Hope springs eternal ... in the garden

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration.

~Lou Erickson

It also requires a slew of expletives directed at those slugs and weeds and other obstacles standing in the way of my vegetables' happiness :)

In spite of the vagaries of the weather this year, the abysmal lack of spring and warmth, my veggies have managed to survive. Really well, I might add. And yes, it takes some work to build those beds, plant those starters and tend to them every couple of days. But none of this would've happened without those fabulous saplings to start off with! This year's crop comes with starters from these places:

• Molbaks - the king of nurseries out here in the greater seattle area. Somewhat pricey, but their quality remains blemishless.
• Seattle Tilth - a fabulous local non-profit dedicated to urban gardening. Their organic techniques, demonstrations and classes are truly fantastic!
• Seattle area farmers' markets - Life doesn't quite function without the CSAs and organic gardeners who populate these markets - their seeds, starters and crops are the best, the very best!

So, without further ado, I present a partial snapshot of the vegetable garden as of this evening :)

Thai Chilli Pepper

A few of the zillion tomatoes (heirlooms, sweet million, cherry, plum, roma)

One of the veggie beds, the plants in front are chives, garlic, fennel and basil

Greens - radicchio, braising greens, arugula, butter lettuce ...

First snap pea of the season!

Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and other leafy green things!

Yellow squash

Zucchini

Italian Parsley

Rapini flower

These rapini flowers have been a fabulous discovery this season - we stumbled upon them at the Madrona farmers' market and have been hooked on them since. Fragile-looking, but intensely flavourful and refreshing - they remind me of Bri. The incredibly strong and resilient Bri - we're all thinking of you and rooting for you.

Hope does spring eternal.

Got to love that pome!

No, I'm *not* talking about any fabulous device from that AAPL :)

A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon An Apple A Day hosted by Rosella. Her story is incredibly poignant - after having a stroke at 30, she seems to be doing well now and totally enjoying writing about her life and travails on her blog. And this event is extra special to her - she wants March 3rd, the day she had a stroke last year to be a celebration of healthy living and eating. It isn't any surprise that she chose to focus her event on apples along with a variety of other ingredients.

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
- Martin Luther King

And I'll be totally fine with that - can't quite imagine life without apples - guess that's one of the best things about living in Washington :)

Apples, to no surprise, are way up there in terms of being a tasty source of goodness. They're full of soluble and insoluble fiber, the skin has a ton of Vitamin C, the pulp contains phenolic compounds ... and they're super delicious to boot!

It didn't take much effort to find a fun recipe showcasing apples and a couple of other ingredients from Rosella's list. I was initially thinking of a dessert, but figured a salad was a much healthier idea. This Moroccan salad seemed like the perfect option, brimming with sweet and tart flavours and some spice.

Pepper Apple Tomato Salad
- adapted from Traditional Moroccan Cooking: Recipes from Fez

Servings: 2 as an entree, 4 as an appetizer

1 Granny Smith apple - coarsely chopped
1/2 Gala apple - coarsely chopped
6-8 black cherry tomatoes - halved
20 sugar plum tomatoes - halved
1/2 red onion
1/2 red bell pepper
3-4 pepperoncinis - drained and chopped
10-12 almonds - coarsely chopped or ground
3 cloves garlic - crushed
2 T lemon juice
1 T chopped fresh curly parsley
1 t dried mint
1/2 t dried thyme
3 T red wine vinegar
1 t olive oil
salt
freshly ground pepper

Toss the tomatoes and apples with the lemon juice in a mixing bowl and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.
Heat the oil in a wok and saute the onions.
Once browned, add the garlic and bell peppers and saute for another 3-4 minutes.
Add the contents of the wok into the mixing bowl and toss with the tomatoes+apples.
Add the chopped banana pepper and almonds and toss again.
Season with parsley, mint, thyme, salt and pepper.
Add the vinegar, 1 T at a time, checking the flavours before adding more.


Opinion?

*yum*! Those moroccans know how to fix a mean apple salad. This was fabulous. And is fabulous (as I struggle to type while feeding my face) :)

Off this goes to Rosella - hope you feel better and may the good times roll!

Care for some snapper?

