Italian Style Quinoa Salad

We've had a warm spell punctuated by a few surprisingly cool days here and there, but the heat makes me crave salads in a big way. I have finally found a way to prepare quinoa, so that my "marito' likes it. Warm savory quinoa, just didn't put put a twinkle in his eye; more like forced feeding and that's no fun. When I made this recently for myself, while he was gone for the day, I discovered later that I had a hard time getting him to share the last of it with me.
This months' theme for the "Heart of the Matter- Eating for Life", is the best of the bounty of June's produce, so with tiny fresh peas and green beans are all over the market at the moment, I knew they needed to be included. My balcony is filling up with my prolific herb containers, not to mention all of the herbs in my little herb patch over by the chickens, so they are a natural component as well. We still are getting some wonderful small tomatoes from Sardinia, but the local "Cuore di Bui", tomatoes, number one choice around here, are starting to make an appearance. If you can find small sweet tomatoes or tart and tangy cherry tomatoes all the better, but just as wonderful with the best tomatoes you can find.
It's a simple interpretation which comes together quickly, reminiscent of the classic middle eastern dish, tabbouleh and sure to satisfy on a hot summers eve.
I'm sending this over to Ilva of Lucullian Delights for HOTM #27 Best of June Produce. You can find out all about this event and many more heart healthy recipes here and a lot of interesting blogs on the round ups as well.

Quinoa Salad
Serves 2

½ c quinoa dry cooked in veggie stock, takes about 15 minutes
green beans, cooked, chopped into 1/2 inch lengths
peas, fresh
2-3 roasted garlic
Tomatoes, tiny cherry
1 T mint, 2 stalks, leaves plucked and chopped or basil if you aren't fond of mint
1 small stalk celery and leaves, chopped
1 T parsley, flat leaf
1 T chives, snipped smal
1 lemon, juiced
2- 4 T olive oil
Salt, good quality, I used pink Himalayan
Pepper

Cook your quinoa in veggie stock for added flavor.
Lightly cook your green beans and peas separately till al dente. I had leftover pencil thin green beans that were a great addition.
While they are cooking, gather and chop all of your herbs.
Juice your lemon into a metal or heat resistant bowl large enough to hold everything.
Toss all your herbs and roasted garlic in.
Add your cooked quinoa, and cooked and drained vegetables while warm and stir to mix. Adding the ingredients warm helps the quinoa absorb the flavors.
Add the oil and season with salt and pepper. Adjust to taste.
Once it has cooled down add your tomatoes.
It's ready to serve now or will hold well over night.
Bring to room temperature or at least to take the chill off.
Adjust seasonings before serving.

Cook's notes
The measurements or approximations and are easily double.
I wished I had made more when I made it as it disappeared quickly.
Delicious as is or on top of a bed of greens.

Red Lentil Crostini / Crostini di Lenticchia Rossa

I am one of those people with great intentions that sometimes comes though on those good intentions. When I saw that that is was the 2nd birthday of the "The Heart of the Matter, Eating for Life" created by Ilva of "Lucullian Delights" and Joanna of 'Joanna's Foods', and later joined by Michelle of "the Acidental Scientist", I knew I wanted to join the party. If you aren't familiar with their sites do go over and check them out. You'll find a wealth of recipes from all the round ups on cooking for a healthy heart and we all know how important that is. There are loads of creative dishes and I dare say you will discover some interesting blogs to boot. Who says eating healthy has to be boring?

One of our guests recently asked for something with pulses for our "Cooking Together" session and it didn't take me long to settle on a recipe for red lentils that I had on hand. Italians are found of the green variety and are eaten liberally during the Christmas and New Years holidays for health and good luck. Red lentils are small and cook up quickly making them a satisfying starter to your meal.

