Tomato Sauce!

I wish I could say my schedule is turning into something completely manageable and that I'm whizzing through my classes and my house is clean and I'm preparing gourmet meals daily. Yeah. That would be nice.

In reality, we harvested most of the garden over the weekend. I roasted up the remaining beets and those have been a nice "go-to" addition to salads and as side dishes. The second crop of beans were steamed and eaten. Our zucchini and acorn squash plants seems to have rotted. Odd. And our onions never grew. I suspect that perhaps stomping on them (as I was told to do to make them grow big) wasn't the best idea. I won't do it next year. Our broccoli plants never really had broccoli on them. And I have 4 small cabbages sitting on my counter for me to figure out what to do with them. I'm open to suggestions. I'd say it wasn't the best year for the garden.

What we did end up with a lot of were these tiny little plum tomatoes. I was going to can the tomatoes, like I did last year, so I could enjoy them all year long. But the idea of trying to peel a gazillion 1 inch plum tomatoes didn't really excite me. The Brain had been hopping up and down asking me to make tomato sauce so I looked around to see what I could find in the way of a no-peel tomato sauce. Fortunately the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook came to my rescue! Yes, a delicious oven roasted tomato sauce from a diet, I mean lifestyle change, book.

And it's really really easy! I just had to quarter all of those tomatoes and put them on parchment lined baking sheets with a chopped up onion and about 6 peeled cloves of garlic. Then I sprayed them with olive oil (I have a Misto, but I'm pretty certain regular cooking spray would work.) Drizzled them with a little balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper and roasted them in a 375 degree F. oven for about an hour, rotating the sheets at the halfway point. Then when they are lightly browned, slightly dried out and smell really yummy, throw it in the food processor and blend it down. I didn't alter the recipe at all so I'm not going to post the exact recipe, but you get the idea.

Yeah, it's a really good and easy way to use up those tomatoes. And it's so yummy that I've been finding excuses to make pasta for lunch as much as I can. The best part is that I can freeze it in handy little used cottage cheese and yogurt containers and then just pull them out and thaw them when life gets a little too crazy for me.

Cherry Tomato and Lemon Salad

So. It's still hot. And we'll continue on with trying not to turn on the oven. So tonight, I'm still trying to eat up some of the many vegetables crowding my fridge. I've been playing on the Internet rather than solely relying on Vegetables Every Day and Serving Up the Harvest. I found this interesting looking Cherry Tomato and Lemon Salad that was first displayed in Gourmet Magazine May 2005.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to my cherry tomatoes soon enough and about half of them were bad. So my little salad was a little bit light on the tomatoey goodness. But overall it was excellent. I don't really know how to explain the flavor sensation. It was tangy and zesty and a party in my mouth. The tomatoes didn't really taste like tomatoes. They were nice and sweet and mild. I really really like this salad. It was so quick and easy to make. Of course it would be a little less painful if I didn't somehow have tiny little cuts on all my fingers. Lemon juice and cuts are not a good blend.

Cherry Tomato and Lemon Salad

from Gourmet Magazine

2 large lemons

1 Tbsp sugar

1 lb cherry tomatoes cut in half

3 Tbsp chopped fresh chives

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Finely grate enough zest from 1 lemon to measure 2 teaspoons. Trim ends of both lemons, then stand lemons on a cut side and cut peel, including all white pith, from lemons with a sharp paring knife (discard peel). Cut segments free from membranes, then cut segments crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Toss lemon segments gently with sugar in a bowl.

Stir in remaining ingredients and zest, then let stand, covered, at room temperature 15 minutes (to allow flavors to develop).

Greek Week Day 5: Chicken Souvlakia

OK, it's HOT. hot hot hot. This is the kind of day I don't want to cook indoors. So what's a gal exploring Greek food to do? Take it to the grill. Other than the 3 hour marinating time, this has to be one of the quickest, easiest recipes yet! I just had to throw together a marinade, chop up some chicken breasts, wait the 3 hours, and then thread the chicken onto skewers with some yummy vegetables and grill. Fantastic!

I did alter this recipe just a bit. Instead of 12 small mushroom caps, I used 18. Instead of 12 cherry tomatoes, I used 18. I didn't chop the green peppers into 12 pieces. I chopped it into bite size pieces. Maybe my peppers were just big, but 12 pieces would have been very big pieces. And then, I only used 4 skewers instead of 6. Mostly that's because I finally broke down and bought skewers. And there were only 4 in a pack. Despite my alterations, these were very very tasty skewers. I served them with some rice and I think I'll be cherishing the leftovers in leftover pita pockets. Yummy!

