Smoky Shrimp & Quinoa

It's time for mid-week simplicity without surrendering flavor. Quinoa steamed in mushroom broth and topped with pan-fried, smoky-flavored shrimp is quick and uncomplicated. 

Recipe:

Smoky Shrimp & Quinoa

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

2 cups mushroom broth

3 scallions, chopped

12 ounces medium-sized raw, peeled and deveined shrimp

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 tablespoons unbleached white flour

2 tablespoons grape seed or safflower oil

Directions

1. Add mushroom broth, quinoa, and green onions to a 2-quart sauce pan. Bring to boil gently on medium heat, cover immediately and turn heat to low. Steam for 15 minutes until broth is absorbed. 
2. Season both sides of shrimp with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Lightly coat shrimp with flour and pan fry (in a 10- or 12-inch skillet) over medium-high heat. Cook shrimp for two minutes on one side, turn shrimp and cook for one additional minute.
3. Place shrimp on top of quinoa, garnish and serve.

Serves 2

Tuna and Black Radish Salad

Like my daffodils blooming now in response to the mild winter here on the East Coast, my body is longing for an early spring cleansing salad. Mild and bitter greens, like red lettuce and radicchio, bean sprouts of all sorts, and radishes are what I crave. Especially radishes.

Sculptural Black Radishes
I like the dramatic appearance and sculptural quality of black radishes. Their assertive, peppery flavor is similar to red radishes but the skin on black radishes is more woody. If sliced thinly, black radishes can be eaten raw in salads and in sandwiches. Otherwise, add them to cooked greens or cook them alone with a bit of butter, salt and cracked pepper. Black radishes have been much more common in Europe than in the United States. The first time I saw them at Mom's Organic Market  (a Washington, D.C./Baltimore area organic food chain), I could not resist trying them. These root vegetables can also be found at Whole Foods Market and at green grocers (check your local markets for availability).

Black Radishes & African Pottery

Tuna Undone
I wonder how many people like to eat tuna "undone"--with no mayonnaise (which I'm not crazy about) or any other additions? Food Network Star Alton Brown has a fantastic recipe, "Tuna Salad Undone," which includes ventresca tuna, a gourmet tuna from Spain that is pretty pricey. Nothing else is added to the tuna in Alton's recipe nor in mine, which includes high-quality, sustainably caught (the tuna is caught, one at a time, with a pole) Wild Albacore Tuna Fillets from Wild Planet Foods. At $5.99 per unit, this tuna is "hand selected," has "no added liquids," and is cooked right in the jar (yes, the tuna is in a jar). Another plus about this tuna: it boasts low mercury and six times more omega 3 fatty acids than typical canned tuna.

The Recipe:
Tuna and Black Radish Salad
Ingredients
1 small head of curly red leaf lettuce, rinsed and dried
1 small head of radicchio, rinsed and dried
1 4.5-ounce jar or can of high-quality, wild albacore tuna fillets (no liquid or packed in water), drained and flaked
2.6 ounces black radish (approximately 1 large or 2 small), thinly sliced
3 ounces of sprouted beans and peas rinsed (optional)


Directions

1. Hand tear red-leaf lettuce and radicchio and arrange on a serving platter.
2. Place tuna in the center of the greens.
3. Arrange slices of black radishes around and among the greens.
4. Scatter sprouted beans and peas around and among the greens.
5. Serve with salad dressing or oil and vinegar.

Serves 2

Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Cippolini Onions with Pecan Sauce

Fate and curiosity created this dish. One day my next-door neighbor mentioned that she had a surplus of locally grown sweet potatoes. She offered to bring them over. I accepted immediately, knowing that it would be a sweet-potato-filled week--but who in their right mind says no to a food gift? In a few minutes, she was at the door with a bloated shopping bag of sweet potatoes.    