We did! And we're glad we did! :)

This is a long overdue post from a couple of weeks ago - with Navarathri and travelling and all, things have been really hectic and I'm woefully behind with my food postings. But things are back to being relatively normal, so the postings shall flow again! :)

A couple of weeks ago, the guy at City Fish convinced me to buy some of what he called "super fresh" snapper - so much better than the cod, he said! Well, that sold me - anything better than fresh cod must be good, real good! And this worked really well for dinner a couple of nights later since Megan got all excited in anticipation of a seafood meal :)

We poked around several recipes online before finally settling on a version of blackened snapper that sounded pretty happy. Simple seasoning, delicate fish, "herbalicious" sauce topping - all goodness!

Blackened snapper with tomato-dill sauce

Servings: 3

3 fillets skinned snapper - 8 oz each
2 T olive oil
a handful of chopped parsley

Seasoning
----------------
1 T cayenne
1 t kosher salt
1 T garlic salt
1.5 T onion powder
1 t ground black pepper
1 T fresh thyme

Sauce
----------
3 roma tomatoes - peeled and chopped
1/2 red onion - finely chopped
3 cloves garlic - smashed
1 T coriander powder
1 t cayenne
2 T chopped dill
kosher salt
1 t olive oil
1 t turmeric

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onions+garlic. Once browned, throw in the tomatoes and spices and cook for about 12-14 minutes till the tomatoes are cooked and blended. Mash the tomatoes with a wooden ladle and let the sauce simmer for a few more minutes. Finally toss in the chopped dill. (I *love* the explosive smell when the dill is thrown into the sauce - so overpowering!)

Fishy fishy
----------------
Mix the seasoning ingredients till well blended.
Brush the fillets with olive oil and rub all over with the seasoning. Place the fish in a large greased skillet and cook over low for about 4-5 minutes. Drizzle a few more drops of olive oil as the fish cooks. Flip the fish over and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Place a fillet on a plate and spoon the sauce over it. Let it sit for a couple of minutes before serving - the fish was delicate enough to immediately start absorbing the flavors of the sauce!
Top with the chopped parsley.

Our first side was pretty simple - oven roasted fingerling potatoes dusted with salt, pepper and some thyme - yum! The other side was even happier - hierloom tomatoes sauteed in their own juices along with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Delicious! :)

Our camera was not super happy that day, we only have one substandard picture as testament to a yummy meal!

Wait ... there is more! Megan brought some yummy desserts from Whole Foods - we decided the flan was too rich, but the raspberry tart was tasty and the chocolate mousse was simply decadent!

Delightful squash bisque

One of the best things about Fall - squashes! So many varieties, so many of them, makes me so happy! This was something I cooked up for Stephanie & Shawn a few days ago and never got around to posting. Which would be a crime of sorts since the bisque turned out so rich and flavorful, it deserves a post! :)

The last batch of squashes I got were from (surprise!) Fred Meyer - it was an emergency pitstop for some fruit and I just happened to (literally!) stumble upon this motley assortment of squashes of all shapes and sizes! I ended up buying several delicata squashes that day, one of which went into this bisque that I adapted from a recipe from Best-ever Soups by Anne Sheasby.

Roasted Squash and Garlic Bisque

Servings: 4

1 medium sized delicata squash
8 -10 cloves of garlic
1/2 vidalia - chopped into big chunks
a few fresh thyme sprigs
2 T olive oil
1 T fresh ground pepper
1 t fresh ground coriander
a few orange mint leaves - chopped
kosher salt

Heat the oven to 400 F. Cut the squash in half and rub inside of squash halves with olive oil. Take a piece of foil and place the garlic cloves along with the thyme and close the foil. Place the squash, garlic foil and onions (drizzled with olive oil) in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Once roasted, scoop the squash out of its skin into a saucepan. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin and throw them along with the onions into the saucepan. Add about 4-5 cups of water (or vegetable stock) and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pepper and salt and simmer for another 5-7 minutes. Let the soup cool before pureeing it in a blender or food processor.

Once the soup is ladled into bowls, garnish with the orange mint.

*so* much of flavor - sweet squash, pungent garlic, fragrant thyme, coriander, orange mint ... Yum!

P.S.: This was my submission for Julia's (http://asliceofcherrypie.blogspot.com/) fun seasonal event: In The Bag!

The best fajitas *ever*!

