Emily's Stuffed Eggplant

Inspired by my February outing to Anatolia Turkish Restaurant in Nashville, I've been making a fair number of eggplant dishes lately. Anytime I see them dip below $1.99 a piece, I snag a few of these purple beauties for stuffed eggplant. My version of the dish is less saucy than Anatolia's. Plus ground turkey or chicken sub in for the cubed lamb and I added some mozzerella to the top to weld it all together.

If you'd like to try it:

1. Halve eggplants and slather in olive oil before placing cut-side down on a large baking sheet. I use a jelly roll pan lined with oiled foil. Bake at 400 degrees until eggplant is extremely tender and skins are a little shrivelled. (Somewhere around 45 minutes)

2. While eggplants are getting soft, saute your favorite vegetables to go inside, such as bell peppers (any color), mushrooms, zucchini, onion and tomato. (Maybe 2 peppers, 1 cup mushroom, 2 zuch, 2 tomatoes, 1/2 onion.)

3. Next, saute a pound of ground turkey or chicken with onion powder, garlic powder, oregano and a dash of cumin. Add fresh chopped onion and garlic and salt to taste. All the seasonings are to taste. You can't really overdo it with any of them except the salt, in my opinion.

4. Blend the tender vegetables with the cooked ground meat in a bowl.

5. Take eggplant out of the oven and flip each half over. Scoop the vegetable and meat mixture over each half and top with a generous sprinkling of shredded mozzerella.

6. Return to oven and cook until cheese has melted or slightly browned.

This recipe makes enough for two or three eggplants-- so four to six servings-- depending on the size of the eggplants and how many veggies you cook and whether you like to have still crisp veggies or completely soft veggies. For this dish, I like everything to be uniformly mushy :) It's the ultimate vegetable-rich comfort food.

Another note: When selecting eggplant, I find it's best to choose slender fruits rather than the seedier bulbous ones. If you do get a lot of seeds, you can scoop some of it out after the first baking and before you stuff them with filling.

Emily's Awesome Peanut Noodles

 

 

These noodles are not in any way authentic. It's my version of a Thai peanut noodle dish... except I've borrowed elements of Vietnamese and Japanese food to make it. So... fusion peanut noodles.

 

Noodles (mix all this together):
1/2 box (1/2 lb) angel hair or thin spaghetti, cooked al dente, drained
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup watered down vinegar-- about 1 part vinegar, 3 parts water
about 3 Tbs sugar
4 cloves minced garlic
soy sauce maybe 3 Tbs

Sorry, I never measure anything :( Just taste it and add more of whatever flavor you're missing. If it's too sour, add more PB and sugar. Too bland, add more garlic or vinegar or soy. Too salty? Don't worry because you're going to be adding a bunch of stuff to the noodles.

 

Toppings:

• Eggs: Beat three eggs with rice vinegar, sugar and salt to taste. About 1 Tbs vinegar, 1 Tbs sugar, dash salt. Cook this mixture like an omelet, then slice into strips. Or just scramble the eggs.
• Fresh pickles: Thinly slice 1 cucumber and marinate for an hour in vinegar, sugar and water.
• Shredded Cabbage: Just shred maybe 1/2 cup or more depending on how much you like cabbage.
• Chicken: Bake three small chicken breast halves, seasoned with salt and pepper. Let cool and shred.
• Green onion: Chop finely.

Makes 4 big bowls.

 

Eat warm, room temp or cold! Tastes good the next day too :)

Plantains

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that Stephen grabbed some plaintains and other goodies at the Indian grocery store in Chattanooga. We actually did buy them, but they didn't ripen until a couple of days ago.

I was worn out from round two of bagel boiling, so Joe decided to make this dessert from a recipe he found on the food network. I don't remember it exactly-- but it involved 2 plantains, butter, sugar and cinnamon. It was delish!

Boiled, not fried

You know how all those cracker and snack labels now make a point of saying the product is "baked, not fried"? If not, just ignore my post title.

