Friday Night Lite

An easy after work stew. . . very tasty on this rainy Friday!  The recipe was inspired by Alison and Jeff Nathan's "Sea Bass Nicoise".  Here's my version:

Wild Cod Stew
(Serves 2)

1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove, diced
1/3 cup Fennel Bulb, sliced
1 Mini Green Pepper, diced
Saute vegetables in olive oil a few minutes.  Add:

2 Small Yukon Potatoes, peeled and diced 
3/4 cup Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
2 Tbsp. Apple Juice
1/2 tsp. Lemon Zest
Small Pinch Saffron Threads
1/2 tsp. Fennel Seed
1/4 tsp. Mrs. Dash
Simmer to cook potatoes.  Add:

1 Wild Cod Fillet, cut in bite size pieces
1 cup Diced Tomatoes in Juice, no added salt
1/4 cup Fresh Herbs
5 Kalamata Olives, diced
Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

I found the Saffron Threads at TJ Max for an affordable price.  The pepper and herbs are from my container garden.  The fennel and Potatoes are from the local Farmer's Market.  Have a great weekend! 
   

Sunny Goliath Pie

Sunny Goliath is the name of the tomato, grown from a seedling I purchased at WVU's greenhouse.  The recipe was based on Food Network Magazine's Tomato and Corn Custard Pie.  Seems I managed to use almost a whole gallon of milk this week, and I'd opened a container of ricotta cheese Sunday. .. so I used it in the pie instead.  It turned out great!  Here's my version:

Sunny Goliath Pie
(Serves 6)

Crust
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/3 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread
2-3 Tbsp. Cold Water
Cut buttery spread into flour with a fork.  Stir in cold water.  Roll out dough onto pastry cloth.  Place in deep dish pie pan sprayed with Pam.  Pinch edges.  Bake at 450 degrees 5 minutes.

Pie
2 Ears of Corn, purchased today at our work place Farmer's Market
Cook.  (I leave mine in the husk and cook each in the microwave for 2 minutes on one side, then turn and cook 2 minutes on the other side).  Cut off the cob.

Place corn cut off of 1 ear in the blender.  Add:
1/2 cup Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese
1/3 cup Skim Milk
1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash
Blend, stirring down sides.

Place corn cut off the second ear in the bottom of the pastry.  Pour the corn-ricotta mixture over.  Bake at 350 degrees 30 minutes.

Remove from oven.  Turn oven temperature to 450.  Top pie with:
Yellow Tomato Wedges
3 Tbsp. Fresh Cut Basil
1/3 cup Swiss Cheese
Bake 10 minutes.   

Served with Roasted Vegetables (thanks Chris for cutting these!) and Watermelon.

Stuffed, But Not Stuffed (Zucchini)

I'm loving the stuffed zucchini boats, and tonight I combined a couple recipes for this one:

Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini
(Serves 3)

1/4 cup Quinoa
Simmer in water to cover about 20 minutes.  Drain.

1 Medium, Thin Zucchini
Boil squash in water to cover 5 minutes.  Cut in half.  Remove pulp and dice.  

1 Turkey Italian Sausage Link
3 Tbsp. Onion, diced
1 tsp. Olive Oil
Brown sausage in onion and oil.  Add reserved squash pulp.  Saute a couple minutes.  Then add:
1 cup Diced Canned Tomatoes with juice and no added salt
2 Tbsp. Fresh Oregano
Cooked Quinoa
1 tsp. Mrs. Dash
Heat.

Remove from heat.  Stir in:
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese, part-skim

Stuff zucchini shells with mixture.  Add remainder to an ovenproof bowl.  Sprinkle with:
1 Tbsp. Gorgonzola Cheese
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

My muffins were tough, but since this a work recipe that is very good, I'll post it just the same.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins
(Serves 12)

3/4 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/3 cup Applesauce, unsweetened
1 Egg
1/3 cup Skim Milk
2 Apples, peeled, cored and chopped
In a separate bowl, mix applesauce, eggs and milk.  
Whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon.  Stir the applesauce mixture into the flour mixture until just blended.  Fold in the apples.  Portion 1/3 cup batter into cupcake pans sprayed with Pam.

2 Tbsp. 2 Tsp. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 Tbsp. 2 tsp. All Purpose Flour
1 cup Oats
1/2 cup Applesauce, unsweetened
1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
2 Tbsp. Sugar

Mix flours, applesauce, cinnamon, oats and sugar.  Portion heaping Tbsp. of topping over batter in each muffin cup.  Take at 375 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean (approximately 25 minutes).  Cool 5 minutes in tin.  
    
I took a few muffins to my son Chris, a college student working till 9 tonight, who will be hungry when he gets off work. 

Heavenly Hash & Tapenade Toast (Meatless Monday)

I called the hash "heavenly" as some of the vegetables were from my garden and most of the rest was from local gardens.  The recipe is from Cooking Light.  Here's what went into mine:

Heavenly Hash & Poached Egg
(Serves 2)

2 small New Potatoes
Boil until fork easily enters potato but still slightly firm.  Drain, cook and peel.  Cut into thin 1 inch long strips.

1/2 cup fresh Green Beans, cooked and cut into 2 inch pieces.

