Veggie Latkes

1 giant zucchini, or 2 small zucchinis

2 medium carrts

1 sweet potato

2 eggs

1/4 c flour

vegetable oil

1 Tbsp herbs (I used thyme and rosemary because we had it on hand)

salt

Grate veggies in food processor. Once grated, lay veggies on papertowel to absorb some of the water; get as dry as you can. Meanwhile, heat 1/4 inch of oil in a big skillet over med-high heat. When veggies are dry-ish, put in large bowl, mix with both eggs. Add flour incrementally as you may not need all of it.

Form veggies into golf ball-sized lumps, press to make a little flat, and then place in hot oil. Brown first side, flip, then brown second side. As each latke is ready, place on papertowl-lined plate and sprinkle salt.

Serve with saurkraut and sriracha. 

Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa

I've made this twice; the first time changed my life and the second time was too dry. I'm not totally sure what I did wrong the second time but if you have suggestions, let me know!

Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa
from Gourmet via epicurious.com

Lime zest from one lime
Lime juice from same lime
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sugar
1 cup quinoa (triple rinsed)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 medium tomatoes, diced
4 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Whisk together lime zest and uice, butter, oil, sugar, big pinch salt, and a couple cracks of pepper in a large bowl.

Cook quinoa in a medium pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in sieve, then set sieve in same pot with one inch of simmering water (water should not touch bottom of sieve). Cover quinoa wit a folded kitchen towel, then cover sieve with a lid (don't worry if lid doesn't fit tightly) and steam over medium heat until tender, fluffy and dry, about 10 minutes.

Remove pot from heat and remove lid. Let stand still covered with a towel, 5 minutes.

Add quinoa to dressing and toss until dressing is absorbed, then stir in remaining ingredients and salt and pepper to taste.

Top with avacado! Or feta!

Bulger and Green Lentil Salad with Chickpeas

I didn't really like parsley before I made this, and I'm not even the biggest fan of tabbouleh, but this salad has a million things to offer. It doesn't get mushy like tabbouleh and absolutely gets better the more days it's in the fridge. The first time I made this I ate on it for a week and it was amazing every day..but next time I might half it. It makes a lot!

Bulgur and Green Lentil Salad with Chickpeas
from Lorna Sass

1/2 cup French green lentils, discarding crappy looking ones
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper
3/4 cup fine or medium bulgur
5 scallions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves
Grated zest of one lemon (the recipe originally calls for two but I thought it was too much)
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup olive oil (light is good)
1 tsp. paprika
1.5 cups cooked chickpeas (rinsed, if canned)
2 cups finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped mint, or 2 tbsp. dried

Cover the lentils with water in a small saucepan, add the bay leaf and big pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until tender but firm, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, put the bulgur in a bowl, cover with water, and let stand until the liquid is absorbed and the grains are tender, 20-30 minutes. [LK note: this needed more time and more water for me]

Whisk together scallions, garlic, lemon zest, juice, oil, paprika, and big pinch salt in a large bowl. When the lentils are done, drain them and add them to the dressing. Press out any excess water from the bulgur and add it along with the chickpeas, parsley and mint. Toss gently and thoroughly, then taste for salt and season with pepper. Serve warm or cover and set aside to serve later with a fresh sprinkling of parsley.

Variation with Walnuts and Tarragon: Replace the mint with 2 tbsp. chopped tarragon. Use half walnut oil in the dressing and add 1/2 cup chopped roasted walnuts to the salad.

A Taste-Splosion!

Okay, so I know that this isn't exactly a recipe in the traditional sense of the word, but let's call it a recipe for deliciousness. I just tried these 100 cal. packs of Reese's Snacksters and I am in awe. I love this product! Only 2 WW points per pack and I really feel like they are a treat. Inside the pack you find Reese's Pieces, cereal puffs, cereal squares, and peanut butter chips. In combination these things are very exciting. I am normally more of a Wonka candy person, but Hershey, you've won me back on these!

Please try these out sometime and note how wonderful they are when paired with black coffee (0 WW points).

Read more at, http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/snacksters.asp

Pizza Sauce: Roasted Tomato and Basil

I've been writing a lot of things recently. Not sure why but I'm going with it. I'm trying to use this as a recipe-holder for things I try out, and a way to process something I made and think about how to make it better next time. So...hope that's fine :)

At my new job we get donations from City Harvest every Thursday for the clients, but whatever is going to go to waste (which is always a lot, I'm told) gets to go home in the arms of the staff. This past week I scored 8 huge, beautiful tomatoes and a ton of bagels. The bagels I sliced and put in giant ziploc bags in the freezer, for easy breakfasts for weeks to come, and the tomatoes got a few variations. This is just one. It makes a beautiful, completely professional pizza sauce, without the crap.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Pizza Sauce

3 large ripe tomatoes
2 large handfuls basil leaves
1 small can tomato paste
bit of olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt

Cover toaster oven pan with foil and set toaster oven to Broil. Slice tomatoes in half and put cut-side down in the pan . Place in toaster oven and broil for 20-25 minutes or until skins are mostly blackened...or at least half. When done put in a bowl and immediately cover with pan lid or cookie sheet. This helps to loosen the skins. After five minutes, remove skins and chop tomatoes.

