Picnic food!

So, despite the weather, I had to fire up my stove last night.  We are having a lab picnic at our mentor's today.  The quinoa salad that I made for the division picnic seemed to be popular, so I decided to create another.  This time, I have split the salad in half to take care of another intolerance that is prevelant in our lab: lactose intolerance.  Also, if we didn't have nut allergies, I would probably add nuts or toasted seeds or pignolia to this salad as well as I like that nutty crunch.  Here's my "creation":

Basalmic Summer Quinoa Salad

• 1/2 large cucumber*
• 1/4 cup basalmic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp dried basil (may use fresh)
• 1/2 tsp garlic and herbs (may use fresh)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups kale*
• 1 medium tomato*
• 1/4 cup feta (optional)
• 2 Tbsp chopped walnuts, almonds or toasted pignolia (optional)

Wash cucumber, cut into a 1/4 inch dice.  In a small bowl, mix vinegar, oil, basil and garlic.  Pour vinegar mixture over cucumbers and marinate overnight.

In a medium saucepan, bring broth to a boil.  Add quinoa and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and cook 10 minutes.  In the meantime, wash kale and remove stems.  Chop into bite-sized pieces.  After 10 minutes cooking, add kale to top of quinoa.  Cover and simmer another 5 minutes.  Turn off heat and allow to steam an additional 5 minutes.

Wash and dice tomatoes.  In a large bowl, combine quinoa, cucumbers with marinade and tomatoes.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.  Salad may be served this way, or if you prefer, you may add crumbled feta cheese and/or nuts or pignolias.

Left: Quinoa salad without feta

Right: Qinoa salad with feta

*CSA ingredients

Heat break

I want to apologize to my readers. The heat has been so oppressive I literally have not cooked in over a week.  With no a/c in my apt, I haven't wanted to light my stove or even use my toater oven.  I hope temps cool soon so I can cook for myself again!  See you then!

Summer Quinoa Salad

Today is our "annual" lab picnic.  My boss is celiac, so I decided to create a gluten free quinoa salad with all those beautiful vegetables we received this week in the CSA share.  I got a lot of input with my friends on Facebook and here is the final result:

Summer Vegetable Quinoa Salad

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 1/2 cups water
• salt
• 1 medium yellow squash*
• 1 medium tomato, seeded*
• 1 cup spinach leaves*
• 3 basil leaves
• 4 oz quark*
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp grainy mustard

The night before, wash squash and dry.  Dice into 1/4-1/2-inch pieces (whatever size you prefer).  In a large container, whisk together sugar vinegar and mustard.  Add squash and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bring salted water to a boil.  Add quinoa and reduce heat to simmer.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Turn off heat and allow to steam for another 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork; set aside.

Wash all remaining vegetables; dry.  Add olive oil to squash mixture and mix well.  Dice tomatoes and add to squash; mix well.  Add quinoa and mix well.  Chiffonade (see note) spinach and basil leaves.  Stir into quinoa mixture.  Crumble quark (see note) over entire mixture; mix well.  Cover and return to refrigerator and chill at least 2 hours before serving.

*CSA ingredients


Notes:

1) Chiffonade refers to a very thin slicing.  Wash leaves and dry very well.  Stack leaves and roll together.  Using a very sharp knife, so you will not bruise the leaves, thinly slice across the roll.  When finished, fluff the slices.  This makes a very pretty garnish for salads or even main dishes.

2) Suggestions were made to use Feta in this salad.  I did not have Feta, however, I did have Quark.  Quark is a dry savory cream spreadable cheese of German origin.  I had never tried it before, but for those who think that Feta is a bit too sharp, this would make a nice substitute.

Cucumbers!

I bought myself a new toy for the kitchen: a mandoline!  In honor of the fact that I can now very thinly slice cucumbers, I decided to make marinated cucumbers:

Marinated Cucumbers

• 1 large cucumber*
• 1 Tbsp salt (use kosher if possible)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 tsp grainy mustard

Wash cucumber and slice very thin (about 1/16").  Place in a collander and sprinkle evenly with salt.  Allow to weep for 30 minutes.  Press out remaining water and put in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, vinegar and mustard.  Pour over cucumber slices and mix until evenly coated.  Marinate in the refrigerator for 2-8 hours.  Pour off marinade and store in a covered container in the refrigerator. 