I remember once getting into an argument with someone about bagels. I had heard they were boiled before being baked and so I said so. The other person--whom I'm not naming because I truly can't remember who it was--insisted I was crazy for thinking bagels were boiled instead of baked.

Anyhow. They are boiled. And then baked. And I made two batches in the last couple of days!

My dear friend, Kai, is moving to Turkey in a couple of months. For her going-away brunch, I wanted to make something that I'm assuming she won't find in Urgup or whatever little place she and her family of 6 endeavor to go. Also, Kai, is one of those special people for whom it's not unusual to drop in on and find a homemade crusty loaf of French bread sitting plateless on her kitchen table next to a vase of fresh flowers or a blooming dogwood branch. That's Kai.

So, I was inspired to take a turn kneading the dough to honor her... and so I could enjoy some hot chewy-chocolatey goodness myself.

 To make these bagels, I followed a recipe in my beloved Mennonite cookbook that isn't sold anywhere I could find online, and therefore, cannot be linked :(. The recipe calls for:

3 cups flour
1 T yeast
2 T sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Any toppings or mix-ins desired

Proof the yeast in the water with the sugar. Once it's frothy, add the dry ingredients and mix well. Then knead on floured surface for 10 minutes. Let the dough rise for 40 minutes. Then, divide into 8 balls, poke holes with your finger and twirl them on the counter to enlarge the hole. Let the bagels rise for another 20 minutes while getting a big pot of boiling water going and your oven heated to 400 degrees. Boil in batches of 2 or 3 for a "couple of minutes," flipping once. Transfer boiled bagels to a greased cookie sheet and back for 15 minutes until golden.

 The first time I tried this, I pretty much followed the recipe. I added cranberries to four bagels and mini chocolate chips to the other four. They turned out a little lighter and fluffier than most bagels, probably because I made them on a nice warm, dry, draftless day. Yeast; you know how moody those little critters can be. It's like they have Seasonal Affective Disorder. I liked the results, but I found that much of my mix-ins popped off in the water while boiling. So the second time I made the bagels, I made some changes:

First, I skipped the cranberries, and just went for the chocolate, which I mixed in before letting the dough rise the first time. Next, I made 16 bagels instead of 8. Also, the weather wasn't as nice. In fact, the weather was everything it shouldn't be when you do yeast baking: Windy, wet and overcast. I tried to warm up my kitchen by turning on the oven early, but the bagels just didn't rise as much as the previous batch. Another change I made was that I dipped the boiled bagels in cornmeal before putting them on my cookie sheet, because even though the first sheet was generously greased, the bagels were cemented on there! The mini bagels were chewier and had a more marbled chocolate effect because some of the chips melted as I kneaded the dough. They were also quite a bit uglier because they lacked the smooth surface of their predecessors. I think when I make them again for Saturday's brunch, I'll still stick with mini bagels, but I will let them rise longer after the bagels are formed. Also, I think I'll sprinkle the cookie sheet with the corn meal, as it really helped with the sticking.

Singapore noodles

Another clean-out-the-fridge-and-freezer meal: Singapore noodles.

My version of this dish started with some rice vermicelli soaked in hot water for a few minutes. Then, I sauteed sliced onion, garlic, shredded cabbage and some korean fish cake sheets in oil and curry powder. Once that was all soft and fragrant, I transferred it to a bowl and added shrimp and frozen peas to the pan with some more curry and salt. I only cooked those until they were heated through... I don't like my peas to get mealy or my shrimp to get chewy! To prevent either of those things from messing up my dinner, I took them out of the pan and put the noodles in with the original veggies. I think I could have saved myself some trouble by starting with the shrimp and peas, but my brain doesn't always work like that! Anyhow the whole thing gets stir-fried with a little soy sauce until the noodles are transluscent. Add shrimp and peas back in and give it a quick stir, then transfer to a bowl and top with fresh cilantro.

