So Simple, So Few

1 avocado, halved and pit out
Salt & pepper
Some goat cheese
Parsley
Extra virgin olive oil

Simple Salad

Small tomatoes and edamame Salad

• 1 pint quartered Cherry rainbow tomatoes
• a cup and a half of edamame 
• dressing: one sliced green onion, a pinch or two of garlic powder, lemon zest, juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and a pinch or two of parsley

Coconut Rice Pudding

Coconut rice (arborio) and pistachio pudding with cinnamoan, pinch of ginger, pinch of salt, coconut milk, condensed milk, a little bit of sugar.
Topped with strawberries, blueberries, and a little sugar

Pattie Boyd's Vegetarian Recipes

Fried Mushrooms
1 large field mushroom each
1 egg
Fresh breadcrumbs
Garlic salt
1 ½ oz. butter

Remove stalks from mushrooms. Add a little garlic salt to the beaten egg. Dip the mushrooms in the egg, then in breadcrumbs. Fry in the butter and serve very hot.

Vegetable Pasties
¼  medium cauliflower
½ rutabaga, diced
2 large carrots, diced
¼ lb. lentils
¼ lb. shelled peas
2 medium onions, sliced
¼ lb. mushrooms, chopped
1 zucchini, sliced
1 eggplant, sliced
1 egg
¼ pint cream
Mixed herbs and seasoning
2 - 3 oz. butter
¾ lb. short-crust pastry

Divide the cauliflower into small florets and boil with the rutabaga, carrots and lentils in salted water for 15 - 20 minutes, adding peas 3 minutes before the end. Drain and set aside. Melt some of the butter in a frying pan and fry the remaining vegetables one at a time. As they are cooked add them to the boiled and fried vegetables. Stir in the mixed herbs, seasoning, cream and beaten egg (reserving a little of the latter to brush over the pastry). Roll out pastry and divide into 4 squares, spoon vegetable mixture onto each square. Damp the edges with a little water, fold over and press firmly together. Prick with a fork, brush over with egg and place on the top shelf of a moderate oven for about 25 minutes or until pastry is cooked. Serve with salad of lettuce, sliced avocado, fennel and spring onions. Dress with vinaigrette and sprinkle with a handful of cashew nuts.

Raspberry Sorbet
1 lb. raspberries
½ pint water
8 oz. sugar
Juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 stiffly beaten egg whites
1 miniature bottle Curacao

Liquidise the fruit and press it through a fine sieve. Make a syrup by boiling together the sugar and water. Cool, add the raspberry puree, and the strained lemon and orange juice. Pour into a well chilled tray and place in freezing compartment of fridge for about 30 minutes or until mixture is almost frozen. (set fridge to coldest). Turn the mixture into a bowl and beat with a whisk or rotary beater, then add beaten egg whites and liqueur. Whip thoroughly, return to freezer for about ¾ hour or until set.

Some Combinations

Sandwiches

*Apricot jam/jelly and Sunflower Butter

*Grilled Pepper Jack cheese and Apricot jam/jelly 

Cookies

*Almond Butter and dried cherries

*Cashew Butter and dried apricots with apricot jelly center

Toast toppings

*Apricot jelly\jam and strawberries

Salads

*Dragon fruit, avocado, grapes with EVOO, S&P, and lemon juice

*Beets, peaches, arugula, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese, coconut oil, agave nectar, S&P, and champagne vinegar

Lip Smacking Sweets

Meringue with a hint of cardamom and strawberry-apricot (inspired by my cousin Rachel's jam) compote with freshly squeezed orange juice and basil.

Compote:
1 pint of strawberries, quatered
5 and a half apricots, sliced
1 orange, juiced
3-4 small leaves of basil, chopped
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup of sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside until the strawberries release their water syrupy (about an hour or two). Heat about a slice of butter in a medium saucepan on medium high heat and pour the bowl and bring to a boil. After about 15 minutes, use your potato masher and mash the fruit together. Let cook for another 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Take the saucepan off the stove until cool for use. You can also store it in mason jars.

