So Long, Summer: Roasted Summer Vegetables “Ratatouille” style

 

I’ve mentioned how much adored Ratatouille (the movie, not the dish) – I mean, it’s a movie that appeals to my love of adorable cartoon animals and cooking.  I had been meaning to re-create the beautiful layered ratatouille dish (spoiler alert!) that won over the die hard food critic’s heart since the movie came out in 2007, and since I found this interpretation of it on smitten kitchen. But life, laziness, and lack of all the ingredients kept me from doing so. 

Until tonight. Tonight, I came home and found the eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash that J. brought home from the farmer’s market.  Tonight, no lack of ingredient, overripe tomatoes, or shortage of time was going to stop me. I didn’t bother to consult Deb’s recipe, for fear that I would find I was missing something and would be discouraged.  Instead, I turned up the oven, sliced the vegetables, and got to work.

It turns out that my version is actually not too far off from Deb’s recipe. I roasted the vegetables at a higher temperature in the hope that they would cook faster, which they did. I completely forgot about the tomato puree, which made this dish more simply roasted vegetables rather than ratatouille.  It came out a bit dry, but I didn’t mind.  The tomatoes provided the extra juice that it needed for me.  I also used fresh oregano and basil, which are decidedly more Italian than French.  But I still enjoyed the chance to cook with summer vegetables while they were still in their peak season.

Roasted Vegetables “Ratatouille-style”

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4 as a side

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant, cut in half lengthwise, and then sliced in 1/4 inch slices
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1 yellow squash, sliced
• 1 Italian pepper, sliced (can substitute with bell pepper)
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 Tbs olive oil, divided in half
• 2 Tbs finely chopped oregano, divided
• 1 Tbs fresh basil, torn
• dash of red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice vegetables into slices about 1/4 inch thick. Drizzle half the olive on the bottom of a roasting pan.  Layer vegetables in the pan.  Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil, and sprinkle 1 Tbs oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste.  Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Sprinkle tomato and remaining herbs.  Drizzle a little extra olive oil and adjust seasonings, if desired. 

Cleaning out the Fridge before a Vacation

 

June has been a busy month of travel! I promise I have some travel recaps ready for you all, but first here’s what I made BEFORE I went away.

For those of you who have been following my Facebook page, you may remember when I posted this picture:

The caption read: What do you do when you have a ton of vegetables left in your fridge before you go on vacation? 

So this is what I came up with:

Veggie Tacos!

We eat a lot of tacos in our household because they are quick, easy, and relatively healthy.  Usually we just make bean tacos or add some grilled chicken to the mix.  But since I had a ton of vegetables that would spoil while we were away, why not make veggie tacos?

So I chopped up zucchini, yellow squash, onion, bell peppers (one red and one green), grape tomatoes, and garlic, as you see in the lead photo (sans the garlic and onions – I chopped those after I took the photo).  I lightly sauteed all the vegetables (except for the grape tomatoes) in about 1 Tbs of olive over medium heat:

 

Once the vegetables were soft (about seven minutes), I added the grape tomatoes, a can of black beans (drained and rinsed), and about 1/3 of jar of salsa that I had left over (probably about a half cup)

And then I seasoned the mixture with cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste.  I let the mixture cook for a few more minutes

While the vegetables were cooking, I heated up corn tortillas, and prepared the toppings – shredded cheddar cheese and sliced avocado!

Here’s the whole spread:

Then to make the tacos, we scooped a spoonful of the veggie mixture into each tortilla and layered on the avocados and cheese, and a dash of hot sauce.  This works well since we get to personalize how spicy we each want it to be. J. really likes his to be hot and spicy, while I like a medium level of spice.

So next time you have a ton of vegetables in your fridge to use up before going on vacation, consider making these veggie tacos!

Veggie Tacos

Note:  Consider this a “guide” rather than a strict recipe, as you can use whatever vegetables you want to get rid of!

