Southern Belle Salad with Tempeh

It's a bit ironic that this is my first home cooked meal in Boise, but this salad was all I wanted the past few days! The hardest thing to leave behind in Florida was probably The Floridian - ok, it was my friends, but The Floridian is a close second! I'm sure I've professed my love of the restaurant before, but I can't help it, Ive never had a bad meal there! The only downside is it's in downtown St. Augustine, which was a good 40 minute drive for us from our house in Jacksonville. However, any time we had company in town, this was the first place I took them!

(my sister Becky and tiny Violet with another outstanding dish, the Not-So-Mac-and-Cheese with Tempeh)

It's quintessentially Florida - from the fresh local produce to the fresh seafood, even the dairy is locally sourced. Plus, the menu changes seasonally, so you know you're eating fresh food. It combines beachy food with traditional southern dishes, and caters to vegetarians, vegans and meat eaters all at once!

My last meal there was a lunch in May, I ordered this salad and it was delicious! It combines some ingredients that I wouldn't have thought to put in a salad together, but they just worked so well! Their presentation is more of a chopped salad, but I left this whole so you could see the ingredients. They give the option to serve the salad with tempeh, fish, or other proteins, as they do with just about all dishes. If you're in the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area, I highly recommend you check out The Floridian!

Southern Belle Salad with Tempeh

adapted from The Floridian

Serves 2 as a main dish

1 large sweet potato, sliced

1 6-8 oz. package of plain tempeh, sliced

1 large lemon, juiced

4 tbsp. olive oil

4 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp. honey

1 tsp. dried basil, crushed

salt and pepper

1 peach, pitted and sliced

1/2 c. candied pecans (I got these from the Whole Foods bulk bin)

2 oz. crumbled goat cheese

4-6 c. baby spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 400*

Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray, arrange potato slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper

Roast for 20-25 minutes, until tender and slightly browned on the bottom

Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic, honey, basil, salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasonings.

Place tempeh in a bowl, toss with half of the dressing mixture, gently toss.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat, add tempeh and cook 3-4 minutes per side, until browned.

Arrange spinach in a bowl, top with potato, peach and tempeh (chop into small pieces, if desired)

Top with blue cheese and pecans, drizzle with remaining dressing, serve.

(Optional - chop spinach, tempeh, peaches and potatoes, add to a large bowl, toss with cheese, pecans and dressing, serve)

Zesty White Bean Burgers

In my never ending search for the perfect veggie burger I came across this one from The Sweets Life, and immediately put it on the menu. It can be hard to get a good texture when making a bean-only burger, but this one was crisp on the outside and full of flavor on the inside. The thick layer of cheese made it decadent, and the cool avocado toned down the heat. I topped it with a little chipotle ranch and served sweet potato wedges on the side. I will definitely be making a big batch to form and freeze for quick, weeknight dinners!

Zesty White Bean Burgers

slightly adapted from The Sweets Life

2 c. cooked great northern beans

1 4.5 oz. can chopped green chilies, undrained

1/4 large red onion, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 c. old fashioned oats

1 egg, beaten

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 c. cornmeal

2 tbsp. canola oil

Sliced pepper jack cheese

1 avocado, sliced

Toasted buns, if desired (we omitted)

Place beans in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until chunky and slightly mashed.

Transfer to a large bowl, add chilies, onion, oats, egg, salt, pepper and cumin.

Shape into 4 patties, then place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high, and preheat oven to 400*

Add oil, bring to temperatre, then add patties. 

Cook until golden brown on the first side, about 4-5 minutes, then flip.

Transfer to the oven and allow patties to cook for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Top with cheese, turn the oven off and allow cheese to melt.

Remove from the oven, top with avocado and place in buns, serve. 

Apple Passion Mango Champagne Punch

This past weekend I had the most wonderful time co-hosting a baby shower with two of my best friends for our friend Kate. She is due with a baby girl in early June, so we planned a springy yellow and gray themed shower. We spent some time together brainstorming and found that each one of us could take the lead on one thing, but we all worked so well together to execute it.  

I was finally able to do the dessert bar I've been wanting to do for a shower, and it was a big hit! I'll be posting some of the recipes in the future, but most are on the blog already. What I am going to post is the amazing punch recipe we kind of just made up as we went along. I've made plenty of champagne punches, and my general mix is a bottle of champagne, a concentrate, club soda and ginger ale. The other two co-hosts and I went grocery shopping the night before the shower and decided to just see what the store had. We were intrigued by an Apple Passion Mango concentrate, so we went with it. This was far and away the best punch I've ever had, refreshing, sweet, and full of flavor! It was simple to make, and makes a ton! 

