Penne Pasta in a Roasted Beet Sauce

Beautiful, Delicious and Beet-tastic. Recipe and photo from BevCooks.com

Penne Pasta in a Roasted Beet Sauce:

What it took for 2:

* 3 medium-sized beets, cleaned and cut into a small dice
* 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
* 3 sprigs thyme
* 3 cloves garlic
* 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
* 2 Tbs. vermouth
* 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
* 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
* 1/4 cup cream or milk
* 1 tsp. sugar
* 1/2 pound penne pasta
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1 Tbs. poppy seeds
* mint leaves, for garnish

Preheat oven to 400.

On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the diced beets with 1 Tbs. oil, thyme sprigs and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes. Check for doneness at the 30-minute mark.

Transfer beets to a food processor. Add the garlic, balsamic vinegar, vermouth, half of the cheese and the 2 remaining Tbs. oil. Pulse until it’s as smooth as you can get it.

Transfer beet mixture to a small saucepan. Add the stock and cream and bring to a light simmer. Add the sugar, remaining cheese and another pinch of salt. Simmer on medium-low while you prepare the rest of the meal. Taste it. Oh I know.

Toast the poppy seeds in a small skillet until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Cook the penne until al dente. Drain and return to skillet. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to combine. Look. At. That. Color. Give it one more taste. Season accordingly.

Serve pasta garnished with a good sprinkle of the poppy seeds and the mint leaves. And more cheese. Absolutely more cheese.

*Quick Note* One thing I SHOULD have done and will do next time is roast the garlic along with the beets. That would have taken this over the moon. That is all.

Seitan Fingers with Gravy

Husband's favorite meal growing up (before he was a veggie) was chicken fried steak. So after I conquered making homemade seitan I decided to invent this little yummy for him. You can really tell how good it was based on the fact that I burnt my pinkie finger terribly while making these, yet still sat there and gobbled them alllll up with my left hand, while my right was stuck in ice water throbbing.

They are seriously soo good!! I served them with fresh steamed green beans with a little butter, lemon, salt and pepper. Mashed potatoes would be great too, but I can't bring myself to add a starch to a fried meal : ) 

Photo and Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman

 For the Seitan:
Ingredients:
2 cups gluten flour
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp. Onion Powder
2 Tb Soy sauce
5 Cups of Vegetable or No-Chicken Broth
1/2 small diced onion
1 garlic clove
Fresh or dried rosemary, thyme, etc
1 tsp all-seasoning (for "beefy" seitan)
1 tsp. Molasses (for "beefy" seitan)
1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (for "beefy" seitan)

Preparation:
1. Mix gluten flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder together.
2. Add 2 Tb soy sauce and 1 cup broth. Mix with a wooden smooth. If too sticky, add a little more flour. Mine was perfect.
3. Knead a little, then shape into about 15 flat strips. (or whatever shape you like)
4. Put into dutch oven with 4 cups broth, onions, garlic, herbs,and "beefy add-in's" . Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Take pot off of stove and cool slightly.

Ingredients

• 8 cooked seitan strips (recipe above)
• 1 cup Flour
• 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne
• 3 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Milk
• Canola Oil And Butter For Frying
• 2 cups Milk (additional)
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Combine flour, seasoned salt, pepper, and cayenne in a dish.

Whisk together milk and eggs in a separate dish.

To bread the seitan, first dredge in flour, then dip quickly in egg mixture, then put back into the flour to coat on both sides. Continue until all the seitan is breaded.

Heat canola oil with 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Fry steak strips 4 or 5 at a time, turning midway through. When golden brown, remove from the pan to a paper towel-lined plate. Continue until all the seitan is done. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

To make the gravy, pour off all the grease from the pan. Add 1/4 cup of the grease back in, then sprinkle on 2 to 4 tablespoons of the flour mixture (or you can use fresh flour.) Whisk mixture till it becomes a paste (add more flour if you need to) and cook the paste over medium-low heat until it's deep golden brown. Pour in milk, whisking constantly. Allow the gravy to cook and thicken, whisking regularly and adding more milk if it seems too thick right off the bat.

Season gravy with salt and pepper.

Serve steak fingers with gravy.

AND- Don't dip your pinkie finger in the hot oil : ) 

Curried Tempeh Grilled Cheese with Mango Chutney

I LOVE this Grilled Cheese, which is more of a Panini. mmm mmm and mmm. The combination of the jam, arugula, cheese and curry is perfection.  Recipe and photo from veggiebelly.com

So- we had extra homemade seitan strips on hand so used that instead of tempeh. Same recipe of seitan as I have previously posted, cut into slices, and prepared the same.

Curried Tempeh Grilled Cheese with Mango Chutney Recipe

Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients
For curried tempeh
Half an 8 oz package of tempeh (or seitan)
¼-½ teaspoon curry powder*
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon oil

For the sandwich
4 slices of sourdough bread
1 tablespoon or to taste sweet mango chutney. Substitute with apricot preserves
4 slices of provolone or mozzarella cheese ( I used Provolone) 
Handful of fresh arugula or baby spinach leaves or kale leaves, torn ( I used Arugula)
1 teaspoon butter
*curry powders vary greatly in their poteny and spiciness. So I really cant give you an exact amount.

Method
For the curried tempeh
1.Slice the tempeh lengthwise into ¼ inch thin pieces. You will need 6-8 slices, about 4 oz
2.Whisk together the curry powder, soy sauce and water in a bowl. Add tempeh to the bowl and gently toss so the marinade is coated well on the tempeh.
3.Cover and marinate the tempeh in the fridge for 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
4. Heat oil in a medium skillet and add the marinated tempeh. Also add any remaining marinating liquid. Cook on medium heat, flipping the tempeh occasionally, till all the liquid has boiled away and the tempeh is brown on both sides.
Now proceed with making the grilled cheese.

Shortcut curried tempeh: If you are in a hurry, skip the marinating and cooking of the tempeh. Leave out the water and oil. Simply toss tempeh in soy sauce and curry powder and continue with the recipe below.

For the grilled cheese
1.Use a small cast iron skillet or a garden brick as the weight for the grilled cheese. Cover the cast iron skillet or bricks with aluminum foil
2. Take 2 slices of bread and slather about 1/2 teaspoon (or more) mango chutney on both the bread slices
3. Place one slice of cheese on top of the mango chutney. Top it with 3-4 slices of curried tempeh and 6-8 leaves of arugula or baby spinach or kale
4. Cover with another slice of cheese, and the other slice of bread, chutney side down
5. Heat ¼ teaspoon butter in a non stick skillet on medium heat. Place the sandwich on the skillet
6. Put the foil covered weight (cast iron skillet or brick) on top of the sandwich. Make sure it is balanced sitting on the sandwich. Let the sandwich with the weight on top cook on medium heat  till the bottom side is golden, about 2 minutes
7. Then remove the grilled cheese sandwich using a wide spatula, add 1/4^th teaspoon more butter to the pan. Flip the sandwich over and cook the other side, with the weight on top, till it is golden.

Grilled Pineapple Fried Rice

My Mister loves Fried Rice, so I stirred this up for him this week. The grilled pineapple is divine. 

Fried Rice with Grilled Pineapple

Recipe adapted and photo from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1/2 whole Pineapple, Cut Into Spears And Skewered
• 2 cups White Or Brown Rice, Cooked
• 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha, Or Other Hot Sauce
• Salt To Taste
• 1 cloves Minced Garlic
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1-1/2 cup Frozen Peas
• Snow peas
• Diced Red Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (additional)

Preparation Instructions

Cook rice according to package instructions. Set aside.

Grill or saute pineapple spears until they have good marks/color on the outside. Slice, then set aside.

Add a small amount of oil to a pan and place over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir it around, then crack in the eggs and immediately stir them to scramble them a bit. Add peas, snow peas,  red pepper a couple of tablespoons (additional) soy sauce and hot sauce. Cook for a few minutes until peas are cooked through. Add pineapple and stir through. Add cooked rice and stir it around to cook for a couple of minutes.

To serve, pile rice on a plate, then top with a pork chops and onions from the sauce. Drizzle a little bit of sauce over the top.