1/2 small Yellow Squash, diced
1/2 small Green Summer Squash, diced
6 Grape Tomatoes, quartered   

2 Spring Onions, diced
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 tsp. Olive Oil
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil.  Add potatoes and squash.  Cook a few minutes.  Then stir in other vegetables.  Add spices:

1 tsp. Herbes de Povence
1 Tbsp. Fresh Parsley

Keep hot while poaching eggs.

2 Eggs
Heat water in a small skillet to simmer.  Add 1/2 tsp. White Vinegar.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Simmer until white is set. 

Serve egg over a bowl of hash.

Tapenade Toast
(Serves 2)

1 Garlic Clove
1 tsp. Canola Oil
1 Tbsp. Almonds
6 Kalamata Olives
1/2 cup Spring Mix
1 Mini Green Pepper
Chop in food processor.  Spread on top of

2 Slices Multigrain Bread
Broil in toaster oven 6 minutes.  Serve with bowl of hash and egg.
   

Mountainside Meal

We dined with the deer today on our picnic at North Bend State Park in Union, West Virginia.  As we ate on a mountainside table, we watched 3 deer grazing in front of us.  Our menu today included:

Crab and Fresh Produce Salad

Plum Cake with Ricotta Cheese

A can of crabmeat is expensive, but I cut the 1 pound crabmeat into 3 and froze 2 servings for a later date.  Here's what I placed in the salad:

Crab and Fresh Produce Salad

(Serves 2)

1/2 Medium Cantaloupe, seeded and sliced in 1/2 moons pieces

1/2 each Yellow and Zucchini Summer Squash, sliced in coins and steamed for 1 minute

1 Pickling Cucumber, sliced in coins

1 Carrot, peeled and sliced in coins

8 Grape Tomatoes, sliced

1 Yellow Pepper, sliced in coins

5 oz. Crabmeat

1/4 cup Fresh Herbs (Basil, Cilantro and Tarragon)

Lime Dressing

1 Tbsp. Fresh Lime Juice

1 tsp. Grated Lime Rind

2 tsp. Canola Oil

1 tsp. Honey

I posted the Plum Cake recipe last night.  Since I couldn't pack ice cream or whipped cream in a picnic basket, I packed ricotta cheese to garnish.  The fun part was shaving the nutmeg bean at tableside.  The finale was delicious.

Enjoy the week! 

 

Plum Good!

I love plums and tonight's dessert features that juicy summer fruit.  The original recipe is from Clean Eating Magazine.  I've been trying to buy the spelt flour for 2 weeks at the co-op and the bin was empty.  So I substituted other flours instead.  Here's my version:

Plum Cake
(Serves 10)

1 Egg
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
Beat in electric mixer.

Stir together dry ingredients:
1 cup Oat Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Cardamom
Dash Salt

Mix together liquid ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 1/2 cup Skim Milk
3 Tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread, melted
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Alternately add dry and liquid ingredients to egg/sugar mixture.  Stir with spoon.  Do not over mix. Pour batter into 10 inch springform pan sprayed with Pam.  

3 Plums, cut in thin wedges
Place on top of batter in cake pan.  Bake at 350 degrees 35 minutes.  Broil for another 3-4. 

Seems I overestimated the ripe tomatoes growing on my back porch, so I picked a pepper to stuff too!  The Tuna Salad recipe was inspired by Eating Well magazine.  The Tomato and Watermelon Salad is from Food Network Magazine.    

Tuna Salad-Stuffed Vegetables
(Serves 2)

1-5 oz. can Tuna, very low sodium in water
Fresh Spring Mix (from our container garden)
1/2 cup Northern Beans, no salt (I use the Hanover brand frozen cooked beans)
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Fennel, chopped
3 Kalamata Olives, chopped
1/2 tsp. Thyme
Mix drained tuna, oil, vinegar, thyme, fennel and olives.  Remove interior of vegetables.  Stuff with tuna mixture.  Serve on a bed of greens with beans.

Tomato and Watermelon Salad
(Serves 5)

1 cup Watermelon, diced
4 Strawberries, hulled and diced
Diced Tomatoes (I used the reserved tomato flesh)
2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Canola Oil
1 tsp. Granulated Sugar
1 Tbsp. Chopped Fresh Tarragon
Mix and chill.

We have a simple picnic planned for tomorrow!     

Crustless Quiche

The "Sunny Goliath" Tomato crowning the quiche was grown on my own deck-a seedling purchased at WVU Greenhouse.  The quiche has many other fresh vegetables-eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, mushrooms and fresh basil. Here's my recipe:

Crustless Quiche
(Serves 6)

3/4 cup Eggplant, peeled, diced
3/4 cup Zucchini, unpeeled, diced
3/4 cup Yellow Squash, unpeeled, diced
3/4 cup Fresh Mushrooms, sliced
Can cook vegetables for a few minutes, though I skipped that step and the finished product was just fine.  Spray the pie pan with Pam.  Fill the pan with vegetables.

6 Shell Eggs
1 cup & 2 Tbsp. Skim Milk
3/4 tsp. Mrs. Dash
Beat eggs, milk and seasoning.

Pour egg mixture over.  Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes until eggs are almost set.

1 Tomato, sliced
1/4 cup Fresh Basil
1 cup Swiss Cheese, shredded
Open oven door (do not remove quiche from oven).  Layer tomato, basil and finally cheese over top of each.  Bake an additional 5 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes before cutting.  Cut each pie in 6 servings.  

We finished the meal with Blueberry Cornmeal Shortcake!