Coverage

Last Sunday our local newspaper highlighted some local blogs-I was lucky enough to be written about. Sure makes me motivated to do more cooking and blogging!

http://www.times-standard.com/guest_opinion/ci_17813902

Happy 4/20 everyone!

Pesto how we love you!

Here at our household, the easier the dinner usually the better the outcome-hence our love of pesto. My father in law grows the basil and then at the peak of summer he whips up huge batches of pesto. He then freezes it in zip-locks to eat during the winter. Luckily for us he has been giving us a lot of them lately and we have been eating it up! I don't have his exact recipe (not sure that he uses one) but I do know that he doesn't add parmesan cheese to it-they prefer to add the cheese at the end and I prefer to not have it at all. Usually he mixes up basil, pecans, garlic, olive oil, and some salt and it is perfection! My own additions to this dinner were a salad of spinach, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, finely diced celery and carrots, some avocado and a small amount of goat cheese topped with a homemade vinaigrette. To complete the meal I whipped up some wild rice salad with cranberries. This recipe is from "The Candle Cafe" cookbook, and I love it! The Candle Cafe is in NYC and someday I want to eat there!!!

Wild Rice Salad
1 cup black long-grain or other wild rice
1/4 cup sunflower seeds, soaked overnight if desired
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped red onions
1/4 shoyu or tamari
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp grated orange or lemon zest

Combine the cooked rice with sunflower seeds, cranberries and red onion. Whisk together other ingredients and pour over the rice mixture. Thats it! Another great thing about this rice is that it keeps well for leftover purposes.

Enjoy!

Chocolate dipped shortbread

Since I'm pregnant I am totally giving in to all the cravings.....on Valentines day we made these and they were winners!


1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup safflower oil
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 t vanilla extract
1 t fine sea salt


2 cups grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 T safflower oil


Preheat oven to 350
Combine the flours and baking powder in a large mixing bowl
In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, syrup, vanilla extract, and salt
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir to form a smooth dough
If the mixture is too crumbly, add a bit of water, 1 teaspoon at a time, and up to 1 tablespoon more oil until the dough just holds together
Roll the dough out to ½” thickness between two sheets of parchment or wax paper
Use cookie cutters or a knife to cut the dough into desired shapes
Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheet
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned
Transfer the cookies to a baking rack to cool completely
While the cookies are cooling, combine the chocolate chips, syrup, and oil in the top of a double boiler and place over simmering water
If you don’t have a double boiler, place a stainless steel bowl over boiling water and melt the ingredients in it
Turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for 5-10 minutes or until the chocolate melts
Stir until smooth
Dip each cookie halfway into the chocolate sauce, and place on a sheet of wax or parchment paper
Chill in the refrigerator until hardened