Could add tons of kinds of veggies, tofu, "porkish seitan", tempeh, etc. 

Avocado Spaghetti

Creamy avocado pasta

Ingredients:

1 medium ripe avocado, pitted

½ lime

2 garlic cloves

¼ jalapeno

¼ cup packed basil

1 cup spinach

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup freshly grated parmesan

1 pound whole wheat spaghetti

1 cup spinach

 basil leaves to garnish

Recipe and photo from Blissfulblog

Pinwheels

This is just an easy lunch option that is different than the regular sandwich and yummy. Great to stick in kids lunches too.

Recipe and Photo fro Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 8 ounces, weight Neufchatel cheese , Softened
• 1 Tablespoon Chopped Green Onions Or Chives
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Parsley
• 8 whole Basil Leaves, Chopped (or Chiffonade)
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 6 whole Taco Sized Flour Tortillas
• 1/2 pound Sliced Tofurky
• 3 whole Carrots, Peeled And Jullienned
• 1 whole Cucumber, Seeds Scraped Out And Julienned
• 3 leaves Green Leaf Lettuce, Spine Removed
• 2 whole Avocados, Sliced

Preparation Instructions

Make the herbed cream cheese by combining the softened cream cheese with the chives, parsley, basil, salt and pepper, and lemon juice. Stir to combine.

Spread cream cheese in a thin layer over the tortillas. Lay ingredients down the middle of the tortilla:  use tofurky and lettuce, carrots, and cucumber and avocado.  Let the veggies extend past the edges on either side.

Roll up the tortillas as tightly as they'll go, then wrap each rollup in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. (If you plan and prepare lunch an hour ahead of time, which I don't)

To slice, cut each rollup exactly in half, then line up the two halves and cut them in half again. Stand the end pieces up so that the veggies stick out the top.

Raspberry Nutella Smores

I ordered the Design Sponge Blog's summer newspaper- Camp Design Sponge. Which is so much fun. Full of "campy" crafts, activities, games and snacks. Just an artsy little creation. One of the snacks is this delicious Recipe. I love Smores, and this is a fun twist on them. 

We used Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter instead of Nutella (it was all our store had). It claims that Nutella has so much sugar its basically like putting frosting on your morning. Well- I would rather have the frosting version : ). haha. It's good, but when compared to the real naughty stuff, it's hard to please.

Raspberry and Nutella Smores

8 jumbo Marshmallows (I recommend the vegan kind)

8 Tb. Nutella

16 Graham crackers

1 cup fresh raspberries

Prep crackers withe a smearing of nutella. In a bowl mash up raspberries to release juices.

Skewer marshmallows and brown over an open flame. Once marshmallow are brown all over, remove and sandwich between nutella smeared crackers and fresh raspberries.

Creme Brulee

Recipe from PioneerWoman.com

I love baking, but I hate hate hate baking cakes. It just never works out for me. And all that time and effort and sugar...I've just abandoned hope. And the fact is I prefer Creme Brulee for Birthdays anyway : )
I finally got a kitchen torch for christmas, thanks to my mother-in-law. I've made it so many times since December, I actually have to take a nice break from it. I'm looking forward to making some different flavors in the fall.

P.S. I always serve with berries. Just the right balance for me.

Crème Brûlée

Ingredients

• 4 cups Heavy Cream
• 1 whole Vanilla Bean OR 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract OR 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Paste
• 10 whole Egg Yolks
• 3/4 cups Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Superfine (Baker's) Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pour the cream into the saucepan. Add vanilla (whichever product you're using) and simmer over medium-low heat.

Whip egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow and thick.

Strain cream using a fine mesh strainer.

Whip yolks while you very slowly drizzle in 1 cup of warm cream. Go slowly so as not to cook the eggs! Once the first cup is added, you can add the rest of the cream slowly.

Place ramekins onto a rimmed baking sheet. Pour custard mixture into ramekins. Pour water in bottom of baking sheet until it comes halfway up the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes, or until just set. Do not allow to get brown.

