September 18, 2008

• Recipes

  These are simple. Really simple. And pretty tasty. The first two, though traditional mid-eastern fare, are not in any way culturally “authentic” so if you care about that, find a different recipe.

  Hummus, Nate-Style
  Everyone (I assume) has made hummus before. And why not? Not too many ingredients, versatile, easy to prepare, delicious. Perfect. I don’t like buying jars of things that I’ll only use a bit of in one dish, so I ditch the traditional tahini, cut back on the olive oil a bit, and add some (gasp) water. Cumin is the key here. Don’t skimp. Please do skimp on the garlic, though… super-garlicky hummus is unnecessary. Let the chick peas do their thing.

  2 small cans chick peas
  1 clove garlic
  2 Tbsp cumin
  1 Tbsp paprika
  1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  salt & pepper
  1/4 cup olive oil
  1 cup water
  juice from 1/2 lemon

  Blender. Enjoy.

  Tabbouleh, no bulghur
  I don’t really find bulghur to be anything exciting. I sub quinoa & couscous. Definitely use all the herbs, they’re super important. Not much else to say about this one.

  1/2 cup quinoa
  1/2 cup couscous
  1 bunch parsley, chopped fine
  1 bunch mint, chopped fine
  1 cucumber, diced
  2 tomatoes, seeded & diced or a container of cherry/grape tomatoes, cut in half
  juice from 1/2 lemon
  1/4 cup Tbsp olive oil
  salt & pepper

  Cook the grains, combine w/ olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and let cool to room temperature. Add the rest, toss well. Enjoy.

  Dessert I haven’t named yet
  I threw this together with stuff on hand one evening and it was a big hit. As much as I love big, heavy, decadent desserts, there’s a lot to be said for a lighter, less sweet finish to a meal.

  1 cup couscous
  1 can coconut milk
  2 Tbsp superfine sugar (regular would be OK too)
  1/4 tsp vanilla
  1 bag (12 oz? 14 oz?) frozen mango, diced (see note)
  other fruit (see note 2)

  Heat the coconut milk over medium heat until hot – do NOT try to boil it. Add the sugar & vanilla and stir until dissolved/incorporated. Add the couscous, remove from heat, cover tightly, let cool to room temperature. Add the fruit. Let sit at room temperature for an hour, or several hours in the fridge. Serve drizzled with more (sweetened) coconut milk, condensed milk, chocolate ganache, or whipped cream.

  NOTE: Trader Joe’s is the place to buy frozen fruit, especially mango. Seriously, don’t get it anywhere else if at all possible.

  NOTE 2: I’ve used both blueberries and bananas to great effect here. Just about anything would probably work – papaya, pomegranate seeds, apple, kiwi… I really love Trader Joe’s frozen wild blueberries (the tiny kind) (note that using frozen blueberries will make the whole dish rather purple).

  Salad-inspired pizza
  Dewey’s has some really great pizza. The crust is too good to be true, and I’m way too lazy to make pizza dough most of the time, so I don’t try to replicate their pies. They do have a walnut and grape salad, though, that is really delicious, too. I decided to try putting this on some store-bought crust, and it actually turned out great. Please buy a pizza stone if you don’t have one – it makes both frozen pizzas and pre-made crusts a LOT more palatable.

  1 onion, sliced
  2 cloves garlic, minced
  3 Tbsp butter
  Pizza crust (e.g. Boboli)
  1 1/2 – 2 cups grapes, cut in half
  1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
  olive oil

  Preheat oven w/pizza stone to 450. Melt the butter over medium heat and cook the onions and garlic until soft and well-caramelized. Brush the crust with olive oil, distribute onions and grapes evenly on crust. Cook on pizza stone until the grapes start to shrivel, about 6-7 minutes. Put gorgonzola and walnuts on pizza, cook another 2-3 minutes. Cut and enjoy.

  • 10:18 am
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