Spring Vegetable-Mushroom-Tarragon Frittata Bites

When my work started recruiting for a "Top Chef"- style competition at the office, I might have gotten a little too excited. Especially when they announced that the "secret ingredient" was leafy greens!

I'd already decided to do an appetizer just because they're so easy to share, and since the goal was to encourage people to eat more vegetarian foods, I decided to make my dish vegetarian and dairy-free.

That was a hard decision to stick with after I decided to make the below Frittata Bites, because I knew I could kill it if I added prosciutto and goat cheese. Instead I included those in the end as optional add-ins, making this dish not only vegetarian, but also GF and DF! Pretentious? Perhaps ... but also inclusive while still being tasty!

Spring Vegetable-Mushroom-Tarragon Frittata Bites with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Coulis
Makes about 40 Frittata Bites (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

Ingredients:

For the Coulis:
2 red bell peppers
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Frittata:
1 bunch Tuscan kale or other leafy green, tough stems removed
3 teaspoon sea salt, divided
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for muffin tin
1 leek, white and light green parts thoroughly rinsed and chopped
1 pound mushrooms, diced
¼ teaspoon pepper
8 eggs
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped and separated

Directions:

For the Coulis:
Roast peppers (I cut them in half, discard seeds and stem, then broil skin-side up until the skin is completely black – or turn until charred all over on a grill or gas stove), then place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until cool enough to handle, at least 15 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium high. Add olive oil, then cook shallots until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to food processor. Once peppers are cool enough to handle, peel and discard skin. Add to food processor, along with sherry vinegar. Blend until smooth, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Set aside or refrigerate while you prepare the Frittata.

For the Frittata:
Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease mini muffin tin with olive oil.

Heat a large pot with 1 inch of water to boiling; add 2 teaspoons sea salt and stir in kale until just slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Remove to bowl of cold water to stop cooking. Squeeze kale dry, then chop.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high (I used the same one that I cooked the shallots in for the Coulis). Add olive oil, then cook leeks until wilted but not brown, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have lost their liquid and begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, stir in kale, then transfer to a bowl to cool.

Once vegetable mixture has cooled for at least 10 minutes, stir in eggs and 2 tablespoons tarragon. Spoon mixture into muffin tin, filling almost to the brim. (If you only have one muffin tin, refrigerate Frittata mixture while first batch is cooking. If you use two muffin tins, rotate racks halfway through baking time.)

Bake for 20 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to rest for 5 minutes. Gently lift frittata bites to cooling rack, then serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Coulis and remaining 1 tablespoon tarragon.

Optional non-vegetarian and dairyful add-ins:

2 oz. prosciutto, chopped
Before cooking leeks, saute prosciutto in olive oil until crispy, about 2 minutes; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Fold in with eggs and tarragon before cooking frittata.

½ cup goat cheese, crumbled
Fold in with eggs and tarragon before cooking frittata.

Red Curry Pasta with Butternut Squash, Ground Pork and Roasted Garbanzos

I've been on a ground pork kick the last couple of weeks after experimenting with substituting half of the ground beef with ground pork in my current go-to chili, Smoky Beef-and-Bacon Chili. The result? Moist and flavorful with a much better mouth-feel.

With that in mind, I planned to make another favorite, Red Curry Sloppy Joes, by substituting the ground beef with ground pork. But on a whim I decided to turn the whole idea into a pasta recipe that also utilized a delicata squash that I'd been holding onto along with a go-to appetizer, Pimenton Roasted Garbanzos.

And after my co-worker was enviously commenting on my leftovers right after he'd finished his own, I figured it was definitely one to share.



Red Curry Pasta with Delicata Squash, Ground Pork and Roasted Garbanzos
Pimenton Roasted Garbanzos
1 can coconut milk
2 T. red curry paste
1-2 T. fish sauce
1-2 T. sugar
1 T. lemon or lime juice
1 small delicata or butternut squash, cut in bite-sized pieces
8 oz. penne or other bite-sized pasta
1 T. coconut oil
1 pound ground pork
1/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
1/4 chopped fresh basil, divided

Prepare Pimenton Roasted Garbanzos, then lower oven heat to 350 degrees.

Mix coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and lemon juice in a blender. Combine about 1/2 cup of curry mixture with butternut squash, then roast on a sheet pan until cooked through, about 10-20 minutes depending on size of chunks.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.

Preheat a large saute pan over medium high heat; add coconut oil, then crumble in ground pork and stir until cooked through. Pour remaining curry mixture into sausage and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Once pasta and squash are finished, stir in with sausage and add half of green onions and basil. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with about 1 cup garbanzos and remaining green onions and basil.

Puff Pastry Brings Spanakopita to the Masses

Once open a time, I tried making spanakopita the right way, with phyllo dough. This was before the age of how-to videos where you could look up every possible method of cooking with just one click. Although perhaps if I'd looked it up, I likely never would have tried cooking with phyllo. Point being, it was somewhat of a disaster.

