Miso-Tofu Ranch Dip

This recipe looked exotic to me (Momofuku), and it turned out to be great! We ate it on a salad one night, then dipped vegetables in it for days, until it disappeared. Next time I might try to substitute the sour cream with Greek yogurt, for obvious reasons :)

An Ideal Lunch Salad Recipe

I made this salad, from 101 Cookbooks, when I was home for Thanksgiving. I was concerned a bit about the dressing not being suitable for everyone, but I was wrong: Even Granny ate it! I think sunflower seeds could be a good alternative for pepitas, and I recommend you use high quality olives.

I do not have a photo, so I am using Heidi's:

Roast Salmon and Broccoli with Chile-Caper Vinaigrette

This recipe, from Bon Appetit was fast and delicious. Very simple but great flavors. My only regret was not making more!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I almost always think there is too much sugar in a recipe. When I read this recipe and I saw it called for a cup of sugar, I thought that was too much. Then I kept reading and saw it actually calls for two cups of sugar. I almost couldn't believe it. I searched the comments because I was sure it was a typo and people would have pointed it out. There was nothing in the comments. I decided to make the cookies with one cup of brown sugar and that was plenty. Plenty, plenty, plenty. These are very good and I can't imagine how sweet they would be with another cup of sugar. It would be completely unnecessary. There is a lot of butter and the cookies are pretty flimsy, but they are disappearing quickly. Here's the recipe.

Corn soup

This soup is delicious. Make the recipe before the corn is all gone. I skipped the topping, and I made my own corn broth. This is inspired by the corn soup I had at Delfina, and I would dare to say it is just as good. I meant to buy fresh basil to put on top and I do think that would be very good.

Rice stuffed tomatoes

I liked this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I added a huge serving of feta to my portion. I thought they were delicious. Two and a half hours later I was starving.

COLD SOBA CORIANDER BOWL

I like cold soba noodle salads, and found this one on the offshoot of 101cookbooks.com, called QuitoKeeto. I've made it twice now and we enjoyed it. I even bought a mortar & pestle, as the first time I tried to crush coriander seeds with a knife or fork, I quickly realized its worth.

I found French breakfast radishes! (I also found the taste the exact same as regular radishes!)

The one thing I would change: I would double the dressing recipe, but be weary of how much oil you use. The first time I made this recipe, I tasted too much olive oil and not enough of the other ingredients. Obviously, I added spinach and some other greens, you can throw many veggies in here that could work. (I had black sesame seeds, hence the black coloring)

Trail Mix Cups

I got a cookbook called The No-Cook, No-Bake Cookbook from the library in early August as I braced for the heat.  The heat didnt really show up this month (until this past weekend).  I made few things from the cookbook, even though the temps were mild and it rained most days.  These trail mix cups were a highlight. 


Very easy to make (food processor a must) and delicious to eat.  I forgot to buy cashews so used almonds in their place.  Coupled with the almond extract and almond butter, they were very almond-y, which I like.  Next time I make them, I might make them in two batches as the food processor was really full.  I also might try making them in mini-muffin cups.

1 1/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup unsalted raw or roasted almonds
1/2 cup unsalted raw or roasted cashews
1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries
1/3 cup unsalted shelled raw or roasted sunflower seeds
2 T hemp or chia seeds
2 T ground flaxseeds
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup finely chopped dark chocolate
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup unsalted almond or peanut butter
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 tsp almond extract

Add the oats, dates, almonds, cashews, cranberries or cherries, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flexseed, and salt to a food processor and process until the oats and nuts are pulverized.  Add the chocolate, honey, almond or peanut butter, orange zest, and almond extract and process until the mixture clumps together.