The theme for this HotM is finger food and so this recipe which comes together quickly,and lends itself to many variations or additions, is a simple pate topping with lots of flavor for a crispy crostini. The flavor is very reminiscent of hummus, but no sesame involved what so ever. We topped our crostini with some of our thin dried apple slices, for a fancy yet easy finishing touch. My photography doesn't really do them justice although they are a tasty eye appealing antipasti.
Red Lentil Crostini
Crostini di Lenticchia Rossa

200 g or (1 cup) lentils or red lentils
1-1/2 cup water or vegetable stock
½ carrot diced
1 shallot diced
½ celery stalk diced
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
6 sprigs of Thyme or 1Tb. Dried thyme
3 Tb. Olive oil and a bit more for drizzling
Fresh thyme or parsley for garnishing

Place in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil,
Add a tsp or less of salt.
Lower hear and simmer until soft enough to puree, about 20 minutes or so.
Smash with a potato smasher, kitchen wand or food processor .
Stir until you have a smooth but somewhat lumpy texture.
Add 1- 2 Tb of olive oil
Stir well.
Adjust seasonings if necessary
Cut crusts off the bread, to make toast points from soft bread disks, slices or triangles
Drizzle with a small amount of oil and bake till crispy.

Serve the pate with toast points, bread, crackers and raw veggies
Spread or mound with a scoop the lentil pate on the toasted bread.
Garnish with finely chopped parsley or a sprig of fresh thyme
Sprinkle with paprika or hot pepper if you like a bit of spice.
Arrange on a plate
Drizzle with olive oil.
Wedge a thinly sliced dried apple and fresh thyme sprig on top,
if you have some, for a finishing touch.

Minestrone Soup Remixed (Hot M entry)

When you think soup and healthy, minestrone comes immediately to my mind. It's always a versatile comforting standby for all of it's endless possibilities. In the summer you can use all the booty of your garden and winter it can be an almost completely different soup. Actually, I guess it is every time you make it. My mother in law and I were discussing soup one time and she always says she's making minestra, and I asked about minestrone, and she said that the main difference is that minestra, means small diced ingredients or smooth or broth type soup, where as minestrone meant larger, chunky style of soup. Hummm that is interesting.

I thought that this is a good reminder of small changes one can make in old favorites to increase healthfulness by subtle changes, small steps repeated consistently. I need to remind myself as well. So I offer this post for this months Heart of the Matter, Eating for Life, soup event, co-hosted by Joanna of Joanna's Food, a delightfully helpful ongoing blog about life enhancing cuisine and other aspects of living, and Ilva of Lucullian Delights, whose photography and imaginative cooking is always an indulgent delight.

One doesn't need much direction for making Minestrone Soup
other than a couple of essentials and maybe one secret ingredient.
Can you spot it in the photo?

Round up the usual suspects,
gusti: onion, carrot, celery( the holy trinity),
Add garlic and saute in a dash of olive oil
Add seasonal variables, zucchinis, potatoes, green and wax beans and some type of leafy greens, like beet root
*Winter variation add regular or roman cauliflower, sunchoke (jerusalem), pictured below, or turnips, in place of the beans and zukes
and some favorite herbs, bay leaf and mixed Italian herbs, (oregano, basil, sage, marjoram, thyme, rosemary).
Add some fresh or tinned tomatoes and enough water or low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

Normally minestrone has a few beans and pasta tubes.
To keep with a healthier version, you might consider adding some of the gluten free varieties of pasta which are made without eggs in the pasta. I find the rice penne holds up nicely in the soup and makes a tasty change.

I added fresh borlotti beans that I had stashed in the freezer from the autumn.

So now for the secret ingredient, which may of course be deemed optional...

A small piece of a parmigiana heel (or some type of hard cheese, our local variety is Grana Padano) added to the soup for that little intangible additional complexity of flavor.

