Tzatziki (Cucumber yogurt sauce)

This sauce is great for dipping pita, dolmas, and veggies as well as on hummus and veggie sandwiches, or on gyros for the meat eaters. There are many variations, so this is again cobbled together from many sources.

You need:

3 cups plain yogurt
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
2 medium cucumbers, seeded and grated
1 tbsp. fresh dill or fresh mint, chopped
Salt and pepper

Instructions:

• Place a clean kitchen towel in a colander, and add the yogurt to the center of the towel. Place colander in a bowl to catch liquid, and let drain for a couple of hours.
• In another colander (or the first one, after you're done with the yogurt), place the grated cucumber, sprinkle with salt, and toss. Let sit and drain, then pat dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.
• In a bowl, mix together strained yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, garlic, dill or mint, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Cover bowl tightly and return it to the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours, preferably overnight so the flavors can blend.
  

Stuffed Grape Leaves

Also known as dolmas or dolmades, these are a great appetizer or finger food.

You need:

1/2 lb. jar grape leaves, washed thoroughly from brine and drained
1 cup long grain rice
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup currants
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Construction:

• Wash leaves under hot water. Soak them for 20 minutes and wash them again, separating them to make sure all saltiness has been removed.
• Partially pre-cook rice by allowing it to sit in boiling water for five minutes then rinse and drain thoroughly.
• Combine rice, pine nuts, currants, onion, parsley, mint, and add salt and pepper to taste.
  
• Cut the stem off each leaf and place shiny side down. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of the mixture on wide end, fold up, fold both sides in and roll up like a burrito.
• Line rolls very tightly side by side, seam side down, in saucepan. Sprinkle garlic garlic between the layers.
• Add olive oil, lemon juice, water and bring to boil. Place a small heavy plate over the leaves, lower heat, cover pan and simmer very gently until leaves are tender for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Every thirty minutes check on water level, adding 1/4 cup at a time if needed.
• Cool dolmas before transferring to serving platter.
  

This recipe makes about 40-45 leaves and they can be served hot or room temperature. They're perfect on their own (and vegan), but you can also serve them with tzatziki for dipping.

Once cooked, these freeze well, and you can reheat them by steaming them until warm.

Baba Ghanouj (eggplant spread)

This and the next couple of posts are from a Middle Eastern food party I threw a while back. This is tasty spread on sandwiches or served with pita bread wedges or pita chips, and is easy to make. The next time you're considering making hummus, consider making this instead. I believe I found the recipe at epicurious.com.

You need:

2 1-pound eggplants, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed paste) [I've been able to find this at local supermarkets, but you may have to check the specialty foods section, or even a specialty foods store]
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, chopped

To make it:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously oil rimmed baking sheet. Place eggplant halves, cut side down, on sheet. Roast until eggplant is very soft, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Using spoon, scoop out pulp from eggplant into strainer set over bowl. Let stand 30 minutes, allowing excess liquid to drain from eggplant.

Transfer eggplant pulp to food processor. Add 1/4 cup oil, tahini, lemon juice, and garlic; process until almost smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to small bowl.

(Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Tortilla Espanola

I first had this dish in Spanish class in High School. If I recall correctly, my Spanish Teacher was from Germany, but had lived or spent a fair amount of time in Spain, and she used to bring this simple, tasty dish in for us as a treat once a year or so. It seems to be a staple on tapas menus.

You need:

2 yellow onions, diced
6 large boiling potatoes, chopped in 1/3-inch dice
10 eggs
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika and/or chopped parsley for garnish

To make it:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  
• Saute yellow onions in olive oil and potatoes until vegetables are soft but not browned
  
• Let remove from heat, transfer to bowl, and let cool for 5 minutes
  
• Beat eggs lightly as if making scrambled eggs, then add them to cooled veggies
  
• Return this mixture to an oven-safe saute pan and cook until eggs are half cooked
  
• Level out top of eggs (by pressing potatoes and onions down with a spatula) and bake for 15 minutes
  

Slide onto a plate for serving, and sprinkle lightly with paprika and/or chopped parsely. You cut this and serve it in wedges like a pie. It can be served warm or room temperature and makes a great lunch or light dinner with a salad on the side.

Feta, Eggplant, and Olive Sauce (for pasta)

This recipe comes straight from While the Pasta Cooks. I rediscovered it last night, and it's an old favorite.

Ingredients:

1 lb. pasta (they say "any shape" but I also prefer fusilli or rotini or bowties in this, I wouldn't make it with any of the "long" pastas)
1 1/2 lbs. small firm eggplant, stemmed, peeled, and cut into thin 2-inch-long strips
1 tsp. salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
12 imported black olives (Mislinis, Kalamata, or Nicoise), pitted and coarsely chopped
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and stir a few times to ensure that the pasta does not stick to itself. Boil vigorously for the time recommended on the pasta package or until the pasta is tender.

While the pasta cooks, toss the eggplant with the kosher salt in a microwave-safe dish. Cover and microwave at full power for 2 minutes. Transfer to a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess water.

Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and red pepper flakes and cook until the onion has softened, about 2 minutes. Add the oregano and eggplant and cook until the eggplant has lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, basil, and olives.

