The Kitchen of Belis

This is one of the simplest recipes that I found recently. It could be a "Duh" moment for you but something as simple as chopping the brocolli instead of leaving it large really makes a difference.




Ingredients

1 large bunch broccoli
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly milled pepper
Fresh lemon juice to taste

Chop the brocolli into small florets; peel and finely chop the stems. Put the stems in the steaming basket, add the floret, then cover and steam until just a little short of being tender. Toss with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Okra is one of my family's favorite summertime vegetables. Having home-made Okra Stew has always been something that I would look forward to after spending the day on the beach by our summer house. Somehow, I associate okra with those days.

Luckily, okra is available all year around. I particularly like dried okra (see the picture below). Frozen ones work well too. Fresh would be the best of course, but I do not like the enormous ones grown here in the US.

Okra had a huge presence in the history of "Ottoman cuisine" or "palace dishes". Stuffed Okra especially was most prominent in ancient Ottoman cuisine.

Ingredients

2 handful of okra (I use dried okra)
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup of safflower oil
1 spoon full of tomato paste
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 table spoon pomegranate sour (grenadine syrup)
1 cup of boiled garbanzo beans
Juice of one lemon
Salt and paprika to taste

If you are using dried okra boil for 20 minutes and then drain (but keep the water). Saute onions in oil until tender. Add tomato paste and stir. Add chopped tomatoes and garlic and cook for five minutes. Add okra and garbanzo beans. Add boiling water till it covers the top of the mixture. Taste with salt and pomegranate sour. Cook for 30 to 45 minutes. Later, add lemon juice and cover the top and let it rest for 15minutes.

Goes well with rice.

I was very excited to find this recipe as it did not require the presence of fish sauce and oyster sauce which are ubiquitous ingredients of Asian noodle dishes. Don't take me wrong. I love to eat fish - or anything that comes out of the sea, but just don't like the idea of fish being liquidated or pasted (e.g., anchovy paste).

One interesting thing that separates Asian noodles from that of Italian is cooking style and time. Asian noodles are often drained, rinsed well to wash off the starch, then added to the dish and reheated. Italian pastas are best added directly from the cooking pot to the sauce. Also it is better to cook Asian noodles until they are tender, while Italian pastas work well aldente.

Because Asian noodles are cooked tender, it is better to use fresh noodles as they soak up the sauces and all its rich flavors. In this recipe I used whole wheat fettuccine, but you can try one of the hundreds of different Asian noodles which are widely available at supermarkets.



Curry Paste:

Burmese Noodles:


Ingredients for the Curry Paste

1/2 onion chopped
2 large garlic cloves
2 1/2 inch rounds of fresh ginger
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (Turkish Translation: Hint Safrani)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Using a food processor work all the curry paste ingredients into a rough paste and set aside.

Ingredients for the Noodles and Vegetables

5 sun dried tomatoes
8 ounces of fettuccine (or Chinese egg noodles (or mein))
1/3 cup chopped roasted peanuts
2 table spoon coconut oil
1 large tomato, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 can lit coconut milk
1 handful of peas
2 carrots cut in julienne style
2 scallions cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Cilantro, basil and mint leaves to garnish

Soak the sun dried tomatoes in warm water in a small bowl for 15 minutes or longer. Prepare peanuts.

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat, add curry paste and move it around the pan for 30 seconds. Add carrots. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequents and adding water from time to time - to keep it from sticking. When it begins to release some of the oil, add the tomato, raise the heat, and add the sun dried tomato liquid and coconut milk. Simmer for a minute, then add the sun dried tomatoes, peas, scallions, and soy. Turn off the heat.

In the meantime cook noodles in plenty of boiling water until tender. Drain the water and add noodles into the wok and mix with the curry paste. Garnish with herbs and peanuts. It is ready to be served!

Note: This recipe is adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone Cookbook.

This dish is my introduction to using saffron threads in cooking. I was told to get saffron threads rather than ground version just to ensure full of flavor and purity. Apparently, soaking in water before adding them into the food brings the color and the flavor even more. Also, the flavor was stronger the second day. Fun Fun Fun.







Ingredients

2 cups of brown rice
4 cups of vegetable broth
1/3 tsp Spanish saffron
2 tbs chopped chives
2 tbs lemon curls
2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped shallots or white onion
2 tbs of butter
1 bay leave
Salt to taste

Saute shallots in butter until transparent in a medium size pan. Add saffron and the bay leave to onions. Add salt, lemon juice and vegetable broth and bring it to boil. Add rice in and cover pan. Simmer 30 minutes until the rice is tender. Serve hot, garnish with chopped chives and lemon curls.

Recently, I have been checking out food packaging for recipes. So far I have run into so many unexciting ones which were basically designed around selling more products. However, Trader Joe's totally surprised me...again. For the most part, the recipes on the back of Trader Joe's packaging are solid and useable. Especially the vinaigrette recipe on the back of the Herb Salad package. It rocks!






Shallot Citrus Vinaigrette

1 large shallot chopped, minced
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup of olive oil
4 TBS of lemon juice
2 TBS of apple cider vinegar (this was not in the recipe, our friends' 5 year old suggested it, thinking it would give it a kick)
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients and let the vinaigrette sit for some time.

