Spread It On...THICK!

New. Favorite. Spread. Fast and easy, and yuuuuummy!!

The other day there was a game night at a friends house. The two women that were hosting had just moved in to their house and since the two men who live in the house were gone, wanted to have a bunch of estrogen over for games, food, company, and merriment. Homemade beanbag toss followed by Taboo made for a great night with fantastic women.

They had made a zucchini chocolate chip bundt cake and sangria, leaving lots of options for what I could bring! However, just getting off of work and having only an hour before I had to go brought my options down. Hmm...Well, I had a block of Neufchatel and a jar of my homemade blueberry-champagne jam on hand...what could I do....put them together of course!! About 6oz of the cheese and maybe 1/4c of the jam mixed together, put in a bowl with dollops of jam bordering the bowl and a fresh basil leaf to garnish?! I'll take it. Spread that baby on a slice of baguette and we are good to go. The basket of my bike had never been so happily filled with a baguette and blueberry-champagne cream cheese.

I am excited to try this with other jams. It could go sweet OR savory, which is awesome (Blueberry-habanero?! Or raspberry! Gooseberry!! Pepper jelly...ooh...)

Great for brunch! Bagels or scones or biscuits...Now I am getting hungry...

Blueberry-Basil Quinoa Salad with Balsamic dressing

Summer is the season of salads. Salads for meals, salads for sides, salads for snacks. Pasta salads, grain salads, veggie salads, fruit salads, green salads, and yes, even Jell-O salads (a Minnesota Church Potluck classic you will always see at least two different versions of at any given gathering).  

I have a couple pots of basil growing on my porch and have been loving it at my fingertips. Being able to pick it and rush it into the kitchen to use it at its absolute freshest is the meaning behind 'summer cooking'. I also had the end of a flat of blueberries that I got at the co-op direct from the grower. I love blueberries and basil together (Blueberry Basil muffins are darn close to my favorites with little bit of lemon zest in there...ooooh...tastes like summer!!) so any way I can use those flavors together is an ideal use of taste buds.   Then I got to thinking...

A couple weeks ago, a friend/regular at my place of employment held their third annual music festival at her house. She lives out in the country surrounded by cornfields, has a large wide-open yard, a beautiful house, and lots of friends who are either musicians or know musicians.  They play on a homemade stage with a hand-tie-dyed backdrop. People bring lawn chairs and blankets, food to share, coolers of beverages, and the mood to relax. Did I mention that there was lots of food? Salads, spicy pickled beans, grilled chicken, baked beans, lots of bars and cookies...perfect summertime food. One of the salads was interesting...quinoa with lots of vegetables and blueberries. Tasty, but there were things I would have changed about it. So, given a flat of blueberries and quinoa always on hand, I had my challenge. This is what I came up with. I love the fruitiness of white balsamic, but regular balsamic vinegar can also be used.

Blueberry-Basil Quinoa Salad with Balsamic dressing

1c quinoa, rinsed and cooked, cooled

1c fresh blueberries

1/4c fresh basil, finely chopped

1/4c white balsamic vinegar

pinch of salt

5 cranks of black pepper

1/8-1/4 tsp sugar
1/4c olive oil

Whisk together vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl to combine. Taste for acid/salt/sugar balance and adjust if needed.  Slowly whisk in olive oil. Whisk in fresh basil. In a large bowl, combine cooled quinoa and blueberries. Drizzle vinaigrette over quinoa/blueberry mixture. Gently fold to combine. Allow to sit covered in the refrigerator an hour before serving. This allows the vinaigrette to absorb into the quinoa, mellowing the sharpness of the vinegar.

This can be served as a side-dish (as I ate it) or as a light meal, served over a bed of spinach. Add lemon-basil grilled chicken if desired. Served with a nice glass of dryer white wine, what else would you need?! I wish blueberries and basil were in season all year round...

There's Something About Being Able To Eat Your Utensils...

