Sonia's Stir-Fry

Up next: My sister-in-law Sonia. I learned a lot about food and yeast when she was doing the Candida diet this past year - and a lot about perseverance! We share a love of cooking and I'm excited to try this - the combination of coconut milk and red curry sounds great.

Don’t be alarmed that one would follow a recipe for a meal as simple as a stir-fry. When I was on the Candida cleanse diet (for 7 long months) we all got really tired of rice, veggies, and meat “for meat” each night. But you might be surprised at all of the different ways to approach a stir-fry. I was inspired by Food and Wine’s May 2009 issue that presented a variety ways to cook veggies and meat in a fry pan prior to tossing it onto a plate full of white or brown rice. The following is a great stir-fry recipe that compliments a Candida cleanse diet (God forbid any of Bec’s foodie readers ever have to do that) and it proves that you do not have to have sugar or gluten or yeast or broth or mushrooms to enjoy a tasty stir-fry.

Thai Chicken, Zucchini and Tomato Curry Stir-Fry 4 servings

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ¼ pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts sliced ½ inch thick
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 onion sliced ¼ inch thick
2 zucchini cut into 2 by ½ inch sticks
1 ½ cups of cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
½ cup unsweetened coconut milk (I ended up using about 1 tablespoon more, and the real stuff is better than the LIGHT)
2 tablespoon water
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
½ cup chopped cilantro
rice for serving
optional garnish: cashew pieces

1. In large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until just white throughout, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

2. Add the remaining oil to the skillet. Add the onion and stir-fry over moderately high heat for 2 minutes. Add the zucchini and cherry tomatoes and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the curry paste, coconut milk, water, lime zest and lime juice and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and stir for another minute or two. Sir in the cilantro. Transfer to bowls and serve with rice.
WINE: Strawberry-scented rose: 2008 Domaine du Bagnol. Or in our household, a chilled glass of white Charles Shaw does the job.

Don’t be scared off by the curry either… it is mild enough for those who can’t handle spicy food (however, I make it spicier). I like to add cashew pieces for garnish (they also sweeten it a little). And because you don’t use soy sauce, this recipe is also low in sodium. My husband douses his with table salt (I try not to be offended).

The No Eggplant Veggie Lasagna

Summer vacation is winding to an end and I'll be back to teaching at the end of September (quarters - aren't I lucky?). For the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some posts & recipes from friends. First up is Lisa. I've tried this lasagna and it's awesome!:



Let me just say I am not a fan of eggplant. Sorry if you love it, but I can't make myself enjoy it. And have you noticed how so many vegetarian options in a restraunt include eggplant? (Or portabello mushrooms - another thing I don't like, I like my mushrooms small). I know, I am picky. So I have to make up my own recipes. And I'll be honest, they're probably less healthy.

I find most non-meat lasagnas are either made with way too much cooked spinach or eggplant. So I made up this recipe. You can change it if you like, substituting which vegetables you want. I pretty much feel like I am busy all the time, so most of my 'recipes' are made with easy ingredients. Meaning no sauce from scratch.



Lisa's No Eggplant Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients:

1/2 box of lsagna noodles

Est. veggies (I am guessing because I just dumped it in until I was happy)
1-1/2 cup frozen white corn
4 oz frozen spinach in a bag (I use it frozen so the bag is easier to separate than that frozen brick)

2 jars Francesco Rinaldi Marinara Sauce (you can use whatever marinara sauce you like)
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
4 cups of shredded mozzerella
1/2 cup of parmesean cheese (I use the one at trader joes)
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl combine ricotta cheese, 3 1/2 cups of mozzerella (saving 1/2 cup for later), parmesean cheese and eggs. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain and separate. While the noodles are cooking, heat up 1 1/2 jars of sauce with the corn and the spinach in a sauce pan.

Spray a 13x9 dish with nonstick spray. Spread 3/4 marinara sauce on the bottom of the pan. Place 4 lasagna noodles over the bottom, slightly overlapping. Spread half of the cheese mixture over the noodles. Then cover with 1/2 the veggie sauce. Repeat layer. Cover last layer with noodles and remaining marinara sauce.

Sprinkle with mozzerella cheese. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10 more minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Excuse me while I lick the counter

It might be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. I made cinnamon ice cream for a dessert tonight and when chunk fell on the counter, I had a moment of serious contemplation before I wiped it up with a towel. I love cinnamony things. My favorite flavor at 21 Choices in Old Town is Snickerdoodle (followed closely by the oatmeal cookie one). Tangent - did you know that if you want one of the flavors of the day, you don't have to wait in that long line? You can go straight to the register. And, you can look up today's flavor on their website (so if they have Snickerdoodle, you can be sure to make a trip). I learned all this when I was pregnant.

