Lemon balm pesto orzo with carmelized mushrooms, green olives and eggplant

Wow, that's a mouthful.  I hadn't planned on serving all of this together, but since Steve brought home two medium-sized eggplants earlier this week, I figured I could skip the usual ratatouille/moussaka thing and just saute some thick slices as a side dish.  When it occurred to me that the eggplant would take up a lot of space on the plate, I decided on a more visually appealing presentation with the pasta served on a bed of eggplant and garnished with the mushrooms and stuffed olives.

The recipe was pretty much the same as here except that I used orzo, figuring that short pasta would be less awkward on a bed of something that needs cutting.  I also substituted lemon balm for the basil called for in traditional pesto because my lemon balm plant was in a greater need of thinning.  I thought at first that I had burned the mushrooms, but they still tasted good and were simply a little crispier than caramelized.  It was a fine line, heatwise, with the eggplant; on one hand I wanted it to cook through without it being too mushy, but on the other hand I didn't want to burn it.  Well, at first I thought I was burning it (and that it was just as well to hide it under all that pasta), but it really came out more like it would have on the grill.  All I used for it was a little olive oil in a nonstick pan and generous amounts of salt, pepper and Italian herb mix on each side.

It hit the spot: this morning I did my first track workout in ages - 800 meter repeats at the RNE track - and was able to meet or beat my goal time on all of them!  Hooray for pasta and hooray for eggplant!

Since my long weekend of work begins tonight, I probably won't post again before sometime next week.  Enjoy your weekend off, and I look forward to getting back in the kitchen (and telling you all about it) soon!

Garden Pasta with Green Olive Pesto and Mushrooms in Chardonnay

I just have to toot my own horn - tonight's dinner was the nuclear bomb!

I knew I wanted to fuel up for tomorrow's long run with a pasta dish and was inspired by this recipe for pasta tossed in a green olive pesto.  It calls for basil, which I wasn't able to find at three different supermarkets, but I did find some Italian parsley and figured I could slightly alter the pesto recipe.  Then I got to thinking that it might also be neat to transform the Barcelona Chicken I made back in June into a pasta dish with green olives (in the pesto), mushrooms and very dry white wine.  So, I made the pesto as described in the above link, but with about a cup and a half of chopped parsley and without the lemon juice - just because I forgot to add it amid all the stress of learning to work the new Cuisinart food processor.  Then I heated a couple of tablespoons of Smart Balance in a frying pan, added about 12 ounces of sliced baby bellas, salt and pepper and let them cook on medium heat until they started browning.  At that point, I added about half a cup of Turning Leaf Chardonnay, which Steve cheerfully surrendered for this purpose after discovering what a nasty wine it is to drink. 

It was much better in the mushrooms!  After tossing the pasta (we had garden pasta on hand, hence the title of this post) with the pesto, I plated it up, spooned the mushrooms on top of that and added the garnish.  Before I made this, I was afraid the pesto would be too strong.  Turns out that if you use enough greenery, the olives don't really register.  If I make this again, I might change the ratio of olives to parsley, or basil, or whatever.  But it was still good this way, and the mild flavor of the pesto really set off the delicious mushrooms, which had time to start caramelizing after the wine had reduced down and been absorbed by the mushrooms.

Turning Leaf Chardonnay - nasty to drink, good for cooking mushrooms!

Lentil soup

Can't believe it's been almost two weeks since my last blog post.  Not because I haven't been cooking, but because most of it has been replays of old standbys like Zucchini moussaka and fried rice made with frozen stir-fry veggies.  Life's getting hectic again, but I finally made time to restore health and sanity with a simple homemade vegetable soup.  (As for the continuation of the exotic veggies...the Chinese okra sat in the fridge too long and I couldn't use it, and I made the bitter melon with about the same spice mix as the bottlegourd.  Whoa, dude - bitter melon's bitter.  Wish I'd done a Chinese stir-fry instead; soy sauce probably would have taken the edge off better than the Indian spices did.)

So, after stopping into Publix on Monday and picking up a few things, I decided to dispense with some of the lentils that have sat in the cupboard unopened for months.  This lentil soup is one of the first things I learned to make during my junior year in Geneva, when I lived in the university apartments and had a monthly allowance for groceries.  It's also the first thing I ever made using broth, and one of my vegetarian classmates declared on a trip to the store that if you need broth, THIS (holding a box of Knorr vegetable bouillon cubes) is what you buy.  Eventually I found chicken, fish and ham broth, but I still like the veggie broth from time to time. 

2 tbsp olive oil

3 carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced

6 cups vegetable broth

1 cup dry white wine

10 oz. dry green lentils

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 tsp Cavender's Greek seasoning

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in an 8-quart pot.  Add the carrots and saute covered until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the chopped onion and garlic and saute covered until softened, another 3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms, stir and saute covered until softened, another 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the broth and wine and bring to a boil.  Add lentils and rosemary and reduce heat to one notch below medium.  Cook until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.  During the last few minutes of cooking, add the Greek seasoning and parsley. 

