Quick Carrot and Raisin Salad

I think it's natural when starting a new year to think about changes you can make to your life to make it better. Whether they work or not is a whole different story. And while resolutions at this time of year are a dime a dozen, you won't find any of them here. Any lifestyle changes I'm making, I've been making for a couple months now. And really, they're personal. Sorry.

What I can share here, besides this really delicious Quick Carrot Slaw from Cooking Light, are some things to look forward to with this blog.

1: There will be a big exciting blog giveaway this month, just in time for my birthday. I'm pretty excited about it.

2: January will again be a celebration (for the most part) of my big love of vegetables. Yippee carrot salad! It's really good. I promise!

3: There will be much much more yeast bread here. I've been dabbling in it a little bit and haven't posted because I'm not changing the recipes at all. But as I get more confident in my bread baking I'll be sharing with you!

4: Perhaps you may remember me mentioning that Chester and Louise are in the freezer. While I am tremendously enjoying the pig and the lamb, the Brain informed me yesterday that we are getting 1/4 of a cow in the next two weeks. Sorry vegetarians, but I've got a hearty portion of pig and lamb to cook up to make room for the cow. and most likely there will be more meat going on. There still will be some vegetarian recipes sprinkled in though. Like this delicious carrot salad.

5: Yes, I'm in school for another semester and that means I'm going to continue to rely on the slow cooker. SO look for more easy to prepare meals for people on the go!

6: I still love legumes and Legume Wednesday will be continuing through 2009. Starting next week.

7: I have been really crappy at responding to comments and I'm going to try much harder to respond when you comment.

Yikes! That last one sounds like a resolution so I'm going to stop here. Have some carrot salad.

Quick Carrot and Raisin Salad
adapted from Cooking Light
Yield 4 servings

1/3 cup raisins
1/2 small red onion, minced
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 pound matchstick-cut carrots
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cloves garlic, minced

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine mayonnaise and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Spoon dressing over carrot mixture; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.

Yukon Gold & Sweet Potato Mash

Today, I'm ridiculously thankful that this man is our president.

I'm thankful that America rose up and made such a historic election and that we are sending a message to the world that hillbillies do not represent America. I am looking forward to a year of eloquent and intelligent speeches that do not include the words: dang it, doggone it, and ya know. And that's all the politics I'm going to give you.

I am also thankful for mashed potatoes in any form. When I was little, mashed potatoes were probably my favorite food. We would go to my Grandma and Papa's house for a holiday with my 19 cousins and 13 aunts and uncles and I would sit by my godfather, Uncle T., and respond to his question about how much potatoes I would like with the ubiquitous "two scoops please!" I think I may have had potatoes confused with raisin bran. Which would explain my gently expanding waistline.

As an adult, I find that I love the combination of mashing sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. The nice thing about this recipe too is that it still has that yummy factor without the thousands of extra calories that potatoes made with sour cream and heavy cream and tons of butter have. Don't get me wrong, those kind of potatoes are fabulous too, but remember my ever expanding waistline? These potatoes are delicious without the two scoops of guilt that comes with traditional mashed potatoes.

I'm also thankful that M. peeled the potatoes and sweet potatoes!

Isn't she pretty?

Yukon Gold & Sweet Potato Mash

from Eating Well

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks

1/2 cup low-fat milk

2 Tbsp butter

1 tsp brown sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place potatoes and sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until very tender when pierced with a fork, 20 to 25 minutes.

Drain the potatoes, then mash in the pan to get the desired consistency. Place milk and butter in a small bowl and microwave on High until the butter is mostly melted and the milk is warm, 30 to 40 second. Stir the milk mixture, sugar, salt, and pepper into the mashed potatoes until combined.

Obama photo from here.

Maple Glazed Carrots

I am thankful because today I get to express my wishes and desires for the direction of this beautiful country. I get to stand up and say this is what I want and this is what's important to me. For the first time ever, I carefully went through and looked up each candidates position. Well, okay not all the candidates. I didn't look up those people from the Green Party, the Socialist Party, or Ralph Nader. And I overlooked the Ohio Supreme Court people by accident. And then there were three separate people on my ballot that were somehow peripherally people I knew. My breakfast buddy A's mother-in-law, another lawyer's dad, and a friend of the family's brother were all running for things, one Republican, one Democrat, and one Independent (sorry, my town may be the county seat and twice the size of Wasilla, but it's still pretty small). But, other than that I made informed decisions. I looked up who was running for sheriff. I looked up the issues. I listened to both sides and I thought about things and I made decisions for myself and I VOTED. This is a truly great country that we get the chance to vote. And for that I'm thankful. And if when tonight is over, Barak Obama gets elected I'll be even more thankful. That's right, I've voted for Mr. Obama. It's done. So none of your political arguments are going to change that. Or those damn robo-calls. Man those are annoying.


What's most important is that YOU actually make an informed decision about what's important to you and you go out there and wait in line and vote too. And besides if you take one of these stickers to Ben and Jerry's, they'll give you a free ice cream. That's something to be thankful for. Especially if your nearest Ben and Jerry's isn't hours away.

These lovely Maple Glazed Carrots were part of my Dinner of Giving Thanks. They were super easy and completely delicious. And yes, I just ate all of the leftovers for lunch. I might have to make these again...

