Pumpkin Dinner Knots

Posted on 1 January, 2013 by Beth Rooney

Hearty Oat and Pumpkin dinner knots

I made these cute little rolls a couple time during the holidays last year and enjoyed them every time! Rosie really loves them too, so we eat them more than perhaps we should…The first time I made these I thought I could save some time and not tie them in knots, but they really do taste better (and look better) if you do it. They are pretty easy and would be great with substantial winter soups!

Hearty Oat and Pumpkin Dinner Knots

Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp butter
½ cup cold water
½ cup canned pumpkin
3 Tbsp honey
4-5 cups bread flour
½ cup quick oats
1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp salt

Egg wash
1 egg
½ tsp water
3 Tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan until butter melts, stir in cold water, pumpkin and honey. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Mix four cups of flour with all dry ingredients.
Add milk mixture slowly. Stir until you have a thick batter; let stand for 10 minutes. Mix in enough additional flour to make a soft dough and knead until smooth.
Let rise for 20 minutes or until doubled in size. Heat oven to 400. Divide dough into 36 golf ball sized pieces. Roll each ball into 6’’ long rope and tie in a knot.
Tucking ends under, place on parchment lined baking sheet and let rise for 10 minutes.
Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops are a deep golden brown.
Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet.

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Zucchini and Corn Salad

Posted on 20 July, 2011 by Beth Rooney

Zucchini and Corn Salad

Welcome to summer! It is officially the hottest day of the year in Chicago since 1999! I’m never a huge fan of crazy hot weather and now that I’m 7 months pregnant 100 degree temps and 110 heat indexes make me melt and swell at the same time. I feel like Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate factory, but at least I haven’t turned blue!

While I have been complaining about the heat, the summer veggies seem to be rejoicing in it. This salad celebrates two of the best summer vegetables: Zucchini and sweet corn! For extra protein you can add some feta cheese and pine nuts (if you can find some that aren’t too pricey!) If you don’t want to go that extra mile, no problem, it is delicious as is.

This is a nice side salad that would go well with tacos or other Mexican food. Here is the recipe!

Warm Zucchini Corn Salad

4 Servings/1 pt. ea. (about 2/3 C)

1 1/2 cups whole kernel corn, boiled and cut from the cob.
2 1/2 cups diced or shredded zucchini
2 T green onion, chopped
1 t. olive oil
1 T lime juice
1/8 t. freshly ground pepper
1/2 t. salt
4 T fresh cilantro, chopped

Toss corn, zucchini and green onions with olive oil. Pour into large skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until zucchini is fork-tender. Remove skillet from heat, and mix in lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper.

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Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

Posted on 1 July, 2011 by Beth Rooney

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

When I get invited to a barbecue I immediately start going through my list of recipes: potato salad, macaroni salad, lentil-beet salad, tofu burgers, etc. I love all of these recipes, but they have to make room for one more because this spring I found a perfect picnic salad recipe in the Veganomicon—Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango.

The wonderful thing about this recipe is how flexible and quick it is to make. You can use any left over grains, beans or fruit you have in the house. Lately we’ve been using a lot of quinoa though because I need the extra protein, but imagine Israeli couscous, bulgur or wheatberries would also be nice!

It is perfect for picnics because there is no dairy, it is fast and tastes better at room temperature than it does chilled.

And now the recipe!

1 mango, peeled and cut into small dice

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced as small as you can get it

1 cup chopped scallions

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp grapeseed oil

¼ tsp salt

2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled*

1 (15oz) can black beans drained and rinsed

Spinach

Combine the mango, bell pepper, scallion and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, grapeseed oil, and salt, and stir to combine. Add the quinoa and stir until everything is well incorporated. Fold in the black beans. You can serve immediately or let it sit for a bit for the flavors to meld.

We also added two handfuls of spinach just because we had it on hand. I think it is best to add the spinach right before you serve it so it doesn’t get too oily or wilted.

*if you don’t already have some cooked quinoa, don’t fret! It is very easy. Just bring 1 cup of dried quinoa and two cups of water to a boil in a small pot. Once it has started to boil, lower the heat so it is simmering and cook for about 15 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed. Then remove from the heat and fluff with a fork. Set it aside and let it cool while you prep the other ingredients for the recipe!

PinExt Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

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Cream Biscuits

Posted on 2 February, 2011 by Beth Rooney

The Biscuits!

So Chicago and most of the country was hit with a crazy storm last night and it continued well into the day today. Since the snow was making it almost impossible to get around the city unless you take the trains, the restaurants where I was supposed to shoot canceled. I was disappointed, but then I had a snow day! What do I do on snow days? Sleep in, have an awesome breakfast, bake and play outside of course! These fluffy warm biscuits are the perfect food for a day like this. The baking warms up the house and they keep you from getting too hungry between rounds of shoveling!

