Mother’s Day Tastes Good
Posted: May 16, 2012 Filed under: Farm to Table – sustainable food/locavore/organics, Table Talk: Rachel – posts by Rachel | Tags: cheesecake, Chez Panisse, Chez Panisse Cooking by Paul Bertolli with Alice Waters, cilantro pesto, garden eating, marsala, Mother's Day, pine nuts, raisins, ricotta, steak Leave a comment »
What’s this? Oh, it’s only THE BEST CAKE I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.
Like, all caps good. Like, I’m tempted to freeze some of it and defrost it on Father’s Day and serve it up to John because there’s no way in hell I’ll make a cake that even begins to rival this one. Like, I’ll definitely not be doing that, though, because I have such strong feelings for this cake that it will simply not be possible for me to consume it in its entirety.
Speedy Suppers
Posted: August 24, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: parmesan cheese, pasta, pine nuts, summer zucchini 1 Comment »
Janet here: It was a busy day at work, I had just finished driving nearly 2 hours to get home and I was beat. Since dinner was not going to miraculously appear on the table from the Cooking Fairy I often fantasize about on these kinds of days, I wanted something fast and easy. Time to rummage.
I found a zucchini, some pesto, pine nuts, grated Parmesan cheese and pasta. Fifteen minutes later we had a tasty nutritious dinner a thousand times better than the fast food I pondered picking up on my drive. What’s your go-to rummage meal?
Zucchini Pasta
serves 4
ingredients
1 large zucchini, cut in half and then cut into 1/4 inch slices
2-3 tablespoons pesto (depends on your level of taste)
3/4 pound of your favorite pasta or whatever is in your pantry
pine nuts–I love these so I erred on the side of a lot. It’s up to you
freshly grated Parmesan cheese (obviously other cheeses would work too)
method
Cook the pasta to al dente. While it’s cooking, stir fry the zucchini in a little olive oil with the pine nuts until just cooked. Take off the heat.
Drain the pasta. Throw in the pesto and toss. Add the zucchini and pine nut mixture. Add the cheese and voila! A little bread if you’re lucky to have some on hand, maybe a salad and you’re good to go.
Meatless Mondays: Grilled Veggies
Posted: July 12, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: grilled veggies, Meatless Mondays, pine nuts Leave a comment »
Janet here: I’m back from visiting the divine Miss M! and trying to get back in the swing of things. Rachel will begin to weigh in again as she starts to re-enter the world of the parenting and living, although I have to say, she and John have enough food to last at least another week thanks to the cooking I did while there. 
Anyway it’s Meatless Monday and you need to just ignore that piece of chicken on the plate. I had planned to make this fabulous vegetable tan but then I realized that I forgot to buy zucchini because I’m still getting settled back on the East coast after a day of flying. I will have this dish for next Monday, though, I promise.
In the meantime, you can make a whole meal of grilled veggies with a variety of sauces. This asparagus took about two minutes to grill, and then I just tossed it in some brown butter with pine nuts and lemons. It was terrific.
To make the entire meal meatless, just add some other grilled veggies, some rice or orzo and you are good to go. The amounts here are for just the asparagus, so if you add other veggies, you’ll need to add more butter and pine nuts. Pick veggies that have a little oomph so they can hold up to the grilling. Some good options are peppers, eggplant, string beans, zucchini and mushrooms. Enjoy!
ingredients
salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch of asparagus
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 to 1 teaspoon lemon juice
method
Heat the grill.
Squash This
Posted: February 22, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bon Appetit, bread crumbs, butternut squash, Cheddar, currants, dried cranberries, epicurious, goat cheese, onion, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, pizza, sage, shiitake mushrooms 1 Comment »
Rachel here: We decided to feature squash for this post because it’s a vegetable (ok, actually it’s technically a fruit) that neither one of us is particularly used to working with. In my cooking, before this meal, I had only used it cubed in stir-fries and soups. Anyway, I was delighted to discover the recipe that I am sharing below. It is completely delicious, absurdly easy and really rather quick, in addition to being a phenomenally cheap meal to prepare. An added bonus was that it gives a nod to Thanksgiving dinner in its flavors, one of my all-time favorite meals. I found the recipe while trolling through epicurious (a wonderful way to spend a morning, in my opinion) and modified it ever so slightly from its original posting in Bon Appétit in October 1995.
Janet here: The other point Rachel left out in our decision to make a squash dish is that neither of us is that fond of it so it doesn’t make it to the menu that often in either of our households. There was a time, though, BK (that would be Before Kids) when I would make stuffed squash from my then-favorite vegetarian cookbook, The Moosewood Cookbook, and it was, as Rachel noted, an easy, tasty, cheap dinner. But then whining children came along and it became a harder sell (in fact I don’t even think I tried).
I had been thinking about making a stuffed squash too but then found this recipe for a squash flatbread in Real Simple and thought it looked so beautiful, that I made this instead. I’m here to tell you that with the exception of it being a little squash-heavy (I personally think 1/2 a pound or maybe 3/4 of a pound tops would have improved this), it was delicious. The thyme added a lovely subtlety and the cheddar just the right bit of sharpness.
Butternut Squash Flatbread with Cheddar and Pine Nuts
serves 3
Ingredients
1 pound store-bought pizza dough (if you make your own, go for it; this recipe was filed under easy weeknight meals so the assumption was you didn’t have time)
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, sliced 1/4 inch thick (see above comment re. amount)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (I used dried and saw no difference)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 grated extra-sharp Cheddar (6 ounces)
Method
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Shape the dough into a large oval and place on cornmeal-dusted baking sheet. (I used a pizza stone and that worked fine as well.)
In a large bowl, toss the swuash, onion, pine nuts, thyme, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Scatter over the dough and sprinkle with the cheese.
Bake until golden brown and crisp, 25-30 minutes