Suggested salad - herb salad with pieces of 2 oranges, 1 medium size jicama cut in julienne-style, roasted pistachios

Quesadillas... I was having a quesadilla craving. However, I have been so bored with predictable restaurant-style, cheese filled grease bags you get in most places. Don't the Mexican restaurant cooks know that one doesn't need to be limited with creativity when it comes to making quesadilla? Enough is enough and I decided to make my own :)





Ingredients

15-20 pieces of medium size shiitake mushrooms
15-20 pearl onions in halves (you can use sliced yellow onions too)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed by using the flat side of your knife and coarsely chopped
2 Anaheim peppers seeded, chopped
1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped (TJ's Roasted Bell Peppers work just fine)
Your choice of shredded cheese (mine is Mexican-style soy cheese)
1 TBS tomato paste
2 TBS safflower oil
1/2 TBS of Mexican seasoning of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste
Water to moisten, about 1/4 of a cup
Whole wheat tortilla wraps

Heat the oil in a medium-size pan, on medium heat. Add onions. When onions start turning pink, add garlic and cook for about a minute. Add mushrooms and cook an additional three minutes. Then add anaheim bell peppers. Add your seasoning. Once you feel like you need to add more oil, add your water. Water in this case is a great substitute to oil and keeps the dish healthier. Mix in the tomato paste. Add salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add roasted red peppers. This will be your filling.

Warm the press grill. Warm up the tortilla wraps. Cover one wrap with the filling add cheese and place another one on top. Press cook for about three minutes until the wraps start to blister.

Cut in fours and serve warm.

If you do not have a press grill, that's OK. You can use a tortilla wrap size pan and press with a heat resistant plate.

Sweet potatoes are delicious cooked in many ways. My favorite way of cooking is probably also the simplest with the lowest number of necessary ingredients.



Ingredients

Sweet potatoes (4 ounce for a serve)
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Scrub sweet potatoes well and cut them in half, lengthwise. Put potatoes in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper and chopped fresh rosemary. Bake them until they are tender when pierced. Ta-ta!

I have decided to protest against any dish that takes more than 30 minutes to put together. (I am not including the cooking time here, just the preparation part). When it comes to "my" labor time, I feel like a long preparation equals waste. Of course, I am leaving some room to exception for special dishes, but for the most part I'd say think twice before you attempt to take on any time intensive recipe. Think about a complicated lasagna which could include activities such as roasting, simmering, baking and boiling all taking place simultaneously. Dios mio! What an effort! So to counter this I'd like to introduce a nice simple comfort food recipe: Sautéd Beef (Buffalo) with Petite Mixed Vegetables.
Before I dive into the details I'd like to talk a little about buffalo meat. I have become a huge fan of buffalo meat. Compared to beef, this meat is very lean and tender. It's not only a heart-healthy meat, but also very tasty. Though I made this dish with buffalo meat (from Whole Foods) you can also substitute with beef (maybe something like rib eye). If you are still on the fence about Buffalo Meat I highly recommend a visit to the BullsHead Restaurant (West Portal, San Francisco) for their assortment of delicious buffalo burgers.

With this being said, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 slices of buffalo or rib eye steak
2 cups of petite mixed vegetables of your choice
1 cup shitake mushrooms - cut in fours
8-10 pieces of yellow pearl onions
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 table spoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
water

Cut the steak into long strips. Pour olive oil into a medium size pot, add steak strips and onions and saute. Add tomato paste along with mushrooms and other vegetables. Add some water - it should not be more than the mixture in the pot. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes.

Asparagus season is almost here! It starts around mid-April and last about only two months - definitely not enough time for me to get enough of this vegetable. It comes to our household all year around.

Recently I was reading that in Germany, every eatery from the tiniest to the most elaborate offered a special asparagus menu that would list as many as 45 variations of this vegetable. Assuming this is true, I started to wonder why all I do to this vegetable is to steam it...

Thinking lemon (somehow) would be a good match to this vegetable, I made lemony-asparagusy rice for the first time.

Here is the recipe that I found from the San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook -

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 large shallots, minced
1 1/2 cups (brown) basmati rice
1/4 cups lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 pound thin asparagus
Finely minced zest of 1 lemon

Directions:

Heat the broth.
Heat the olive oil in another pot. Add shallots and saute them for couple minutes. Add rice and stir until all the grains are coated with oil. Add boiling broth, lemon juice, salt and some pepper. Stir to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 10 minutes.
Get rid of the tough ends of asparagus. Then cut it into little pieces. Add asparagus along with lemon zest into rice and simmer until it's cooked.
Rest it covered before serving with a piece of paper towel between the lid and the pot.

Are you feeling off and in need of something light and warm? Are you tired of eating canned soups and starting to get concerned about your preservatives intake? Do you have limited time like just 10 minutes to put something together? Do you wish your dish to be homemade and healthy? Then I think you will really like this pea soup.

If you do not like peas, their overall nutritional characteristics may change your mind. Peas are very healthy as they are a good source of protein, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, vitamin C and amino acids. They are also low in oil, and the type of starch they contain is the sort that breaks down slowly rather than giving a quick burst of energy.

