Pea Pancakes with Herbed Yogurt and Prosciutto

Spring has finally sprung!  With our ridiculously long winter, it may be a few more weeks before we begin to see some truly fresh produce.  In the meantime, I am perfectly content making due with a few frozen pantry essentials.

This meal is incredibly light, but surprisingly filling.  It makes an wonderfully refreshing dinner on a warm day as well as an invigorating brunch or breakfast.  The sweet peas compliment the tangy herbed yogurt and salty prosciutto so well...each bite added more layers of flavor than the last.  Who said pancakes can't be savory?

adapted and embellished from Bon Apetit

serves 4

The Ingredients:
for pancakes:
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp oil
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup peas, thawed  if frozen

for the yogurt:
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
2 small sprigs fresh dill, chopped (1-2 Tbsp)
1 small bunch fresh chives, chopped (2-3 Tbsp) 

to serve:
1 green onion, thinly sliced
8 paper thin slices of prosciutto

The Process:
for the yogurt:
In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and herbs.  Cover and chill for at least 20 minutes.

for the pancakes:
Combine the salt, eggs, cottage cheese, flour and oil in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.  Transfer batter to a medium bowl and fold in the peas and green onions.

Heat a large, lightly-oiled skillet over medium heat.  Working in batches, pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet making 4-inch rounds and cook until bubbles form on top, 3-5 minutes.  Flip and cook an additional 2 minutes or until the middle is set. Remove cakes from heat and keep warm.  Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve with herbed yogurt, prosciutto and sliced green onion.

Asian Salad with Ginger-Soy Marinated Chicken

salad is my own
dressing adapted form epicurious
chicken and marinade adapted from  allrecipes.com

serves 4-6

The Ingredients:
for the chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced

 for the salad:
4 cups mixed Asian greens (arugula, red mustard and mizuna)
2 cups spinach
1/2 medium red pepper, thinly sliced
1 broccoli crown, cut into florets
1 carrot, juilianned
2-3 potato onions or scallions, sliced
handful of pea tendrils
1 cup snow peas, cut diagonally 
1 - 6 oz can mandarin oranges, drained
peanuts

for the dressing:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp Asian sesame oil
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 Tbsp honey or agave syrup
1 tsp  red pepper flakes

The Process:
For the chicken
Trim any fat from the chicken, rinse and pat dry.  Place chicken in a resealable gallon-sized bag or shallow dish.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, oil, honey, ginger and garlic.  Pour the marinade over the chicken and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Place the chicken in a shallow baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

for the dressing: 

Combine all of the ingredients and whisk well.

for the salad:
In a large salad bowl combine the first eight ingredients, reserving the mandarin oranges and  peanuts.  Drizzle about half of the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.  Slice the cooled chicken into thin coins and layer over the salad.  Top with mandarin orange and peanuts.  Drizzle with remaining dressing.


The Review:
This is a salad to knock all fast food and chain restaurant varieties out of the park.  The chicken was so juicy and tender, even after is had cooled.  Burst of sweet peas or oranges, the crunch of carrots and peanuts, the peppery bite of the asian greens mellowed out by the vibrant spinach.  Every bite brought a new and complex play of flavors and textures.  The chicken easily could have starred in a meal of its own.  But the same could honestly be said of the greens as well.  The dressing brought every thing together...a touch of salt and sesame...

All of us were quite sad to reach the bottom of the salad bowl.

Salad Nicoise with Salmon and Garlic Scapes

Our CSA box provided inspiration for this twist on the classic main-course salad.  I've fallen for garlic scapes.  Their mild flavor compliments so much without overpowering the other elements of the dish, like the more mature bulb form of garlic can (but oh, how I love garlic in all its forms!)  Their crispness reminded me so much of fresh green beans.  With that thought in my mind I decided to tackle salad Nicoise, but using as many veggies as possibly from our fresh and local batch.