Ingredients:

• Yellow squash, sliced
• Zucchini, sliced
• bell peppers, chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup prepared salsa
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 5-6 corn tortillas

The following seasonings to taste:

• Chili powder
• Cayenne pepper
• Cumin
• Salt and pepper

Toppings:

• Sliced avocados
• shredded cheddar cheese
• sour cream (optional)

Method:

Heat olive oil in a large sautee pan over medium heat.  Add vegetables (except for grape tomatoes) and cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes.  Add grape tomatoes, beans, and salsa, and mix.  Add seasonings to taste, and cook for another 2-3 more minutes for the flavors to develop.

Meanwhile heat tortillas according to package (I heat mine over the stove for about 1 minute on each side, or until they get soft). 

Assemble the tacos by spooning about 2 Tablespoons of the veggie mixture and topping it with cheese and avocados. 

Note: When we made these, J. and I had five tacos between the two of us, and there was a lot of veggie mixture, probably to make another 3-4 tacos.  So I would say this makes about 7-8 tacos, but it really depends on the volume of vegetables you have.

Guest Post: Pomegranate Beet Salad

 

Hello friends! I just got back from a conference in San Francisco and I am working on some great recaps on my travels, including some more posts on my vacation in Montreal! In the meantime, here is a light and healthy recipe from my friend Rose from Just Prepare It Deliciously! – Cheryl

Hello everyone!! I’m Rose, author of the blog Just Prepare It Deliciously, where I focus on simpler, healthier meals (but with occasional treats too). Cheryl is one of my closest friends and all-time favorite bloggers. She even wrote a guest post for my blog last year so today I’m only too glad to return the favor.

I am especially excited to be writing for Cheryl’s Healthy Living series, which has become my favorite part of Food Judicata. Reading her blog on Mondays always helps motivate me to make a healthy plan for my week.

Regarding this recipe, I love eating salads. There’s just something about the way that your body feels when something so good for you that makes me happy. Not to mention with swimsuit season underway, for me eating healthier is a must.

Like Cheryl, I like to use fruits and vegetables that are in season. When I read that beet season peaks in June, I decided that would be one of my ingredients. Since I had never made any dishes with fresh beets before so this was a new experience for me, I read up on beets on Real Simple. As suggested, I separated the beets from the greens (which you will see photographed below).

Now while I’ve read that many recipes call for beets totally raw, I microwaved my beet for 4-5 minutes in advance of using in this recipe, then peeled and cut it up, which is how my mom preps her beets whenever she makes a beet recipe.

So without further ado…the salad.

Pomegranate Beet Salad

Ingredients:

• ½ a Pre-packaged Spinach Mix
• One large Beet, raw or cooked, cut into pieces
• 3 Tbsp Goat Cheese Crumbles
• 2 Tbs sliced almonds
• 3 slices of turkey, torn
• 3-4 Tbsp Pomegranate Seeds
• 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
• Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (I used Annie’s Naturals)

Directions:

1. Pour salad mix into a bowl.
2. Add beets, goat cheese, almonds, turkey, pomegranate seeds, and sliced cucumber.

    3.   Divide and serve.

Yield: 2 servings

Swiss Chard with Eggs and Bacon

Last Saturday, J. and I finally made it out to the farmers’ market for the first time this season.  With all the various weddings and birthday festivities occupying our weekends, we haven’t had much time to ourselves. Which also means we haven’t had much time to go food shopping, so a lot of meals have been either eating out or cobbling together what I have in the pantry and freezer.  Which has been taking a toll on our wallets and waistlines!  So I was pretty excited to finally get to buy fresh produce from the farmers market.

In an effort to get more vegetables in my diet, I decided I wanted to experiment with a vegetable I had never cooked with before.  J. and I eat a lot of bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli, and the occasional Brussels sprouts here and here.  But I wanted to try something new.

Enter this Swiss chard from the farmers market. 

