Wheat Berry Salad and a Big Thank You

It's been less than a month since I started this blog and honestly I am overwhelmed at the amount of people reading my tales of dating, recipes and the other bits and pieces of my life that I share. Thank you for the comments and feedback. I have enjoyed reading them and the feedback has at times been amusing, shocking and delightful. If I don't post your comment, don't take it personal (or do...whatever). It is MY blog after all. I mean, come on, my Mom and my Aunt Barb read this and although I know they can handle the occasional F-Bomb (maybe not Aunt Barb) or at least appreciate the warning to avoid it, I do have to consider the kind of things that end up in the comments section.

Either way...thank you for reading.

Tomorrow I head up to Seattle for a couple of days with my cousin Jessica. We are going to see our friend, Dallas Brooks at the opening of an art show she is in. I am so proud of Dallas and can't wait to see her and her amazing pieces on display. It will make for a really lovely start to what has turned into a bit of a birthday weekend for me. Saturday and Sunday will be spent with friends doing two things I love...eating and bowling under black light (you didn't know that?! yeah...bowling AND black light.)

It also looks like I finally got assigned a new cooking class. My last one got cancelled so I have been itching to get back in the kitchen classroom. I will keep you posted, but rumor has it...I will be teaching kids. (holy moly!) I am a bit nervous but know it will be really fun if I get the assignment, so fingers crossed. It will start in March.

I am leaving you with a salad recipe that is inspired by a salad that I get EVERYTIME I am at New Seasons. (Yes...by now you have figured out that I shop there a lot.) It is a wheat berry salad with a citrus vinaigrette, almonds, spinach and ricotta salata cheese. It is so yummy.

Wheat berries are the grain that they actually grind to make flour. For those of you with food storage you will recognize these lovely little grains. For the salad (and a lot of other great recipes) you boil them in water and salt for about an hour, drain them and they become chewy and soft. You can buy it from the bulk bins in many stores or the brand Bob's Red Mill also sells them in the same section you get flour. They are very affordable with a bag of Bob's Red Mill running about $2.50.

I did some hunting on the Internet and discovered that New Season's is basically using the exact same recipe as Heidi Swanson's recipe in her cookbook Super Natural Cooking. The only difference is the nut (she uses pine nuts) and the cheese (she uses feta).

I think either nut or cheese would be great, although if you can get your hands on some ricotta salata, do. It is pretty fantastic. Ricotta salata is a pressed, salted and drier version of the creamy ricotta you are probably used to. It's one of my favorite cheeses (okay they all are) and is kind of reminiscent of Mizithra. (Oh and sorry for the terrible picture...only had the camera phone this time.)

Wheat Berry Salad with Spinach and Ricotta Salta
adapted from New Season's and Heidi Swanson

2 cups of soft wheat berries
6 cups of water
2 tsp of salt
One bunch of baby spinach rinsed, stemmed
1 cup of toasted almonds
1/2 cup of crumbled Ricotta Salata

Citrus Dressing

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
1 TB freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 TB of minced shallot
1/2 cup of olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Combine the wheat berries, water and 2 tsp of salt in a large saucepan over med-high heat. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered...until plump and chewy, about an hour or so. The berries will be al dente, (aka not mushy), so you have to taste them for doneness. Drain them and season them with more salt if needed.

To make the dressing, combine the zest, citrus juices, shallots, salt and pepper and whisk in the olive oil until combined.
Toss the hot wheat berries with the dressing, then add the spinach, almonds and cheese. You can serve the salad right away, eat it at room temperature or chilled.

Pasta Caprese

One of my favorite, quick pastas to throw together is Pasta Caprese. Normally I make this pasta sauce with fresh tomatoes, but it's not the season for that. Canned diced tomatoes can be just as flavorful in this pasta and perfect for the winter months when you are craving a bit of summer. This dish is light and healthy, but also filling with the bits of oozy fresh mozzarella and fresh egg pasta.

A couple tips and tricks about this recipe.