Drain the pasta and toss it in a serving bowl with the sauce and feta cheese.

My notes: The key to actually getting all of this done "while the pasta cooks" is to make sure everything is chopped and measured before you start boiling the water. Also, I know I've recommended in other recipes that you don't need to pit the olives, but in this one, it's better if you do. This is also a fairly dry sauce.

Pasta with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes

This is another recipe that I made up, though it was inspired by a recipe in a great cookbook called While the Pasta Cooks.

You need:

1 lb. pasta, I like fusilli for this recipe

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 of a jar of pine nuts, toasted

Half of a jar of sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1 small package (about 5 oz.) fresh goat cheese, crumbled

Put all ingredients except for the pasta in a large bowl. Boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta, add it to the bowl with the other ingredients, and toss until the cheese has melted and coated the pasta.

You can also add defrosted frozen peas or broccoli to this if you want a full meal in a bowl. Alternately, serve a salad of tossed baby greens on the side with Italian dressing or homemade vinaigrette.

On Vacation

Hi folks,

I'm on vacation in Las Vegas this week, so there likely won't be any updates for a few days.  In the meantime, if you make any of the dishes, feel free to take a digital picture and send it to me, and I'll add it to the appropriate recipe's entry.

Thanks!

Roasted Fall Vegetables

I made this for Thanksgiving, though I've modified it to remove the potatoes, since I was serving mashed garlic potatoes on the side.  In its original form, it was the "Harvest Vegetable Medley" in the Vegetarian Times November/December 2007 edition.  In my rendition,

You need:

1 lb. small brussels sprouts, trimmed (removed the excess small leaves and stem from the bottom)

1 butternut squash, halved, cut into chunks

1 head cauliflower, separated into 2 inch florets

4 medium leeks, white parts only, trimmed and quartered lengthwise

1/2 lb. baby carrots

1/2 lb. baby parsnips, peeled and trimmed

24 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved, plus 3 garlic cloves, minced (no, that's not a typo)

4 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. chopped fresh sage

1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary

2 small red bell peppers, quartered

The recipe:

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  
2. Toss everything into a roasting pan with the olive oil, fresh herbs, salt and pepper and attempt to spread into a single layer
3. Roast for 40 minutes, tossing whenever you get worried, or until the veggies are brown around the edges and squash is soft

As you can see if you've examined the original recipe, I've taken some liberties with the instructions because honestly, I'm not going to be fussing over pre-boiling brussels sprouts, they came out fine just plain roasted.  I also added more red pepper.  I do recommend using the fresh herbs, since this is otherwise very simply flavored.

I would not recommend trying to double this recipe, since it says it serves 8, and I didn't have a pan big enough to serve what I thought 15 people would eat.

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

This literally means "spaghetti prostitute style". The story, as I heard it as a child, was that brothels in Italy, long ago, served food to their clients in addition to "dessert", and this spicy sauce came from there. I was looking for this particular recipe months ago and couldn't find it. I ended up with a milder and less tasty recipe than this one; I'm glad I found it again. The traditional recipe includes anchovies, I substitute sundried tomatoes.

You need:

1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 lb. tomatoes, peeled and chopped (canned is fine)
1-2 tbsp. capers
12-16 black olives (normally the recipe calls for pitted, but honestly, just warn your guests that the pits are still in there, and they'll be fine)
1 hot chili pepper (how hot? your choice. You can use jalapenos, serranos, habaneros, dried red pepper flakes, or whatever you can find locally)
1 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped finely
Black pepper
3 oz. sundried tomatoes, packed in olive oil, patted dry, and chopped into small pieces
2-3 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs. spaghetti (you can really serve this on whatever pasta you have around, but this is traditional)
Salt

The instructions:

• Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and saute 2 cloves garlic, crushed, until browned.
• Add the remaining garlic clove, finely chopped, the tomatoes, capers, olives, chili, oregano, and a little black pepper (freshly ground, if possible).
• Cook over a brisk heat for 20 minutes.
• Lower the heat and add the chopped sundried tomatoes, then cook gently for 2 minutes.
• If you used a whole chili, remove it, then add salt to taste.
• If you want things extra spicy, chop up the cooked chili you removed and return it to the sauce.
• Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until tender, drain it, and dress it with the sauce while hot.

I would recommend plating this with not just the chopped parsley, but also a sprinkle of parmesan, and some chopped walnuts.  

Black Eyed Peas and Stewed Tomatoes

This is similar to a recipe my uncle used to make back in Virginia, but without the bacon. These bring good luck for the new year.

Ingredients:

1/2 bag cooked dried black eyed peas (or 1 box frozen), cooked
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 tbsp. each dried celery leaves and parsley or 1 sm. bunch fresh minced
Salt & pepper to taste
A few dashes Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp. dried onion or 1 onion, minced
1 green pepper, minced, fresh or frozen

Instructions:

• Cook and drain the peas according to package directions.
• Add the rest of the ingredients.
• Simmer for at least 20 minutes, or place in crock pot on Low 3 to 4 hours.
• Add extra stewed tomatoes if you're going to leave it in the crock for longer.
• To substitute for bacon, add some Liquid Smoke