Chickpeas, cumin and fresh herbs patted into tasty little cakes, sautéed and served with a cucumber, tomato and feta topping. The original recipe appeared in Vegetarian Times in 2009…shows you how long I’ve been making (and eating!) them .

Sometimes I skip the Greek salad topping and go with sriracha + mayo, my favorite all-purpose sauce, but I do love the briny feta, cold crunchy cucumbers and tomatoes, and the acidity of the lemon juice…mmmm, I want some more right now!

Chickpea Croquettes with Greek Salad Topping

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber quartered and sliced (1 cup)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes – quartered
• 2 green onions – chopped
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese – optional (Omit for vegan)
• Croquettes
• 1 cup chickpea flour
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas – rinsed and drained
• 4 green onions – chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic – minced (2 tsp.)

Directions

To make Topping:

Toss together cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, lemon juice, and oil in bowl. Gently stir in feta crumbles. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and set aside.

To make Croquettes:

1. Whisk together chickpea flour, cumin, chili powder, and salt in bowl. Whisk in 1/3 to 1/2 cup hot water. Stir in remaining ingredients, and season with salt and pepper, if desired.

2. Coat nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Scoop 4 ı/4-cup dollops of chickpea mixture into skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until golden.

3. Flip with spatula, and cook 3 to 4 minutes more. Repeat with remaining chickpea mixture. Serve each Croquette topped with 1/4 cup Topping.

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Chicken Yakitori – boneless chicken marinated with a blend of (mostly) soy sauce, sugar, ginger and garlic – is one of my favorite things to eat on a stick. I use chicken thighs, which have more flavor and fat than breasts, and therefore superior taste and tenderness.

A quick soak in the marinade and then threaded on skewers with bell pepper and scallions = yum. Nice with Jasmine rice and a green veggie on the side.

(I’m pretty sure the original recipe came from Food & Wine: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-yakitori.)

Chicken Yakitori
Description
Skewered boneless chicken, red bell peppers and scallions, brushed with a lightly sweet soy glaze and broiled.
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1/4 cup tamari (gluten-free soy sauce – or use regular if that is not a concern)
2 tbsp mirin (Or rice- or white wine- vinegar)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp minced ginger
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs, Cut into 2″ pieces
1 bell pepper, cut into chunks
8 scallions – cut into 2-in pieces
Wooden or metal skewers

Directions
1. To make the sauce, bring the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, ginger and garlic to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the sauce thickens and nicely coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.

2. Spray the grill or broiler pan with nonstick spray; prepare the grill or preheat the broiler.

3. Thread the chicken, bell peppers and scallions onto each of 8, 10-inch metal skewers (or wooden skewers soaked in water for 1 hr). alternating the ingredients. Grill or broil the kebabs 5 inches from the heat, frequently brushing with the sauce, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Serve with rice.

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Pasta with Tuna, Tomatoes and Capers
Chunky pasta tossed with olive oil, Italian tuna, capers, chopped tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Both the capers and pepper flakes are optional, if you have eaters who object to them – but they are sooo good and really make the dish pop.
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbs oil
• 1/2 onion – chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes – 28oz — not drained
• 8 ounces pasta (half the box)
• 1/4 c white wine
• 1 can tuna in oil – 6 ounce
• 2 tbs capers
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• black pepper
• 1/2 c basil – chopped (or use a teaspoon of dried, or you can skip it entirely)

Directions

Cook onion in oil until soft, 3-5 min. Add tomatoes, cook over medium-low heat – they should be just barely simmering – until thick and saucy, 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta, reserving some cooking liquid. (I do this by sticking a Pyrex measuring cup or a coffee cup in the sink next to the strainer. Splash a little cooking water in to the cup before pouring the pasta into the strainer.)

Turn sauce to medium high heat. Add pasta, wine, tuna with oil, capers and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, another minute. Add some black pepper and the basil, toss well; add a little cooking water if it seems too thick. Adjust seasoning (this means: taste it and add what you think it needs – salt, pepper, herbs, a splash more wine, more capers or their lovely sharp briny liquid).

When it’s right, toss the pasta and sauce together and serve. We like to add grated Parmesan as well. Enjoy!

The post Too cold to go out! Make dinner from the pantry appeared first on TaylorMade Meals.

Grouper with Salsa Verde

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• 8 ounces thin spaghetti (half a box)
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts *
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 medium red bell peppers – chopped or sliced
• 1 large English cucumber – peeled, seeded, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Toasted sesame seeds and more cilantro for garnish (optional)

For peanut sauce:

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil (plus more for drizzling on pasta)
• 2 tablespoons rice wine
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Asian chile sauce – such as sambal oelek or Sriracha (optional)

Place chicken on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or til just done.  Let cool.  Slice thin and toss with 2 tbs soy sauce and 2 tbs mirin.  (Mirin is a type of sweetened rice wine used in Japanese cooking. Most grocery stores will have it near the soy sauce. Add a little honey instead if you don’t have mirin). Chill.

*Optionally, you can use leftover cooked chicken instead, or from a store-cooked rotisserie chicken.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold running water; drain well. When the noodles are cold, toss with sesame oil (just use your clean hands to coat all the strands) and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside.

Meanwhile, make Peanut Sauce: whisk peanut butter, vinegar, sesame oil and rice wine in a bowl until smooth (or use a blender). Add scallions, cilantro, if using, soy sauce and hot sauce, and stir to blend.

Add the chicken, peppers and cucumber to the noodles. (Feel free to add any other thinly sliced veggies you have on hand – zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, etc). If serving immediately, add most of the dressing and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and add the remaining dressing if desired. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl. Serve garnished with sesame seeds and cilantro. (If serving later, or if unsure whether your crowd likes peanut sauce, you can serve it on the side.  I like the salad without it sometimes, perhaps with an extra drizzle of mirin.)

Enjoy!

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The humble chickpea – simmered in a savory tomato sauce, topped with briny, salty feta and luscious farm-fresh eggs – becomes positively swoon-worthy. There is something about both feta and chickpeas; something that happens to them when you cook them even for a few minutes…the texture becomes a little bit chewy, and a lot of delicious. I’ve been saving this dish to make a for a while, waiting for a night when no one else but me was eating dinner at home, so I could avoid the chickpea suspicion that sometimes emanates from the other people that live here… so I made this dish “for 1” tonight. I prepared the the whole tomato/chickpea mixture, but then just added about 1/4 of it to a small baking dish, added some feta and one egg, and baked it.   I’ll have the rest of the tomato goodness for lunches etc for the rest of the week.  YUM!

My version (for one, so just one egg on top of 2 cups of the chickpea/tomato sauce):

PS: as in all cooking that isn’t baking – which is to say all FUN cooking, haha –  don’t sweat the details.  I used frozen diced onions (LIFE CHANGING), smoked paprika, fresh oregano & basil because I had it, and a box of Pomi tomatoes. If you have jarred marinara, just use that! Easy and super fast. Oh, and please stop buying feta crumbles and reward yourself with a block of good feta.  The salty, briny, clean and sharp taste; the firm, almost meaty texture – sooo much better than the crumbles, and it lasts for weeks in the fridge (you can change the water every so often if you feel like it; I’ve never had one last long enough to spoil though.)

Here’s what block feta looks like:

A brand I like, though there are others:

The flavor and texture are SO much better than the crumbles. It will cost you more than the crumbles, but you GET more, and it’s better.  So, you win.

Oh, and here’s the beautiful Bon Appetite photo from the original recipe:

Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas

The post Recipe: Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas appeared first on TaylorMade Meals.

Isn’t this lovely? Pretty much any time you combine a wealth of fresh veggies, herbs, olives etc, you get a beautiful and healthful dish.  This is kind of a “Hey, let’s see what’s in the fridge” type of dip; you may have all or most of the ingredients on hand right now.  I didn’t use exact amounts; I had most of a thing of cream cheese; “some” hummus; no garlic so I sprinkled in some garlic powder…like most dishes it lends itself well to improvising.

