Three-Bean Salad with Quinoa

Here's a recipe I found on the Whole Foods website. I like it because it's vegan and because it has quinoa, my favorite grain.

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa
Salt and ground black pepper
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces, cooked and rinsed in cold water
1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup organic Italian dressing
1 teaspoon dried tarragon

Method
Rinse quinoa under cold running water and drain. Bring 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a small pot. Stir quinoa and a pinch of salt into water. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender and liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Uncover and let cool. Put cooled quinoa, green beans, edamame, peppers, kidney beans, dressing, tarragon, salt and pepper into a large bowl and toss well. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Apple Blueberry Honey Apple Ginger Tart

I found this recipe on Eat Drink Better

What You Need:
12 organic graham crackers
1/4 cup (or 1 large handful for those disinclined to measure) crystallized ginger
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons soft or melted margarine or butter
1 egg white
1 and 1/2 cups Greek yogurt (you can use coconut milk yogurt here if you want a non-dairy version)
2 tablespoons (or just a good looooong squeeze) of honey
1 and 1/2 cups organic blueberries
1 local McIntosh apple (or whatever kind of fruit you like, really)

What You Do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Combine the graham crackers, crystallized ginger, sugar, and salt in a food processor until finely ground. You can also do this by hand (if you’re gangsta) by crumbling the graham crackers, which is sort of fun, and dicing the ginger and mixing them all together.
3. Mix in the egg white and butter and press into a greased pan. Bonus if you have the pretty fluted tart kind, but assuming you don’t live in the Food & Wine test kitchen, you can just use any pan around 14×4 inches.
4. Bake the crust until lightly browned, about 20 minutes, and let the crust cool down.
5. Mix the honey and the yogurt in a bowl and spread in the crust.
6. Thinly slice the apples and arrange the fruit over the top. Slice and eat. YUM.

Simply Sinful Salty Chocolate Bark

Simply Sinful Salty Chocolate Bark

2 sticks of butter
2/3 cup sugar
Club Crackers
1 12 oz bag chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.
Line crackers on a large foil-lined cookie sheet.
Melt butter and sugar together and pour on crackers.
Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Remove from oven and immediately spread chocolate chips on crackers using a spatula to gently spread.
Sprinkle with pecans, gently pressing down.
Place in refrigerator until set.
Break apart and enjoy.

My favorite Greek, Chrysanthe, brought these to work yesterday and they were a big hit. Today she brought in more, this time made with black and white chips and butterscotch chips. They were gone in about 30 seconds.

Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Pasta

I found this recipe on Care 2 http://www.care2.com/

It looks delicious and nutritious. I may make it this weekend.
INGREDIENTS
8 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups shredded, peeled sweet potato (about 1 medium)
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup diced plum tomatoes
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar or lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes or according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, place 1 tablespoon oil and garlic in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is sizzling and fragrant, 2 to 5 minutes. Add sweet potato, bell pepper, tomatoes and water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bell pepper is tender-crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and keep warm.

3. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the vegetable mixture, the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, parsley, tarragon, vinegar (or lemon juice), salt and cheese; toss to combine. Add the reserved pasta water, 2 tablespoons at a time, to achieve the desired consistency.

Recipe Nutrition: 4 servings, about 1 3/4 cups each

Per serving: 402 calories; 12 g fat (3 g saturated fat, 6g mono unsaturated fat); 7 mg cholesterol; 62 g carbohydrates; 12 g protein; 9 g fiber; 546 mg sodium; 738 mg potassium

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (140% daily value), Vitamin A (120% dv), Potassium (21% dv), Iron (15% dv).

3 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings

Exchanges: 4 starch, 2 fat

New Years in the Netherlands

Here is a recipe for Olie Bollen which is a Dutch style doughnut that is traditionally eaten in the Netherlands on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. This certainly sounds better than the southern tradition of having blackeyed peas and greens on New years day.
Olie Bollen
INGREDIENTS:
2 (.25 ounce) packages active
dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (110
degrees F to 115 degrees F)
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups chopped apple
1 cup raisins (optional)
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
white sugar for decoration
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Warm oven on lowest possible temperature setting.
2.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a small mixing bowl. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add the eggs, yeast mixture, and milk; beat with an electric mixer until blended.
3.
Turn off the oven. Cover the prepared dough with a greased piece of plastic wrap, and place the bowl of dough on the lowest rack of the warmed oven. Allow to rest and rise for 1 hour.
4.
Heat the oil for frying to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a heavy bottomed, deep skillet.
5.
Mix the apples and raisins into the dough. Then, carefully slide the dough by heaping teaspoons into the preheated oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the fritters until they are golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. They should turn over on their own when they are ready to brown on the other side, but keep an eye on them and flip them as necessary. Remove them to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with the remaining dough. Dust with sugar while warm.