Saute onions in a bit of olive oil and salt. When transluscent, add garlic and a bit of juice from the tomatoes. Cook for two minutes, stirring, then add tomatoes and 1/2 can tomato paste and a ton more salt. If needed, you can add the rest of the tomato paste but I only used 3/4 can and it was perfect. Do what you feel.

Once everything's incorporated and the sauce is your desired thickness (that's what she said), turn off heat and stir in basil. One second later, when basil is wilted, dump everything into the blender.

Leave the hole on the blender open, or prop the lid a bit so that steam has a way to escape. Blend to desired consistency, which should happen quickly. Cool and use immediately or stick in freezer for later pizza making parties (as I did).

Leftover Surprise

Desperate to try Jamie's Sofrito, but also desperate to eat food that's been threatening to rot in my fridge, I threw this together. There's obviously a million variations that could happen, and the egg was a bit of a wild hair (or protein deficiency speaking through my cravings), but I found this to be surprisingly delicious and will be making it again for sure.

Black Bean Summer Stew with Sofrito

Makes enough for two main dishes.

1 cup (or can) of cooked black beans
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
cumin
corriander
2 tbs. tomato paste (sauce would probably work too)
1 veggie bullion cube (I used two tiny onion bullion cubes)
1 cup cooked sweet potato, in 1-inch chunks
2 tbs. sofrito
2 eggs
feta, crumbled (goat cheese would also be wonderful)
lime wedges
salt and pepper to taste
hot water

Start by boiling a kettle of water. In a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat, saute onions (for me, this process involves salt), adding garlic and a few shakes of cumin and corriander when onions start to get transluscent. Once onions have started sweating a bit, add tomato paste, sofrito, 1/4 cup of hot water and bullion. Stir until bullion cube is dissolved.

Add black beans and sweet potatoes, stirring after each addition. Then add water, a cup or so, until the stew has thinned out just a bit. Turn up heat, bring to boil and crack eggs on top. Keeping heat at medium-high, cover and let eggs poach. Keep an eye on the eggs (won't destroy anything if you to lift the lid a bit), poking the yolks after a few minutes if you like them cooked through. When eggs are cooked to your satisfaction, remove from heat.

Serve into bowls and top with a bit of crumbled feta and squeezed lime.

Sofrito

Apparently everyone else in the world knew that there's this amazing stuff, sofrito, that you use in cooking beans, rice, meat, vegetables, ANYTHING, and it makes it eight thousand times better. How embarrassing. No worries, though because now I have two recipes and a jar of it in my fridge that a coworker made me. Phew!

Two co-workers, one Puerto Rican (Carmen), one 1/2 Dominican (Jamie), each gave me the recipes they swear by (and always have on hand) plus recipes for their signature sofrito dishes. I'm never looking back.

Carmen's Sofrito

20 pieces or more of garlic
2 bell peppers (red or green, depending on what resulting color you want)
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch recao (also known as culantro, or Mexican coriander)
2 onions
a little water
10-20 ajices (small round sweet peppers, usually green or orange)

Clean, de-seed, and chop everything into similar-sized pieces. Throw everything in the food processor and add water, a tablespoon or so at a time, until the sofrito looks homogeneous and just a little watery.

Carmen's Spanish Rice

little oil
1 bullion cube
1 small can GOYA tomato sauce
+ water for rice (1:1 ratio)
+ couple spoons of Sofrito
rice

In large sauce pan or saute pan, warm a glug (ya know, a pour out of the bottle) of olive oil, and break bullion cube into it. Add tomato sauce and water.* Bring water to a boil, then add rice. Cover and cook until rice is tender.

*Carmen instructed: "If cooking 4 cups of rice, then use 4 cups of water." Firstly, I don't know what sort of army she's feeding but there's no way I'd ever need that much rice. Secondly, I have not yet made this and don't know if that ratio actually works well, especially with the recipe scaled back. Will have to make this soon!

Jamie's Sofrito
This is the one I have in my fridge

1 clove garlic (peeled and chopped)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper chopped
3/4 cup of water
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbs oregano
1 tbs black pepper
2 tbs. Goya recaito

Blend all together and freeze extra.

Jamie's Beans with Sofrito

Use red or pink with 1/2 can tomato sauce and 2 tbs. of sofrito

OR

For hearty beans:
3/4 cup of water
1 potato (chopped)

Boil potatoes until tender.

1 tbs. of oil
beans
1/2 can tomato sauce (Goya's small can)
2 tbs. of sofrito