I have never cooked with Swiss chard before.  In fact, when I got home I had to google how best to store it. (Wrap it tightly in plastic and store it in the fridge.  Don’t wash it before storing it because it will wilt and get moldy).  So I polled the audience on Facebook on how best to cook it.  My sister’s good friend M. had made a beautiful suggestion, which she got from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver:

“Saute some onions and carrots in a large skillet, add the Chard. When it wilts, make depressions in the Chard, crack eggs in the depressions, cover and cook until the eggs are done. Yummy!”

I was pysched to try it! I had to wait until Sunday to try it though, since we already had dinner plans for a friend’s birthday. I had read that swiss chard, like corn, is best when eaten the same day, so I was a bit bummed that I had to wait.  But it was well worth the wait!

I wanted to add a little something more to M.’s original suggestion.  And since swiss chard was a leafy green like spinach, and spinach goes great with bacon, bacon would be the perfect accent for this dish.

But Cheryl, you ask, isn’t this supposed to be your “healthy” post for the week?

Well, bacon is delicious and makes everything better.  And when used as in moderation as an accent, and most of the fat is drained, it’s really not that bad for you.  I believe it was Mark Bittman who even encouraged the use of moderate amounts of bacon to be used to season or accent food. 

Still not convinced?  Have a religious or dietary restriction on pork products?  Well, I’m sure this is still great without the bacon.  But the bacon adds a richness that makes it “soul-foody” as J. described it.  So unless you have a religious or dietary restriction, then I say go for it, eat the bacon.

Special Thanks to M. for the excellent suggestion!

Swiss Chard with Eggs and Bacon

Adapted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch swiss chard, thoroughly washed, ribs removed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped (I used a handful of baby carrots, and thinly sliced them at an angle)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 slices of bacon
• 2 eggs (can cook more, but we only had two left in the fridge)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• cayenne pepper, to taste

Method:

In a large skillet, cook bacon to desired doneness.  Remove bacon strips from pan and drain on paper towels.  Set bacon aside.  Drain most of the bacon fat from the pan, leaving about one tablespoon in the pan to cook the vegetables in.   Reserve the bacon fat.  Cook carrots and onions in 1 tablespoon of bacon fat over medium-low heat for about 8 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and soft.  Add Swiss chard to the pan.  (You may have to add them in handfuls, allow it to wilt a bit, and then add more, to get it to fit in the pan.)  When the chard has wilted, push it to the sides of the pan, creating a “well.”  Add about 1/2 tsp of bacon fat (or you could use olive oil if you forget to reserve the fat).  Add minced garlic to the fat and cook for about 30 seconds before stirring it into the vegetables.  Make two little “wells” in the chard for the eggs.  Crack the eggs in to the “wells” and cover the pan.  Cook for another 4-5 minutes or until done.  Add seasonings to taste.   Crumble reserved bacon strips and sprinkle on top of the chard.  Serve immediately.

Other accompaniments I would add for next time would be to serve with a slice of good crusty bread, or perhaps with some parmesan or gruyere cheese on top.

Other useful links on Swiss chard:

• Nutritional information, storage, cooking, and preparation tips from The World’s Healthiest Foods
• Sautéed Swiss Chard recipe from Simply Recipes
• How to stem Swiss chard from About.com – wish I read this before I tried stemming them!
• Don’t throw out the stems! I plan on using them to make this roasted Swiss chard stems or this Swiss chard stem au gratin.

The Great Greek Salad Debate

Last Saturday night, J. and I had a deep discussion on a topic of utmost importance: What goes in a Greek salad?

The Greek salad I have come to know has lettuce, feta cheese, kalamata olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  Bonus points for roasted red peppers, or regular bell peppers.  Meats, such as grilled chicken or lamb are optional.  My experience is based on New Jersey diners (many of which, are owned by Greek immigrants).