Chicken Souvlakia (Souvlakia me Kota)

adapted from The Complete Book of Greek Cooking by the Recipe Club of Saint Paul's Greek Orthodox Cathedral

marinade:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup red wine

1/2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 tsp dried oregano

2 chicken breasts (boned and skinned) cut into bite sized pieces

2 green peppers cut into bite size pieces

18 button mushrooms

18 cherry tomatoes

Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken and marinate in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Using 4 long skewers, arrange alternating pieces of chicken, green pepper, mushroom, and tomatoes. Brush with some of the marinade. Barbecue on the grill for 15 to 20 minutes, brushing with marinade and turning frequently.

Greek Week Day 2: Tomato Salad

When I was planning the menu for this week I thought I would make the Summer Salad (Kalokerini Salata). But then I realized that it was very similar to the Greek Salad I posted here. Right down to the lack of lettuce. So I was all set to make it anyway, somewhat half-heartedly, but then I looked at the recipe below the Summer Salad. It was for a Tomato Salad, Domatosalata. And it was mighty refreshing.

I happen to have some fresh oregano growing in my garden and it added a beautiful herby flavor to the juicy tomatoes and crunchy onions. I didn't let the salad marinate for an hour because we were hungry and I'd spent the majority of the afternoon dealing with the latest tantrum of Wilma the Knee. Wilma the Knee is starting to be a real downer. So even without the time spent letting the flavors mingle this is a light and excellent salad. I will be making it again when my tomatoes ripen in the garden. Or really whenever it's a hot muggy day like today and I want a salad.

Incidentally, The Complete Book of Greek Cooking, states that "olive oil is used as a dressing on both vegetables and salad green. It is combined with either lemon or vinegar. Fresh herbs, mainly dill, mint, and oregano, are often used in salads and dressings." See? This book not only has fabulous recipes, it also provides an insight into traditional Greek cooking.

Tomato Salad (Domatosalata)

Straight from The Complete Book of Greek Cooking (because I'm learning about Greek food and I'm not quite at the stage where I'll be experimenting with it yet.)

2 medium onions

1 Tbsp salt

5 to 6 tomatoes

2 tsp torn fresh oregano leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

salt to taste

Cut onions in half and slice thin lengthwise. Sprinkle slices with 1 Tbsp salt, cover with cold water, and soak for 5 minutes. Drain.

Cut tomatoes into small pieces. Add onion slices, oregano, olive oil and salt. Toss lightly. Let salad marinate at least 1 hour before serving.

Veal Parmigiana

I don't always follow my philosophy of eating fresh, clean, healthy food. Sometimes I need comfort food. Something about food from childhood that's quick, easy, and processed just hits the spot. It's also not very expensive.

I like to think that the reason that I can successfully keep my grocery budget to an average of $30 a week is because when I was a youngster, my mother had a strict grocery budget and could economize like a pro. (A freezer full of meat from Costco also helps in reducing the weekly grocery budget.) Originally, there were 8 of us for my mom to feed. We weren't poor, but 6 kids are a lot to feed. So my mom got creative. She also served this veal over spaghetti tossed with oil and garlic salt. This lovely and filling meal (including 1lb. of spaghetti, will feed 8 and came to a total cost of $8.21. You can't beat cheap comfort food.

For a family of ethnically German-Irish, why veal parm is so beloved will remain a mystery. I think this is still my sister M's favorite meal.

Veal Parmigiana
an old Shazam family favorite

8 Redi Serve veal patties
1 (29oz) can tomato sauce
1 (2-cup) bag shredded mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Heat an electric skillet to 350 degrees and spray with cooking spray. If the skillet is large enough brown both sides of all 8 patties at the same time, otherwise brown the patties in two batches and then layer the patties back into the skillet. Pour the tomato sauce over the patties and then sprinkle the thyme and the cheese on top. Turn the temperature down to 200 degrees and simmer for 10 minutes.

Grilled Chicken, Red Onion and Mint Kebabs with Greek Salad

Every night this week, I've had to go to bed around 7 or 8pm so that I can get up ultra early and make the donuts. Yes, I fry donuts. For a living. Well, for minimum wage, but I get PAID to make donuts. And yes, it's hard work. Yesterday morning the donut girl who's training me and I made 45 dozen just for delivery and then many more dozen for the bakery case. We have to proof a whole bunch of previously frozen dough, mix up batter for cake donuts, and then fry and fry and fry and fry donuts.

