Cooking with Zoe: Tomatoes Galore

The Farmer's Almanac, which I hadn't even looked at since I was a kid rummaging through my grandfather's ranch house curiosities but is apparently a regularly referenced guide here, tells me that it is officially fall now. The students have had their first round of exams, the leaves are changing color, and my tomatoes have nearly all together petered out.  

My first tomato harvest yielded this little salad with fresh basil from my herb garden. And as my father-in-law, who helped me transplant my seedlings, predicted, I've had more tomatoes than I would have asked for. He is a more generous man than me. When he has a bountiful harvest and winds up with more fruit than he would have naturally purchased at a store, he gives it away to anyone who will take it. I am a bit of a hoarder. So instead of sharing much of my tomatoes, I have challenged myself to get creative and find ways to use my fruit at a rate that keeps up with their ripening. I've lost one or two from falling behind. But in the process, I've made:

1) Caprese paninis

2) Spaghetti with tomato meat sauce



3) Pesto pizza with goat cheese, caramelized onions, chicken, and of course, tomatoes

4) Roasted corn and Tomato soup [recipe from the William Sonoma catalogue], good enough to make twice



5) Breakfast burritos [sausage, eggs, cheese, and diced tomatoes wrapped in a warm tortilla]

6) Bruschetta [I dice the tomatoes, add olive oil and balsamic vinegar to coat, salt, pepper (fresh ground if it's available), garlic salt (fresh garlic if I have the energy), lots of basil, and other italian spices to taste (such as oregano, thyme, a hint of rosemary, sage, and savory)]

7) Salsa, using this recipe from my sweet friend Jamilah:

1 cup red onion chopped
1 cup chopped cilantro(it takes a lot, you could even add more than this)
1 can diced tomatoes (I like to use the seasoned kind with onion and flavoring)
1 cup frozen corn
Salt, pepper

Combine in bowl, add white vinegar until the level of liquid is about an inch deep. Taste test.


Optional ingredients: fresh cucumber and green pepper chopped fine

8) Turkey sandwiches with sliced tomato

9) Chicken Vegetable Soup [see this recipe from Cooking Light - this was SOOOoooo good and surprisingly filling!]

And I have a few more tomatoes left on the vine, still ripening. Any more ideas for how I might use them? Not too shabby for the cost of about one good sized tomato and the transplant fertilizer! I feel like this if the first time in my life an investment has paid off so fruitfully. ;)

Cooking with Zoe: Summer Salad

In the process of weeding through chaos in our backyard, we've found several patches where previous owners had been cultivating beautiful strawberry plants. Where I've been able to clear sufficient weeds, and the plants have gotten sufficient sun, some beautiful strawberries have grown forth. They are are delicious! 

I can hardly get over the joy of this unexpected treat. So to share some of that joy with you, I thought I'd pass along an easy recipe for a tasty summery salad that uses strawberries. This pun was unintended, but I learned the recipe from my cousin's wife, whose name is Joy. My recipe instructions here will be very loosey goosey, proportion as you prefer.

Ingredients:

strawberries, sliced
hearts of palm, sliced
salad nuts [such as walnuts or pecans]
salad cheese [such as gorgonzola crumbles]
lettuce [I used red leaf]
dressing [such as basalmic vinaigrette]

Directions:

Mix all the above, serve, and enjoy!

Cooking with Zoe: Mangos

It is hard for me to look at a mango without thinking back to my time in Jamaica, when my Rastafarian friends would eagerly yank one off a nearby tree, rip it open with their teeth, and offer it to me for a snack while we hammered wood together. That refreshing, smooth, sweet taste under the hot sun was pretty divine. I've been a bit obsessed with the fruit ever since. And with the touch of heat slowly making its way through into our weather, I've been craving it lately.

image taken from here

What's been even more fun than just the pure joy of enjoying the mango itself, has been introducing Mainers to their first taste of mango ever. Ok, Mainer, singular. I'm sure plenty of Mainers have had mangos, but you have to admit, it's a different climate from the Caribbean up here! But we had some students over recently and when one of them mentioned that we had introduced him to this succulent orange fruit, I decided that fact alone made the event a grand success.

Mangos are a tricky fruit, because of their softness and their awkward seed. I remember my mom once asking for advice on how to cut into it to serve for a dinner party, and my sister, just back from a mission trip to the Bahamas, offerred to help. She promptly bit into it and tore the skin away with her teeth, just like she and I had both seen demonstrated. Classy, Sissy. Classy! ;) Should you be sharing the fruit with others who do not prefer your saliva on their food, I would recommend getting your hands on one of my favorite kitchen tools, the mango slicer. This makes cutting into magos sooo much more simple AND sanitary!

