Dumi & Joan's International Apartment of Cuisine: December

Brussel Sprout and Mushroom Bake:

Dumi and I were sooooo lazy this evening.  So we decided all we could possibly manage to do would be to chop and bake.  We rinsed and cut off the ends of about 25 brussel sprouts and 25 mushrooms, chopping the brussel sprouts in half.  We then placed them in a baking pan (lined with tin foil because we were so lazy that we did not want to scrub the pan afterwards - an environmentally-UNfriendly trick not to be repeated).  We drizzeled olive oil, salt and pepper on them and did a quick stir.  We then placed them in the oven, which we had preheated to about 200  degrees F.  Baked them for about 30 minutes, and then added some shredded cheese on top and baked for another 3 minutes (be careful to not overbake with the cheese on, it cooks quite quickly). voila!

Lentil, Pepper, Tuna and Olive Salad:

One thing I suggest every person have in their kitchen is a reusable jar, in which, you have on hand a little dressing!  For me, this consists of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (2:1 ratio, though I like mine vinegar-y, so it's more of a 1:1), dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and maybe some oregano or another spice if you're feeling adventurous.  But simplicity is good here.

For this salad I sauteed 4 chopped up fresh red peppers in a pan for about 20 minutes, and in another small pot I cooked 1 1/2 cups green lentils (1:1 lentils to water ratio).  then placed these, diced tomatoes, olives, 1 can tuna fish in a bowl, and poured on some of that handy dressing sitting in the fridge.

Dumi's Whole Wheat Beer Bread with Black Sesame Seeds:

Eggplant, Squash & Tofu Korma:

 ok so I am just going to say upfront, that this recipe is one that I totally cheated on - I used a sauce.  You can make your own sauce, or just buy one in the store for this one, I give you permission, just this once!
In a large saucepan heat 2 tbls oil and 1 package very firm tofu.  cook tofu and remove any excess water.  Place tofu aside.  In same saucepan, place another 3 tbls oil (vegetable or olive) and place 2 eggplants that have been sliced to about a quarter to half inch in width - eggplant takes a little longer to cook so I recommend putting it in the saucepan before the squash.  After about 5-10 minutes of cooking the eggplant, add similarly-chopped squash.  Sautee for about 25 minutes. add in tofu and any Indian sauce of your liking, I used Korma. Cook this for about 5 minutes.  Top with crushed red pepper.

Leek, Barley and Lentil Soup (A variation on Smitten Kitchen):

Smitten Kitchen, my new favorite food blog lists the recipe "Beef, Leek and Barley Soup".  So if you eat meat, by all means use her recipe, because I am sure it is delicious.  As Deb from Smitten Kitchen says, I can attest that this is a very easy recipe.  

Place in pot: 2 chopped onions, 1/2-1 cup barley, 1 cup lentils, a bunch of chopped garlic (I put at least 5 cloves), 1 big batch kale (leaves and stems, wash it and cut once down the middle - it will cook down), 8-10 cups water and vegetable broth.  FEEL FREE to add any other vegetables you have around: potatoes, carrots, etc. add salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for THREE hours.  That's right, go about your business for three hours, and come back and you will have a tasty soup waiting for you.

note: if you are making this with beef, just place two pieces beef at the bottom of this mixture. 

*tip: I strongly suggest this be served with a fresh loaf of bread and butter!

Very Simple Breakfast, Yogurt with Nuts, Dried Berries/Raisins, Bananas and Honey/Jam

I will not insult your intelligence by writing this out..as it is all in the name.

Stewed, Spicy Beet Greens w/ Bacon(optional) and Creamy Cheese:

So I made a bit of an error with this one, specifically, I put in about 8 times as much red pepper flakes as the recipe called for, so it ended up being a little bit spicy! But that's ok.  It gave me the idea to put some soft cheese in, which neutralized the spice. and gave it some creamy goodness.

This dish also came to be because I bought some beets at the farmers market here, and didn't want to throw away the attached greens, thinking there must be something to do with them!  So I perused online, and it turns out that beet greens are totally edible and quite good for you.  so away I went to the kitchen...

Wash greens thoroughly.  In a saucepan, heat 2 tbls butter and sautee (bacon if you are using bacon) and then onions for about 5 minutes, until onions are soft and slightly brown.  Add 1-2 cloves garlic (or 4, if you like garlic as I do), a little bit of water (2-3 tbls), 1 tbls sugar and 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (again, if you want it to be spicy, add in 1-2 tbls).  Bring to a boil while stirring mixture and let cook for a few minutes.

Add in washed, cut up beet greens and mix well, allowing the greens to be coated in the mixture.  Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. 

*if you made the beet greens nice and spicy, I recommend adding some cut up soft cheese - I used a Turkish cheese that tasted slightly "funky", as in a blue cheese, but not quite.  It was really good!

Beet and Parsnip Puree:

I bought parsnips and beets at the market this week, really excited to make something with them, but with no idea how to make a parsnip dish....thank goodness for the internet.  I found a recipe for a potato parsnip puree and decided to give it a whirl with beets.  I did make a couple of changes, only putting in a tbls of butter, as that was all I had on hand, and using yogurt instead of heavy cream, but it turned out nicely!

Place parsnips and beets in a pot, cover with cold water. Add 1tbls salt and bring to a boil, partially covered. Reduce heat and simmer vegetables, partially covered, until very tender but not falling apart, 30 to 40 minutes.

In another pot, simmer cream (yogurt), 1/2 stick butter (I used 1 tbls), pepper to taste, and 1/2 tspn salt in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderate heat.

Drain vegetables in a colander. Let cool a bit and combine with creamy mixture.  Puree in food processor and serve.  mine came out very uncreamy-like because of my lack of butter and cream, so I just added some labnah (a creamy yogurty-cheese dish here).

Dill Salmon, Asparagus and Poached Egg:

for Salmon and asparagus: place salmon steaks and lay out asparagus on baking tray.  In a measuring cup, combine and mix 1:2 parts balsamic vinegar to olive oil, salt, pepper, dill and 1 tsp sugar or honey.  Drizzle this dressing over the salmon and asparagus. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

for poached egg. I am just going to refer you to smitten kitchen's directions, because they are really easy. here you go!

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/how-to-poach-an-egg-smitten-kitchen-style/

I will say, the most important part I found to be in getting the water hot enough so that the egg cooks well, but you don't want it to boil - put your egg in just before those little bubbles turn into big bubbles!

Quinoa, Black Rice, Pine Nut, Tomato and Pepper Pesto Salad:

 Combine in bowl: 2 cups cooked quinoa (cook like rice, 1:2 parts quinoa to water ratio), 1/2 cup pine nuts, 3 diced tomatoes, 3 diced roasted peppers (from a jar is fine), 1/2 cup cooked black rice, 4 heaping tablespoons pesto. stir and serve.

Dumi's Spicy Broccoli and Pepper Egg Bake: