Archives for August, 2007
The zucchini just keeps coming and like many of you, I'm still trying to create delicious and inspired ways to use it up. That being said, I think I've had enough - and with this zucchini soup recipe I'm going to close the door on our prolific friends until next year. At its core this is a light-and-healthy, straight-forward zucchini soup with a couple little twists and tricks to make it ever-so-slightly special and unique.
Bumping up the color: I think we can all agree, pale and watery zucchini flesh isn't much to look at - to boost the color and visual appeal here I use fresh spinach as my secret weapon. By giving spinach a supporting role I was able to create a vibrant cilantro-flecked zucchini soup in an eye-popping shade of green with a nicely boosted nutritional profile.
Keeping it healthy: I knew I wanted a relatively smooth, pureed soup here. I was after a creamy consistency but without relying on copious amounts of heavy cream if possible. I ended up using potato in the soup base which gives the soup a bit of heft and thickness, something people often mistake for a fully cream-based soup. I might finish a soup like this with a tiny splash of cream, or a dollop of plain yogurt instead. Delicious either way.
The bulk of the time commitment here is in the chopping. Beyond that the soup only takes about 10-15 minutes once the ingredients start hitting the pot.
Other favorite zucchini recipes:
- Quinoa and Grilled Zucchini Recipe
- My Special Zucchini Bread Recipe
- Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes
Everyone has their favourite pasta. Some like theirs creamy, while others prefer tomato based ones. I'm a huge pasta fan and though I usually prefer mine with a tomato base, I think my preference has been tweaked a little.
It all started when I heard from some friends that I should try the Garlic Prawn Pasta from Coffee Club. They all agreed that it was phenomenal. But I was a tad sceptical; I mean, it sounds rather plain - I imagined just some garlic and olive oil. Guess what? It wasn't phenomenal, it was mindblowing!
The first time I tried it, I shared it with my sister because we weren't really hungry and we finished the pasta in less than 15 minutes! You should have seen us. We were both slurping up the noodles enthusiastically. When it was all gone, I thought how nice it would have been if it were a bowl of neverending pasta.
What's so great about it? The flavour. They are rather liberal with their garlic and the prawns are fresh and succulent. It's deliciously tasty. It really is a simple pasta dish relying only on olive oil, garlic and chillies but somehow it manages to pull through really well!
Both occasions when I had it, I didn't manage to snap a shot because well, it was so yummy that I forgot!
So anyway, the pasta was on my mind for days and weeks and I thought, how difficult would it be to make something like that?
That said, I went on my own garlic prawn pasta conquest. I realised that even though I had the garlic, and chillies, there still lacked a certain flavour. It wasn't tasy enough. I thought it had to do with the salt. But eventually, I thought why not try some chicken stock? And amazingly, it worked. Although I'm not sure if that's what they use. I have a feeling that seasalt would work too. But I don't have any in my kitchen currently.
I've made my version of garlic prawn pasta a couple of times already and my sister likes it so I guess it's not that bad? So now, when I crave for some, I know I can just whip one up without having to go all the way to Coffee Club.
It's really simple, this dish. I realised that I'm very much into natural olive oil based pastas now - like Aglio Olio and all. My next conquest is pesto.
What's your favourite pasta recipe/combination?
Okay, so I went, let's see -- 14 years (?) without eating mayo.Yup, you read that right. 14 years. I think I was counting calories. Or perhaps...avoiding my fate...
Then, one glorious afternoon, as it sat, glistening in a small ramekin, mixed with chipotle chiles and a touch of parsley - along side some marigold hued sweet potato fries - I started tentatively back in. I never looked back.
In those first few days back from self-restriction-Island, I became a tad bit obsessed. I ranted. I raved. I ate it with a spoon. (Sick! And yet...) I considered slathering it on as a moisturizer. I became a vocal proponent. A knife wielding advocate.
Mayo man, it's da bomb.
Sure, it has some (fantastically) over the top negatives associated with it. Spoiled luncheons. Fat. A certain way of coating the mouth.
But to this lil" blogger, its' the bestest.
I mean come on now kiddies - it's oil! It's a touch of mustard! It's eggs. It's magically delicious.
Pair it with a few of my favorite things (mussels and tarragon) and voila...dining perfection.
A simple sauce, without compare. Livens up briny mussels and makes for a meal to remember.