Our backyard this morning at about 9:30.

Snow!

Nick had to walk home last night during the peak hours of the blizzard so I made him a ‘Hero’s Breakfast’ for making it home in one piece. The breakfast was scrambled eggs with spinach, onions and cheese AND a puffy pancake with apples. After such a big breakfast we had to do something to earn our next treat so we ran, more like stumbled, through the snow banks and took some pictures of the deep snow. When we got back for lunch I made Cream Biscuits! These little guys should be made at least once a month. They are so delicious and pretty easy! My only complaint is the dough was really sticky, I think next time I will add a tiny bit more flour so half the dough doesn’t end up on my hands. Anyway, here is the recipe!

Here is what you need:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 ½ tsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

¾ tsp kosher salt

1 ½ c heavy cream (divided)

parchment paper

8×8 pan

Preheat the oven to 425 and line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper that goes across the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

Then mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and slowly add the cream. The original recipe says to withhold ¼ c of the cream to use to get the dry bits on the bottom. I tried this and I deem it a stupid suggestion. Use the whole amount of cream whisk well and there won’t be dry crumbs on the bottom of the bowl and the dough won’t be so damn sticky when you turn it out onto a floured surface.

So you dump the dough on the floured counter and knead it briefly (about 30 seconds) and then plop the whole thing into the 8×8 pan. Flatten with a well-floured hand and then cut into biscuit sized pieces.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden.

Nick said, “These biscuits remind me of the ones they serve at Sweet Maple.” I can’t think of a better compliment! They taste amazing plain, with a little jelly, or you can add some herbs or cheese if you want to get fancy. The recipe suggests the dough can handle as much as 1 cup of cheese (!) The original recipe came from The Kitchen.

Enjoy the snow Chicago! It will be around for a long time and safe travels to those trying to escape our fair city!

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World Cup Tapas!

Posted on 29 December, 2010 by Beth Rooney

Yes, yes, the World Cup was a long time ago, but I am just posting about it now. Nick, Kathy, Martin and I watched the final together and say what you will about the final itself (I think it was boring and awful) the food we ate while we watched was fantastic.

I tried to follow the loose theme of tapas since the finals pitted Spain against the Netherlands. For starters we had roasted herbed almonds and olives, stuffed cucumber and baked goat cheese with tomato sauce. For dessert we had a Dutch spice cookie. The recipes can be found if you follow the links.

I am posting this now because it seems like these dishes would be good to have on hand for a New Year’s Eve party. I particularly recommend the almonds since these can be made ahead and eaten at room temperature. Anyway, enjoy! These recipes were delicious!

Dutch Spice Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sliced almonds
In large mixing bowl combine butter and vanilla with both sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Add beaten eggs and blend well. Sift the flour and all remaining dry ingredients together and beat into the butter mixture. Mix in the sliced almonds by hand, so as not to crush them. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and chill overnight.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the cooled dough into 1/4-inch thick portions and cut with cookie cutters or shape with a special speculaasmold or other cookie mold . Bake for 10-15 minutes and store in an airtight container.

Makes 36 cookies

Click here for the cucumber recipe. But I would double the spices.

Click here for the herb roasted almonds. I had to use slivered almonds, but I think now because of the holidays you can get whole blanched almonds.

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Olive Zucchini Bread

Posted on 21 December, 2010 by Beth Rooney

Olive Oil Zucchini Bread

Over the summer we, like anyone with access to a garden, had way too many zucchinis. You can make the usual suspects, but after awhile I just get tired of zucchini. So this year, I shredded the zucchini and froze it. So far I have used it in soup and I have made some baked goods out of it. I wanted to mention this bread now because it is savory. Around Christmas all the recipes you see for baked goods are sweet and this is a refreshing change from all the sugar. I think it would a great bread for Christmas morning, a brunch or for lunch with a big salad.

The original recipe was way, way too salty because it calls for olives and salt. I omitted the salt the second time around and it was fine. Here is the recipe if you feel like having a little quick-bread this season!

Zucchini and Olive Breakfast Cake, French-Style
Makes 9×5 inch 1 loaf

1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan and drizzling
1/2 pound zucchini,
1 teaspoon salt
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 large eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with olive oil. Grate the zucchini on the coarsest side of a box grater. Place the zucchini in a colander in the sink, and toss with 1 teaspoon of salt. Let drain while preparing the rest of the recipe.

In a large bowl, whisk the minced garlic with the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. In a separate, medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, then whisk in the milk and olive oil. Use a rubber spatula to fold the wet ingredients into the dry until barely mixed. Fold in the crumbled goat cheese and the sliced olives.

