Stilton Sun Dried Tomato Pizza

I don’t talk enough about how great Trader Joe’s can be. I feel bad for readers who don’t have one nearby. But this pizza was made possible by some wonderful TJ products.

First, whole wheat pizza dough. I buy it by the pound, and then separate it into 4 oz. portions and freeze it. Whenever I want a personal pizza, I thaw the dough and stretch it into a circle.

I was lucky enough to have leftover Stilton Walnut Dip made with TJ’s White Cranberry Stilton Cheese. But Trader Joe’s is the best place to buy just about any cheese, and you won’t go wrong. I almost always buy the fat free feta, which does not taste fat free at all.

Finally, sun dried tomatoes. TJ’s sells them in a plastic pouch, so they are not packed in oil. They’re easy to toss on a pizza, or eat right out of the bag (not that I would ever do that!)

With just a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and 10 minutes in the oven, my pizza craving was satisfied.

Crockpot Tomato Soup

There is nothing like hot tomato soup on a really cold day. It’s pretty easy to make tomato soup on the stovetop, but the crockpot seems to intensify the rich tomato flavor. In any case, you won’t go back to eating Campbell’s.

I wanted to keep things simple, so I modified this recipe. Just four hours later, I had a pot of gorgeous tomato soup. Serving the soup over barley makes it a bit more like a meal, but I won’t stop you if you’d rather make a grilled cheese sandwich.

Crockpot Tomato Soup

1 T olive oil
1 t minced garlic
1 Vidalia onion, peeled and chopped
1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
3 c. vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1 – 1 1/2 c. cooked barley

Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add garlic and onion, and saute for 10-15 minutes. Place in crockpot, along with tomatoes, broth, and bay leaves. Cook on high for 4 hours. Remove bay leaves, and serve over cooked barley.

Stilton Walnut Dip

The hardest work of the semester is done, and this weekend it was time to have some fun! I made this Blue Cheese Walnut dip to take to a party back in November, but I wasn’t totally satisfied. It tasted fine, but the texture wasn’t quite right. So I changed a few more things and brought it to another party yesterday, where it was served with both apple slices and crackers. I am happy to say that it went over well, and a couple of people even asked for the recipe.

I really like the White Cranberry Stilton from Trader Joe’s, and it has less ‘bite’ than traditional blue cheese. Plus, cranberries fit with the holiday theme. But if you like stronger cheeses, go for it and let me know how it turns out.

Cranberry Stilton Walnut Dip

8 oz. White Cranberry Stilton Cheese, crumbled
1 shallot, peeled and diced
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. light mayonnaise
1/3 c. skim milk
1 t white vinegar
Black Pepper

Mix all ingredients in a food processor. Season to taste with black pepper. Allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before serving.

-Adapted from Food & Wine

Crockpot Pumpkin Spinach Ziti Casserole

It’s finals week(s) and I’ve been living on popcorn, clementines, peanut butter, and coffee. But on Sunday, I decided to let my crockpot make my dinner for me. I’ve been toying with the idea of making a lasagna in the crockpot, and that’s how I stumbled across this recipe for Pumpkin White Bean Lasagna. But since you need to break the lasagna noodles anyway to fit them in the slow cooker, I decided to modify the recipe to use whole wheat ziti. And of course, I snuck in one more vegetable and some Parmesan cheese while I was at it! As you can see from the list of ingredients, this is pretty much a pantry meal with no special purchases required. It took all of 20 minutes to assemble in the crockpot, and then I went on with my day.

When I came home, I was pleasantly surprised that the pasta had cooked fairly well. This meal is soft, warm, and comforting. It lacked a little bit of flavor though, so next time I would add more seasoning to the ricotta mixture. In the meantime, I added a bit more sauce and some Parmesan cheese and it was a great dinner, with plenty leftover for lunches for the week. Now, I have no excuses left and must go study!