The salad base is my own

Vinaigrette adapted from Julia Child

Serves 3

The Ingredients:
for the salad
2 - 4 oz salmon fillets
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp oil
5-6 garlic scapes, cut into 1-inch lengths
3-4 cups mixed greens (I used spinach, green leaf lettuce and arugula)
2 roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise and sliced
3 small German butterball potatoes, boiled and sliced
3 hard boiled eggs, sliced


for the vinaigrette:
1 potato onion, finely minced
1/2 Tbsp Dijon-type mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/3  olive oil
Freshly ground pepper to taste


The Process:
for the vinaigrette:
combine all of the ingredients in a screw top jar and shake vigorously.


for the salad

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Season salmon with salt and pepper. Place salmon, skin side down, on a non-stick baking sheet Bake until salmon is cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat.  Add the garlic scapes and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and allow to cool. 

Toss the mixed greens with the vinaigrette and divide among three serving plates. Flake the salmon and arrange one third of the meat down one side of each plate.  Layer one third of the tomato slices along side the salmon, followed by one third of the potatoes and on e hard boiled egg.  Line one third of the garlic scapes down the other side.

Serve.

The review:
This dish can be a little tedious to prepare with all of the boiling, baking and sauteing needed, but the end result is a filling and refreshing summer treat.  Tuna can be substituted, but I found salmon to be a nice change of pace.  The garlic scapes add a wonderful twist.  Green beans are lovely, but sort of band at times.  The scapes provide a similar crunch and texture with a pleasantly mild garlic flavor.  Paired with the acidic dressing...yum.

I kept the layers simpler than the classic salad...omitting the anchovies, capers, shallots and olives...to keep the focus on the uber fresh veggies from our CSA box.  I was not disappointed.

Cornmeal and Ricotta Waffles

Several weeks have passed without a waffle Sunday.  Far too much time.  As schedules pick up, Ross and I are finding fewer and fewer weekends off together.   The stars aligned and this past Sunday found a morning together again.

I came across this recipe a while ago, and tagged it for a later date.  The combination was intriguing, but it wasn't until I tried my hand at homemade ricotta that this recipe drew my attention again.

adapted from Michael Mina's recipe at Food and Wine

The Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups milk
6 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour 
1/2 cup cornmeal 
1/Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

The Process:
Preheat oven to 200 and heat up the waffle iron.
In a large bowl, whisk the ricotta with the milk, egg yolks and sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients into the ricotta mixture until combined. Stir in the melted butter.

In a separate mixing bowl with an electric beater, or by hand with a strong wrist action, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks.  Fold the whites gently into the waffle batter, until just combined.  Do not over mix!  The batter should retain as much air as possible from the whites.

Brush or mist the waffle iron lightly with oil and spoon batter into waffle iron, spreading quickly with a spatula to cover the entire griddle surface (amount varies depending on waffle iron, mine uses just over 1/2 a cup). Cook according to iron manufacturer’s instructions.

Transfer finished waffles to rack in oven to keep warm and crisp. Make more waffles in same manner.

Serve warm with toppings of your choice.

The Review: 
One thing I've come to truly love about Waffle Sundays is the sheer variety of flavors out there.  Is waffle is so similar, and yet so unique in their own right.  Oh, the shape my be the same.  And the general consistency.  But some are lighter, some are denser.  Some have a smooth, almost creamy center with a crisp exterior while others are more toothsome.  Flavors very from yeasty to sweet to vanilla or cinnamon spiked.  Filler abound: bacon, blueberries, nuts, or nothing at all.  Some hold up to a mountain of toppings.  Others are the perfect sponge for syrup.  

And I love every single one of them.  Some may be more successful than others.  But each and every waffle Sunday has been a treat to look forward to.

SO where does this waffle fall?  This variation was a little denser than most, with a bit pleasant grittiness from the cornmeal.  It soaked up the syrup on a heart beat, yet only the lightest drizzle was needed to offset the light cornmeal flavor.  Of course I added butter, but a silken buttery flavor was present even before the waffle was doused in toppings.  It puffed and crisped wonderfully, and maintained it's crispness under the power of the syrup longer than some, but not quite long enough for my taste.  Yet the interior was wonderfully moist.  

