Bruschetta!

What is better than bruschetta? Tomatoes, garlic, bread, Parmesan cheese. It is good.
It can be bad. Don't order it at Bennigans...ever. Looks like they made garlic bread with hot dog rolls.
Real bruschetta is easy. This is like a "non recipe" because I went more by feeling for the amounts. This is what you'll need.

-Fresh, local ripe summer tomatoes (I also threw in some halved sun-gold cherry tomatoes!)
-Freshly baked Italian bread (Or use a French baguette)
-High quality Parmiggiano-Reggiano (Not pre-grated)
-Extra-virgin olive oil
-Fresh basil
-Garlic
-Salt n'Pepper

I chopped up my tomatoes, taking out the seeds. Put them in a mixing bowl, ripped up some fresh basil and threw it in with them. Poured some olive oil and a little bit of chopped garlic, and some fresh ground pepper and sea salt.

I let this sit in the fridge for a few hours. I don't know if this is standard Italian procedure or not. But it worked. I think it let the flavors get together and party a little.
Then, you cut your bread into about 1 inch or so pieces, and toast them in the toaster oven.
When they come out, take a garlic clove and burn your hands rubbing it on the cut surface bread.
Then, just put the tomato mixture on top, throw some shaved parmiggiano-reggiano on top and some more basil, and even sprinkle some balsamic vinegar. It was so good I considered eating it all and not the gnocchi bake I had made as the main dish.

Super Healthy Coleslaw!

It has been a while since I was able to post. We have moved into our new house (yay!). It is exciting, although I have learned that "do-it-yourself" projects are not my most favorite things to do. (Removing wallpaper is not a fun job.)
It is coming together and I think my new kitchen is my favorite room so far. It needs a new oven and counter-top eventually, but I like the overall look and of course the fact that I have more space and cabinets!
I have been getting into some more vegetarian cooking. This is due in part to my obsession with Heidi Swanson's blog 101 cookbooks, and now her book I just ordered, Super Natural Cooking
Since I am into natural cooking, I was very interested in her book. She takes natural further than I have, really stressing organic and non-processed foods. For example, I use canola oil sometimes. It has no trans-fat, is low in saturated fat, and is all-natural. Heidi avoids this oil though, because it is highly refined and loses the omega-3 acids. Also, she uses a lot of interesting grains and flours that I can't wait to try out. She also is into tofu, and I am up for trying to cook with it more. I had a Thai dish from the Lemongrass stand at Central Market with tofu in it. Usually I will eat tofu if it is in a dish, but I don't really enjoy it. This tofu was amazing though. I am planning tonight to make a recipe from the book, curry noodles as well as naan and dal from some other cookbooks.
So reading all of Heidi's recipes was the inspiration for this recipe. I used lots of superfoods and it was delicious! Usually when I make coleslaw, I use mayo and mustard for the sauce. I went a different way this time. I have some almond butter from Central Market that I wanted to use, and it gives a great flavor to the coleslaw. This could make 3-4 small side dishes, but I ate the whole thing for my lunch!!!
Super Healthy Coleslaw
Ingredients:
about 1 1/2 cups mixture of cabbage and broccoli slaw (I used red cabbage with a little broccoli slaw.)
1/2 orange (or other color) bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic scapes, chopped
1/4 cup pecan halves
Dressing:
1 Tablespoon almond butter
1 Tablespoon EVOO
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper

In a toaster oven, lay pecans flat on silver foil. Toast until fragrant (6-7 minutes for me at about 475 degrees.) Chop pecans.
Mix the cabbage, pepper, onion, garlic, and pecans in a medium bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients with a fork until smooth. Pour over veggies and mix. Eat and enjoy!!

Note: I really really liked the pecans in here. I think some blue cheese would also be a great addition. Also, I would like to try a similar coleslaw with peanut butter, peanuts, and green onion with a little soy sauce instead of lemon. More of an Asian flavor.