Apple Passion Mango Champagne Punch

a Veggie by Season original

2 cans of Old Orchard Apple Passion Mango concentrate 

3 bottles of extra dry champagne (cheap stuff!)

1 2 liter of ginger ale

1 2 liter of club soda

1-2 packages of frozen mango chunks (may want to start with one, refresh with another later on)

Chill all liquid ingredients, mix together in a large punch bowl.

Float frozen mango chunks on top, serve over ice.

Bulgur and Kale Casserole with Yogurt Topping

It's so hard to believe that next Thursday will be the last day of my CSA share. It's funny because I mentioned it to my mom, and it reminded her that theirs (in Ohio) starts in a few weeks! Although the CSA is ending, the Farmer's Market just opened, so don't you worry about me, I'll still have my fresh produce... and I hear Georgia peaches have made their way to the market!

Now that I've got one full CSA season under my belt, I feel like I can share some of my likes and dislikes. For the most part, I liked all of the vegetables, I'm not picky when it comes to veggies. However, it did get to be a bit monotonous. I could expect a hearty green like collards or kale (sometimes both!) every week. I did struggle to make recipes with them, there's only so much you can do with kale. However, through searching for kale recipes, I found quite a few keepers, like this casserole! I was forced out of my comfort zone a bit with ingredients, but also found some treasures (like Romesco Cauliflower and Watermelon Radishes). It also forced me to seek out new recipes using the ingredients, or put on my thinking cap and create some!

Vegetarian casseroles can be hard to come by, but this was both healthy and hearty, full of vegetables and protein. Since the photos never come out well, I did snap quite a few photos of the process. I actually made this dish twice recently, the photos in the initial attempt were awful. I made it exactly as written the first time with bulgur, the second time I only had quinoa, so I used that, but I have to say I MUCH preferred the bulgar (even though I love quinoa!)

It's another one of Joanne's Best of 2012 gems, and seriously, I can see why it was the best. The spices are delicious, it's warm and comforting, and was made with basic pantry staples!

Bulgur and Kale Casserole with Yogurt Topping

adapted from Eats Well With Others (originally from the NY Times)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

Salt and fresh black pepper

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 lb. kale, stemmed and washed

1 c. coarse bulgur

1/4 c. finely chopped dill (I used 1 tbsp. dried)

1/2 c. grated parmesan

2 eggs

1 c. plain Greek Yogurt

Make tomato sauce: heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add onion and garlic, stir and cook until tender, add tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon, paprika and cloves.
Turn heat to medium-high and cook until tomatoes are bubbling, bring down to low and simmer, partly covered until thick and fragrant, about 30 minutes.
Taste and adjust seasonings.
To cook bulgur: Bring 2 c. water (I added a vegetable stock cube) to a boil, add bulgur, when water comes back to a boil, turn to low, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until liquid is absorbed.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Blanch kale in coiling water for 4 minutes, pour into a colander, rinse with cold water and squeeze dry, chop into thin strips.
Preheat oven to 350*
Oil a 3-quart baking dish, spoon tomato mixture into the bottom, add a layer of bulgur then a layer of kale, repeat.
Beat together eggs, yogurt and parmesan in a dish, spread over the casserole.
Bake for 35-40 minutes on a baking sheet (in case it bubbles over!)
Remove from oven, let casserole rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake

This year Easter was a quiet one, my Popie was here visiting for the first time since Grandma passed away, my husband was out of town for most of the weekend working, and Violet had her first ear infection along with pink eye. I never had a chance to go buy Easter basket fillers, never made it to the grocery store for Easter dinner ingredients, and had a big birthday cake to finish up, it was a little stressful!

  But luckily, "dada!!!" was home Easter morning, the little sicky rallied, and we ended up having a really nice day. Violet participated in the Easter egg hunt at church, we skyped family all around the country, went out for a nice dinner at J Alexanders, and when Oma and Pops arrived the next day, we got our Easter baskets.

This cake was a last minute, what do I have in my pantry to make something type situation. I made it a month earlier for a friend, and when all I could find at home were apples, I made it again! I love bundt cakes because they are so easy to make, but look a little more special with minimal decoration. I had a small problem with the apples sticking to the bundt pan and sinking, so next time I'd dredge them in flour before mixing them into the batter. Other than that, I'd make this recipe as is for Martha Stewart's Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake (sorry for just the link and no post, I'm short on time this morning!)

Homemade Sushi - No special gadgets necessary!