Those of us lucky enough to be able to purchase fresh chunks out of the wheel usually have part of the dried outer crust left after grating as closely as you dare and end up with a super dry heel. Added to the soup when cooking it is sometimes referred to as the cooks reward.
So if you can allow yourself a little treat it's a delicious surprise at the bottom of your bowl or can be discarded or not used at all depending on your preference, especially if you're avoiding dairy altogether. Anyway you try it Minestrone is a welcome offering.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

It's snowing today which is a welcome change, so as they say, "it's beginning to look a lot like............. well, I imagine you can probably fill in the rest.
My contribution to a the monthly event called "The Heart of the Matter", is a creamy comforting Tuscan Cannelini Bean Soup. Ilva of the always visual and gustatory appealing site "Lucullian Delights" is one of the co founders and hosts of this months Quick and Easy theme. I noticed not too long ago, that Ilva made a similar soup, but I'm going to pass this on over to her anyway as beans are always a nutritious low fat choice and tasty too. Growing up in the quasi "south" of the US, white beans and ham hocks with greens and cornbread, were one of our family standards. I have to say I wasn't all that fond of the beans as a kid, but as my taste buds grew up, I grew to love beans as well. This Tuscan staple was a nice twist on a familiar food. The Tuscans have a reputation as being thrifty, "bean eaters" and their elimination of the ham bones and sparing use of olive oil makes it a tasty heart healthy choice. The addition of stale or toasted bread rubbed with fresh garlic lurking at the bottom of your bowl makes this hearty soup a wonderful warmer upper.

If you plan ahead, soak your cannellini beans overnight, drain off the water the next day, add fresh cold water , herbs, onions and garlic and cook till soft. Or......... If you are like me when you think that you want to have bean soup, you want it now and didn't think to soak the beans over night. No worries, this soup works whether you you plan ahead or not. I have made this soup in all of it's different planning stages and it comes out tasty all the different ways. I would say that the overnight soak is the tastiest, but using precooked tinned beans or the 1 hour soak in hot water, drain and cook in fresh water in a pressure cooker for about 1/2 an hour method is quite tasty also . The trick is to make sure you season up your beans, which ever variety you use and finish off with the garlic rubbed toasted bread and a small drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top is a nice touch but you can definitely get by without it if you want to really limit your fat intake, or a few drops just to add a nice little dimension. Not in the normal Tuscan recipe, but sometimes I like a squeeze of lemon for an added zing or a few passes of the Grana Padano over the top for variations.

What you'll need for 4 or so servings. This recipe is easily doubled

2 cups dry cannellini beans, soaked over night
or soaked in hot water for an hour as discussed above or
2 large cans cooked cannellini beans, drained if you like

1 Tb olive oil more for garnish
1 medium onion, small chop
2 garlic cloves for the soup
2 large bay leaves
1 small twig of rosemary
a few fresh sage leaves

stale bread slices or lightly toasted, at least one per person per serving
1-2 fresh garlic , generously and firmly rubbed across the surface of the bread

In your soup pot or pressure cooker, saute your onions and garlic gently in the olive oil, being careful not to pick up any color, just to soften. Add your herbs, stir and add your beans. Add enough fresh water to cover and a bit more. Simmer till beans are soft, about an hour regular or less for the pressure cooker and canned beans. Remove the rosemary stem, bay leaves and sage leaves if they are large. Season with a small amount of salt and pepper, or low salt vegetable cubes if you like. Blenderize with a kitchen wand till smooth. Adjust seasonings. If you think you have too much water, drain some off and reserve and add as needed to make a creamy texture. Too dry, add more hot water to make a creamy soup but not too thick. If you don't have the kitchen wand then its into the blender or food processor. Serve immediately. If your soup cools down too much you an reheat it, just watch closely as it can scorch easily.

Place your prepared garlic toast one per bowl and cover in soup. Garnish with grated hard cheese if you like, chopped parsley for color, fresh cracked pepper and a drizzle of fruity olive oil over the top. Allow the soup to soften the bread some, if you use a crusty multi grained bread like I do sometimes. While the beans are soaking or simmering, enjoy a brisk walk in the snow knowing that you have a cozy soup waiting for you back home.

