Potato and Beet Salad

I already published one recipe for potato salad here before, but I guess it being summer finally (though you would not be able to tell that from the crazy storm outside now) and looking for something tasty, healthy and not too warming, potato salad in all shape and form is perfect for us.

I made a big batch and we eat half of it warm for dinner yesterday and half of it cold for lunch today. the texture and flavor changed entirely, it was almost like 2 different dishes. I think we both liked it better cold though it was really nice warm to.



Ingredients (for 4 people as a meal or 8 as a side)
3 large potatoes
1 large beat
3-4 cloves of garlic

a pickle
some fresh dill

For dressing:
1/2 tea spoon of coriander seeds
1 tea spoon of mustered
juice from 1 lime
a chilly (I used a green habanero but a Jalapeno can work just as well).

Some yogurt for decoration.

- As you can see, no salt, we try to avoid it as much as possible, I know I eat too much salt already when I eat out, so at home, I cook without, if you don't mind salt, there should probably be about half a tea spoon in the dressing.




The cooking part:

Dice the beat and potato to about 1"x1" cubes peal and chop the garlic into large chucks (cut each clove into 2 or 3 pieces) cook in water for about 20-30 minute till soft, but still chewy. Strain from water.

The dressing part:

While the potato and beat are cooking, chop the dill (I used about half of a large pack, but you can use less) and the pickle to small bits.

Also, make dressing - I use a small glass jar, because it's easier to put the lead on and just shake it: Crush the coriander seeds with a spoon, to release their flavor (give it a shot even if you hate coriander, the seeds taste very differently then the plant) then add the lime juice, olive oil, and mustered, chop the chilly to tiny bits and add to the dressing, close the lead and shake the jar.



Putting it together:

While the potatoes & beet are still warm and after you strain them, put them in a bowl (I use the tupperware they are going to be in late,r to save on dishes...) and pour the dressing over them, it'll absorbed right away in the warm potatoes. then mix with the deal and pickle.

On the plate, decorate with some yogurt. it taste really great together!

Potato Salad

Yesterday I was reading a blog day article somewhere, it was a bunch of cool blogs and one of them was a beautiful cook blog by and Israeli designer and awesome food photographer. I
spend half the evening reading her recipes that are written with humor and looking at the beautiful pictures.

The cool blog made me want to do 3 things - cook, take pictures and blog. So this is the result! today's lunch. Also, since it is memorial day, this is perfect picnic or barbecue salad. it lasts really well, it's healthy and very easy to make.


lentils and Potato Picnic Salad
Ingredients for 2 people as a meal or 4-8 people as a side dish
8 small purple potatoes (or white ones)
half a cup of green lentils (also called French lentils)
a small onion
a tomato (I used a yellow one, but red is fine)

For dressing:
2 table spoons olive oil
1 table spoon balsamic vinegar
1 table spoon mustered
1/4 cup of water

For decoration:
2 table spoon of yogurt
fresh ground pepper



How to make it
dice the potatoes, chop the onion and add the lentils to a pan. Cover in water and let cook for about half an hour on medium heat until the lentils and potatoes are soft but not mushy.

While it cooks, make the dressing, in a cup mix all the ingredients and whisk for about 2 minutes until the olive oil and water blends. then slice the tomato into segments.

Once the lentils and potatoes are cooked. strain until all of the water are out, and while still hot, pour the dressing over them. the heat makes the dressing soak really well in the potato.

when serving decorate with the tomato slices and yogurt.



A couple of pointers:
We are trying to cut down on cholesterol, so no salt for us, but it can be added to the dressing, also, you can replace the yogurt with cream cheese or ricotta.
We eat it warm, but it's also really good cold, and can keep in the fridge for a week or so.

Black Rice - recipe

First of all I have to say, it makes me really self conscious to blog about food and recipes, I feel like from a crazy sex maniac with a fondness for drinking and life of excitement and adventures, I turned to some housewife who only write about crafts and food. I'm trying to remind myself that I can be both at the same time, also, right now, our eating habits do get a lot of attention, being that Ned had to do an extreme dietary change and we are both pretty committed to that, even though it's really hard!

Saying that, we did both have dessert tonight, Sunday is Cake night, in which Ned's allowed to have any crazy dessert he wants, which always means death by chocolate vegan cake with 2 scoops of Vanilla ice cream in Blackbird parlor.

Before we had that, we had a healthy meal in the studio. I don't like cooking meat or chicken, so I try to include a lot of beans and lentils in the food I make so we get enough proteins.

Ingredients

1 cup black rice (also called forbidden rice sometimes)
1/2 French lentils (they are small and dark green)
1 chilly pepper
1/2 no salt tomato sauce
1 small potato
about 8-15 baby carrots

In a pan, heat the rice and lentils until they are warm to the touch. dice the potato and carrots and add to the heating rice (I used to lightly fry all those with some olive oil, but now I do the same without the oil, it's more healthy, only you got to mind it doesn't burn more) chop the chilly to small bits and add that to.

mix the tomato sauce in 3 cups of water and after the rice and other ingredient are really warm, pour into the pan. when the mixture is simmering, lower the flames and cover the pot. Let cook for about 40 minutes on a lower flame. It's ready when all the water are soaked in the rice (you can also taste to see if it's cooked through).

Turn the flame off pick up the lead and place a clean cloth or towel on top of the pan, then close the lead again, leave for 5-10 minutes to soak the leftover fluids.

I garnished it with home made tomato salsa and some canned artichoke hearts, but any vegetable would look beautiful on this.

Some rice tips: If this is the first time you are making rice, know that rice tend to be tricky, it take a couple of times to get to know how much water to add exactly and how much time to cook. Over all, it's better to put to little water and add some more if all the water in the pan are gone and the rice is still hard then to put to much water and end up with a sticky sort of gruel.

Good luck!

Fresh beet pasta - Recipe

A couple of months ago Ned had some medical tests and the DR. said that he need to go on a low cholesterols diet. He's health was over all good, but it's better to address this before it get to be a real problem. So, we started making a joined effort to eat more at home. I really enjoy cooking and also, the time and money it saves over going out all the time. Ned has been really good about going to the gym and already lost over 15 pounds!

This is what I made for dinner today, it looked so nice I thought it would be cool to share the recipe, it also tasted really nice!

Ingredients (for 2 people)

2 large beets
1/2 jalapeno pepper (if you don't like spicy, just skip this...)
fresh or dried herbs (I used basil, but this will also work well with thyme or oregano)
2 garlic cloves
1 table spoon of olive oil
juice of half a lemon

half a pack of pasta
about 2 table spoons of cheese (I used muenster, but mozzarella or Parmesan would work well to)
a pinch of sea salt
fresh ground pepper.

Instructions
This is super easy to make and another benefit is that it's better when it's been in the fridge for a while, so I made this while making breakfast and we had it for dinner.

chop the beets to small pieces (or if you are not a big fan of raw beet, grate them with a cheese grater. Chop the pepper and the garlic clove. Mix all those in a tupperware and add the lemon juice, olive oil and herbs. close the lead and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

When you are hungry, cook the pasta and pour the beet mixture on it, add the cheese, a little bit of salt and pepper and you're done!

You can even make this totally cholesterol free if you replace the cheese with some non fat yogurt. It's yummy!