I've always been obsessed with cooking and eating and even dreaming about food (probably reasonably obvious from the frequency of this blog!). But I've been noticing an interesting phenomenon - the last couple of weeks have been simply fabulous in terms of diversity of foods I've tried out as well as how well they've turned out! True gastronomic bliss :) And I'm attributing it primarily to this whole food blog obsession. Writing, taking pictures, reading all the awesome blogs out there, getting to know about fellow food bloggers and their cooking styles, this is truly rewarding!

And on that note, I'll have to start writing about the best fajitas I've *ever* eaten. Maybe I should be more specific? Best veggies fajitas I've ever eaten. Whatever! I've only eaten veggie fajitas, though the plan is to attempt some kind of seafood fajitas one of these days :) Have I mentioned how awesome Celia Brooks Brown's cookbooks are? And how obsessed I am with her 'New Vegetarian' cookbook? A few days ago, after we made the Teriyaki Tofu dish, we continued browsing this book for more drool-worthy recipes - trust me, there are several of them here! But this one particularly stood out - veggie fajitas with haloumi cheese and a bunch of marinated veggies. We only morphed it a little bit - substituting the haloumi with kasseri and crimini mushrooms instead of button mushrooms. Oh, and we spiced up the marinade and doubled the garlic (obviously!) :)

The Best Veggie Fajitas *ever*

Servings: 4

8 whole wheat tortillas
1/2 red onion
1/2 vidalia onion
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 zucchini
10-12 crimini mushrooms (sliced)
8 oz kasseri cheese - sliced long

Marinade
=========
5 cloves of garlic
1 T sea salt
1 huge handful of cilantro - chopped
1 T red pepper flakes
3 T olive oil
juice from 4 lemons
1 T ginger juice

Grind up the garlic with the sea salt in a pestle till the smell of garlic overwhelms you :) Mix the rest of the marinade ingredients with this in a large bowl. Toss the veggies in the marinade, cover the bowl and stick it in the fridge for about 30 minutes. After the veggies are marinated, toss them in a wok and cook partially covered till the juices are absorbed and the veggies are cooked - about 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, wrap the tortillas in foil and stick them in the oven at 325 F for about 15 minutes. Stick the sliced cheese in the toaster for about a minute. Once melted, we mopped off the grease from the top and then shredded the cheese into 1" pieces.

To assemble the fajita, just load up a bunch of the veggies into the tortilla along with a few pieces of cheese and fold over.


Obviously, we needed a few sides to go with the best fajitas *ever* :) We had an avocado which went into making a basic guacamole:

Guacamole

1 avocado - mashed up
1 T lime juice
1 t kosher salt
1 t red pepper flakes

Just mix 'em all up! :)

Our next side was a happy, happy salsa:

Tomato-onion-mango salsa

1 red onion - chopped
3 medium tomatoes - chopped
1/2 ripe mango - chopped
1 jalapeno
10 mint leaves
1 t salt

Grind up the jalapeno+mint and toss the mixture with the tomatoes, onions and mango. Add the salt and mix.

Hmm ... we obviously needed a rice to go with all of this, guess that means we're making one more side! :)

Brown rice with olive tapenade and pinto beans

2 cups brown rice (long grain)
1 can pinto beans
15 green olives
1/2 tomato
2 cloves garlic
1 t vinegar
1 t olive oil
2 t cayenne pepper
salt
Chopped cilantro

Cook the rice in 4.5 cups of water. In the meantime, grind the olives, tomato and garlic into a coarse paste. Mix this with the vinegar, olive oil, cayenne and salt to make a tapenade. Toss the cooked rice with the pinto beans and tapenade. Garnish with cilantro. Yum!


Mmmm ... this meal has cilantro + mint = double herb delight! Plus oodles of yummy vegetables! Gots to be an entry for Kalyn's fabulous Weekend Herb Blogging two year anniversary event! :)

Tofu heaven!

My current favorite veggie cookbook is New Vegetarian by Celia Brooks Brown - I think she, along with Rose Elliott are among the best authors of vegetarian cookbooks. Total aside: Celia's book has one of the best gazpacho recipes I've ever seen, too bad I'll have to wait till warm weather comes around again before I try it out! :)

Sometimes, a noodle dish bursting with flavor and topped with marinated tofu just does the trick. And the New Vegetarian has what seemed like the perfect recipe - egg noodles with glazed green vegetables, topped with teriyaki tofu steaks. I decided to go with a few changes - just soba noodles instead of egg noodles seemed like a good option, 400 calories per serving (that's egg noodles for you!) sounded too heavy for dinner today. Besides, PCC carries some awesome soba noodles that pick up teriyaki flavors really well, we decided it was time to try those again. We ended up cutting the tofu into smaller chunks instead of the giant steak-like slabs since it makes for easier eating with chopsticks :) Also, we had to settle for regular bok choy instead of baby bok choy, and scallions instead of leeks. All close enough to make for a fabulous dish!

