Chickpea Salad

This was another cold salad born out of necessity during this weekend’s heat wave. Chick pea is “pois chiche” in French, I think it’s one of my favorite French words, next to champignon (mushroom) and pamplemousse (grapefruit). My friend asked me what my favorite French words were, while studying abroad, and when I told him this list, he was like “of course they’re all foods!” I hadn’t even noticed.

  • 1 can garbanzos/chick peas
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (maybe more depending on the consistency of your tahini)
  • 2 handfuls spinach
  • 1/2 green bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 2 roasted carrots
  • 2 tsp yellow curry powder
  • 1/2 lemon
  1. drain garbanzos
  2. chop spinach, bell pepper and carrots
  3. add garbanzos and veggies to a medium size bowl and stir in curry powder, tahini and red wine vinegar
  4. squeeze lemon juice into bowl, depending on how thick your tahini is (they vary brand to brand), you may need to add more red wine vinegar if it’s too globby (yes it’s a word, I read it in my Biopshychology book today, describing the cervical cortex)

© 2014, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Tuna Veggy Salad

I really love tuna. Not tuna soaked in mayo though, that takes the fun out of it. I like to chop up fruits and veggies and make a lighter, fresher salad, just like my mom’s. This was another recipe born out of bountiful produce and a mighty appetite.

  • 1 can tuna
  • 2 sticks celery
  • 1/2 large tomato
  • 2 tbsp mustard
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 2 handfuls spinach
  • 1 lg carrot
  • 1/2 onion (red or white)
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 10 red grapes
  • healthy dose of capers
  1. drain tuna
  2. chop celery, peel carrot then slice along with the tomato, onion and spinach and halve the grapes
  3. add it all to a bowl and mix

© 2014, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Pickled Carrots

I love pickled carrots. I made a batch of these and we ate the whole jar last night (not the glass). The magical thing about these is that you can keep re-using the pickling juice so if you’re a little lazy or extremely conscious of waste or addicted to pickled carrots (guilty of all three), try this recipe!

  • 3 average size carrots
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  1. cut stems and tail ends off carrots and peel
  2. then halve them and quarter them (or do whatever slicing suits your jar)
  3. put vinegar, sugar and salt in jar and stir it around until it’s mostly dissolved
  4. add the carrots, cap, and shake it up a bit
  5. then uncap and add just enough water to cover carrots and shake again
  6. leave in fridge for at least 30 minutes

Here’s Kanye West singing about his three addictions
if you’re so inclined.

And here is the Portlandia pickling clip again to get you in the spirit.

© 2014, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Pickled Zucchini and Plums

It is ridiculously hot in SLO right now. Yesterday I sat at home and studied all day but somehow still ended up feeling gritty like I had been strolling the streets of NYC on a summer day, thanks to the steady layer of sweat I kept up until well after sunset..even though I was stationed under the fan, with breaks only to make trips to the little girls room and to the freezer to remove and refill glasses of water. At one point I realized the reason my laptop was moving at the pace of an elderly snail, was probably because the poor thing was hotter than the outside temperature, meaning well over 100. I put it in the fridge. Not like I was getting much done. Heat is definitely not conductive to productivity. Anyways my friend was coming over for dinner but the thought of cooking ANYTHING sounded horrendous so I made a few cold salad-y things that required minimal effort and used up some of our surplus produce.

We got zucchini in our CSA this week, much to my chagrin. I’ve never been a fan and neither is my roommate. This was a big stress on my conscience this week…knowing that I’d have to mask those stupid zucchinis, also knowing it was going to be way too hot to cook anything this weekend unless dinner prep could wait til 8:00 when it finally starts cooling off. But we’re busy girls so this  is not feasible. I decided to  pickle them because as you know if you’ve seen this Portlandia clip, pickling is the solution if you’re in a pickle.

  • 2 zucchinis
  • 1 1/2 plums
  • 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  1.  cut zucchinis in halves and grate them long ways using a carrot grater
  2. slice plums thinly
  3. lay zucchini and plums in a small casserole kind of dish and sprinkle sugar and salt over
  4. pour vinegar and water over
  5. let marinate for an hour and stir a little, adding more vinegar if it looks like it needs more moisture

I also have made Pickled Carrots TWICE this week because pickled carrots are especially great. We also had 3 bunches of them.