Cool ramekins on countertop, then chill for at least 2-3 hours, covered in plastic wrap.

To serve, sprinkle 1 tablespoon over each ramekin of custard. Use a kitchen torch to quickly (but carefully) brown the sugar. There should be a thin, crisp surface of burned sugar on the top.

Serve immediately!

Mama Tink's Chkn & Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings in my house is actually more of a soup. And it's a favorite of mine. So here is my Mom's recipe- without the meat.

 Tink's Chicken & Dumplings


Ingredients:
1 can premade biscuits
3 Quarn Chicken-style Breasts
5 carrots sliced
4 celery stalks diced
1 small onion diced
4 cups no-chicken or vegetable broth
Salt + Pepper
Garlic Salt
Parsley
Bayleaf


1. In dutch oven or large pot saute onions, celery, carrots, and Quarn Breasts until onions are clear. Take out Quarn Breast and cut into small peices. Return to pot. 
2. Add broth, seasonings. Bring to boil..Meanwhile, roll biscuits out flat and cut into 2 inch pieces. 
3. Carefully drop biscuits into boiling soup. Dumplings will sink and rise again. Let the soup boil for 5 minutes making sure dumplings are cooked through. Turn heat off or down and soup is ready to serve.

Farmers Market Salad

Recipe from Epicurious.com

Farmers' Market Salad with Spiced Goat Cheese Rounds

Goat cheese rounds

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 16 (1/3-inch-thick) rounds chilled soft fresh goat cheese (from one 11-ounce log)

Vinaigrette

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse kosher salt

Salad

• 1 pound baby new potatoes (such as Dutch yellow baby potatoes), halved
• 1 pound green beans (or mix of green and yellow), trimmed
• 8 cups (loosely packed) mixed salad greens
• 1/3 cup (packed) small fresh basil leaves
• 12 ounces assorted small tomatoes (such as cherry, grape, and teardrop; preferably mix of red and yellow)
• 1/2 cup black olives (such as Niçoise)

For goat cheese rounds:
Line baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper. Mix first 6 ingredients in shallow bowl. Dip cut sides of goat cheese rounds into spice mixture to coat. Place on prepared baking sheet. Chill until ready to serve. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.

For vinaigrette:
Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Season with coarse salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewhisk before using.

For salad:
Steam potatoes until just tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to plate; cool. Steam green beans until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Rinse under cold water; drain. Pat dry with paper towels. DO AHEAD Potatoes and green beans can be made 6 hours ahead. Wrap separately in paper towels. Place in resealable plastic bag; chill.

Combine greens and basil in large bowl. Add enough vinaigrette to coat lightly; toss. Arrange on large platter. Add potatoes and green beans to same large bowl; add remaining dressing and toss. Arrange potatoes and beans atop greens. Scatter tomatoes and olives over. Surround with goat cheese rounds.

Sunday Seitan Roast

                  Sunday Seitan Roast


Ingredients:
2 cups gluten flour
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp. Onion Powder
2 Tb Soy sauce
5 Cups of Vegetable or No-Chicken Broth
1/2 small diced onion
1 garlic clove
Fresh or dried rosemary, thyme, etc
4 Chopped Carrots
1 lb. new or red skin potatoes


I used this recipe/video for the seitan roast. I just added the carrots, and potatoes to make it more of a Sunday meal roast : ) Super delicious and comforting.
VIDEO

If you don't feel like watching:
Preparation:
1. Mix gluten flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder together.
2. Add 2 Tb soy sauce and 1 cup broth. Mix with a wooden smooth. If too sticky, add a little more flour. Mine was perfect.
3. Knead a little, then shape into a loaf or two. (or whatever shape you like)
4. Put into dutch oven with 4 cups broth, onions, garlic, herbs, potatoes and carrots. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for 35 minutes.
4. Take pot off of stove and cool slightly before slicing. Serve with carrots and potatoes. Spoon over broth or make some gravy.

My Go-To Lasagna

It's the fastest, easiest and dangerously delicious one around. Recipe was passed down from a friend.                                  
                          My Spinach Lasagna. 