The key to cooking anything is to have your mise en place all ready to go. That's just a fancy French cooking term meaning, have everything in place. That is the first thing I teach my students. Get all your prep done before you start cooking. That way when you turn the pan on, you have everything at your fingertips, ready to be thrown in the pan. All you have to worry about is stirring, tasting and seasoning. It's such a simple thing but really is one of the biggest keys to successful cooking.

If you have a few tomatoes lying about, dice them up and throw them in the pan. You will want to cook them first with the olive oil and garlic for a couple minutes before you add the can of diced tomatoes. If it is the summer and you have in-season tomatoes, you will cook them all first in the olive oil with the garlic and won't add any canned tomatoes. This particular time around, I had a fresh Roma tomato, so I threw it in the pan for a bit before I added the canned tomatoes.

I like to build as much flavor as I can and if you want to get the diced tomatoes with seasoning already in them, great. I usually always have a can or two in my pantry, so if I am lucky and one is garlic and basil seasoned then all the more happiness in the pan.

Taste, taste, taste. Always taste your food. Tomatoes, especially canned ones can have a high acid content. I always add a bit of sugar to most of my homemade tomato sauces to cut the acid. Also, taste before you add any more salt once you have added the canned tomatoes. You are safe with fresh tomatoes, because you know that they don't have any added ingredients but some canned tomatoes have salt already added. The key is always to taste, then add just a little salt and sugar to start, then add a little more if you need it. If it gets too salty, throw a splash of your boiling pasta water in and continue tasting.
Don't add the cheese or the fresh basil to the pasta and sauce until you have put it in the serving bowl. The fresh basil will turn brown and lose some of it's punch if you cook it for too long.
Oh and fresh pasta in my opinion is key to this recipe. I also don't drain the cooked pasta...I just grab my tongs and pull out the cooked pasta straight from the water and put it right into the saucepan. That little bit of water that makes it into the pan feels like good luck to me. (Oh and you know...it's one less pan to clean and it breaks up the sauce a bit.)
Also, this sauce is great for bruchetta. Just grill up some bread. Take the cooked tomatoes off the heat, toss in the basil and mozzarella and top your grilled bread pieces.

Pasta Caprese
serves 3-4 (or just two...depending on that second person)

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (don't drain)
1 fresh Roma tomato diced (optional)
1 ball of fresh mozzarella cut up into cubes
3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
3 Tbsp of sliced fresh basil
1 Tbsp of olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sugar to taste
1 10 oz. package of fresh pasta cooked according to directions

Salt your water and put the pan on the heat to get your water boiling for your pasta.

While you are waiting for your water to boil. Heat a large saucepan with 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Add the diced fresh tomato and cook on medium-high with salt and pepper for a couple minutes, until it begins to get soft. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring the entire time. Add the can of diced tomatoes, including the liquid. Add a bit of sugar, about 1/2 teaspoon, to cut the acid. Taste to determine if the sauce needs more salt, pepper or more sugar. By this time your pasta water should have been boiling. Put your pasta in the water. Cook the sauce for a few minutes while you are waiting for the pasta to be done. By then the sauce will have reduced a bit. Take the cooked pasta out of the water with tongs and add it directly to the saucepan.Stir the pasta until it is fully covered in the sauce and then move the pasta and sauce to a serving bowl. Stir in the fresh basil and diced mozzarella. Garnish with some parmesan and serve immediately.

It IS easy being green...

My cooking classes that I teach are focused on nutrition and budgeting. It's been a learning process for me in both areas. Certainly I am aware of fruits and veggies being good for you but I have had to learn about the actual nutrition facts about things. Not calories or fat but why something is good for you...that kind of stuff. I have taught classes focused on the health needs of pregnancy, growing kids, and all the while attempt to make the recipes appealing (aka...yummy) and budget friendly. The people in my classes have all different kinds of skill levels and backgrounds but most of them are there to learn how to cook real food vs. pre-packaged, shelf food or just picking up fast food. In other words...unlike people who are willing to give up a bit of taste if they are dieting, my students are not looking for an "almost version" of the foods they normally eat but expect the food to taste good, healthy or not. That's a tough challenge when working with some people who can't recall the last time they ate a fresh vegetable or piece of fruit. In addition I have to find delicious, healthy food on the cheap.

