A Mexican Calabacita Adventure

1½-3 calabacita squash

1c chopped celery & tops

¼ lg. white onion with top

1-2t Penzey's Shallot Pepper

1-2T extra virgin olive oil

¼-⅓c dry white wine

½c mild Ajvar

1-2 cans drained corn

rest of the onion - diced

3 lg. cloves garlic - sliced

1 lg. 20 oz. beefsteak tomato

Doya know by now. . .that I love grocery shopping? 😀 Especially in ethnic markets where there are strange and wonderful vegetables, fruit, beans, meat and even breads that I bring home, then Google for information!  After my recent trip to the Chicago suburbs, I'm really loving all my wonderful finds from one amazing European market in Darien, IL and Farmer's Best Market in Northlake, IL.  These food treasures temporarily give great dimension to my cooking and food choices.  If I discover something I really love, it's often available to purchase and have shipped online! 😀 This morning I had a Food Adventure Breakfast using wonderful finds from my ethnic market shopping: 1 small, heavy piece of dark Lithuanian Juoda Duona bread, with sunflower seeds.  Spread with a little goose liver pate,' a thin slice of onion, topped with mashed avocado and shallot pepper seasoning 😋 Oh my. . .

Ahhh, back to this recipe. . .scrub, then cut the squash lengthwise, into quarters into a big heavy pot.  (calabacita means 'little squash' in Spanish. . .They're grown primarily in the southwest and Mexico and are very similar to zucchini)  Add the celery and a little of the onion, finely chopped with a couple tablespoons of good quality extra virgin olive oil, seasonings and ¼c of dry white wine.  Simmer on med. - high heat for about 15 minutes until the celery and squash are a bit translucent.  Add the remaining ingredients, stir, cover and simmer   Top with grated or cubed Kefalotyri cheese, if you have access to a European market.  This is a hard, Greek cheese usually made from a mix of sheep and goat's milk.  This particular brand, Kalios, uses cow's milk, and it's great.  Not as salty as Italian and French hard cheeses.

Ahhh, fun-adventurous cooking. . .with unusual, found treasures. . .
Definitely My Thing. . .Lin

Beets Greens and Grains with Feta

a bunch of beets and their greens

¾ chopped walnuts

1-2T butter

1c of quinoa blend*

2c cold filtered water

2±T BTB soup base in cooking water

1 lg. leek - sliced

crumbled feta cheese

Pick a bunch of healthy looking beets with good tops.  Cut off the tops, at the base of the stems, set aside the stems and tops.  Scrub the beets, don't peel them, but cut off any bad areas.  Slice and wash the greens and stems in your salad spinner.  (You do have one right?  If not I recommend the Progressive brand spinner sold for under $10 at Walmart - excellent!)  

In a 2-3 quart pot, dry toast the walnuts.  When their nutty scent is released and they're lightly browned, remove from the heat.  After this cools just a bit, add the grains and butter.  *I decided against the sorghum in the original picture and used the quinoa, millet and buckwheat shown here.  Stir this together, turn on the heat and add water, a little at a time for a few minutes.  Add the remaining water and soup base.  Cook this about 8 minutes before adding the leek slices.  Simmer over low heat until all the water is absorbed.

Okay, back to the beets!  While the grains are simmering, cut the beets into ½" cubes and simmer, in a little water, in a covered pan, until they start to soften.  Add the chopped-sliced stems and greens and simmer, covered.  When the beets and stems are tender, drain the liquid.  (Use this later for a dark soup base, or give it to your dogs with their dry food!)

Combine the beets, greens and the grain mixture in a casserole dish.  Top with crumbled feta cheese.  Cover until the cheese melts a bit.  This is a great vegetarian main dish, or as a side to meat, chicken or fish.  

Remember, food that goes down red, often comes out red!

This is caused by betanin, in purple-red beets  which is similar to the beta carotene, responsible for the orange color in carrots.  If this happens. . .don't be alarmed. 😉 Lin

Mushroom Risotto With Vegetables

I had a recipe forming in my mind, for a quinoa-vegetable casserole, in the grocery store. . .then saw this risotto mix! 😋 I've never made risotto from scratch, so I decided a boxed "cheat" would be okay for a first attempt.

I made this separately from the vegetables, and it tasted really good just by following the package instructions, and eliminating the two ingredients recommended after cooking.  Since the rice, beans and kale would absorb some of that flavor, as well as impart their own, I decided to season it a bit more than I normally would, sticking with the mushroom-truffle flavor palette.  

1 pkg. Italia Truffle Risotto

- make according to directions

1T mushroom BTB soup base

¼c Italia truffle Alfredo sauce

2T truffle oil - add at the end

1# green beans - 1" slices

⅓ lg. orange pepper-sliced

1 sm.-med. onion-chopped

5 cloves garlic-sliced

½t black and red pepper

1-2T butter

¼ lg. pkg. of kale - sliced

Make risotto in a 2qt. pot, eliminating the butter and cheese recommended on the box.  When rice is al dente', remove from heat and add the next 3 ingredients and cover and set aside.  Meanwhile, simmer the beans in a 3qt. pot, in a little water, covered, until they're just tender.  In another pot or pan, combine the first 3 vegetables, seasoning and butter.  Saute' until barely tender.  Add a little water and the kale.  Cover and continue to simmer-steam another 5-8 minutes or so.  Combine these with the beans, then gently stir in the rice.

Transfer to a covered casserole dish.  Serve as a vegetarian main dish, or as a side to steamed fish or chicken.  Cut a lemon wedge as a garnish for each serving.  When a dish has this much richness, the acid in lemon juice cuts that, and balances everything nicely. . .Lin