According to J, peperoncini is a key element to the Greek salad.  He bases his Greek salad experience   from a place called The Parthenon in Western Massachusetts, where he grew up. To me, this was preposterous.  Peperoncini is a product of Italy.  Why would you put it in a Greek salad? But J. insisted that because The Parthenon had peperoncini in their Greek salad, it was not optional.  

So in order to resolve this debate, I did what I do with any other heated dispute we have: I looked it up on Wikipedia. It turns out we were both right.  Or maybe we were both wrong.  According to Wikipedia,

 Lettuce, tomatoes, feta, and olives are the most standard elements in an American-style 'Greek salad', but cucumbers, peperoncini, bell peppers, onions, radishes, dolmades, anchovies/sardines and pickled hot peppers are common. 

And if it was on Wikipedia, it had to be true, right?

Bell peppers and peperoncini are both common elements.  But really, it seems, as long as you have the core ingredients, that is lettuce, cheese, olives, and tomatoes, then you have a Greek salad. 

Here is what we put in a Greek salad:

Core ingredients:
Leafy greens (baby spinach or mixed salad greens, which ever we have on hand)
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Kalamata olives
Feta cheese

Optional ingredients:
Roasted red peppers
Bell peppers
Peperoncini (I don't care what J. says, I still think these are optional)
Sliced red onion
Carrots (not traditional but we always seem to have them)

Question of the Week:
What do you put in a Greek salad?

Brussels Sprouts and Chinese Sausage

Last night, I just didn't feel right blogging about food.  My heart goes out to all those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings.  Although the longest distance I have ever run is 6.2 miles, I can only imagine the heartbreak of the runners and their loved ones on a day that was supposed to celebrate months of hard work and training, which turned to devastation and tragedy.  To learn more about how you can help, Julie at Peanut Butter Fingers has compiled some useful links and resources.  

This is what I would have blogged about last night: 

I've been on a bit of a brussels sprouts kick lately.  I've learned that brussels sprouts are best when cooked with a cured meat, such as bacon, ham, or corned beef.  But since I didn't have ham or corned beef handy, and all of our bacon was an icy frozen block in the freezer, I had to rummage through the fridge to find a good substitute.  Sure enough, I found a ziploc bag of Chinese sausage, or lap cheong. hidden in the back of the fridge.  Unlike breakfast sausage or Italian sausages, Chinese sausage is salty and sweet in a way that's hard to describe. While it is a little different in flavor from the Taiwanese sausages I grew up with, Taiwanese sausage is hard to come by unless you have a live-in Taiwanese grandmother in your house.  So it's good to have around a substitute to throw in stir-fries and fried rice.  When I was growing up, I remember my mom and my grandma would use leftover bits of sausage to flavor cabbage stir-fries.  So when I found the forgotten sausage links in the back of my fridge, I had a culinary epiphany! Chinese sausage  and brussels sprouts! Perfect. 

The rest was improvisation.  I sliced the sprouts into quarters and minced the garlic,  I thinly sliced the sausages on a diagonal just like my grandma used to.  But to season the sprouts, I mixed together my own concoction of fish sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sriracha.  The combination of the fish sauce, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce mimicked the sweet and saltiness of the sausage, while the sriracha added just the right kick of spiciness. J. and I both loved how this dish came out. So I gave myself a virtual pat on the back, and mentally drafted how I was going to write this post.  

Today, I did a quick google search on "brussels sprouts and chinese sausage," which produced approximately 162,000 results, including this recipe from Steamy Kitchen, one of my favorite blogs. It turns out either I just reinvented the wheel, or on some subconscious level I was remembering reading this recipe.  

And here I thought I was so clever.  

Oh well, I still say this is a a great recipe, and I take full credit for my method and seasoning.  

