The Beauty of Leftovers

I really love the Chana Punjabi recipe from Tuesday. It's even better 2 days later.

Now I want to experiment with it -- only use one can of chickpeas and add potatoes or spinach to make up for the other can, maybe even some cauliflower. The mustard green dish went into the trash. Lastly, the pesto has been tasty! I used it as a dipping sauce for some fish and even made a whole wheat pesto and peas with it.

I really think it was the addition of the nuts that made it better. I've never made pesto this good before!

I haven't run today, but it is still early -- maybe after my farmer's market trip. Challah bread, here I come!

The good, the bad and the very pretty!

I'm taking the week off and having a mini-vacation in DC. Today, I did a very short bike ride and will go swimming in the afternoon. However, yesterday and today I'm having a kitchen clean out of sorts.
MONDAY
I had some mustard greens in the fridge that looked like they were on the verge of going bad. Typically, I saute greens or blanche them. So fuss, no muss and usually very tasty. I had heard that mustard greens are stronger in flavor than kale or chard, so I searched the internet and found a recipe by a chef that I like and thought I'd try something different with the greens this time: Mustard Green Gratin. Not only would it require the greens, but the ricotta I had in the fridge. On paper, the recipe had everything I like -- a bit of kick and cheese. But I'm not sure if I cooked it too long or not enough but it came out dry. Part of me wants to try this recipe again, tweak it a bit so it comes out cheesy-er, hte other part of me says, "Don't waste tasty greens on this again!" The dessert came out better. This idea is courtsey of my co-worker KR. She brings in these cookies with a Peanut Butter Cup center. Needless to say, i can't limit myself to just 1 or 2. I used a basic chocolate chip cookie dough recipe, but stopped short of adding the chocolate chips. The dough went into a mini-muffin try, about 3/4 full and I cooked it longer than I would a cookie, about 13-15 mins. Once the muffin-shaped cookies were out of the oven, I pushed the peanut butter cups into the center. The only problem is getting the cookie out of the pan. I tended to smush some. I suggest letting them cool in the pan longer normal -- and if you use liners, like I did, they still manage to slide out.

TUESDAY
This morning I made a Chana Punjabi recipe I found, I think, on The Wednesday Chef blog. It was a great way for me to use up my dry herbs/spices and didn't require me to buy any more. Tomatoes, chickpeas, lots of dried spices in pot!

While I waited for the Chana Punjabi to simmer away, I used the rest of my fresh herbs and slivered almonds. I've had some good pestos, including a basil-walnut pesto. So, I figured what's wrong with a basil, parsley and almond pesto? I added a clove of garlic, some salt and pepper, and fresh Parmesan cheese to the basil, parsley and almonds. The results?
This turned into that !

Lunch is served!

Cherry Blossoms!

It is officially spring, as far as I'm concerned. The Cherry Blossoms in DC are in bloom --actually a lot of the trees are in bloom -- and Sunday, 5 April, I noticed green - that bright, young, pea green on the trees! Where did I notice this? Well on my 10 mile run, as part of the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I had a PR of 1:44:09! It helps that the course was flat for the most part. Definately not as hilly as last year's Baltimore 10-miler (although the post-race activities in Baltimore was better than Cherry Blossom). I ran most of the race with my running buddy SM.

But all this spring-thinking started creeping up on me earlier than the run. The Farmer's market during the winter had beautiful squash, eggs and meat (too bad I'm not eating the latter). Now, I'm seeing much more green and many more veggies! It should be a fun spring/summer of cooking and eating!

Tomato and Mozzarella Tart

So, as part of my year of vegetarianism, I've been hunting for good, simple and tasty recipes to try. Today I made a Tart from a Cook's Illustrated recipe. It was nice. The crust was buttery, but not a soggy mess and drawing the water out of the tomatoes helped keep the crust firm. It called for puff pastry for the base of the tart and was probably better than any tart dough I could have made. I had to cook the base first and then I let it cool. Prepping the tomatoes was easy -- core them and slice them about 1/4in thick, place them on paper towels or a clean cloth and sprinkle with some salt and cover with paper towels/another cloth. Let it sit for about 20-30 mins. Also, mince some garlic (2 large cloves) and olive oil (2 Tablespoons) add a little salt and pepper and put to the side. After the puff pastry base has cooled, sprinkle mozzarella cheese in an even layer on the bottom. Top the cheese with the tomatoes and then lightly spoon the oil mixture over the tomatoes and put it back in the oven for 15 mins. When it's ready take it out and sprinkle with fresh basil (and I also added some parsley).

It was yummy and surprisingly light (and I have leftovers to take to work for lunch). The only thing I would change is adding some red pepper flake to the oil to give the meal a little kick.