Next came curiosity piqued by Cippolini onions, those saucer-shaped Italian onions that become  mild and sweet when roasted. I bought a few (mainly because they were cute) and used cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice in the dish. Toasted pecans provided blissful texture in a sweet, lemony sauce. (My son and

and I loved the sauce, but my husband ate his portion without it--because of his 40-year sugar fast.) So, two recipes: the roasted sweet potatoes and onions recipe and, following, the recipe for pecan sauce.

Recipes:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Cippolini Onions

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes

9 ounces (2 medium) Cippolini Onions

1/2 cup apple cider

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon all spice

1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Place sweet potatoes in a large pot and bring potatoes to a boil on medium-high heat. When potatoes begin to boil, set your kitchen timer for 15 minutes (if you don't have a kitchen timer, turn off the heat after 15 minutes of boiling.) 
3. Plunge potatoes in a bowl of ice water to stop potatoes from cooking. Remove potatoes from water when they are cool enough to handle. Remove skin from the potatoes; slice each potato into one-inch pieces. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper; place the potato slices 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet and set aside. Peel onions and slice into quarters; place onions on the cookie sheet alongside the sweet potatoes.
4. Pour apple cider into a small bowl and add spices. Whisk until spices are dissolved in the cider. Add olive oil and whisk again. Reserve 1/4 cup of the mixture.
5. Brush the top sides of the vegetables with the apple cider mixture. Place vegetables in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Remove the pan, turn each potato slice and onion wedge and brush with the remaining spiced cider and olive oil. Return the vegetables to the oven to roast for 10 an additional minutes.
6. Remove roasted vegetables from oven and arrange on a serving platter. Pour warm pecan sauce over vegetables and serve.

(Serves 4)

Pecan Sauce

Ingredients

3/4 cup apple cider

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 freshly squeezed lemon

2 ounces pecan pieces

Directions

1. Pour cider into bowl and add cornstarch; whisk until blended and pour into pan. Add sugar and lemon. Turn stove burner on medium heat.
2. Cook gently until sugar is dissolved and sauce begins to thicken.
3. Add pecan pieces and stir.
4. Pour over roasted sweet potatoes and onions and serve.

Roasted Pears with Cherries, Walnuts and Mascarpone Cream

Dessert at the end of a meal for two, in low light, in front of a fireplace, is more than romantic. The whole scene is an aphrodisiac. But what if the love of your life, your sweetie, won't eat sweets? My husband David swore off sugar 40 years ago when he turned 18. I've never known him to eat a sliver of cake, a spoonful of ice cream, a doughnut hole--nothing. Perhaps you know someone who prefers a non-sugary dessert? While watching Ina Garten's show, Barefoot Contessa, on Food Network, I was inspired by her recipe for Roasted Pears with Blue Cheese. Here was a recipe with mostly fresh fruit and juice, dried fruit, a bit of wine, nuts and cheese. There is brown sugar in Ina's recipe but I knew I could omit the sugar and replace it with another fruit-compatible cheese and a bit of agave nectar, a low-glycemic sweetener from the Blue Agave plant. 

Here's my version of the recipe, which I plan to serve to my husband on Valentine's Day. The mascarpone cream part of the recipe contains sugar, but you can omit it or serve it on the side. (But I want my sugar high, so I'll be eating mine with the cream.) I think my hubby will like this dessert. If you make this dessert on Valentine's Day, then I hope you and your sweetie like it too!

Recipes: 

Roasted Pears with Cherries & Walnuts

Ingredients

3 good quality, firm Bosc pears

2 lemons, freshly squeezed

4 ounces crumbled Wensleydale cheese (with cranberries)

2 tablespoons agave nectar, maple flavor

1 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1 cup apple cider

3 tablespoons red Zinfandel wine

Directions

1. Lightly spray the bottom of a 9x9x2-inch baking pan with butter-flavored no-stick cooking spray. Peel the pears, cut them in half, and use a melon baller to scoop out the core and seeds.  Slice a thin piece from the bottom of each pear half so that each one will sit flat in the baking dish. Squeeze juice from lemons on pears to prevent pears from browning. 
2. Crumble cheese in a small bowl. Add the agave nectar, dried cherries, walnut, apple cider, and wine. Gently mix these ingredients and spoon over the pears, especially in the hollowed areas of the pears. 
3. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil; bake the pears in a 375-degree oven for 35 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the pears and spoon the liquid in the bottom of the baking pan over the pears. Return pears to the oven for the remaining 20 minutes.
4.  Let the pears cool for a few minutes before serving. Serve the mascarpone cream on the side or omit it.

