Friday Night Dinner in March

Shabbat dinner was at our house this weekend and I wanted to make something seasonal and special. I made Moroccan-Style Tilapia with Cumin, Mango and Cilantro, Marinated Heirloom Tomato Salad with Herbs, Fall Vegetable and Orzo Casserole, and Brussels Sprout Gratin. I was in such a rush after school on Friday to get it all done that I didn't get to take any pictures. However, it was all so delicious that the next time I make it all, which I will, I can take pictures then.

Brussels Sprout Gratin
2 pints (1.5 lbs) Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2 cups skim milk
salt and pepper
5 oz Gruyere cheese, grated (about 1 cup grated)

Preheat oven to 350*, boil sprouts in water until soft (7 minutes) and strain. While the sprouts are boiling, begin making the sauce. Melt butter and flour together in saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stir until smooth and bubbly (1 minute), slowly whisk in milk and cook until thick and creamy (3 minutes) and season with salt and pepper. Lay sprouts in a baking dish and pour the sauce over the sprouts, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 15-20 minutes until top is golden brown and bubbly. Brussels Sprout Gratin ~125 calories per serving, recipe makes 6 servings.

This little dish was so delicious! It was my very first roux and I can't believe that it was so simple and that it turned out so well. It really did taste like potatoes gratin, but better because it was made with soft green Brussels sprouts. Also in the use of the Gruyere, it is a very smelly cheese when being freshly grated, but once it is in the mix, the sharp taste gets softens out and it really does add a little umph to the dish.

Moroccan-Style Tilapia with Cumin, Mango and Cilantro
4 tilapia filets
salt and pepper
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1tsp olive oil
2 ripe mangoes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

This recipe calls for a pan fry, but I popped it into the oven at 350* for about 15 minutes. Before I did that, I oiled the pan. To prepare the fish, I gave it a quick rinse with water, patted it down, and rubbed it with a salt/pepper/cumin/coriander mixture. I placed the fish on the pan and put it in the oven. While it cooked, I diced the mangoes and cilantro, mixed them together, and placed it in the fridge to chill. Top the tilapia with the mango salsa just before serving. ~200 calories per serving, recipe makes 4 servings.

This dish, much like most of my other dishes, was a little under-seasoned. I am still afraid, after all this cooking, to add more spices just because I don't know how they are going to turn out! However, even with that, the cool mango salsa on top was so refreshing against the spices of the fish, that it was a spot on recipe. I think the only thing that might have made it a little more delightful would be a little splash of fresh lime in the salsa.

Marinated Heirloom Salad with Herbs
5-6 Heirloom tomatoes, of varying colors
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp Due Vittorie Famiglia, balsamic vinegar (thanks Josh!!)
fresh ground salt and pepper
handful fresh parsley, chopped
10 large basil leaves, chopped

Largely dice the tomatoes, chop the onions, mix together in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix together the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Fold in the parsley and basil, chill until ready to serve. ~70 calories per serving, recipe makes 6 servings.

I do know that most people don't use heirloom tomatoes because they are more expensive, but they are very flavorful and don't have so many seeds inside to make the salad very soft. Heirloom also comes in red, orange, yellow, and green which makes the salad very colorful if you get a mixture of it all. I was so enjoying the fantastic taste of it all, but especially the vinegar. The Due Vittorie Famiglia website says about this vinegar: "In an elegant spherical cruet, it consists of a condiment with a round flavour, a velvety consistency and a unique clarity." Whatever that means, it is a sweet and savory flavor, thick and delicious!

Martha's Fall Vegetable and Orzo Casserole
I made Martha Stewart's recipe, just the way it was written. I decided not to copy the entire recipe here since it is fairly lengthy. ~226 calories per serving, makes about 12 servings as a side dish.

This recipe was so delicious, and it made a great side dish. I am sure that I would be able to make seasonal orzo casseroles that are based on this recipe an I am excited to try! This was even delicious as leftovers, topped with My Most Delicious Meatball ~200 calories per serving, recipe makes 4 servings. ~426 when served as a main dish together with one serving of the orzo and one serving of the turkey meatballs.

I enjoyed this recipe so much and it's a good thing because I have had at least one serving each day since Friday when I made it. The sage made me excited for my herb garden to start up this summer because I always have sage growing on the balcony!

Pasta with Spinach Pesto

Thinking about vegetables and wanting a very green dinner, I went for pasta with a spinach pesto. Fortunately, I made enough that we ate it for three nights.  It was super simple and it had enough spinach to make Popeye proud! To top it all off, it was so simple, which was exactly what I was looking for.

Pasta with Spinach Pesto
1 package of spaghetti or angel hair
2 bags of spinach (1 bag can be used for a less spinach-y dish)
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper

Boil pasta, do not rinse, transfer to large bowl. Place all other ingredients into the food processor and puree. Mix all ingredients together and fold into pasta. Top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. May also top with chopped with sun dried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts.

We ate it for 2 nights before deciding to spice it up a little with the sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts. I do admit, it was much better with the tomatoes, as most things are.

Pasta with Spinach Pesto: ~265 calories per serving, recipe makes about 6 servings.
With 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes and 1/2 tbsp toasted pine nuts: ~328 calories

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.