Here is how you make it...

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 chopped leeks, white and light green parts
1 cup chopped yellow onion
4 cups vegetable stock
5 cups freshly shelled peas
2/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly chopped chives

Directions

Heat the butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks and onion, and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the peas and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the peas are tender. (Frozen peas will take only 3 minutes.) Off the heat, add the mint, salt, and pepper.

*Puree the soup in batches: place 1 cup of soup in a blender, place the lid on top, and puree on low speed. Pour the soup into a large bowl and repeat until all the soup is pureed. Whisk in chives and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with garlic croutons.

(Recipe By Ina Garten)

I know, I know, I know... In these time-conscious days, it can often be better to buy a dessert than to make your own. You can buy many delicious desserts for quite reasonable prices. Also, coming into contact with a dessert in the form of a "finished product" makes it easier to justify the caloric intake - your brain can't begin to process the magnitude of the possible damage based on the ingredients.

So with this being said, if you have some time on your hands, it can be a lot of fun to bake your own dessert. The bonus of making your own dessert is that you are aware of what you are putting into your body and you can make adjustments to ingredients based on these concerns. This was my line of reasoning, when I made my own dessert from the "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch" cookbook. How can one go wrong with a recipe when the subtitle of the book says "Kick-Ass Recipes for Hungry Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!)".

OK without further dalliance, here is the Fresh Fruit Crisp recipe -



Serves 6

1/2 cup of coconut oil, plus a bit more in the pan
1 cup plus 2 table spoons Sucanat (sugar substitute)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 cups of pitted fresh fruit of your choice/s
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
A friend who knows how to bake stuff
1 pint vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven 375 (oil 8 * 8 Baking pan)

In a bowl, combine 1 cup of succanat, 1/2 cup of the flour, the oats, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add coconut oil and mix until pieces are pea size.

In another bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of succanat, 1 table spoon of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and the cinnamon. Mix in the fruit, lemon juice and vanilla.

Transfer fruit to the prepared baking dish, spreading evenly. Sprinkle on the topping. Bake for 30 minutes to an hour.

You can cover the top lightly with foil and open the foil.

OK - here is the tip that is not in the book... If you are not sure whether or not it is thoroughly cooked, stick a knife inside and see if the knife comes out warm. If it is not warm, then it means it is ready. This little tip comes to us from my friend Scott.

Next, take out and cool it down for 10-15 minutes. Serve it with some vanilla ice-cream.

Probably everyone knows the magically delicious, green sauce called pesto. It is widely available at supermarkets (at least in the US) and used to dress up a wide variety of pasta and vegetable dishes. A very common recipe consists of fresh basil leaves, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, hard cheese, salt & pepper.

What is not commonly recognized is that a pesto recipe can be super versatile. This is actually not that so surprising. The name "pesto" comes from the latin word for "to pound" or "to crush". So, actually any sauce in that form can be considered pesto. This means you do not have to stick with one recipe and you can adjust the amounts of ingredients depending on your taste buds, your nutritional concerns and the food you will be mixing the sauce with. What an easy-going recipe! Recently I ran into a few recipes which included arugula, brocoli, tomato, and several without cheese.

Pesto is probably one of the easiest sauces to make. Since it is a sauce that is created by pounding, just dump the ingredients of your choice and the desired amount into your blender and ta-da!


Classic Pesto Recipe



Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves (you can use more if you want a stronger taste, or if you will use the sauce with meat)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese (you can take this out, if you are a vegan or planning to freeze the sauce)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced (adjustable according to your preference)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (again, adjustable according to your preference)

If you want to be a bit adventurous -

Add one cup of sun dried tomatoes and a little bit more olive oil.

I was admiring my spice collection today. I've got so many different types of spices, lined up in alphabetical order, waiting to be useful. When I say useful, it is from the perspective of not only adding flavor to our food, but also in aiding our metabolism. So, I wanted to put my spices to work in a curry dish.

Curry Spice Mix:

• 1 TSP ground cumin (stimulant - increases awareness and alertness, carminative - protects intestines, antimicrobial - kills microbes in the body!!)



• 1 TSP ground coriander (protects us from anxiety, acts as a digestive aid)
  


• 1/2 TSP turmeric (acts as an antibacterial agent and contains fluoride which is good for our teeth)



• 1/8 TSP cayenne (relieves pain)



• 1/8 TSP ground cinnamon (cures colds and digestive system problems)



• 1/8 TSP ground cloves (carminative)
  

So, home-made curry can only do you good! Here is what you need to do to make this into a delicious meal:

In a large skillet, heat coconut oil and add the chopped onions and minced garlic. Once the onions are pink and tender add tomatos, v-stock, curry mixture and salt. Bring to boil and then add your veggies. After veggies are about to be cooked, add raisins. Then, when the veggies are done add the lemon juice.

You do not have to use vegetables for this dish. You can also make this with a leg of lamb. Dress the lamb with the curry seasoning and start cooking the mixture. Then, add garlic and onions, the v-stock and raisins. This will give the dish a Moroccan style flavoring. It will be awesome.