Brussels Sprouts Salad with Tomato, Avocado, Almonds, Raisins and Mustard Vinagrette

Get ready, everyone! It's my first post with the new camera!

It never even occurred to me to eat Brussels Sprouts raw; I like them roasted so much that's it's hard to imagine them any other way, but leave it to my mom to plant this idea in my head.

It's best to use a mandolin to slice the sprouts. Careful not to cut your little fingers!

Serves 6 or 7.

You will need:

-1 stalk Brussels Sprouts
-2 Roma tomatoes, cut into wedges
-1 avocado, cubed
-1/3 cup raw unsalted almonds, chopped coarsely
-1/3 cup raisins
-1/4 cup Dijon mustard
-3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
-1 1/2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
-Salt & Black pepper.

Pull sprouts off the stalk, shred them thinly with the mandolin.

In a large salad bowl, toss together shredded sprouts, tomatoes, avocado, almonds and raisins.

Whisk remaining dressing ingredients in a small bowl, add a little water if your dressing is too thick. Pour over salad and toss.

White Bean and Cilantro Hummus

Yeah yeah, Hummus. Whatever, right? Well for your information I've been craving Trader Joe's wonderful White Bean Hummus quite a bit lately, and while the Kebab shops that are so thick on the ground here always have the regular chickpea stuff on the menu, it just wasn't quite as satisfying as making it myself from the lovely white bean (alubia blanca here in España).

I bought some Tahini the other day to make Baba Ganoush (didn't make that a post because it wasn't very pretty...) and had some dried white beans around already, so I figured it was meant to be. The only thing I didn't have that I think is pretty necessary for a good hummus was parsley. I could have gone out and bought some, but I already had some cilantro lying around, and while I'm well aware that they're completely different it just seemed silly to go out and buy another green leafy garnish, especially since cilantro is so darned delicious.

Thus, white bean hummus with cilantro was born. I hope you enjoy this tasty kitchen baby.

-1 can of white beans or dried white beans, soaked overnight.
-1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed butter)
-juice from 1 lemon or about 4 tablespoons
-2 garlic cloves
-cilantro leaves
-dash of cumin
-salt to taste
-a good quality extra virgin olive oil. It should be a little bit green.

If using dried beans, drain the water from soaking, then refill with enough water to cover them by about 1.5 inches. Bring to a boil and then simmer covered about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until soft. drain water and sprinkle with salt.

combine all ingredients except olive oil and a few cilantro leaves and blend until smooth. Drizzle with olive oil and top with cilantro leaves. Enjoy with pita or crusty whole wheat bread (if you're a whole wheat sucker like me).

(Your very own) Miso Soup

Ahh...Miso soup. That delicious, salty, mostly broth concoction that's (usually, and should be) free at every sushi bar. Seems like it would be a challenge to make it taste exactly the way your favorite restaurant makes it at home, right? Wrong, but just because you can doesn't mean you should. The best part about making Miso Soup at home is that you can make it more of a soup and less of a broth by adding whatever the heck ingredients you want, if that's your cup of tea (it's mine). I like to add a lot more "chunky stuff" to my miso than you would typically find at a restaurant. The soup pictured here contains mushrooms, yams, and tofu cut into my usual favorite right triangle shape.

The most satisfying part of what I'm about to post is the Dashi stock recipe. You can buy the stock pre-made, but it's so much more satisfying to make your own! Plus, it's not even that hard. If you don't count the water, my basic Miso soup is just 4 ingredients!

For the Dashi stock:
5 cups water
1 large piece of Kombu (4 inches or so), see below
1/2 cup Bonito Flakes, see below

To Make the stock into Miso Soup:
1/4 Cup Miso Paste
Soy Sauce

Bring water and kombu to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes. Add the Bonito flakes and simmer 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally to re-immerse the Bonito flakes if they float to the top. Turn off heat and let sit for 5-10. Strain out the Bonito and Kombu. I'm sure you can freeze the stock at this point if you want to save it for later, but mine is always eaten immediately =]

Return the pot of Dashi to a low flame and stir in the miso paste until dissolved. This is your Miso soup! Taste it and add small splashes of soy sauce, depending on how salty you want it. Be careful; soy sauce can quickly overwhelm the delicate Dashi and ruin your soup, but in my opinion it's this tiny amount of soy sauce that makes all the difference.

Now you can add whatever you want to it and make it "your" soup. remember, we're still mad scientists here! In case you're wondering, here's how I made mine.