So Handy! [click on the image to purchase one for yourself and give Emily and I a tiny commission :) ]

To keep on my kick of spreading the good news of mangos to even more of you, I would like to share two of my favorite uses of what is perhaps my favorite fruit.

1) Southwestern Salad Bar. This recipe came from this Best of Cooking Light Everyday Favorites book. It makes a great meal for a large group, especially where you might have a mix of people who are vegetarian or gluten free or just picky, as it allows for full customization. Basically, you get lettuce, tortilla chips, and lots of good mix-ins. Line them all up and let your guests fix the salad the way they like. Before this, I'd never had mango in a salad and it was a grand discovery! Other mix-ins include corn with taco seasoning, black beans with garlic, avocado in lemon juice, red onions, cheese, cilantro, chipotle-ranch dressing [ranch with chipotles chopped up and mixed in], and plenty of lime juice. So very yum!

Champagne Mangos:
SO sweet and tasty, but too small
to be worth it when
you are making a huge salad!

Better meat to effort ratio!

2) Zesty Fruit Salad. This is a Reyes family favorite. And I always over-do it when I make it. Again, quite simple. Basically, pick a handful of fruits you enjoy together, chop and mix them up. Then drizzle honey, brown sugar, lime zest, and lime juice on top and mix it all together. Most recently, I did this with apples, grapes, kiwi, pineapple, and of course, Mangos. It's amazing how much the little hidden additions to the fruits liven things up. My common mistake is to make this for a party and buy all the fruit at Cosco/Sams, and wind up with enough fruit salad to feed and army ten times over, I just get too excited. My most recent mistake was buying a whole box [15] of champagne mangos. For one salad. It took me about two hours to get a decent amount of fruit out of those mangos, and that was while resisting the temptation to suck all the spare fruit off the skins. I hate to think about how much good fruit was lost! Instead, I would recommend picking out a few of the larger variety instead.

Cooking with Zoe: mmmmm . . . Pizza!

Oh how my husband does love a good pizza! Our first date, our first valentine's day, countless anniversaries and birthdays were all spent at California Pizza Kitchen. We love scoping out a good pizza place wherever we move too. In Berkeley, it was Zachary's, in San Diego we loved Regents Pizza, and now in Maine, we're big fans of Flipside. But I've also been having great fun, and even success with making pizza at home more often. 

I've been known to make my dough from scratch, but with an infant to juggle, I'm enjoying the option to buy that bit ready made. One of my recent concoctions ended up being so unlike anything I'd ever tasted before, I felt like it might be worth throwing it out there for you to consider testing out for yourself! 

Spinach Salad Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza dough or pre-made crust

4 bacon slices, chopped

5 ounces fresh spinach

2 cups sliced onion

1 tomato diced

4 ounces crumbled goat cheese

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon cornmeal

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

1) Preheat Oven to 475 degrees.

2) Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. 

3) While the bacon is cooking, sprinkle cornmeal on your pizza stone or cookie sheet and spread your dough out over it into your desired pizza shape [circle or rectangle or other?], crimping edges with fingers to form a rim. 

4) Remove bacon from pan and set aside, reserving drippings. 

5) Add spinach to drippings in pan, saute 2 minutes or until wilted. Place spinach in a colander or on a paper towel, pressing until barely moist [that one's for you, Emily ;)]. 

6) Add onion and 2 teaspoons sugar to pan, cooking 12 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and cool.

7) While onion is cooking, dice the tomato and toss with balsamic vinegar in a small bowl.

8) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook two minutes, stirring frequently. Add three tablespoons four and pepper, stirring with a whisk; cook 30 seconds. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook 5 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly with a whisk. [this step borrowed from Cooking Light, April 2003, Spinach, Caramelized Onion, and Bacon Pizza recipe]

9) Spread milk mixture evenly over dough. Top with spinach, tomato, and onion, drizzle with extra balsamic vinegar if desired. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pizza from oven, sprinkle with bacon, goat cheese, and lastly Parmesan on top. Bake an additional five minutes or until golden brown. 

10) Eat up!

Cooking with Zoe: A Hot Mess of Chocolatey Goodness

Are there any other Lobsters out there who feel like it is just a miracle to ever cook yourself just the basic meals? I really feel that way lately. And then, I am trying to be social and make friends. But all these things I go to are with these amazing women who always bring incredible home made treats. I always feel embarrassed, either empty handed or with a poor excuse for a baked good. I can just feel their heads tilt with pity. 

Well! This week, I finally showed up to a social gathering, proudly carrying a dessert in hand! I picked the recipe because it only had three ingredients - score! Should be totally simple, right? Apparently, not for me with my muddle headed brain these days. That is not to scare you off from trying it yourself, more just a commentary on my recent state of mind. If you actually follow the directions [what a thought!], it should be quite simple. While I did not invent the recipe, I still want to share it with you (with the holidays coming up and so many opportunities where you're called on to bring a dish), so I am owning it by re-titling it. I present to you: 

A Hot Mess of Gluten-Free Chocolatey Goodness. 

