Pasta Sauces 1 lb bucatini 1 T olive oil 2 cloves garlic 10 oz mushrooms, wiped clean and finely sliced salt and pepper 1 T lemon juice parsley, chopped Heat oil and add finely chopped garlic. Add mushrooms. Add a little seasoning, then cover pan and leave to cook 5 minutes over a low...

Again, if it's warm and sunny, and if I've been outside all day, sometimes I just want the taste of summer for dinner. And not much else can provide a taste of summer better than a tomato salad. I make mine the laziest way possible -- slice tomatoes onto a serving plate, top with slices of fresh mozzarella, and dress with torn pieces of basil leaves. A little bit of salt, and some cracked pepper and I'm good!

With basil in season, I wanted to make my first batch of pesto for 2010. Wanting to please my readers with something different, I found this obscure little version deep in my files. I'll tell you what -- I was worried when I went to taint my beautiful pesto with these unusual ingredients. Saffron?  Turmeric?? Ultimately, I think the turmeric really brightened up the color of the pesto in an interesting way. The saffron didn't add anything to the taste, in my opinion, so I'm not sure I would recommend using your saffron in this way. (Unless you just wanted to say, "Oh yes, I use saffron in my pesto.") It could be that my saffron was too old to add much to this dish. I did take care to infuse the saffron in the boiling water separate from the pesto before adding the whole thing to the food processor. Note - originally, this recipe called for 2 tsp of salt, which I used when putting this together. That was way too much salt. It wasn't so much salt that...

I don't know about you, but in late summer, my appetite really goes down. A cold, crisp salad and a piece of bread can be all I need for dinner. On one such night, I decided to assemble a salad featuring roasted beets and walnuts. Roasted Beet Salad 1 beet, leaves, stems, and any roots trimmed handful of walnuts (salted, candied, or plain - whichever you prefer) romaine of leaf lettuce feta, goat or blue cheese, crumbled Preheat oven to 450. Wrap beet in foil and, when oven is at temperature, place directly on an oven rack. Let roast for 60 minutes, or until tender. Test with a knife by spearing the beet all the way through to the center; if there is any resistance, then the beet is not yet ready. Return to the oven and roast some more. When beet is tender, remove from oven and let cool for about 60 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove the foil. With your fingers, rub the skin of the beet off -- it should just slip right off under your fingers. Remove beet ...

This is a dish I have been making for years and years and years. It was one of the first dishes I learned how to make when I moved out on my own. I was drawn to this dish because it was simple to prepare, and it didn't require a lot of ingredients (key to a beginner's kitchen). I keep preparing this dish because it is simple, delicious, and timeless. Simple Pasta with Garlic and Parsley Olive oil 1-2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 - 1 bunch parley, chopped 8 oz dried pasta (I prefer long noodles with this dish) Boil water and cook pasta according to directions. Drain and return noodles to warm pot. Heat olive oil in a skillet. When warm, add garlic and saute just until golden - depending on your stove, this could be 1/2-1 minute. Do not let the garlic brown; if that happens, just start over again. Add parsley and cook until wilted, maybe 1-2 minutes more. When parsley is wilted, remove from heat. Add salt and pepper and scrape the saute pan over the noodles. Serve.