One of my big challenges was greens. They are affordable and the super veggie of all super veggies. I taught braised greens in my first class. It seemed so natural. Oh my goodness, I braised them in chicken stock with a tons of garlic, and some red pepper. Yes, I was braising them with some of the major flavor players. I put them on the plate and my face matched the looks of my students. Eeeww. The plopped, soggy mess of muddy looking greens sat there on our plates. I forced a smile and explained...these are so, sooo good for you. Reeeeally good for you. Then one of my favorite students looked at me and goes...then you eat them. Okay...he was right. I hate them. They taste like dirt, they are mushy and I had to force them down just like most of my other students. NOW...I know some of you are going ...Oh my gosh I love braised green...Mmmmm. GOOD for you. You should try brasing them in chicken stock, garlic and red pepper flakes. But I don't and I am guessing it's hard to convince your kids to eat them. I will tell you I certainly wasn't inspiring my students, a group of teenagers, that they should give up McDonalds for that stuff.

BUT...here are the hard facts. Kale, THE green, is a super-power food. It packs quite the resume. It is an awesome source of fiber, 1 cup gives you 20% of your daily requirements. It also has this amazing micro-nutrient called isothiocyanate that prevents a bacteria that grows on your stomach lining that can cause gastric cancer. It has AMAZING antioxidants including, carotenoids and flavonoids. (They protect your cells.) Amongst the flavonoids are the super hero two called kaempferol and quercitin which specifically fight against the formation of cancer. That same cup of Kale gives you 10% of your daily allowance of omega-3 fatty acids which help by being anti-inflammatories. Kale contains glucosinolates, which has been shown to also prevent certain cancers, including breast, colon, prostate, gastric and bladder cancer. Those same glucosinolates help detox your body of all the nasty stuff hanging around in your body that you get from eating unhealthy stuff and being around pollutants. Kale's fibers aid in lowering cholesterol. Then there are the vitamins. Oh the MASSIVE amounts of vitamins in 1 cup. Vitamin K, vitaman C and vitamin A. Those vitamins pack a dose of protecting bones, preventing heart disease, strokes, protecting your nervous system, your eyes, boosting immunity and lowering blood pressure.

PHEW. If you skipped that paragraph...just know, Kale = SUPERAMAZING AWESOMENESS

It's almost like...you HAVE to eat it. So I had to figure out some other ways to consume Kale, other than steamy plop of greens on the plate.

With the help of my friend Jessica, who is a huge Kale advocate, I discovered some. Jessica likes to juice kale. She throws together, kale, apples, cucumbers and a few other veggies and fruits. That is my number one favorite way to consume kale. It's really yummy and not at all what you would expect, it's sweet and refreshing when combined with the other veggies and fruit. I had a Powell's mug of it waiting for me at work the other day. She's pretty awesome. (More on Jess later...wait until you taste her banana muffins and see her art work)

New Season's has a delicious raw kale salad that is super easy and very tasty. A third way is the amazing baked kale chips. Oh man. I am not kidding. They are great. Not, oh it's okay for diet food great, but actually really yummy. There are a ton of versions of kale chips floating around on the Internet, but it's easy, you just cut up the kale, toss them in olive oil and salt and bake them. A couple of friends have done the recipe and are now believers. You can sprinkle some parmesan on them. I like a dash of malt vinegar. Either way...they are far from those mushy, soggy greens in my first class.

Go get some greens, your body is begging you.

(Clearly the recipe is thanks to New Season's)

Baked Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale, ribs removed, cut into chip like pieces
Olive Oil
Salt

Toss the kale in the salt and olive oil, you only need about 1 tablespoon. Line flat on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes or until crispy. Remove from the oven and let cool.