Maple Glazed Carrots
from Real Simple

3 pounds carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick on the diagonal
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Kosher salt and black pepper

In a large skillet, combine the carrots, syrup, butter, 1/3 cup water, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, stirring once, until the carrots are tender and the liquid has reduced to a glaze, 12 to 15 minutes. (If the carrots are tender before the liquid has thickened, uncover, increase heat to medium-high and cook until the liquid forms a glaze.)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans

So what exactly am I thankful for? Besides my happy family and my hunk of a husband? Well, today I'm thankful the brakes and headlights are good on my trusty Ford Focus. I'm thankful for my eye-foot coordination. And I'm thankful for the 4 feet of pavement that separated me from a pretty big male deer (it had horns) that happened to be standing in the middle of the road. It wasn't crossing the road. It was just standing there. Like it was suicidal or something. I hyperventilated for the next 10 miles, but I'm very thankful. Whew.

These Brussels sprouts are also something to be thankful for. It was kind of funny because my mom kept raving about them and how sweet they are. And my sister told me on the way out that if they were cooked that way at home she might actually eat them. I think that's massive praise considering M. is not a fan of vegetables in general. And even better these are a no-fuss vegetable dish.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans

courtesy of Real Simple

2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

kosher salt and black pepper

(the original recipe called for 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, but I seem to have forgotten to add them. oops!)

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the Brussels sprouts, pecans, oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Turn the Brussels sprouts cut side down. Roast until golden and tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Grilled Eggplant with Garlic-Cumin Vinaigrette, Feta & Herbs

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but as a kid I hated eggplant. Like really really detested it. I'd eat the peas that Super G would sit there and howl about having to eat. I'd eat M's celery from the chop suey. But I would not, could not, tolerate eggplant. It is my mom's favorite vegetable so pretty much we had it on a every so often basis. She would saute it up and I would sulk. I would call up Bethany and see if I could come over for dinner. I had have a temper tantrum. I would be downright rotten. And when it came time to sit down to dinner, I took the smallest portion possible. I forced it down with my milk. And I complained LOUDLY the entire time. (I did not have the stamina of M or Super G. who would carry on and make such a scene that prolonged dinner for a good 45 minutes. Picky eaters weren't exactly tolerated. We ate what was on our plates and nobody got up from the table until everyone was finished.)

Now it's a different story. Now those glossy purple vegetables call to me in the grocery. "Look at my smooth and shiny skin. Look at my plump firm curves. You know you want to caress me, to devour me. I'm so versatile." I get completely suckered in. Then I find myself at home with this luscious eggplant staring at me. Now what? I could do Baba Ghanoush. I love Baba Ghanoush. But really can't I do something different? I could make the Lamb and Eggplant Potpie, which is an all time favorite, but I don't have any ground lamb and it's hot. So while picking up noodles for the swimming pool for "family vacation" at Walmart, inspiration struck. I was standing there in the checkout and noticed Grilling Summer 2008 from the lovely people of The Best of Fine Cooking. I actually picked it up to see if they had anything interesting to do with a 1 pound pork tenderloin. But there. On page 88 was the most delicious looking eggplant salad staring me in the face.

I am so proud I restrained myself from going and buying more eggplant.

I made the Grilled Eggplant with Garlic-Cumin Vinaigrette, Feta & Herbs today for dinner. It's every bit as good as the photo. Man do I love eggplant now. And I have to say I'm getting better at the grill too. The Brain is working late so he doesn't get any. He can have leftover bucatoni.

As an aside, I will no longer be posting, or sampling any recipes from Cook's Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, or Cook's Country. For background, check here and here. My personal viewpoint is this:

Given a list of ingredients cannot be copyrighted. And the method can only be copyrighted providing it uses wording that cannot be said another way, such as family anecdotes or such, not phrases like "bring to a boil." That when a person adapts a recipe, makes the recipe grow and evolve, they change the ingredients and therefore adapt the cooking instructions to those changed recipes, the recipe is therefore a different recipe. I'm not talking changing from a dash of salt to a pinch of salt. I'm talking significantly changing.

As a personal policy, I site the recipe source that I adapt so that you can know my inspiration. I think the people at Cook's Illustrated/ America's Test Kitchen/ Cook's Country acted outside of their copyright and merely resorted to bullying a food blogger because they can. Or they think they can. Shame on you Cook's Illustrated. Shame.

That being said, I copied this recipe almost verbatim. And you can see from my notes in the recipe how easy to adapt this recipe is if you don't have exactly the right ingredients. I strongly encourage you to find and buy this handy magazine. There are some amazing looking recipes in here. And I'm definitely not going to post them all! If all of Fine Cooking recipes are like this, then I may subscribe. And if they ask me to take down my post, I will because I didn't change it at all, but I will be disappointed.

Grilled Eggplant with Garlic-Cumin Vinaigrette, Feta & Herbs

from Fine Cooking

1 small clove garlic

kosher salt

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (I ran out of lemons, but jarred lemon juice worked just fine)

1 small shallot, very finely diced (I used a baby onion from the garden)

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted and pounded in a mortar or ground in a spice grinder (I used 1/2 tsp ground cumin, call me lazy)

Pinch of cayenne, more to taste

1 large globe eggplant (about 1 lb.), trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil; more as needed

Kosher salt

1/4 cup crumbled feta

2 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh mint

2 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

With a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and a pinch of salt to a paste, or mince the garlic, sprinkle with salt, and mash into a paste with the side of a chef's knife.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic paste and 1 Tbsp. of the lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes. Combine the shallot with the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice and a pinch of salt in another small bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Whisk the olive oil, cumin, and cayenne into the garlic mixture. Season to taste with salt or cayenne if needed.

Prepare a medium-high charcoal or gas grill fire. Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with olive oil and season with salt. Grill (covered on a gas grill; uncovered on a charcoal grill) until golden-brown grill marks form, 3 to 4 minutes.