Hershey Kiss, Pretzel, M&M Treats

I made the pretzel, Hershey, M&M treats that I blogged about earlier. I used plain kisses and mint kisses and plain M&M's and mint M&M so there are 4 different combinations. I should have done the plain kisses and the mint kisses at different times because the mint kisses melted a lot faster but everything turned out ok. I know this because I have tasted them and they are delicious. This would be a fun thing to do with kids.

Hershey Kiss, Pretzel, M&M Treats

This looks like a pretty easy and delicious recipe for the holidays:

Ingredients
An even number mini pretzels, Hershey Kisses and holiday colored M&M’s.

Directions
preheat oven to the lowest it will go.
unwrap all Hershey Kisses
put pretzels down in a single layer on baking sheet
place a Hershey Kiss on top of each pretzel
put in oven for about 10 minutes - kisses should be soft but not melted (if you use the white/black chocolate hugs - it probably should be less time)
remove from oven and immediately press one M&M into each Hershey Kiss
allow to cool so kisses are firmed back up

Potluck #51: Holidays and Cooking and Recipes- Oh My!

For this assignment I found a recipe on the Whole Foods website for Wild Rice and Cranberry Stuffing with Walnuts. It feeds 14-16 people so I used the Recipe Ingredient Conversion Calculator http://www.fruitfromwashington.com/Recipes/scale/recipeconversions.php
to convert the recipe to feed 7-8 people.
Here is the converted recipe. The original amounts are in parenthesis.

Wild Rice and Cranberry Stuffing with Walnuts

1 tablespoon olive oil (2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon yellow onions, finely chopped (2 )
0.5 clove garlic, finely chopped (1 )
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth (7 cup)
1 teaspoon salt (2 teaspoons)
1 cup uncooked wild rice (2 cup)
1 cup uncooked basmati rice (2 cup)
1 cup dried cranberries (2 cup)
1/4 cup chopped parsley (1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon chopped thyme (2 tablespoons)
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (1 1/2 cup)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add broth and salt and bring to a boil. Stir in wild rice, cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in basmati rice, cover and simmer until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Stir in cranberries, parsley, thyme, and walnuts, cover and cook for 5 minutes more. Season with pepper and additional salt to taste. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9- x 13-inch baking dish. Transfer rice mixture to dish and bake until light golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Nutritional information:

Per serving (about 7oz/212g-wt.): 330 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 380mg sodium, 58g total carbohydrate (4g dietary fiber, 12g sugar), 8g protein

Even though I hardly ever cook, I do enjoy looking at recipes online and I also love to look through cookbooks, which is easy to do when you work in the cataloging department at HCPL.

Here is a link to recipe for a Spice Cranberry Bundt Cake that I found on the Bon Appetit website: http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2008/11/spiced_cranberry_bundt_cake

This looks really yummy and I have a beautiful bundt cake pan that I bought at Williams Sonoma a few years ago. It has never been used.

Since both of these recipes have cranberries I decided to include some facts about them that I found on http://www.healthhacker.com/

Cranberries are low in calories, have zero fat and are a good source of Vitamin C.
Here are some of the health benefits of eating cranberries:
prevent bacteria in the bladder, kidneys and prostate
supports optimum urinary tract health
may prevent kidney stone
deodorize urine
have both antiviral and antibacterial properties
Here are some fun facts about cranberries:
More than 85% of the weight of cranberries is water!
Native Americans used a brewed cranberry mixture to draw poison from arrow wounds
Native Americans used cranberries as a natural meat preservative.

Amazing Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Fall is in the air. I slept with with all the doors open last night and my house was cold in the morning. I've also decorated my house for Halloween. Here is a yummy sounding recipe for a fall inspired cookie that I found on Eat Drink Better http://eatdrinkbetter.com/

Amazing Pumpkin Spice Cookies
1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter)
3/4 cup unrefined sugar (or maple syrup or honey)
1 cup cooked pumpkin (cut in half, scoop out seeds, place cut side down on baking sheet and bake at 350 until soft. Peel and mash or blend the pumpkin.)
2 eggs (or egg replacer equivalent)
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Mix all ingredients together and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 325, drop spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
Try substituting sweet potatoes or butternut squash for the pie pumpkin for a different taste, or bake in a loaf pan.