The cake dough donuts are my favorite, I wish we could start from scratch, but, reality check here, it's the IGA. We use a mix. Frying them are the most fun too because I have a funnel like contraption that is attached to a mechanical arm so that it will swing over the vat of hot grease. It also has a handle and a crank on it. What I get to do is to hold the handle and guide it over the hot grease while cranking the crank so that little round blobs of raw donuts plop out and start to cook. So fun!

So for 8 hours every morning this week, I have immersed myself in donut making. It's pretty funny because I'm just so happy to be frying up donuts and working the machine that injects the donuts with fillings, and glazing, frosting and decorating the freshly made donuts. It's hard, physical work, and Wilma the Knee is really pissed off that I'm doing it, but she'll get over it. Because it's a minimum wage job and it's not really like the people in the bakery are skilled pastry chefs, the other girls in the bakery tend to grumble a little about a lot of things. But really, how can you be grumbly when at the end of your work day you have a whole tray of frosted donuts with sprinkles staring you down? It's the best of all worlds because I can make the wide variety of donuts and the glazed donuts are shining, the cream cheese frosting is melting on the cinnamon rolls, the tiger tails have puffed up so beautifully, and the cream is oozing out of the long johns, and it all looks so beautiful and tasty and I'm challenged and I don't have to eat any of them. Of course I might snack on a cinnamon sugar cake donut at about 3am.

My latest career move means that dinner time has been moved up significantly. We used to eat dinner at 7 or 8, now it's more like at 5. And if I'm asleep by 5, which has happened, the Brain is on his own to figure out dinner. So a quick, easy, and yet supremely tasty dish is really good to find. And we found it in the Bon Appetit Cookbook with these Grilled Chicken, Red Onion and Mint Kababs with Greek Salad. I was able to put these together while chatting on the phone with my best friend T. And the kebabs took very little time to cook. And they were delicious. The Brain even offered to let me do the grilling from now on.

Grilled Chicken, Red Onion and Mint Kebabs with Greek Salad
from The Bon Appetit Cookbook

kebabs:
1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 bunch fresh mint
1 onion cut into 1 inch pieces
8 skewers

Mix chicken, 2 Tbsp oil. garlic, mint, oregano, salt, and pepper in medium bowl. Let marinate 30 minuets. Whisk remaining 2 Tbsp oil and lemon juice in small bowl to blend.Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Pull off large fresh mint leaves from stems. Alternate chicken, onion, and mint leaves on skeweres; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until chicken is just cooked through, turning and basting occasionally with oil-lemon mixture, about 9 minutes. Transfer skewers to platter.

salad:
2 cups cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 pitted Kalamata olives chopped
1/4 cup diced onion
3 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Mix first 9 ingredients in a medium bowl to combine. Gently mix in cheese. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

White Beans with Tomatoes, Garlic, and Sage

Yes it's time for another installment of Legume Wednesday! Hooray! Tonight's recipe is excellent. Tonight we travel to the home of some of my husband's family's roots. Italy. Apparently white beans, tomatoes and garlic are ubiquitous in Florence. And most of my cookbooks have some recipe for "Tuscan White Beans". The recipes were mostly similar and some weren't very appetizing. Also, as I've never had these beans before, I wanted to make sure I made something fairly authentic. So I turned to my giant The New Best Recipe Cookbook. According to this cookbook, the traditional way for these beans to be made is for them to be stuck in an empty Chianti bottle and stuck in the embers of the fire overnight. Fortunately for me, and for you dear readers, the cookbook modernized the process for today's cook.

Although it took a long time to make these White Beans with Tomatoes, Garlic, and Sage, the effort level was small and the rewards were tremendous. I realized at about 3:00 this morning in the middle of glazing some donuts at work that I forgot to soak the beans overnight. This was a little unnerving as I was determined to do another dried bean recipe. When I got home I immediately checked the recipe and found to my delight that there is no soaking required. Yay!

Boiling the beans with the onion, carrot, garlic, and bay leaves add tremendous flavor too. I have to admit, I tasted the beans several times while the tomatoes were cooking. The cookbook says you can use canned beans instead, but I can't imagine how you would get canned beans to taste so good. The recipe does use two pots, but I managed to do the dishes while making it so it all came out even in the end!

So yeah, this is one of the tastiest bean dishes I've ever had. It totally hit the spot tonight. I even helped myself to seconds. Fortunately it makes a lot of beans and I can have them for lunches for the rest of the week. These beans are also ridiculously good for you, low calorie, high in protein and fiber. They also are crazy cheap to make provided you have a well stocked pantry and an herb garden. And they are so very delicious.

