Recipe Review from 4/23/2018

Hooray! Spring has Sprung!  A WONDERFUL week of temperatures in the mid-50's, sunny, and well, Spring-ish.  My yard is still a bit to squishy to start raking or picking up sticks, though I've done the ubiquitous Tootsie Roll Patrol.   Another sign of spring - this years baby chicks are due to arrive some time next week!  Stay tuned for some peeping cuteness!

Last week was insane work-wise, but at least I was ready for it and even had a couple new recipes on deck. 

The Meal Plan from 4/23:
Sat (I was in town)  leftovers  (S)  pizza from the co-op
Sun (Husband in town) leftovers   (S)  Fritatta
Mon (yoga/legion)
Tues - Sauted farro and tomatoes
Wed (evening Mtg) - Quiche (from the Moosewood Ckbk)
Thurs (yoga)  leftovers
Fri - (off/PM yoga) - take-n-bake pizza
Sat (S)  leftover farro


Vegetable and Goat Cheese Frittata (Ckng Lght, March 2018)  gluten free, vegetarian
I am still finding dishes out of the March issue!  This was one I had my eye on and just needed to slide it on the menu.  This was perhaps the best frittata recipe I have made to date, and honestly, I thin I liked it better than my go-to quiche recipe.   It was light and poofy, great flavors, came together in half the time as a quiche and was perfect with a microgreen side salad. 

A couple small changes:

• I added some dried tomatoes to the top.  I soaked the tomatoes for about 10 minutes (maybe less) in boiling water to soften, and then layered around the top before putting the dish into the oven.  
• I used broccolini instead of broccoli.  I thought it would be more tender, easier to saute, and it comes in a much smaller package.  I used just the florets, and steamed the rest to go along side the farro dish coming next. 
• I skipped the pico de gallo.  Seemed unnecessary.  

I highly recommended this dish.

7 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 (8-oz.) pkg. cremini mushrooms, sliced
4 ounces multicolored mini bell peppers, cut crosswise into 1/4-in.-thick rings
4 ounces small broccoli florets (about 2 cups)  (I used about 1 cup of broccolini florets)
1 1/2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (about 1/3 cup)
1 medium avocado, chopped
1/4 cup refrigerated pico de gallo  (I skipped, wasn't necessary)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine eggs, salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Heat oil in a 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add mushrooms; sauté 6 minutes. Add bell peppers and broccoli; cook 5 minutes or until tender. Remove pan from heat; pour egg mixture over vegetable mixture in pan. Sprinkle with goat cheese.

Bake at 400°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until egg is set. Cut into 4 wedges; top evenly with avocado and pico de gallo.

One-pan Farro with Tomatoes (Smitten Kitchen Blog) vegetarian
My friend Gail brought this dish to my attention and I finally had an opportunity to add it to the meal plan.  This was quite tasty!  I made it nearly as written, my only change being I sauted the onion first rather than bring everything to a boil together.  I like the taste of caramelized onion in my dishes.   This is a creamy and tangy dish - don't skip the basil!  It definitely adds a flavor zing.  

This made enough for two of us for two meals, and I could see myself making this for lunches for myself later this summer.

photo from Smitten Kitchen blog

2 cups water
1 cup (updated) semi-pearled farro (see Note above for farro types)
1/2 large onion (I usually use a white one, for mildness) 2 cloves garlic
9 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher or coarse sea salt
Up to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Few basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons
Grated parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)


Place water and farro in a medium saucepan to presoak (I find just 5 to 10 minutes sufficient) while you prepare the other ingredients. Adding each ingredient to the pot as you finish preparing it, cut onion in half again, and very thinly slice it into quarter-moons. Thinly slice garlic cloves as well. Halve or quarter tomatoes. Add salt, pepper flakes (to taste) and 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan, and set a timer for 30 minutes. Bring uncovered pan (no lid necessary) up to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. When the timer rings, the farro should be perfectly cooked (tender but with a meaty chew), seasoned and the cooking water should be almost completely absorbed. If needed, though I’ve never found it necessary, cook it for 5 additional minutes, until farro is more tender.

Transfer to a wide serving bowl. If there’s enough leftover cooking liquid to be bothersome, simply use a slotted spoon to leave the amount you wish to behind. Drizzle farro lightly with additional olive oil, scatter with basil and parmesan. Eat immediately. Repeat tomorrow.

The Smitten Kitchen author notes:  A Farro 101 note, the trickiest thing in writing this recipe was considering the different types of farro (from an Italian wheat strain known as emmer) available — as well as misconceptions, such as the notion that it can be used interchangeably with spelt. (It cannot, as spelt can take hours.). Farro comes whole/unpearled, semi-pearled (semi-perlato) and pearled (perlato); pearling describes how much of the exterior bran is removed, but packages are not always labeled. If your package says it will cook in less than 15 minutes, it’s probably pearled; if it takes around 30 minutes, it’s probably semi-pearled. And if it takes 60 to 80 minutes, it is whole or unpearled. [To make it even more confusing, I’ve been using the Rustichella d’Abruzzo brand, which labels it as “whole farro” but it is indeed semi-pearled, which is why cooking times are the best way to decipher which kind you have.] This recipe will work for all three versions (there are multiple comments below noting results for each, as well as quinoa, couscous, and even rice, just do a word search [Cntrl + f] to find the grain you’re looking to swap) but I’ve defaulted to semi-pearled below, which I find most frequently in stores. In all cases, if your package gives you a different cooking time than the 30 minutes suggested below, default to it instead.