Brussels Sprouts with Chinese Sausage

1 package brussels sprouts, halved or quartered, depending on size of sprouts 

3 links Chinese sausage, thinly sliced on a diagonal

2 garlic cloves minced

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

1 Tbs hoisin sauce

a few dashes of sriracha sauce, to taste

Heat large skillet.  Cook sausage until fat is rendered (about 2 minutes), be careful not to burn it.  Remove sausage from the pan, while keeping as much of the fat as possible in the pan.  Drain sausage on a paper towel.  Return pan to medium heat.  Add brussels sprouts and cook until lightly browned.  (Try not to stir it around too much or it won't brown).  Push sprouts to the sides of the pan to form a well in the center of the pan.  Add sesame oil to the center of the pan.  Add garlic to the oil and cook for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Stir garlic with the sprouts.  Add sausage, fish sauce, soy sauce, hoisin and sriracha to the mixture and toss until combined. Allow to cook for about another minute or until heated through.  Serve immediately with rice. 

Other Brussels Sprouts and Chinese Sausage of recipes (since apparently I am not as original as I thought I was): 

Steamy Kitchen

Foodie with Family

Imeeshu

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Corned Beef

Perhaps you celebrated St. Patrick's Day a little too hard  this weekend.  Or maybe you didn't.  Either way, there's always the same question, what to do with the leftover corned beef? My sister's solution was to send some of it home with me, which I was more than happy to oblige.

Since I didn't actually get to eat the corned beef at my sister's house this year, I wanted to make something similar to the traditional corned beef and cabbage, but different enough that I wouldn't be bored with it.  While I love corned beef, I actually don't care much for cabbage.  And since I never had brussels sprouts as a kid, I don't have the same aversion to it as many people do.  When roasted to a rich caramelized color, brussels sprouts actually become much more flavorful than its limp, bland cousin.

So here is a lighter take on the traditional corned beef and cabbage, that you can make to make with leftover corned beef, to make up for a weekend of high-calorie debauchery.  Or just make it because it tastes good.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Corned Beef

1 lb brussels sprouts, sliced in half
3 oz (about 3/4 cup) cooked corned beef, diced
1 Tbs olive oil
2-4 tsps dijon mustard, divided
freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss sprouts and corned beef in roasting pan with oil, 2 tsps mustard, and black pepper until sprouts and beef are well-coated.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping over sprouts and corned beef once, about halfway through cooking time.  When sprouts are fully cooked and browned, transfer to a bowl or plate. Stir in1-2 tsps of mustard and more ground pepper, if desired. Serve as a side dish (or half of it as a meal as I did.  I won't tell anyone that you did.)

Spicy black bean and orzo soup

Unlike last year, I will not be hosting Thanksgiving dinner. And while it was fun, I am more than happy to return the torch back to my sister this year. But as is what happens before any long weekend in which I am going to be away, I am on a mission to finish any perishables in my fridge. Which usually involves a little creativity and making use of some staples from the pantry, since I hate to buy more groceries just before a long weekend. So what does one do with a handful of baby carrots, a few stalks of limp celery and an onion? Make soup, of course!

Since I wanted to do something different than the classic chicken noodle soup (and since I hadn't had the foresight to defrost any chicken), I decided to add a can of black beans. When I tasted the soup, I felt it needed something more to jazz it up - so I added some cumin to bring out the smokiness of the beans, and a few dashes of chipotle tabasco sauce. I'm quite pleased with the end result, and even more pleased I didn't need to make a trip to the grocery store to buy any of the ingredients!

Spicy black bean and orzo soup

Ingredients:

About 1 cup baby carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
A couple tablespoons of olive oil
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp dried basil, crushed
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper (to taste)
a few dashes of chipotle tabasco sauce
2/3 cup orzo

Method:
Start boiling the pasta water with a generous pinch of salt. Add orzo when it comes to a boil. Cook for about a minute or two less than the time indicated on the instructions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, chop the vegetables. Add oil to another pot and heat on medium-high heat. Add vegetables, stirring frequently for about 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Add chicken broth, beans, bay leaf and spices and tabasco. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Allow it to simmer, covered, for about twenty minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste.

