As a teenager, I spent what felt like entire summers babysitting for the kids across the street. There were three of them, aged 4-10, and they were a handful. But they also had a pool and they paid well, so it was a good job all in all. The kids used to love eating pastina, basically tiny little pasta stars, with masses of butter and that shakeable powdered parmesan cheese. I rarely had to cook anything for them (their mom was a great cook and there was always tons of food in their house), but I made pastina once or twice. It was perfect comfort food for kids, no spice, all warmth and simplicity.

Fast forward 15 years. Trevor and I just started a major kitchen renovation (!) and the house is full of dust. It’s still cold and snowy, and it’s that time of year where you’re just on the edge of being sick all the time. We’re ready for spring and it’s not here yet. Comfort food is in order pretty much every day. A few weeks back (before the renovation started!), in this late winter state of being, I was staring forlornly inside the fridge, hoping for inspiration to strike from a handful of leftovers. I was in a bad mood. I was tired. And there was really very little in the fridge since we’d been proactively cleaning it out. So I dumped half a container of homemade kitchen stock in a pot and boiled some Israeli couscous in it. I added a huge amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese and some cracked black pepper. I plopped it unceremoniously in a bowl and took a bite. And it turned out to be the most perfect thing – creamy, savory, comforting, cheesy – and just like pastina with butter, but all grown-up.

I’ve finessed this recipe a little bit to share with you, but it really is very simple. Use the best chicken stock you can as that’s where all the flavor comes from. Don’t be shy with the parmesan or the pepper or the parsley. Your reward for 10 minutes of effort will be a bowl of super delicious pasta to get you through these last few weeks of winter.

Israeli Couscous “Pastina”

A super simple, super comforting pasta, rich with the flavors of chicken broth and parmesan cheese.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door

Ingredients

• 2 cups high quality chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 cup Israeli couscous (also sold as pearled couscous)
• 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Add the chicken stock to a small saucepan and bring just to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, add the Israeli couscous (don’t wait as your stock will evaporate and there won’t be enough left to fully cook the couscous). Let stock return to a simmer. Simmer the couscous, stirring occasionally, until the couscous is tender and the chicken stock has been almost completely absorbed, about 7 to 8 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from the heat. Don’t drain it – the couscous will continue to absorb the stock, and it should have a slightly loose, creamy texture. Add the 3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese, a generous amount of black pepper, and the chopped parsley. Stir until the cheese has melted into the couscous. Serve immediately, topped with additional parmesan and black pepper if desired.

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I have recently rediscovered the taco as a homemade dinner option. Jury’s still out on how this discovery will affect my overall health, but on all other fronts – flavor, ease, cost, deliciousness – I’m pretty happy with it. It’s no wonder tacos were a staple of our childhood dinners. They’re so easy! While even your basic taco-kit Tex-Mex taco can be delicious, gourmet tacos are next level. You know, the kind that successful food trucks all over the US are dedicated to – with soft flour tortillas wrapped around spicy barbacoa and pickled onions and freshly made salsa. The kind that makes you feel like you’re standing on a street corner in Mexico, watching life go by and soaking up the sun.

These tacos are more of the grown-up, gourmet variety (although with a couple throwbacks to the childhood Tex-Mex version). Instead of ground beef and “taco spice” I make them with fresh Mexican-style chorizo sausage. The mixture of the mildly-spiced chorizo, sweet onion, and corn makes up the bulk of the filling. They come together in no-time, maybe 20 minutes from “I want tacos!” to biting into your first one. So if you’re going for a 30-minute dinner, you’ll still have 10 minutes left to shake up a margarita.

What takes these chorizo tacos over the top for me is griddling the tortillas in the leftover chorizo fat. They turn golden brown and a little crispy, and if you melt a bit of cheddar cheese in the center at the same time you are ready for taco heaven. Quality toppings also up the ante here. A generous amount of sliced avocado, fancy salsa, and sour cream all come together to give you the perfect amount of savory-spicy-rich-sweetness in each bite. I’ve been making these with the chorizo that comes in our Walden Local Meat Company subscription, and I’m pretty sure they’ll be on our table at least once a month. From now until… forever.

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Corn and Chorizo Tacos

Easy and delicious Corn and Chorizo Tacos, on your table in 30 minutes. Fry the corn tortillas until crispy and golden brown for an extra decadent meal.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 lb. fresh, Mexican-style chorizo sausage
• 1 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 8 small corn tortillas
• 6 oz. cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
• 1 or 2 ripe avocados, peeled and thinly sliced, for topping
• salsa, for topping
• sour cream, for topping

Instructions

1. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Remove the sausage from its casing and crumble into the pan. Use the back of a wooden spoon to chop it into small pieces. Saute, stirring frequently, until fully cooked and crispy on the outside, about 8-10 minutes. Add the frozen corn and cook for another 2-3 minutes, then transfer the stuffing mixture to a bowl, leaving most of the oil/drippings in the pan.
2. Working with one or two tortillas at a time, add the tortillas to the hot grease and cook until golden brown on the first side, about 60-90 seconds, then flip the tortilla over to cook the second side. While the second side is cooking, place a few pieces of cheddar cheese on top of the tortilla so that it melts into the tortilla. Remove from the heat when cheese is melted and both sides of tortilla are golden brown. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
3. Fill the cheesy tortillas with the chorizo and corn mixture, then top each taco with sliced avocado, salsa, and sour cream. Serve immediately.