Crockpot Pumpkin Spinach Ziti Casserole

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1 (16 oz.) container fat free ricotta
1/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 (28 oz) can + 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (16 oz.) bag frozen spinach
4 heaping cups whole wheat ziti (buy a 12 oz. box)
1 (15 oz.) can white beans, rinsed and drained

In a small bowl, mix pumpkin, ricotta, and Parmesan, and season with salt and pepper. In a larger bowl, mix tomato sauce and frozen spinach.

Coat the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray. Place a heaping 1/2 c. of sauce on the bottom of the pot. Add a heaping cup of dry pasta. Add 1/3 of the cheese mixture, followed by 1/3 of the beans, and 1/4 of the remaining sauce. Repeat layers of pasta, cheese, beans, and sauce 2 more times. Add a final layer of pasta, and spread the remaining sauce on top. Cook on low for 8 hours.

-Adapted from GeekyPoet

Egg and Eggplant Sandwich

Last week, I finally got a chance to eat at Clover, which has a restaurant in Harvard Square and food trucks around the city. Their menu is as permanent as a whiteboard, but I liked all of the unique vegetarian options. I decided to try the Egg and Eggplant Sandwich: hummus, fried eggplant, sliced hard boiled egg, and cucumber and tomato salad all stuffed into a warm pita and topped with tahini sauce. It tasted great, although it was quite messy. I could have never eaten this while strolling down a city street, but with the help of a fork I really enjoyed it! Yes, it’s an unusual combination of flavors and textures, but it works.

I immediately thought 2 things. First, when can I get back to Clover to try their signature falafel? Second, how can I make this Egg and Eggplant Sandwich at home? A little Internet research revealed this the sandwich is known as ‘Sabich’, and served in many places in Israel. It originated with the Iraqi Jews as a meal which could be easily prepared on the Sabbath. I found this recipe which seems fairly authentic, although I simplified a few things when I made it for myself.

For both photo purposes and easier eating, I made the sandwich open face, but you could easily stuff the mixture into the pita. This wasn’t quite as good as Clover’s, but it was still a good lunch. I think something is missing – perhaps some fresh herbs (the original recipe calls for parsley) or maybe just some salt and pepper. And of course, the recipe is more appropriate for late summer when eggplant is locally abundant. But I am not sure I can wait that long to try this again!

Egg and Eggplant Sandwich

1 large eggplant, thinly sliced
Canola oil
1 cucumber, diced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, diced
1/4 c. + splash lemon juice, divided
Salt and Pepper
1/4 c. tahini
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1/2 c. hummus

1. Fry eggplant slices in oil, and drain on paper towels.
2. While eggplant is cooking, toss cucumbers and tomatoes with a splash of lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, mix tahini with 1/4 lemon juice. Add more lemon juice until the sauce is thin.
4. Place each pita on a plate. Spread 2 T of hummus on each pita. Top with eggplant slices, sliced egg, and cucumber and tomato salad. Drizzle with tahini sauce.

-Adapted from Herbivoracious

Food Service Project – The Go Between Sandwich Shop

One of my classes this semester is a food service management course. I went into my nutrition program thinking that food service was something I would “get through” because it was required, but I ended up really enjoying the material. You already know how much I love to cook, and I find the logistics of running an operation really interesting.

Our final group project for this class was to create a food service business from the ground up. We made a marketing plan, crafted a menu, planned the restaurant layout, and calculated a realistic budget. Yesterday we presented our project to the class, and I thought you might be interested in our proposed sandwich shop named “The Go Between”.

Ethnic sandwiches are one of the top food trends of 2011, and we believe the Seaport District is the perfect location. We aimed to capture the weekday lunchtime crowd, in addition to tourists and residents of the area. Our proposed menu has a variety of options. (Sorry if the font is a bit small to read, I had a hard time with the image.)

What do you guys think? I would be excited to eat here, but since our sandwich shop is completely fictional, I am going to have to make my own Banh Mi at home.