I like to keep the orzo separate from the soup, until just before serving, since I am one person, and can't eat it all right away. My concern is that if there are leftovers the pasta will absorb all the liquid and get mushy. But go ahead and toss it in if you plan on eating it all right away.

Clean Out the Fridge/ Snowstorm Soup

Last night, a snowstorm hit the East Coast, keeping many Greater New York area residents indoors. As such, I felt that this soup was appropriate as it uses ingredients I had in my fridge/pantry. Even though technically, I made this soup before the snowstorm. Hours before I left my apartment to go home for the holidays, I found myself with nearly three pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes, about half a bunch each of carrots and celery. The potatoes were already growing eyes, and the carrots and celery were from when I made this soup. So I was worried these otherwise sturdy vegetables would not make it over the long weekend. So what do with vegetables before they go bad? Make soup!

I found my inspiration from Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything, an early Christmas gift, using the recipe for Simple Potato and Carrot Soup and the springboard for this soup. When the soup was done, I poured some into jars to bring home to share with my parents, and left some behind in the fridge. After driving in the aftermath of the snowstorm back to my apartment today, I was glad to have this soup waiting for me at home to simply re-heat and eat.

Clean Out the Fridge/ Snowstorm Soup

Adapted from Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything

Ingredients
(I am leaving out the quantities, because really they are quite fluid and depend on what you have in the fridge)
Potatoes
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Pat of butter
Olive oil
Chicken broth
Water
Salt and pepper to taste
Dried herbs (I used basil, oregano, and thyme)

Method:
Chop up all the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Heat butter and olive oil in a large stockpot. When the butter melts and gets foamy add vegetables. Cook vegetables until the onion becomes translucent (About 5-7 minutes), stirring occasionally so that the vegetables do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the vegetables. Add chicken broth (If you don't have enough broth to cover the veggies like I did, then add some water). Bring to a boil, and then let simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. Add dried herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Zesty Tomato Orzo

This dish has an identity crisis. It can't decide whether it is a pasta dish, soup, or a stew. I came home from work today, craving soup, now that the weather is getting cold. I originally planned on making a chicken and orzo soup, to use up the carton of chicken broth and aromatics I had left over from Thanksgiving. But then a recipe for "Roasted Tomato-Garlic Soup" on the back of the box of orzo caught my eye. It seemed simple enough, combine tomato sauce, chicken broth and fresh herbs in a pot, bring to a boil, and 1/2 cup of orzo, and cook until the orzo is tender. It also provided a simple recipe for homemade pesto sauce, to garnish at the end.

But of course, I am not one to follow directions.

To start, I wanted to use the celery, onion, and carrot that were taking up space in my vegetable crisper. So I chopped them up and sauteed the vegetables and two minced cloves of garlic in olive oil. I had infused the olive oil with some red pepper flakes to give the soup some spiciness. This is a method that I use for making almost all my soups. I then added two cups of tomato sauce, and about two cups of chicken broth and brought the mixture to a boil. So far so good. I haven't diverged from the recipe too far yet.

Then it came time to add the orzo. I first stirred 1/2 cup of orzo as the recipe called for. But then that didn't seem like enough pasta, so I added another half cup. Then I didn't stir the bottom of the pot very well while the orzo was cooking, so much of it stuck to the bottom and burned. About seven minutes later, I stirred in chopped fresh thyme, oregano, and sage. I ended up with the thick, not very soupy mixture, very much like you see above. I spooned some into a bowl, and added a dollop of pesto that I already made weeks ago, and kept frozen in the freezer. That's what that greenish blob is on top.

