Tikka Masala with Tofu and Halloumi Cheese

Tikka Masala with Tofu and Halloumi

I used Seeds of Change Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce as my shining star tonight at dinner. I had imagined using the sauce with pan fried tofu and halloumi cheese, served over a nest of rice noodles.

Tikka Masala with Tofu and Halloumi Cheese, serves 4 as a main course
8oz Rice Noodles (1 package)
1 full jar Seeds of Change Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce
14oz Extra Firm Tofu
1 package (9 slices in a solid block) Halloumi Cheese, cubed

Lightly fry the tofu in cubes. Add the cubed halloumi cheese for a minute to heat it up before adding the simmer sauce. While they are cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the rice noodles, drain, and build nests on the plate. Add the simmer sauce to the tofu and cheese, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve on top of the bed of noodles.

The sauce had a nice sweet tomato flavor to it and a very mild heat, which is good for me. I think that I had a really good idea and I was really happy that it all worked out just as I had planned. It was my first time making something with halloumi cheese, as I have only every had it grilled in restaurants. At least I know I have had it, but honestly, I can't remember and I was a bit nervous opening the package as I didn't remember how it tasted.

I almost feel like a real chef who can come up with my own recipe ideas. Now, I just have to learn how to make my own Tikka Masala sauce. I can't imagine that it would be too difficult, but I just have to give it a try one day.

Tikka Masala with Tofu and Halloumi Cheese: ~600 calories per serving, recipe makes 4 servings as a main course with no other sides.

Wednesday's Lemonade Cupcakes

It's Girl Scout cookie season!! You know what that means? Cookie cupcakes! Not only do I love Girl Scout cookies, but I love thinking about the great joke in The Addams Family Values. It was a classic dialogue when the Girl Scout tells Wednesday that she will trade a box of her cookies for a glass of lemonade so long it is made from real lemons, to which Wednesday replies, "Are they made from real Girl Scouts?." In Wednesday's honor I shall call these Wednesday's Lemonade Cupcakes.

I made the decision to use the brand new Savannah Smiles cookies for my first new cupcake. Can I just tell you all how awesome they turned out? The cookie itself is crunchy and lemony, and are covered in powdered sugar. I went with a lemon glaze instead of a frosting this time because I knew that I wanted to put half of a Savannah Smile on top of each cupcake before dusting them with powdered sugar, just like the cookies.

Wednesday's Lemonade Cupcakes, makes 12 cupcakes
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups flour
1/4 cups crumbled Savannah Smiles cookies, about 4-5 cookies, flour-like texture
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup skim milk

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Lemony Glaze
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp powdered sugar
fresh lemon zest
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp boiling water

Preheat oven to 350* and prepare 12 cupcake liners. Cream together butter and sugar. Once combined add eggs, vanilla, and milk. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cookie crumble, baking powder, and salt. Mix lightly until combined, about 2-3 minutes on low. Spoon into cupcake pan and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool before topping.

While baking, mix glaze ingredients together into a small pan (I have a one-egg frying pan that I used, but the 2-cup pot would probably work well too). Simmer on medium heat and stir to combine all ingredients. Let heat and thicken, being careful not to boil over or burn. Remove from the heat and let cool, being sure to stir often to keep the cooling consistent throughout the liquid.

Once cupcakes have cooled, spoon desired amount of cooled glaze to the top of one cupcake at a time, placing the halved cookie piece on top. Finish with powdered sugar. Eat and enjoy!

Savannah Smiles Cupcakes: ~180 calories per cupcake, recipe makes 12 cupcakes

Trying Indian & Lebanese

I pulled out "The World of Street Food: Easy Quick Meals to Cook at Home" by Troth Wells today to plan what I was going to make for the week. I decided on two similarly flavored (I had hoped, and I was right) dishes and I served them both with naan. It was pav bhaji from India and batata bil kizbara from Lebanon. Basically, the pav was a cauliflower curry and the batata was potatoes with seasoning. I changed the recipes a little bit and I will write the recipe as I did it, not as the recipe was published.

 Thanks Joe for the super awesome cookbook!

Pav bhaji, makes 8 servings
2 tbsp butter

Indian & Lebanese with Naan

1 large yellow onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 cup potatoes, diced
1 whole head cauliflower florets, about 2 cups
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup thawed frozen peas
1/2 tsp turmeric (I didn't have any, but I intent to next time, so I used saffron and mustard powder and it was pretty good)
1 tbsp curry powder

Indian Pav bhaji

salt and pepper (about 1/2 tsp in total)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Melt butter in large pan, cook onion and pepper until soft, add garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes for 10 minutes and parboil the potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, and peas in a small amount of water at the same time. Drain vegetables and keep the water on the side. Add the vegetables to the tomato mixture with the spices in it. As the vegetables are cooking, add the parboil water a little at a time until a thick broth is in the pan. Serve with cilantro on top.