Heart of the Matter Offering........."Fennel Beetroot Salad"

Let's see if I can actually get this post done correctly today. I inadvertently posted the pictures before I was ready. So take two.
I am finally making my first addition of a recipe on my observations and celebration of all things Val Chisone and Italy in general from my beautiful view at our mountain "baita." I have been encouraged, asked, inspired and very resistant to doing just that for a variety of reasons. First, my "tesoro" also known as my "marito", is of the Italian mentality that if we share our recipes no one will come for our cooking classes, but I say a recipe is a recipe and only as good as the cook. Taking a cooking seminar can bring it all to life and there's nothing like a bit of hands on guidance to build confidence in a sociable atmosphere, but I digress.
My main reason for not wanting to become a food blogger was that there are so many others out there doing such a fantastic job, and I am not good about defining my cuisine in a staid recipe. I love cookbooks, well written recipes, inspiring photography, and informative and personal stories surrounding food, but being defined by a recipe I find daunting(or maybe it's just being defined). I have always used recipes as a basic framework from which to either follow them to a tee or to make as many different variations. as suits me. Having lived in different countries, altitudes and settings for wild variations in numbers of people to prepare for, I find it challenging to define which measurements to use as I know many of you out there use different measurements also. I'm a wing it kind of cook most times. So I will try to be consistent in my use of measurements, but bear with me if I mix my measurements. Feel free to adjust everything to your taste, as I'm sure you will and we'll see how this goes. I didn't start a blog to become a food blogger, in fact I didn't even know what that was till I stumbled upon Cream Puffs in Venice and Lucullian Delights last year in my search for a recipe and started to discover all the interesting people out there going on and on about food and everything else too. Ilva of Lucullian Delights has been co hosting an event called "The Heart of the Matter" started by both Ilva and Joanna of Joanna's Foods . Back in January I dared myself to 5 things to accomplish this year. So with this humble but refreshing Fennel Beetroot Salad recipe, I am accomplishing a few things on my "to do list". I hope you will enjoy it and make it with many variations. I started this salad out with fennel and orange, then it was fennel and apple and then I got around to the addition of the smoky roasted beets that are found in abundance in our markets, especially in the autumn, but make their reappearance in the spring as well. Balsamic vinegar is a wonderful flavor, but will darken the fennel even more than the addition of the beets, so if you prefer a less muddied look to the salad you might want to use a light colored vinegar. Mint isn't every ones favorite, but I think it adds a nice perk to the salad in moderation, but is just fine with the parsley only. So enjoy, and know that this salad is not only tasty but a heart healthy addition to your meal.

Fennel Beetroot Salad

½-1-fennel bulb
1 large or 2 medium, beetroots, roasted or boiled till soft, peeled
2 oranges, red or blood oranges as they are called in the US

Vinaigrette
I use about a 1/1 oil vinegar mix and tame the tartness with about
2 times as much fruit juice, so you can adjust your measurement to your taste.
¼ cup olive oil, a fruity flavorful one is best
¼ cup balsamic or herbal vinegar
½ cup orange, apple or apricot juice
4 Tb mint, chopped (optional) and/or
4 Tb flat parsley, chopped
Salt to taste

Method
➢ Cut the fennel bulb down the middle from top to bottom.
➢ Using a slicer or mandolin if you have one
If not, slice the fennel as thinly as you are able with a knife starting from the base end.
➢ Slice the beets into thick rounds and then into long matchsticks, depending on the size of the beets.
➢ Cut the peel and white lining from the oranges with a knife, leaving an intact orange.
➢ Cut each segment free from the inner skin until you have all the all the segments and give your left over skin a squeeze to retain all the fruit juice.
➢ Whisk all your vinaigrette ingredients together.
➢ Pour over the fennel and mix thoroughly to coat all.
➢ Add the beets and oranges and gently mix.
➢ Let the salad mixture sit for at least ½ hour to allow the flavors to infuse the vegetables. Serve cold or room temperature.