All things considered, it didn't come out bad, in fact it was suprisingly tasty. But it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The next time I attempt this, I will stick to the 1/2 cup of orzo, which seems to be my downfall in this recipe since the orzo absorbed most of the liquid. And use more cooking liquid so it will be more soup like. The way it is now would probably make a good side dish, and its vegetarian adaptable if you substitute to the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Zesty Tomato Orzo

1 small onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced into coins
4 stalks of celery. chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbs olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 cups prepared tomato sauce
1 cup orzo
1 teaspoon fresh herbs
1 teaspoon oregano
1 stem of sage*
1 Tbs prepared pesto sauce

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes. Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook until the onion becomes translucent. (Probably about five minutes). Stir in garlic and cook for another minute or so. (Adding the garlic later prevents it from burning). Stir in sauce and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Stir in orzo and cook according to package directions. Be sure to stir frequently and scrape the bottom of the pot, or it will stick. When there are about two minutes left in the cooking time, stir in chopped fresh herbs. Garnish with a dollop of pesto sauce and grated parmesan cheese.

*Another thing I learned about sage. While it is delicious in turkey, it is a very strong flavored-herb. Chopping it up and stirring into soup, results in biting down on a very overpowering herb flavor. Next time, I would leave the stem whole while cooking, and remove at the end, like a bay leaf. Or just leave it out.

A Simple Ratatouille

Now I will try to write this post without discussing the Disney animated film involving cartoon rats. (Even though it is an awesome movie for kids and foodies). After my post on stir-fried asparagus, which was a recipe that I pulled from a cookbook I borrowed from the library, I decided a new project is to "test-run" cookbooks that that I find at the public library. Economical, tasty, and a good way to try new recipes and cooking techniques. Today's recipe is brought to you by Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything", a helpful reference book, that starts each section with the most basic techniques and recipe and then adds on variations. And at 1044 pages, it really DOES show you how to cook just about everything.

Simple Ratatouille (Sauteed Eggplant with Tomatoes)
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Ingredients:
1 long Japanese eggplant, chopped into 1/2 in cubes (recipe called for regular eggplant, but I live in an Asian household, so all we had was Japanese eggplant. I actually prefer Japanese eggplants because the skin is thinner, so no need to peel them)
About 1/3 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons dried basil (Again, here I substituted dried basil for fresh because that is all I had)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Put oil and all but one teaspoon of garlic in non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent (about two minutes).
2. Add eggplant - stir and toss enough to coat the eggplant in oil. Allow it to cook until soft (about ten minutes), stirring occasionally.
3. Add tomatoes and cook for about another five minutes, stirring to break up the tomatoes.
4. Stir in remaining garlic and basil and cook for another five minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Zucchini Fritters

See these zucchini fritters? Notice how there are only six left on this plate? That's because I ate most of them while this batch was still cooking. Foods that need to be cooked in batches are dangerous for me because I tend to eat them while cooking, leaving very little left at the end. This was also an easy way to get your serving of vegetables - I almost ate two zucchini in one meal! (In fact, I would have if my mom hadn't eaten some of them). Although not pictured here, these are best served with sour cream.

Find the recipe here at Simply Recipes.

Stir-Fried Asparagus with Almonds

A few weeks ago when I was leaving the public library, this book on the display, Best American Side Dishes, caught my eye. After flipping through the pages, I was instantly sold, (or rather "borrowed"). It's a great book compiled by the editors of Cook's Illustrated devoted entirely to side dishes, such as appetizers, pasta salads, and a wide variety of vegetables. I took it out primarily to find ways to make vegetables more exciting* but found that the book is full of handy tips, such as how to cut broccoli properly (I didn't even know there was a "right" way to do it!) and recommendations on the best brands of foods and cooking equipment. In fact, I am a little sad that I have to return the book today, that I may actually buy it from the bookstore one of these days.

* I never liked veggies as a kid. Mostly because my mom's idea of cooking them was as my sister called it, "boil until dead." Or in some cases, "Fry, until dead." So I am always looking for new ways to cook vegetables and would be happy to hear suggestions!