Lebanese Batata bil kizbara

Batata bil kizbara (I doubled the amount of potatoes but not everything, but I see now that I should have), makes 6 servings
2 lbs potatoes, cubed
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
4 tbsp cilantro
lemon wedges
oil salt

Parboil the potatoes until fork tender. Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry potato. Add garlic, paprika, coriander, sesame seeds, and 3 tbsp of the cilantro. Season with salt and serve with 1 tbsp cilantro and serve with lemon wedges.

Pav bhaji: ~120 calories per serving, recipe makes 6 servings
Batata bil kizbara: ~80 calories per serving, recipe makes 8 servings

Fried Poached Eggs over Salami Potato Hash

Saturday morning, I made something totally special, since it was after all- the weekend. I had been thinking about salami and eggs, but I wanted to do something a little more special than just scrambled eggs with fried salami in it. I had thought back to the episode of 5 Ingredient Fix with Claire Robinson and the episode when she makes Deep Fried Poached Eggs, and I thought to myself: I can do that! I decided to make a potato and leek hash with salami. I plated it with the eggs resting on tip and I was oh so proud of it all.

Not the most clear picture, but a delicious breakfast!

After poaching eggs to taste (I like mine super runny), dry them off on paper towels. Dust the poached eggs in flour, roll in beaten eggs, coat with panko (with salt and pepper) and fry eggs in a heavy saucepan with hot fry-ready pan oil. Take the eggs out of the oil and rest them on paper towels. Meanwhile, I sautéed 1 leek in a small amount of olive oil, add softened (by microwave, but boiling would be fine too) diced potatoes and diced salami (I used lean Hebrew National). Season with salt and pepper.



The eggs were runny inside and crispy on the outside. I was so happy with them. My poaching skills need to get better but I think there is hope for me. I heard that if you put a bit of white vinegar in the water that it causes the egg whites to cling together. I knew that there was also something about swirling the water, but I didn't quite get it right. I am sure I will only get better so I am not worried. Eventually I will be a poaching champion!


In other news, I got an app where I can put recipes together and it will tell me the calorie count of each meal, so if I put it in I will add it to the bottom of my posts. I can't promise accuracy, but I can try!


Fried Poached Eggs over Salami Potato Hash: ~400 calories in total, ~200 calories in the poached eggs.

Spring Leek Hash with Polenta and Cheese

Hash & Polenta

Leek & Pepper Hash

In my latest edition of Vegetarian Times, there was a recipe that looked so interesting and simple, I knew I just had to try it. The recipe only had one slight variation where in it originally called for goat cheese and even though I love it, Nathan doesn't. It was so simple, the most complex part was the slicing and dicing, which I love. I sauteed 3 leeks (finely sliced), 1 red pepper (finely sliced) and 2 tbsp fresh thyme (the recipe called for 1 tbsp in the dish and 1 tbsp on top, but I decided to put it all inside). The recipe also called for red pepper flakes, but we didn't have any. In the end, Nathan solved this the problem the same way he usually does: sriracha sauce. Once the veggies were nice and bright, about 10 minutes, I added in 1/4 cup vegetarian chicken broth and 4 minced cloves of garlic (the recipe called for 3 and two were a little small, so I brought it up to 4). I moved the veggies into a Pyrex pan, covered it with thick sliced polenta, topped it off with finely shredded cheese and baked it at 400* for 10 minutes. I can't remember the name of the cheese, but it was a mildly sharp white cheese. It had a bit of a fruity nutty taste to it as well.

Baked Polenta with Cheese

All in all it was a deliciously flavorful, salt free, low fat, vegetarian dinner. I wonder what it would have tasted like with a great goat cheese. I have also been a little proud of myself the last few recipes using peppers. I do love peppers, especially red, orange, and yellow peppers. However, I don't like them hot (temperature wise), and especially not roasted. I usually steer clear of recipes with peppers but I decided to stop doing that, and they were surprisingly fantastic in this dinner, and even in my tomato soup last week.

