Orzo with Chickpeas

I like to have the television on when I'm puttering about the house. I grew up in a big family and sometimes the house gets too quiet for me. I don't always pay attention to it, but the noise is soothing when I'm folding laundry or mopping floors. So, last Saturday, while I was cleaning our cozy little house, or knocking over liquor stores on facebook, I don't remember which. (I think I'm addicted to Mob Wars, but there's something fun about saying, "I just knocked over a liquor store!")

Anywho, I had the television on and all of the sudden there's Rachel Ray in all her EVOO, Yummo! and Delish! glory, making this really tasty looking orzo and chickpea salad. So then I had to sit down and watch and it looked pretty good. So I looked up the recipe and made it for lunch. It's really really good! I did lighten it up a little. I cut down the oil and added more zucchini. And ta-daa! Legume Wednesday starts 2009 on a light and healthy note. And yeah, this salad is good warm OR cold. Deeeeeelish!

Orzo with Chickpeas
adapted from Rachel Ray

1/2 pound orzo
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium zucchini, chopped
1 small red onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1/2 cup parsley leaves, chopped
1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped
2 ounces goat cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add orzo and cook to al dente.
Heat oil in a skillet, add zucchini, onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook 6 to 7 minutes until tender, add chick peas and heat through. Toss with herbs, orzo and cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I'm sure I'm not alone on this, but I have a glut of zucchini going on. For example, before I went on vacation I had 9, yes nine, zucchini to do something with. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving them and having them go bad. I made some zucchini bread that was a combination of my mom's and my stepmother's recipes. I grated a bunch and put them in 2 cup packages in the freezer. I grilled and sauteed a bunch. And I made cake. Yep, when life hands you zucchini, make cake.

The zucchini really isn't noticeable in this cake. It's dark. It's rich. It's chocolaty. It doesn't scream, "Eat me! I'm a healthy vegetable!" Oh but they're in there. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the inside because I took it on family vacation and simply forgot. I did have three pieces and numerous opportunities, but by the time I remembered, the cake had gone moldy. Take this lesson away with you. Zucchini cake left on the counter and not eaten will go moldy. In about 5 days. The irony here is that after my third piece, I decided that I better slow down so that other people could have some when they wanted it.

Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cake

adapted from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman

2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 cups dark chocolate cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups lightly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup coffee

3 cups grated zucchini

1 cup chocolate chips

powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10 inch fluted bundt pan.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into a medium bowl.

Beat together the brown sugar and butter. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the coffee, and beat until smooth. Fold in the zucchini. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool the entire cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake, remove the pan, and let cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar right before serving.

Grilled Zucchini Feta Salad

With the current summer heat, my kitchen now stays at a constant 83°F. This makes me really averse to turning on the stove or the oven. For several days now I have existed on "man food". Food that makes the Brain happy. Things like lunch meat sandwiches, ordered in pizza, and Tostino's Pizza Rolls. The Brain may love food like this, but I'm craving vegetables. SO as I lay sweating on the couch, hooked up to my home electric stim unit, after yet another dismal Dr's appointment, I decided that I needed to somehow find a way of cooking the zucchini on my counter.

This particular zucchini came from my garden. Which is now completely overgrown with weeds. Ugh. This particular zucchini was also mighty delicious. While I washed the remaining Daring Baker dishes (geez there were a lot), I let the sliced up zucchini marinate in some olive oil and garlic. Then I threaded them on to skewers and grilled them until I felt they were done. Add a sprinkle of feta, a splash of red wine vinegar, some kosher salt, and some fresh cracked black pepper and I'm not unhappy to know there are two more big zucchini waiting for me to eat them. And my house didn't get any warmer than it already is!

Grilled Zucchini and Feta Salad

an original Shazam recipe

1 large zucchini

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp minced garlic

kosher salt

fresh cracked black pepper

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp crumbled feta

Slice the zucchini into 1/2 inch slices. If the diameter of the zucchini is more than an inch and a half you may want to cut the zucchini into half moons or smaller sized chunks. Let marinate for 30 minutes. Then thread the zucchini onto skewers, as many skewers as needed. Grill over high heat until grill marks appear on zucchini and squash is softened. Pull zucchini off skewers onto a plate. Drizzle with red wine vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add crumbled feta cheese and enjoy warm.

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.

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.

Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Quinoa

Today was the first day of physical therapy. It's amazing how in 2 weeks my leg has shriveled to downright puny. My therapist and I had a long discussion on what I could and couldn't do and although I'm sure she thinks I'm chomping on the bit to get back to athletic life, she also says that a metric century (62 mile bicycle ride) in November is a "realistic goal". Yippee! Being the third knee surgery I was pretty scared she was going to tell me that rehab was going to be more conservative. But all my random leg lifts on the couch have apparently done me good and she said that she's pleased with my strength and happy with my range of motion. I can now bend my knee a whole 96 degrees. That's better than I thought I could do! So between chapters of the Cider House Rules I'm flopping around like a fish out of water doing my exercises. I will be strong again!

But what does this have to do with food? Not a whole lot. I'm still eating food the ladies in town are making. I really have to get the recipe for the cube steak that came over on the weekend. It's seriously yummy. But today's recipe I made a while back and is really really healthy. It even contains a food my mother considers as one of my special fancy foods. Quinoa.

Quinoa isn't a new food. It's actually an ancient food from South America. The leaves are edible, but good luck finding them in a grocery store out here in North Central Ohio. Or really I'm not sure where you can find them. Maybe in New York City. Or probably South America. Anyway, I digress. Quinoa, pronounced keenwa, is a pseudocereal because it's not a grass. The ancient Incas called it the "mother of all grains". We eat the seed part of quinoa and it's a complete protein, meaning it has a balanced distribution of all the amino acids. This makes it a very good meal for vegetarians. Quinoa also is gluten free, which is important to a whole lot of people. (thank you wikipedia)

Quinoa also comes in different colors. The white kind is most readily available in larger supermarkets. The red kind tastes a little nuttier than the white kind. Quinoa is also very easy and quick to cook, but they should be rinsed several times before cooking to remove their natural coating of saponin. If the quinoa isn't rinsed the saponin can make it taste soapy and that's no good.

This Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Qunioa recipe I found on Epicurious.com and it really makes a tasty dish. For people who need meat, this makes an excellent side dish. I ate it for lunches as a nutritious and tasty meal all in itself. It's the kind of dish I feel good eating, because it's so tasty and yet I know I'm doing something excellent for my body. Like growing my muscles.

Oh and those 62 mile bike rides are really more like a string of 6, 10 mile bike rides (yes, plus 2 miles) with rest stops with Gatorade, fruit, and Snickers bars in between. And you get all day to do it. Well a large portion of the day. They're a lot of fun and really not that difficult to do. Usually if you get a flat tire or something, other bikers will stop to help you and there's a support vehicle that keeps circling the route. The American Diabetes Association, in most states, has a Tour de Cure every summer that has a 62 mile (100km) option that I did once near Grand Rapids, Michigan with the Queen Geek and had a tremendous amount of fun. They do also have shorter routes too. These bike rides are a great way to support a terrific organization, spend a healthy afternoon, and eat Snickers bars guilt free. What I'll do for a guilt free Snickers bar....

Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Quinoa

from Bon Appetit

4 cups water

2 cups quinoa, rinsed well, drained

2 Tbsp dried currants

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into small cubes

2 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut into small cubes

1 Tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine first 4 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots; saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini; saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in paprika and cinnamon. Add quinoa to skillet; toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.