Divide the mixture among 12 greased or paper-lined standard-size muffin cups, and press down firmly to pack in the contents.  Place the tray in the freezer for about 30 minutes to harden up.  Unmold the cups and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Deodorant

I was surprised when Clotilde from Chocolate and Zucchini said that one of her most popular posts is a recipe for deodorant. She recently updated her recipe and I decided to try it. I ordered the few ingredients I didn't have from Amazon.com and made this in about ten minutes. It's really easy, I like the smell very much, and it seems to work.

I now have a life time supply of beeswax and essential oil so if you want me to make you some, let me know.

Baked Mac&Cheese

The wind is roaring. I'm freezing. It's a typical July in SF. Therefore, I'm seeking warm and comforting food. I made this mac & cheese partly because I am lazy. I love the idea of not cooking the pasta (one less thing to do, one less dish to wash). The corners might have had too much crunch but the rest of the dish was awesome. Really good. S loved it. Make it the next time you feel cold.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad, by Way of the Pantry

This quinoa salad was so great, even the quinoa hater in my house liked it! The commentary prior to the recipe is quite witty.

I added spinach and used serranos instead of pobalanos, but next time I would try poblanos. I also used some cotija cheese, which was delicious.

Carroty Mac & Cheese

I came across this recipe and thought it might be a good way to eat more vegetables. The end result was that we all liked it, but didn't love it. However, I had some leftovers out of the freezer the other day and thought they were very good. I agree with the comments that adults should maybe add hot sauce.

I should have used a bigger pot.

The carrots are deceiving and really do look like shredded cheddar.

Wendy's Wunderbars

You must make these now. Seriously. They are so good. I mean good. Not overly sweet. All relatively healthy ingredients.

The recipe is from Pure Wow. These kinds of sites tend to get on my nerves because of the amount of email traffic but that doesn't seem to happen with Pure Wow. They got the recipe from Rebecca Katz.

I used pecans in place of the almonds because it turns out that two years in the freezer is too long for almonds.

Make these. Here is the recipe.

PS: the only place I could find unsweetened cherries is at Costco.

Brown Rice Pasta With Tuna, Olives, Fried Capers

Brown rice pasta sounded scary and intriguing. Whole wheat pasta really doesn't do it for me, but brown rice pasta does, apparently! And it's gluten free! Recipe is here.

I made this twice in two weeks, and we both loved it. The first time I used one can of tuna in oil, and one in water. The next time I used both cans of tuna in oil, and I don't think the taste is drastically different. HOWEVER, when I added in too many anchovies (I really have to count these??), it was noticeably saltier. And I love me some salt, but this was bordering on too much. I never thought I would say that. This is the brand of pasta I used:

I didn't fall into the terrible gluten coma I usually do after eating pasta!

Black Rice

Have you heard of black rice? I recently read a good article about it, and other kinds of rice, in Fine Cooking Magazine. Betsy gives me her old copies of that magazine and I really enjoy it. I didn't think I'd ever find black rice and then I went to Costco and saw this:

So I bought it.

I looked up recipes on Epicurious and then I made up my own salad.

It has a little more protein than brown rice. It also has a distinctive taste. I thought it was good and I'm glad I'm not regretting buying a Costco-sized bag.

I added mango, feta, and a few other things I had on hand.

Cherry-nut Granola Squares

Can you believe I subscribe to Good Housekeeping? Neither can I. Funny though, I kind of like it. Perhaps I'm more of a middle-aged mid-western housewife than I think I am?

I made this recipe for Cherry-nut Granola Squares from the March (?) edition. They tasted good, and very sweet for something without sugar. However, they completely fell apart and were nothing like a bar. It was good on its own, but also would have been nice sprinkled on yogurt or ice cream.

Penne with Trapanese Pesto

Aunt J gave me this recipe a few months ago.  Wish I had made it sooner!  It is so easy and good.  You can make the sauce while the pasta cooks.  While it does have some basil in it, it is a very different kind of pesto; less of a paste, more of a sauce.  It tastes delicious even with end of winter grocery store cherry tomatoes.  I think it will be even better this summer, with better quality tomatoes.  I used one large clove of garlic which was plenty.  The sauce has a good creamy consistency, but minimal dairy (some parm cheese).  The recipe is originally from Lidia B, and she has some good guidance on the order to process the ingredients that I will follow next time.

