We do a lot of salads similar to this, but Justin was specifically craving an orzo salad. We thought we'd use the cherry and yellow tomatoes out of our garden, as well as the poblanos Justin grew. (Poblano taste real similar to green bell peppers, and I figured most people are more familiar with bell pepper, so I put that in the recipe.) What I really love about this salad, though, is the Lemon Basil Vinaigrette! I so love making my own salad dressings.
I know I just used Op Ivy a few recipes ago, but we were listening to them in the car whilst running errands this morning, and so all day I've been singing "Bombshell". Actually, I've just been singing the "Oh yeah!" backup vocals part. I'm really good at that part. -jen
ITALIAN ORZO SALAD Time: 40 minutes (mostly just chopping veggies) Difficulty: Easy Makes: 6-7 cups
1.5 cups dry orzo pasta
4 cups chicken broth
1 cups broccoli florets
1 cup cucumber, seeded and diced (about 1 medium)*
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup bell pepper, diced (about 1 small pepper)
1/2 cup green onion, diced (2-3 medium onions)
1/2 cup carrot, shredded (about 1 medium carrot)
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup green olives, rough chopped
6 oz mozzarella cheese, small cubed
1/2 cup Lemon Basil Vinaigrette (see recipe below)
* To seed a cucumber: Cut off both ends. Cut cucumber lengthwise. Run a small spoon down the length of the seeds, scooping them out.
Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large pot. Stir in orzo and cook 10 minutes, pasta should be al dente. Drain in a strainer and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside to cool slightly. (Good time to cut veggies and make the Lemon Basil Vinaigrette!)
Add all remaining ingredients to cooled orzo and toss.
LEMON BASIL VINAIGRETTE Time: less than 5 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 1/2 cup
zest of 1 lemon (about 1/2 tbsp)
juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup basil leaves, packed
1 small green onion
1 large garlic clove (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1.5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
pinch of red pepper flake
Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until combined.
We don't eat a lot of pasta, but lately I've been craving a lighter pasta dish. Generally, I love marinara and bolognese sauces, but don't really dig putting them on pasta - I'd rather put them over some spaghetti squash. This time, I felt like pasta, but didn't want one of those heavy sauces, so I did my own version of Puttanesca. It's mostly traditional, but a little of my own preferences thrown in there. Came out really delicious. When I minced together the garlic, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes and olives, it looked like a tapenade of the Gods! I just wanted to spread it on some garlic toast! Admittedly, I was spooning some of it onto the tomato halves, sprinkling some basil on top, and munching them that way as I was cutting them in half, heheh. The dish was really quick and easy to make!
I was reminded the other day that I hadn't used anything from Rancid's new album with one of our recipes. So here is another Rancid Recipe - the title track, "Honor Is All We Know". -jen
PASTA PUTTANESCA Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10-15 mimuntes Difficulty: Very easy Serves: 4-6, depending on serving size
6 large garlic cloves
6 anchovy filets (I'm inclined to use the whole 2oz can)
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives (or green, or black, or D-all of the above)
12oz dried pasta (your choice: spaghetti, bow tie, rotini)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 large scallions, diced (about 1/2 a cup)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 cup dry white wine (or chicken broth)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
1/4 cup pasta water
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup basil, chopped or julienned
4oz Romano cheese, crumbled
Bring large stock pot of salted water to a boil while preparing the following steps.
Mince together garlic, anchovies, and sun dried tomatoes. Roughtly chop the kalamata olives right into the minced mix. Set aside.
Add pasta to boiling water, bring back to a boil, and then turn down to a low boil, cooking 6-8 minutes until al dente (still slightly under-cooked. Pasta will cook more in skillet.) Drain and reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep skillet. Saute scallions and red pepper flakes for 1 minute. Add white wine and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until wine has cooked down by half. Add grape tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes, olives and the rinsed capers. Cook for 2 more minutes or until sauce is reduced and thickened.
Add pasta to skillet mixture with 1/4 cup pasta water. Cook another 1-2 minutes (sauce will mostly absorb into pasta). Remove from heat and toss with lemon juice and zest, basil, (a dash more of wine, if you like,) and crumbled Romano. Add salt and pepper to taste (careful with the salt since the olives, capers and cheese will add a lot of salt). Serve immediately while hot, however, it is quite tasty left over cold, straight out of the fridge.
This recipe is vegan/vegetarian, gluten-free, and low-carb! Oh yeah, and it tastes amazing. We try to eat low-carb most of the time and jumping on the cauliflower bandwagon the other day, I was making some pizza crust out of cauliflower, cheese and eggs. I was supposed to "rice" the cauliflower in the food processor, but I did it a little too long and the pieces came out more like couscous than rice. Then I mixed in some minced garlic and dried oregano as part of the crust recipe, and decided to give it a taste. Totally gave me the idea to do a couscous salad out of it.
I can't actually tell you how incredibly stoked I am at how good this came out. I really enjoy Mediterranean-style cold salads. I used to do them with rice, but I don't eat rice anymore. So we started doing them with barley and couscous... but they're still pretty high-carb. This solved the problem and I foresee us having this salad in the fridge on a frequent basis for lunches during the work week and quick dinners.
I decided to go with Lagwagon's "I Must Be Hateful". I was feeling pretty hateful tonight towards a medical issue I'm having. Seemed apropos. -jen
Place large-diced cauliflower in food processor and process until it looks like cooked couscous. Place in a large, microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap (I recommend using glass so the plastic wrap sticks). Microwave on high for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork.
Add all remaining ingredients and stir until mixed. At this point, you can serve it while it's still warm, or refrigerate and serve chilled.
Per 1 Cup Serving: Calories-130, Fat-9g, Carbs-11.5, Fiber-4, Protein-3g
I'd like to take credit for this awesome dish, but I really feel like I need to give credit where it's due - Ina Garten's Scalloped Tomatoes. I went through and added what I wanted, subtracted what I didn't want and my methods were a little different. But I still wouldn't feel right if I didn't give Ina credit, as her recipe is great. Ours is just better. (Sorry, Ina! We love you!) Justin was baking us a loaf of boule the other day, but whether it was due to temperatures or humidity, it just didn't rise as much as he'd hoped, so it came out a little dense. I'd remembered seeing Ina make her Scalloped Tomatoes recipe and thought our dense bread would be perfect for this... and it was!
I wondered why this dish was called "scalloped"; it was my understanding that meant a dish was made with a cream sauce. So I did a little researching on the magic interweb and it seems there are a few different definitions of what "scalloped" means in the culinary world. While I didn't find a solid answer, I did find this article that summed up the variances nicely. Still, I didn't know if I really wanted to call this recipe Scalloped Tomatoes - I didn't know if it would really explain what the dish was to someone browsing recipe names. Now, the same website that broke down "scalloped" has this to say about "au gratin": "Au Gratin means garnished with crumbs (usually bread) and grated cheese, then baked or grilled (aka broiled.)" I think this definition fits the bill for my recipe more. Now, because I don't speak french, I don't know if it's grammatically correct to call the dish a "tomato gratin" or "tomatoes au gratin" and I couldn't find an answer on that.
I'm not sure how we've done all these recipes and not used a Black Flag song yet. What the hell is going on?! Rectified now... Black Flag (with a long-haired Rollins) doing "Nervous Breakdown". -jen
2.5 pounds (10-12) fresh Roma tomatoes, diced (1/2")
2 teaspoons salt
olive oil
2.5 cups cubed artisan bread (1/2")
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup rough-chopped green or kalamata olives
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic (5-6 cloves)
1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped or julienned, packed
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a shallow 2-quart baking dish (8"x8") with non-stick cooking spray.
Place diced tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl. Toss with salt and set aside.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Add the bread cubes and toss in the olive oil to coat. Let cubes toast into croutons, stirring often, until dark golden-brown and crispy, 5-8 minutes. Add drained tomatoes, sugar, black pepper, olives, onion and garlic. Cook an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in basil.
Transfer mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle Parmesan over the top, and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Serve hot.
I know it's the middle of winter, but sometimes, you need some summer food. Something light, refreshing and easy. So I came up with this the other day and it's been great. We've eaten it straight up, we've eaten it on top of a lettuce salad, we've eaten it with an olive, salami and cheese platter. And you can't beat something that tastes great and is still healthy. Good New Year resolution food, if you're into that kinda thing. I hadn't initially planned on adding beans... then I saw them sitting on the shelf and thought, "Yeah!" I liked how it turned out a lot!
I was listening to some Boston punk, so I decided to post a little Darkbuster, playing "Whiskey Will". I should have saved this song for a recipe with whiskey in it but... I don't think I'll be at a loss for punk songs about whiskey. ;) -jen
GREEK SUMMER SALAD Time: 20 minutes, no cooking Difficulty: Can you use a knife? If yes, then easy. Yields: 4-5 cups
2 cucumbers, seeded and chopped
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 cup green olives, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 can (15oz) white beans, rinsed
3/4 cup feta cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients and toss! Can't get much easier than that!
Giardiniera is a pickled, spiced vegetable mix, often used as a condiment for food in the Midwestern U.S. Jennifer grew up in the Chicago area and was very familiar with this mix as a topping for Italian Beef sandwiches so we decided to try some here at home. This is not an authentic Italian giardiniera as it has some jalapeños, olives, fennel, etc and the Italian variety, as I understand it, is more spartan with onion, zucchini, carrots, celery, and cauliflower in vinegar.
We just went to the farmer's market, decided what looked good, and went with that for veggies. I suggest that if you like something specific, use it. If you don't like something I used, leave it out or substitute something else. This really is just a pickles veggie condiment so get creative. Do green beans if you like. Get nuts!
While giardiniera is usually pretty hot, I don't like to make mine burn-the-taste-buds-off hot. Add Serrano peppers or more red pepper flake if you like the scorching, mouth-blistering heat.
I know I'll probably hear from 15 different people how this isn't authentic or whatever but you know what? It's not the end of the world. This is: -justin
1 cup distilled white vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp crushed red pepper flake
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
Place all the veggies in a bowl, add the salt, add enough water to submerge the veggies, cover with plastic wrap and leave in fridge over night.
The next day, drain and rinse veggies under cold water. Add the green olives and minced garlic to the drained veggies. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, oregano, red pepper flake, black pepper and thyme. Place the vegetables in your storage container of choice (I recommend glass jars), add the whisked liquid. Store in fridge for 2 days before serving.
Note: Storing it in the fridge, the oil will separate and congeal on top. Either take the jar out of the fridge a half hour before you know you'll need to use it. Or if you need it immediately, because it's so awesome you can't wait a half hour, just remove the lid and microwave for 30 seconds and stir.
It's great on salads, sandwiches, soups, as a side dish for a heavy or greasy meal, mixed in rice dishes or casseroles, etc.
This batch was made with broccoli instead of cauliflower. (We prefer cauliflower.)
We also sometimes cut the vegetables smaller for a small relish!
The last month or so, I've been listening to a lot of music by Rancid - a great punk rock band that bridged the dirty ditches between different genres/styles of music and brought them all together with an incredible, original sound. We were lucky enough to catch bassist Matt Freeman's other band, Devil's Brigade, in San Francisco recently - it was a complete fluke that we were in town the weekend they were playing, so we jumped on that! Lars Frederiksen (guitarst) even showed up and sang a song with 'em. Needless to say, I've just been in a Rancid mood, and they've been on a lot of the play lists I've been listening to while cooking... and working, and driving, and reading, and sleeping. Sometimes I gotta wear a band out, set 'em aside for a while, and then bring them back out for a comeback.
So I got this idea in my head... what if I took a Rancid album, and made a recipe for each track of the album that somehow related to the song? I started with their self-titled 1993 album... but found it a little difficult, as it's hard to come up with any ideas other than Ramen noodles when listening to a song called "Rats In the Hallway". :\ Instead, I decided to switch to the 2003 album, "Indestructible", thinking there was a lot of mentioning of worldly places in that album; surely it'd be easier to come up with some recipes. Track 1 proved to be very inspiring and I had all these amazing ideas for Greek food and NY Deli style food... but once I got to Track 2, I had absolutely nothing.
Naturally, I came to this conclusion: Fuck it. ("Fuck it! Yes! That's your answer. That's your answer for everything! Tattoo it on your forehead!") I decided to just find kick ass songs that inspired kick ass recipes, from any Rancid album, in no particular order.
You might ask what the point of this project is, to which I would reply... "I dunno." I love punk rock, and I love cooking. Why shouldn't the two come together... in a dirty, sticky, angry, buttery mess?! Just like that porn movie you watched last night.
Of course, I expect soon after I begin the project, this blog will go global. I'll be offered my own Food Network show, which I will snidely turn down, though I may be inclined to accept a cookbook offer. The talented men of Rancid will no doubt start begging to come over for dinner on a regular basis and hang with us, because that's just how I roll. Soon enough, my food will inspire punk bands everywhere, I'll have to start my own band, Tim Armstrong will have to produce it...
Or... I'll just be satisfied if I can get five people to read the damn blog, let alone find someone who will actually try cooking one of the Rancid Recipes (which is probably not the most appetizing title to use in relation to food, but it gets the point across, and there's even alliteration.)
Well... without further unnecessary rambling... here is the first installment of my Rancid Recipes. -jen
__________________________________
Song Title: Indestructible
Album: Indestructible (2003)
Lyrics: "the great Athenians, they're not even from Athens"
I love this album! It got a lot of criticism when it came out, but it's still my favourite Rancid album - I liked listening to the way the band evolved on this one. Thinking of recipes for this song was a no brainer! Greek food is awesome, and I even went so far as to do a little research on Athenian dishes (which is where I got the couscous idea from). Being that the internet is full of incorrect information, I don't know if couscous is really a staple in Athens or not. But I knew from the start I wanted olives involved... a butt load of olives. I'm not claiming it's totally Greek - I used mozzarella cheese, definitely not Greek. So really, my Great Athenian Stuffed Chicken's not even from Athens. But it's Greek and Punk Rock inspired! So you know it's going to be killer!
GREAT ATHENIAN STUFFED CHICKEN
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 head roasted garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 tesaspoon minced garlic
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Chop the stem-end off of a garlic head and place on large square of aluminum foil, cut side up. Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top, and fold the foil into a little pouch. Roast at 500 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Let cool. Gently squeeze the whole head to squish the roasted garlic out.
Empty ricotta cheese into a large bowl. Add roasted garlic, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, basil, lemon zest, minced garlic, egg, and salt. Stir to combine. Mix in mozzarella and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pat chicken breasts dry. Place single breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound out until about 1/2" thick. Repeat for the next 3 breasts. Scoop about 1/4" of the ricotta filling into the middle of the breast and roll. Place chicken seam-side down on a lightly greased baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-40 minutes, until juices run clear. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
Punk Rock Tip #1: Don't spill food on your boots!
VEGETABLE COUSCOUS SALAD
1 cup plain couscous
1-1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Caldo de Pollo (or chicken bouillon)
1 cucumber
1 cup broccoli florets
1 roma or plum tomato, diced
3 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon's worth)
oregano
fresh ground black pepper
1/3-1/2 cup Feta cheese
In a medium sized sauce pan, bring water, Caldo de Pollo, and olive oil to boil. Stir in couscous and turn off the heat. Cover and let sit for five minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Transfer to a large bowl and refrigerate until cool. Once cooled, add cucumber, broccoli, tomato, and lemon juice. Sprinkle oregano and black pepper to taste and toss. Mix in Feta cheese and serve at room temperature.
OLIVE TAPENADE CROSTINI
1 loaf of French bread
1/2 cup of muffuletta**
1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives
1 heaping teaspoon capers
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
Provolone cheese
**I used Granzella's Muffuletta. If you can't find a good Muffuletta, you can always use equal amounts of kalamata olives, green olives, and giardiniera mix to make your own quick muffuletta.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice french bread into 3/4"-1" slices. Place on a cookie sheet and brush the tops with olive oil. Toast for 10-13 minutes at 350 degrees, until tops are just beginning to turn golden and crisp. Remove from oven and set aside. Turn the oven up to broil.
In a food processor, combine muffuletta, kalamata olives, capers, garlic, and anchovy paste. Pulse until it's large chunks. Add lemon juice and olive oil and pulse several more times until the tapenade is in small, spreadable chunks (but don't process too much or it will turn into a paste!) Spread tapenade thinly over toasted bread. Top each crostini with a slice of provolone cheese. Broil for 1-1.5 minutes until cheese is melted.
Fish is a food that I didn't like until I was about 27 years old and Justin made me my first fish hash tacos. This sealed the deal for me and fish and I have had a love affair ever since. Since it's surely due to California that I love fish (it's much less "fishy" here than it is in Chicago), it was only natural that our play list consist of some of our favourite California bands - Rancid, NOFX, and Sublime. Sublime's "Bad Fish" came on, and seemed incredibly appropriate in its juxtaposition to our excellent fish recipe below. -jen
BLACK BEAN & OLIVE SPANISH RICE
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped green or Kalamata olives
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1.5 cups of long-grain white rice
2.5-3 cups water **see instructions
15oz can diced tomatoes, drained (keep juice and set aside)
15 oz can black beans, drained
2 tablespoons Caldo de Pollo (or chicken boullon)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Heat olive oil in large skillet or sauce pan. Sautee onions and carrots until tender and onions are transparent. Add chopped olives and minced garlic and sautee another 3 minutes.
Add rice to vegetables and mix in. Measure the drained tomato juice into a measuring cup, and use water to make up 3 cups of liquid total. (If you have 1/2 a cup juice, you'll use 2.5 cups of water). Carefully add liquid to hot pan. Stir in tomatoes, beans, Caldo de Pollo, cumin, coriander, chili powder, smoked paprika and cilantro. Bring to a boil. Cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Don't lift the lid during cooking!
FISH TACOS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion (yellow, white, spring, or combination)
1 pound of boneless, light fish (sole, snapper, catfish, cod, etc), patted dry and cut into large chunks
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon rubbed or ground sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if desired)
1 lime (1 tsp of zest, and then juice the entire lime)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
corn tortillas
Avocado Sauce (see recipe below)
cilantro and chopped green onions for garnish
Queso Fresco (if desired)
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until onion is tender and translucent, 1-2 minutes. Add fish, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, lime zest, and cayenne. Cook for 2-3 minutes; fish will begin to turn an opaque white. Add lime juice, garlic, and cilantro. Continue cooking another 3 minutes, using the spatula to break up the fish into a hash. Remove from heat.
Heat tortillas over the open flame of a gas burner until lightly browned (or use a dry skillet if you have electric burners). Serve fish in warmed tortilla, top with Avocado Sauce, green onions, and cilantro. We like to add a little crumbled Queso Fresco to ours.
AVOCADO SAUCE
This is a light, avocado and citrus sauce that goes well with fish, chicken, or as a vegetable dip.
1 avocado, cubed
1 green onion, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons cilantro
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon green Tabasco sauce
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
In a small food processor, combine all ingredients, blend well.
We do a lot of salads similar to this, but Justin was specifically craving an orzo salad. We thought we'd use the cherry and yellow tomatoes out of our garden, as well as the poblanos Justin grew. (Poblano taste real similar to green bell peppers, and I figured most people are more familiar with bell pepper, so I put that in the recipe.) What I really love about this salad, though, is the Lemon Basil Vinaigrette! I so love making my own salad dressings.