Add 1 chopped yam and 1/2 block chopped tofu immediately, since the yam will take the longest to cook and we want to give the tofu time to soak up the flavors. Meanwhile, saute 3-4 sliced mushrooms in sesame oil about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and 1 tsp. sesame seeds to soup, simmer until yams can be easily stuck all the way through with a fork.

ON BONITO AND KOMBU:

Bonito flakes are dried fish flakes. You can get them at health food stores, but if there's a Japanese market nearby you should definitely get them there, it's much cheaper!

Kombu is a kelp-like seaweed that smells very strong. Again, you can get it at a health food store if you live in a place like Santa Cruz that doesn't have a Japanese market.

Romanesco Fritters with Peanut Curry Dipping Sauce

This was my first attempt at cooking with or even eating the intriguing Romanesco, or "Italian Cauliflower". So why did I choose to fry it rather than enjoy it in all its simple, spiky, prehistoric-looking simplicity? Speaking of simplicity, there's no simple answer to this question. There, I said it. Everything tastes good fried, including some of the most visually pleasing veggies. I was inspired when I came across a recipe for cauliflower fritters and happened to have just picked up my first Romanesco from the farmers market, so why not, right?
As for the dipping sauce, it's a tried and truly yumtastic one that I use for my Thai enchiladas. Even though it has my stamp of approval, feel free to play around with the ingredients and remember that since I almost never measure ingredients, my recipe isn't going to be exact. I'll never forget a disclaimer I saw on a food blog telling readers exactly this, because "this is cooking, not baking" AMEN!!!!!!!

YOU WILL NEED:

-1 head romanesco, cut into "florets". I know this isn't cauliflower but i don't know what else to call them

FOR THE BATTER:

-1 cup Flour
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. baking powder
-dash of chili powder (optional)
-1/2 cup warm water
-Panko bread crumbs to roll fritters in optional..i guess =/
-oil for frying

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE: taste as you go for best results!
-1/2 can coconut milk
-1/4 cup Peanut butter
-1 Tbsp. soy sauce
-1 Tbsp. Sesame oil
-2 Tbsp. Thai curry paste
-Sriracha sauce or Asian chili oil to taste
-2 Tbsp. sugar
-at least 1/4 cup water. add more or less (but probably more) depending on how thick you want it.

Mix all the batter ingredients together until it's as lump-free as it's ever gonna get. Heat oil (at least 1/2 inch) until bubbles gather around a drop of batter. let the first batch of romanesco florets soak in the batter for at least a minute, while you lovingly and repeatedly spoon more batter over them. roll battered florets in Panko and fry immediately until golden on each side, flipping only once. let cool on paper towels. serve with the sauce, unless you had other plans for that sauce. It's your sauce, dude.

A fun little fact: I suspected that the particular romanesco head I bought was on the small side, and I was right. I ended up having a lot of batter left over, so I decided to fry some apples and yams! mmmm...so good! Breaded, fried apple slices are my new favorite thing.

"Drink your apple-a-day!"
-Martinelli's

"Fry your apple-a-day!" '
-Me

Fried Plantains with Cinnamon-Sugar Cream Cheese Topping

So this morning I was frying up some plantains for a snack and watching Paula's Home Cooking on the Food Network, mostly just for background noise. I was just going to eat them with some cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top, but then my selective hearing caught Paula saying two words: "cream cheese". After switching off the light bulb that had just appeared over my head, I went to the fridge for the cream cheese I knew was lurking somewhere near the back of the cluttered college house black hole of food storage. I had never tried mixing cream cheese with anything before today, but it turned out quite well which is why I'm choosing to share it!

1 Plantain (aka "cooking banana"). Let plantains get a little riper than you would bananas, about half brown and half yellow.
3 Tbsp. olive oil for frying
1/8 Cup Cream Cheese
Cinnamon/Sugar mixture. Buy it in a pre-mixed shaker or make your own!

Peel the plantain and slice it at an angle so the slices are longer. Heat the oil and fry the plantain pieces on medium-high heat, about 4-5 minutes per side or until golden brown. Meanwhile, heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 6 seconds. No really, only 6 seconds. We want it soft but not melted, so the cinnamon and sugar will mix in evenly. Add a tablespoon to the softened cream cheese and blend with a spoon, then taste it to decide whether or not to add more. Spoon the topping over fried plantains and sprinkle more cinnamon and sugar on top. IT'S SO GOOD!

Kale Chips

So who likes chips? I guess a better question would be "who doesn't like chips?". But these are no ordinary potato, tortilla, or even those delicious guacamole-flavored chips. These are veggie chips that are actually MADE FROM VEGGIES!
If you're not familiar with Kale, it's like curly spinach that's a little more bitter when it's raw. It's on the "superfood" list (?) so that means it's good for you, right? The baking process and spices take the bitterness and toughness away, leaving you with perfectly crispy little green chippers. These are really easy and fast to make, and I guarantee they'll be gone in a flash!