Turn the eggplant and grill until tender and well marked on the second sides, another 3 to 4 minutes. The interior should be grayish and soft rather than white and hard.

Top the grilled eggplant slices with the shallots, feta, and herbs. Whisk the garlic-cumin vinaigrette and drizzle it on top. Serve immediately.

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.

Greek Week Day 1: Orzo With Zucchini

A little bit ago, Peter M. at Kalofagas, had a small rant. Basically he was saying that he didn't like how people will throw a few ingredients in a dish and then say that dish is a certain ethnicity. Like if you add oregano and basil to a dish that doesn't mean it's Italian. Apparently it annoys him greatly. I can understand that. I didn't take it personally because in my own little world I don't usually do anything wrong. Well that, and I'm woefully bad at experimenting with different ethnicities. So I promptly put his rant out of my mind. Sorry Peter.

Well that was until last week when I found myself at the library returning a 2 month overdue book (oops) and checking out a new book for my family's book club. The newest book, The Tipping Point, happened to be located fairly near the cookbook section. So I moseyed over to take a peak. As I was standing there, I came to realize that other than Indian, Middle Eastern, and American-Italian foods, I don't know much at all about the foods of other cultures. Like zip, zero, zilch. That's when I started thinking about Peter's rant. So I decided to explore true Greek cuisine. I realized that the only Greek food I've ever had is Moussaka and Pastitso (which I don't like that thick creamy sauce on), the flaming cheese (which I LOVE), and the ubiquitous Greek Salad. The choice of cuisine was clinched when I came across The Complete Book of Greek Cooking, by The Recipe Club of Saint Paul's Greek Orthodox Cathedral. So a Greek cookbook by Greek people.

And so Greek Week begins. Today's selection is Orzo with Zucchini or Kritharaki me Kolokithakia. It's delicious. Little pieces of zucchini caramelized with chewy little bits of orzo. It's a lovely homey side dish. Very comforting. And totally surprising. I had no idea this is what Greek food was like. I served it up with a white perch that the Brain caught in Lake Erie. According to The Complete Book of Greek Cooking, the Greek way to cook fish is with olive oil and high heat. So I coated it in olive oil, sprinkled it with salt and pepper and turned up the heat on the Barbecue. Wow. I'm cooking more fish this way. Yum.

Orzo with Zucchini
from The Complete Book of Greek Cooking

1/3 cup orzo
4 to 5 medium zucchini (about 3 pounds) scrubbed trimmed and diced
1/4 vegetable or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried oregano

Fill a large pot with water, bring to a boil, and add orzo. Reduce heat, and cook for 15 minutes, until tender, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. While orzo cooks, in a large heavy pot, saute zucchini in oil until brown, about 5 minutes. Add drained orzo to zucchini; season with salt, pepper, and oregano. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Shake the pot a few times to prevent mixture from becoming lumpy (stirring can mash the zucchini). Serve hot or cold.

Bacony Baked Beans

Saturday night the Brain and I went over to a friend's house for dinner. They are a young couple with the cutest 2 year old daughter EVER. Very very very cute little girl. But I digress, the wife, A. made some very delicious baked beans that inspired tonight's Legume Wednesday.

I had a completely different recipe in mind though. But today was a sort of comedy of errors. First it turns out that the recipe I wanted to cook took 4 hours to cook, and I apparently ran out of dried navy beans. Ooops. Then I was going to doctor this recipe differently by adding different types of beans, but like Old Mother Hubbard, my cupboard was bare. I had 2 cans of "seasoned" black beans (bought by mistake), 3 cans of garbanzo beans, a can of refried beans, and 2 cans of navy beans. I may need to stock up the pantry fairly soon.

So tonight's recipe comes from the Joy of Cooking, except I doctored it a bit. I made it spicy. It's super delicious. I did learn a very important lesson though. Don't wipe your eyes while chopping jalapenos. Ouch. These beans probably can be made vegetarian with a fair amount of success by omitting the bacon.

Bacony Baked Beans

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

3 cups canned great northern beans

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 small onion minced

2 Tbsp molasses

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 minced, seeded jalapeno

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

3 shakes of Frank's hot sauce

9 slices bacon, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a separate bowl, mix all ingredients reserving 1/3 of the bacon. Sprinkle the bacon on top. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes.

Sauteed Escarole with Currants and Capers

Blame it on Rachel Ray. Usually when she cooks I'm about as familiar as I'd like to be with her ingredients. With the exception of escarole. The first couple times that she cooked with it I was curious. As she continued to cook with it I was intrigued. Finally I came across a recipe in one of my many many books, or it could have been a magazine clipping, or I could have seen it on TV and I thought, "I have to make that and find out what's so great about escarole!" Unfortunately planning ahead didn't happen and when I got to the store I had no idea how much to buy. So I threw one bunch into my cart and figured that if the recipe I wanted to make needed a different amount I'd adjust it.

But then I couldn't remember what recipe I wanted to try. Or where I found it. So here was this escarole sitting in my fridge and I was at a loss. So I tried to find a good recipe to try. There are tons. Now I was really at a loss. Apparently escarole can be eaten raw in salads, or simply sauteed as a side, it's pretty common in Italian soups too, and commonly it's paired with white beans. Being that neither the Brain nor I had tasted it before, I thought this simple, quick, easy to make Sauteed Escarole with Currants and Capers was probably a good idea.