PS I am digging the camera on my new phone!

Pinto Beans with Chiles

I made these beans to go with the tacos.  They are very flavorful and delicious.  I like that you can prepare the chile mix in advance and then it only takes about 10 minutes to cook.  I think you could swap veggie broth for the chicken broth, if you wanted to make them vegetarian.  I ate these as tacos today.  Yum!

Baja Light Grilled Fish Tacos

I am slacking on the pictures.  Sorry!

We made these last night for dinner and they are quite good, and quite easy to prepare.  I used cod as suggested, and fortunately on sale.  The spice rub is easy to make in advance.  Overall, this is a quick and easily prepped dish.  The fish was on the grill for five minutes and next time I would try six.  The slaw was ok, not amazing, but perhaps I should make it more in advance next time?  The tartar sauce is great.  Trying to think of what else I can use this on.

Roasted Cauliflower Salad

Sadly, no picture, as my phone died and took it with it.  Sigh.  Just look at the pretty pictures on URB blog.

I love roasted cauliflower.  It's definitely the way I prefer this vegetable.  And, this salad, with the olives and oranges, is just delicious.  I made it when I was working from home one Friday.  Such a treat all around.

Roasted Curried Cauliflower

This Tuesdays with Tory recipe is super simple and incredibly delicious. Make it, I promise you'll love it.

Cheesecake-marbled Brownies

(Sorry, no picture)

These brownies from Smitten Kitchen are very good and very easy.  Sometimes I wonder why people make brownies from a mix since from scratch is so easy.  I ended up baking these 5 - 10 minutes more.

Caramelized Butternut Squash Wedges with a Sage Hazelnut Pesto

This recipe is from Food 52.   It is featured as a fall recipe in The Food 52 Cookbook, Volume 2 Seasonal Recipes cookbook, as well as on the site.  A friend works for and contributes to this company, and I think it's so interesting. 

I have had a butternut squash on my counter for months.  I wish I had seen this recipe sooner, as I would have been making it all fall/early winter.  It is delicious!  One of the comments in the cookbook states: "Without any hyperbole, I must say this is one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten." 

The recipe says to roast the squash for about 30 minutes total, but mine was in the (very hot) oven for almost double that.  It just seemed to take a long time to caramelize.  I also only used one squash all on one pan, and am not sure how long it would have taken with two squash in there.  I used about 1/2 tsp of cayenne also, so it had some subtle kick.

The pesto itself is quite easy to make.  Next time, I'll chop my sage a little more finely and "cook" it in the oil slightly longer than suggested.  I used the last of the hazelnuts from my trip to Portland with S.  Also, Whole Foods claims they are not currently importing ricotta salata, so I used Greek Myzithra cheese instead and it worked well.  I would make this pesto again to try over butternut squash ravioli. 

Sourdough Waffles

Last week, Aunt J gifted me a jar of sourdough starter.  I have never used this before, but am excited about the possibilities.  Fortunately, Aunt J has already been using it and has made some suggestions of recipes to try.  I actually found this one on my own, on the King Arthur Flour site.  You prep these the nite before and then stir in the last of the ingredients just before making.  Could hardly be easier!  I really like the results too.  They are a very crisp waffle, with a little tang. I would not say the sourdough taste is that pronounced though.  If you find yourself with some starter, please try these.

Black Bean Soup with Cumin and Jalapeño

I have been making this recipe for years, not sure what has taken me so long to post it. It is incredibly simple, and not too time consuming. I am sure there are black bean soups with more depth, but for the time this takes, and list of ingredients, it is great. Many friends have approved it.

The below photo is not mine, but borrowed. I rarely put Feta on the soup, but last weekend at our superbowl party we added shredded cheeses, which were a must.