Mascarpone Cream (Optional)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mascarpone

1/2 Meyer lemon, freshly squeezed

2 tablespoons unbleached sugar or light-brown sugar

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved.
2. Spoon over warm roasted pears or serve on the side (if you sweetie doesn't want the sweets).

Black-Eyed Peas & Polenta with Minced Collards

Black-eyed peas: so affordable--even if organic--so rooted in Southern cuisine and so iconic in African-American culture. As much as I adore this legume (and would not miss eating it on New Year's Day to guarantee good luck for another year), I didn't cook black-eyed peas much in 2011. Though my family and I are pescetarians, the bulk of our diet is bean and grain based. Meals can get humdrum. In 2012, I've resolved to make our bean-and-grain meals more elegant and sexy. 

Recipes:

Black-Eyed Peas

Ingredients

2 cups dried black-eyed peas

4 cups water

1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves crushed garlic

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper, ground

2-inch piece fresh turmeric, grated

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup low sodium vegetable broth

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 rainbow carrots, shredded--1 red, 1 golden--for garnish

1. Spread dried peas on a cookie sheet or place in a large bowl. Sort and pick through peas to remove broken peas and small stones (if you see any). 
2. Place peas in 3-quart cooking pot and rinse peas several times under running water; drain and repeat. Fill pot (containing peas) with 4 cups of water and set aside.
3. Saute onion in 8- to 10-inch skillet, over medium heat, until translucent.
4. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
5. Add spices to the cooked onion and garlic; spoon mixture into pot containing peas and water.
6. Bring uncovered pot of peas to a boil over medium heat. Cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for 1 hour or until tender. Check peas every 15 minutes and stir the pot to prevent the peas from sticking to the bottom of the pot. 
7. Add vegetable broth when half the liquid in the pot has evaporated.
8. Add salt at the end of cooking. Add 1/4 less teaspoon of salt if you do not use low-sodium vegetable broth.
9. Garnish with grated carrots (see "Assembling the Dish" below).

Black-eyed Peas

Turmeric, Freshly Grated

Collards

Ingredients

1/4 chopped onion

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3/4 cup low-sodium vegetable broth

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3/4 pound collard greens, rolled and sliced

1. Saute onion in olive oil until translucent; add garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
2. Add red pepper flakes and vegetable broth.
3. Cook greens on medium-low heat until tender.
4. Add soy sauce.
5. Allow to cool down for 10 minutes; place greens in food processor and pulse in short bursts until greens are minced (see photo below).

Sliced Collards

Collards Minced in Food Processor

Polenta with Minced Collards

Instructions

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups water

3/4 cup quick-cooking polenta

2 heaping tablespoons mascarpone 

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1. Add salt to water and bring to a boil.
2. Add polenta gradually while stirring to avoid clumps. Polenta will become thick quickly; avoid allowing it to clump by continuing to stir. 
3. Stir in mascarpone and white pepper and stir until polenta consistency becomes creamy.
4. Add minced collards and stir until collards are distributed throughout the polenta mixture.
5. Spray an 8x8x2-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Pour in polenta mixture and let sit for 15-20 minutes until firm (it's OK to put polenta into the refrigerator for 10 minutes if you're pressed for time). 

Minced Greens Stirred into Polenta

Assembling the Dish:

Slice polenta to yield nine servings. Spoon peas over each serving of polenta with minced greens. Garnish with shredded rainbow carrots and serve. Serves nine.