Ingredients

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese – softened (I had a little bit of plain and a little garden veg – worked great mixed together)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1-2 cloves garlic – minced
• 1 1/2 cups prepared hummus
• 1 cup chopped cucumber
• 1 cup chopped tomato (I used roasted peppers)
• 1/2 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions (or not)
• Pita chips for dipping

Directions

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This mushroom risotto is simple and lovely and delicious.  The method is Martha Stewart’s, and you know Martha does NOT mess around.  You can use this method to make any kind of risotto – shrimp, scallops, asparagus, sausage, peas and ham, etc.  I like to cook those items first with the shallots and remove them to the side while I get the rice nice and creamy, and then add them back in.

Now: go forth and make risotto!!

Recipe: Mushroom Risotto

• 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cups unsalted butter
• 1 shallots (large – diced small)
• 1/2 pound mushrooms (cremini, baby bella, button – any type, pre-sliced is easiest!)
• coarse salt
• ground pepper
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cups dry white wine (such as Pinot Grigio)
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (1/4 ounce)
• 3 tablespoons fresh herbs (chopped mixed – such as parsley, marjoram, and chives)

1. In a medium saucepan, bring broth to a simmer; reduce heat and keep warm. (You can also pour it into a large Pyrex measuring cup and heat it in the microwave – mine is a 4-cup, so I start with the 4 cups and add the other two and heat it later). In a 10-inch heavy- bottomed skillet or pot, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high. Add shallot and mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, until rice is translucent at edges, 1 minute.

2. Add wine and stir until evaporated, about 2 minutes. (If you drink, now is a good time to pour yourself a glass, too!). With a ladle, add about 1 cup broth to skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, until broth is absorbed, 4 minutes. (Ok Martha, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO STIR CONSTANTLY.  I’m sure this is the best/most traditional way, but it really is not required.  Add broth, stir, go about your business, come back every so often to stir and check the level of liquid. When it’s almost all absorbed…) Repeat, gradually adding broth by the cupful and stirring constantly, until rice is tender but still al dente and sauce is creamy (you may not need all of broth), 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons butter and Parmesan, along with herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

The post Don’t Be Afraid of Risotto! appeared first on TaylorMade Meals.

I had an unexpected day off from cooking yesterday, so I immediately filled it with that most cathartic and perversely enjoyable of tasks: cleaning out piles of unnecessary crap from my house.  The guest room piles up with so much *stuff* this time of year – mostly gifts to be wrapped or returned; gifts received that have yet to be homed in their proper location; the outgrown or no-longer played-with items removed from other rooms in the house to make room for the new stuff.  Oy, with the stuff already.

Anyway, before I knew it was time to meet the bus, and had I made a plan for dinner? No I had not. Mondays we have an after school activity and don’t usually get home til 5:30 or so, so it’s the one day I do need to plan in advance (or at least fall back on eggs, soup or find something in the freezer, fingers crossed).  I did make split pea soup with the last of the Christmas ham – that bone simmered for hours, and it smelled gooooood – but no one but me will eat it.  So to the pantry I went, and with a few minor adjustments – I had a bit of red wine but no white; no fresh basil but some parsley – this was dinner last night.  Keep your pantry well stocked so you can whip up easy and tasty dishes like this too!  Pasta, beans, tuna, tomatoes, olives, rice, broth or stock – you can get so many meals out of those pantry staples.  This one is a favorite:

Pasta with Tuna and Capers

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbs oil
• 1/2 onion – chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes – 28oz — not drained
• 8 ounces pasta (half the box)
• 1/4 c white wine
• 1 can tuna in oil – 6 ounce
• 2 tbs capers
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• black pepper
• 1/2 c basil – chopped (or use a teaspoon of dried, or you can skip it entirely)

Directions

When it’s right, toss the pasta and sauce together and serve.   We like to add grated Parmesan as well.  Enjoy!

The post A quick dinner from the pantry: Pasta with Tuna and Capers appeared first on TaylorMade Meals.

(My changes: I used chicken stock instead of water for the sauce just because I had some sitting in front of me, and only a few drops of Sriracha. I added snow peas and carrots to make it a one-dish meal, and skipped the cilantro.)

Find the recipe on Cooking Light:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-sour-chicken-3?crlt_pid=camp.TTHGjxq4rinR#mr-livefyre-ratings

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