Also great for smoothies with yogurt or vanilla ice cream

Here's my cousin's own food blog for more recipes Blonde Bitchin' West Texas Kitchen

Strawberry & Almond Smoothie

About a cup of Strawberries (quartered)
about 2 to 3 handfuls of sliced almonds
about 2 cups of french vanilla yogurt
A squirt or two of honey
2 handfuls of ice
A pinch of salt

Blend in blender until smooth

Polenta Pizzas

A household favorite.

Polenta (6 cups of water, 1 and 3/4 cups of polenta, salt and pepper, butter) lay it on a sheet pan and even it out. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Use a water glass to cut out discs, oil them to grill or saute.

Sauce is simple cherry tomatoes, garlic and basil cook until tomatoes start to blister and mash them. Top that and mozzarella on the polenta (after you flip the polenta like a hamburger)

Fruity Nutty Yogurt

Canistel (eggfruit), calamondin jelly, nutmeg, honey, plain yogurt and walnuts 

Sweety Grilled Chicken Pasta

I apologize for no picture, I honestly didn't think of it until later but the pasta was already gone. I was food experimenting so knowing that the dish was gobbled up afterwards, then it was successful

Ingredients  
-2 boneless chicken breasts
-McCormick's Garlic & Herb
-a little bit of EVOO

-2 handfuls of carrots, store bought matchsticks
-1 medium bag of julienne cut sundried tomatoes
-about a palm full of dried tarragon
-about 4 tablespoons of butter
-1/2 cup of chicken broth

-1 lb of spaghetti

Method
Marinade the chicken breasts with McCormick's garlic & herb and EVOO for about 30 minutes. Heat the grill (I have an indoor plug-in) for a few minutes before putting the chicken on for about 7 minutes on each side. Take off the grill for a few minutes to rest before slicing.

Boil water, salt, cook pasta until al dente. Drain.

In a saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and same amount of EVOO until melted before adding the dried tarragon, sundried tomatoes and carrots. Saute for about 5-7 minutes over medium high heat until the carrots soften before adding in the 1/2 cup of chicken broth to help hydrate the sundried tomatoes and dried tarragon. The broth will reduce and evaporate about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the cooked slice chicken, the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and spaghetti, tossing and mix well before serving.

Optional
Chopped up a small handful of (salted) roasted almonds as a garnish with parmesan cheese

Mango & Raspberry Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 mango, peeled, unseeded and chopped
a handful or two of raspberries
about a cup of plain yogurt
1/4 cup of honey
1 can of coconut milk

Method:
-Put mango, raspberries, plain yogurt, honey, and coconut milk in blender. Puree until smoothie consistency. Serve. Store the remaining leftovers in the refrigerator

My Dark Red Drink

Ingredients
-1 1/2 beets
-1 1/2 cups of strawberries
-2 cups of orange juice
-pinch of salt
-2 handfuls of ice

Method
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Wrap 3 beets in aluminum foil with olive oil and put them on each corner of the edge of the pan (the edges get more hotter in the edges quicker than it does in the middle); roast for 30 minutes. Gently open the foil (carefully so you won't burn) and let cool until easy to manage. Rub with a paper towel to get rid of the skin before dicing it to put in the blender. Cut in half the 2nd beet and reserve the other beet and a half for another time.

In the blender: strawberries, orange juice, a pinch of salt and beets (after you diced them). Puree for a minute or two before adding the ice. Puree well so it's not chunky.

Pour in glass and serve

Sweet Tomato Ravioli

Filling
-1 small container of whole milk ricotta cheese
-a few basil leaves
-garlic, chopped
-a handful of parm cheese (romano cheese is also a good optional choice to use)
-about two handfuls of sundried tomatoes (don't get the ones packed in oil; I got the bag 'dry' kind)
-1 egg
combine all together in food processor until well mixed
-won ton wrappers
wet the sides with water to help seal and with a small spoon, put the filling in and seal it. Set aside to work on other raviolis until either the filling or the wrappers are gone. Cook the pasta in boiling water until they start to float on top.

Sauce
-10 to 12 plum tomatoes, half seeded and pulp removed and the other half left alone
-1 clove of garlic
-1 cup of starchy pasta water
-some basil
Heat oven to 400 degrees and roast plum tomatoes (seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil) for about 30 minutes. In the food processor, combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil together and add water to help thin out the sauce to your preference.

