Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Kalamata Olives

Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Kalamata Olives

 

This recipe comes from the New York Times online.

I thought it sounded like a good way to eat quinoa (keen-wah), which is high in protein and a nice alternative to rice.

 

Before you cook quinoa, you need to rinse and drain it a few times to get the soapy residue off.  It cooks quickly.

When the little white string in the seed is present, you know it's done.  It's as easy as making rice according to the packaged directions.

After making the quinoa you toss it in a bowl with a seeded & diced cucumber, Kalamata olives (I halved mine), and chopped fresh mint and parsley.  I seasoned it with sea salt and black pepper.

 

Then I whisked the dressing ingredients together - lemon juice, vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, olive oil, and either buttermilk or plain yogurt.  I used plain Greek yogurt with a Tbsp of water to give it a dressing consistency.

 

 

You toss half of the dressing with salad greens of your choice (I used romaine), and the other half of the dressing with the quinoa salad.  I served the greens and quinoa separately, but you could combine them.

Top with diced avocado and Feta crumbles (optional).

 

I really loved this salad - I would do it again even without the dressing.  The boys were neutral, but David liked it too.  The quinoa salad portion was great the next day with new greens.

 

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Enjoy!

Mediterranean Grain Salad

Mediterranean Grain Salad

I really love the versatility of a grain salad.  This version comes from Sandy who taught me the yumminess of this kind of dish.  It's great as a side dish, a main dish, to take to a pot luck, and keeps for a couple of days easily in the fridge.  This version was especially yummy!

 

You start with 6 cups of cooked grains - whatever you might have on hand.

I had made couscous (not actually a grain) and brown Basmati rice before and froze them to use later.  So I pulled out some of each and defrosted them.

 

But you could use any grain, or combination of grains including rice, quinoa, barley, couscous, etc.

 

Once I was ready to make this dish, I heated the rice and couscous in the microwave for a couple of minutes to take the chill off and combined them in my large mixing bowl. 

 

To my mixed grains I added a can of chickpeas (rinsed & drained), a jar of Kalamata olives (drained), chopped scallions, a chopped cucumber and fresh basil.  I mixed it all up together and seasoned with garlic powder, Kosher salt, and black pepper.

 

Because I wanted the boys to eat this dish as well, I didn't add tomatoes to the dish, but halved some cherry tomatoes for David and me to top ours with.  If you have tomato lovers at your house, you can incorporate the fresh or sun-dried tomatoes in your grains with the other ingredients.

 

Then I added bottled Balsamic vinaigrette, tossed the salad together, and served it alongside my other dishes for dinner.

 

The grain/vegetable/herbs/vinaigrette combinations are endless, but I liked this Mediterranean flair.

 

If you wanted to, you could also add any additional protein like other beans, meat, cheese, tofu, fish, or shrimp.

 

 

 

 

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Enjoy!

Tunisia Meets Provence Salad

Tunisia Meets Provence Salad

 

I found this wonderful grain salad recipe in Vegetarian Times and tried it out last week with cooked barley I had in the fridge.  You could use any cooked grain though - brown rice, quinoa, couscous (I know, not a grain, but still...).

I really liked the sweetness that comes from the apple and the saltiness with the olives.

Everyone in the family liked this recipe.

 

I'll certainly make it again.

 

The recipe calls for 12 Kalamata olives.  I'd use the whole jar next time.

And I didn't peel the green apple as the recipe suggests, but you certainly could.

 

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Bon Apetit!

 

Penne and the Jets

Penne and the Jets

David Zinczenko has some great recipes, with even greater recipe names, in his cookbook - The Abs Diet Cookbook that my friend John loaned me.

Penne and the Jets calls for spinach, but I used chopped fresh kale instead and no one was the wiser.

I started by cooking penne according to the package directions.

While it was cooking I heated olive oil in a large skillet and sauteed garlic.  Then I added my kale and let it cook until it started to wilt.  Kale takes more time to cook than spinach I've found, so I just let it sit for a few minutes and wilt away.

**I have "no tomatoes please" eaters in my house.  Normally at this point you would add in chopped sun-dried tomatoes to cook with your greens, but you'll see I added them in later.**
 

Once the greens have wilted, you remove it from the heat and toss in your remaining ingredients:  fresh parsley and basil, kalamata olives, chickpeas and feta or Parmesan if you are using it.

 

Here is the version we placed on the table, for everyone to doctor up with Parmesan or crumbled Feta.

 

And here's my version with heated, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, which really make the dish in my opinion!

Everyone loved it and we'll definitely make again and again!

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Buon Appetito!

Ziti with Fresh Tomatoes and Olives

Ziti with Fresh Tomatoes and Olives

Last night the evening Book Club that I am in, the Litwits, did something completely different.

Our July hosts, Sam and Alexa, are caterers and chefs.  They suggested we all make a dish from a favorite cookbook, bring copies of the recipe, and we could have a meal together and discuss.

I was introduced to a number of yummy cookbooks last night.

And the food was incredible!

We had a great time sharing our dishes, our cookbooks, and catching up on a beautiful summer evening.

I had planned to take a crawfish etouffe last night, but this week is pretty crazy with contractors in and out of the house, lots of activities and appointments with the boys, and trying to get the house in good shape for our visitors arriving tomorrow!

So, I went with something much quicker - and a dish I thought sounded great for summer.

I must say - I fully intended to use ziti, but couldn't find it anywhere!  Who knew?  Trips to two great grocery stores in town and no ziti at all - so we used penne.  Turns out - our chef friends also use penne when ziti isn't available.  What's up with no ziti in town??

This is a very simple dish, and I loved it.  I will be modifying it slightly from the original recipe in one of my favorite go-to cookbooks

I like this dish because it can be served warm or cold.

I started by combining chopped fresh tomatoes, oil-cured black olives sliced in half, olive oil, lots of fresh basil and parsley, minced garlic, Kosher salt, and hot red pepper flakes. 

I mixed it up and let it sit together for half an hour or so while I cooked the pasta.

Once the pasta was cooked and drained I mixed the tomato sauce and pasta together.  I added a little seasoning and covered it to serve later at the Litwits.

I felt the dish was too pasta-heavy going with the original recipe.

So next time I will cut the amount and let the tomatoes be the star.

The modified recipe is below.

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Buon Appetito!



Olive Tapenade

Olive Tapenade

I've mentioned before how much I love party food.
Appetizers are my very favorite food, and this olive tapenade is one that works every time, and is delicious!

I can't tell you how many times I've typed up this recipe for friends.
I take it to many, many get-togethers!

You pulse all the ingredients together in a food processor.
I use a mix of green, black, and Kalamata olives - whatever I have on hand.
Once it's moved to the serving dish I always add more olive oil - usually a Tbsp or even more.
I serve it with a thin cracker.

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Kali Oreksi!

(Bon Apetit in Greek)