combustication

This is a very easy recipe to put together if you have some overripe bananas in the kitchen. I was trying to cut the fat down from my usual banana bread recipe that I adopted from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook circa 1999 and managed to only use 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, with some very moist and tasty results. I made one large loaf and two mini loaves for my neighbors and the initial report is that this is a damn fine banana bread.

Sunday Banana Bread

Ingredients:

3 overly ripe bananas
1 egg
1 egg white
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup oats (not instant)

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Beat the eggs and add the sugars, yogurt, oil and applesauce. Smush the bananas and mix with the wet ingredients and add vanilla. Sift the flour and baking soda together in a separate bowl and add slowly add to the wet mixture. mixing just a bit - over mixing makes the bread rubbery. Add oats and mix till incorporated.

Bake for about an hour - until the loaf is a golden brown. Test the center with a skewer to make sure it’s done. Let cool for 10 minutes in pan and then pop the bread out and cool completely on a baking rack.

After browsing through Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” at a friends apartment while job hunting in September, I fell in love with the man. Oh, I’ve been a fan of the Minimalist NYT’s column, but How to Cook Everything was thick tome full of delicious, yet easy, sounding recipes. Bittman recently came out with “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” and after much deliberation (do I really need another cookbook), I bought it and I am really glad. The book is full of clever tips, excellent flavor combinations and a great section on legumes and grains. Last night I made potstickers using Bittman’s dumpling dough recipe and my own filling and they were fantastic. I also made the Green Tea Broth with Udon Noodles recipe and really enjoyed the interesting flavor combo of green tea and starchy noodles. Very simple, very easy and very very good. I highly recommend giving this one a shot.

Green Tea Broth with Udon Noodles (adopted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)

Ingredients:
water
1/4 cup green tea leaves (I used Japanese Sencha Green Tea - very hearty flavor)
8 oz. udon noodles
salt
freshly ground pepper
mirin, soy sauce or sugar (to taste)

To Do
Put 7 cups of water in a large pot and bring to a rolling boil. Let sit for a few minutes and then add 1/4 cup of the green tea leaves. Let steep for 5-10 minutes, until you have a golden and fragrant (broth) (I did it for about 12 minutes) and then strain the tea, throwing away the leaves. Bring to a rolling boil and throw in a couple of pinches of salt. Add the udon noodles and bring to a boil, then add 2 cups cold water and bring to a boil again. Cover and simmer until noodles are done, about 7-8 minutes. Grind some pepper, taste for salt and add the mirin, sugar or soy sauce if you want.

Bittman then goes on with a list of things you can add to the soup (just one example of how versatile this book is). I added some chopped up local tofu and scallions to the soup during the last 2 minutes of simmering and a couple of dashes of tamari and then a squirt of red chili paste for heat. Once again, a very simple and delicious recipe.

I remember reading about this recipe quite a while ago from Clothilde’s awesome blog Chocolate and Zucchini (she’s also just come out with a cookbook that looks fabulous) and never quite got it out of my head. Apparently, yogurt cake in France is to chocolate chip cookies over here - a simple childhood recipe. I tweaked the recipe a little bit and added some berries and fresh whipped cream (see below) for a quick and summery dessert. The cake was perfect. Super moist with a lovely crumb and a slightly crisp top makes for good nibbling. It’s pretty much a one bowl affair and takes less than 10 minutes to prep and only 35 minutes to bake. Perfect for summertime!

Yogurt Cake w/Blackberries and Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

For cake:

2 eggs at room temperature
1 cup of lowfat vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup walnut oil (or vegetable oil)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or just use a total of 2 cups AP flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder

For whipping cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tsp vanilla

blackberries

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a large tart pan or 9-10″ cake pan. Mix the flour and baking powder together in a two cup measuring cup and set aside. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl and then throw in all of the other wet ingredients (vanilla, oil, rum and yogurt). Once combined, add the flour and baking powder mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring slowly until just incorporated. Do not overbeat. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 35 minutes. The top should become a golden brown (emphasis on golden). Insert a toothpick in the center to make sure the cake is set. Put the cake aside to cool.

In the meantime, if you want whipped cream, chill the bowl and beaters of a mixer for about 10 minutes. Place cream in the chilled bowl and mix on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla and mix until you get your desired whipped cream consistency.

Serve a slice of cake with a dollop of whipped cream and some berries. Summer on a plate.

Israeli couscous may be the perfect way to punch up a typical pasta salad for the summertime. Also known as pearl couscous, this couscous is slightly larger than you might be familiar with and tastes more like pasta - think orzo.

You can cook it quickly in some boiling water like a pasta (only leave it in for a few minutes, you want it al dente), steam it like traditional couscous or use it in a risotto recipe. The recipe for a quick and summery recipe below is pretty easy and delicious, but try experimenting with different vegetables or nuts or just substitute Israeli couscous in your usual pasta salad.

Israeli Couscous w/Caramelized Onions, Eggplant and Feta

Ingredients:

1 cup Israeli Couscous
olive oil
1 Vidalia onion, sliced into slivers
2 cloves garlic
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon of tahini
5 baby eggplants (3-4″ in diameter) or 1 large eggplant, chopped
2 sprigs of mint, leaves cleaned and chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

To Do:

Boil a pot of water and place couscous in the water with a pinch of salt. Cook until couscous is al dente (3-5 minutes). Drain couscous and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Heat up the olive oil and sauté the onions in a small pan. The trick to getting them caramelized is keep cooking the onions over a very low heat so its sugars are released. Stir them a bit every once in a while and keep an eye on them while you move on to the eggplant.

In a large frying pan, heat up a splash of olive oil and then add the garlic. Lower the heat to medium and add eggplant and cook until it gets a bit crispy. Set aside.

Once the onions and eggplant are done, add them to the couscous in a large bowl. Whisk up the lemon juice, tahini, some salt and pepper to taste and a tablespoon of olive olive oil. Pour over the couscous, onion and eggplant mixture and mix. Add the mint and feta and mix it up some more. Serve warm or cold.

Last night’s dinner was a quick Asian-inspired stir fry (purple kale and mushrooms with black bean sauce) with soba noodles, but I wanted a little extra something with some protein, so I whipped up an edamame, radish and ginger salad. Couldn’t have been simpler and it was really good. The pickled ginger added a little wallop to the sesame oil and soy sauce dressing and also made the flavor of the (frozen) edamame pop. This is going to be part of my summer salad repetoire, as I think it will be even better after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Edamame, Radish & Ginger Salad
Ingredients
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
3 radishes, washed and sliced thinly
2 tsps. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
sea salt to taste
1 ½ tablespoons (or more to your liking) minced ginger

To Do
Cook the edamame in boiling water for about 5 minutes, drain and rinse under cold water. Add the radishes and the rest of the ingredients. Let sit for about 10 minutes before eating. It would probably be even better after a night’s rest in the fridge, but it’s still delicious! Serves about 2 as a side dish.