I have been wanting to try homemade sushi for a very long time, but I was always intimidated. Having a sushi place on every corner here in Jacksonville made it so much easier to just call in an order than try. As I browsed the aisles while grocery shopping last weekend, sushi rice and nori were on sale at Whole Foods. I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. I spent the next three days trying to find a bamboo rolling mat, but had zero luck. I did a youtube search on how to make sushi without a bamboo mat, and it seemed easy enough. By the time I purchased the rice, vinegar, nori and all the various fillings, it did get a little pricey, but it was probably still cheaper than eating out, plus I could make custom rolls! 

I decided to try making brown rice sushi as well as white rice. I used Whole Foods short grain brown rice and prepared it the same way as the sushi rice, but I definitely preferred the white rice. I could have eaten the whole bowl full! The seasonings make it a little tangy and delicious. My only complaint about the sushi was I left it uncovered in the refrigerator, in roll form to set before I cut it, and then for the next few days, it stunk of seaweed! 

For my rolls, I used about 1/3 c. (dry) rice per roll, so the amount of rice you make compared to how many rolls you want can be multiplied that way. 

Vegetarian Sushi Rolls

1 package of nori, dried seaweed (I used this) - 3 sheets needed for 1 c. rice

1 c. sushi rice

1 1/3 c. water

1/4 c. rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

Optional fillings:

-Beet, Scallion and Goat Cheese

-Avocado, Cucumber, Carrot and Tofu

-Sweet Potato and Scallion (I used a few baked sweet potato fries!)

-Avocado and Mango

-Avocado and Peanut

-Avocado, Asparagus and Cucumber

To make the rice:

Rinse rice in a fine mesh sieve until it runs clear.

Add water and rice to a pot, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, stirring every few minutes.

Turn heat off after 15 minutes, and let rice sit until water is absorbed.

Add rice to a mixing bowl, season with vinegar, sugar and salt, stir well, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To roll:

Wet a dishtowel, ring dry. 

Lay flat on a counter top, add one sheet of nori.

Spoon rice over nori, using a plastic spatula, press into nori in an even, thin layer.

Add ingredients to center, fold nori over the fillings and press, then continue the roll and squeeze.

Unroll and place on a plate, seam side down.

Refrigerate until ready to slice and serve.

Coconut Quinoa and Kale Salad with Tropical Pesto

Back in this blog's heyday (if there ever was such a thing?) I'd average 5-6 comments on each post. These days, I can always count on Joanne, and then maybe 1 other person, if I'm lucky. I know, it's true that if you're a heavy commenter on other blogs, people will reciprocate... and I'm not. It's not that I don't read a lot of blogs, because I do, but I so rarely leave the comfort of google reader. I have so many posts of delicious recipes from people's blogs starred, and many times I do make them, but then again, I never go back and leave a comment. Shame on me! (Also, what the heck do we do when google reader ends in July?!)

If it wasn't for Janet at the Taste Space commenting on one of my posts a few weeks ago, I never would have gone to her blog and found this recipe! So thank you, Janet. And please, if you're a reader, don't be shy, I'd love to follow you, too. The more e-friends, the merrier!

This recipe was literally right up my alley. Not only did it look delicious but it landed in my reader the week my CSA had kale and cilantro! The flavors were great to kick off the warm weather we've finally got here in Florida (80's! Yay!) and it was quick and healthy, two of my favorite things in a dinner.

Coconut Quinoa and Kale Salad with Cilantro-Cashew Pesto

slightly adapted from The Taste Space

salad:

1/2 c. quinoa, rinsed well

1 c. vegetable stock

4 c. chopped kale

Juice of 1 lime

1 scallion, sliced

1/4 c. shredded coconut

pesto:

2 c. cilantro, packed

1/2 c. cashews, toasted

2 garlic cloves, smashed

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp. olive oil, or more as needed

salt and black pepper

Bring stock to a simmer in a pot, add quinoa, reduce heat to low, cover and stir occasionally. Once all liquid is absorbed, turn heat off and set aside.

Thinly slice kale, add lime juice and a sprinkle of salt, gently massage kale to help it soften.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together cilantro, cashews and garlic.

Once all ingredients are in small pieces, turn food processor on and stream in lemon juice and olive oil, run until it forms a thick pesto, season with salt and pepper.

Add half of pesto to the kale, mix in quinoa.

Top with additional pesto, if desired, and garnish with coconut and cashews. Serve at room temperature or chilled. 