But I digress . . . cinnamon things are wonderful. For dessert tonight, I'm making homemade ice cream sandwiches which I've never attempted before. I was telling my mom that I was making these and she said (and I agree) that a good ice cream sandwich is possibly the perfect dessert. They're even on the cover of Gourmet this month.

So, here's what I did. I made the cinnamon ice cream (recipe below) and a batch of oatmeal cookies. You can use your favorite recipe - I made a basic one and just added a cup of shredded coconut (no nuts, raisins, or any other mixed in things). Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack and then stick the ones you want to use in the freezer a few hours before assembling them.

Once the cookies and the ice cream are good and cold, put a scoop on top of a cookie, put another one on top, use a spatula to scrape the edges smooth, and stick them on a plate in the freezer. You have to do this right away with them individually so the ice cream doesn't melt. I originally planned to wrap them (individually) in plastic wrap but it was much messier. Then, just leave them in the freezer until dessert time (as if you can wait that long!).


You could roll the edges of the ice cream in something but other than coconut, I couldn't think of anything creative that went with my cinnamon-oatmeal combo. I bet chocolate chip cookies, mint-chip ice cream and chocolate sprinkles on the edges would be awesome!

Cinnamon Ice Cream (makes 5 cups)

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 2-inch piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cinnamon sticks
2 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 T vanilla extract

Combine cream, milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Scrape the vanilla from the pod into the cream mixture and then toss the pod and the cinnamon sticks in the mixture. Heat it until it almost boils - about 6-8 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. While the cream mixture is heating up, beat yolks, sugar, ground cinnamon, and vanilla extract in a small bowl until it's smooth and creamy - about 2-3 minutes.

Temper the yolk mixture by adding 1 tablespoon of the cream mixture to the yolk mixture and stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent the eggs from curdling. Do this until you've added 4-6 tablespoons of cream to yolk. Gradually add yolk mixture to the cream mixture (still over low heat), stirring constantly. Cook over low heat until the mixture is slightly thickened and the mixture coats the back of a spoon - about 3-5 minutes. Put the whole thing in the refrigerator until it's cold (leave vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks in it). When you're ready to freeze it, strain it into your ice cream maker and follow your ice cream maker's instructions.

Note: If you don't have a vanilla bean, just add 1T of vanilla extract to the cream mixture (and 1 T to the yolk mixture). The two types of cinnamon gave me good results. When I tasted the mixture before putting it in the ice cream maker I thought the cinnamon was really strong but it mellowed out when it was frozen. In general, flavors are less intense in the final product (the ice cream won't be as sweet as the mixture tastes before freezing)

Two Summer Side Salads

My husband is not a big potato lover and I usually make some sort of grain as a side dish. When it's just us, that's usually brown rice or quinoa. When we have company, I try to make something more interesting. I've made the orzo salad below for years and it was an adaptation of a Greek Rice salad that I've tweaked quite a bit. I recently started using whole wheat orzo but any type will do.

The lentil salad is a newer addition to my repertoire and it's a pretty informal recipe. The lentil salad comes together much quicker (especially if you use the already cooked brown lentils in the refrigerator section at Trader Joe's) but the orzo is not very laborious either. My favorite part about serving these both of these salads is the leftovers - they taste great the next day (and the next) and it's a great lunch to take to work.


Rosemary Lentil Salad serves 4
Mix 2 cups of cooked brown lentils with 1 T chopped rosemary, some chopped tomatoes (I used 1 cup of mini heirloom tomatoes, halved), 2 T (or more) chopped green onion (I've also used shallots). Stir in 1 T olive oil, and 2 T of red wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Orzo Salad 6-8 side dish servings

1 1/2 cups uncooked orzo
1 cup boiling water
3/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
6 cups baby spinach (about 6 oz)
1 T olive oil
8 oz. crumbled feta
1/4 c. chopped, pitted kalamata olives
3/4 c. marinated artichoke hearts (as is or you can chop them into smaller bites)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 T pine nuts, toasted

Cook the orzo according to the package directions. Drain, and cool to room temperature and set aside. Combine boiling water and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl Let them stand until soft (15-30 minutes) and then drain, and cut into 1 inch pieces. Chop the spinach (like if you were making a chop salad). Stir the orzo, the spinach, the sun-dried tomato pieces, and all the other ingredients together in a big bowl. Save some pine nuts and feta to sprinkle over the top. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate it until you're ready to eat it.