Hand Blender

Just a quick little post to share how excited I am about my newest kitchen toy! I got a Cuisinart SmartStick Hand Blender today and I can't wait to use it. I decided that I wasn't going to make another soup until I got one, because transferring soup from a pot to a food processor and back to a pot again is so difficult and messy. Unfortunately, I am determined to make a new recipe for broccoli and spinach soup this week that I needed to get it sooner rather than later. So I did! I can't wait to give it a try!

Breakfast Squares

Breakfast Square Assembly Steps

Folded Breakfast Square

With breakfast being my favorite meal of the day, I like to have an awesome breakfast even when I don't have the time. My solution to this comes at quite a price of time and cash, but it is well worth it. Being a vegetarian, I had to find a solution that didn't involve real meat, and being a health conscientious type of person, I like to know what is in my food. I came up with a solution that is similar to the Pillsbury Toaster Scrambles. What I do first is I take the low fat Pillsbury crescent rolls dough, which comes in a sheet of 8 triangles, and separate them out into four rectangles. I place some scrambled eggs in the center of one half and top it off with one piece of MorningStar Farms Veggie Bacon and half a piece of American cheese. I fold the roll over and pinch it shut. I bake the squares at 350* for 10 minutes, flipping half way through. After they have cooled, I stick them in the freezer, separated by parchment paper. When it comes time to defrost them, I like to pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds and then flip it over for another 30 seconds. That way, I can be sure that the inside is entirely warmed. I put the square in the toaster on low and then flip it over for another go on low. It is a lot of work for an even cook, but it really is worth it.

Cracked Eggs

When I make my squares, I like them to be worth my time and I do what I can to make them last a long time. I start with 12 Pillsbury crescent roll tubes, 2 packages of American cheese with 12 slices each, 24 eggs, and 48 pieces of veggie bacon. I really get a great assembly line together when it comes time to start putting them together and they get more efficient each time I make them. This makes 48 breakfast squares, and I like to add some chipotle powder for Nathan in a batch, and then I sprinkle a little on top. He likes a little kick in his food.

Dill Salmon, Potatoes, & Wine Brussels Sprouts

A Dilly Dinner

Feeling the cold of winter can sometimes make me feel lonesome for the summertime. In the summer, my Yaya (grandmother) makes her famous potato salad with dill, onions, and capers. My summer is literally not complete if I don't get my potatoes. Sometimes I try to replicate her recipes, but they are never the same, naturally. For dinner on Thursday, I got some fabulous looking salmon and decided to give a simple dill salmon a try. I cooked the salmon very simply with salt, pepper, olive oil, and fresh dill (I put the dill on after it had been in a 350* oven long enough to not be entirely raw). Once I was sure that the fish was just right, I took it out to serve.

Brussels Sprouts Cooking in Wine

Dill Potatoes

Side dish #1 was dill potato salad. I used white fingerling potatoes and I boiled them until fork tender. I tossed them with olive oil, sea salt, dill, and some pepper. Side dish #2 was Brussels sprouts with wine. I sauteed them with olive oil until slightly browned and then added Riesling and reduced the wine quite a bit. I added the Melting Pot Wine Seasoning. As a whole dish, I found it all to be quite delicious. My favorite part was definitely the potatoes. I know they will be just as awesome reheated, or even cold.

Slow-Cooked Buttery Leeks

I'm still working on my Spanish cooking, and tonight was a success in creativity and recipe following. Like I mentioned before, Spanish food is not for a quick dinner. I was thinking about it today, and the Spanish people really do seem to be the slow cooked type. When we were in Barcelona for our honeymoon this summer, nothing was open before 11am and nothing closed before 3am. It seemed to be the type of place where people took their time to get the best flavor out of life, and I am noticing that in the food.

Buttery Leeks & Spanish Couscous

For dinner tonight, I made Puerros Cocidos, Slow-Cooked Buttery Leeks. They were so incredible that I literally felt like the leeks were filled with butter, which they almost were.

Cut the roots and green tops off leeks (the recipe called for 6 small leeks, but I used 3 large ones), and cut them into ~3 inch stalks. Sautée 1/3 cup of olive oil in a saucepan and lightly brown 4 sliced garlic cloves. Add 5 bay leaves and the leeks to the oil, laying them flat in the pan. Add 2/3 cups white wine (we used Riesling), 5 tbsp butter, enough warm water to almost cover the leeks, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a quick boil and then return to low heat and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Remove the leeks and then reduce the sauce.