It was delicious! Apparently escarole is closely related to endive and is part of the chicory family. It is high in Folate and Vitamin A too. The currants and capers in this recipe really set of the lovely mild bitterness of the escarole. I think it's a more flavorful green than spinach and yet it doesn't have the long cooking time of kale. We'll definitely be eating more escarole in our future.

Sauteed Escarole with Currants and Capers

adapted from Gourmet magazine

1 tablespoon pine nuts

1 head escarole, washed and cut into 1 inch pieces

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp dried currants

1 Tbsp drained capers

In a 12 inch nonstick skillet saute garlic in oil over moderately high heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add escarole in 3 batches, tossing each batch with tongs until wilted before adding next. Stir in currants, capers, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, covered over moderately low heat until escarole is tender, about 3 minutes. Remove lid and cook over moderately high heat until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 2 minutes more. Stir in nuts.

Orange Roasted Carrots with Honey, a chunk of meat, and some dirt

Today, with the help of my migrant farm workers (my mom and stepdad) the garden has been planted. I would have taken a photo, but for the most part it's merely a slab of dirt. But in a couple months I will have eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, cucumbers, kohlrabi, beets, beans, radishes, turnips, cabbage, broccoli, onions, and an assortment of squashes (zucchini, yellow, and acorn). But like I said, for now it's a slab of dirt. They also weeded and planted in my herb garden. My stepdad pruned one of my rosebushes and promised that I would have bigger more vibrant roses because of it. My little family of Robin Red Breasts looked on the whole time. So far I count 3 babies. They're only a couple days old.

My mom and stepdad are Master Gardeners. So having them spend the day meant a day spent outside enjoying the warm temperatures and the sunshine. They complimented my tulips out front and told me that if the tree bush that I have growing there is an elderberry, that the berries would then be edible. Now I just have to go about finding out what exactly an Elderberry is supposed to look like.

My mom even pulled up most of the dandelions in the yard and pointed out a virulent weed (I forgot the name, but the phrase "virulent weed" had me pulling weeds as best I could!) and she helped me pull all of it from under the Maple. So I made them a batch of chocolate chip cookies to snack on and tried not to be completely annoying while I watched them work. Gardening is much more fun when you can be involved. I also made them dinner. Because I know that I have some vegetarian readers, I didn't take any photos of the chunk of meat that I served them. It was a 2 1/2 pound eye of round roast that I got at Costco on the very cheap. I also prepared it from the recipe from this cookbook on page 417. It was FABULOUS!

What I will tell you about is the Orange-Roasted Baby Carrots with Honey. They may have completely charcoaled the pan I roasted them in, but they were really really good. My mom kept eating them and the recipe went home with them in the stack of 2007 Bon Appetit magazines. The orange wasn't overpowering at all. It was like a little kiss of it. And the honey enhanced the carrots natural sweetness so I couldn't really tell it was there either. It was like a whole lot of really good pieces making an even better whole. Even if my carrots weren't baby. They were the baby cut mini kind Ala Costco again. I love that store.

Orange-Roasted Carrots with Honey

from Bon Appetit

1 1/2 pounds peeled baby carrots

2 Tbsp olive oil

zest of one orange

juice of one orange

1 1/2 Tbsp honey

salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange carrots in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and orange peel; sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss. Pour orange juice over; cover tightly with foil. Roast until crisp tender, about 10 minutes. Remove foil. Increase temperature to 450 degrees F. Drizzle honey over carrots. Roast uncovered until carrots are tender and browned in spots, about 10 minutes longer. Drizzle lightly with additional olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.

Beet Risotto

One of the things I've been doing to occupy my time during my massive amounts of free time, has been to go through my food magazines that I acquired last year. I know that many people out there have this problem. Cooking Light is easy enough because they send me a cookbook in January that has all the recipes from the previous year in it. So I pack up my old magazines and give them to my stepdad. Bon Appetit is a little more complicated. But because I have the whole year I've offered them to both my stepdad and my sister Super G and I'm letting the two of them battle out who wants them. All those recipes are on epicurious anyway. The remaining magazines pose more of a problem. There's several Rachel Ray magazines and some Eating Well magazines and maybe some Martha Stewart like little Everyday Food magazines.

So my process has been to tear out the recipes that look really good to me and then I file them in a expandable file by recipe type. It's all very anal and silly, but I'm having the small problem that this file is starting to bulge. It occurs to me that I never cook these recipes that get stuffed into the expanding file. Well tonight at dinner I changed it all up. I cooked from a recipe that I found in a Rachel Ray magazine. kinda sorta. See her recipe was for Beet Risotto with Roasted Asparagus and Ricotta Salata. I had no asparagus and no Ricotta Salata. I'm pretty sure Ricotta Salata would be considered a hard to find ingredient out here. But I did have some goat cheese. So I made Beet Risotto with crumbled goat cheese. Rachel Ray may be super peppy and perky and far cuter than I could hope to be, but she also seems to be pretty easy going and I'm sure she wouldn't mind that I'm changing it all up on her.

It was delicious. Even the Brain, who doesn't "care for beets" ate two helpings. It was rich and creamy without any extra butter or Parmesan cheese. The color is beautiful. And it's not overly sweet like many beet dishes can be. Totally "delish"!

Beet Risotto

very loosely based on a recipe by Rachel Ray

3 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth, kept simmering

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

4 baby red beets, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1 small yellow onion chopped

2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry red wine

salt and fresh ground pepper

4 oz. crumbled fresh goat cheese

Heat olive oil in large skillet or medium dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the rice to coat with the oil, and toast for 2 minutes. Add the beets, onion, and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook until absorbed into the rice, then begin adding the broth by ladelfulls (about 1 cup at a time) stirring with each addition, until the rice is cooked, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Crumble goat cheese on top.