Cantaloupe Cookies

It all started with a 99-cent cantaloupe from Aldi. It smelled good; it looked good. It did not get along with pregnant digestive track. I was burping cantaloupe all day two days ago. Because Joe isn't fond of the orange melon, and Stephen also tried and rejected it, I decided I would need to transform it into something else. My mom got me a copy of Gourmet's Cookie Book for Christmas, and I've been getting inspired before bed several nights now. (Even Stephen likes to look at it with me. He'll say: "How 'bout we read the cookie book?") What about cantaloupe cookies? I thought either a thumbprint or kolachky or bar cookie might work. Recipes for cantaloupe quick bread and cake abound on the Internet, but I couldn't find any cookie recipes. So this morning I decided to chop the thing up into tiny bits and cook them over medium with a big mound of sugar and a big shake of cardamom and a little tiny shake of ginger powder. I also added the zest of one lemon. Surprisingly, it turned into a very thick jam. I guess cantaloupe has a lot of natural pectin? I made a bar cookie base of a cup flour, 1/3 cup butter, some sliced almonds and a 1/4 cup instant oats, which I pressed into a square dish and baked for 18ish minutes until it was very lightly browned. I spread the cantaloupe mixture over that and then beat 2 eggs, the juice of one lemon and 3/4 cup sugar and 2 Tbs flour in a bowl and poured it over everything. It baked at 350 for maybe 20 minutes and came out like....

Not terribly pretty in my estimation, but pretty good for a completely experimental cookie. It's intensely lemony and sweet and rich and gooey. I'm pretty sure they need to be refrigerated. I think I could have upped the cardamom and ginger to give it a more obvious exotic flavor.

September cooking

I do still cook. Not as much as I'd like, but even the busyness of two jobs and motherhood doesn't keep me out of the kitchen for long. I've been holding on to these photos for a while now...
Spinach quiche with homemade oil crust. I followed a recipe that called for milk in the crust. I don't think I've got the touch to make a flaky oil crust, but it did taste good. Stephen was crazy about this stuff. I made two pies, and he pretty much ate half of one by himself.
A simple chickpea salad with cucumber, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, onion and tomato. I love chickpeas in most forms, so I liked this dish as well.
Coconut veggie curry. I took a can of coconut milk, some chinese curry powder, garlic powder, splash of fish sauce, juice of a lime, salt, a little sugar, canned carrots, broccoli and cabbage and simmered it all until tender. I served it over some Vietnamese noodles. A few weeks later I tried the same thing but used sweet potato, white potato, cauliflower and broccoli and served it over rice.

Another use for cake mix

Chocolate chip banana craisin muffins
1 box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
3 mashed bananas
1/2 cup mini chips
handfull of craisins

Spoon into muffin tin, cook until set at 350 degrees.

These came out pretty good. I had to restrain myself from eating more than one on a full stomach.

Turkey salad sandwich

I mentioned in a previous post that I made turkey soup with the meat and bones leftover from Thanksgiving. But I didn't use all the turkey bits that my mom so painstakingly pulled from the bones. Last night I chopped the meat and mixed it with a dollop of cranberry sauce, splashes of vinaigrette dressing, a big squirt grey poupon extra creamy mustard, and some minced red onion. I'm sorry I never like to measure things... Then I put fresh spinach on some baguette rounds, a scoop of the turkey salad, a slice of golden delicious and a sprig of dill (I bought two packs when I was preparing for the previous recipe.) Came out pretty tasty. I had about 6 of them for dinner last night.

Perciatelli with spicy dill anchovy breadcrumbs

Made this recipe out of last April's Gourmet magazine.

