Food Matters Project #27: Summer Tabbouleh Salad

It’s another Food Matters Project recipe!  This weeks host is Sarah from Simply Whole Kitchen.  From the Food Matter Cookbook, she chose Mark Bittman’s recipe for Quinoa Tabbouleh.  Check out Sarah’s version, and what everyone else had made!

Mark Bittman suggests a different version of tabbouleh, which is usually made out of bulgur, tomatoes, parsley, mint, onion, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.  He recommends making this dish with quinoa, and adds more veggies.  We didn’t have an quinoa in our pantry, so we used bulgur.

Summer Tabbouleh
Adapted from: The Food Matter Cookbook (page 164)

3/4 cup bulgur
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 shallots, minced
1/4 cup roughly chopped parlsey
1/4 cup roughly chopped mint
15 oz can of garbanzo beans, rinsed & drained
5 radishes, finely chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
15 oz can black olives, drained & chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
pita bread (optional)

Cook bulgur per package instructions.  Once it’s cooked, add to a big  bowl.  Next, add all of the other vegetables, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Stir all of the ingredients together.

Finally, in a small bowl whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice.  Pour over the salad, stir well.  Serve with warmed pita bread.

Green Veggie Rice with Fried Egg

As I’ve mentioned previously, I try to use up all of our produce- rather than throwing it all out!  Sometimes I might not get to a recipe I wanted to try, or I get a little crazy at the Penn Quarter Farmers Market and buy too many greens.  Or as I browse through other blogs, magazines or cookbooks I get inspirations about trying new things.  Where do you get your cooking inspiration or recipe ideas?

How did this recipe make itself?
1) I was walking through Whole Foods, and I came across Lundberg Black Japonica rice.  It’s a whole-grain blend of short-grain black rice and medium-grain mahogany rice which originates from Japanese seeds.  It looked so pretty, I just had to buy it!

2) I’m not the hugest fan of kale, until I tried this recipe.  Although I’ve added it to many dishes (kale lasagna, kale white bean & potato soup, pomegranate and kale orzo salad), I haven’t been sold on it.  Until I saw baby kale in the grocery store, and I decided to give it another chance.  Although I didn’t have a recipe for it, I wanted to incorporate kale into something.

3) Fried eggs make everything better.  Trust me!  (burgers, pizza, BLTs, asparagus, soups, noodles, salads- have I sold you yet?)

4) I wanted to clean out our fridge, and I hate taking everything out and putting it back in.  I prefer if the fridge is very very empty- makes the chore so much easier!

As a side note: This weekend I’ll be attending my first food blogger conference- Eat, Write Retreat 2012.  I’m very excited to meet other fellow food bloggers and learn some new things!  And I can’t wait to check out what’s in my swag bag!

Green Veggie Rice with Fried Egg
Fifth Floor Kitchen original

If you don’t have this specific rice, you can substitute with brown or wild rice- both will taste equally delicious.  As noted above, feel free to experiment with other greens if you don’t have kale or swiss chard on hand (ex: spinach, arugula, beet greens, mustard greens, bok choy, etc).

1 cup Lundberg Black Japonica Rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch of swiss chard, roughly chopped
1 bunch of baby kale, roughly chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
juice of 1 lemon

In a medium saucepan, cook rice in water per package instructions.  Drain and keep covered.

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil.  Add the onion and cook until translucent.  Then add the garlic, cook for another 3 minutes.  Next add the swiss chard and baby kale.  Cover and cook, stir a few times, until the veggies are tender.  Add the rice into the saucepan, mix all of the ingredients together.  Season with soy sauce, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and lemon juice.  Allow to simmer while you fry the egg.

In a small pan, fry an egg per each serving.  We prefer runny eggs, but fry it to your preference.

Plate the rice and veggie mixture, top with a fried egg.

Mushroom Israeli Couscous Risotto

I think there are two kinds of food shoppers.  Sam falls into the group which goes into the store, for exactly what he needs, and escapes as soon as he can.  I, on the other hand, love to browse the aisles.  What if I miss some new and exciting product?

Last year I was searching for Israeli couscous, but I could never find it.  Who decides which aisle holds certain products?  I have a feeling that me and that individual are not on the same wavelength.  There are times where I’ll circle around searching for something in particular, and never end up finding it.

One day, when I was alone in the store, I stumbled upon Israeli couscous.  Finally!  Of course once I find the product, I couldn’t find a recipe which I wanted to try.  I recently organized my food magazine basket (growing every month), and finally came across a recipe which sounded delicious.

What is Israeli couscous?  Other names it is known as are: ptitim, Jerusalem couscous or pearl couscous.  In the 1950’s food rationing in Israel was enforced, and during this time rice was scarce.  The prime minister asked Osem (the largest food manufacturer and distributor in Israel) to make a wheat-based substitute.  The company then made ptitim, made of hard wheat flour roasted in the oven.

These days, Israeli couscous is marketed towards children in Israel.  Just like pastas in the US- they are made in various shapes to cater to a younger crowd.  Many eat ptitim plain, fried with onions, or topped with tomato sauce.  Meanwhile, in the US you can find it in trendy, upscale restaurants.