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As you know, we are currently in transition mode. We’re fully moved into our new house, but it doesn’t quite feel like home, and there’s still a lot to be done to fix it up. The kitchen was completely unusable for the first few weeks we were there, but as of Monday, we’re starting to get back into the rhythms of cooking.

Earthbound Farm asked me to develop a recipe using their Kale Italia salad blend, and I decided that using the pre-mixed, pre-washed greens as the base for a simple recipe would be another good way to ease back into cooking. Given the state of our kitchen, I had very specific requirements for this recipe: use as few utensils as possible, be quick to make (with limited use of appliances that create heat in 90° weather), minimize leftovers so that they fit into the tiny fridge, and only use fresh ingredients that can be completely used up in one night. And really, apart from the leftover component, perhaps, isn’t this what many people want from a weeknight dinner?

Pesto is a great option when you want to turn a lot of fresh greens into a manageable volume of food. Of course, it’s the same amount of greens overall – it can just be consumed in fewer bites (and eating an entire box of greens in one sitting can be a rather daunting prospect.) I’ve been successful making pesto from kale, as well as from arugula. Mizuna, with it’s tangy, mustardy flavor didn’t feel like much of a stretch as a pesto candidate. That left radicchio as the only question mark from the Kale Italia blend, and I decided it would be a low risk experiment to give it a try.

The result was excellent – a bright, zingy pesto full of flavor. We tossed it with some gnocchi, fresh mozzarella, and cherry tomatoes for an easy, summery weeknight dinner. Next time you’re in the supermarket, keep your eye out for Earthbound Farm’s Kale Italia product – it’s a great way to easily get a lot of flavors (and nutrition) into your next meal. Here’s a quick coupon if you’re interested!

Kale Italia Pesto Gnocchi

Serves 4. A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe.

• 2 TBS pine nuts
• 4 oz. parmesan cheese, cut into chunks
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• One 5-oz. package of Earthbound Farm Kale Italia Salad Blend
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb. gnocchi, prepared according to package directions
• 1 1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
• 8 oz. fresh mozzarella, torn into small pieces

1. To make the pesto, place the pine nuts, parmesan, garlic, and olive oil in a food processor and blend until a rough paste is formed. Add the Kale Italia a handful at a time, blending in between additions and scraping down the sides of the food processor if necessary, until you have blended all of the Kale Italia into the pesto. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste, and pulse a few times to incorporate into the pesto.
2. Toss the pesto with the gnocchi, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella. Best served warm.

This conversation is sponsored by Earthbound Farm. The opinions and text are all mine.

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We are (very) slowly starting to settle in to our new house. The pile of unpacked boxes in the dining room is dwindling, and things are starting to find homes. I built a little herb garden, not exactly a priority as far as house projects go but something that I’ve been looking forward to since we decided to buy a house. Yesterday we caved and bought a mini-fridge to tide us over until our real fridge is available, and a chilled glass of lemonade in this 95° heat is already worth the cost of the fridge, in my book. Trevor ripped out some of the old cabinets and replaced them with gorgeous industrial-style pine shelves, and we now have a plan to make the kitchen usable for the next 12 months or so while we save up to truly remodel it. Things are still a little chaotic, but they’re looking up.

With a few surfaces cleared and cleaned, at least a little cold storage, and a place to store our groceries, we’re easing back into cooking.  The very first meal was a package of frozen tortellini and a jar of tomato sauce. Gourmet, I know. Last night we were more ambitious and fired up the grill for sausage, peppers, and onions, along with grilled corn on the cob. Today, I’ve managed to have all my meals at home – cereal (ice cold milk, what a delicious thing!), tomato-lentil-couscous, and now, this Smoked Salmon Soba Bowl. Because there are still a number of kitchen tools we haven’t unearthed, and because we’re just starting to build up a new pantry, I needed to keep this meal super simple, and it is. The only cooking is to boil the soba noodles and edamame, then the noodles get tossed with a 5-ingredient dressing, and topped with smoked salmon, avocado, and pickled ginger. Simple, healthy, and full of flavor. And there’s something supremely satisfying about slurping cold, nutty noodles straight from the bowl when it’s too hot to think. Enjoy, and stay cool!

Smoked Salmon Soba Bowl

A quick and easy summer dinner, delicious served at room temperature or chilled. I make this with store-bought hot-smoked salmon, making it even easier to get dinner on the table.

Dressing adapted from this Sprouted Kitchen recipe. 

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Prep Time: 15m
• Cook Time: 10m
• Total Time: 9 minute
• Yield: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. tahini
• 2 TBS honey
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS sesame oil
• 1 TBS rice wine vinegar
• 8 oz. soba noodles, cooked according to package directions
• 1 c. shelled edamame, cooked according to package directions
• 1 avocado, pitted and cut into cubes
• 8 oz. hot-smoked salmon
• 1 oz. pickled ginger slices
• sesame or poppy seeds for garnish

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together tahini, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar until smooth. Taste and adjust flavors to your liking. Set aside.
2. Toss the prepared soba noodles with the edamame and the dressing. Chill until ready to serve. To serve, divide noodles between plates and top with avocado cubes, pieces of salmon, pickled ginger, and sesame or poppy seeds.

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The Book: Although I know that for a lot of Americans, chicken is the mainstay of the family dinner table, I actually don’t cook it very often. My parents might find this ironic, as the only form of protein I consumed up to age 14 was basically chicken fingers. (And I suppose the occasional hot dog.) Perhaps the reason it doesn’t make it into my cart all that often is childhood overexposure, but more likely, it’s because I find chicken a little ho-hum. Diana Henry’s new book, A Bird in the Hand, is written for precisely that reason – to remind you of all the exciting, flavorful ways you can use that package of chicken sitting in the fridge. You know, that one you picked up because it was on sale and it seemed like a practical thing to buy.

I’m a huge fan of Diana Henry’s work. A Change of Appetite, one of her more recent books, is the book I’m cooking from the most these days, and Roast Figs Sugar Snow was one of the first cookbooks I purchased for myself. So despite my lack of enthusiasm for chicken in general, I was excited to see what magic Diana could work with the ubiquitous bird – I was not disappointed. She brings a great deal of variety – in flavor and technique – to the humble chicken. Recipes are divided into sections based loosely on how much effort they will need from you, ranging from simple suppers prepared in 15 minutes after a long day at work, to feast dishes meant to be the crowning glory of a celebratory table. There’s lots of international spin here, with inspiration coming from every corner of the globe. It’s evident just by looking at the “recipe shortlist” I’ve included below… almost every recipe on there has a distinct and easily identifiable global origin. Every part of the bird, too, is represented, although I will say that boneless, skinless thighs seem to be the favorite. And of course, the book is graced by the bright, inviting food photography and clean design I’ve come to expect from all of Diana’s books. Of all the books I’ve reviewed recently, this one is probably the safest bet for your average cook – the one that loves to eat and doesn’t mind dedicating a short amount of time to a great home-cooked dinner, but who doesn’t go in for complicated techniques or impossible to find ingredients.

The Food: I had a short but concentrated Eastern European food kick last weekend. Friday night I dragged Trevor out for beer and brats and pretzels dipped in super-spicy mustard at Bronwyn. Then, flipping through this book trying to decide what to make for lunch on Saturday, I went straight for the rye chicken schnitzel. The chicken recipe itself was fairly standard – pound the chicken thin; dip in flour, egg, and rye breadcrumbs; shallow fry and serve immediately – but turned out beautifully. The slightly decadent mustard cream sauce served with it was the perfect mix of rich and tangy. And Diana’s recommendations for side dishes of tiny boiled new potatoes and braised cabbage were essential elements for the final plate. With a frosty glass of Belgian beer it made for a very satisfying Saturday lunch… and an even more satisfying post-bar-hopping midnight snack that evening.

Recipe Shortlist:  Cumin and Turmeric Roast Chicken with Smashed Avocado and Corn Cakes; Thai Chicken Burgers with Asian Slaw; Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice; Chicken Forestiere; Jamaican Chicken Curry with Sweet Love Apples and Rum; Indonesian Roast Spiced Chicken with Mango and Tomato Salad; West African Chicken and Peanut Stew; Chicken Legs in Pinot Noir with Sour Cherries and Parsnip Puree; Chicken, Aspragus, Fava Bean, and Radish Salad with Dill and Mint Dressing; Chicken, Leek, and Hard Cider Pie with Sharp Cheddar and Hazelnut Crisp

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door in the box on the right, on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of A Bird in the Hand from Mitchell Beazley, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Rye Chicken Schnitzel with Mustard Sauce

Recipe from A Bird in the Hand. Serves 4.

• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thights
• flour
• sea salt and pepper
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 3/4 c. rye bread crumbs
• 2 TBS peanut or canola oil
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 TBS butter
• 4 shallots, peeled and minced
• 3 1/2 TBS white wine vinegar
• 2/3 c. dry white wine
• 3/4 c. heavy cream
• 2 TBS Dijon mustard

1. Put the chicken thighs between 2 sheets of parchment paper or saran wrap and use a rolling pin or meat mallet to pound them until they have an even thickness of about 1/2 inch. Place some flour in a large shallow bowl and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place the beaten eggs in a second bowl, and the bread crumbs in a third bowl. Dredge the chicken first in the flour, then in the egg, then into the rye crumbs. Set them on a nonstick cookie sheet as they are ready.
2. Heat the peanut or canola oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Let the oil heat up for at least 1 minute before adding the chicken. Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 4 minutes on each side, until the coating is golden brown and the chicken is fully cooked through (juices run clear when sliced in the center). Immediately upon removing from the heat, season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon.
3. While you are frying the chicken, make the mustard sauce. In a medium pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add the vinegar, turn up the heat, and reduce the liquid to about 1 TBS. Add the white wine and simmer to reduce by half, then add the cream, mustard, and salt and pepper and heat through. Remove from the heat.
4. Serve the chicken immediately with the sauce on the side. Good accompaniments are braised red cabbage, pickles, and boiled new potatoes.

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A while back I tweeted that I had come up with a foolproof method for making a single serving of hot fudge in 30 seconds in the microwave. I got an immediate response  (“share now!” “I wanna know how to do this, but then also I don’t…”) so I promised that I would write a blog post about it. I’ve double checked the recipe a few times since then – quality assurance, you know, nothing to do with the fact that hot fudge is delicious – and I feel comfortable handing it over to you all now.

You should know that I’m a very picky hot fudge eater. My ideal recipe is the Ben & Jerry’s one – but that takes a good hour and a half to make, which is typically way too long to wait given the intensity of my hot fudge cravings. It also makes 2 cups of sauce, which is a problem in and of itself due to my lack of age-appropriate self-control. So I started experimenting with the microwave. Chocolate chips by themselves are obviously not ideal – too easy to burn, and they freeze again as soon as they come into contact with the ice cream. Chocolate chips and cream didn’t quite have the richness or consistency that I’m looking for. But chocolate chips, butter, and cream? Perfect – a thick, fudgey sauce that is liquidy when hot, and viscous at room temperature, but doesn’t freeze solid on the ice cream. (P.S. It’s even better with cinnamon butter, as I found out when I had a lot of leftover cinnamon butter from making monkey bread.)

Please, I beg you, use this recipe responsibly. We all love a big bowl of ice cream with thick and gooey hot fudge every once in a while, but I don’t want to feel responsible for anyone’s 30-pound weight gain that will decidedly occur if you make this every night. I’m trusting you.

30-Second Microwave Hot Fudge

Serves 2.

• 1 TBS butter
• 3 TBS chocolate chips
• 1 TBS heavy cream

Place butter on bottom of small microwaveable dish. Top with the chocolate chips. Microwave on high for 10 seconds, then remove, and stir until texture is even. Add heavy cream and stir. Microwave on high for another 10 seconds, then remove and stir until smooth. Serve immediately.

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I didn’t do very well at my resolution last week. The resolution was to do 10 minutes of strength training/stretching every day, and, well, when you find yourself still needing to do that after 4 glasses of wine, let’s just say I went heavy on the stretching part. And also I counted the starfish stretch as stretching.

But it’s a new week, so I’m trying again! And since these next 5 weeks are (hopefully) going to be full of cookies and cocktails, I’m making this week’s resolution about salad. Sometimes when I tell myself I have to eat a salad for lunch, I end up with a bowl full of hard-boiled eggs, blue cheese, chickpeas, bacon bits, and avocado, with a sprinkling of arugula on top. Delicious, but not really what I was aiming for. So I’m making things a bit more specific, and saying I have to eat at least four green salads this week. Plus continue to stay away from the chocolate box, walk to work every morning, and do 10 minutes of actual strength training.

The first salad that I’m piling on my plate this week? This roasted broccoli and kale salad with a creamy Caesar dressing. I could eat roasted broccoli all day, so this was a good way for me to sneak some green in. I do think it could use a bit of crunch, so although the photos don’t show it, I’ll be eating it with homemade croutons. All in all this is not a salad you’d have to talk me into eating. With a little egg on top a plate of this could make a delicious and filling meal.

If you want more background on this whole resolution thing (which I’m planning on keeping up at least until the new year), check out posts one and two. And, as usual, if you’d like to join in, post your resolutions for this week in the comments! I find it very encouraging and inspiring to hear what habits you all would like to change.

Happy Monday!

Roasted Broccoli and Kale Caesar Salad

Adapted liberally from Huffington Post. Serves 3-4 as a side.

• florets from 3 small heads broccoli
• 2 TBS + 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 large bunch of Tuscan kale (cavolo nero)
• 4 anchovy fillets
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 large egg yolks
• juice from 1/2 medium lemon (about 1 TBS of juice)
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley leaves
• 1/4 c. grated or flaked parmesan cheese (use a vegetable peeler to create large parmesan flakes)
• 1 c. croutons, preferably homemade

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss broccoli florets with the 2 TBS olive oil and the salt until fully coated, then spread on a baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes or until tender and beginning to brown on edges, stirring once to prevent burning.
2. Wash kale, shake dry, and slice leaves away from tough center ribs. Discard ribs and tear kale into bite-sized pieces. Place in a large bowl with the roasted broccoli.
3. In a food processor, combine anchovies, garlic, egg yolks, and lemon juice and blend until smooth. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in remaining 1/3 c. olive oil. Dressing should be thick and creamy. Add the parsley and pulse a few times just to break up the herbs (but not to fully blend). Pour the dressing on the salad and toss to fully coat kale. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow kale to become more tender. Sprinkle each plate with cheese flakes and croutons just before serving. Dressed salad (without croutons) will keep for 1-2 days in the fridge.

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Last Tuesday, when it was rainy and gray and I wanted nothing more than to snuggle up in bed with a bowl of soup, well, that’s what I did.  Mushroom and farro soup, to be specific.  And as I was making the soup, which only dragged me away from Up All Night for 10 minutes, including dish-washing, I thought “Why haven’t I done more soups for Greatist?”  Seriously, soup is the perfect quick, healthy food.  It can taste amazing with only a handful of ingredients, and after making a few batches while following a recipe, you’ll likely have it figured out to the point where you can take whatever you have in the fridge and throw together a comforting, veggie-centric dinner.

Speaking of veggies, mushrooms are one of the vegetables I find myself wanting all of a sudden once the cool weather hits.  I have a feeling this soup – which, by the way, is maybe one of the best-smelling soups I’ve made in years (it also tastes great, but the smell really got to me) – is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the mushroom recipes I’ll be making this season.  Since mushrooms are a pretty healthy choice, what with their immune system benefits, cardiovascular protection, and low-calorie-but-fill-you-up benefits (come on, you know what I mean…), this is good news for my taste buds and my skinny jeans.  While it’s on my mind, I thought I’d do a quick round-up of mushroom recipes – both those I’ve featured here in the past, and those from elsewhere that I hope to be making in the near future!

Check out the recipe for this soup over at Greatist, and get inspired for more mushroomy meals below!

More mushroom recipes from here…

• Mushroom and Olive Veggie Burgers
• Ricotta Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Corn, and Sage Butter
• Mushroom and Lentil Pot Pies
• Hungarian Mushroom Soup
• Chicken and Mushroom Fettucine in Mustard-Cream Sauce

…and around the blogosphere:

• Crusty Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Sauce – from Ezra Pound Cake
• Lemony Mushroom and Pine Nut Stuffing Muffins – from Bon Appetit
• Mushroom Lasagna – from Picture Perfect Meals
• Mushroom Biryani – from Ami’s Vegetarian Delicacies
• Creamy Prosciutto and Porcini Penne – from Every Day with Rachel Ray
• Mushroom Pierogi – from Sabrina: A Food Blog

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How great is July?  Coming back to a garden that has doubled in size in a week, walking through the Copley Square farmer’s market that’s just bursting with produce, eating meals composed entirely of vegetables because they’re just that good – it’s definitely a season of plenty.  In fact it’s so plentiful that I’m torn between the natural inclination to eat smaller, lighter meals in this hot weather and the desire to eat as many eggplants, tomatoes, beans, cherries, peaches, plums, and berries as I can during their short season.

In particular, I can’t get enough of stone fruit.  Sweet cherries eaten ice cold from the fridge, plums so perfect that the juice dribbles down your chin with every bite, peaches baked until hot and bubbly under a buttery crumble – these fruits of summer are so fleeting that in my opinion, it’s worth eating as many of them as you can while they’re around.  There are many great single fruit recipes for each type of fruit, but they also marry well with one another, whether in a luscious cobbler or a simple but addictive fruit salad like this one.

I don’t know about you, but for me, the words “fruit salad” conjure up an image of a sad, not quite cold enough bowl of mushy bananas and unwanted cantaloupe, with a straggling strawberry or two that the pickers left behind.  You know, the kind of fruit salad you used to find at every picnic, bbq, and pool party; the one that played second fiddle to the hamburgers and dirt cake.  This salad is an entirely different story.  Elegant, colorful, and slightly floral, with no filler fruits that get left behind, everyone in my family had at least 3 servings at dinner, even after eating these turkey cobb sandwiches, which were easily the most delicious sandwiches I’ve ever made.  Inspired by the just-blossoming lavender plants in my mom’s Maine garden, I decided to drizzle the fruit with a lemon lavender syrup, which truly tied the whole dish together.  You can use whatever stone fruits you have lying around – just make sure the salad is served cold, and give it an hour or two to soak in the lavender flavor.

Head on over to Greatist for the full recipe!

Other stone fruit recipes to celebrate July:

Spiced plum butter

Cafe Sperl plum squares

Boozy cherry brownies

Cherry cream cheese danishes

Cherry chocolate ice cream

Spiced apricot couscous

The post Greatist Collaboration: Stone Fruit Salad with Lemon-Lavender Syrup appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Sometimes I plan out the “Cookbook of the Month” early on and cook from the book just so I can write a thorough review.  And sometimes I just happen to cook from one book so much that it naturally becomes the book I want to feature.  This month has been one of the latter kind.  Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi of 101 Cookbooks, is not a book that needs much introduction.  As one of the first and most popular food bloggers to grace the internet, I can’t imagine that there are many people in the food community who haven’t heard of her, or her three natural foods cookbooks (Cook 1.0, Super Natural Cooking, and Super Natural Every Day) .  Like many others, her blog is the one that originally inspired me to start my own – it was the first that I followed, and I still look forward to her posts, which invariably feature healthy recipes packed with ingredients I love.  However, I’ve never really felt the need to buy one of her cookbooks, perhaps because her site is already filled with recipes I want to try.  When I found this one in the library though, I figured I’d take it home and flip through it, and I ended up cooking from it all month.

All of Heidi’s recipes are vegetarian, and very health focused.  They are also decidedly unfancy – mostly they’re hearty one-bowl salads that are just the kind of thing I love to make and eat at the end of a busy work day, with just enough leftover to throw in a tupperware for lunch the next day.  Over the course of the month, I tried several recipes that I really enjoyed – this kale, coconut, and wheatberry salad, orzo salad with broccoli pesto and avocado (although Trevor said I already had too many recipes like that to share it with you), and, my favorite, broccoli gribiche – a warm salad of hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, broccoli, and a tangy sauce of vinegar, mustard, capers, and fresh herbs that is oh-so-French.  On my immediate shortlist?  Couscous-Stuffed Tomatoes, for whenever tomatoes start to look really good, and this Macaroon Tart with Blackberries, as soon as I get up to Maine and visit my favorite blackberry picking spots.  I have plenty of other recipes dog-eared in the book, and am moving through them much quicker than I do with most books, but really I’m not surprised – summer is the perfect time for the kind of produce-heavy, quick-and-easy cooking Heidi showcases in her book.

I was planning on making this salad last night, when, ahem, it was still June.  But then I really, really wanted a hamburger, and only Boston Burger would do.  So I decided you wouldn’t mind too much if June’s cookbook was posted on July 1st, gave in, and had a delicious burger with guac and pico de gallo (although, for maybe the first time in my life, I actually couldn’t finish the whole thing), sweet potato fries, and a frosty Blue Moon.  It was so worth it.  But tonight, I got back to my healthy, bloggerly ways, and made this black bean, roasted cherry tomato, and feta salad, with a perfectly ripe plum for dessert.

This salad is something special – cherry tomatoes roasted with maple syrup until they taste like candy, hearty black beans, crunchy toasted almonds, and fresh feta cheese.  If you use really good ingredients to start, it’s the kind of salad that tastes like way more than the sum of its parts.  Because the flavors seemed very Mediterranean to me, I threw in some fresh oregano and thyme for another layer of flavor.  Definitely give it a try (or at least try the oven-roasted cherry tomatoes – you’ll never look at cherry tomatoes the same way again), and if you’re vegetarian, or just the kind of person who likes to eat easy but filling vegetarian meals, I wholeheartedly recommend Heidi’s latest book.

Black Bean and Oven-Roasted Cherry Tomato Salad

Adapted slightly from  Super Natural Every Day.  Serves 4.

• 4 c. cooked black beans (or canned beans, rinsed and drained)
• 1 recipe (about 1 cup) oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, see below
• 3/4 c. slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 4 oz. high quality feta cheese, crumbled
• Sea salt (optional)
• Extra virgin olive oil (optional)
• Fresh oregano (optional)
• Fresh thyme (optional)

1. In a large bowl, toss tomatoes (and their roasting oil), beans, lemon juice, and toasted almonds.  Crumble feta on top and gently stir in.  Taste for seasoning.  If necessary, add additional lemon juice, olive oil, or sea salt.  If you’d like, add a small handful of chopped fresh oregano and fresh thyme and stir in.  Serve at room temperature.

Oven-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Recipe from  Super Natural Every Day.  Makes about 1 cup.

• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1 TBS maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Wash tomatoes and remove/discard stems.  Slice each cherry tomato in half and place cut side up in single layer on baking sheet with rim.  In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, maple syrup, and salt, then pour over the cherry tomatoes, doing your best to get some oil on each tomato.  Roast for 45-60 minutes, until tomatoes begin to caramelize.  Let cool, then store in a glass jar topped off with extra olive oil (will last up to one week in fridge). Enjoy in your favorite salads, or just eat straight out of the jar.

