Thursday, June 23, 2011

Refreshing, gingery wine spritzer


I'm not much of a spritzer girl, but when life hands you a nasty batch of boxed wine, well, you have to deal with it. This simple solution was a hit one weekend at Lake Shasta.

Ingredients:

  • box white wine

  • ginger beer

  • lemon, sliced

  • ice

Instructions:

Step One

Fill a glass with ice.

Step Two

Fill 3/4 of the glass with the wine.

Step Three

Top off with ginger beer.

Step Four

Garnish with lemon. Enjoy!


Effort: Easy
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Yield: Many

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Eggplant caponata


Last weekend, I decided I just had to finish up a jar of olives I had cured and saved for storage last fall. I could have easily finished them off on their own, but wanted to use them as inspiration, not main ingredient. So I pulled a jar of tomatoes off the shelf and found some beautiful eggplant at the farmers' market to make a delicious caponata.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Japanese eggplant

  • 1/4 C onion

  • 1/4 C olives

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1/4 C basil

  • 1/2 C tomatoes, canned with juice

  • 3 T olive oil

  • 1 T balsamic vinegar

  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Step One

Slice the eggplant in half, lengthwise and roast in a 425ºF oven for about 45 minutes or until completely soft and starting to brown. Cut into half inch pieces.



Step Two

Chop up all the veggies and herbs.


Step Three

With 1 T of olive oil over medium high heat, saute the chopped onions. When translucent, add the garlic and stir for a minute. Add the rest of the vegetables, including the tomatoes. Cover and cook over medium low head for 20 minutes.

Step Four

Season with salt and pepper. Add the rest of the olive oil and the vinegar. Allow to marinate overnight. Serve on bread with some mozzarella.



Effort: Medium
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Feisty kale chips


Kale, the ubiquitous wrinkled, green goliath at the farmers' market that is so ugly that it must be good for you, right? The different varieties have a long growing season in cooler climes, so you'll likely see it regularly. I buy it in bulk and typically saute it in olive oil and garlic. However, I really wanted to mix things up, so was inspired by the idea to make kale chips. I wouldn't go so far as to claim, as others have, that they taste like potato chips, but this is definitely a fun way to eat something that's teeming with vitamins A, C, and K.

Ingredients:

  • 2 bunches Tuscan kale, or other kale variety

  • 1 T olive oil

  • 1/2 lemon, juiced

  • 1 t Kosher salt, or more to taste

  • 1/4 t cayenne pepper

Instructions:

Step One

Preheat the oven to 300 ºF. Rinse the kale. In order to ensure even, toasted crispiness, remove the thick rib down the center. Chop into 1 inch strips. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and toss to coat thoroughly.


Step Two

Place in an even layer on parchment lined or non-stick cookie sheets.


Step Three

Sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper.


Step Four

Toast in the oven until completely dried, turning once halfway through cooking. It will likely take about 40 minutes, but keep an eye on them and remove when crispy. Enjoy immediately. Or allow them to completely cool and place in an airtight container to enjoy up to a few days later.



Effort: Easy
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: 4 servings

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Risotto style tomato pasta


Recently my life has been extremely chaotic with the result that I rarely have time or desire to cook a full meal. Basically, I'm about on par with your average working mother of two. I've really realized that preparing a meal for your self or others is not just about the time it takes to cook. You also have to figure in the time to plan, to get the ingredients, and to clean up afterwards. Once you add all those things together, take out or prepared supermarket meals really look reasonable.

For this meal, I decided to take items that I already had on hand (ergo, no shopping) and make them in one pot (making less mess means less clean up). I was inspired by some beautiful canned tomatoes from last summer and the idea from Mark Bittman to cook pasta in a similar fashion as risotto. Add some microwaved frozen broccoli or a salad to this rich, flavorful pasta and you've got a complete meal in less than 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cloves garlic crushed or minced

  • 2 T olive oil

  • 1 qt canned tomatoes

  • 1 dried cayenne pepper (optional)

  • 2 C pasta (like elbow or penne)

  • Parmesan cheese grated

Instructions:

Step One

Saute the garlic in the olive oil over medium high heat till it just starts to turn translucent. Add the entire contents of the tomato jar, including the juice. Add the pepper and the pasta and stir.


Step Two

Turn down the heat to medium and cover. Stir occasionally. The canned tomatoes should have almost enough liquid in them to soften the pasta, but add water if it starts to get too dry.


Step Three

When the pasta is al dente (this will differ based on the type of pasta) serve with a sprinkling of cheese.


Effort: Easy, peasy
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings