You say "Tomato," I say "Shut up and eat"

After 11 grueling days of winter, I'm finally starting to see really beautiful tomatoes at my little farmers' market.  You know what that means?...... It's caprese time, bitches!

OK, let's do this:

Mozzarealla Caprese
total time 5 min


really good tomatoes, sliced
really good fresh mozzarella, sliced and then torn into bite size pieces
roasted bell peppers (from a jar is fine), cut into bite sized pieces
basil, chopped
olive oil for drizzling
3-4 T balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Heat the balsamic in a pan over low heat until it steams - allow to reduce for a few minutes and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, arrange the cheese, tomatoes, peppers and basil in alternating layers.  Drizzle with the olive oil and vinegar reduction.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Sit back and enjoy the fact that you finally found a use for that weirdly shaped plate you registered for.

Put THAT on your bread and eat it.

Bread is delicious.  Seriously.  Freaking.  Delicious.  Rather than covering the bread in butter (also delicious), try roasting some garlic and herbs and veggies and eating that on the bread instead.  It's got this really great rustic look.

You can roast the regular way - high temp, or the slow way - low temp for a million hours.  I decided to split the difference and see what happened.  Spoiler alert:  it was yummy!

OK, let's do this:

Roasted Stuff for Bread
total time 40 min

tomatoes  (on the vine is cuter)
shallots, quartered
rosemary
garlic, sliced thinly
olive oil
salt, pepper to taste


crusty bread, sliced and toasted
balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 300ºF.

Place the shallots, tomatoes and rosemary in a baking dish lined with parchment paper.  Toss in the garlic, drizzle the whole mess generously with olive oil.  Add salt and pepper.  Bake for 40 min - 1 hour or until the skins of the tomatoes split, but before they turn to mush.

Serve with fabulous bread and balsamic vinegar.

Breakfast Bribery

Huevos Rancheros is the husband's favorite, so I make it whenever I have a few extra minutes in the morning - or whenever I want to talk him into getting a new couch.

OK, let's do this:

Huevos Rancheros
makes enough sauce for 3 servings
total time 20 min

3 T oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 T oregano
1 t cumin
1/8 t cayenne
14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained a little
1 14 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
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tortillas (I use whole wheat flour, but corn is good too)
eggs, cooked how you like 'em (I do over medium)
handful shredded jack and cheddar cheese
handful chopped cilantro
sour cream

Heat 1 T oil in a pot and fry the onions for 3 minutes.  Add the spices and cook for anther minute. Add the tomatoes and black beans and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer.

Heat 1 T oil in a large pan.  Toast the tortilla for a couple minutes on each side.

While the tortillas are toasting, make the eggs how you like them.

Place the eggs on the tortillas, then top with black bean mixture, cheese, cilantro and sour cream.

Serve with a sharp knife - the tortillas can be difficult to cut, plus the knife comes in handy when bargaining for that new couch.

The Good Breakfast

eIt's the Meryl Streep of breakfasts.  It's just better than all the other breakfasts.  Even if you don't like breakfast, you can't deny that this one is simply better and more respected than other breakfasts.  Young side dishes are chomping at the bit for a chance to be on your plate next to this breakfast.

OK, let's do this:

The Good Breakfast
makes 2 servings
total time 10 minutes

4 slices ciabatta or 2 English muffins
butter
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Topping:
1/2 c chopped tomato
small handful chopped basil
1/4 c chopped onion
salt & pepper, to taste
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4 eggs cooked however you want them
1/4 cup asiago cheese, shredded
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4 T Stupid Easy Pesto Sauce

Toast and butter the ciabatta/muffins.  While it's toasting, combine the topping ingredients and set aside.

Next cook your eggs however you like them (I do mine over medium) and place the eggs on top of the toast.  Sprinkle cheese on the eggs.  Add a couple dollops of pesto and then the tomato topping.  Serve with the green beans I told you about.  Enjoy and watch the Oscars come pouring in.

Uh-oh Spaghetti Squash-io!

I knew I shouldn't have joked about having a warm November.  Now the high is only 61º here in LA and I have to roast stuff at 425º just to keep from getting frostbite.

OK, Let's do this:


Spaghetti Squash with Garlic Butter
Makes 4 servings
Hands on time 10 min, cook time 40 min


1 Spaghetti squash, cut lengthwise, seeds removed
3 T olive oil, divided
3 T butter (keep it vegan by using only olive oil
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes, cut in half
handful of basil, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 425ºF.  Drizzle the squash flesh with 1T olive oil.  Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast for 40 min or until flesh is tender.

Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large saute pan over low/med heat.  Cook the tomatoes and half of the basil for a few minutes, then add the garlic and butter and cook for another 10min, stirring frequently to avoid burning the butter and garlic.

Today's lesson that applies to other recipes:

Garlic and butter burn easily.  Add them later than other ingredients and use lower heat.

Once the squash is cool enough to handle with a towel, scrape the flesh out with a fork.  It will come off in spaghetti-like strands (get it?).

Toss the squash in with the butter sauce and salt to taste.  Garnish with remaining basil leaves.

I don't have kids because they're grody, but I can't help but think this would be a good alternative to regular noodles with butter (which is also grody).

¡Holy Frijoles!

Don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you – it’s all normal stuff.  This Black Bean Soup is perfect for when you need to throw something together in a hurry but still want a hearty, healthy meal.

This recipe makes a lot of soup.  Store it in mason jars (or old pasta sauce jars) in the fridge or wait ’til it cools and store it in plastic in the freezer.  Never put hot food in plastic.  It’s gross and I wont be your friend anymore.

OK, let's do this:

Black Bean Soup
makes 8-10 servings
prep time: 5 min, cook time: 20 min

1 T sunflower or other high heat oil
1 1/2 cup onions, diced
1 heaping Tbsp ground cumin
1 T dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cayenne (more or less depending on personal preference)
1/2 t fennel seeds
1/2cup carrots, diced
1/2cup celery, diced
1/2 zucchini, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28oz can diced tomatoes (lightly drained)
4 cups vegetable stock
2 14oz cans black beans, drained, rinsed thoroughly
1/2 c chopped cilantro
1/2 c corn (frozen is fine)
1/4 c good olive oil

Heat oil in a large pot over high heat.  Add onions and cook until they’re translucent – about 3 min.
Add spices and stir to combine.

When the spices start to stick to the bottom of the pan, add the tomatoes and kind of scrape the bottom of the pot to get all the good toasty onion and spice bits off.

Add the veggie stock, carrots and celery and cover the pot.  When it begins to boil, turn the heat down to Med-high and add the zucchini, garlic.  Cover and allow the soup to gently boil until the carrots are tender, but not mushy – about 15 min.

When the carrots are tender, add the remaining ingredients (Black beans, corn, cilantro).  Allow to simmer for a couple minutes, then remove 1 or 2 cups of the soup and blend it, then stir it back into the pot.  This will thicken the soup.  If you have an immersion blender, that’s even better – run it for about 15 seconds.  If you’re using a regular blender, be careful with hot liquid…put a towel over the top.  If you have no blender, don’t stress – it will still be great, just broth-ier.

Garnish with a couple slices of avocado and a dollop of sour cream or shredded cheese.  Look at you, you sexy Soup Master!

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Look what Ana made!