Fragrant, rich, mouth wateringly divine.
Try this, and enjoy.
2 lbs mussels, cleaned (I used green lip...)1/2 cup mayo
2 cloves garlic, mashed
pinch of salt
a hearty pinch of minced tarragon
a loaf of rustic bread, sliced thick
olive oil
pepper
Combine the mayo, garlic, salt and tarragon. Mash up with a mortar and pestle (or should that read: Mash in a mortar using a pestle? Either or, I suspect you get the idea) or in a food processor. Set aside to rest while you finish up.
Heat a grill to HIGH. Like insanely high. The hottest it will go. Throw on your mussels on the lower bit and the bread (which you have sliced and slathered with oil and pepper.) on the upper rack. Shut the top. (If you don't have two racks...put the bread on some foil to the furthest edges.) Let cook for 3 minutes. When the lil" guys are open, pull them out quick.
Scoop the mussels into a bowl. Top generously with giant glops of that sinful mock-aioli. Serve with bread. Relish the moment. Repeat as needed.
______________________________________
Aioli - a cold egg and oil emulsion with olive oil and garlic. Many variations of this sauce are made. Basically is is a garlic mayonnaise. AAA Recipes.com
Tomorrow is World Blog Day!
In Greece a week of forest fires have have laid waste to at least 454,000 acres of land, most of it in the Peloponnese, the glove-shaped southern peninsula where about a third of Greece's olive oil is produced.
The flames might not devastate the overall olive oil industry in Greece, the world's third-largest producer: Initial estimates indicate about 4 percent of average annual production will be lost. -AP
As any Southerner will tell you, the proper way to cook ribs is to barbecue them "low and slow" in a smoker built for that purpose. But not everyone has a smoker, and not all of us have the time or patience to watch over cooking ribs for several hours. The following is a recipe for spareribs that have been soaked in a spicy citrus brine and then grilled over indirect heat for about an hour. Brining is a useful technique in this case as it's easy to overcook pork ribs on a grill, but because the brine plumps up the meat with extra moisture, the ribs are still tender and don't get as dried out, even if you do end up overcooking them a little. This recipe is adapted from Andrew Schloss' and David Joachim's Mastering the Grill.
Greetings and salutations my fine friends!D'ja miss me?
Yea, I missed you too.
The summer is flying by, with good times being had all around. Busy stuff indeed.
Met a macrobiotic rock star (who is weirdly related to my teenaged crush.) who changed my world for about 30 seconds with his guru-esque ways. Went to the Aquarium. Got a sunburn (ouch.) Wished I could somehow know in advance where Britney Spears is gonna be so I can avoid her. (The papparazzi crush around that poor child is surreal. And annoying. Especially when you are in the car behind her. Im just saying.) And generally hung out, maxin' and relaxin' as I'm prone to do.
But I'm back for a bit just to say hi-how-do-ya-do and share a recipe I am just wild over.
It's a real interesting combo of intense flavors and vivid psychedelic colors. Perfect for a light summer meal, or just when you want to rebel against the macrobiotics in general.
Try it my peaches, and enjoy!
4, 4 oz. tuna tuna steaks
2 chiles, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 T. grated fresh ginger
1 T. tumeric
1 T. garam masala
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 cup cilantro
Salt
Puree the chiles, garlic, onion, ginger, tumeric, garam masala, lemon juice and cilantro in a food processor and puree. Add some salt. Puree again.
Cut the fish into large chunks. (Mmm. Chunks.) Coat the fish with the puree and let sit for 10 minutes at room temp.
Heat your grill or grill pan.
Sear the tuna for about a minute per side (more if you want it anything past rare...)
Slice and serve with basmati rice.
Makes four servings.
________________________________
Check out this awesome, random article on my darling Treva. She sure makes a kid laugh...
Marcobiotic: A very restrictive diet, containing mainly whole grains, considered by its advocates to promote health - Health.net
Garam Masala: Literally 'hot mixture'. This refers to a blend of spices much loved in Northern Indian cookery - Geocities
The company that makes Wonder Bread, the white bread with red, yellow and blue balloons on the wrapper said Tuesday that it was closing its Southland bakeries and laying off 1,300 workers. But junk-food lovers can take heart: The company locally will still make Hostess Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and other snacks. - LA Times