Variation: Sometimes I saute the spinach leaves in olive oil and a little garlic until it's wilted and then stir it into the salad. The leftovers are a little slimy if you do it this way but it's good if you're going to eat it right away.

Ice Cream Roundup

My ice-cream contest that I was thinking of doing this summer didn't materialize but I'm participating in a "Recipe Round Up" where people link to their ice cream recipes. I've posted this in the past but it's a good one for summer. Maybe in this ice cream round up, I'll find the chai tea or green tea ice cream recipes I've been wanting . . .

Spiced Apple Frozen Yogurt (makes 1 1/2 quarts)

1 1/2 cup of apple sauce (I used the chunky kind with spices but no added sugar)
2 cups Greek yogurt (I used the kind with honey added from Trader Joe's)
1 T whole milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 c. sugar (optional - I like it tart so I leave it out)

Combine all ingredients in a blender. You can store it in the refrigerator for a few hours until you're ready to make the frozen yogurt. Then, just pour it in your ice cream maker according to your model's instructions.

I think it's best to make frozen yogurt right when you want to eat it - the texture isn't great if it's put in the freezer after it's made.

Zucchini Spice Cupcakes

Again inspired by the Food Librarian's post, I was excited to make these cupcakes this weekend. Paula and I had fresh zucchini from the Eugene Saturday Market and we made an entire batch - yes, 24 cupcakes. She was hosting a book club on Sunday night so her friends got to enjoy our efforts but I'm embarrassed to tell you how many we ate between the time we made them and that book club meeting.

The original recipe is from Martha Stewart's cupcake book but we left out the walnuts, substituted lemon zest for orange zest, used olive oil instead of canola, and freshly ground our own cloves. The texture was great and if you don't like zucchini bread, you'll probably still love this. The zucchini makes them really moist and Paula was making cream cheese frosting before her book club - everything is good with cream cheese frosting on top!

When I asked Paula how the cupcakes were, told me that they were talking about death and the holocaust when the cupcakes were being eaten and one girl said she wanted to yell out "these are amazing" but didnt think it would be appropriate.

I don't have anything very new or interesting to say in the debate about the differences between cupcakes and muffins, but I agree that qualifies for cupcake status. One thing we tried that I had never done before was use the foil muffin liners on a baking sheet (instead of in a muffin tin). I've seen on the container that you can do that but have always been a little chicken. The result was that those cupcakes weren't perfectly round but it worked great!



Zucchini Spice Cupcakes (2 dozen)

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup olive oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 cups packed grated zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla, and zest until well blended; whisk in brown sugar until smooth. Stir in zucchini, then add flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three quarters full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

Frosting options: You can make a cream cheese frosting or a powdered sugar icing for the top to make them like real cupcakes but I enjoyed them plain!

Eating in Eugene

This weekend, my daughter and I went to visit my sister in Eugene, Oregon. Trip highlights included a Friday sunset visit (with free wine tasting) to Sweet Cheeks Winery, my first experience with liege waffles, cooking with my sister, enjoying the beautiful outdoors and great conversation.

In case you're ever in Eugene, here are a few things you should check out.


Off the Waffle - the front of a house was converted into this breakfast / late night spot (can you say munchies??). I learned that liege waffles are one type of belgian waffle where chunks of sugar in the batter make the outside of the waffle similar to a glazed doughnut. You could pick fillings and the waffles were thick enough to be sliced and stuffed. I had the original stuffed with dried rainier cherries and walnuts. For $3, I'm glad I don't live in Eugene because I'd have to resist temptation on a daily basis.


Saturday Market - one of the coolest farmer's market that I've been to. In addition to typical farmer's market fare, there were tie dyed clothes, lots of pottery and wood crafts, and macrame.

The produce was beautiful and here's what we made for dinner with our bounty:



Roasted Veggies and Brown Rice (2 servings)

Take a bunch of veggies (we used a smallish eggplant, a zucchini, some cherry tomatoes, the kernels of one ear of corn, half of a walla walla onion, several garlic cloves, one bell pepper, one small sweet potato) and cut them into similar size pieces (ours were about 1-2 inch chunks). Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, dried oregano, and red chili flakes. Spread on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Toss in chopped fresh basil and serve over hot brown rice.