Seattle Cooking Club

with broccoli, nuts, and feta

I think this was the first recipe I saw in the book that I knew I wanted to try- and it took me a while to get there.  Worth the wait.

Good things.

1.  Pasta and broccoli cook in two minutes… in the same pot.  WHAT?  No annoying separate pot action?  that’s right.

2.  Love Harissa.  Just enough spice.  Good flavor.  combined with some lemon juice?  Tasty.  

3.  It was delicious.  I like a combo of vegetables and pasta- and the toasted pumpkin seeds and feta pushed it over the top.

Best part?  From the time the water boiled on the stove, I think it was four minutes until it was on the table.  Maximum.

Next time?  I will add more broccoli.  That’s about it.  May be use a spinach ravioli or tortellini just for aesthetics- but that’s about it.

Will make this again.

The first time I read this recipe,  I gave it a big pass.  Certainly didn’t seem like something I would enjoy snacking on.  I gave it a re-visit- and I was glad I did.  I was particularly drawn to the fact that Heidi says that she likes to have it on hand- that to me means it stores OK.

The dish comes together easy enough.  Especially if you have some hard boiled eggs on hand.  I love any dish that I can’t prep fast enough for the cooking.  That’s how this was.

Eggs, almonds and spinach make up the bulk of this dish.  Harissa gives it a kick.  

I made the full recipe and then portioned it out to store in the fridge for easier “snacking” over the next few days.

I threw mine in a pita.  Yum.  Now- granted- it’s not a BLT- but it IS hearty and I felt like I was being kind to my body by eating it.  The Harissa was key- otherwise I would have felt like I was just eating a spinach and egg sandwich… which would have been sad.  

As it was- I really enjoyed it!  Another surprise.  This book never stops pleasantly surprising me.

Recipe can be found here.

With sesame oil and toasted coconut

After a week of eating everything set in front of me and drinking too much- I was ready for some greens.

Kale is chopped and mixed with coconut, olive oil, sesame oil and some soy sauce.  Incidentally, I picked up a huge tub of precut Kale at QFC in the bagged salad section.  Easy Breezy.  This gets baked for about 15 minutes and turned a couple of times.

Out of the oven, it is super crispy- like a chip.  The only other time I had made kale like this was at my cousin, Geri’s house.  She had me bbq and though delicious, it was sort of a pain in the a**.  This was WAY easy.  It looks something like this:

I piled mine on some cooked Farro though I think any brown grain would be good.  It really could be eaten without a grain- but wouldn’t be very filling.

All I can say is that I will have no problem going through that giant tub of Kale residing in my fridge.  It was REALLY good.

One more note- the recipe says that it will serve four.  I’m not sure on what planet that is happening.  I think you can keep the same amount of the grain- but you will want to double everything else for sure.

I also only had sweetened coconut at home- I recognize this is semi- sacrilegious, but I used it- and just brought the amount down to a tablespoon or so.  Next time I will pay more attention to my pantry before going to the store.

I feel like I have done you all a disservice by not posting this sooner.  Truth be told, I’ve already made this about five times.  I can’t get enough of them.

• They travel well so I can lug it around in my pocket or purse- (I do mean lug because they are heavy and dense)
• They are really filling.  The first time I made them Mark could only eat a half of one.
• They are tasty tasty.  Not too dry, not too sweet…

Couldn’t be easier.  Basically, mix up your oats, wheat flour, flax seeds, walnuts…and pour in some boiled maple syrup, butter, coconut oil and sugar.  (yes- sugar)

Stir it all up and add a couple eggs.  

Spoon into your muffin pans, bake,  and enjoy.

Now, these are in the dessert section.  I am not the sort of person that has this for “dessert.”  My cousin said, “I could see how it would be a dessert if you put a scoop of ice-cream on it with caramel sauce.”  My thoughts exactly.  BUT for breakfast or lunch with some fruit?  I have been looking forward to it every day!  (and I do mean every day because when I run out, I make more)

Try it!  I don’t think you will be disappointed.

I found the recipe online here.

Like Heidi says, this recipe is a good way to use up any extra veggies that you’ve got in your fridge.  I’ve made this a couple of times already and while I have to be honest and say that it is not nearly as yummy as the red curry we order for takeout it is far healthier and still pretty tasty.

Cook your onion in some coconut oil with a big pinch of salt.

Add your zucchini and cook for a minute.

Mash some red curry paste with coconut milk and stir it in to your onions and zucchini.  Then add the rest of your coconut milk.

Add your asparagus and cover and cook for a couple more minutes. Then add your broth. Salt to taste and you’re ready to eat!

We are carnivores over here and threw in some chicken rather than tofu. I also had some red potatoes that needed to be eaten up so I threw those in, too. This recipe is great to keep on hand for all those times where you have handfuls of random veggies that you’re not sure what to do with!