White Beans with Tomatoes, Garlic, and Sage

courtesy of The New Best Recipe Cookbook

1 pound dried white beans (navy, great northern or cannellini) rinsed and picked over

1 medium onion, unpeeled and halved through the root end

1 medium carrot cut into 2 inch chunks

1 garlic head, top quarter cut off and loose papery skin removed

salt

2 bay leaves

6 cups water

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

4 medium garlic cloves sliced thin

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh sage leaves

2 (15oz) cans diced tomatoes, drained

2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves

ground black pepper

Bring the beans, onion, carrot, garlic head, 1 tsp salt, the bay leaves, and water to a boil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, partly cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are almost tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, adding more liquid if necessary. Remove the pot from the heat, completely cover, and let stand until the beans are fully tender, 30 to 60 minutes. Drain the beans, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Remove and discard the onion, carrot, and bay leaves. With a slotted spoon, transfer the head of garlic to a cutting board. Using the tongs, squeeze the cloves out of the skins and return the softened cloves to the pot with the beans; discard the skins.

Heat the olive oil, sliced garlic, and sage in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. As the oil begins to sizzle, shake the pan back and forth so that the garlic does not stick (stirring with a wooden spoon will cause the garlic to clump). Cook until the garlic turns very pale gold and the sage darkens, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and 1/2 tsp salt and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomato juices have evaporated and the tomatoes look shiny, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the beans and reserved cooking liquid. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated. 18 to 20 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, accompanied by extra virgin olive oil for drizzling.

Grilled Chicken Thighs and Grape Tomatoes

I'm sorry about the long delay since the last time I blogged. I have a sort of big project I'm working on that I'll tell you more about in a couple months and it entails long hours of studying Geometry. I'm trying to remember things I learned in school over (gulp) 20 years ago. I also got to tour the NASA Plum Brook facility twice this past weekend. First when my mom came down and then when the Queen Geek came down. It was a blast. (hee hee hee get it?)

So I think I've eaten out more this past weekend than in the entire past month. And last night as I was frantically re-learning math and feeling sorry for 16 year old kids everywhere, I wanted something quick and easy for dinner. The humidity yesterday was brutal too. The thermostat inside the house read 76 degrees at 5:30pm. So really I didn't want to even think about turning on the oven.

Cooking Light to the rescue! I was leafing through the June issue and saw Grilled Chicken Thighs with Roasted Grape Tomatoes. The recipe is beyond easy. All it involves is marinating the chicken in a lemony marinade and grilling it. I altered it a little too because there was no way I was cranking the oven up to 425 degrees F. My little house would have retained the heat and I just can't sleep when it's 80 in the house. The Brain hasn't pulled out the window air conditioning unit yet, and I'm trying to delay that. So I wrapped those little tomatoes up in tinfoil and had the Brain grill them with the thighs. Probably we could have grilled them longer, but I really liked how they turned out. They were hot, but still were fairly firm. Be careful though. They're slippery. I had several of them go sailing across the room. The Brain says he's never seen anyone have a meltdown over flying tomatoes before. (It was kind of a long day. I don't normally go into histrionics that easily.)

Grilled Chicken Thighs and Grape Tomatoes

adapted from Cooking Light

Chicken:

1 Tbsp grated lemon rind

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves crushed

8 skinless boneless chicken thighs

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Tomatoes:

2 cups grape tomatoes

2 tsp olive oil

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp grated lemon rind

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp capers

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Prepare grill.

To prepare the marinade, combine lemon rind, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic in a large zip top bag. Add the chicken, seal the bag and move the chicken around (squish the bag) so that the marinade coats all of the chicken. Marinate for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

Place 2 large pieces of aluminum foil on a workspace. Place the tomatoes in the center of the foil. Drizzle them with the olive oil and toss to coat evenly. Wrap the foil up so it make a sealed pouch.

Remove chicken from bag and throw away remaining marinade. Salt and pepper the chicken and grill until done. While the chicken is grilling grill the foil pack of tomatoes. They should get very tender.

Combine tomatoes, parsley, capers, salt and pepper stirring gently. Serve with chicken.

Ma'aloobi

Maybe I was craving some food to remind me of home, or maybe I had an eggplant in the fridge and some ground lamb frozen from last time I was in Michigan, I'm not telling. But when I looked in my A Taste of Lebanon cookbook I found the perfect recipe, Ma'aloobi. It's packed full of vegetables and potatoes and then has a wonderful filling of ground lamb and toasted pine nuts. And it's fun to say too! I did tweak the recipe some to make it a little healthier. I promised the Brain that I wouldn't make any dinner that had over 500 calories per serving. I figured this recipe on 4 servings, but really it could have served 6.