Orange Israeli Couscous with Snow Peas

I have been thinking about trying Israeli couscous for a while, but have never seen it in the stores. I tried a salad from the Goode Shop at Lancaster Central Market that had Israeli couscous (their salads are so so delicious). They had a honey lime salad. Then, I finally found it sold in bulk at Rhubarb's, the health food store I like to shop at. The store is a little pricey for some things (not as cheap as Trader Joes unfortunately) but their bulk packaged items are a great price.
So I had to pull together a quick dinner idea for tonight. I had the couscous, and had my husband get oranges, green onion, and snow peas on his way home. One ingredient I am excited about is my Tunisian Meyer Lemon Olive Oil. I got this at S. Clyde Weavers. I noticed once while shopping there for imported cheese they had about 6 or more different olive oils you can buy. You can bring your own bottle, or buy one of their own for 50 cents. I found a recipe for smoky chickpea dip I am planning to make next week that called for lemon olive oil. A perfect excuse to buy it! It has a great flavor.

Orange Israeli Couscous with Snow Peas
3/4 cup Israeli couscous
1 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
about 1 cup snow peas
6 small green onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp slivered almonds
1 orange, peel and white pith removed, sliced into1/2 inch piecess
salt and pepper
Dressing:
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 tbsp lemon olive oil
3 tbsp olive oil (I just poured some into my salad dressing shaker. You could certainly add more.)
salt and pepper

Heat some olive oil in a small pot. Add the couscous and toast for 2 minutes. Add the broth and simmer, covered for about 8-10 minutes. Take pot off of heat.
In a salad dressing shaker or a jar with a lid, add dressing ingredients and shake.
Steam the snow peas for about 4 minutes. Put into an ice bath to stop cooking.
In a medium bowl, add the couscous, snow peas, green onions, almonds, oranges, and some salt and freshly ground pepper. Re-shake and pour some dressing on. Mix and serve at room temperature.

Deconstructed BLT

I wanted to enter an additional recipe for the chicken contest. I had some bacon at home so I thought up this. I called it a Chicken BLT Salad when I entered it....but really like calling it a "Deconstructed BLT" better.

I had seen a bread salad recipe somewhere else, where the bread is seasoned and toasted, then mixed with the other salad elements. I used that basic idea here. I think this salad will be better this summer with fresh, local, heirloom tomatoes and lettuce. We joined an organic CSA last year, and have again this year. All that good produce spoils you! I would like to try this with the arugula we get. It is the best darn arugula I have ever had. I can just eat it plain.
But anyway I loved the crust on this chicken and the mustard dressing. The bread I used is Pan Bigio, an Italian wheat bread. Using good bread is very important in this recipe. I think sourdough would be great also.

Chicken BLT Salad

8 pieces-bacon

¼ cup-olive oil

½ tsp-dried dill

¼ tsp-salt

fresh ground pepper

1 pound loaf-Italian bread, ripped into small pieces

3 tsp-mustard seeds

1 ½ tsp-black pepper corns

½ tsp-sea salt

1 tbsp.- canola oil

1 lb chicken tenderloins

1 head-romaine lettuce, ripped into bite sized pieces

1 tbsp. + 1 tsp.-whole grain mustard

2 tbsp-white wine vinegar

¼ cup-olive oil

1 bunch-green onion

2-3-tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cook the bacon on the stove top until crisp. Reserve the bacon on a plate with paper towels to cool. Save 1 tablespoon bacon drippings.

In a large bowl, mix the ¼ cup olive oil, dill, salt, pepper and bacon drippings. Add the ripped bread and toss to coat. Spread the bread out on a large baking sheet. Cook in oven, stirring occasionally until lightly toasted, 10-15 minutes.

Using a mortar and pestle, crush the mustard seeds, pepper corns and sea salt. Coat the chicken tenderloins in the mustard mixture. Heat the canola oil in a non-stick pan. Cook the chicken until no longer pink inside. Remove to a cutting board, let cool then slice.

Meanwhile, in the same large bowl, whisk together the grain mustard, vinegar and ¼ cup olive oil. Add the lettuce. Thinly slice the green onion and add to the bowel. Cut the bacon into bite sized pieces. Add bacon, chicken and bread pieces to the salad. Toss all ingredients to coat well in the dressing. Put in the fridge for 45 minutes.

Chop and de-seed the tomatoes. Add to the salad and toss again before serving.

Serves 4-5