recipes

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Warm Tabouli Salad

January 20, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 12 comments

As is the case with many healthy eaters, salads make up a large part of my diet. I have been known to have salads, with various veggie, bean, meat, and cheese toppings twice a day. But as I know many of you have found, eating salads in the winter is more difficult due to lack of local produce and salad’s general lack of warmth and comfort. Since we had yet another snow day this week, I decided to make a hearty lunch salad for my husband, who had spent over three hours in the car trying to get to his office, only to end up turning back home because of the icy roads.

I started by thawing out some frozen yellow and orange carrots from Trader Joe’s. On the particular day I bought these, TJ’s had icky looking produce. I am not sure what was up that day, but nevertheless, I went straight for the freezer.

yellow and orange carrots

The base of the salad was a Near East tabouli bulgur wheat salad mix. I prepared the bulgur wheat and spice packet according to the box directions, then set it aside.

tabbouleh ingredients

image

While the tabouli waited, I diced a small yellow onion and grated several teaspoons of ginger.

cumin

I added a palm full of cumin to the onion and ginger mixture, then sautéed it in olive oil. I added the carrots to the onions in the pan, then tossed in some pre-soaked and partially cooked chickpeas.

chickpeas

When the carrots were warm and the pan sizzling, I added the tabouli mixture along with about 1/4 cup of water, stirred well, and let it all simmer.

warm tabbouleh salad

When everything was well-blended and cooked through, I served up the salad topped with crumbled goat cheese and golden raisins. I am loving these raisins and the sweet punch they bring to dishes with lots of spices.

goat cheese and raisins

As you can imagine, this dish was bursting with different flavors and textures. The hearty bulgur wheat was nice and chewy and provided a great canvas for the other ingredients. While I didn’t make the tabouli mix in a traditional manner, I loved this dish and felt like it really gave me energy which I seem to be lacking these days.

I am starting to feel a serious winter slump. As much as I love the possibilities my new career path could provide, being stuck inside all day with dreadful weather and icy sidewalks is bringing me down.

Any advice for kicking the winter blues?

Tags: carrots, chickpeas, cooking, ginger, health, healthy, healthy eating, recipe, recipe. tabouli, recipes, vegan, Vegetarian, winter cooking, winter recipes, winter salad

Banoffee Pie

January 18, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 27 comments

Have you ever had banoffee pie? A common dessert in Ireland and the UK, it is a terribly simple pie that combines sweet, buttery toffee caramel with bananas, homemade whipped cream, and pie crust. I made it upon request for my friend Raija’s birthday this past Sunday.

The ingredients are simple, about two ripe bananas, a can of sweetened condensed milk, a cup of heavy cream, and either a pre-bought pie crust or a homemade pie crust made from rich digestive cookies or graham crackers.

Unfortunately on Sunday, our neighborhood store didn’t have either digestives or graham crackers, so my husband picked up a chocolate graham cracker pie crust, turning my creation into a chocolate banoffee pie.

banoffee pie ingredients

bananas

While making banoffee pie is simple, it does require a good amount of time. You begin by immersing the condensed milk, can and all, in boiling water, letting it boil and making sure the pot is full, for about two and a half hours.

making toffee

I have done this multiple times, and the can has never exploded, don’t worry. But once the boiling is done, you will want to let the can cool for at least an hour before attempting to open it. Pressure builds up inside, and once, when I pierced the can, I got sprayed with piping hot, sugary toffee. No bueno.

This is what the condensed milk will look like after boiling. If you prefer it a little darker, just boil for a bit longer. This was perfect for me!

condensed milk toffee

Once the toffee is made, simply spoon it into the pie crust and chill for at least three hours. I did not do this on Sunday, and when I put the cream on, the toffee was still a little warm, causing the whipped cream to melt around the edges.

making banoffee pie

Also, wait until the last possible minute to slice and add your bananas to avoid browning. If you are bringing this to a dinner party, as I did, I would make the toffee and pour it into the crust in the morning and wait until the evening to add the bananas and whipped cream.

banoffee pie

I quickly whipped up the heavy cream and then spooned it on to the top of the pie. I didn’t add any sugar to the whipped cream because the toffee base is sweet enough for me. There is nothing quite like homemade whipped cream!

banoffee pie

banoffee pie

My pie was not set up in the fridge for long enough, so it was a little less firm than I would have liked. But it was delicious, and the birthday girl said she liked it Smile.

Tags: bananas, banoffee pie, dessert, easy dessert, no-bake desserts, recipe, recipes, simple recipes, toffee, whipped cream

Baked Potato Bar

January 11, 2011 in Food by traveleatlove | 16 comments

Oh healthy day! If you are like me, you have had your fair share of cookies, cheese, wine, beer, and gravy over the course of the winter so far. And if you are like me, there will probably be some unhealthy “hibernating” food as we get snowed in tomorrow yet again. 

I love to eat creamy soups like the corn and crab chowder I am working on, indulge in cake like the flourless chocolate cake I am making this evening, and taste all sorts of delicious wines, but I only enjoy those things because of a careful balance. Healthy weekday meals are a major part of that balance. While I find my breakfast and lunch usually a little too mundane for blog fodder, I am pretty excited about some of the easy, healthy dinners that we have.

sweet potato

One recent, make ahead meal was a baked sweet potato bar. I knew we were going to be out of the house all day and until about 8 pm without a chance to grab dinner, so the night before I baked two large sweet potatoes all the way through. When dinnertime came, I just popped them in the microwave to heat up.

sweet potato

As you would imagine, baked stuffed potatoes of the regular variety are pretty big in Ireland, where they are called jacket potatoes, and some of my stranger baked potato combinations are actually things I have eaten there. One Galway restaurant I love to visit is called Couch Potatas, a cozy café where you can get potatoes stuffed with everything from curried vegetables to coleslaw, beans, and cheese. For some reason, there is a LOT of coleslaw in Irish cuisine. I generally like it, but it’s a bit much when you order the salad plate and every salad on the dish is covered in mayo. I have learned to ask over the years Smile

On this particular evening, I did decide to make my baked potato with the coleslaw, baked beans, and aged Kerrygold cheddar combination.

I pre-purchased the coleslaw from Market Basket which was a bad idea; it is much better to make this sort of thing on your own.

cole slaw

In my potato, I also used half of a can of vegetarian baked beans and a handful of shredded cheddar.

baked potato bar

I also ended up sneaking in a couple of scoops of homemade hummus, my own very simple blend of chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, and garlic.

hummus

Baked potato bar nights are a favorite in our house because of the versatility of the toppings. From grilled chicken, to vegetarian chili, to tuna melt potatoes, baked potatoes are a fun, quick, and cheap way to get in a healthy meal after a long day.

What are your favorite baked potato toppings or ways to eat potatoes? I have a MAJOR weakness for some good French fries. . .

Tags: dinner, Food, healthy eating, healthy recipes, potatoes, quick recipes, recipes, vegetables, vegetarian recipe

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