A week or so ago neither Kyle nor I felt well. We both wanted soup for dinner, neither of us wanted to make it, and we didn't want the salty stuff you so often get from a can. So what did the hungry and sickly duo do? Of course we went to the bar. Well, its a bar that serves food, and homemade soup in bread bowls nonetheless. So that is what we both got (with lots of water to drink). The soup was fine, the bread bowl was fine, but the meal itself was great. There is something satisfying and conforting about bread to accompany a meal, especially when you can rip it off, dip it, smear it, soak it, scoop it, sop it, eat it. There is a reason that every food culture has a type of bread that is a staple. Be it tortillas, naan, baguettes or boules, most meals around the globe orient themselves around (or at least involve) bread.

This concept inspired me to buy a new bread book. It is a book of flatbreads from around the world and the flavors that go with them. It acts like a travel guide to traditional foods, revolving around breads and their accompaniments. Of course this book was meant for me (Honestly, they HAD to have had me in mind when they traveled the world, ate, gathered and tried recipes, wrote and published the book! This is what I am made for...or what is made for me) So after looking through the entire book, I found the first bread that I was going to make. Simple, traditional, and not-too-time-consuming Chapati. But then what was I going to make to use the bread to scoop/shovel food to my face?! Hmmm...I have been taking care of a garden for a week while the owner and other care-taker are out of town...i just picked tons of eggplant, cucumbers have been everywhere this season...I love lentils and it is tomato season.....How about eggplant and lentil stew with a cucumber-mint yogurt? Yep. Thats it. That's my dinner.

Chapati (from Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid)

Yield 8 flatbreads

2c atta flour (I used whole wheat flour, sifted, larger bran flakes discarded)

1 tsp salt

1c warm water

In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Make a well in the center and add warm water. Mix with your hand (or a spoon) until it forms a dough, adding more flour or water if need be. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 8-10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest 30 minutes to 2 hours. 

Divide the dough into 8 pieces, flattening each with floured fingers. Roll each piece (without flipping dough) with a rolling pin into 8 inch rounds, flouring the counter or surface of the dough as needed to prevent sticking. Cover the dough rounds with plastic until they are ready to cook. I rolled as I cooked so there was never a need to cover them.

Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, place a dough round on the skillet and cook for 10 seconds, then gently flip over. Cook on this side until small bubbles start to form (approx. 1 minute). Turn back to the first side and cook for a minute longer. It should start to balloon and darken on the small bubble spots. Remove from the griddle and place in a clean and dry towel, stacking the breads on top of each other as they come off the griddle. 

Sorry for the yellowed picture...lighting near my
stove is horrid.

A ball of dough. One of the most satisfying things to pat.

Eggplant and Lentil Stew

2 TB olive oil

1 large onion, yellow or red, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 lbs eggplant, peeled, coarsely chopped, sprinkled with salt, sit for 30 min. Rinse and press excess water out

1/4c water

1 TB fresh oregano, finely chopped

1TB fresh basil, finely chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

1 fresh thai chili pepper, split lengthwise almost to the stem

1 1/2 c cooked lentils (green or french)

1 1/2c chopped fresh tomatoes (or 1 can no-salt crushed tomatoes)

1/2c plain yogurt (low-fat can be used)

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add eggplant, water, thai chili pepper and herbs. Cook until the eggplant begins to soften (5-8 minutes).  Add lentils, tomatoes, and yogurt. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove thai chili pepper when desired level of spicy is reached.

Cucumber-Mint Yogurt Sauce (Raita)

1c plain yogurt (low-fat is fine)

1 small cucumber, finely diced, salted and allowed to drain 30 min, rinse and press excess water out

2 TB fresh mint, finely chopped

lots of fresh cracked black pepper

Combine all ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

Put it all together and you have a meal. Healthful, delicious, seasonal, homemade. I of course ate outside on the deck, dog at my feet, and happy. Then I was full and happy.