Macaroni Sings the Blues

This recipe from the Whole Foods web site looks so good that, even though I never cook, I may make it for Christmas.

1 pound elbow or shell pasta, cooked al dente
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups grated sharp cheddar
2 1/2 cups crumbled Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue, divided
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish or casserole with a tablespoon of the butter. In a large heavy saucepan over medium low heat, melt remaining butter. Add flour, stirring constantly, and cook 1 minute (don’t let it brown). Gradually whisk in milk. Simmer mixture at least 3 minutes, whisking often, until it thickens slightly. Reduce heat to very low, then gradually stir in cheeses, reserving 1/2 cup blue cheese, and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese melts. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne (if using). Stir in cooked pasta until well coated.

Pour mixture into buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and reserved 1/2 cup blue cheese. Bake until crumbs are browned and cheese is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Nutrition Info
Per serving (About 6oz/174g-wt.): 380 calories (220 from fat), 24g total fat, 15g saturated fat, 18g protein, 22g total carbohydrate (1g dietary fiber, 3g sugar), 65mg cholesterol, 720mg sodium

Holiday Cookies

One of the really nice thing about working at HCPL is being here on the day The Decider brings in his holiday cookies for the entire building. This year there were 9 varieties including his always popular and highly requested Nanaimo Bars. My personal favorite is the Raspberry Almond Bars, or whatever I'm eating at the time. This year he tried a new recipe which has been a big hit with my co-workers (and me).

Here is the recipe which came from the Whole Foods Market website. He changed it up a bit by substituting regular flour for whole wheat and using salted butter, but no salt. He also didn't use parchment paper.

Cranberry Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Cranberries and pecans, two symbols of the fall harvest, work beautifully in these rich shortbread cookies. Serve them with strong black tea for an afternoon treat. The dough freezes well, so keep a log in the freezer and you'll be prepared to provide holiday visitors with freshly baked goodies at a moment's notice.

Make 30 to 40 cookies
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pecan pieces, toasted
Mix together butter, sugar and maple syrup with a wooden spoon or in an electric mixer. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing well after each cup is added. Stir in the salt, cranberries and pecans.
Shape dough into two logs and chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut dough into 1/2-inch slices and arrange on baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Cookies will keep several days in an airtight container.
Nutrition Info
Per serving (About 1 Cookie/32g-wt.): 160 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 5g saturated fat, 2g protein, 15g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 20mg cholesterol, 20mg sodium

Zoho writer document

APPLE NUT SQUARES

 

3 LARGE EGGS

1 3/4 CUPS SUGAR

1 CUP VEGETABLE OIL

2 CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR

1 TEASPOON BAKING SODA

1 TEASPOON CINNAMON

1/4 TEASPOON SALT

4 TO 6 APPLES (McINTOSH PREFERRED), PEELED AND CHOPPED

1 CUP CHOPPED NUTS

CONFECTIONERS' SUGAR (OPTIONAL)

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

 

In a large bowl, blend the eggs, sugar, and oil.  Set aside.

 

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Combine the flour mixture with the egg mixture and stir until throughly mixed.  Fold in the apples and nuts and mix throughly.  Spoon into the prepared pan.  Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden pick comes out clean.  Cool and cut into squares.  Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

 

Makes 2 dozen.

 

This recipe is from Eat Dessert First: The Red Hat Society Dessert Cookbook. 

Week 8: #19 Web-based Apps: They're not just for desktops

I opened an account in Zoho and looked at all the different functions. I was going to write a short essay, using Zoho writer, on the religious imagery in the new Bruce Springsteen song I'll work for your love from his new album Magic but decided that what people really want to read about is food. Yesterday, while perusing the new books in our area I discovered a wonderful cookbook called Eat Dessert First! by the Red Hat Society. The Red Hat Society is an organization started in 1998 by Sue Ellen Cooper and gets its name from the poem Warning by Jenny Joseph which has the lines: "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple. With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me"
There are over 40,000 chapters with over 1.5 million registered red hat ladies whose main function is to get together for tea, dressed in purple dresses and red hats. They have also published several cookbooks. For more information, to find a chapter near you, or to join see www.redhatsociety.com