The ingredients look marginally exotic, but this was really straightforward and quick to make and a treat to eat :)

Roasted teriyaki tofu chunks with glazed greens and soba noodles

Servings: 2 giant servings

3/4 lb firm tofu cut into 2" long pieces
3-4 shiitake mushrooms
4 pieces of chanterelle mushrooms
8 oz soba noodles

Teriyaki marinade
----------------------------
1/3 cup dark soy sauce
1/3 cup of japanese plum wine
1/2 cup of sake
1 T sugar

Green veggies
---------------------------
1 t safflower oil
3 garlic cloves - sliced
1.5 cups broccoli florets
4 scallions - chopped
3 leaves of bok choy - chopped
2 T fresh fennel
1 t coconut powder (we used this instead of cornstarch for thickening)

Garnish
-----------------
1 T sesame seeds - toasted golden brown
a few snipped chives

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a saucepan and heat till the sugar is dissolved. Add the tofu and mushrooms and simmer for about 15 minutes, turning the tofu every few minutes. Move the tofu into a greased baking pan along with some of the sauce and bake at 425 F for 10-15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the sauce and slice them. Reserve the sauce for later.

Cook the noodles according to instructions - usually 7-9 minutes.

In the meantime, heat the safflower oil in a wok and throw in all the veggies (garlic, broccoli, scallions, bok choy, mushrooms). Saute for a few minutes before adding the fresh fennel. Now toss the reserved sauce and 1/4 cup of water. Simmer covered for a few more minutes. Finally, move the veggies to the side of the wok and add the coconut powder into the sauce and stir quickly before it begins clumping.

Place a nest of noodles on a warm plate, add a bunch of the veggies and sauce, finally top with the tofu pieces (shiny side up :)) and garnish with the toasted sesame seeds'n'chives. Yum!


Ooo ... this might just have to be my entry for Presto Pasta Nights!

Mmm ... bowl of spicy soup

After the long, tiring week that was, I felt like starting this week's cooking adventures off with a soup. So, we started perusing one of my favorite soup books Best-ever Soups by Anne Sheasby. We landed upon this spicy moroccan lentil soup - actually an old-time favorite, but I figured we'd make it a little differently this time using some of the ideas from Anne's recipe. We chose to skip the garbanzo since it often tends to overwhelm the flavors and I really enjoy the dominant flavor of puy lentils in a spicy soup. The whole process took us only about 30 minutes, cooking the lentils (20 minutes) just happened in parallel with the cooking of the veggies.

Simple, straightforward, stellar flavor!

Spicy Moroccan Lentil Soup

Servings: 3 giant bowls


1.5 cups of dried puy lentils
1/2 red onion - sliced
1 carrot - diced
2 medium tomatoes - chopped
1" ginger
4 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno
1 t olive oil
1 t cinnamon powder
1 t fennel seeds
1/2 t turmeric powder
1 t lemon juice
2 T chopped fennel
kosher salt

Cook the lentils in 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker. If cooking them on the stove, use about 3.5 cups of water.
Grind the ginger, garlic and jalapeno into a fine paste, adding water if needed.
In a large saucepan, saute the fennel seeds and onions in the olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, carrots, ginger+garlic+jalapenos. After about 2 minutes, add the turmerc, cinnamon and salt. Stir occasionally and simmer covered - for about 15 minutes.
Once the lentils are done, throw them in, stir for a couple of minutes before taking off the stove. Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with the chopped fennel and a few drops of lemon juice.

And if you love the spice (like I do!), maybe you'll add a dash or two of hot sauce! :) We had some onion pita bread from Trader Joe's on hand - we toasted these for dipping in the lentil soup. Got to love that TJs!


With all the fennel that this soup has plus the fact that it came from my veggie patch, it has got to be a Weekend Herb Blogging entry! (WHB #103)