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Time for another easy, healthy dinner over on Greatist!  I really enjoy doing these posts, since it forces me to work within parameters that I would ideally apply to myself for most dinnertimes – light and nutritious meals that take 30 minutes or less to put together, but that don’t skimp on flavor.  I don’t always accomplish all of those things – like on the nights I resort to eating ice cream with granola and just call it a day (don’t worry, Mom, that’s not that frequently) – but when I do, it makes me feel pretty good.  Especially when there’s leftovers, like is always the case with this meal, and I can feel good about what I’m eating again the next day at lunch.  Planning ahead – it pays off.

I found this recipe via my friend Ranjani’s blog Four Seasons of Food.  Shakshuka – a traditional Middle Eastern breakfast dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce – is a dish I’ve seen quite a bit around the blogosphere in the past year, and one that I’ve always found intriguing.  But when I saw that the version Ranjani shared included sausage and potatoes, I was more than intrigued – I made it within 3 days of seeing the recipe.  Since then I’ve made it a handful of times (which is saying a lot, given that the only recipes I repeat are my absolute favorites), but I only just realized that it would be a perfect fit for Greatist.  It’s definitely comfort food – warm, spicy, sausage-y tomato sauce, tender potatoes, and barely poached eggs – but without the guilt that usually accompanies comfort food.  I mean, it’s comfort food without cheese – it has to be good for you!  In fact, the sausage is the only questionable ingredient in terms of health, and there’s only a little in the dish – just enough to give it a slightly smoky, meaty flavor.  It might be a little challenging to find the ras el hanout spice mix (or alternatively to round up all the spices and make it yourself, which is what I do), but this dish is 100% worth it.  Plus, once you have all the spices you can enjoy this whenever you’re needing a little comfort food but don’t want to go all out on a plate of spaghetti or a pizza.

You can find the recipe over at Greatist – enjoy!

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I had sort of thought that soup season was over, but apparently the weather disagrees with me.  All the cold, rainy weather we’ve had in New England (did someone switch April and June?) has had me drinking a lot of tea, baking, and craving cold-weather dishes.  I guess it could be worse, since soup is one of my favorite things to make – and eat.  It’s easy, quick, and pretty much the best way to pack a massive dose of vegetables into a single meal.  And this recipe is no exception.

I’ve tried a lot of recipes for soups and stews over the past two years, but there are a handful that I come back to time and again.  Portuguese kale soup, corn and cheddar chowder, minestrone, pork and black eyed pea chili, and this one.  I love how the pesto melts into the soup and gives it a smooth, creamy texture and an herbal, slightly sharp flavor.  Plus, the pesto makes this a good summer soup – perfect for a cold-rainy-wintery day in June.  I always use pecorino for this recipe, as I love how the sharp nutty tang plays off the creaminess of the white beans, but if you’re not a pecorino fan, substitute parmesan, or another hard, salty cheese.

In other news, I am immensely tired.  My trip to Spain was productive, if not super-fun, and I did manage to find blogging inspiration in some of the incredible meals we ate, which I’ll share with you later.  But the nutty schedule is starting to catch up with me a little bit, and I’m feeling kind of worn out.  Hopefully things will calm down soon and the sun will come back out, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of me (and with recipes for ice cream and grilling instead of soup)!

More like this…

Roasted Tomato and Lentil Soup

Black Bean Soup with Roasted Poblano

White Bean and Parsnip Soup with Guanciale and Fried Sage

White Bean, Kale, and Pesto Soup

A Katie at the Kitchen Door Original.  Serves 4.

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced about 1/4 in. thick
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 4 c. chicken or vegetable broth (use vegetable broth to make the recipe vegetarian)
• 1/2 large head fresh kale, roughly torn into bite-sized pieces (or 1 1/2 c. frozen chopped kale)
• 1 can cannelini beans, rinsed
• 1/2 c. prepared pesto (homemade is best, but store-bought is fine too)
• 1/2 c. grated pecorino cheese
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional, but I love the interplay of pecorino and nutmeg)

1. Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat.  Add onion and carrot, and saute, stirring occasionally, for 5-8 minutes, or until vegetables have begun to soften.  Add garlic, oregano, and parsley, and cook 2 minutes more, stirring.
2. Add chicken broth, kale, and beans, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until kale and carrots are tender.  Remove from heat and stir in pesto, cheese, and nutmeg.  Serve hot with additional grated cheese and crusty bread.

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Even though my roommates make some variation of roast chicken breasts probably 80% of the nights that they cook, I almost never think to do the same.  I’m more of the one-pot-soup or pretend-healthy-pasta type.  However, after seeing this recipe in Melissa Clark’s In The Kitchen With A Good Appetite and realizing that it was perfect for Greatist (easy, quick, and healthy), I decided to join my roommates in their nightly chicken-baking routine.