I'll go ahead and admit that I had been going more for a rustic French result, but now I'm thinking that would have worked out better just with chicken broth, rosemary, salt and pepper.  The Greek seasoning was basically a "save" because the soup seemed to be missing something before I added it.  At least now I understand why this recipe has been hit-or-miss in the past.  Plus I've got leftovers for the next two days' lunch and a bunch more carrots left to use in some of the many fall recipes I've been bookmarking!  Check back soon to see what's next...

Chicken l'orange

I got this idea from the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry fails to enjoy himself at the dinner party at home and then learns that their caterer took home some of the Chicken l'orange and apple turnovers that they had paid for.   Since I was expecting eggplant in my Pinckney's stash but got a couple of small yellow squash instead, along with a surprise bag of spinach from Steve, I figured this would be an easy and somewhat unusual way to dispense with those items plus a package of boneless skinless chicken in the freezer.  I did buy some slivered almonds for this purpose as indicated in the recipe I used, but it would have been just as good without.  I also left out the sugar and pineapple juice this recipe called for and skipped the dredging in flour.  OK, here goes:

Chicken l'orange:
4 tbsp Smart Balance
1 package boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 cup orange juice
1 cup white wine
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup slivered almonds

In a wide, shallow pan, melt the Smart Balance over medium-high (one notch above medium).  Salt and pepper chicken well on both sides.  Add chicken to pan and cook until browned, about 5 minutes on each side. 

Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. When chicken is ready, add to a 1.5 inch or deeper baking ban and pour juice/wine mixture over the chicken.  Bake on 325 for 30 minutes, basting occasionally, then raise heat to 350 degrees and bake another 15 minutes.

(Here's where I did something really different from the recipe...)

Remove chicken from baking pan, transfer to a plate, cover with foil and set aside.

Melt 2 tbsp Smart Balance in a small saucepan over medium heat, stir in 2 tbsp of flour and stir will until combined with no lumps.  Pour in pan juices and stir well and often for about 10 minutes or until mixture has a syrup-like consistency.  Put chicken breast pieces on individual plates and spoon over with thickened orange-wine sauce.

Had to do it...it seemed like a needless waste of the pan juices to pour a little bit over the chicken after cooking and call it a night.

Also pictured:

Yellow squash risotto:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 small yellow squash, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 cups vegetable broth diluted by 1 cup water
1 cup uncooked arborio rice
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
fresh ground pepper

In a 2-quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add squash and saute gently until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add arborio rice, stir and saute another two minutes.  Lower heat and begin adding diluted broth, about one cup at a time, to the rice/squash pan and stir often, adding another cup at a time as the liquid is absorbed by the rice.  Once the rice has absorbed all the liquid, remove from heat.  Stir in Parmesan and fresh ground pepper and serve.

And last, but not least:

Sauteed spinach
Pan drippings from chicken l'orange
4 oz. fresh spinach, washed and torn
fresh ground pepper to taste

Once the chicken is in the oven and the risotto is either finished or well on its way, bring the temperature of the chicken juices back up to medium.  Add spinach and sautee until warm, no more than 5 minutes.  Add pepper and serve.

And I cannot tell a lie: I didn't get much sleep Saturday night because of some noisy neighbors at the campground (and the thunderstorm, from which Steve and I were protected by a thin layer of waterproof tent canvas; the neighbors' chatter had something to do with their tent leaking, and they also seemed unaware that tents aren't soundproof).  So, by the time I finished cooking, I was through being hungry and already thinking about going to bed - at 7:30!  So I ended up packing all the chicken and risotto in leftover containers with the amount of sauce that I thought was just enough for the chicken.  Since this left me with some extra sauce, I put that and some of the spinach on a plate (after taking the picture) and mopped up the sauce with a piece of bread.  Based on that limited encounter, I can attest that the chicken and spinach went well together.  The spinach cooked in the pan juices took up a lot of the salt that had been sprinkled on the chicken, and the pungent, slightly sweet sauce provided a nice contrast.  And about a tablespoon of the slivered almonds made it onto my plate as well, so I didn't feel like I was suffering a protein deficit.  Looking forward to the leftovers!

Calderade

Another Mediterranean recipe from the Portugal chapter of La cuisine autour de la méditerranée.  It would have been nice to include the onions that are mentioned in the book version, but I had no onions and an oversupply of potatoes, plus some nice, ripe tomatoes (thanks Joyce!) and pretty much everything else this recipe called for:


1/2 cup olive oil
6-7 medium new potatoes, peeled and cut into rounds about 1/3 inch thick
1 cup dry white wine
salt and cayenne pepper
2 large, ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
5-6 small tilapia filets
1 branch worth of chopped fresh rosemary
1 branch of fresh thyme

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
In a 10 X 14 inch baking pan, add the olive oil and place in oven for 10 minutes. Remove and add layers of potatoes, seasoning each layer with salt and cayenne pepper. (Should end up with 3 layers.) Bake layers of potatoes for about 45 minutes or until fork-tender. Remove, add tilapia in one layer and cover with tomatoes, thyme and rosemary. Bake another 15 minutes or until tilapia flakes with a fork. Serve with white wine.