Grilled Zucchini and Bell Pepper Couscous

One of the best things about living in a tiny town in the middle of North Central Ohio is that surrounding the town are even smaller towns, like the kind with one stoplight, and a whole lot of farmland. There is something nice about seeing acres of corn and wheat and even soybeans starting to grow. We're not there yet, but today was a sort sopping wet day where it rained on and off and back on again. During one of those breaks from the rain, as I was driving back from going grocery shopping at Meijers with a car load full of vegetables (seriously I went overboard again), I decided to drive with my window down. There is nothing as great as the smell of fresh wet dirt. It's the smell of possibility.

Last night, however, it was not raining. It was actually fairly hot. And I decided that we wouldn't be cooking inside. Perhaps I should explain that our tiny little house holds some heat, so the hotter the day, the hotter the night. So the Brain came home at just the right moment. I had the vegetables cut up and the pork chops seasoned. I think it made his day that I just handed him some tongs and the big lighter.

The vegetables were for this delicious Grilled Zucchini and Bell Pepper Couscous. Maybe I'm just lucky that I have a husband who can perfectly grill things, but the chopped up zucchini and red bell pepper were charred just right and softened just enough. I made the couscous. I love how easy couscous is and that it's ready within 5 minutes of the boiling liquid. Although I have to say, I'm not sure how Rachel Ray makes mashing garlic and salt look so easy. That was the hardest part of this whole recipe!

Oh and because we're a happy little family of 2 we naturally had leftovers. Those leftovers made and excellent lunch with some canned garbanzo beans and reheated for a minute in the microwave. I'm glad there's more leftover's for lunch tomorrow!

Grilled Zucchini and Bell Pepper Couscous

adapted from Gourmet

4 small zucchini (about 1 pound)

1 small red pepper

1 tsp olive oil

2 small garlic cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup couscous

Chop the zucchini and red pepper into chunks about 1 inch in size. Toss the vegetables in the oil and place in grill basket. Grill over medium heat until zucchini and red pepper are a little charred, but still crisp tender.

Mince garlic and mash to a paste with salt.

In a dry medium saucepan toast cumin seeds over moderately low heat, swirling pan occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add broth and water and bring to a boil. Add couscous and immediately cover pan. Remove pan from heat and let couscous stand 5 minutes. With a fork fluff couscous and in a bowl toss with vegetables, garlic paste, and salt to taste.

Sauteed Fennel with Raisins, Pine Nuts, and Garlic

This is not a pretty side dish. It's kind of brown and green and not terribly appealing. But do not be put off by it's looks. This is a very simple and incredibly tasty vegetable side dish. I have been eyeing making this Fennel with Raisins, Pine Nuts, and Garlic since I started peeking through my all time favorite cookbook. Yes. I'm talking about Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop. It's just such a complete cookbook, chock full information and recipes for pretty much every vegetable I can get. Like tonight's vegetable was close race between some beets, some baby zucchini, and the fennel that I've been meaning to cook for a while.

I'm glad I chose the fennel. It's not as pretty as the sweet potatoes that I made using a sweet and spicy spice blend sent to me by the lovely Amanda at Mrs. W's Kitchen. Seriously, go check her out because she has all kinds of healthy great recipes that keep in mind Diabetic and gluten free lifestyles. The fennel, ugly as it may be was subtly licorice flavored and the sweetness of the raisins and the crunch of the pine nuts set it off perfectly.

Sauteed Fennel with Raisins, Pine Nuts, and Garlic

From Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

2 medium fennel bulbs

3 Tbsp olive oil

4 medium garlic cloves minced

2 Tbsp golden raisins

2 Tbsp pine nuts

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Trim the stems and fronds from the fennel. Discard the stems; mince enough of the fronds to yield 1 tablespoon. Trim a thick slice from the base of the bulb and remove any tough or blemished outer layers. Cut the bulb in half through the base and use a small, sharp knife to remove the triangular piece of the core from each half. With each fennel piece flat side down and your knife parallel to the work surface, slice crosswise to yield several 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut the slices lengthwise to yield long strips about 1/2 inch thick.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the fennel strips and toss to coat them with oil. Cook, stirring often, over medium heat until the fennel has softened considerably but still offers some resistance, about 15 minutes.

Add the garlic, raisins, and pine nuts and cook, stirring often, until the garlic is golden, about 1 minute. Season generously with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the minced fennel fronds and serve immediately.

Grilled Eggplant and Tomato

Spring has sprung. Finally. And I'm allowed to walk around the block. Hooray! Even though I am a champion race walker (for my age group anyway), it was kind of refreshing to walk slowly (and I really mean slowly) and take everything in. The neighbor on the corner one street over has an amazing forsythia bush. It's huge and bright yellow. Other neighbors had blooming daffodils and one neighbor was grilling. And my knee didn't start hurting until I was almost all the way home. And that may have been because some guy I didn't know kind of creeped me out and I realized I couldn't really just pick up the pace and walk past him. I tried. That may have been a bad idea.

So today I felt like grilling. Unfortunately, rain looks imminent so I settled for broiling. For a nice healthy side with dinner I made Grilled Eggplant and Tomato out of the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. I changed it up a bit though. The original recipe called for 3/4 cups of crumbled goat cheese. Walmart does not sell goat cheese. At least not here they don't. And I know what you're thinking, it's Weight Watchers so it's probably "diet" food. (Even though their slogan says they're not a diet, I think of them that way too.) But really this antipasti is pretty darn tasty. The Brain even liked it. I used feta instead of the goat cheese and I think the saltiness of it helps. Also I think next time I will omit the tomatoes. Probably I cooked them too long, but they got mushy.

