Arugula and Gnocchi

Ready in about 20 minutes! "This gets 10 out of 10 stars for piles* food."

As in, piles of things.

Potato gnocci, DeCecco brand
Pumpkin seeds (Walnuts/pine nuts are okay too, but pumpkin seeds seem extra rich and nutty)
1 bag washed arugula
2 cloves garlic
half a head of cauliflower
salt
pepper
lemon wedges
Parmesan cheese
paprika


Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Chop the cauliflower into small bite sized florets. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in hot oven for 15 minutes or so, until nicely browned and nutty smelling.

In a non-stick skillet, heat 1/4 cup pumpkin seed and jostle them until they start popping. Pour them in a medium sized bowl.

Mince the garlic. (Remove the green stem in the center). Into a very hot skillet, pour olive oil and the minced garlic. Give it about ten seconds; add all the arugula and toss until bright and wilted. (Actually, I did this in two batches). Add two little pinches of salt. Toss, pour on top of the pumpkin seeds.

Boil water, add the potato gnocchi and wait until they float, about 2-3 minutes. Drain, pour on the arugula and nuts. Toss these things together. Add cauliflower and toss. Add a little more olive oil. Sprinkle with paprika or chili oil or Tabasco if you like spicy stuff.

Serve in bowls with Parmesan shavings and a wedge of lemon. Squeeze the lemon on the stuff and toss before eating.

Almost vegan. Almost.

___

*N's favorite foods come in piles: bed of rice with pile of chicken, bed of lettuce with pile of stuff on it.

Alberto's Bean Salad

2 avocados, diced
6-7 plum tomatoes, diced
half bunch scallions chopped
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
half bunch cilantro, chopped
one jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
black pepper
granulated salt
juice of two limes
2 T white vinegar
3 T olive oil

Prepare a large platter (lasagna sized) with a bed of bibb lettuce and arugula, uncooked.

Mix everything else together.

Pour bean salad on bed of lettuce.

Serve with corn chips.

Vegan, gluten free.

Mocha Rounds

These are the cookies that I made and put a couple of in my coat pocket every few days over Christmas break and people were amazed when they would say, "I kind of am hungry" and I would pull out two cookies...N. circled and devoured them.

Click here for the Martha Stewart recipe. I confess, I used this horrible French Vanilla Cafe flavor of espresso powder that essentially is not espresso powder, but N. loved them for some reason. I also didn't have enough cocoa and only put in about a third of a cup and threw in a handful of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate premium baking chips. In case the "real" recipe does not meet with his approval...

Pork Piccata

This is a Cooking Light recipe and here's my version:

4 3/4 inch thick pork chops
3/4 cups flour
1 t Italian herbs
salt
a lemon
2 shallots
parsley

Take each pork chop to a cutting board and pound it with the bottom of a mason jar/glass or a meat mallet until it's about twice the area. Soak with lemon juice. Set aside.

Mince the shallots and a quarter bunch of parsley. Set aside.

Mix flour, spices, salt in a plate. Dredge the pork through this flour mixture and immediately saute on medium in olive oil for two minutes a side.

Put the finished pork chops on a plate.

Put some chicken broth or white wine in the bottom of the pan, the shallots, and the parsley and about a third of the juice of a big lemon, salt and pepper. Let this simmer for about three minutes. Put the pork chops back in and let them heat through.

Mmmm. Serve with rice, lentils and rice, or roasted potatoes and a big green salad. Easy, but a little fancy for a weeknight.

Swiss Macaroni and Cheese

This (click link) looks great but I really am trying not to put a cup of cream into anything. So I made my own version:

1 pound macaroni boiled with a t olive oil in salted water, and drained
4 T butter
3 T flour
6-8 oz Swiss or Emmenthal, shredded (don't buy already shredded)
2 country ham steaks gently pan fried but not too long
a 10 oz bag frozen peas
Parmesan
4 C milk
bay leaf
nutmeg or cinammon

Heat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl of cold water, rip the two ham steaks into bite sized chunks. Rinse them in the cold water until it runs clear and let the ham soak for 30 minutes (this will make it less crazy salty).

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir until no lumps are left. Add the milk and whisk constantly over med-high heat until it becomes thick. Add a dash of nutmeg and pinch of salt. Add a bay leaf and if you like a slice of onion. Let the milk steep with these for about 10 minutes off the heat, whisking every minute or so. Take out the leaf and the onion. Add all but 1.5 cups of the Swiss. Whisk.

Pour this over the macaroni, add the peas. Drain off the ham and add it into the pasta/cream mixture. Put it in an oiled 9 by 13" pan. Top with remaining cheese and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan.

Bake at 350 for half an hour, then at 400 for another half an hour. Should be bubbly and golden. Mmm!

This is acutally a Swiss dish; I'm not just calling it Swiss on account of the cheese.

Cheap Dishes: Lentil Rice

There's one thing that makes me feel really healthy, hardly costs anything to make, and the ingredients can be kept in the pantry or freezer and I always feel like eating it.

Lentil Rice!

This is one recipe I actually made up myself.

1 T olive oil
Half an onion chopped
1 cup brown rice (basmati if you have it)
1 T cumin
1 t coriander
2 1/3 C chicken broth (better than bouillon)
Salt
Pepper
Bay leaf
Cheese, cheddar or feta

Saute the onion in oil until softened and clear.
Add the rice, cumin and coriander and roast these on med-high for 5 minutes.
Add broth and salt and pepper and bay leaf.
Bring to a boil

Let simmer on med-low heat/low heat for 40 minutes.

Top with cheese.

Lazy Boeuf Bourginon

Here is the Boeuf Bourginon recipe I tried tonight forgetting it takes 4 hours. Also, I did a two thirds recipe minus the carrot and minus the braised onions that only had to be cooked 3.5 hours. I also don't own a lid for the Dutch oven, so put in an extra cup of stock. It came out fine, a little bit on the True Grit side, gyddap. Also, I used Cupcake Petite Syrah and it has chocolate notes which makes the stew just a little too rich: I couldn't eat more than about ten bites. But whatever, it will be great with some old baguette tomorrow, and lots of butter.