Years later I probably should have given phyllo dough another try. But as you know from my reluctance to even make pie crust until recently, I'm simply scared of dough unless all of the action is taking place in my bread machine. I had never even cooked with puff pastry — probably because of the phyllo disaster — until a couple of weeks ago, and now I am utterly hooked. Please don't tell me what the ingredients are, I really don't want to know.

With a surplus of feta in my fridge and an extra package of puff pastry, I decided to give this Spinach Pie in Puff Pastry (aka Cheater's Spankopita, as another post stated) a try. And it is magnificently tasty.

As is, the recipe sounded like a bit too much food for my tiny little piece of dough. So I cut back to just one onion and 2 eggs for the inside. In addition, I cut the amount of nutmeg to 1/4 teaspoon, which still was a bit overpowering for my taste. But I'm not a huge fan so use your own judgment.

End result was close enough to a spanakopita for me! Maybe not quite as flakey as phyllo dough appropriately cooked, but it's all about the spinach and feta anyway!

Spinach Pie in Puff Pastry before and after baking.

Stomach-Soothing Minestrone

There are Sundays when I spend the whole day cooking a feast, then there are Sundays when all I want to do is make some nutritious, cleansing soup. After Nate and Deb's wedding on Saturday night, this was definitely a day of cleansing (when I was finally able to move off of the couch!), which meant soup was on the menu.

Because I knew zucchini, spinach and cannellini beans would play a major role, I narrowed in on a couple of minestrone recipes then got creative, making enough beans for both the soup and a bean spread, and roasting a couple of red bell peppers that I also used for both.

Thanks to my chef constantly extolling the values of using a pressure cooker, I finally used mine for something other than beets and made both the beans and the soup in it. To make beans, simply cover them with about 2 inches of water, add a 2-inch piece of kombu (a seaweed that is supposed to make the beans more tender) and bring to a full boil. Let boil fully, uncovered, for 5 minutes, then skim the surface to remove the gassy foam. Then cover and pressure-cook for 35 minutes to 1 hour, until beans are soft. If you check the beans and they're not done, be sure to add more water if it's needed. When beans are fininshed, drain the water and use immediately or store in a sealed container for up to three days.

Minestrone Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 chicken breasts, diced (or use 3-4 cups cooked, shredded chicken)
1/2 cup roasted red bell pepper, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or less if using store-bought broth)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup zucchini, chopped
2 cups cooked cannellini beans
1 cup uncooked elbow noodles
10 ounches fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Parmesan cheese

Heat pressure cooker over medium-high heat, and add the olive oil. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic and stir until onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes. Add chicken (if using shredded chicken, add with the broth), and stir occasionally until chicken is no longer pink on the outside. Stir in diced peppers, tomatoes, broth and spices and bring to a simmer.

Add zucchini and cannellini beans, bring to boil, then add noodles and cover. Pressure cook for 10 minutes; remove lid, stir in spinach and serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

Cannellini Bean and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Spread
2 cups cooked cannellini beans
1 roasted red bell pepper (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 to 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Place beans, bell pepper, salt and chile flakes in a food processor and slowly drizzle in olive oil as you run the machine. When mixture begins to run smoothly, add lemon juice. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Note: Feel free to add 1 to 2 cloves of minced garlic, if desired. Just keep in mind that the flavor can get pretty potent if you're planning to use the bean spread for more than a day.

Spread the love with Cranberry Bean and Pesto Spread

While I was preparing for my culinary class this week, I was pondering just what I could do to make a bean spread that was creative. Who hasn't tried hummus with sun-dried tomatoes, or pesto, or roasted bell peppers? But then again, although I've tried all those as store-bought brands, I've never actually made them.

So I rather boringly decided to throw together a bean dip made with cranberry beans that we pressure-cooked (in under an hour, oh my!) mixed with pesto ingredients. Boring, perhaps, but also dang delicious! So delicious, I just must share it with you!

Cranberry Bean Spread with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
2 teaspoons oil from sun-dried tomato jar
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, packed
2 cups cooked cranberry beans
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup water
1 teaspoon salt
Dash freshly ground black pepper

Chop garlic in a food processor, then add pine nuts, followed by sun-dried tomatoes and their oil, all with the motor running. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the basil. Add some of the olive oil if needed to help blend the basil. When processed ingredients have a similar consistency, add the beans. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until the right consistency has been reached. Add salt and pepper, then adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with crackers or flat breads and vegetables.

Smokehouse salami trumps dinner

I swear I will be making something adequate for dinner tonight. But yum!

Actually, I do have a good excuse. We bought this salami at Olson's Meat and Smokehouse in Enumclaw last weekend on our way home from a hiking excursion at Mount Rainier. And you know, salami goes bad and everything ...

But yum!

Seven-layer bean dip never fails

I once produced a 7-layer bean dip I'd forgotten about at the end of a party, and it still got devoured. You just can't go wrong with any combination. This is simply refried beans, sour cream, salsa, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, sliced olives and green onions. Guacamole would have been an excellent addition, but that would have required too much effort for Mai Ling!