All that sums up to mean these waffles will be amazing frozen for later and reheated in the toaster for a quick breakfast later this week.

And the ricotta?  A creaminess was present, but if you didn't know the ricotta was there, you wouldn't be able to tell.  I used homemade ricotta...this batch turned out a tad drier than the last ricotta, but the waffles did not suffer.  

These may not be the healthiest of waffles, with 6 eggs and 1 stick of butter.  But the fat and sugar is offset by a higher protein content than most other waffles.  This is a waffle that will keep you fuller longer.  And at a 6-8 waffle yield...you are only looking at about 1 egg per serving.  The butter may be a bit excessive if you're watching the fat.  Next time around I may swap out half the butter with applesauce. 

Of course, with so many other waffles to choose from, who knows when I'll make it back around to this one! 

Twice Baked Cardamom Sweet Potatoes

As a child, my only exposure to sweet potatoes came in the form of a marshmallow and pecan studded mush swimming in brown sugar, honey and butter.  My young mind was agog to see such a sickly sweet side dish served up as a vegetable during the holidays.  For years, this was the only way a could fathom preparing the bright orange spud.

Then the spell was broken.  Sometime late in college I was introduced to the baked sweet potato.  Grated this first deviation from the holiday norm was also swimming in butter and brown sugar.  But the scales had fallen from my eyes.  Sweet potato fries with garlic cracked the facade even further.  Savory with sweet?  No brown sugar and cinnamon?  I needed more.   Sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter and thyme, cheesy scalloped sweet potatoes,baked sweet potatoes topped with chili, sweet potato soups and stews, sweet potato pancakes...the doors had suddenly been flung wide open...

Now I use sweet potatoes far more regularly than russets, Yukon and even baby reds.

This recipe is a simple twist and a classic twice baked potato.  Indian spices remain one of my favorite pairings with this beautiful root vegetable.

the recipe is my own

yields 4 side servings

The Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
1 russet potato
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp cardamom, ground
1/2 tsp salt



The Process:

Preheat the oven to 400. 

 

Pierce each potato in several places with a skewer the tines of a fork.  Place the potatoes directly on the rack in the center of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the potatoes and bake an additional 30 minutes, or until tender. They should yield slightly when pressed.  Remove potatoes from the oven, and turn the reduce the oven heat down to 350.

Allow the potatoes to rest until cool enough to handle.  Slice the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the flesh of the potatoes, leaving a 1/4-inch shell.  Reserve the flesh. Set the sweet potato shells aside in a baking dish.  Remove the flesh from the russet potato, reserving with the sweet potato flesh.  Discard the skin.

In medium bowl, combine the potato flesh, yogurt, salt, cumin, and cardamom.  Mix until well blended.  Spoon the mixture into the potato shells, mounding slightly. 

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minute or until the potato skins begin to crisp and the top a lightly golden.  Serve with a dusting of cumin or cardamom powder.


The Review:
Savory, sweet and slightly salty.   The potatoes were a huge hit with our dinner guests, despite the lack of presentation.  Sweet potatoes do seem to have an elevating effect on the whole meal...

The cardamom is a warm spice that most people can't quite place.  It hinted at cinnamon, particularly when paired with the sweetness of the potato, but the flavor is so distinct.  Slightly exotic.  But again, so familiar.  It is a great substitute for cinnamon whenever I want to push people slightly out of their culinary comfort zone.

The garlic and cumin heated things up a bit and took the dish out of the realm of the typical sweet potato prep.  No brown sugar and marshmallows here!

Miso Carrot Soup with Sesame Oil

Thank you Smitten Kitchen, for bring this warm beam of sunshine to our cold, snowy corner!  When I first saw this recipe posted about a week ago I knew I had a use for the miso hiding among the other containers towards the back of my fridge.  Poor miso, you deserve so much more attention from us.

