Jen's Pasta Salad

Use these ingredients and but feel free to improvise. Have made this with torcheitte & orzo. Either works fine. The lemon, dill & feta are the only must have ingredients. Cook and rinse pasta before coating with a little olive oil, then add your choice of:

minced dill
lemon zest & juice
crumbled feta cheese
sliced olives
grilled/roasted eggplant cubes
minced raw garlic
bell pepper
chopped artichoke hearts
cucumber
something red: tomato or sun-dried tomato or roasted red pepper
celery or fennel
green onions

optional:
boiled/ sautéed  shrimp
marinated tofu
capers
???

Broccoli & Spinach Soup

Did this for Halloween - the kids (and adults) loved it. Change the name if you are serving to kids.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes |  Cooking: 25 - 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
300g Broccoli, cut into chucks (about 1/2 of a grocery store bunch)
2 Potatoes (200g),  cubed
50g Spinach Leaves, roughly chopped (about a bag or 1/2 a bunch of medium leaves)
1 Small Onion, roughly chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 Knob (15g) Of Butter
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
750ml Vegetable Stock 
1/3 (90g) Cup Greek Yogurt / Light Sour Cream 
Some Crusty Bread to Serve

Saute onions &; garlic in olive oil till transparent. Add stock (water + 1 bouillon cube), broccoli & potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender.

Add spinach & butter, salt to taste & cook 2 more minutes. 

Blend

Serve with dollop of cream & bread

Granola

One of the down-sides of moving from SFO was leaving some of the foods we loved. After being spoiled by the wonderful granola at Arizmendi Bakery, I have set out on a quest to re-create this marvelous taste treat. Inspired by the tasty homemade granola our neighbors have shared, I have tried combining the ingredient list from Arizmendi with the proportions and directions from a neighbor's recipe. I'm sure this will be an evolving recipe.



6 cups thick-rolled oats
3/4 cup golden raisins
1 cup pumpkin seeds
2 cups pecans
1 1/2 cup sweetened coconut (not sure I should be using sweetened)
1/2 cups sunflower seeds (not in Arizmendi recipe)

3 tbs rice bran oil
1 tbs butter
1/4 cup molasses
1/4/cup honey (light - like clover)
1/8 cup dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 300℉.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Warm oils and sugars together in microwave so they will blend with oats. Pour oil/sugar mixture over cereals and mix well. It doesn't seem like enough, but it will eventually cover the oats.

Divide granola between 2 pans and spread out evenly. Bake for approximately 50 min, or until lightly browned, stirring after 20, 30 & 40 minutes.

Stir several times as it cools to break up any clumps. Store in airtight containers for up to 1 week or refrigerate for longer storage. Freeze for up to 2 months.

Provencal White Bean Salad

Eric made this for us on a visit and I just had to have the recipe.

• 2 cups dried small white beans
• 6 cups of water
• 1/2 cup champagne vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbs dijon style mustard (do not sub french mustard - tried this and it reminded me of hotdogs)
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 small bunch green onions, tops only, very thinly sliced
• 1 cup black olives, pitted and halved
• salt & pepper
• grape tomatoes, cut into quarters
• handful of parsley or spinach and a few sprigs of rosemary 
• 1 lemon, juice & zest

Rinse & put beans and water in crock pot on high for 4 hours until beans are tender. Pour them into a colander and drain. We rinsed them as well since they were a bit over done.

Add olives, onions, herbs & tomatoes to beans in a large bowl.

Combine vinegar, oil, mustard, lemon and garlic. I also added herbs to marinade, but may not do this next time. 

Pour marinade over beans, season with salt & pepper & toss.

Refrigerate overnight.

You can mixed this with chopped salad greens or spinach to serve.

Summer Squash Soup

This recipe was derived from a recipe by Faith Durand.

I initially made this with yellow squash, all thought the original recipe was for zucchini.

This makes 1 1/2 quarts - appetizers for 4 or  dinner for 2

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 8 to 9 large cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 4 medium squash, about 1 1/2 pounds
• 4 cups water
• 1 cube Rapunzel veggie boullion
• 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
• Salt and pepper
• yogurt
• chopped mint leaves

Melt the butter in a heavy 4-quart stock pot over medium heat. When it foams, add the sliced garlic and onions and cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent. Keep the heat low enough that the garlic doesn't brown; you want everything to sweat.

When the onions are soft, add the squash and cook until soft. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer at a low heat for about 45 minutes.

Let cool slightly, then blend. 

Taste and season with ginger, salt and pepper. When serving, top with a dollop of yogurt and sprinkle with finely chopped mint leaves

Unike most soups, this is not significantly better after a night in the refrigerator. The flavors meld, but IMHO the soup was slightly better fresh.

Tahini Salad Dressing

Blend all ingredients together. This recipe makes 1 cup:

• 1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
• 
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 cup tamari 
• 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
  
  
  

• 
  juice of 1/2 lemon 
  
  
  2 cloves garlic, pressed
• black pepper to taste
  
  2 tsp minced ginger root

Homemade Yogurt

So far I've only tried this with fresh goat milk, but I assume it will work with grocery store milk as well.

Heat milk slowly to almost boiling (at least 180 degrees F) to kill any native bacteria that could compete with your starter. This also changes the structure of the milk proteins to create thicker yogurt. You could omit this step if you are using raw milk, but your yogurt will be runny and may not be true to your starter culture.

Pour milk into clean quart jar(s). Cool heated milk to 110-15 degrees, thin about 1 tablespoon of starter yogurt with cooled milk then stir the thinned yogurt into the cooled milk.

Place jar(s) in a 110-115 water bath and let it ferment for about 4 hours. Cooler, longer fermentation creates a thinner yogurt that will be more tangy flavor and is more easily digested.

Cabbage Wraps

This was derived from Joni's interpretation of a wrap from World Wraps in their early (and tastier) days.

1 block firm tofu
peanut or other light oil

1/2 medium red cabbage
cumin seeds
black pepper
mirin (or rice wine vinegar)
tamari (or soy sauce)
juice & zest of 1 lemon
handful of golden rasins

1 jalapeno, seeded & minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

chopped cilantro leaves

We use our trusty cast-iron pan for this but do not let this dish sit long after cooking.

Cube tofu into  about 0.5 inch dice and fry in oil until lightly browned, then remove from pan.
Slice cabbage into thin strips and saute in pan with spices & raisins.
When cabbage is almost softened to your taste, add garlic & jalapenos with crispy tofu and cook a few more minutes. Adjust seasonings.

Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve in flour tortillas with pico de gallo.

Homemade Goat's Milk Yogurt

Heat 1 qt fresh goat milk to almost boiling (about 200 degrees F)

Put 1Tbs to 1/2 cup store bought yogurt in a bowl to warm up.

Heat a container of water to over 115 degrees F to use as an insulating bath for jar.

Pour hot milk into clean quart jar and allow to cool to 115 degrees F.

Stir yogurt into warm milk.

Place jar in 115 degree water bath - and place in a warm place. Check water occasionally to keep warm.

Yogurt should be done in 10 hrs. Refrigerate.

Sourdough Spent Grain Bread

Ferment 1 cup spent grains from beer wort with 1 cup sourdough starter for several hours or overnight

Knead in bread machine with 3 cups flour (half white WW & half clear bread flour), 2 tsp salt, 1 T sugar (if grains are bitter) and 1 cup water. Add flour or water to make medium firm dough.

Proof bread till doubled

Preheat stone in oven to 450.
Cook with steam for 15 min
Lower oven to 400 and cook for 35 more minutes (total 50 min)
Bread should be about 190 internal

Cool for 45 min