What resulted was a warm and delicious meal to cheer Marissa and Tony on Dancing with the Stars. And the leftovers were a great lunch today. Especially because it's darn cold outside and we might get snow. grrr.

I really wish the fighting in the Middle East would stop because I would love someday to visit. I love the warming spices and the beautiful dishes. Perhaps I'm fortunate that I grew up in the Detroit area and was exposed to a lot of Middle Eastern culture. I think it's a terrific and old culture and it really saddens me that on one end it seems no one can get along and that we seem to be messing up the other end.

Ma'aloobi

adapted from A Taste of Lebanon

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 pound ground lamb

1 medium onion (half finely chopped)

1 tsp salt (divided)

1/2 tsp pepper (divided)

1 large eggplant

2 large potatoes

2 large tomatoes

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup water

Toast pine nuts in skillet until nuts are golden brown. Add meat and chopped onion. Saute until meat changes color. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Set aside.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Peel eggplant and potatoes. Cut both into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut tomatoes 1/4 inch thick. Slice remaining onion 1/4 inch thick. Divide the vegetables into 2 groups.

Layer the first group by alternating the four vegetables in a casserole dish. Sprinkle the meat filling evenly over the vegetables. Layer the remaining vegetables over the filling. Add the remaining salt and pepper, and cinnamon. Mix the tomato paste and water together in a small bowl and pour on top. Cover with lid and bake for 1 hour or until the vegetables are tender.

Approximate nutritional information per serving (4 servings): 432.4 calories, 19.8g fat, 50.3g carbohydrates, 9.6g fiber, 17.2g protein, 3.7g sugar, 767.9mg sodium, 41.2mg cholesterol

Bulgur Pilaf with Lamb

Being that there's just the two of us, frequently there are leftovers when we have a roast. It's not like when I was a kid and Mom would buy loads of groceries and the fridge would be empty within a week. Where we went through a side of beef every single year. When 4 gallons of milk was about average consumption. Those were the days of learning to cook for 8 and not ever having leftovers. Unless Mom made her "experiment" of noodles, corn, pork, cheese and cream of celery soup. Oh how I hated "experiment". I don't think it ever officially had a name even. But I digress. Remember how we didn't have corned beef for St. Patrick's Day because we'd be eating if for a week? Well we had a leg of lamb and thus we have leftovers. But what does one do with leftover lamb?

Well after two days of searching I finally found the best recipe for leftover lamb. Well, leftover medium to medium rare lamb. It's Bulgur Pilaf with Lamb and I found it through the magic of Yahoo Food. It was the bright spot in my day.

Did you know today is the first day of spring? It is also my sister in law W's birthday. W is seriously a fun girl and I really like her. Fortunately for W, she lives in South Carolina. She doesn't live up here in the land winter won't let go of. Yes it snowed last night AGAIN. And my ice scraper broke this morning. Oh yeah and we just got the warning across the TV that we're in for a winter storm watch tomorrow night. Where do I live? Alaska? I wish! Alaska is beautiful. I think to date it is my favorite state to have visited. And I've been to every state, but Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Colorado and Idaho. I'm sure those are beautiful states too, but Alaska was amazing. Moose and bears and super tall mountains (I actually took a plane up to a glacier on Denali!)

No I don't live anywhere near as exciting as that. I live in flat North Central Ohio. People do come visit here, but only because we're near an amusement park.And yes. It is still winter here. Unfortunately I don't think we're getting out of winter any time soon. Last April, when the Brain and I got married, it snowed during our reception. So I think we're looking at another month of snow. sheesh.

Bulgur Pilaf with Lamb

modified from All Recipes

2 Tbsp butter

3/4 lb leftover lamb cut into small pieces with fat and gristle removed

1 small onion cut into quarters and thinly sliced

2 cup fine bulgur

1 quart home canned tomatoes with juice (or 4 large peeled tomatoes cut up)

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup crumbled feta

Melt butter in saute pan over medium high heat. Add lamb and onion and saute until onion starts to brown. Add the bulgur to the pan and cook for 3 minutes to toast, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat down so it barely simmers. Let cook stirring occasionally for 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and bulgur isn't crunchy. If bulgur is still crunchy and liquid is absorbed add another 1/2 cup broth. Once bulgur is not crunchy and liquid is absorbed remove from heat and sprinkle with crumbled feta.