Roasted red pepper Hummus 


This is actually Adam's recipe for hummus or as my mom likes to say "Hume-is", he loves it and makes it quite often. You can have it plain or add extra garlic, chipotle, herbs, etc... And it's way way cheaper to make your own at home, they charge $4 plus for a little dinky container at most grocery stores.  You can make some little oven baked pita chips or like we did tortilla chips.

Ingredients:
2 cups of chickpeas/garbanzos*
1 roasted red pepper
5 cloves of garlic
2 lemons juiced
2 Tablespoons tahini
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 Tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons of cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
To make:
Roast red bell pepper either stove top over an open flame or in the oven, peel skin and deseed. Put everything in a food processor except olive oil, blend ingredients well and then slowly pour in olive oil to emulsify. You can also use a stick blender.

*I used dry garbanzos and cooked them, you can also use canned... dry is always going to be cheaper and healthier though.

Shepard's Pie

I absolutely LOVE this dish! We had it growing up in England all the time. It's so heart warming and comforting especially when it's cold outside. It's an all in one meal which I love too because it means less dishes for me. This is comfort food at it's finest.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground lamb (you could use beef or a mixture of both)
4 russet potatoes
1 yellow onion
1 celery stock
4 carrots
7-8 button mushrooms
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup green peas (frozen or fresh)
1 cup beef stock (or bullion)
Worcestershire as needed
1/2 cup red wine
2 Tablespoons of butter
2 Tablespoons of sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream (or half & half, milk)
1 handful of grated sharp white cheddar
1 Tablespoon of Parmesan (pecorino, or Romano)
S & P as needed

To make:
Put potatoes on to cook. Once done make into mash potatoes, adding butter, sour cream, heavy cream and salt and pepper. In a large saute pan brown lamb, set lamb aside and start sauteing diced onions, carrots, celery & mushrooms. Once translucent add garlic. Pour wine into pan and reduce until liquid in almost all gone, then add stock and lamb back into pan. Once stock has reduced a bit and you have a nice consistency (not too watery but saucy enough), add peas, Worcestershire and season with S & P to your liking. In a large enough oven dish pour meat mixture on bottom, then carefully layer potatoes over meat evenly and smoothly. Sprinkle both cheeses over potatoes. Broil in oven until cheese in melted and starting to brown a bit.

Garlic marinated Tofu and whole wheat Pasta Salad

I usually always incorporate tofu into Asian type recipes because that's what I'm used to and what I know.. The other day I was thinking I should really try and use it in other varieties of cuisines and ways of cooking. Tofu doesn't have a whole lot of taste on it's own, it's great carrier for whatever type of flavor profile your dish has. This is my take on a great classic pasta salad. You can make this a day or two ahead of time, and it will keep fantastically well... in fact it will probably be even better with all the flavors marinating. Great to take on a picnic or bring as a side dish. I used whole wheat pasta because it's so much healthier, and with the tofu instead of cheese this recipe is VERY low fat and healthy!!!

Ingredients:

1 box whole wheat pasta

1 package of hard tofu*

1/2 cucumber

1 carrot

4 garlic cloves

8 green olives

1 medium tomato

1/4 red onion

2 green onions

1 bell pepper (any color will work)

6 sprigs of flat leaf parsley

pinch of chili flakes

1 jalapeno

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

@ 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

To make:

Marinate tofu in olive oil, chopped garlic, chili flakes a couple hours ahead of time. Add in all over ingredients (all diced medium) including pasta that has been cooked (no need to chill pasta, toss in with other ingredients and will give your salad a nice warm temperature), toss well. Taste adjust seasonings (oil or vinegar, spiciness etc) as needed. 

*Hard tofu is great for this type of use, or if you would be frying etc... it's harder texture is better in this type of thing because it doesn't fall apart like soft tofu would. And soft tofu is great in soups.

Foodbeautifulfood: Roasted Brussels Sprout and Arugula Salad This is ...

Foodbeautifulfood: Roasted Brussels Sprout and Arugula Salad
This is ...: Roasted Brussels Sprout and Arugula Salad This is a different way to enjoy brussels sprouts, we mainly see them in roasted heavier dish...

Roasted Brussels Sprout and Arugula Salad

This is a different way to enjoy brussels sprouts, we mainly see them in roasted heavier dishes which are great too... but this is nice especially on a warm day. This salad is very easy to put together in no time, and you can use whatever fresh vegetables you have sitting in your fridge. 

Ingredients: 

2 large handfulls of arugula 

10-15 brussels sprouts

1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes

2 Tablespoons of almonds

2 Tablespoons of gorgonzola 

1/2 cup evoo

1/4 balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove

Salt & pepper as needed

To make: Pull brussels sprout leaves apart and lay flat on a baking sheet drizzle olive oil and s&p over and roast. Leaves should be turning brown on the edges, once done cool leaves. In a bowl toss arugula, brussels sprouts, tomatoes (halved or quartered), almonds, gorgonzola. 

Dressing: chop garlic and add vinegar and oil, mix well with either a fork or stick blender. Pour dressing over salad and toss well. Enjoy! 

Roasted Chicken with green olives and preserved lemons

This is my take on a classic Moroccan dish which my good pal Imane introduced me to. She loves ALL things Moroccan and made a trip there a couple years back and fell in love with the amazing food, exotic spices, and culture. She so kindly brought me back a tajine which is a clay vessel to cook with, you place on top of your stove and keep on low heat for a long period of time. The beauty of this thing is everything is so tender and nothing dries out as all the flavor is trapped inside. It's kinda like a much better version of a crockpot... kinda. 

My version is just done in a pan in the oven so all of you can try this too tajine or no tajine. 

Ingredients;

Chicken thighs or breasts

15 olives

1 preserved lemon

1 yellow onion

2 garlic cloves 

1 celery stalk

Parsley

Cilantro

White wine

Tumeric, cumin, ground ginger, cinnamon

Olive oil

S&P

Marinate chicken with spices and o.oil overnight. In a heavy saute pan sear chicken take out and put in a roasting dish with olives, onions, celery, garlic, preserved lemon, white wine, cilantro & parsley. Once chicken is done place chicken on side to rest. To make a sauce blend up all the other ingredients leaving a few olives for garnish. Add some fresh parsley & cilantro. This will go great with couscous, potatoes, or saffron rice. Happy eatings! 

Red wine Lentils

Lentils are an extremely cheap and healthy and do not require as much cooking time as most other legumes. You can serve them in many different ways from a beautiful classic french lentil salad, to a hearty curry-esque type dish served with rice, or even a soup.

Here's a basic preparation of lentils. I've included step by step pictures. Enjoy!

1. Saute onions, celery, carrots & bacon. Then add Garlic.

2. Once everything is sauteed, add your lentils and & saute for a bit then pour about a cup of red wine. Cook until all the wine has evaporated.

At this point you can either add some kind of stock (vegetable, chicken) or just water. Put enough liquid to cover lentils... not too much though, they do not require as much liquid to cook as beans. Bring to a boil then put on low & simmer with lid on. Should take around 20-30 min. Give them a stir every so often and check with a taste. Lentils should have a slight bite to them, unless you like them mushy. Once cooked check for seasoning you could also add some fresh herbs too. Serve and happy lentil eating!