Press firmly on the zucchini in the colander, pressing out as much water as possible. Quickly fold the zucchini into the batter.

Spread the batter in the prepared loaf pan, and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Bake loaf for about 45 minutes, or until golden and a knife inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs attached.

Transfer to a rack to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run a knife around edge to release. Turn out loaf onto rack to firm up before slicing, about 30 minutes; using a serrated knife, cut into 3/8-inch slices, then cut into halves or quarters.

Adapted from The New York Times.

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Two winter soups

Posted on 1 February, 2010 by Beth Rooney

Vegetable Soup

As some of you guys might know, I go through periods of time where I worry that I’m not getting enough protein, enough, fruit, enough veggies, enough calcium/dairy, etc. This past week, I got a little concerned that I wasn’t getting enough vegetables. I know that sounds crazy because I’m a vegetarian, but I felt like I was mostly eating oats, cornmeal, wheat, all kinds of delicious grains, but they lacked for veggie content, obviously. I always struggle in the winter to make dishes that have a variety of vegetables and that can be served multiple times in a week. After surveying the contents of the frig and deep freeze I made two awesome soups from stuff we had on hand! The first one was a mushroom rice soup and the second was a tomato based vegetable soup that featured leftovers from the noodle party.

The beautiful thing about both the soups was there wasn’t really a recipe, just throwing stuff in until it tasted right, but here is a list of ingredients and the order I added them so you can use it as a jumping off point for your own soups!

WildriceSoup 02 614x410 Two winter soups

Mushroom Rice Soup

Mushroom Rice Soup – Makes 6-8 servings and takes about an hour to an hour and a half depending on how fast you chop your vegetables and how soft you like your rice.

Onion

Garlic

½-1 c rice mix (wildrice and white—depends on how much soup you want or how thick)

3 or 4 carrots

2-3 parsnips

1-2 C mushrooms

3-4 C veggie broth

4 stalks of celery

herbs: celery salt, white pepper, black pepper, and a little red chili

Start by sautéeing the onions and garlic in butter until fragrant then add the carrots, parsnips, mushrooms and celery. After a few minutes add the broth and the rice. Simmer over low heat until the rice is tender.

If the broth gets soaked up by the rice just add more and adjust your spices. Peas probably would have been good in this too, but I didn’t have any in the frig.

Vegetable Soup –This made about 12 servings and took about 2 hours with prep and cook time.

5 bags of tomato puree (about 10 cups)

Onion

Garlic

3 or 4 carrots

2-3 parsnips

4 stalks of celery

1-1 1/2 Cups Kidney Beans

1-1 ½ Cups Chick Peas

2 Cups corn

2 Cups of cooked noodles

For Seasoning

Basil

Marjoram

Oregano

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Rosemary

Thyme

If you are using canned beans just throw them in the soup, but if you are using dried beans, make sure they are mostly cooked before throwing them in with the rest of the soup or you will over cook the vegetables while you try to get the beans to soften up.

Start by sautéeing the onions, garlic, carrots, celery and parsnips. Then add the tomato puree. Let that simmer for awhile and then add the beans, chickpeas, corn and noodles. Simmer until all the flavors have come together, about an hour.

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Savory Eggplant “Jam” with Cumin and Coriander

Posted on 16 September, 2009 by Beth Rooney

: Savory Eggplant “Jam” with Cumin and Coriander

I know eggplants are a polarizing veggie/fruit. Nick always says they look so beautiful, but their taste doesn’t match the visual appeal. I completely disagree. I think eggplant is like tofu, if done wrong, it feels/tastes like a bland sponge, but if done right it can be a unique and robust flavor. That said, I have lots of eggplants, both dark purple and the white and light purple ones. And this site blew my mind. I’ve never seen so many eggplant recipes! Although I didn’t use this site for my most recent eggplant adventures, I plan to use it next summer when the wave of deep purple comes back.

I know in a previous post we were talking about salting or not salting eggplants and about eating them raw…Here is what I have found.

1. Do NOT eat eggplant raw. It feels awful in the mouth and tastes like a bitter, bitter sponge. Ewwwww.

2. Salting an eggplant, even if it is super-fresh, will prevent it from absorbing too much oil, if nothing else. I salted the eggplants for this recipe and I didn’t have to use much oil.

The recipes I used this time around were from Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors and from Vegetarian Suppers. One of them was delicious, the other was okay. The delicious one is the title of the post, the okay one was an eggplant gratin. It was tasty because we used our home-made pasta sauce, but I was expecting more from the eggplant and it didn’t deliver. Anyway, this savory “jam” is another eggplant dish that Nick actually likes. I’m beginning to think he actually likes eggplant…

Savory Eggplant “Jam” with Cumin and Coriander from Local Flavors by Deborah Madison

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 pound eggplant, purple or white, slender or round
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large garlic clove, pressed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 small lemon
lemon wedges, tomato wedges, and olives, to finish

Remove wide ribbons of the eggplant skin, leaving vertical bands of skin. Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds, salt generously, and set on a plate for an hour, or longer if time allows. Rinse, then squeeze the eggplant dry in a towel. (If you’re using white eggplant, peel all of it, because the skins tend to be tough.)

