Tag: healthy

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Potato Salad w/ Lots of Garlic, Dill and Mustard

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I love all kinds of potato salad. This is a vinegar-y, herby one that I let marinate overnight. I was planning on having it as a cold salad but I had some lemon-infused cheese that was calling out to be used and melted cheese makes everything more exciting so I ended up sauteing it with the cheese.

{3 servings}

  • 1/2 lemon (juice and zest)
  • 5 sprigs dill
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
  • salt/pepper (lemon pepper preferably)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp dijon
  • 1 tbsp capers
  • 15 tiny potatoes or 9 normal small fingerlings
  • 1/4 cup hard salty cheese (pecorino or something similar)- optional

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  1. boil potatoes until easily stabbed with a fork
  2. mince garlic
  3. in a bowl whisk together olive oil, red wine vin, mustard and garlic. season to taste with salt and pepper
  4. when potatoes are cooled, quarter them or chop (depending on the size of the potatoes you’re using)
  5. pour the vinaigrette over the potatoes and gently stir to cover all potatoes without breaking them up too much
  6. add the capers and chopped dill
  7. marinate overnight
  8. serve cold OR
  9. in a medium sized sauce pan saute the whole concoction over medium high heat and shave cheese over the top
  10. stir occasionally until cheese is melted and potatoes are starting to crisp
  11. serve with fresh dill and lemon zest

(pictured with a spinach salad, lentils and a soft boiled egg)

© 2016, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Cabbage with Dates, Capers and Salami

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I got this huge head of cabbage at the farmers market last week because it was $1 (basically free). Cabbage is pretty awesome, especially for college students with sporadic schedules and limited funds because it lasts and it’s very cheap. While it’s not the most exciting vegetable out there, it’s versatile and can be quite tasty if you get creative.

  • 1 medium sized head of green cabbage
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 pat butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 5 medjool dates
  • 2 tbsp capers (w/ juice)
  • generous squirts mustard
  • salt/pepper
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped salami
  1. boil a pot of water and quarter the cabbage
  2. blanch the cabbage for 3 minutes then dunk in an ice bath and drain with paper towels
  3. slice onion kind of thinly and mince garlic and salami (roughly)
  4. in a large skillet add olive oil and butter over medium high heat
  5. when butter melts add the garlic then the onions, let cook down, stirring occasionally, until onions are opaque
  6. slice cabbage roughly
  7. add the salami to the skillet and stir to incorporate
  8. add the cabbage, season with salt, pepper and mustard and cover
  9. let cook down, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes until cabbage is soft and it’s becoming soupy
  10. pit and dice dates then add them and the capers and stir to incorporate and take off heat

© 2016, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Farro with Goat Cheese, Arugula and Blistered Tomatoes

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I love farro. My mom is pretty on top of food trends and caught on to this one early on..Not that I’d say it’s become a “craze” per se, but it’s definitely more common and popular since it first appeared on our dinner table. It’s nutty and chewy and called “the mother of all wheat” by some. According to bob’s red mill, it nourished the Roman legions and was even used as a form of currency. Trader Joe’s has a 10 minute version that is a life saver- or at least a huge time saver. Also it’s less than $2.

I used a beautiful aged goat cheese for this but you can use fresh goat cheese too.

{serves 1}

  • 2 handfuls arugula
  • 1 egg
  • 5 mini heirloom tomatoes
  • 2 spoon fulls capers
  • 2 tsps black pepper corns
  • 1 clove garlic
  • generous dollop dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup farro (uncooked)
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 3 mini bell peppers
  • dollop goat cheese
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • salt/pepper
  1. heat a medium sized sauce pan and add pine nuts, dry toast them, stirring them occasionally until they smell nutty and are golden brown
  2. meanwhile bring the chicken broth and pepper corns to a boil and cook the farro in it (according to directions)
  3. mince garlic and slice the bell peppers
  4. remove the pine nuts from the pan and add the olive oil
  5. cook the garlic for a minute then add the bell peppers, capers and whole tomatoes and cover
  6. let tomatoes blister then remove from heat
  7. poach or fry your egg
  8. fluff the farro then stir mustard into it and add arugula (you may (probably will) have leftover farro and veggies…depending on your appetite)
  9. serve the farro mixture into a bowl, top it with the tomato- bell pepper saute, chunks of goat cheese and the egg