Rainbow Carrots

Peachy Spiced Cobbler & The Liebster Award

One whiff of green cardamom and I bought a handful of the lemony-scented pods that pack a bit of heat and have a mild astringent effect on the tongue. Related to ginger, cardamom is a native plant in India, North Africa, and parts of Scandinavia according to Food.com's helpful food dictionary. I wanted both these spices in a pie, mostly because I like spicy flavors, but also because I'm comfortable working with them.

Count My Desserts on One Hand
I've made a handful of desserts in my life. I don't like cake much, and I can sit in front of muffins and doughnuts all day long without exuding a whimper. But let me walk into a diner and see a case full of fruit pies and I will hyperventilate. This is the ninth time in my life that I've baked something sweet. Seriously. I want that to change, though, now that I'm blogging about food. I tried my hand at a peach cobbler this time. I didn't make my own crust (it would have been disastrous), and I used organic, frozen peaches (because fresh, organic peaches not in season).

Spices and Poetry
I gathered, measured, and grated the spices I would use: the ginger, the cardamom, and other pie-centric spices. Having the right spice for a dish is like having the right word for a poem. So, I organize my spice rack to optimize my changes of putting my hand on the right spice at the right time (don't be impressed; the rest of the house is chaos).

Whole nutmeg (foreground), ground nutmeg, cinnamon, and green cardamom

Ready made whole-wheat crusts, unbleached sugar, peaches, wine

At the last minute, I decided to cut shapes for the pie top

Just-baked cobbler 

Peachy Spiced Cobbler Recipe

Ingredients

30 ounces of frozen, organic peaches (3 10-ounce packages)

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla

1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground, green cardamom

1/8 teaspoon of allspice

1-1/2 cup of sugar (organic, unbleached if possible)

1/2 juiced Meyer lemon (or regular lemon)

1 ounce of Zinfandel wine

1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)

2 9-inch, whole-wheat pie crusts

1 tablespoon of turbinado sugar (a natural, crystallized sugar)

1 tablespoon of powdered sugar

18 raspberries and 6 sprigs of mint (optional,  for garnish)

Directions

1. Thaw peaches and place in a large, glass bowl.
2. Add all spices and the vanilla and stir gently.
3. Add sugar, lemon juice, and wine; stir mixture until sugar is dissolved.
4. Spoon mixture into one of the pie shells until three-quarters full.
5. Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes from the bottom of the second pie crust.
6. Space shapes from the crust evenly on top of the peach mixture.
7. Beat one egg for an egg wash; brush pie crust edges and on top of each pie-crust shape with the egg wash.
8. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of each pie-crust shape.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
10. Allow cobbler to cool for 10 minutes, then spoon into bowls and garnish with raspberries and mint.

Serves six

And...The Liebster Blog Award
Thank you Richelle of Beer. Butter. Bacon for listing me as one of five food bloggers for the Liebster Award. (Liebster means "dearest" in German.) This award is given by bloggers to fellow bloggers whose sites are considered "up and coming."  I'm honored to receive the Liebster Award and will display the banner proudly. This is a "pay-it-forward" type of award, so to continue the trend, I am giving the Liebster Award to the following up-and-coming blogs:

1. Mama with Flavor--www.mamawithflavor.blogspot.com 
2. House of Annie--www.houseofannie.com
3. Dulch Dough--www.dulcedough.com
4. Within the Kitchen--www.withinthekitchen.blogspot.com
5. Keep It Luce--www.keepitluce.com

Please visit these wonderful blogs!

Award-winning bloggers, here's what you're asked to do to accept your Liebster Award:

• Thank your Liebster Award presenter on your blog.
• Link back to the blogger who presented you with the award.
• Copy and paste the blog award to your own page.
• Award the Liebster to five deserving blogs, like yours, that have 200 followers or less and that deserve recognition.
• Leave a comment on each blog to notify the awardees and let them know the rules for bestowing the Liebster Award to other bloggers.