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet. Add the eggplant and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until well browned on both sides, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, about 1/2 cup water, the cumin, and coriander, reduce the heat, and mash the eggplant with a fork until it’s broken into a jam-like consistency. This can take 15 – 30 minutes, depending on the eggplant. Add more water as it cooks, to help break it down. You can let the excess cook off when the eggplant is finally soft. Add the cilantro and lemon juice. Taste for salt and season with pepper. Mound in a shallow bowl and serve warm or at room temperature, plain or garnished with lemon wedges, tomato wedges, and olives. Serve with crackers or pita bread.

Nick and I actually ate this while it was warm on tortilla chips. Super tasty! I made another eggplant dish tonight and some chocolate pudding. I’ll post the pudding recipe tomorrow!

PinExt Savory Eggplant Jam with Cumin and Coriander

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Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches

Posted on 20 August, 2009 by Beth Rooney

Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches with Tomato Brushcetta

Eggplant is one of the most beautiful and elegant looking vegetables in the garden, but it is also the most polarizing. I love eggplant, Nick, not so much. It makes me a little sad to come home from the garden with a bag full of perfectly shaped dark purple little eggplants knowing that Nick won’t like them. It seems a shame not to share them. But Nick’s a good sport and will try them in anything I make, he usually doesn’t like it, but he’ll try. That’s why this recipe is so amazing: Nick likes it.

It is super easy to do and can be prepared on a weber grill or on a foreman if you don’t want to go through the trouble of starting the grill for one or two little eggplants. So here’s the plan:

Slice an eggplant into medium thick slices and brush them with a combination of oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, some chili flakes if that makes you happy and then warm up your grill! Grill both sides of each slice and when they are done put parmasean cheese and fresh basil between the slices. The cheese will melt into the eggplant and the basil will wilt enough to blend into the cheese. You only need a little cheese for each eggplant sandwich so this is a light dinner. I love this recipe because it really highlights the texture and smokey flavors of an eggplant without coating it in breadcrumbs. Most eggplant recipes involve so many other heavy ingredients it’s hard to tell if you are eating eggplant or a mushy piece of cheese.

So break out the grill and get started on this! I like to use little eggplants because then you don’t have to salt them first. Larger eggplants can get a little bitter and need to be prepped, get them small and you are set after you wash them! This weekend I’m shooting a lot of non-food related stories so I’ll be MIA, but don’t worry. Peaches and more squash recipes starting Monday!

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Zucchini Pancakes

Posted on 19 August, 2009 by Beth Rooney

Zucchini Pancakes with tomatoes and sour cream

Inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Aarti today, I decided to post about these little pancakes. We were in Michigan picking peaches and raspberries (recipes to follow in the next few days) and she mentioned she had made zucchini latkes!

Nick and I had these for dinner some day last week, but I hadn’t gotten around to posting about them! So here’s another recipe that uses zucchini, or any summer squash really. Zucchini season will be with us for a few more weeks so if you are looking for a quick, non-baking recipe to use up your squah, these zucchini pancakes are worth a try. Nick and I enjoyed them and I think Aarti enjoyed her version as well. Aarti is this similar to the recipe you used?

These little guys are pair well with a patio, a warm summer night and some wine–pure summer bliss.

Servings: 4 as a side or 2 as a main dish
2 medium zucchini, grated
2 shallots, finely chopped**
1/4 cup fresh chives
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 eggs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6-8 tbsp whole wheat flour
kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste
olive oil

** If you do not have shallot on hand a combination of garlic and onion will do. A good starting point is to mix onion and garlic in a 2:1 ratio.
Grate zucchini using the large holes of a cheese grater and place in a large bowl. Add flour, shallots, garlic, basil, chives, eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and grease the pan. Drop tablespoons of the batter into the skillet. Cook about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Set aside and keep warm. Add oil to the skillet as needed, and continue with remaining batter. Makes about 20 small pancakes.

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Belly of the Beest

A collection of thoughts, recipes and photos from my everyday life with food.

Category Archives: Sides

Pumpkin Dinner Knots

Zucchini and Corn Salad

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

Cream Biscuits

World Cup Tapas!

Olive Zucchini Bread

Two winter soups

Savory Eggplant “Jam” with Cumin and Coriander

Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches

Zucchini Pancakes

May 2013
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