Archive | cheese RSS feed for this section

Garlicky Roasted Chickpea Salad with Feta, Herbs, and Lemon

1 Jun

 

Roasted chickpeas with salty feta and herbs so bright they taste like sunshine.

Now that’s a salad, folks. Or an appetizer. Or a side. Or whatever you want to call it.

You can make a healthy and delicious meal for yourself and/or company just by making a bunch of little salads (and having some crusty bread on the side). You can mix and match with different types of grains and proteins, herbs and veggies to give you a natural energy boost of protein, vitamins, healthy oils, and good-for-you-herbs.

My favorite way to dress a salad is simply, with lots of cracked pepper, some lemon and olive oil, and coarse salt.

Check out these recipes that I made last year for Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts and Tomato, Cucumber, and Haricot Vert Salad with Feta.

Back to chickpeas, I really like them warm from the oven as they develop a slight crunch but still have that creamy center. And I picked the mint and basil from my mom’s (small yet pleasant) herb garden.

In the words of Bon Appetit, this salad is fast, easy, fresh.

Garlicky Roasted Chickpea Salad with Feta, Herbs, and Lemon

adapted from Kayln’s Kitchen, originally from The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast, Easy, Fresh
4-5 servings (this recipe can easily be halved or doubled or tripled, etc.)

2 cans of chickpeas (15 oz each), rinsed and drained until any foam is gone

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 fresh minced garlic cloves

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

3/4 – 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped herbs (I used a combo of mint and basil)

lemon wedges

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix together oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Pour into and over the chickpeas, stirring so that everything is coated. Place into a baking pan and bake for 15-18 minutes, until the chickpeas are hot and just beginning to crisp on top. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

While the chickpeas bake, chop your herbs and have your feta ready. When the chickpeas are ready, stir everything together in a bowl and squeeze some lemon on top, adding more salt and pepper if needed.

Chicken Pizza with Broccoli, Kale, and Lemon

25 May

Today I spent an hour cleaning only half of the refrigerator and let me tell you, it was not a pretty site. We’re talking spills of who knows what that must have occurred who knows when. These spills had overtime created a nice crevice to cake onto and into. I was on my hands and knees scrubbing away at the mess, taking shelves out, getting sprayed by my own sink, slipping on the water that dripped onto the floor.

Today I found a hidden mold creature in my backpack. After taking a closer look I realized that it was a dried apricot from 2 months ago that somehow got stuck to the bottom of the backpack and had begun growing a rancid-smelling and deep gray-green mold. I quickly zipped up the bag and threw it in the corner. I am still contemplating whether I should just suck it up and clean my backpack or just throw it away and never look back.

Today I took a walk to the farmer’s market. I am sort of in this in-between phase where I don’t want to buy too many groceries because I am skipping town for good in 4 days but I need just enough to get me by until then. Anyway, I bought some kale and broccoli and then I made a pizza for myself for dinner. I ate my pizza alone in my empty (literally no furniture except my bed and desk) apartment, staring blankly into my computer screen.

Of course while I was making this beautiful pizza I felt so inclined to munch on everything in site. And then after I ate this beautiful pizza I proceeded to eat a bowl of cereal after. Why? For silly reasons of sheer boredom, laziness, and comfort.

I love food. I love sharing food. I love the idea of food. But sometimes, actually a lot, I feel the need to shove my face for emotional reasons. I’m trying to work on that. Let’s just say its an ongoing process that has its ups and downs. I’m sure many of you can relate. Or not. Whatever. I’ll beef it up with myself.

Well as the old saying goes, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Make this pizza, try not to munch while its baking, enjoy it at a table and not on the floor of your deserted apartment, enjoy it with a friend or a family member, and drink a beer with it instead of a bowl of cereal. Ok?

Great. Because this pizza really deserves more credit than I gave it tonight. It is easy to prepare (especially with Trader Joe’s amazing already made pizza dough). I guess that lately I’ve been into the whole approximating of ingredients (aka lazy method) cooking and recipe writing. Again, whatever, that must mean I’m a good enough cook, right? And you should be, too.

Chicken Pizza with Broccoli, Kale, and Lemon

makes 1 pizza

*Note 1: As you can see below, I really just approximated everything

**Note 2: If you really want to impress, check out the Pioneer Woman’s BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredient Ideas

1 breast of chicken

barbecue sauce

1 pizza dough (from Trader Joes, homemade, or whatever you prefer)

some sauce

some cheese (I used pepper jack and Parmesan)

Some sliced garlic

Some curly kale

Some broccoli

Some lemon zest

A squeeze of half a lemon

Preparation Ideas

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Salt your chicken breast. Coat the breast with barbecue sauce on both sides. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. When done, chop it into bite size pieces.

2. Turn the oven up to 475. Stretch your pizza dough into a nice shape and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet sprinkled with a mix of flour and cornmeal (I love the crunch of the cornmeal on the bottom of my pizza crust, mmm!).

3. Spread your dough with some sauce, cheese, veggies, more cheese, chicken, lemon zest, and lemon juice squeeze. Bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Give me an “M” Matzo Lasagna

21 Apr

Matzo lasagna and a shot-glass full of Manischewitz wine. Good dinner. Good dinner, indeed.