This made a great dinner last night, and I really enjoyed the leftovers for lunch today! To my surprise, we barely registered the cayenne; maybe it joined with the olive oil and wine in the bottom of the casserole? Also, the original recipe called for cod or another type of fish that is normally sliced thicker than tilapia and said to bake the whole thing for an hour. I went with the tilapia just because we already had it, adding it later so that it would not have time to dry out in the oven.

Completely unrelated, but in case anyone out there is wondering why the emphasis on healthy food, and why I haven't yet fried a single potato (or any other food items in my house) despite the steady supply...well, I haven't been able to run lately because I came away from a half-marathon in April with an IT band injury that's been slow to heal - in part because I put off going to see Dr. Renick. In the meantime, I've been very careful of what I eat so as not to puff up while waiting to start running again. But on Sunday morning, I managed to run for ten whole minutes after walking 20, cleaned house afterward and the IT band still feels OK!

Home-Away-from-Home Crab Soup

Inspired by (canned) Blue Crab Norfolk. I actually came up with the recipe after reading the ingredients on a can of soup, named after my home town, that I found in some frou-frou kitchen store. Here's what I used for the soup pictured here, which I made for lunch this past Friday (gotta love Fridays off from work):


2 tbsp olive oil
4 oz. pancetta, diced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper,chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
2 Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups salted water
6 oz lump crab meat
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup milk
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a 4 qt saucepan and saute pancetta about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add green and red bell pepper and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add chopped onion and cook until softened, about 3-5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another 4 qt saucepan, cover the diced potatoes with about 4 cups of water, add 1.5 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Boil covered for about 5-7 minutes or until fork tender.

Add potatoes and salted water to the other saucepan and stir. Add crab meat, wine, paprika, more salt (only if needed) and pepper. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add milk and turn off heat. After 2 minutes, stir and serve.

I realized when I took the picture that I also would have done well to stir it one more time after it had been sitting on the table for a few minutes. And I was somewhat ambivalent about the flavor when I ate it fresh. It improved after a day or two in the fridge, but if you don't want to take a chance on it coming out funky, use less wine or skip it. I usually make it with chicken broth and no wine, and it's good both ways.

Tuna, bacon and spinach pasta

The feeling of relief I experienced after using 9 veggies in a single soup-and-salad combo must have moved Steve to go shopping for more, because when I got home late Monday night, guess what new things I found in the fridge?

4 bell peppers (red, orange, yellow, green)
4 vine tomatoes
1 package baby spinach leaves

Which wouldn’t have been such a big deal, except that we already had most of a bag of spinach, an ear of corn, a bunch of scallions and a cucumber that have been in the fridge since before our camping trip.

I was most antsy to get rid of the spinach, since there have been so many instances where we opened the bag of spinach purchased the day before, found that the date on which we were opening it was also the expiration date, and...pew. Or we were able to enjoy it for a day or two after opening it before the cycle of life took another turn. To prevent a recurrence from happening this week, I made the following recipe Tuesday night, based on one from the February 2004 issue of Food and Wine:

Midnight Pasta with Tuna, Pancetta and SpinachWe ate around 8:00, not midnight. The recipe name and ingredients listed in the magazine were based on a theme of arriving late on Friday night for a nice weekend at your vacation home in the Adirondacks (because we all have one of those) and getting by on pantry and freezer staples. I generally find this a handy recipe for when I don't have anything fresh to use up; you just thaw half a package of frozen spinach, dice the pancetta (which can also be frozen) and find the other ingredients in the cupboard. My fresh spinach adaptation involved using about 7-8 ounces of fresh baby spinach, chopped in flat dice and given a few minutes longer to cook than the microwave-thawed spinach would have needed.

8 oz. pasta (linguine is my preference, but I used wheat rotini tonight)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 oz. pancetta, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, or to taste
6 oz. can of chunk light tuna, drained
7-8 oz. fresh baby spinach, chopped small
1/3 cup dry white wine

Boil enough water to cook the pasta and add the pasta with a little salt. Drain and stir in a tbsp of olive oil if desired.

In a separate saucepan, heat the 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook over medium heat until translucent (don't let it get crispy).

Add the garlic and crushed red papper and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add the tuna and cook another 3-4 minutes.

Add spinach, stir well and cook for 4-5 minutes or until it has wilted.

Add white wine, bring to a boil and cook on high heat for about 3 minutes or until liquid has reduced by more than half.

Spoon the pasta onto individual plates and top with the sauce. If there is extra liquid, spoon some of it directly onto the pasta.


Reference:
Wagner, Steven. "Recipes for a perfect country weekend." Food and Wine, February 2004, p. 105.