Buttery Leeks & Spanish Couscous

In the meantime, I made some couscous with flavors inspired by the recipes I had read about. I toasted my Israeli couscous, which really gives the couscous a nice nutty taste to it. I added the water and simmered until cooked thoroughly. I added dried thyme, paprika, cumin, and smoked salt to the mix. I served the leeks on top of a pile of couscous and put some of the leek sauce on top. The words melt-in-your-mouth don't even describe how incredibly soft and buttery the leeks were.

Playing with Poached Eggs

Cheesy Grits with Poached Eggs

I was watching one of my favorite cooking shows, 5 Ingredient Fix with Claire Robinson. She has brunch episodes sometimes and I watched a recorded episode where she made deep fried poached eggs over heirloom tomatoes. They were breaded and then rolled in panko before being lightly deep fried and they looked so good. I will try them another day, but yesterday morning I went for a slight variation of one of our favorite weekend breakfasts. I made cheesy grits with a soft poached egg on top. It was quite the treat. Even though I don't know how to poach eggs in water and I use silicone poaching pods that you put in boiling water because I'm a cheater.

This afternoon as I was deciding what to make for dinner, I took out Rustica and started to make some decisions. One thing that I noticed is that Spanish home cooking is a slow process. Most recipes cook for 30 minutes to 90 minutes. I did let my short ingredient list rule fly out the window to try this recipe out. The recipe was called Sopa De Tomate Al Camino, Tomato and Cumin Soup. Here was the recipe (with my slight variations):

Spanish Tomato and Cumin Soup

Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 red onion (diced) and a pinch of salt and cook until translucent. Add 1 chopped red pepper and 2 fine sliced garlic, turn heat to low, cover and cook for ~40 minutes. Stir in 2 lbs diced fresh tomatoes and 2 cups of water and simmer for 30 minutes. Add 2 tsp superfine sugar, 1/2 tsp of paprika and 1/2 tsp of cumin. The recipe called for smoked paprika and sea salt, but I could only find regular paprika so I used what I could and used my North Market Spices smoked salt instead. I think this gave me the desired flavor. I used about 1 tsp of the smoked salt. After the soup had cooked for a while, about 15 minutes, and ran the soup through a food processor. After returning the soup to the pan and heating to a simmer, I added the eggs. Crack the eggs in a bowl and slide them into the pan along the edges and the eggs poach in the soup, giving them a delicious consistency and flavor. Poach for about 3 minutes for runny eggs (just the way we like them!) and gently spoon the eggs into the bowls. Ladle in the soup and serve with toasted baguette slices. The whole thing was awesome, but breaking the poached eggs in the soup gave it such a fantastic eggy taste that just can't be beat! I also know that I need to get a hand immersion blender because pouring things into the food processor and then back into the pan is too much of a pain.

Spanish Inspired Broth

I know that the chefs all say not to be afraid of spices, but I am still a little afraid. Especially since I am still unfamiliar with most of the spices. The paprika was complete unfamiliar to me, never used it before in my life. The cumin is still slightly unfamiliar to me, I have only used it in one other recipe before and I under-spiced then too. One of these days I will be comfortable with spices and I won't under-spice. Cooking with salt is a new experience for me too since I don't tend to do it very much.

Spanish Inspired Tilapia

Also for dinner, I made a Spanish inspired tilapia. I took some flavors that I read about in my cookbook and made up this recipe:
Make a broth with 1/2 cup water, 2-3 bay leaves, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp smoked salt with garlic, sprinkle of garlic powder and onion powder. I cooked the tilapia in the broth for 5 or so minutes, until cooked through, flipping once.

Dinner was so good that Nathan couldn't stop telling me about it. He said I could charge for it ;)

Thyme Brie Alfredo

Thyme Brie Alfredo

What do you do with leftover pasta and a block of Brie? Alfredo! My friend Efrat got me Barilla Piccolini Mini Pipe Pasta with Carrots and Squash for Hanukkah and we had cooked it up on Tuesday or Wednesday, and it was so good! With the leftovers I sautéed it up in a pan with butter, melted in Brie, added a bit of milk to cream it out, added some dried thyme, salt, and pepper. I was thinking it would be more like macaroni and cheese and to my great delight it turned out to be Alfredo! It was so good and all the sauce got into the pasta since they were like large macaroni noodles. This is a makeshift fridge cleaner recipe that totally worked out!

In other news, I finally got a small set of (dairy) China yesterday. They are beautiful and I cannot wait to have people over for a dairy meal! I also got a new book about herbs- growing them, keeping them, cooking with them. When I get a chance to go through them all I will post about it. I also heard about a book called "Cooking for Geeks" that sounds so interesting that I am adding it to my list of books to get!