*CSA ingredients

Zucchini and tomatoes

Last week, I ended up with a lot of tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash.  I needed a quick way to use some of it up and thought; "Why not put it in the crockpot?".  My husband had also brought me a pound of ground buffalo when he came down to visit last weekend.  For some reason, we were not able to find time to cook it up, and it needed to be cooked, so that will be my protein.  Since I am part Italian, I tend to default to a basil/oregano based sauce, but I would imagine you could season this any way you prefer.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Garden Vegetable Sauce

• 1 lb ground buffalo
• 1 lg cloves garlic, minced*
• 3 lg tomatoes*
• 2 small summer squash*
• 1 med zucchini*
• 1 (11.5 oz) can low-sodium V8
• 1.5 tbsp dried basil (you may use fresh, I just didn't have any)
• 1 tsp dried oregano (this may be fresh too)
• salt & pepper to taste

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and buffalo; saute until buffalo is no longer pink; drain.  Wash squash and tomatoes.  Cut each squash in half legthwise and then slice into 1/4 inch slices; place in crock.  Cut each tomato in half and then into thin wedges; add to crock.  Pour buffalo and garlic over the vegetables.  Sprinkle with basil and oregano.  Pour V8 over entire mixture.  Cover and cook 6-8 hours on LOW.  Adjust seasoning and serve over pasta (not included in calories below). Makes about 8 servings.

This is served over garlic-chive pasta* from Ohio City Pasta Company.

*CSA ingredients

Calories         122.8
Total fat             6.6g
  Sat fat              2.8g
  Poly fat            0.4g
  Mono fat         2.5g
Cholesterol      35.3mg
Sodium            58.9mg
Potassium      449.5mg
Total Carbs       4.6g
  Dietary fiber    1.2g
  Sugars             2.3g
Protein             11.1g

Quinoa and eggs

We woke up late this morning and were both very hungry.  So what can you do that is quick and hearty?  I had a serving left of the Beet Green Quinoa salad (http://csafoodie.blogspot.com/2011/06/greens.html) I made earlier in the week.  I wondered if that would make good scrambled eggs:

Beet Green Quinoa Scrambled Eggs

• 1 cup Beet Green Quinoa Salad*
• 2 lg eggs*
• 4 lg egg whites*
• 1/4 cup feta cheese

Beat eggs and egg whites with salt and pepper to taste.  Heat quinoa salad over medium heat.  Pour eggs over quinoa and sprinkle with feta.  Cook until bottom eggs are cooked, then using a spatula, slowly scramble eggs until they are just wet.  Makes 2 servings.

Note: I am not lucky enough to have oven-safe pans.  If I did, I would have finished this as a frittata instead.  To do this, you would begin cooking the eggs as above, however, once they are cooked about 2/3 through, you place them under the broiler until the top is browned.  As a frittata, this recipe could serve 4 along with a green salad or other vegetable side.

*CSA ingredients

Potato Salad

For those readers who were in the winter CSA, do you remember that wonderful Brussels Sprout Relish we got to try? Here's a recipe using it and it is so refreshing!

Red-Skin Potato Salad

•  6 medium red-skin potatoes, washed
• 1 cup olive oil mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp mustard
• 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup brussels sprout relish*
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 hard-boiled eggs*, peeled and diced

Wash potatoes, dice to bite-sized pieces. Place in large Dutch oven andcover with water. Heat to boiling; cook 8-10 minutes to taste.

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, relish, salt and pepper. Add cooked potatoes and hard-boiled eggs; mix well. Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

*CSA ingredients

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English Cut Beef Short Ribs

I have to say that we are definitely getting spoiled with all the beautiful cuts of meat we get through our CSA shares.  For two weeks running, I purchased beef short ribs and they were beautiful and lean.  So, when I traveled to Troy today, I brought them with me.  When I got here, I threw them in John's crockpot using my favorite Southwest Short Ribs recipe:

Slow-cooked Southwest Short Ribs

• 3 lbs English-cut Beef Short Ribs*
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes w/ chiles
• 1 15-oz jar medium salsa (you may use mild or hot to taste as well)
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 jar water

Place ribs into crock of Slow-cooker.  In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients.  Pour mixture over ribs.  Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours.  Makes 6 servings (2 bones each).  Sauce may be served over rice, quinoa or orzo. 

*CSA ingredients

I serve this with Seeds of Change Quinoa with Brown rice.  It is available at Costco and is ready in 90 seconds (microwave).  Each packet serves 2.