You will need:
-1 bunch Kale
-2 Tbsp. Olive oil
-2 Tbsp. Lemon or Lime juice
-1/2 tsp. Cumin
-1/2 tsp. Coriander
-1/2 tsp. Salt

Preheat oven to 250.
Rinse the Kale and let dry completely. Tear the leaves from the thick center stem to make "chip-size" pieces.
Mix all the remaining ingredients except the lemon juice in a large bowl.
Add the Kale to the bowl and mix with your hands until all the leaves are completely coated. Rubbing individual leaves together helps with this.
Place the Kale on a large baking sheet. Make sure every leaf is flat against the sheet; they won't get crispy if they're piled on top of each other. You may need to use 2 baking sheets.


Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on crispiness. Turn the leaves over, sprinkle the lemon juice on top and bake for another 10 minutes.

Ohh...gee, Billy, these Kale Chips are so tasty, I just can't stop eating them! mmmm...
Me either! mmmmmmmmm........mmmmmmmmmmad spatula!

Salmorejo Cordobés

Salmorejo is a cold, tomato-based dip/soup from the Córdoba region of Spain where I lived for 4 months last year. It's easy to make and tastes really healthy and refreshing. I guess it's more of a "summery" food, but I hope that you all, like me, think the idea of seasonal food is outrageously stupid. Does anyone know what I mean? Sometimes it's scorching outside, and all I want is a fat bowl of chili or a chicken pot pie. Or sometimes it's freezing and stormy, like now, and all I want is a milkshake. Seasonal fruit is different, though. Well, before I get started rambling again, I'll promise you that Salmorejo is delicious year round. I made it last week for a potluck and it got rave reviews!

You will need:
3-5 large, ripe Beefsteak tomatoes
1/8 C olive oil (maybe a little more if you're using 5 tomatoes)
1 1/2 Tbsp. White Wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 egg (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1-2 slices toasted sandwich bread
Baguette Bread

Cut 2 of the tomatoes into quarters, then move into a blender with the olive oil, vinegar, and garlic. Blend, gradually adding the rest of the tomatoes, until smooth. Tear a piece of toast into smaller pieces and blend with the tomato mixture until smooth. If it still looks like a melted fruit smoothie, blend in more pieces of toast until it starts looking "creamy". In the meantime, hard-boil the egg if you're using one (10 minutes on a full boil), and toast the baguette in the oven at about 300 for about 5 minutes.
Pour the salmorejo into a bowl and sprinkle with the sliced hard-boiled egg. Diced, pan-fried ham is also good to sprinkle on top if you're a fan of ham. This is best eaten out of a small bowl, using your bread more than your spoon. This recipe makes a lot, but trust me It'll be gone before you can say "Ciencias Locas" (Mad Sciences, if I'm not mistaken).

Cous Cous Salad

I have this scrawled into my lab manual as "Yummy Cous Cous Dinner" but the only reason this should ever be a dinner and not a snack or a side dish is if you are either one of my lab rabbits or are on a diet, and we all know dieting is for losers.
This is easy, fast, weird hippy comfort food that I invented one day from random things I found in my cupboard, so don't be afraid to get creative, or should I say "don't be afraid to go all mad science apeshit" with this one.

1 cup Cous Cous
Pinch Salt
1/2 Tbsp. Butter or Buttery Spread or whatever you kids are using these days
1 cup water
Chopped fresh apricots (dried is okay too)
Chopped parsley
Chopped roasted almonds
1 Tbsp. Toasted Sesame Seeds

In a small saucepan, bring water, salt, and butterstuff to a boil.
remove from heat and stir in cous cous.
cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
Uncover and stir in remaining ingredients. I find it's best to enjoy this right out of the pot. It's a good "lazy food"




Oh, and here are some cute onion animal babies I made with my Lox N' Bagel leftover at Café Pannini. Ain't they the darndest? Who needs pets when you've got something this cute, and this EDIBLE? Kind of reminds me of that Shel Silverstein poem about the kid who had the pet hot dog. Or maybe I'm taking this too far.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it goes something like this:
I have a hot dog for a pet
The only kind my folks would let me get
He does smell sort of bad, and yet
he absolutely never gets the sofa wet
We have a butcher for a vet
the strangest vet you ever met
guess we're the weirdest family yet
to have a hot dog for a pet.

Special thanks for this post go to hunger, Shel Silverstein, and the fourth grade.