Soup is such a quintessential winter food, and this recipe has the benefit of not begin weighted down by heavy creams or a lot of butter.  The ginger and carrot is truly allowed to shine through.  And the bright orange color is a cheery reminder of the warmer days to come.  Ah, winters in Minnesota...

Adapted from Deb's Smitten Kitchen

The Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive or grapeseed oil
2 lbs carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 - 6 garlic cloves, minced
1- 2 Tbsp finely chopped or grated ginger
4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup white miso paste, or more to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish
Drizzle of toasted sesame oil
2 scallions, thinly sliced

The Process:
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion and garlic.  Sauté until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the broth and ginger. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Puree soup in batches in blender, or all at once with an immersion blender. In a small bowl, whisk together the miso an a half-cup of the soup. Stir the mixture back into the pot of soup. Taste the soup and season with salt, pepper or additional miso to taste.

Ladle into bowls and garnish each with a drizzle of sesame oil and small mound of scallions.

The Review:
This is a soup I could eat for days.  I followed a suggestion on Smitten Kitchen that the ginger could easily be doubled.  I did so.  The result was bright and biting.  The fresh ginger danced across the palate playing with the sweetness of the carrot.  Havign doubled the ginger, I should have increased the miso as well...the deep earthly flavor was barley present, but grounded the soup well.

I loved how incredibly light the flavors were.  No heavy creams or a lot of butter to weigh the dish down.  I suppose it would have froze well.  But honestly I couldn't tell you. We had polished it off by the second day.

And the sesame oil and scallion garnish?  It will make your soul sing.

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

I am bound and determined to like quinoa.  The grain itself has done absolutely nothing to offend me.  However its partners in crime when paired in recipes always seem to leave something to be desired.  This recipe did NOT include the lemon/dill combination.  A huge plus.  And it is served up in its own little bowl of acorn squash.  Also a plus.  AND the heat of a habanerno...just what you need as the temperature dips below freezing.

Adapted from the recipe at We are not Martha.

Serves 2 with a whole lot of left over filling

The Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock 
1 Tbsp virgin olive oil 
1 small yellow onion, chopped finely 
4 garlic cloves, minced 
2 habanero peppers, seeds, removed and finely chopped finely  
1 cup mushrooms, chopped 
2 cups fresh leaf spinach 
1/2 cup feta, crumbled
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

The Process:
Preheat the oven to 375.


Using a sharp knife, slice the acorn squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Sprinkle the cut half with salt and pepper and place a 1/2 Tbsp pad of butter into each half.  Place squash cut side up in a baking dish and roast for about 45 minutes or until tender.


Rinse the quinoa.  In a medium saucepan bring 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock to a boil and whisk in the quinoa.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.   


While the quinoa cooks, heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the onions, garlic, mushrooms and habanero.  Saute until slightly brown, 7-10 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Stir in lemon juice.


Reduce heat to low and stir in the quinoa.  Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally until spinach is just wilted.  Add the feta and parsley and stir to combine.   Keep warm until the acorn squash is done.


Spoon the quinoa mixture into the roasted acorn halves, mounding slightly.  Serve with a sprinkle of feta and parsley on top.

The Review:
This is a version of quinoa I adore and look forward to playing with in the future.  The two habaneros packed quite a punch leaving my noise running and tongue tingling, which I loved.  Others couldn't quite take the heat.  I may use serranos instead next time, and start with one. My mushroom averse husband was cranky about the rich fungus flavor, again an aspect I loved.  But yes, these is not a dish that hides the mushroom flavor well if you are trying to be sneaky.  Each flavor had it's moment from the earthy shrooms to the tang of the lemon, the kick of the pepper and the saltiness of the feta.  The squash offered a touch of sweetness while the quinoa blend everything together.  

I'm thinking leeks, red pepper spinach and pecan the next time around....