And of course, here's a recipe adapted from Best American Side Dishes:

Stir-Fried Asparagus with Almonds

½ cup low-sodium chicken broth (I dissolved 1 teaspoon of no sodium chicken bouillon in ¾ cup of boiling water)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of oil + ½ tablespoon reserved (recipe called for peanut oil, I used light olive oil)
1 ½ lbs asparagus, tough ends snapped off and cut into 1 to 1 ½ inch pieces
3 medium minced garlic cloves, minced
Sliced almonds (optional - I threw these in at the end because I thought it would look pretty)

1. Heat two tablespoons of oil. Add the asparagus and cook until browed (about five minutes). Add seasonings.

2. This is Cook’s Illustrated method for avoiding burnt garlic: Clear a space in the center of the pan, add garlic and the remaining ½ tablespoon oil. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth mixture and toss to coat the asparagus. Cook until the sauce is syrupy, about 30 seconds. Top with almonds for garnish. Serve immediately

Baked Sesame Chicken

This was one of my favorite ways to make chicken back in college. The recipe can be found here. The veggies next to it are simply red and green peppers and carrots stir-fried in garlic with sesame seeds for garnish. And of course, rice. (I did the neat bowl trick, found in the post on fried rice.)

Marinated Portobello Mushroom with Cheesy Orzo and Honey Glazed Carrots

It's snowing during my "spring break." Inclement weather means I have time to cook and blog about it. People have asked me if I have stopped cooking because I haven't blogged in a while. Which isn't really true - I have been cooking, but photographing in my house is a process. First, it means clearing the table. Then taking a dozen or so pictures with my amateur photography skills, while my food gets cold. And lately I've just been too hungry to do all that!

Above is a Rachael Ray inspired menu from this book:


And here is a link to the recipes!

Eggplant Parmesan

It’s finals time and I am carb-loading so I’ll have energy for tomorrow! Although it turns out that eggplant* is fairly low-carb, I was mostly eating the pasta that goes with it for the carbs. This was also my first hand at writing down a recipe completely from memory rather than copying from one. So the measurements and times are approximates. I also used cooking spray rather than the traditional deep-frying method - this not only saves time, but it makes the recipe a bit lighter.

And since I know most of my readership is fellow students who are procrastinating – good luck with finals!

* Did you know that the average eggplant contains as much nicotine as a cigarette?

Eggplant Parmesan

1 Eggplant – sliced into rounds about ¼ to ½ inch thick
1 well-beaten egg with a splash of milk
A couple of handfuls of bread crumbs
A handful of grated parmesan cheese
½ tsp of dried basil
½ tsp of dried oregano
A dash of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Tomato-Basil Sauce (inspired by Rachael Ray)
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, minced
15-20 fresh basil leaves, torn
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 lb of pasta – I used spaghetti, but you can use whatever long stringy type pasta you like (angel hair, fettuccini etc.)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Prepare pan that is well-greased with cooking spray
3. To make the breading, combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and spices in a shallow plate. You can add more as you go along if it is not enough.
4. Dip the eggplant slices in the egg wash, and then dredge in the bread crumb mixture and place into the pan in a single layer. Spray the top of the eggplant slices with more cooking spray. Place in the oven for about a total of 20-25 minutes. After ten minutes, flip over the eggplant slices and spray more cooking spray. In the last five minutes, add a layer of tomato sauce (method below) and mozzarella cheese on top.
5. While you are waiting for the eggplant to bake, start boiling the water for pasta and prepare the sauce
6. To prepare the sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan with the minced garlic. Once the garlic starts to sizzle (or as Rachael calls it, “speak”), add crushed tomatoes. Be sure to keep the heat on low and cover it because tomato sauce will spatter! At about the same time you add the cheese to the eggplant, add the basil leaves to the sauce. Let simmer until everything else is done cooking.
7. Serve with pasta and enjoy. I am not really sure how many normal people it serves because I already ate half of it by myself. My guess is 4-6.