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 cups fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped dill
1 lb red onions, thinly sliced
1 (2-oz) can flat anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
1 lb perciatelli pasta (long tubular strands)
1/2 tsp dried hot pepper flakes

This recipe got my attention because I LOVE fresh dill. I could just eat bouquets of the stuff. (TANGENT: Every year I try to grow it in my container garden and on my window sill. And every year those cursed pots produce gangly, yellowed stalks with nary a feathery frond for me to munch. This time, I got some luscious and overpriced organic dill from Kroger.) Also, I've never made anything with anchovy fillets. Nor have I made many Italian recipes without tomatoes.

The magazine says to: Heat 1/4 cup oil in skillet, and stir breadcrumbs 'til crunchy and golden. Then toss with chopped dill, salt and pepper.
Wipe skillet, cook onions, salt in remaining 1/2 cup oil until very soft. Then add anchovies and mash into onions until "dissolved" (I never heard of fish dissolving before, but OK.)
Meanwhile, cook pasta in 5 quarts water salted wit 2 Tbs salt. (yeah, really salty!)
Drain pasta, stir pepper flakes and 1/2 cup reserved pasta water into anchovy mixture and toss with pasta. Stir in half the breadcrumbs and pile the rest on top.

I felt like this recipe had a little too much oil. Even though I used a non-teflon skillet, I think I could have cut the oil by half or a third. Plus all the excess made the anchovy sauce slip off the noodles and to the bottom of the bowl. I also thought it was a little salty, but that's just my personal taste. I think I would have upped the onions and I did up the dill to a half cup. Though the crumbs were soggy, the next day's leftovers seemed to be more flavorful.

Don't try this at home

Or anywhere.

Avocado Kiwi Muffins...
It seemed like a pretty inspired thing when I thought of it in the shower. We had two avocados about to walk away, and three kiwis forgotten in the crisper. Both are exotic green fruits... one is rich and fatty, the other sweet and tangy.
Anyhow, if I had added more sugar and flour, I think it might have worked. But the sign that these are truly a failure is that we still have most of them sitting in a bag on the counter. Usually Joe and I polish off a dozen muffins in a day or two.

Avocado Kiwi Muffins
1 cup flour (should have used 1/2 cup more)
2 very ripe kiwis, mashed
1 avocado, mashed
1/3 cup sugar (should have used more)
3 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 T oil
dash salt
vanilla extract

Mine were done, but dense and gooey inside. Needed more sugar and more flour. Sigh.

Sicillian Pizza

Celebrity chef, world traveler visits Hoptown
John Ashton to host Relish Cooking School and Expo in September
By Emily Parrino, New Era Features Editor
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 12:42 PM CDT

Jon Ashton picked up a bunch of chubby carrots from farmer Patrick Holland’s table at the Founders Square Farmers Market.

“They’ve got character,” he said as some other vegetables caught his eyes, “The tomatoes look so happy, don’t they?”

A celebrity chef originally from Liverpool, England, Ashton has made numerous TV appearances and traveled, cooked and tasted foods from all over Europe and Asia. But he felt right at home in a small-town American farmers market.

“This is more quaint than pushing a shopping cart through a place where every 15 minutes there’s a thunderstorm and the mist comes down on the produce,” he said.

Ashton will be the host at the Relish Cooking School & Expo to be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 at the James E. Bruce Convention Center. The event will feature a variety of food and home related exhibits and hands-on activities. Those who attend will also have the chance to win a $10,000 kitchen makeover from Cayce Mill Supply.

Ashton visited The Kentucky New Era and Hopkinsville recently to scope out the surroundings and prepare for the expo.

“It’s great to bring children to a place like this and have the farmers tell their stories,” Ashton said as he perused the market, “This gentleman retired and began farming, this other gentleman left teaching to become a farmer. Most people don’t follow their passion in life.”

Locally grown food and nutritious eating are among Ashton’s passions. He has a kitchen garden of his own at his Florida home and loves cooking up meals for his neighbors with his homegrown produce.

“It’s addictive, isn’t it, when you start gardening?” Ashton said to Holland. “Now I name all my vegetables. There’s Willie the Watermelon, Elvis Parsley.”