And here are some pickled onions for good measure.

 

 

© 2014, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Beet Root, Goat Cheese Spread

My dad has a few favorite vendors at the farmers market that he loyally returns to. I suspect it has something to do with their levels of generosity with samples. One of them sells Middle Eastern style dips and salads. One of our favorites is a beet-goat cheese dip. I attempted to recreate it tonight and it came out pretty tasty. His is usually a smooth spread but I left mine a little more on the chunky side. It was great on some toasted hearty bread.

  • 2 lg beets
  • 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup goat cheese
  • 1/2 tsp parsley
  • 1 slice of orange
  1. Scrub beets then wrap in 2 layers of foil and bake for an hour
  2. Unwrap them and let cool, then peel off skins
  3. Cut in chunks and throw in the food processor with yogurt, goat cheese, parsley and the juice of the orang
  4. Blend until desired consistency is reached

© 2014, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Eggplant Caponata

  • 3 small eggplants or 1 large
  • 3 tbsp evoo
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup capers
  • 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
  • a few grinds black pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 sprigs rosemary
  • 2 tbsp basil

  1. heat olive oil over medium heat on the stove in a fairly large pan
  2. add the minced garlic and diced onion
  3. dice eggplants into 1 cm cubes and add to pan once onion starts turning opaque
  4. add red wine vinegar
  5. once eggplant starts to soften, add whole tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar
  6. chop rosemary and add to pan
  7. once tomatoes start to split and eggplant is softened, take pan off heat and stir in capers
  8. season with salt and pepper to taste
  9. sprinkle with basil to serve

great on Sunflower Seed Rosemary Crackers, if I do say so myself

© 2014, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Pickled Onions

I am a firm believer that pickled onions can make almost any salad or sandwich better. They’re a great, easy DIY pantry staple to have on hand in the fridge. Using this basic vinegar-sugar-salt-veg ratio, you can play around with different kinds of veggies and or seeds and seasonings for flavoring, to perfect your pickled goods.

 

our salad line-up

 

  • 1/2 cup apple cider or red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 tbsp black pepper corns
  • 1/2 tbsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds
  1. whisk vinegar, sugar and salt until dissolved
  2. place sliced onions and seeds in a jar
  3. pour vinegar over and let sit at room temp for 1 hour
  4. they’ll last for 2 weeks in the fridge

© 2014, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Ricotta

I was shocked by how easy it was to make this delicious cheese at home in less that 24 hours. Ricotta is great because of its versatility; we used it for a great dinner on fresh pasta and also had it for dessert on top of cake. We got inspiration and the recipe from Bon Appétit.
summer bulgur-heirloom tomato salad

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice or distilled white vinegar
  1. Bring milk, cream, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice; stir gently until mixture starts to curdle. Let stand 5 minutes.
  2. Pour mixture into a fine-mesh sieve lined with 2 layers of cheesecloth set over a medium bowl. Chill until cheese is spreadable, at least 20 minutes and up to 12 hours (the longer it strains, the thicker it will be).

Original recipe: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/fresh-ricotta
summer bulgur-heirloom tomato salad

After making the cheese, you’ll have quite a bit of whey leftover but don’t toss it! There are lots of interesting and useful ways to utilize it. This article explains all you ever wanted to know about curds versus whey: http://www.farmcurious.com/cheesemaking-what-to-do-with-all-that-whey/

 

 

 

 

© 2014, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Heirloom Tomato Bulgur Salad

summer bulgur-heirloom tomato salad

I found this recipe on the whole foods website and decided to spice it up. It’s a great idea for summer because you don’t have to cook it and it really utilized the flavors and natural juices of superripe heirloom tomatoes.

Heirloom Tomato Bulgur Salad:

  • 1 lb heirloom tomatoes
  • 1 cup uncooked bulgur
  • 1/4 cup capers
  • a few sprigs thyme and rosemary
  • a few squirts mustard
  1. Cut tomatoes into large dices, saving juices
  2. gently mix the tomatoes and their juices into the bulgur and let sit for three hours or more
  3. add capers, herbs and mustard

© 2014, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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