Special thanks goes to my project partners Vanessa and Hillary. I had a lot of fun over the course of the semester, and learned a lot. I don’t see myself working in the restaurant business, but you never know.

Southwestern Turkey Soup

Like many other families, we had turkey leftover after Thanksgiving. And really, you can only eat so many turkey sandwiches. I’ve made soup using leftover turkey before, but this one is just a little different. It was inspired by this Creamy Mexican Turkey Soup from RecipeGirl which uses both milk and cheddar cheese for a creamy texture.

My first piece of advice is to start with a big pot. My second piece of advice is to find someone else to chop all the vegetables and keep an eye on the pot. (Thanks, Dad!) We just kept throwing things in, and then suddenly the pot was almost full. But that’s OK, there was plenty of soup for everyone to have a bowl or two, and then I took the rest home. Soup is a lot more appealing than a dry turkey sandwich for lunch any day!

Southwestern Turkey Soup

2 T olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 shallot, peeled and diced
1 onion, peeled and diced
6-7 c. broth
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
1 T chili powder
1 t cumin
1/4 t black pepper
1-2 dashes cayenne pepper
1 (16 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
4 c. chopped turkey
4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat oil in a large stockpot. Saute carrots, celery, shallot, and onion for 10 minutes. Add 6-7 c. broth, cover pot, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, mix flour, milk, and spices in a small bowl and whisk well. Stir mixture into soup, and cook for 5-10 minutes until thickened. Reduce heat to low, and add spinach, corn, turkey, and cheese. Cook until cheese is melted and soup is heated through.

-Adapted from RecipeGirl

Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

While many people have Black Friday traditions that involve shopping and decorating, I prefer our tradition of a fairly lazy day, followed by a big family party in the evening. We were asked to bring a dessert, and settled on these Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies from Smitten Kitchen. (Yes, that’s two Smitten recipes within the span of 3 days.)

The dough was easy to put together, but must be refrigerated for at least 2 hours prior to baking. You place the dough in a gallon size Ziploc bag, and then press it flat which eliminates the need for a rolling pin. This was a neat trick! And, it’s amazing how the texture of the dough changes in the refrigerator, making it easy to slice with a knife. I don’t generally use a ruler for baking projects, but we had some confusion as to the correct dimensions for the shortbread squares. Then there was confusion over whether the lines I cut were crooked. You can decide.

As it turns out, the cookies that were irregularly shaped were just as good as the perfect squares. I really liked this shortbread, and the small pieces were perfect to bring to a party. The espresso flavor was fairly subtle, so I might try using stronger coffee next time. The original recipe also suggests substituting toffee chips for the bittersweet chocolate. Now that we know the tricks to making shortbread, I’ll have to try another version soon.

Fig and Cranberry Compote

My sister brought two additions to the Thanksgiving table this year, my new nephew and this Fig and Cranberry Compote from Real Simple.

I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the compote before dinner because it was too hectic, and this is all that was left after dinner. I was really surprised that this recipe only got 2 stars on the Real Simple website, because we all loved it. The fresh cranberries are sweetened with both figs and honey, but the final product is still quite tart. Perhaps other people prefer a sweeter cranberry sauce, but we thought this was the perfect complement to turkey. Both additions will be back at the Thanksgiving table next year!

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

The good news is that I have a week full of posts which highlight some great recipes, even if I can’t take credit for much of the cooking.

I took note of this Red Wine Chocolate Cake from Smitten Kitchen a couple of months ago. Then my friend Susan made it, and told me it really was that awesome. So when my sister asked what cake she could make for my birthday, this seemed like the perfect choice.

This cake also requires relatively little effort for such a large reward. You need just one bowl and one cake pan. The cake itself was really good, like a flourless chocolate cake with a hint of sweet. But the mascarpone and whipped cream topping was even better. The instructions say to “dollop generously” and so we did, even though this was the night before Thanksgiving. Although I love apples and pumpkins and cranberries in the fall, chocolate is always in season.