Ashton also agrees with Holland that plants will thrive with some tender words of encouragement. But getting to know his veggies on a first-name basis doesn’t stop Ashton from eating them or sharing the bounty with friends.

“My neighbors are all welcome to my garden,” he said. “My daughter, Mei, will pick herbs and knock at the doors and give them to the neighbors. My goal is to encourage them to eat fresh produce.”

The chef requires no encouragement, he was craving a salad with mint, lemon juice and tomatoes for lunch. He also recommends oven-drying garden tomatoes to intensify their flavor.

“I heat them at 275 degrees with some oil and herbs,” Ashton explained. “It makes a lovely gift for the neighbors. You can use it to make tomato sauce or a tapenade, to spread on sandwiches.”

Full of vitamin C and the anti-oxidant lycopene, the nutrition conscious cook couldn’t praise the tomato enough. Another way to enjoy the tart vegetables is on a thin-crust pizza reminiscent of the snack served in Sicily.

Jon’s Sicilian Pizza Crust

“This is a wet dough, after it has proofed it will be easier to handle,” Ashton says. He believes cooking the crust on a clay stone in an oven that’s been preheating at 500 degrees at least 30 minutes will produce the most authentic results.

3 3/4 cups bread flour, plus additional for rolling out.

1 packet dried yeast

pinch salt

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

2 tablespoon white wine

Fresh Garden topping:

4 ripe tomatoes

1 head garlic

1 small yellow onion

1 cup fresh basil, divided

a few shakes dried oregano

olive oil

Coarsely chop basil, onion, garlic and tomato. Sauté garlic and onions in oil. Once fragrant, add tomatoes and ¼ cup basil and oregano to taste. Cook down until most of the juices have evaporated.

Mix dry ingredients with fingers and make a well in the center. Add wet ingredients and knead. It makes a really sticky dough. Knead for 7 to 10 minutes. Divide dough into four balls. With each ball, push out the dough with the heel of your hand to stretch it. You’ll see the strands of yeast. Then roll out to the thickness of a tortilla. The shape doesn’t need to be perfectly round. Let the dough rounds rest 30 minutes.

Use a dusting of cornmeal on the bottom of each crust to keep them from sticking. Brush the top with oil. Add garlic, salt and pepper, homemade tomato sauce. Cook pizza on the clay stone for 6 minutes. Then bring it back out and add basil, real buffalo mozzarella and reggiano-parmesan. Return to the oven until cheese is melted and basil crispy.

QuickInfo: Jon Ashton

Who: Celebrity chef with a passion for children, healthy eating and locally grown produce

What: Ashton will host the Relish Cooking School & Expo

When: 7 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

Where: James E. Bruce Convention Center

Online: www.jonashton.com

Tickets: $10 general admission or $25 V.I.P. admission which includes cookbook, up-front seating, and pre-show “Meet, Mingle, and Munch” with Jon. A $2 discount applies for New Era subscribers if tickets are purchased at the New Era. Tickets are available at the New Era, Cayce Mill Design Center, the James E. Bruce Convention Center and the Fort Campbell Courier office.

Have a winning recipe?

Some lucky New Era reader could share the stage with celebrity chef Jon Ashton on Sept. 11 during his appearance at the Relish Cooking School and Expo, sponsored by the KNE.

Send us your favorite recipe and, if it’s chosen the winner, Ashton will call the local cook on stage for assistance during his show and the recipe will be distributed to everyone attending the show to be held at the James E. Bruce Convention Center.

Choose whatever category you’d like – appetizer, drink, salad, soup, entrée or dessert.

Many of the recipes will be featured in a special KNE cooking section on Sept. 4.

Send the recipe to KNE reporter Julia Hunter at Box 729, Hopkinsville, KY 42241. Recipes must be received by Aug. 20 and must include the submitter’s name, address and daytime telephone number.

Emily Parrino can be reached at 270-887-3235 or eparrino@kentuckynewera.com.