And now I'm going to attempt walking around the block again. Going slowly. Concentrating on walking without a limp and straightening my leg completely. And trying to avoid uneven pavement. And contain my happiness at being able to mosey around the block.

Grilled Eggplant and Tomato

from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced

1/4 cup chicken broth (it's what I had, the original recipe calls for vegetable broth)

4 tsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 tomato, cut into 1/2 inch slices

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

Preheat the grill (or broiler). In the food processor or blender, combine the bell pepper, broth, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper; puree. Place the eggplant and tomato on a sheet of wax paper and brush both sides with the broth mixture; discard any remaining broth mixture.

Broil (grill) the eggplant until lightly charred, about 4 minutes on each side. Broil (grill) the tomatoes about 2 minutes on each side.

Arrange the vegetables on a platter. Sprinkle with the cheese and basil.

Per Serving (1/4 of platter) from original recipe with goat cheese and vegetable broth: 161 Cal, 11g Fat, 0g Trans Fat, 17mg Chol, 260mg Sod, 11g Carb, 2g Fib, 7g Prot, 124mg Calc.

4 points.

Cabbage and Potato Bundles

Just to mess with your heads, today's recipe features no alcohol. Yep, that's right. No beer, no whiskey, no wine. None. And it's still tasty. Really really tasty. Even though I resisted the urge to alter the recipe by throwing in some bacon. So to sum up... No booze, no bacon and still damass good.

It's Cabbage and Potato Bundles! I have been eyeing this recipe for several years. It's mashed potatoes that I had a hard time resisting licking right off the spoon, mixed with buttermilk, cheddar and horseradish. And there's cabbage that has been sauteed with onions and garlic that are all yummy and caramelized, which I have to admit I was snitching while waiting for the potatoes to be done. And those mashed potatoes and cabbage are layered in a dish lined with a cabbage leaf. Then there are these really good garlic breadcrumbs sprinkled on top and it's stuck in the oven to warm up and get the outer cabbage leaf all roasty in it's goodness. The only problem was that I think I used a remarkable amount of dishes. Note, I am remarking.

It's a far cry from the humble boiled corned beef and cabbage that I've had pretty much every year for about as long as I can remember. I happen to love boiled corned beef and cabbage, or as my mom calls it a "boiled dinner". And I came surprising close to having it again tonight. The only problem was I couldn't find a corned beef brisket that was less than 3 pounds. 3 pounds of corned beef is a LOT for 2 people. And although I really like a boiled dinner, it's not one of those dinners that I like enough to eat day after day after day. Although that would have been only one pot.

Fortunately they are also pretty filling. Otherwise I could eat them all. And color me happy, Dancing with the Stars is back on!

I should also point out that the lamb on the dish with the bundle was not raw. It actually was medium and it tasted great. Thank you Trader Joe's and your pre-marinated lamb leg.

Potato and Cabbage Bundles

from Gourmet

1 medium onion, halved lengthwise, then sliced crosswise (1 cup)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 large head cabbage

1 clove garlic crushed

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2/3 cup water

2 lb large boiling potatoes

1 cup well shaken buttermilk

3 oz extra sharp Cheddar (grated)

2 Tbsp bottled horseradish

3/4 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp crushed garlic

Cook onion in oil in a 10 inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden. (6 to 8 minutes).

Bring a 6 to 8 quart pot of salted water to a boil. Core the cabbage and remove any damaged outer leaves. Carefully lower the cabbage into the boiling water.

Boil the cabbage and gently remove 4 leaves being careful not to tear them. Continue to boil the head of cabbage and the loose leaves for 5 minutes. Then remove them to a colander and let sit under running icy cold water. Drain and coarsely chop half of the head of cabbage (save the rest for a future use). Pat the loose leaves dry. Butter 4 dishes that are approximately 1 cup in size. (Giant muffin tins work well for this). I don't have any of those, so I use small Pyrex dishes. Then place a strip of parchment in each dish to help remove the bundle when it's done cooking. Once the dishes are prepared, line each dish with a cabbage leaf.

Add the chopped cabbage to the onions in the skillet with the crushed garlic clove, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, and water and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until cabbage is tender and browned, about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes, then cover with cold salted water by 1inch in a 2 to 3 quart saucepan and bring to a boil.

Cook potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain in a colander, then set potatoes in colander over saucepan to steam0dry, uncovered, 5 minutes. Mash potatoes in a large bowl, then stir in buttermilk, cheese, horseradish, 1/2 stick butter, and remaining 1.2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper until combined well.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a 10 inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook bread crumbs and garlic, stirring frequently until golden, 5 to 7 minutes.

Fill each cabbage leaf with 1/8 potato mixture, then with 1/4 cabbage mixture. Top with remaining potato mixture and then sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Finally fold edges of cabbage leaves in over filling, but do not cover completely.

Bake until heated through and edges of cabbage are well browned, 25 to 30 minutes.

Transfer stuffed leaves to plates using parchment overhangs.