Jerk Tempeh Pitas

One of my favorite casual restaurants to dine in is Mellow Mushroom. The pizzas are great, but the sandwiches and salads are just as good, if not better. And the calzones, well they're just at another level of delicious! The other thing that makes Mellow so appealing is they have tofu and tempeh available as a substitute for meat in any entree. We typically go on Monday nights when they have trivia, but I love dropping in for lunch as well (Greek salad with tofu and Esperenza dressing is my choice at lunch!) JJ ordered this dish first time we ever went, and it's been hard for him to get anything else since.

The tempeh is seasoed with their jerk seasoning, then sauteed with onions, green pepper, mushrooms and pineapple. It's stuffed into a sub or pita, topped with spinach and tomatoes, and drizzled with pesto mayo. To recreate it at home, I just left off the spinach and turned the pesto mayo into a pesto-greek yogurt sauce. It was just as tasty, and less calories and fat, I'm sure!

Jerk Tempeh Pitas

inspired by Mellow Mushroom

4 whole wheat pita pockets, warmed and split

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 oz. button or cremini mushrooms, chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely diced

1 8 oz. package tempeh

1-2 tbsp. Jerk seasoning (I use Penzeys)

1 small (4-6) oz. can pineapple tidbits in juice

Black pepper

Sliced roma tomatoes

1/4 c. Greek yogurt

2 tbsp. prepared pesto

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.

Add onion, garlic, mushrooms and bell pepper.

Saute' for 10 minutes, or until water has cooked out and vegetables begin to caramelize.

Crumble in tempeh, add jerk seasoning, stir well.

Loosely drain excess juice from pineapples into a dish, reserve.

Add pineapple to skillet, stir well, taste and season with pepper or more jerk seasoning (if your jerk seasoning is salt free, you may need to add salt)

If mixture is dry, add a bit of reserved juice.

Spoon mixture into pita pockets, top with tomato slices.

In a small dish, mix yogurt and pesto, drizzle over pitas and serve immediately.

Chocolate Truffle Layer Cake/Blue Shower for Baby Benjamin!

Last month, I hosted a baby shower for one of my friends who was pregnant with her first child, a baby boy! Yesterday was his birthday, so I'm sharing this post today in honor of the most adorable baby Ben! I asked Leah for some suggestions on the food, and more importantly, the cake. She told me that it's not dessert unless there's chocolate involved, so I tried my best to deliver! I made a basic chocolate cake, filled it with white and dark chocolate ganache, then iced it in dark chocolate buttercream, and decorated with ombre blue gumpaste flowers. The cake felt like it weighed 20 lbs., and there was enough to send the whole top tier home with the expectant Mama. I feel like that far outweighs any gift she got that day, am I right pregnant ladies?! 

When planning the shower, I knew it would be an intimate group of just a dozen or so, so I tried to make it a classy luncheon. I didn't want a theme, necessarily, but incorporated soft blues with gray and silver.  I tried a few new DIY projects, and then stuck with the party essentials, like flowers and candles. 

I'm not on pinterest, but I've seen blogs link to the yarn wreaths that seems to be sweeping the craft world. I made this one very simply using a straw wreath (though, next time I'd use styrofoam) wrapped in wool yarn. I looked at a few blogs for directions on making the felt flowers, and sewed a few petal flowers and then winded felt roses. The invitations were from http://www.tinyprints.com/, and then a simple white baby's breath bouquet filled the foyer.

The mantle was simply decorated with a deep blue vase with more baby's breath and white hydrangeas. I had an Anthropologie candle on hand that matched the glass color, and smells divine, so I also placed it up there. The favor for the day was chocolate chip M&M cookies with blue and grey M&M's (I found these at Party City).

I know games can be overdone when it comes to showers, so I just made one simple game, Baby Price is Right. I tried to pick higher priced items and told guests to round to the nearest $10, which made adding up the difference easy. I used stock photos of each item, hooked my laptop up to the TV and showed the photo of each item so the guests had a better idea of what they were pricing. Of course, the mom-to-be and another pregnant guest were the winners, they each got a gourmet chocolate bar.

For drinks, I kept it simple but added variety by purchasing a few types of Italian Sodas from World Market. I also had champagne for mixing, as well as soda water, and garnishes like marischino cherries, blood oranges and limes. I found cute paper straws at Michaels for just $1

I don't have wine charms, so I printed each guests name and tied it to their glass. 

 For the table decor, I found some silver and blue Christmas bulb ornaments on clearance at Target, and just filled a hurricane vase with them and added a silver tape candle to the center.