Hey it’s Passover, the Jewish holiday that remembers and celebrates the Jewish people’s exodus from slavery. Good stuff. Traditionally Jews celebrate by having a big dinner called a “Seder” (Hebrew for ‘order’) where the story of this exodus from slavery is re-told. Then for 8 days it is common to refrain from any bread products except for matzo, which is an unleavened sheet of crunchiness.

You can make loads of awesome goods with matzo: matzo brei (aka matzo n’ eggs), matzo pizza (aka melted cheese and sauce atop matzo), matzo granola, matzo toffee crunch, matzo spread with butter, matzo spread with cream cheese, matzo slathered with baba ganoush (eggplant dip), etc. etc.

Tonight I give you MATZO LASAGNA. It’s just like regular lasagna but instead of lasagna noodles, I used sheets of matzo that I ran under cold water.

And let me tell ya, this is goooood stuff, especially when you turn on the broiler for the last 5 minutes of baking. Browned cheesy delight.


I sauteed some onion and dino-kale to add between the layers of sauce and cheese. Feel free to use mushrooms, spinach, summer squash, whatever you want.


If you are in a Passover rut, or just like matzo, or just like lasagna, this is the business right here.


Oh, and don’t forget the Manischewitz wine. So sweet, so delish, so much needed.

Matzo Lasagna

I’ve have been making this recipe for over 2 years. I printed it online, possibly from “The Jew and the Carrot” although I have yet to find exactly where on the website.

makes a 13 x 9 inch pan’s-worth of goodness
(8-12 servings?)

Ingredients
1 cup part-skim ricotta
2 cups non-fat cottage cheese
4 cups tomato sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 large bunch kale
Enough matzo sheets to make four layers in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish, lightly softened with water (I just ran it under the tap water for a few seconds as needed)
Grated mozzarella cheese
Salt and Pepper

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a saute pan, brown onions and chopped kale in some olive oil and set aside.

3. In a bowl, mix ricotta, cottage cheese, and some salt and pepper.

4. Spoon 1 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with one layer of moistened matzo. Layer 1/3 of the cheese mixture, 1/3 of the vegetable mixture, and 2/3 cup of the sauce. Add some salt and pepper between each layer. Repeat twice. Cover with a final layer of moistened matzo, sauce, and mozzarella cheese.

5. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes, uncover and bake another 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted and beginning to brown (I turned the broiler on for the last few minutes of baking). Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Heaven in a mazto.

>15 Minute Dinner. Melty Goodness in a Pinch.

29 Mar

>
Roasted broccoli. Sliced cherry tomatoes with a pinch of flaky Maldon sea salt and a drizzle of balsamic. Creamy avocado and sprinkle of black beans. Melty cheese sandwiched between two corn tortillas all grilled up in my cast-iron skillet. 15 minutes. Ready, set, go.

Roasted Broccoli

1 head broccoli, chopped
Olive oil drizzle
Salt and pepper

1. Heat oven to 475 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and place your cut up broccoli on the pan with a touch of olive oil, salt, and pepper. 15 minutes. Go.

Corn Tortilla Quesadilla

oil (I used olive oil)
2 corn tortillas, or enough for however many quesadillas you want to make
Cheeeeese! (I used mozzarella and Pecorino)
sprinkle of black beans
sliced cherry tomato
avocado
salt

1. Heat your cast iron skillet (or any skillet that you fancy). Add a touch of oil. Place one tortilla on the pan. Sprinkle your cheese mix and a few beans, 4 baby tomato halves, and 3 small avocado slices. Place the other tortilla on top. Cook, flip, you get it. Melty goodness. It’s hard to just have one.


Don’t forget to eat those fried cheesy bits leftover in the pan. To-die-for.

>Lunch at Eataly

13 Jan

>Eataly is jam-packed with people and Italian food-goods.

There is everything from wine and cheese pairings to il pesce (fish) and la verdure (emphasis on produce). There is a beer garden, a panini stop, a pastry counter, and a coffee shop. You can purchase pastas, meat, bread, fish, cheese, liquor, produce, snacks, and desserts.
After tasting some wine and cheese (we were a quartet of mother-daughter duos), we headed over to dine on Eataly’s homemade Neapolitan-style pizza and homemade lasagna.
On the website, Eataly’s pizza is described as having a charred and elastic crust. I think that is a fitting description. The pizza we ordered was extremely simple; it had San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, and a about 2 basil leaves on top. Is it possible that the simple was almost too simple? Ok ok, the pizza was good. But I have definitely had better. And it sure took a long time to bring out this “simple” pizza.
We also shared a lasagna (“pasta al forno con zucca”) with homemade noodles. It had pumpkin, butternut squash, and Pecorino cheese. This was quite good. It did sort of fall apart when you took a bite, but I liked the flavor and the creamy texture.
I will have to go back and try some of the other restaurant vendors at Eataly, or at least buy some groceries there. It will have to be after the crazy holiday season, though. I don’t know how well I do with large crowds and a lot of noise while I am lunching…oh, everything is an experience in New York…

Eataly NY
200 5th AVENUE
NEW YORK, NY 10010
Entrances on 5th Avenue and 23rd Street

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →