quinoa with grilled zucchini and garbanzo beans

Here is another take on quinoa salad. I really liked this, but it made A LOT of quinoa. So if you are making it for two, I would make half the recipe. You will have plenty for dinner and leftovers. Also, do not forget to add the lemon juice. It brings a nice bright contrast to the headiness of the spices.

Quinoa with Grilled Zucchini and Garbanzo Beans
from Bon Appetit, August 2008

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric, divided
1 teaspoon smoked paprika,* divided
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds medium zucchini (about 5), trimmed, quartered lengthwise
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Combine garbanzo beans and lemon juice in large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons oil; press in garlic and stir to combine. Let marinate at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 2 cups water, quinoa, and coarse salt; bring to simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until all water is absorbed, about 16 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare barbecue (medium high heat). Place zucchini on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle with ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Toss to coat evenly.

Place zucchini on grill; sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Grill until tender and browned on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to work surface. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Add zucchini, green onions, and parsley, then garbanzo bean mixture to quinoa. Toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.

Can be made two hours ahead; let stand at room temperature.

*Sometimes labeled Pimentón Dulce or Pimentón de La Vera Dulce.

- e

butter lettuce with ruby grapefruit and avocado

my dad got me the green's restaurant cookbook for my birthday and we broke it in last night with this delicious salad. it's perfect for this time of year when grapefruits are still in their prime. plus it has avocado which, in my book, means it can't be bad. below is the recipe as printed which, with two heads of lettuce, would make a ton of salad so cut down as you see fit.

butter lettuce with ruby grapefruit, avocado and grapefruit-chili vinaigrette
(from everyday greens)
ingredients:
2 heads butter lettuce
2 ruby grapefruits
1 avocado, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds, toasted
salt and pepper
grapefruit chili vinaigrette (recipe follows)

wash and dry the lettuce.
remove 1 teaspoon of zest from one of the grapefruits and set aside. trim the peel and white pith from the grapefruit. segment the grapefruits over a bowl to catch the juice for the vinaigrette. reserve 1/3 cup segments for the vinaigrette as well.

make the vinaigrette (see below)

place the avocado slices in a small bowl and toss with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and spinkle with a little salt and pepper.

combine the lettuce, grapefruit sections and 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin seeds in a large bowl. gently toss with the vinaigrette and divide onto chilled plates. tuck the avocado slices between the leaves and garnish with the remaining pumpkin seeds and serve.*

grapefruit-chili vinaigrette
(makes about 1/2 cup)
ingredients:
1/3 cup grapefruit sections
1 tablespoon fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 jalapeno chili (red or green), seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon grapefruit zest

combine everything but the zest in a blender, puree until smooth, then whisk in the zest.

*i suppose if you're feeling fancy you can do that whole chilled plate, tuck the avocado thing...i just threw it all in a bowl, tossed and served onto our dinner plates. not fancy, still yummy.

-d

apple zucchini muffins

apparently erin and i had a psychic muffin moment. much like she had a freezer full of bananas to use, i had apples in the fridge that needed to be baked into...something. i too considered a bread of some sort but chose muffins because they are easy to make and easy to bring to work for a snack. this recipe is based on one from our moosewood restaurant new classics cookbook, i just made a few tweaks here and there to make it vegan. it uses no butter or oil so they are pretty healthy as far as muffins go.

apple zucchini muffins
(adapted from moosewood restaurant new classics)
makes 12 muffins
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose if that's what you have)
1/2 cup oat bran
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 6 tablespoons water
3/4 cup vanilla soy yogurt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup grated zucchini (1 medium zucchini)
1 cup peeled apple, chopped (about 1 apple*)

preheat oven to 350 and prepare a muffin tin with liners.

in a large bowl, sift togethers flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

in a separate bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water. add soygurt and brown sugar and mix to combine. fold in zucchini and apples. stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just blended.

spoon batter into muffin tin. bake for 15 minutes, rotate the muffin tin, and continue to bake 10 - 15 longer until a paring knife inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

cool on a wire rack, enjoy!

*unfortunately for me this only used one of my three apples. look out for more apple-y baked goods to come...

-d

banana bread muffins

I often buy too many bananas and feel bad about throwing them away (I live in Boston and composting just is not an option at the moment) so I throw them in the freezer instead. This banana hoarding has been going on for some time now, and frozen bananas are starting to take over my freezer. So I decided to do something about it and make some banana bread. The easy out, I know, but I always love banana bread. AND, I like trying new recipes for banana bread - with or without nuts, using different spices, sometimes adding sour cream or creme fraiche - so this time I settled on the Silver Palate's version. I miraculously had all the right ingredients, but did not have an hour to wait for a loaf to bake. And thus, the muffins were born. I might also add that the muffin is slightly more portable than a slice of bread. The addition of whole wheat flour makes them seem healthier somehow, and I was very pleased with the result!

Banana Bread Muffins
adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook

makes 12 muffins

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 large, ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup shelled walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (plus extra for sprinkling on top)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with muffin papers.

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift the all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt together, stir in the whole wheat flour, and add to the creamed mixture, mixing well.

Fold in the mashed bananas, vanilla, walnuts and cinnamon.

Divide among muffin tins. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with the extra chopped walnuts and a little cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are puffed and brown and a cake tester inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool in the tins.

- e

olive, walnut and cranberry tapenade

today was a gorgeous day here in san francisco, high sixties and perfectly sunny with a light breeze. we celebrated by heading over to golden gate park for our first picnic of the year!

i found this tapenade recipe in my tassajara cookbook. it's supposed to be made with pomegranate seeds but pomegranates are nowhere to be found right now so i substituted coarsly chopped dried cranberries. this has a really nice blend of flavors and was a delicious topping for hearty seedy crackers. in addition, we had the last of our farmers market strawberries with some kiwi and our favorite picnic wine in a box - bandit!

olive, walnut and cranberry tapenade
(adapted from the tassajara cookbook)
ingredients:
1 cup unseasoned green olives, such as picholines*
2/3 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsly chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
lemon juice
salt

finely mince the olives. in a bowl, combine the olives, walnuts, cranberries, cilantro, garlic and olive oil; stir to mix. add few drops of lemon juice. taste and add salt if necessary.

*i don't know what kind of olives mine are because they're not labeled but they're my new obsession. i suspect they are castelvetranos.

-d

san francisco eats, part deux

Here's a little recap of the rest of our san francisco weekend, before i headed back to winter in boston:

EOS Wine Bar in Cole Valley. They have, maybe, the best brussels sprouts ever, previously discussed by Darcy.

The Squat and Gobble for breakfast. Standard fare made well, and great tofu scrambles!

Magnolia in the Haight. Lovely little snacky plates (including fried spring onions and a pickle assortment), in addition to full meals. And great beer. Oh, and if you have ever wondered what a BU was in reference to beer, it's a Bitterness Unit. Thanks to d for solving that mystery!



Little Star Pizza for a late night pizza craving:



Frjtz where we had, you guessed it, made to order, hand cut fries with delicious dipping sauces. We opted for the thai chili (like sriracha ketchup) and an olive tapenade. Yum.



and a delicious dinner of homemade falafel and pita (from Smitten Kitchen) with a variety of accompaniments, including Kris' delish sundried tomato hummus and Darcy's equally tasty tabbouleh and tahini dressing.




Oh, and no trip to San Francisco would be complete without a visit to the Ferry Building, and a few of my favorite places on earth: Acme Bread Company (for their olive bread; really, it's all delicious, but this one takes the cake), Cowgirl Creamery (for just about anything. This time it was their Mt. Tam Triple Cream) and Ciao Bella (where we picked up a pint of Lemon Passion Vodka sorbeto to go with farmers market strawberries. Again, yum).

All around a tasty weekend! AND your yumcoast duo will be reunited very soon in Boston for more eats, drinks and fun!

san francisco adventures, day 1

Darcy and I spent most of the day eating. Surprising!

We started the day at Cafe du Soleil, with ginormous lattes, hummus/avocado and tapenade/feta tartines:




Pie at Mission Pies - vegan brandied apple and raisin, and shaker lemon:





Guacamole, tacos and agave wine margaritas at The Little Chihuahua!





And finally, we had dinner at Firefly in Noe Valley. Unfortunately no pics from dinner. We didn't want to be THOSE people.