This week's cooking

Lentil Veggie Soup

1 cup red lentils, soaked and cooked until mushy
1 cup chopped canned green beans
1 plum tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp tandoori masala
garlic salt to taste

Zucchini Bake from East West Mennonite cookbook

3 big zucchini, grated
1 cup mozzarella
2 eggs
2 Tbs flour
1 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper
Baked at 350 til browned and firm

Couscous with pinenuts from a box!


Spicy Spinach Chicken - another Mennonite recipe

It's really great to have a cookbook with Indian and Bangladeshi recipes along side things like pumpkin cream cheese rolls. The book this recipe came from was written by well-traveled Mennonites who live in Bangladesh.

2 onions, finely chopped
2 Tbs garlic-ginger paste (made by mashing up fresh garlic and ginger)
4 Tbs oil
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cayenne pepper
chili peppers to taste (I skipped em)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 lb spinach, thawed and drained
1 chicken, cut into pieces

Cook the onions in oil until fragrant, then add garlic, ginger and cook a minute. Then add spices and yogurt, cook until oil separates. Add spinach and stir for a few minutes. Then add chicken and stir until chicken is browned. Turn heat to low and cover. Cook until chicken is tender.

I served it with couscous and a side of plain yogurt, remembering how our friends Alina and Satnam always had "Dey" with their spicy meals.

Faux rice cake and eggs

I thought Akemi and Saya were going to come over. They thought I was going to come over. No problem, that just meant we got to eat 2 snacks~!
The first course was dessert: We made "rice cakes" or mochi in Japanese (mwa ji in Chinese) out of milk and cornstarch. Note the absence of rice in that simple ingredient list :-) I found out that you can also make the cakes with soy milk. The toppings are some ground soybean flour (tastes like peanuts)mixed with sugar and some sweet red bean soup. The combination was perfect. And it's pretty healthy. Not much fat or added sugar.

To make:
200 ml milk or silk
2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch

Stir these ingredients together in a saucepan on high heat for a few minutes until it begins to thicken (don't stop stirring.) Take off heat and keep stirring. When it forms sort of a creamy pudding texture, stop stirring and let it cool for a few minutes. For toppings:
3 tablespoons soybean powder (buy it at an asian grocery, it's the color of cornmeal) mixed with 1 teaspoon sugar
or drizzle with honey. Not exactly sure how to make the red bean soup, but I think it just involves boiling some red beans in sugar water then letting it cool down.

I made this dessert again Thursday night after eating at Hananoki with KNE gals. Then Joe and I made it again for lunch Friday. We're hooked!

I don't really need to tell you how to make these, do I?
Boil eggs, dunk in ice bath, peel shells, slice eggs in half. Put yolks in a bowl, whites on a plate or tray. Mix yolks with rice vinegar, sugar, salt, oil, mustard and pickle relish to taste. Sorry, I don't measure things. Mixture should be fluffy, so add more liquids like pickle juice or oil to fluff if it still seems cakey. Scoop mixture back into whites and sprinkle paprika and dillweed on tops.

Ugliest dessert ever

Remember our pet cushaw? It had a red sticker with a recipe on it... and after cooking the giant gourd Saturday night, we decided to try it out. The result was an extremely ugly custard that tasted like a lighter and more spiced version of pumpkin pie filling. Joe really liked it. In fact I think he ate most of it while it was still cooling on the stove top.

Recipe for Cushaw Squash:
2 cups cooked squash
1 1/2 cups milk (could have used less)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix everything together. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce to 350 and cook until set. Let it cool before serving. Or don't.