Carrot Salad with Lemon Walnut Vinaigrette

We are expecting yet more snow. Somewhere around 8 to 14 inches of snow is predicted. It's just downright depressing. The Meijer's was packed full of people stocking up before the storm when I went grocery shopping today. I have to admit I was stocking up too. But I was only stocking up until the big doctor's appointment next Friday. I also went to the library and although I discovered that it has a larger cookbook section than the local Borders, it took me almost 2 hours to find 5 books to check out. I was careful, just in case, to pick books that I can renew for 3 weeks at a time, so that IF I have to be off my feet I'll have something to read. I've also learned that I need to alphabetize my book list by author and genre (fiction, nonfiction, etc.) because either I was looking in the wrong places or my book list is highly obscure. I'd love it if you could recommend a good book to add to my reading list.

So by the time I got home, I was cranky and developing a headache. I wanted something to eat that wasn't a lot of hassle, yet tasted good. I started some soup. While the soup was cooking (for 30 minutes, but at that point it seemed like forever), I made this wonderful perky salad. Yes, I called it perky. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

The hardest part about the salad was shredding the 2 whole carrots. But even that I did on the box grater instead of the Cuisinart. We don't have a dishwasher and it was a cleanup issue. So once the carrots were shredded, bing bang boom, I mixed up the vinaigrette and it was done. And it was good. The mustard and lemon and walnut oil created a surprisingly happy combination. To quote one of the actress guest judges on the original Iron Chef "Hee hee hee hee. It tastes like a party in my mouth. hee hee hee hee."

Carrots in Lemon-Walnut Vinaigrette

from Healthy Cooking For Two (Or Just You!)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp walnut oil

1 1/2 cups coarsely grated carrots

Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and mustard until blended; then gradually whisk in oil.

Add the carrots and toss well. Taste the salad and season it with salt and pepper as needed.

Per Serving: 78 calories, 4.7g total fat, 0.4g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 32mg sodium, 0.9g protein, 9.1g carbohydrates, 2.7g dietary fiber.

If you have a nut allergy, you can substitute canola oil for the walnut oil.

Spicy Bell Pepper Salad

Sometimes when I go to the grocery store things aren't on my list and I know that I'll need them for recipes I've planned to cook through the week. These are the staples. Things like carrots, potatoes and peppers. You would think that I would remember whether or I have these things or not, but remember, I've run out of flour without knowing it before. Sometimes I think I don't have them at home and I end up with enormous excesses of them. Remember the 10 pounds of carrots? And sometimes I forget that I don't have them at home. I did this with potatoes this week. It's hard to make a potato dish without potatoes. Unfortunately, instead of those potatoes I grabbed peppers. Close, but no cigar. Suddenly I had 6 bell peppers of assorted colors in the fridge. And really I'm not eating 3 days of stuffed peppers. I like them, but that's too many days in a week.

I could repeat the chocolate bell pepper salad, but it's been cold outside and sleeting and generally yucky and I wanted something cooked. My mind has officially drifted to wishing it was spring. This of course was not helped by the fluke sunny 50 degree morning we had on Monday. Now I want to plant my garden and grill on the BBQ (which currently is under a healthy layer of sleet).

And this salad would go great with BBQ. It's the Spicy Bell Pepper Salad courtesy of Bon Appetit. It's not really too spicy. The spicy actually brings out the sweetness of the peppers. I'm sure it would be better with fresh dill, but my dill plant is also under a nice covering of sleet and has been dead for a long time. I used dried dill and it worked pretty well, although the fresh dill would be prettier. I'd like to try it next time with fresh. And yeah, there will be a next time. With a nice grilled steak. or chicken. and a beer. mmmmmmmm.

Spicy Bell Pepper Salad

from Bon Appetit

1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp dried crushed pepper

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/3 inch thick rings

1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/3 inch thick rings

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/3 inch thick rings

1 medium onion, cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds, separated into rings

1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp dried dill or 1/4 cup fresh

Peel lemon with potato peeler so that you have wide strips of the zest (no white parts).

Toast caraway seeds in large skillet over medium high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in oil and crushed red pepper. Add all of the peppers, onion rings, lemon peel, and the garlic slices. Saute until all of the vegetables are crisp tender, about 7 minutes.

Transfer pepper mixture to a bowl, mix in dill and cool. (Here you can remove the lemon peel, but I found it added a really interesting and cooling dimension to the dish.) Juice the lemon and mix it in with the salad and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Hooray it's my 100th post!

E Rated Red Cabbage

When I started this little blog, I had no idea how much fun it would get to be and how many wonderful people I would get to know. And really, if anything, the outpouring of support I recieved in my last post for this whole silliness that's going on with my knee just means so much to me. I love that this community has helped me to stretch what I thought I could do and has introduced me to so many different cultures. And I'm so happy to say thank you to the lovely Deborah of Taste and Tell who gave me the Excellent blog award. Thank you! Deborah is a really super woman who presents healthy and delicious dishes and always leaves such kind comments.

So now I'd like to pass this award on to Cynthia at Tastes Like Home who is from Guyana and lives in Barbados and consistently blogs about Island food. Her pictures are mouthwatering and she's always helpful if you email her.

Secondly I'd like to pass this award on to Courtney at Coco Cooks. She blogs from Chicago and her blog features fantastic recipes that I would love to duplicate. Her cakes are beautiful and sometimes she pushes the envelope and comes up with exciting new dishes. Other times she makes me just want to lick the computer screen!

Thirdly I'd like to pass this award to Laurie at Quirky Cupcake. You might also know her as the host of the monthly Cupcake Hero. I love her sense of humor and I know I can tune into her blog for either some heavy duty drooling or a little bit of hilarity.

Last, I'd like to recognize a non-food blogger. I'd like to pass this award on to Marti at Standing Still. Marti has had so many challenges and situations over the last several months and yet she handles it all with grace and sensitivity and a wicked sense of humor. She also has some seriously great pottery.

