Never Before

I hadn't. Ever. Have you? Have you ever eaten quinoa? Pronounced KEE-no-uh. It is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its seeds. Interestingly, it is gluten-free and it is very high in protein, even though it looks and tastes very much like pasta.



Last week, I was visiting with my good friend and neighbor Karin. You remember her, her treats have made several appearances on the blog. Happily, I arrived at her house just in time for dinner. I was thrilled to be served this brand new dish, quinoa.

As I was "elegantly" stuffing my face with the lime scented grain that was mixed with beans, scallions, and fresh parsley Karin was explaining how easy the dish was to prepare. Ever since I had my first taste, I haven't stopped thinking about this round grain and all of the different ways that I could prepare it. I suppose that is what foodies do. Obsess over new ingredients. Apparently I wasn't the only one thinking of quinoa this week, I noticed it was a feature story on Gourmet.com.

I did lots of researching and found quite a few recipes that looked tempting. I didn't try any of them yet...I stuck with Karins recipe. I really, really loved the freshness of the lime flavor in her dish so I tried not to sway from her dish too far. If you have tried a quinoa dish that you love, please do share.



Ingredients
1.5 C quinoa (I bought it in the bulk aisle of the food store)
the rind and the juice of 2 limes
3 scallions chopped (both the white and the green parts)
3T of parsley chopped
1 can of black beans drained and rinced
1/2C olive oil
2T sugar
Mix all of the above together in a large bowl

In the meantime, make the quinoa.

Wash quinoa in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a sieve each time
Cook quinoa in a medium pot of boiling salted water, uncovered for about 10 minutes. rain in sieve, then set sieve over same pot above 1 inch of simmering water (water should not touch bottom of sieve). Cover quinoa with a folded kitchen towel, then cover sieve with a lid (don’t worry if lid doesn’t fit tightly) and steam over simmering water until tender, fluffy, and dry, about 10 minutes. Stir into dressing.

Hop Hop

I am having a difficult time believing that it is Sunday evening already. The weekend blew by in a blink. I am not sure I realized when Friday evening started, but I am quite sure that the weekend is nearly complete. The pile of clean laundry on the bed is the biggest tell.

Today, of course, is Easter Sunday a day marked by painted eggs, bunnies and a whole lot of food. Our family sat down to break bread around 3:30 this afternoon and I am still uncomfortably full nearly 6 hours later. I haven't eaten so much in quite a long time. Our Easter Dinner is mostly traditional, honey ham, turkey, and potatoes. However we do indulge in a few dishes that are rather special to our dinner table. One dish that my sister Molly always makes is kugel. I love it. It is creamy, and sweet, and delish. It made my top three favorite dishes of the day (which were kugel, orange rolls, and honey ham).

I have heard of kugel made several different ways, some on the sweet side others on the more savory side. This one is definitely on the sweeter side.



Ingredients
5 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat until thick

2 8oz cream cheese
1 lb. ricotta cheese
1 cup sour cream
Add to the first mixture and mix well.

8 oz thin egg noodles cooked, mix with 1 stick of butter
Add noodles to cheese mixture

Spray 9x13 in pan with non-stick spray

Sprinkle top with cinnamon and bake covered at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes

Kugel freezes well and can easily be made in advance. It is perfect for brunches too.

Life is like a bowlful of cherries...

Or perhaps a tart full of cherries.

This past Saturday we were invited to have dinner with friends. I was in charge of dessert. The challenge was that it was the first perfect Saturday of spring. Breezy, warm, sunny, it was too nice to be inside, so I spent it all, the entire day outside. Do you see where this is going? I had hardly an hour to pull together a dessert. The pressure was on.



Within 30 minutes I had dessert done. It was silly-easy and was extra delicious when served with vanilla ice cream. First I baked the pastry, 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Then in a large sauce pan combine thinly sliced pears, a bag of frozen cherries, and some brown sugar.
let it simmer until it gets gooey, sweet and delicious. Finally spread a thin layer of tapioca pudding on the pastry and top with the fruit.

Ingredients
One pear thinly sliced
1 bag of frozen cherries
1 tub of vanilla or tapioca pudding
1 sheet of puff pastry
1/2C Brown Sugar
dash of vanilla
dash of corn starch (I added this to the fruit so that it got thick)

Welcome Spring

Even though it is chilly, foggy, drizzly and shows no sign of getting sunnier, I have declared it Spring in my house. I am ready for warm weather so that I can sit on the porch and wear flip flops. It doesn't matter that it is still sweater weather, I am going to start acting like spring.


So tonight we ate like it was springtime--we had tilapia with lemon, brown rice, bright green broccoli and strawberries. The fish is an old recipe that Mike's Mom used to make and it is now a staple at our house (thanks Christia).


I know that the recipe seems too easy to be really good, but it is. I doubted the lemon worcester combination, but the bright lemon and the briny sauce pulled together with the butter makes for a delicious meal.

Ingredients
4-6 Tilapia filets
1 stick of butter melted
the juice of one lemon
1/4 C worcester sauce

Place the filets in a baking dish and simply combine the butter, lemon and worcester pour over the fish. Bake for 15 minutes at 375. The bright and salty sauce is excellent with the fish and makes the rice juicy.