[a.k.a. "Oreo Balls" not sure who to credit the original recipe too - if you are out there - thank you! let me know who you are and I'll update this post!]

Ingredients: 

1 pkg. Oreos [I found gluten free oreos so I could make sure my gluten free girlfriend didn't have to miss out]

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese

Chocolate for melting [i used chocolate chips]

Directions [colorfully retold]:

I started in on this recipe after my fifth attempt at getting my baby down for her nap. She did finally sleep, thank the Lord, but I had plenty of pent up frustration from the day! Therefore, step one was very therapeutic:

1. Crush Oreos.  

I took a fork to those suckers like they were evil demon cookies that I had to crush in order to save the world. The feel and the sound of it was as good as letting it out on a punching bag! better? 

2. Melt (or just soften) cream cheese and mix with Oreos.  [skipped this step for fear my baby would wake up too soon. unwise. did not speed things up in the long run!]

3. Chill thoroughly (in freezer, if needed).  

4. Form well chilled mixture into balls.  

Despite the misleading instructions about working with a "chilled" mixture, this is where things turned into a hot mess. I think I failed to let it chill enough, and/or my palms were still extra hot from the frustration [or with a more positive spin - the pleasant warm weather?]. So instead of forming into lovely walls, we mostly just got gooey, crumby, chocolately hands:

I can self-correct though, so I eventually just put it back in the fridge to let it chill some more. This helped a bit, but not a ton. With round two, I wound up with something that did vaguely resemble balls:

5. Melt chocolate and roll balls to cover.  

This seems like a basic cooking skill, and yet I have never been able to master it. My insufficiently chilled balls of round one completely fell apart in the chocolate, making it even less smooth to roll over the following balls. All the while, my hands (and let's be honest, my counter, clothes, floor, etc.) were getting more and more caked with those three simple ingredients. So I gave in, washed my hands [for like the fifth time since I started], and got the balls into the freezer so they would hold their shape a bit better with the hot chocolate.  

Somehow, after all this self-correcting, and beating myself for not just simply following the recipe, taking a breather with another project so I didn't get too frustrated, it got done. 

6. Return to chill to harden.  [this was a step I could manage!]

I have a personal rule of never making a dish for others that my family does not also get to partake in [my mother, a teacher, used to always bake these amazing treats for her class and we were never allowed to snitch. boo! ]. So Manny was my guinea pig. What's so great about Manny, is that the appearance of his food almost never phases him, as long as it tastes good. Bless my dear sweet husband. He took one for the team and approved the treat, even though I made him eat the uglier earlier batch renditions. Then I brought about a dozen for my three friends to snack on at our evening get together, and after their encouraging accolades, these four remained: 

Turns out, when you don't know what you're doing with the chocolate, and you end up coating them with about a gajillion times as much chocolate as they need, the dessert turns out to be rather rich and people enjoy the one or two they eat, but can't handle much more. It was a hot mess, but it was a tasty mess. 

Cooking with Zoe: I love basil

This town is great. I can pretty much walk the length of it from one end to another with ease, even carrying Sofia the whole way. I'm like a walking advertisement for the Ergo, everyone asks me about it! And with few things scheduled in my days yet, and with how good it is for Sofia to get out of the house and have things to look at and explore, I've taken advantage of almost every opportunity I've had to visit our farmers' market. It is a small market, but its location is just so picturesque and pleasant. It's centered on the town green, a strip of grassy lawn in the middle of the town, peppered with trees and book ended by a huge gazebo and the downtown-y area. 

A new friend mentioned she buys loads of basil there and makes pesto in bulk so she can freeze it to use in the winter. 


!! 


I love pesto. My husband loves pesto - perhaps even more than me. I have been so frustrated for the past year to have so much trouble finding quality, affordable basil that I've been reluctant to make any pesto at all. So off to the farmers' market I went [twist my arm!], and I shopped around the different vendors to figure out where I should buy. I ended up buying it from one woman, Sarah of Small Wonder Organics, almost more because she seemed cool and nice than that I figured the price was best. [getting to know your farmers at your farmers' market is such a hip ideal these days, I'm so thrilled to finally be able to do it and not just glorify the idea of this practice!] 


A bit over eager, I was starting to ask her how much she would charge for a FEW pounds worth. She wisely encouraged me to look at what just one pound looked like and I humbly agreed to start with that, knowing I could find her if I needed so much more so soon. All of this I got at less than a fifth of the price I had been accustomed to paying in the San Diego grocery stores. And for about a week, I've had this lovely smell of basil wafting from my kitchen into the other rooms of my house. I almost want to scatter it into flower vases just to spread the aroma. 