SO those are my excellent blogs I'd like to recognize. Just a sampling of the many many excellent blogs out there.

And now for the recipe, which was really just a way for me to use up the second half of the red cabbage I used here. I wasn't planning on blogging about it, but then I tasted it and I knew that I had to share this red cabbage recipe. This is Red Cabbage with Bacon and Caraway from Bon Appetit.

Now I grew up eating ethnically German food. I am no stranger to red cabbage or caraway seeds or bacon. But most of the times I've had red cabbage before, either at home or at German Restaurants it's been cooked until it's dead. Soft, squishy, sweet and tart. Don't get me wrong, the dead kind is delicious and is total comfort food. BUT, and I really believe this, when vegetables are cooked 'till they are falling apart dead, you tend to lose the actual flavor of the original vegetable. For example, my Grandma U's green beans never actually tasted like green beans. That's not to say that the red cabbage I grew up with was tasteless and salty like Grandma U's green beans. It tasted of cloves and apples and vinegar and brown sugar and all sorts of yummy stuff.

But this red cabbage was still a little on the crispy side. We actually had to chew it. It was GREAT! And call me silly, I just love the beautiful purple color of red cabbage. I think it's so pretty You can still taste the wonderful saltiness of bacon and the brown sugar and cider vinegar, but the red cabbage taste comes through too. The Brain and I both really liked it.

Red Cabbage with Bacon and Caraway

from Bon Appetit

4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 head red cabbage, thinly sliced

3 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tsp caraway seeds

chopped fresh parsley

Cook the bacon in a heavy skillet until crispy. Remove from the pan and let drain on paper towels. Drain out about half the bacon grease. Saute the cabbage in the same skillet for about 3 minutes. Stir together the vinegar, sugar and caraway seeds and add to the cabbage. Saute until the cabbage is wilted, but still crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan, season with salt and pepper and mix in the bacon. Add more vinegar as needed. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and enjoy!

Creamy Peanut Dressing

Sometimes, when I have a bad morning, like this morning where I discover that the soup I had planned for lunch got mysteriously fizzy over the weekend. This morning, I also discovered that last night I had stepped in doggy doodoo in my favorite running shoes. I also managed to slip on some ice on the way to work, went flying and landed in a mud puddle. So by 9am I was muddy, had no lunch, had smelly shoes, and a big blue bruise on my big behind. I did what any other red blooded American woman would do. I came home and ate a bunch of Girl Scout Cookies.

The day managed to get better, but bearing in mind my one thousand calorie breakfast I needed something light for dinner. I also had to work mostly in the constraints of what's in the fridge and pantry because remember I was away all weekend? I haven't done my grocery shopping for the week yet. SO I consulted the Healthy Cooking for Two cookbook and found a Creamy Peanut Dressing for salad. I chopped up some romaine lettuce, a little red pepper, a little yellow pepper, a couple radishes, about half a can of water chestnuts, a slice of onion and added some sliced mushrooms. Behold! I made an Asian chopped salad of sorts. I didn't measure any of the salad ingredients, but you get the idea. It was very very tasty and I'm starting to feel super healthy.

Now I can have some of my chocolate for dessert....

Creamy Peanut Dressing

from Healthy Cooking for Two (or Just You)

2 servings

1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt

4 tsp creamy peanut butter

2 tsp lemon juice

Thai garlic chili sauce

soy sauce

In a small bowl using a small whisk, blend the yogurt with the peanut butter and lemon juice until smooth. Stir in Thai garlic chili sauce and soy sauce to taste.

Nutrition Information Per Serving: 79 calories, 5.3g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 74 mg sodium, 4.3g protein, 4.9g carbohydrates, .7g dietary fiber.

Mushy Peas

I really like peas, but I'm stretching my comfort zone tonight. Peas, in my opinion, should never be mushy. They are great cold and firm on a salad. They are great steamed in the microwave. As a single person, I could make a meal out of a bag of frozen peas. But in my household canned peas are forbidden. They are salty and mushy and downright gross.

When we had to eat peas as kids and my sister G, who hates peas, would chew and chew and chew. G could make a spoonfull of peas last for what seemed a lifetime. Like most kids growing up when I did, we couldn't get up from the table until we finished our dinner. Unfortunately, no one could get up from the table until we all finished our dinners. That meant that we all sat there and watched G take forever to finish her peas. Chewing away and crying that she hates peas. We all tried to tell her that if you didn't like something to chew maybe twice and then swallow as fast as you can and rinse it down with milk. She never tried, she just kept chewing. She still won't eat peas.

So, what was I thinking making Mushy Peas? Well because they're pretty. And tasty. And for me, they're like comfort food without the calories of mashed potatoes. I have to admit that I was skeptical about pureeing peas. I mean it just sounds icky. But it wasn't. In fact we have none left. I don't think the Brain showed my enthusiasm for them though. I was thinking to myself, while eating my second helping, that if I had never had peas before, that I would instantly fall in love with them while eating this dish. But after spending a lifetime eating my peas that I could skewer on each tine of a fork, it took a little getting used to the idea of pureed peas. But they are definitely tasty.

Minty Mushy Peas
recipe courtesy of Jamie Oliver and The Food Network

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 handfull fresh mint, leaves picked off
1 pound frozen peas
2 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a pan and add the chopped onions, mint leaves, and peas. Cover and simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occaisionally so all the peas are hot and bright green. Pour the peas into the food processor and puree unti smooth. When it's done add the butter and season very carefully, to taste.