Mushroom Israeli Couscous Risotto
Adapted from: Cooking Light (March 2009)

We basically made a risotto, but rather than using arborio rice- I tried out Israeli couscous.  Both of us really enjoyed it, it was a bit lighter and more filling.  If you’re not a fan of mushrooms, feel free to swap it out for asparagus and green peas, or use whatever mushrooms you have in your fridge.

 

2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken)
1 cup of water
2 cups of shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 shallots, chopped finely
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 cups uncooked Israeli couscous
1/2 cup dry white wine (ex: Bogle Chardonnay)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 oz goat cheese
4 tbsp chives, chopped

Combine the broth and water in a saucepan over medium heat, bring it to a simmer.  Continue to simmer this broth until you use it all up.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan, then toss in the mushrooms.  Allow them to cook for about 5 minutes, or until the moisture evaporates.  Add in the shallots and garlic, cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Then add the Israeli couscous, stir constantly for about 1 minute.  Finally pour in the wine, cook for another minute or until most of the liquid is absorbed, stir constantly.

Add a ladle (about 1/4 cup) of broth into the couscous mixture.  Stir constantly until the broth is absorbed.  Then add another ladle of the broth, continue until all of the broth has been used.

Stir in salt and pepper.  Finally, add in the goat cheese and keep stirring until it has dissolved into the couscous mixture.

Divide the couscous onto 4 plates, and sprinkle with the chives.

Barley with Stuffed Portobellos

This past weekend Sam and I drove into Virginia, it was beautiful to see the rolling hills- especially with the leaves beginning to change colors.  Absolutely breathtaking.  This means fall is here, summer has officially ended.

While living in the midwest I noticed that fall tends to come and go quickly.  School starts, football games begin…and winter abruptly begins.  Here, in Virginia, fall lingers.  I’ve learned to love it- it gives us more than enough time to try out many warm, filling and familiar dishes.

Whenever I’m in the mood for a natural, earthy flavor when cooking dinner I tend to add mushrooms into the dish.  Sometimes we’ll make a portobello mushroom burger- there are so many flavors in each bite.  So when I saw this dish in Vegetarian Times– I knew we had to try it.  Each bite has the perfect blend of leeks, pine nuts and portobello mushroom; the barley allows this dish to be a very filling dinner.

Barley with Stuffed Portobellos
Adapted from: Vegetarian Times (Oct 2011)

cooking spray
4 portobello mushrooms, stemmed
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 leeks, thinly sliced
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp thyme, chopped
1 lb fresh spinach
4 oz goat cheese, chopped and softened
3 tbsp pine nuts

Cook 1 cup of barley in about 2 cups of water until it is tender.  Drain, and divide between 4 plates.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Brush mushrooms, on both sides, with 1 tbsp of olive oil.  Also, sprinkle the mushroom caps with 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper.  Arrange the mushroom caps on the baking sheet and roast for 5 minutes.  Turn the mushrooms over and roast for another 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to soften.  Once the mushrooms are done, plate them on top of the barley.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Then add onions, leeks, garlic and thyme.  Sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the leeks are tender.  Then, add spinach and cook for another 10 minutes until the spinach has wilted.  Finally, stir in goat cheese and pine nuts.  Keep stirring until all of the cheese has melted and has been incorporated into the mixture.  Remove from heat and add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp of pepper.

Finally, fill each portobello mushroom with the leek-spinach mixture until it is spilling out.

Tomato Soup with Basil

As the days get warmer, and the sun shines longer, no one wants to be stuck in the kitchen.  Especially with the oven on…too hot!  As I mentioned before, I try to search out recipes that are fast, simple, and require very minimal cooking.  But just because you want a simpler recipe, does not mean that flavor has to be lost.

This is a very simple soup, although I’ve noticed I say that quite a bit!  Nonetheless, it’s hearty enough to fill you up (thanks to the rice)- but not too much that you feel stuffed.  And, it’s easy since I cooked it between going for a run.  Once all the ingredients were boiling, I grabbed my shoes for a quick run around the Mall.  By the time I came back, the soup was done cooking.

We let it cool off a bit before we ate, a bit more “gazpacho” style.  And even though it was cooler, it still had the great flavor.  Tomato season hasn’t started yet, but this would be a great one to do with fresh tomatoes rather than the canned.  It would give the soup more flavor.  But that’s something we’ll have to wait for, and enjoy over the summer.

We bought some bread from the Farmer’s Market, and ate it with the soup.  The bread was dense, and it absorbed some of the liquid from the soup, giving it a little more flavor.  Yum!

Tomato Soup with Basil
Adapted from: A Chow Life Blog

4 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans whole tomatoes (28 oz each)
1/4 cup basil, finely chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 chicken bouillon
2 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1/4 cup rice

In a large pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic, let it sauté for about 8 minutes, until the onions are translucent.  Then add the tomatoes, basil, sugar, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  Cook for about 1 minute.  Then add the bouillon, broth and water.  Stir in the rice, and cover the pot until the soup is boiling.

Let it simmer for 15-25 minutes.  Remove the tomatoes from the soup and add them to a food processor (or blender).  Blend until it turns into smaller chunks (choose the consistency to your liking).  Pour back into the pot, cover, and simmer for another 10 minutes.

When serving, feel free to sprinkle some basil as a garnish.