© 2016, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Mediterranean Grain Bowl

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Humble grain bowls seem to be all the rage right now. They’re on menus at all sorts of hip restaurants and not so hip ones. But they’re also incredibly easy to make at home and seriously affordable, a college student’s dream. You can basically throw in whatever veggies you have, cooked or raw (or a combination) and any protein with any grain and any seasoning. If this isn’t your idea of an easy recipe, here is a combo I made last night with all my random groceries.

{serves 1}

  • 1/2 cup farro (uncooked)
  • 1 cup broth (optional)
  • 5 mini portobello mushrooms
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 mini bell peppers
  • 3 cherry heirloom tomatoes
  • 3 artichoke hearts
  • 1 spoonful capers
  • 1 pinch basil
  • 1 pinch thyme
  • 1 pinch oregano
  • some canned tuna
  • grainy mustard
  • salt n pepper
  1. cook farro according to recipe*. use broth for more flavor
  2. clean mushrooms with a wet paper towel and slice
  3. mince garlic and heat olive oil in a medium sized pan then cook that garlic in the pan
  4. add the mushrooms and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally for a few minutes
  5. when farro is finished, stir in the herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste
  6. slice bell peppers (deseed if necessary) and quarter tomatoes and artichoke hearts
  7. put farro in a bowl and top with sauteed mushrooms, the other veggies, capers and tuna and a dollop of your favorite mustard

*10 minute farro from trader joe’s is my best friend on school nights

© 2016, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Avocado-Toast-Fried-Egg-Sandwich

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There’s nothing like a fried egg sandwich. There’s also nothing like an avocado toast. This is where the avocado-toast-fried-egg-sandwich comes in. Throw in caramelized onions and melted cheese and some sauteed spinach for good measure and you have one hell of a breakfast sandwich. Or lunch sandwich or dinner sandwich.

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{serves 1}

  • 1/2 of a small avocado or 1/4 of a big guy
  • pepperplant  (or your hot sauce of choice)
  • 2 slices of bread, your preference
  • a few slices chili-bell pepper cheese (you can sub a good cheddar)
  • 2 handfuls spinach
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • red pepper flakes
  • garlic salt
  • pepper
  • 1 egg
  1. heat olive oil in a medium sized pan and slice onion
  2. caramelize the onion over low heat, stirring occasionally until it starts turning golden brown
  3. meanwhile slice (enough cheese to cover one slice of bread) thinly
  4. once onions are good and caramelized, spread them over one of the slices of bread then top with the cheese slices then toast (along with the other plain slice of bread)
  5. in the onion pan heat the spinach with a splash of water, cook until just wilted, remove with tongs and squeeze out excess water
  6. heat a small skillet over medium high heat and fry the egg
  7. mash the avocado on the plain piece of toast then spread spinach over and dot with pepperplant or your hot sauce of choice
  8. sprinkle garlic salt, pepper and chili flakes on the egg and using a spatula, gently transport it onto the avo/spinach toast
  9. sandwich it with the melty cheese toast and you have a pretty awesome egg sandwich

© 2016, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Spinach Salad w/ Mashed Sardine Garbanzos

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This is another kitchen-sink kind of salad. Salads don’t have to be boring as long as you have some good ole pantry staples. Avocado doesn’t hurt either. Or a healthy dose of red pepper flakes. You could even throw a fried egg on top for some serious salad snazz.