Ingredients:
1 package No Boil Lasagna (or WW Lasagna cooked)
2 jars different marinara sauces ( I ussually get one mushroom, one italian)
1 large package shredded mozzarella
1 large package baby spinach
1 block extra-firm tofu, drained
Italian Seasoning
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
1. Warm both jars of sauce in a small pot until warm. Mix Well.

2. Layer as follows:

Strips of Lasagna noodles
Crumble Tofu
Italian Seasoning
S + P
Spinach
Cover with Sauce
Sprinkle Cheese

(Repeat 2 more times)

Sprinkle top of Lasagna with Italian Seasoning and Salt and Pepper. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let cool 10 minutes before cutting into.

Marbled Banana Bread

My favorite Banana Bread. Recipe from the ppk.com

                              Marbled Banana Bread

1 cup mashed very ripe banana
3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup almond milk (or your preferred non-dairy milk)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons boiling water, divided

Prepare boiling water, no need to measure yet. Also, preheat oven to 350 F.

Mash the banana in a large mixing bowl until relatively smooth. It should take 3 average sized ones, but spoon the mashed ‘nanas into a measuring cup to make sure, then return to the mixing bowl. Beat in the sugar, canola oil, milk and vanilla.

Now add the flour, baking soda and salt and gently mix just to incorporate. It’s okay if there is some flour still visible, just be careful not to overmix at this point.

Scoop one cup of the batter up and transfer it to a separate mixing bowl. Now, in a small tea cup mix the cocoa powder with 3 tablespoons boiling water and stir vigorously with a fork until the chocolate is dissolved. Add this chocolate mixture to the one cup of banana and mix until the chocolate is thoroughly smooth and incorporated.

Now back to the original plain banana batter; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and mix the batter just until relatively smooth.

Here comes the fun part, it’s time to marble! Lightly grease an 8×4 loaf pan. Scoop alternate 1/2 cupfuls of chocolate/banana batter into the loaf pan. Nothing has to be precise here, in fact, the more random, the better. Once all of the batter is in, take a butter knife and swirl it through the batter in circular directions for about 10 seconds.

Bake for 55 minutes. Use a butter knife to test for doneness. Let cool and enjoy!

Italian "Neatloaf"

Okay, I never ate meatloaf growing up. It was not something my mom made. However, my best friend's mom totally won me over with hers. I've turned most of my childhood comfort foods Veg- and this is one of them.
Recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com- Michael Chiarello's "Italian Meatloaf"

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 teaspoons (about 6 cloves) chopped garlic
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 2 red peppers, seeded, small diced
• 1/2 cup chopped basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
• 1 package Quarn Beef-style Grounds
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup marinara sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat and add the garlic. Saute 1 minute and then add the peppers, onions and Quarn Beef-style Grounds and saute until onions just soft, and grounds warmed through. Let cool.

Whisk together the basil, parsley and eggs in a small bowl, and then add the salt and black pepper. Combine the Parmesan and breadcrumbs in another small bowl. Thoroughly combine the Ground mixture, herbs and eggs, Parmesan and breadcrumbs, the Worcestershire, vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil together in a large bowl using your hands, making sure not to overmix.

Pack the meat mixture into an oiled loaf pan, if you do not have a loaf pan, form the meat mixture into a loaf shape on an oiled oven tray or baking dish. Top with the marinara making sure to spread evenly over the top.

Bake for approximately 20 to 30  minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees F in the middle of the meatloaf. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Veg & Barley Salad w/ Orange,Honey & Thyme Dressing

Recipe from Veggienumnum.com. I just used sweet potato for an easier meal. 

Veg & Barley Salad w/ Orange, Honey & Thyme Dressing

Preparation time: 45mins
Serves 4-6

• ¾ cup pearl barley
• 400g piece of organic pumpkin, chopped into smallish chunks
• 400g piece of organic sweet potato, scrubbed and chopped into chunks
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs raw honey (or agave nectar/maple syrup)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black cumin seeds (optional)
• 1-2 cups baby spinach
• 1-2 cups salad rocket (arugula)
• ¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Orange, Honey & Thyme Dressing

• 1 juicy organic orange, zest and juice
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp raw honey
• 1 tbs fresh thyme, chopped

Pre heat the oven to 200°C/392°F

Rinse the barley and then boil in a pot with about 3 cups of water for approximately 35 minutes until soft, keep warm.