Only partly through, I got distracted.  See, the reason I don’t usually make roast chicken is that, well, I don’t really like it.  To be 100% honest, chicken freaks me out a little bit, even though I think it tastes good.  But something I do like is fried chicken, especially when it’s in the form of super kid-friendly chicken fingers, which my 13 year old brother basically subsists on.  Whenever he makes them, all of my other family members, including me, sneak them from the baking tray when he isn’t looking, which causes him much angsty 13-year-old wrath. So as I was laying the lovely chipotle and honey marinated chicken strips in the roasting pan, I couldn’t get the image of hot, crispy, crunchy fried chicken tenders out of my mind, even though fried chicken is a decidedly un-Greatist-friendly recipe.  So I compromised, and made both – the first half of the chicken got baked with the sweet potatoes, the second half of the tenders got dipped in flour mixed with panko, then shallow-fried in canola oil, because I  believe in satisfying cravings.

I had some of both versions – baked and fried – for dinner that night.  And I can say with honesty that both were very, very good – the spicy-sweetness of the marinade gave the chicken a surprising and interesting flavor.  So I feel comfortable recommending the healthy baked version, for which you can find the full recipe over at Greatist.  However, if you’ve got ‘dem fried chicken cravings, go ahead and indulge.  You won’t regret it.

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For all of my Greatist posts thus far, I’ve made healthy, easy, quick dinner-time food, because when I think about eating healthy, I think about mealtimes.  But truth be told, I’m pretty good about eating healthy meals – I rarely eat meat, I’m good about incorporating vegetables into everything I eat, and I frequently choose whole grains as my starch just because they’re tastier.  The areas where I really struggle are sweets, and snacking.  I tend to think that I deserve a little treat wayyy more often than I really do.  And don’t worry, I know I deserve treats sometimes – just not 10 times a day.  Having a desk job doesn’t make it any easier, especially when you sit next to the department chocolate bowl, and the snack drawer is full of additive-heavy granola bars and peanut butter-filled pretzels.  I tend to get the munchies twice during the work day – the first bout at around 11, which I have recently realized is easy to satiate with some milky coffee, and the second at around 3:30, when I get tired and lose a good portion of my self control.

One solution?  Bringing my own snack, one that I can feel good about, but that will still satisfy my cravings.  Since I usually crave cookies or brownies or other baked treats when I want a snack, sneaking filling and health ingredients into baked goods is an essential skill.  These fruit and nut bars from Joy of Baking are a perfect example.  They have just a teensy amount of sugar and flour, no butter, and are primarily composed of dried fruit and nuts, but are still super delicious and satisfying.  The effect of that small amount of sugar and flour is great – it’s almost like a sweet tempura, in that the fruit gets a very light coating of a slightly sweet, crispy coating.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be avoiding the snack drawer today – and my coworkers will probably thank me too, if I decide that I can bear to share these.  Head on over to Greatist for the recipe.

Other healthy snacks on my “to try” list:

• Savory Moroccan Date BonBons
• Quinoa Granola Bars
• Popcorn with Truffle Butter, Thyme, and Parmesan
• Sesame and Almond Brittle – OK, so it’s not that healthy but you could do worse!

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Sitting at my desk on Monday, thinking deeply about insurance and strategy and research like I’m paid to do, I had an epiphany: “Tomato-quinoa arancini! With olives!”  Some of you might point out that this has nothing to do with insurance, and you would be correct, but I’ll take inspiration anytime, anyplace.

Now, I’ll be up front with you: I didn’t actually end up making quinoa arancini.  But it was a jumping off point for what just might be the most successful and flavorful recipe I’ve ever come up with myself – quinoa puttanesca.  Obviously, I didn’t come up with puttanesca sauce, nor am I the first person to have replaced spaghetti with the healthier quinoa in a classic Italian dish, but the proportions, timing, etc.?  My doing.  And I’m pretty proud.

The thought process that took me to this moment of triumph was as follows: “I need a recipe for my Greatist post this week.  Hmmmm.  I have a lot of cooked quinoa in the fridge because I’m vaguely following the Self Drop 10 plan this week and practically all the recipes call for quinoa.  Like these quinoa-banana pancakes.   And this quinoa edamame salad with carrot-ginger dressing.   So I should definitely use quinoa for Greatist.  Mmm, I haven’t had spaghetti sauce in ages.  Tomato-quinoa arancini!  With olives! [See above.]  Yeah, I should definitely use up those olives.  But tomatoes plus olives makes me think of anchovies, why is that?  Oh, puttanesca!  That could work.  But it can only have 8 ingredients to fit within Greatist requirements…”

And so on, and so forth.  I’m obviously no James Joyce, so I’ll spare you the rest of my stream of consciousness, at least for now.  In the end, with only seven ingredients – quinoa, tomatoes, kalamata olives, garlic, anchovies, red pepper flakes, and spinach – this recipe totally rocked.  It’s packed full of flavor and richness, while still being healthy.  I mean, it has two superfoods in it (although, let’s be honest, almost everything seems to be a “superfood” these days), no dairy, and no gluten, and the only real source of fat is the olives, so it’s healthy fat.  Plus, it’s easy and satisfying and just the right amount of spicy.  Head on over to Greatist to check out the recipe!

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