In a serving bowl, put the sauce in and once the raviolis are finished cooking, add them into the sauce and mix together to coat the raviolis before adding in the parm cheese on top to serve.

Canistel & Chia Seed Drink

1 canistel (seeded, just scoop the filling out into the blender)
a sprinkle of nutmeg
a sprinkle of cinnamon
about 2-3 spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt
a squirt of agave nectar
about a cup of vanilla or plain almond milk
about a small handful of chia seeds

Blend
Serve

Avocado & Banana Smoothie

I've been thinking of this kind of smoothie for quite some time now and while at the store, I decided to go for it. Unfortunately my blender broke some time ago so I used my Cuisinart instead

2 bananas chopped
1 avocado chopped
about 2 tablespoons of honey (eyeball)
about 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
about 2 pinches of nutmeg
a pinch of salt
about a cup of plain yogurt (eyeball)

blend it all together, put in glass and enjoy

My Ultimate Caprese Pasta

There are several recipes and variety of this dish- it's classic Italian flavors: tomatoes, basil, mozzarella with pasta. However I decided to kinda twist it up to make it my own. 

I made the classic basil pesto with some twists to the ingredients without changing the recipe: 
-about 2 cups of basil
-instead of about 2 cloves of garlic, I used two heads of garlic (it sounds A LOT, doesn't it?) and roasted it in a 425 degree oven for 40 minutes in wrapped foil. That helps mellow that sharp bitter (yet yummy- I love garlic but it can be very strong and overpowering). Let cool before handling it for the pesto.
-toasted 1/3 of pine nuts
-salt & pepper
-blend everything well in a blender or Cuisinart while streaming in about 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil.
-stop blending to add 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese before blending again until mixed in well

As for the tomatoes
-10 (you can do 12) of plum tomatoes, ends cut off, cut in half and seeded and scoop out the pulp. In a bowl, salt and pepper the tomatoes with EVOO and mix around with your hands so coated evenly. Set in a single layer on a baking sheet (lined with aluminium foil) cut side up and roast in the 425 degree oven (after you roast the garlic) for 35 minutes. After out of the oven, cut the tomatoes in quaters before adding to the bowl for the pasta dish
*while the tomatoes are roasting, that's when I make the pesto together

Mini mozzarella balls
option to cut in half. If you can't find mini mozzarella balls, you can buy a ball and cut it to bite size pieces

Penne pasta
reserve about a cup of pasta water to help thin out the basil pesto if necessary if too thick

In a serving bowl, mix together the penne pasta, basil pesto and roasted tomatoes. Add the mini mozzarella to stir it in the last minute before serving

(explanation regarding the below tags of this post- tomato is technically a fruit, which is why fruit is listed instead of being under vegetables)

Fig & Cheese Crostini

I had quite a lot of homemade fig jam left when I made Giada De Laurentiis' breakfast panini and was wondering what to do with it when it suddenly hit me: a crostini! Lately, The Cheese Course has been my favorite restaurant to go to where they sell lots of cheese (as well as salads, sandwiches, soups). I had tasted this cheese called cambozola- which is like brie and gorgonzola had a baby together- it's very tangy with a punch in a gut with a sweet buttery comforting taste. They also had baguettes available so I helped myself to one. I drizzled honey on the top. Delicious!

My Kind Of Salad

Honestly I rarely make salads. Don't get me wrong, I do love salads but I usually go for the ones that are already made. The salad I really like to make is simply tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic and EVOO- yummy! But last night my household wanted a salad so I gave them a salad!

Salad:
-Lettuce (Romaine)
- 1 Tomato
-3 Carrots
-Red Pepper
-Chick peas (drained)
-Dried cranberries (a handful or two)
-3 celery

Dressing:
-2 spoonfuls of dijon mustard
-2 tablespoons of honey
-a little sprinkle of garlic powder
-lemon juice from 1 lemon
-balsamic vinegar (eyeball- about a shot or two)
-EVOO (eyeballing while whisking it in)
-S&P

Soup & Sandwich Dinner

Lately I've been welcoming the idea of soup and sandwich for dinner quite often. Both recipes are from Giada De Laurentiis's cookbook, Weeknights with Giada
Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Bacon
Ham, Cheese & Apple Panini

Giada's Official Website

Raspberry Sherbet with Pistachios