Place the chunks of pumpkin and sweet potato in a good sized baking try, drizzle with the olive oil and honey and scatter over the cumin. Toss to coat well and then roast in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes until golden, keep warm.

Meanwhile dry roast the pepitas in a small frying pan over a medium/low heat. Watch them carefully and toss frequently. In just a minute or two they’ll start to golden and pop, remove from the heat.

Prepare the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together with salt flakes and freshly cracked pepper until combined.

To prepare the baked vegetable salad toss the cooked barley with the vegetables, spinach, rocket, pepitas and dressing.

Serve this great vegetarian dish as either a main meal or side. Try topped with fried halloumi for a little added yum!! Enjoy :)

Corona beans with Braised Kale

Recipe from Blissfulbblog.com

Corona beans with braised kale

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (10 to 11 ounces) dried corona or cannellini beans

5 garlic cloves, peeled

1 teaspoon salt

1 pint cherry tomatoes

¼ cup basil leaves

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 cups (packed) coarsely chopped stemmed lacinato kale

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar for serving

  

Method:

Place beans in a pot with enough cold water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to boil. Continue to boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain beans and return to pot. Add 8 cups water and 3 cloves garlic; bring to boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer until beans are tender, 1 to 2 hours.  Halfway through the cooking, check to see if the beans have started to soften and add 1 teaspoon salt.  Continue to cook until beans are soft but not mushy and most of the cooking liquid has evaporated.

While the beans are finishing, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.  On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper toss the tomatoes with one clove of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the basil, and a ¼ teaspoon of salt.  Roast the tomatoes for 15 minutes or until they start to blister and release some of their juices.  Remove from the oven and set aside while you prepare the kale.

In a medium saucepan heat remaining two tablespoons of olive oil over low heat; add one clove of minced garlic and the crushed red pepper, Cook for a minute or two until the garlic is fragrant.  Add the kale and ¼ cup of water then cover and let cook until the kale starts to soften, about 5 minutes.  Remove the lid, add the tomatoes and the beans and cook for 5 minutes stirring gently until everything is combined. 

To serve, spoon some of the bean and kale mixture into a bowl and top with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and a drizzle of good quality balsamic vinegar.

WW Pearl CousCous with Cherries & Arugula

Recipe from thekitchn.com. I'm obsessed with this one. I finished off the entire serving bowl when I was done with my own bowl. Too good to wait for left-overs. 
WW Pearl Couscous is my lover. 

Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous with Cherries & Arugula

Couscous
1 cup water
2/3 cup orange juice
1 1/3 cup (1/2 pound) whole wheat pearl couscous

Salad
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2/3 cup dried cherries
2 stalks celery, finely diced
3 ounces baby arugula, finely chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, lightly toasted
3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces young Gouda or sharp white cheddar

Put the water and the orange juice in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the whole wheat couscous, cover the pan, and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. Prepare a large baking sheet by covering it with parchment paper. When the couscous is done (it will have absorbed all the liquid) spread it out on the baking sheet to cool.

Whisk together the orange juice, olive oil, and red wine vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Add the dried cherries and microwave for 2 minutes on HIGH. (Or, bring the mixture to a light simmer in a saucepan on the stove, then stir in the cherries and turn off the heat.) Let the cherries stand in the liquid for at least five minutes, or until they are glossy, plump, and soft. Drain off the liquid into another cup, and reserve it.

When the couscous is lukewarm to the touch, pick up the parchment paper and slide the couscous off the paper into a large mixing bowl. Take the reserved poaching liquid drained from the cherries, and whisk vigorously until it is combined and emulsified. Stir this into the couscous.

Stir in the steeped cherries, minced celery, arugula, toasted walnuts, and sliced shallots. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. Use a sharp vegetable peeler to create thin shavings of the cheese. Toss this with the salad. Serve warm, or at room temperature.