Italian wedding soup

Sorry this is not a very pretty picture, but it is a very tasty soup that's easy to make. Here's my version of the recipe

Italian Wedding Soup
Meatballs:
1 lb lean gound beef
1/2 lb ground chicken
1/4 cup italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 tsp dried oregano
Mix ingredients well then shape into tiny meatballs. (It will make A LOT of meatballs)
Meanwhile, bring 3 cans chicken broth and 2 quarts water to a boil. Drop meatballs into the boiling broth in batches of about 12-15 at a time. When they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

After cooking all the meatballs, add one block of frozen spinach and 1/4 cup finely chopped onion to the soup. When the spinach is thawed, add 1/2 cup orzo pasta and cook 6 minutes or until tender. Then beat one egg with 1 teaspoon parmesan cheese. Drip the mixture into the boiling soup while stiring. Turn off heat and add the meatballs.

Serve hot with crusty bread.

Phyllo phun

This all started out with me hoping to replicate the curry puffs that Joe likes so much at the Thai Smile restaurant in Frankfort. It ended a dozen flaky triangular snacks later with me not really replicating anything, but using up lots of leftover things from the refrigerator and freezer. Like spinach. And goat cheese.



My version of the curry puff:
1/6 package of phyllo sheets (cut stack long-ways into three strips)
1 medium sweet potato, cooked til tender
1/4 cup very finely chopped cooked chicken breast (it was marinated and seasoned)
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp canola oil
a little water

Mash everything together in a bowl. Coat three sheets of phyllo with oil, then stack them. Put a spoonful of potato mixture at one corner, then fold into a triangular shape. (I'm sorry, but I'm too tired to try to explain how this is done. But I think you understand.)

Brush with a bit more oil, repeat until sweet potato mixture is gone, then place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 til golden brown.

Spinach filling:
1 cup frozen spinach (squeeze out excess water)
3 Tbs toasted sliced almonds
2 Tbs goat cheese (I'm guessing feta would have been better)
3 spring onions, sliced and sauteed briefly.
salt and pepper to taste. (Lemon juice or vinegar would have been good)

Koula's chicken gyros

Joe found this recipe at Allrecipes.com when were were living in Taiwan. It's a recipe that we actually follow nearly exactly.

Koula's Gyros
3 chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch strips
2 Tbs ketchup
2 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp mustard powder
1 1/2 tsps curry powder
4 pitas, halved and toasted
salad greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, plain yogurt if you like

Place chicken strips in a single layer in a glass baking dish. Mix together the ketchup, oil, vinegar, and spices. Slather it onto your chicken... you might want to double or even triple the sauce recipe depending on the size of your chicken breasts. The more sauce the better, in my opinion. Let stand while you preheat your broiler. Broil for 10-15 minutes.

Stuff pita pockets with greens, chicken and veggies. Top with plain yogurt (or don't if you're like us)

Mennonite pasta salad

I brought this salad, adapted from my Mennonite cookbook, to Katie and Mike's shower Sunday. Notice, there's no mayo :-)

Colorful Pasta Salad
7 oz. pasta, cooked (I used gemeli)
1 cup grilled chicken, cubed
1 cup shredded parmesan
1/4 cup olives, sliced
1/4 cup sliced onion
1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks
1 segment red bell pepper, sliced
1/4 cup basil leaves
2 roma tomatoes, diced

Dressing
8 Tbs oil
6 Tbs vinegar
1 Tbs sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. basil (I used fresh)
1 tsp oregano (also from the backyard)
salt and pepper

Frittata first attempt

I've been busy with non-cooking tasks... so a quick meal was in order. Since I bought my cast iron skillet, I've been wanting to make a frittata, which begins on the range, and finishes in the oven.

Here's a loose recipe:
Saute 2 cloves chopped garlic, 3 Tbs onion, 1/4 cup red bell pepper, 3/4 cup frozen spinach, and 1/2 cup cauliflower florets in some vegetable oil until tender.
Beat 6 eggs with some pepper and garlic salt, then pour over the veggies in the skillet. Prod at it a bit to let the runny parts run under the cooked parts. When it starts to look somewhat set, shake some parmesan on top, then transfer to a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or so. (Until knife comes out clean.) Slice and eat... with ketchup if you're like me.