While I didn't blog all of the food, I will share the menu (non-vegetarian):

Chicken and Artichoke Melt Crescents 

Crabcake Sliders with Avocado and Chipotle Aioli

Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

Mini Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Twice Baked Potatoes

Quinoa Salad with Cranberries, Feta and Pepitas

This cake is 2 tiers, with 4 layers of cake and 3 layers of ganache in each tier. It's chocolate to the extreme! I made the cake layers somewhat thin rather than bake fat layers and slice them, I think it's just easier to bake off thinner layers. I also used 2 layers of white and 1 dark ganache on the bottom, and reversed the top, but you can also just use all dark or all white. I served it with coffee, but you might also want to offer milk! 

Chocolate Truffle Layer Cake

cake slightly changed from Hershey's, Truffle filling from Food and Wine, Buttercream is standard

Dark Chocolate Cake (doubled)

2 c. granulated sugar

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 c. buttermilk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350*

Line 2-11" pans and and 2-8" pan with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla.

Stop the mixer and sift in sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Turn mixer back on low and mix for 10 seconds, slowly add the hot coffee while the mixer runs.

Once all the flour is absorbed, turn mixer off, scape down the sides and turn the mixer back on for another 10 seconds, do not overmix! 

Pour batter into pans until it is equally distributed.

Bake for 25-27 minutes, until puffed and center is set. 

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert and remove from pan, cooling to room temperature.

Repeat process until you have 4 cakes in each of the 2 sizes.

Truffle Ganache:

white chocolate:

1 lb. white chocolate, chopped

3/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. heavy cream

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

dark chocolate:

3/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. heavy cream

1 lb. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

In a medium glass bowl over simmering water, melt white chocolate, stirring frequently.

In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until it bubbles at the edges, slowly pour into melted white chocolate, whisking at the same time.

Set aside to cool for 1-2 hours, until ganache holds its shape.

Chop dark chocolate and place in a mixing bowl.

Heat the cream until it bubbles around the edges, pour directly on chocolate, stir slowly and melt chocolate, whisk as it becomes incorporated, then set aside and cool for 1-2 hours, until ganache holds its shape.

Chocolate Buttercream:

1/2 lb. butter, at room temperature

8 oz. melted semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

2 lbs. confections sugar, sifted

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4-1/2 c. heavy cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and chocolate.

Slowly add half of the confections sugar, then the salt and vanilla extract.

If icing is already too thick, add a splash of cream.

Add the remaining confectioners sugar, and more cream if necessary.

Keep the icing covered well in a cool place until you ice the cake, refrigerate if it will be more than a few hours, then bring to room temperature before using. 

Basil Summer Rolls

 One of my favorite quick service restaurants is Mama Fu's, we just call it the Fu, and whenever we're thinking about where to go for lunch, the Fu is always mentioned. It is very healthy (if you order the right thing - steamed veggies, brown rice, sauce on the side), there are tons of vegetarian options, and it's fast. When dining with a temper-tantrum prone one and a half year old, getting food on the table as fast as possible is key. The basil summer rolls are one of my favorite dishes there because they're so fresh tasting, full of herbs and peanuts, and they hit the table in a minute or less after you order. The only downside is the price, $8 for 4 rolls, which isn't terrible, but I can make them at home for pennies. So I did!

Rather than just use rice noodles in the filling, I sliced up some napa cabbage from the CSA to bulk up the noodles and add even more veggies to the dish. The combination of fresh mint, basil and cilantro gives these rolls a ton of flavor, the bean sprouts and peanuts add some crunch, and the peanut dipping sauce takes them over the top. I like to give my peanut sauce a hefty squirt of sriracha for spice!

Basil Summer Rolls

inspired by Mama Fu's, sauce from chow.com

rolls:

12 rice paper rolls

1 oz. cellophane rice noodles

2 c. thinly sliced napa cabbage

1 c. fresh bean sprouts

1 large carrot, shredded

2 tbsp. fresh chopped mint

2 tbsp. fresh basil, julienne

2 tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

1 tbsp. sesame oil

2 tbsp. chopped peanuts

2 tbsp. peanut dipping sauce (recipe follows)

peanut sauce (I quartered this)

3/4 c. creamy peanut butter

1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. water

3 tbsp. hoisin sauce

2 tbsp. fresh lime juice

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. chile-garlic paste

1 garlic clove, pasted (I used 1 tsp. dried garlic)

1/2 tsp. sesame oil (omitted)

First, make the sauce by whisking together all ingredients.

Next, make rice noodles according to package, drain, roughly chop and toss in a large bowl with sesame oil.

Chill noodles, toss with remaining ingredients except rice paper rolls.

Dip rolls in warm water for 10 seconds, place on a cutting board, fill with 1/4 c. noodle mixture, roll. 

Continue until you run out of rice paper wrappers or filling, it should be close! 

Serve with dipping sauce and sriracha on the side.