Day one I used all the pine nuts I had to make as many recipes worth of pesto as I could, which turned out to be about five [we made about five more recipes later, when we got our hands on some more pine nuts]. Here's the pesto recipe I use:


Pesto Recipe:


Ingredients:
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup olive oil
[my mom ads 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco, which I never have around, so I skip]


Directions:
Process first six ingredients in food processor until finely chopped. Slowly add oil through feed tup with machine running until consistency is as desired. 


Pesto Uses:
I love to use pesto in pasta, with some grilled chicken and garlic sauteed mushrooms. That's probably our most common use. But we also love mixing it with some mayonnaise and grilled chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches. When I feel like splurging, I'll add in some artichoke hearts to that salad for some extra yum. When we're entertaining, I'll spread some pesto on some slices of a baguette, place a slice of tomato, and melt some mozzarella on top for a sure-fire-crowd-pleaser appetizer. 


A few nights ago, I made a caprese salad, which is just tomatoes, basil, and cheese [usually mozzarella, but I used some herbed goad cheese, also from the farmers' market, because that's what I had] with some basalmic vinegar and olive oil drizzled on top. And last night I made caprese paninis - the same ingredients grilled between some nice bread. So simple, and yet so stinking enjoyable! If any of this seems like too much work, I have to admit - I have been caught more than once in the past week just chomping on a leaf or two of basil on it's own. I feel a bit like a gourmet cow. 


None of this is terribly original or earthshattering, but I'm just twitterpated over how much GOOD basil I've been able to enjoy lately, I had to write about it. I hope you have a chance to visit YOUR local farmers market and make some good use of basil for yourself. 

Cooking with Zoe: Citrus Peanut Chicken Salad

One of my favorite songwriters, Rich Mullins, once said that he felt like when he wrote songs, he was really piecing together a quilt, rather than creating something new out of nothing. I think that describes nicely what I did with dinner tonight. Piecing together a few of my favorite recipe components and making a few twists here and there, I pulled together that had a nice balance of bright flavors, delightful balance of textures, and it was pleasantly filling. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m fully obsessed with all things peanut butter. If you try it out, I hope you enjoy it too.

Citrus Peanut Chicken Salad

2 servings

Ingredients:

Dressing:

(Adapted from Cooking Light, Light and Easy Menus cookbook, p.44)

¼ cup honey

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

1 teaspoon orange rind

Chicken:

(Adapted from Betty Crocker’s Good and Easy Cookbook, 1996, p.74)

One orange

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1 chicken breast half, sliced into strips

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup finely chopped salted peanuts

Salad:

1 head of red leaf romaine lettuce, washed

1 can mandarin oranges

½ cup chow mein crispy noodles

1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400˚

2) Grate the orange rind

3) Juice the orange

4) Mix orange juice with peanut butter and ginger in small bowl. Put chopped peanuts in a separate small bowl.

5) Salt the chicken strips. Dip chicken into peanut butter mixture, then into the peanuts to coat, place chicken into greased baking dish. Bake chicken for 25 minutes, turning once. Test to be sure the chicken is no longer pink by cutting into the center.

6) While chicken is baking, mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl, set aside

7) Tear lettuce into two bowls, add mandarin oranges, chow mein crispy noodles, cucumber, and orange slices on top. Drizzle dressing over salad and serve. 

Cooking with Zoe: Pork Popper Pasta

I love to cook, but I'm not exactly proficient and I mostly just stick to recipes I find. But last night, I tweaked a recipe in enough ways, that I feel like I kind of created my own dish [though I'm sure others have made something similar enough]. So not to claim originality, but just to share a creation that turned out tasty enough, here it is:

Pork Popper Pasta 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. pork chop, cut in cubes

4oz. pasta

one bundle of asparagus

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup flour

1 egg

3/4 cup bread crumbs or panko

cooking spray

2 Tbs. butter

lemon, sliced

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup chicken broth (or white wine if preferred)

parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. start boiling water for pasta, cook pasta

2. arrange three bowls: 1-flour, salt, pepper, 2- egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water, 3-bread crumbs

3. coat cubed pork in bowls based on listed order

4. coat skillet with cooking spray, cook pork on medium high until slightly browned on outside and no longer pink on inside, turning as needed, about 8 minutes

5. wash asparagus, cut off hard ends, cut into bite sized lengths, steam until they reach desired softness

6. remove pork from pan, wipe with paper towel, melt 1 Tbs. butter. Add lemon juice, broth, and lemon slices. bring to boil, then simmer until reduced by half. Add remaining butter and mix until melted.

7. Drain pasta and mix with pork, asparagus, and sauce. Top with lemon slices and parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

[influence for this recipe taken from Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again, recipe for Chicken Piccata, p.96]