{this recipe is for 1 salad with a lot of leftover garbanzos}

for the garbanzo-sardine mash:

  • 1 can garbanzos
  • 1 tin sardines in harrissa olive oil (if you can’t find them, you can sub sardines in olive oil and add a bit of harissa*)
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts
  • a few generous shakes of red pepper flakes
  • salt to taste
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 lemon

for the salad:

  • 2 handfuls spinach
  • 1/2 avocado
  1. heat a medium sized skillet and toss in the pine nuts, shaking the pan a few times until the nuts start getting a little brown and smell good, then remove from pan
  2. drain some of the olive oil from the sardines off into the pan
  3. mince garlic and add to the pan
  4. drain the garbanzos and rinse then add to the pan
  5. break sardines into pieces and add to the pan and start mashing garbanzos with a fork, turn down heat, salt to taste
  6. add the pine nuts back in and take the pan off heat, squeeze lemon juice into the pan
  7. serve over spinach and under avocado

*trader joes sells these little suckers for the low price of $1.29, a steal of a tasty protein deal for a college student, or anyone trying to conserve beer/travel money

 

© 2016 – 2017, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Cure-all Spicy Ginger Mushroom Soup

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The other day I felt myself starting to get sick so I ran over to Whole Foods and bought up all of the immunity boosting things I could think of. And it worked!

  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 cm piece fresh ginger
  • 1 carton chicken broth (low sodium)
  • 2 portobello mushrooms
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium)
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil (you can sub another oil if you need to)
  • 1/2 tbsp sriracha
  • 1 serrano pepper
  • 1 cup kimchi
  • 5 mini bell peppers (or one normal size)
  • 2 tbsp ginger paste
  • red pepper flakes (to taste)
  • 1/2 tbsp furikake +some for garnish
  • 4 handfuls spinach
  1. mince garlic and ginger (peel ginger first)
  2. slice and deseed the serrano (you can leave some of the seeds depending on your spice tolerance and the heat of the chili)
  3. heat sesame oil in a medium sized pot over medium heat and add the garlic, ginger and serrano
  4. halve the mushrooms then slice them lengthwise and add to the pot when the other ingredients have turned opaque
  5. add soy sauce, sriracha and furikake, stir and cover
  6. slice the bell pepper(s) and add to the pot
  7. once the mushrooms are looking good and sauteed, pour the chicken stock over
  8. turn heat down and let simmer for 5 minutes
  9. when ready to serve add spinach
  10. top bowls with kimchi and more furikake

© 2016, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Chicken and Veggie Jade Rice Bowl with Pineapple Glaze

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You know how good teriyaki* chicken is? This is better. Cooking down a quart of pineapple juice creates an umami flavor that will bring your rice bowls to a whole new level and also knock your socks off, so be careful.

*who just learned how to spell teriyaki? I did.

  • 1 quart pineapple juice
  • 1 tbsp sriracha
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • a little bit of chili flakes (spice up your life..if you’d like)
  • 3 medium sized carrots
  • 1/2 large bok choy. or 1 smaller one, you decide. it’s your life.
  • 7 broccoli florets
  • 2 fresno chilis. or other kind of red mystery chili your mom brings you from her garden
  • 1 green bell (pepper)
  • some coconut oil
  • 1 pound chicken breast
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cayenne
  • 1 tsp ground aji amarillo
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp tumeric
  • 1 tsp (each) salt/pepper
  • 1 cup green jade rice (dry) – or other rice if you don’t have jade rice but it’s pretty and they have it at Whole Foods
  • cilantro, for garnish

serves 2

  1. pre-heat oven to 350° F
  2. in a medium-small sized sauce pan, add pineapple juice, sriracha, chili flakes, soy sauce and a pat of butter
  3. reduce this mixture a little more than half, over medium heat. this will take about an hour…the slower the better
  4. cut carrots, bok choy and green bell pepper in half length-wise, cut florets off broccoli and slice chili in half and deseed. brush veggies with coconut oil and roast at 350° F for 15 minutes
  5. dice chicken breast and season with all of the spices (dry rub)
  6. in a medium sized pot bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil then add 1 cup rice and bring to simmer and cook for 20 minutes
  7. heat coconut oil in a skillet, brown chicken over medium heat until cooked through
  8. when chicken is cooked, lower heat and add some of the pineapple reduction in and stir until well glazed
  9. in bowls serve rice, veggies and chicken and garnish to your hearts content

