Lemon Risotto

Chris and I have been loving butternut squash risotto all winter long, but we wanted a lighter/springy version for the sunny days lately. This recipe (courtesy of Martha and Whole Living) certainly fit the bill! We had some wine and romano in the fridge, so we added those in for kicks and paired the risotto with a simple green salad (carrot, radish, green pepper and tomato). Super delicious!

Lemon Risotto

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 large leek, white part only, well washed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 2 cups Vegetable Stock, or low-sodium canned
• 1/2 cup white wine (I used TJ's Sauvignon Blanc)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1/3 cup romano cheese

Directions

1. Sweat the leek in 3 teaspoons of butter over low heat in a tightly covered straight-sided saute pan for 6 minutes, stirring once or twice.
2. Add the rice and raise the heat to medium, stirring often for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of wine, stir until it's been absorbed. Add 1 cup of stock, season lightly with salt and pepper, and stir until all of the liquid has been absorbed.
3. Add the remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly after each addition. When all of the liquid is absorbed, add the zest and continue to cook for about 10 minutes more, until the rice is al dente.
4. Stir in the lemon juice. Season well with salt and pepper, add the chives and romano, stir in the remaining 2 teaspoons of butter until it melts, and serve hot.

One more cupcake....

Here is a photo of Ms. Penelope helping bake the cupcakes, or rather, eying the cupcakes! I decided that I should bake and Esme should take lots of photos, she takes the best photos! This one is, of course, hers!

Adventures in baking

Lately I have been baking constantly. I have always loved to bake but lately I blame my sister and her new found love for baking, as well as a cookbook Jenny "rented" entitled, 5000 cupcake recipes, or something ridiculous like that! I am still determined to bake them all and make corrections.

Last week, being the lovely Melissa's birthday, I decided to search for some new recipes. I stumbled across a frangelico cupcake recipe, mmmm, frangelico! I also had some Nutella laying around so I combined the cupcake recipe with a Nutella/coffee frosting recipe I found. The frosting was delicious!!!! The only issue was...I could tell there wasn't going to be enough so I just started adding more stuff and the consistency got a little wet.....

The cupcakes themselves were really moist but I thought once you added the egg whites it took away from the rich chocolate flavor. I think I would add more almond extract next time and maybe more coco powder. Also, I substituted some of the sugar for agave nectar but seeing that I didn't measure it out, I figured I should post the recipe as is.

Here is the cupcake recipe I adapted from How to eat a cupcake

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used a generous 1/2 cup of dark coco powder)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.

2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, cocoa, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy, 3-5 minutes. Add egg yolks and beat for 4 minutes.
3. In a small bowl mix water and Frangelico and almond extract.
4. In another large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternating with the Frangelico mixture. Mix on medium speed until ingredients are almost combined.
6. With clean beaters and a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form soft peaks. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar to make a meringue. With a rubber spatula, fold the meringue into the batter.
7. Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes. Finish cooling on wire rack.


Nutella Coffee Frosting: adapted from The cupcake review

Ingredients

· 2 tablespoons butter, softened

· 2 1/2 tablespoons Nutella

· 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

· 1-2 tablespoons half and half or milk

· 1 teaspoon instant coffee

· 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method

In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon cream/milk with 1 teaspoon instant coffee and stir until coffee is dissolved.

In a separate bowl, combine butter, Nutella, sugar, salt, vanilla, and the 1 tablespoon coffee-milk mixture. Mix well with electric mixer, adding more milk as needed to make a fluffy spreadable frosting.

Makes enough to frost 10-12 cupcakes if just spreading it on with a knife.

Soba-Noodle Salad

First off, thanks MB for getting this started! I'm so excited to attempt and enjoy all these delicious recipes, ladies!!!

So, I've been hooked on soba noodles for the last month or so (this might be due to the large amount of soba noodles that come in a box, but they are yummy). This is a recipe I found on Martha for Soba-Noodle Salad, and I made a few modifications for taste (more spicy) and fish-sauce free, which is the recipe that follows...

Soba-Noodle Salad

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice-wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 3 teaspoons tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 12 ounces soba noodles (not 100 percent soba)
• 1 green mango, peeled and julienned
• 1 large red pepper, stemmed, seeded, cored, and julienned
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mint
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• Lime wedges, for serving

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together vinegar, ginger, tamari, lime juice, and cayenne pepper. Slowly whisk in oil until well combined; season with salt and pepper. Set dressing aside.
2. Fill a medium pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add soba noodles and cook according to the package directions, until al dente, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Transfer noodles to a large bowl and add mango, red pepper, carrot, scallions, mint, and basil. Season with salt and pepper; toss to combine.
4. Drizzle with dressing; you may not need to use all the dressing. (I totally used ALL of the dressing) Serve salad with lime wedges.

