Weekly wrap-up 3/4/12- 3/10/12

Monday 3/5/12: Whole Wheat Pasta with Anchovy-Walnut Sauce

See, no anchovies in site.

I know a lot of people are utterly afraid of anchovies, and I honestly don't know why. Nothing is tastier than the oily salty yumminess that anchovies offer (though as a kid I had sardines as an afternoon snack, so perhaps I'm biased). Anyway, in this recipe, like most that include the feared fishy, you would never even know it contained something so "yucky" because it just melts down and adds lovely depth of flavor. However, it also adds an insane amount of saltiness, so beware! In fact, I might not even salt the pasta water if I made this again...



Wednesday 3/7/12: Barbecue Turkey Meatloaf

For Wednesday night dinner, I made a barbecue  turkey meatloaf that included homemade barbecue sauce (ketchup + vinegar + dijon + brown sugar + cayenne+ onion + garlic+ cumin) along with some other yummy stuff like parsley and oatmeal (to keep it nice and moist). The end result was pretty yummy but it looks gross. So, I'm not showing a photo. Oh, also I forgot to take a photo, so that is also part of the reason. Tim gobbled this down and claimed dibs on all of the leftovers too, so I guess it was a winner winner turkey meatloaf dinner!


Thursday 3/8/12: Spiced Quinoa

yum yum yummy

This recipe was recommended to me by my good friend Jamie last year when I was collecting heart healthy recipes for my friend Rachel. I was just searching through my pantry the other night and realized I happened to have all of the ingredients (except for pine nuts, darn) on hand, so I decided to try it. It was pretty good -- though if I were to make it again, I would increase the quinoa to chickpea/raisin ratio, and I would also add more spices, and maybe some fresh cilantro. The flavors were good, but I like to be really hit in the face with curry. I ate the leftovers cold as lunch a few days later and they were spectacular. So, next time I make this, I will probably serve it cold as a salad or side as well... It's a nice mix of sweet and savory and spicy, and  has amazing textures too. I bet it would be even more awesome with the pine nuts for some crunch



Saturday 3/10/12: (vegan) Cinnamon Cupcakes with (not vegan) Brown Sugar Butter Cream

cupcake art?

It was my turn for dessert on vampire night, and I decided to make cupcakes. For some reason cupcakes seemed like a big task. Even though they are somewhat plain in flavor, design, etc., the process seeemed so tedious! Plus, I have to follow recipes. What a drag. I much prefer chopping up fruit, throwing it in a crust, and just seeing what happens. Anyway, I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs (love and olive oil) to try out vegan baking. I was pleasantly surprised! The cupcakes had a great light and fluffy texture. They weren't too sweet either, which was nice. I didn't love the flavor of the butter cream, but I think it wasn't anything wrong with the recipe, it just tasted like my butter was old (it wasn't, so that was curious). I sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top to disguise the flavor and it ended up fine.

Edamame Hummus

I was inspired to make a hummus like dip out of edamame after trying one at my brother and sister-in-laws house a few months ago. Theirs used white beans, not chickpeas, and thus was incredibly light and creamy and fresh in both flavor and texture. I only had chickpeas in the house so this was more like hummus with some green flecks in it (and some added nutrional value). Not the greatest creation of my life, but oh well.

- one can chickpeas, rinsed
- juice of one lemon (I think a lime would be even better in here!)
- two cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
- dash of cayenne
- 1/2 cup frozen edamame (just the beans)
- s & p
- olive oil (around 1/4 cup, but more or less depending on your desired consistency)

***photos to come later

Warm tomato, olive, and chickpea salad

A month ago (or more- who knows, I am so behind), I made a quick dinner for myself that was inspired by a warm olive salsa that I saw someone making on food network. They were putting it on fish, but I just added a bunch of other stuff and ate it like a salad. It was a decent meal, but nothing I feel strongly about making again-- mostly I just enjoy how pretty it was!

Warm tomato, olive, and chickpea salad

• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 vidalia onion, diced
• 3 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can chick peas, drained and well-rinsed
• 1/4 cup pimento stuffed green olives, rough chopped
• 3 small vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped (it was about a cup I'd say)
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• zest and juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 rough chopped parsley, plus a handful for garnish

Quick and Easy Hummus

Sunday night I was still feeling the effects of a book club meeting full of delicious goodies, so I opted for something light-- a quick and easy hummus and a whole lot of celery to dip in it. Hummus can be made approximately a bajillion different ways, and I think I even make it slightly differently every time but a few things stay the same. It is always easy and it is always delicious!

This time, I got out my trusty food processor and threw in:
- a can of chick peas (drained and rinsed)
- a spoonful of this Moroccan almond paste I have (in place of Tahini)
- the juice of one lemon
- cumin, cayenne, garlic powder (b/c I was out of the real thing... pathetic), and sea salt
- enough olive oil to make it my desired consistency (I added this as it blended)
- a dash of paprika on top

The whole thing took about 3 minutes and it was a fantastic little snack. I had some today with flat bread, turkey breast, and tomato for lunch. Yum!