© 2015, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Pickled Blueberry and Burrata Black Rice

IMG_3090When I saw the recipe for pickled blueberries I thought it sounded interesting and I wanted to try it. But never during the process of buying the ingredients and pickling the blueberries did I think about what I was going to do with such a strange flavor combination. They were very salty but still a little sweet and the rosemary gave them a nice earthiness but they were definitely not something you want to snack on by themselves. They sat in the fridge for a couple of days becoming saltier and saltier while I pondered what to do with them.  Food52 suggested pairing them with ice cream but I’m not much of a sweets person and I am most definitely a cheese person so my mind jumped to a mellow cheese like ricotta or mozzarella.

My mom had picked up this black forbidden rice at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and we were trying to figure out a recipe to try with that too. I decided to throw them together with some sweet golden raisins and caramelized shallots to balance the saltiness, pistachios for crunch and burrata to pull it all together. Burrata is the king of mellow cheeses in my opinion. If you don’t know what it is, you should go get some and read this.

  • 2 cups forbidden black rice
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/3 cup roasted pistachios
  • 1/3 cup golden raisins
  • 1 pint pickled blueberries drained
  • 1 roasted shallot
  • 1/3 cup chopped pickled onions
  • 1 sack burrata
  1. cover a baking sheet with parchment and roast shallot in skin at 300° for 45 minutes or until skin is golden brown and it’s soft on the inside
  2. cook rice according to directions
  3. let rice cool and move to a large mixing bowl
  4. when shallot is finished, let cool and slice
  5. add raisins, blueberries, onions and the shallot to the bowl of rice and mix
  6. divide the burrata and dollop onto the rice when you’re ready to serve

© 2015, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Matcha Pound Cake with Orange and Coconut Glaze

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I don’t know when I discovered matcha but I’ve been hooked ever since. When I visited my cousin in Vienna last summer, there was a traditional Japanese tea house that specialized in matcha. They would make each drink by hand with a whisk in a delicate little china bowl. It was always the same three women working, wearing beautiful silk and you could watch them, expertly whipping up the frothiest, creamiest matcha lattes I’ve ever seen. My mom made matcha shortbread cookies for Christmas for a couple years and they were delicious. Recently I saw this Food & Wine article about all the things you could do with matcha and it’s been on my mind ever since. Luckily, my mom’s friend owns a specialty tea company that carries some incredible matcha powder and she shared some with me for experimentation. This is my version of the Food & Wine pound cake recipe. I used coconut oil, coconut milk and coconut sugar to make it a little healthier and give it a coconutty twist. It is very dense, I’d recommend enjoying it with tea, white wine or a hoppy beer.

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp matcha powder
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup coconut milk

glaze:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 5 tsp coconut milk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • shredded coconut (for sprinkling)
  • 1 tsp cardamom (optional)
  • 2 tsp orange zest
  1. preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper
  2. in a small bowl whisk together the flour, salt and matcha powder and set aside
  3. melt the butter and coconut oil then beat in the sugar, don’t worry if it doesn’t completely emulsify, it will when you add it to the dry ingredients
  4. add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla extract, beating after each addition
  5. beat in the dry ingredients and the milk in a few additions; scrape down the bowl as necessary
  6. pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
  7. let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes
  8. to make the glaze, pour milk into a small bowl and slowly whisk in powdered sugar as needed, until it is a glaze consistency, add orange zest, cardamom and vanilla extract. Pour the glaze over the warm cake and sprinkle the coconut on top

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© 2015, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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