TUN-YAY!

-one block tempeh

-1 pickle spear and a little juice if your into it

-1 half small yellow onion

-2 celery ribs

-2 tbs dill

-1 half of a lemon

-1/3 cup veganaise

-2 tbs dijon or reg mustard

-1 tsp soy sauce

-1 tbsp garlic power

-pinch of sea salt

place tempeh brick in a pot and fill with water and a pinch of salt.

bring to boil then turn off and let stand for 15 minns

drain water and let tempeh cool . rub and little sea salt on one side

in a large bowl combine chopped: onion, celery, pickle. stir in dill. then squeeze in the juice from the lemon

in a small bowl combine :veganaise, soy, mustard, and garlic powder.  wisk it is you want to get crazy.

once tempeh has cooled.  break apart and crumble adding it to celery and onion mixture.

spoon in a little pickle juice. then add mustard mis from small bowl.

let sit in fridge for hour for best taste

TUN-YAY!!!!!!!!!

Let the eating begin...

This is exciting!

This is an awesome recipe that I have made 3 or 4 times since I found it, just a few weeks ago. The most recent time was last night, when I needed to eat mush because I just had two teeth pulled. It's delicious, and especially yummy when served with fresh bread, olive tapenade, and goat cheese if you like the dairy. And it's easy!

Chickpea and Rosemary Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil , plus additional for drizzling
8 cloves garlic , finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves , minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 cans (15 to 19 ounces each) chickpeas , rinsed and drained
4 cups vegetable broth (or 4 cups water and 2 vegan bouillon cubes)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Sea salt

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil and sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic, rosemary and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic starts to brown, about 1 minute. Add chickpeas and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes; let cool slightly.Transfer 1 cup of soup at a time to a blender (or use an immersion blender-much easier!) ; cover loosely and puree until just smooth. Return to saucepan. Repeat two more times. Stir lemon juice and salt into soup to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

I found it here.

Yay, food!

lentil walnut burgers for mom

Last month was my mom's bday, and in proper Nelson/Bealmear tradition I asked my Mom what she wanted me to cook up for her "birthday dinner". Her reply was "oh, whatever you want", this reply is like a death sentence. Whatever I want???!!! The vaguness of her answer left endless pile of recipes at my feet, or more literally, at my fingertips. I searched the web and found this tasty recipe for Lentil Walnut burgers on a blog called Love and Olive Oil. I adapted this recipe from their site.

The burgers did tend to fall apart and they also remained a little raw in the middle. I would suggest making smaller sized patties and/or covering them while they cook. This made approximately 7 burger sized patties. Taste the mixture before frying, I think I added more salt. They tasted fabulous though and I would definitely make them again! The photo does not do them justice!!!!

Lentil Walnut Burgers
Ingredients
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, cooled
1/3 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 cup dry lentils, cooked, drained, and cooled- I used red lentils
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large egg
Yogurt-Cilantro Sauce:
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt- I used the thick greek kind
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves 2 teaspoons dried dill A dash or 2 of rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a food processor, combine walnuts, breadcrumbs, garlic, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; process until finely ground. Add lentils and 1 tablespoon oil; pulse until coarsely chopped (some lentils should remain whole).
In a large bowl, whisk egg. Add lentil mixture; mix well. Divide into 4 equal-size parts; roll into balls, and flatten with the palm of your hand into 3/4-inch-thick patties.
Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add burgers; cook over medium-low heat until crisp and browned, turning gently with a thin-edged spatula, 8 to 10 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, cilantro, and lemon; season with salt and pepper.
Assemble burgers and top with yogurt sauce, tomatoes, sliced red onion, tomato, and lettuce.

The Appitizer

So, I am not really sure what I am doing here. I have never before been a blogger but, a few months ago, while I whisking away in the kitchen, wishing to share my recent scrumptious findings with my friends, near and far, a timer went off and so did a light bulb. Why not create a space for all of us to share recipes that made our day and filled our bellies?? I hope we can all share tasty treats and savory dishes that fill our evenings apart! Post away, my friends!