trying new recipes

With the weather being weird as it has, one day rain, one day clouds, all around humid, I stayed indoors and recently tried a couple of new recipes.

The first one was adapted from "The French Market" by Joanne Harris. "Thon aux deux haricots" (tuna with two beans).

This recipe was really easy to put together.

Instead of olives, I used capers.

Steam some green beans and sear some tuna in some olive oil, I did about a minute (or less) on each side.

Take the tuna from the pan and replace with the rinsed white beans to heat through. Add the zest of a lemon plus the juice, garlic, capers, basil and some cherry tomatoes.

Serve tuna on top of the veggies.

(I split a piece of tuna the size of my palm between Satoshi and I, I figured since I was serving it with beans, we didn't need to have a whole piece of tuna each (plus the price of tuna is kinda crazy!))

This dish was so refreshing and light.

The second recipe was from my blog friend, Pocky.

She suggested I try a splash of lime juice on my feta-watermelon salad.

Yum! another refreshing dish.

Satoshi kept commenting on how well feta and watermelon go together.

The last recipe was something I've made in the past, a wheatberry salad from Ina Garten.

This time around, I used pearl barley and wheatberry.

I roasted a red bell pepper and some zucchini.

For the dressing I used the juice of 1/2 a lime and a tablespoon of olive oil. I also added some minced white onion, tomato, Italian parsley & feta cheese.

I'm making these again! (soon!)

It's Friday, hope your weekend is a nice one.

ayun's salad

I just finished reading "Dirty Sugar Cookies" by Ayun Halliday and what a great book it was.

A food memoir, this book brought back similar food memories for me.

The author also includes several recipes at the end of each chapter.

One, was this watermelon, feta & basil salad.

The recipe is so simple and so delicious, especially with Japan's sweet watermelon.

(Now, while I wouldn't recommend visiting Japan during the summer because of the unbearable heat and humidity, I would recommend visiting Japan during the summer for the fruits! Peaches, watermelon, grapes, and melons all vine/tree ripened and delicious. You'll never be able to eat the fruit you find in your US supermarket, ever!)

Anyway, she recommends 4 parts watermelon, 1 part crumbled feta and some basil. I de-seeded the watermelon, and used the marinated feta that I had.

I must say that the marinated feta added a lot of flavor to this salad. This would be perfect for a picnic or barbeque.

I'm making this again....soon!

addicted to...

Recently I've been addicted to roasting red peppers and then combining them with caramelized onions, eringi, a cheese and olives.

I wash the red peppers then put them into a 220C (425F) oven for 40 minutes. I've seen recipes which instruct you to coat them with oil before baking, but I don't. The oven does all the work and all I have to do is wait to peel them (oh, I do turn the peppers over halfway through). The peppers get so sweet and tender!

Last week, one dinner was a veggie wrap. I steamed some thinly sliced cabbage, then on a tortilla I added the cabbage, some caramelized onions, kalamata olives, feta cheese, roasted red pepper and eringi mushrooms....mmm.

For yet another dinner, it was my first time making a savory tart.

With a defrosted puff pastry sheet, I cut it in half then pricked it with a fork leaving a border.

I added goat cheese, caramelized onions, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers and eringi. I baked it for 30 minutes in a 200C (400F) oven.

As I was eating the tart, I wondered why I hadn't tried making this before...it was so delicious!

Flaky pastry plus that combination of flavors that I am hooked on at the moment....yummy! I paired it with a green salad and it was a simple, yet delicious dinner.

And on yet another night, we had goat cheese, eringi, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and red leaf lettuce toasted on a tortilla like a pizza.

Toasting the tortilla in the oven, the edges get really crispy....mmm.

Is there a flavor combination that you are hooked on at the moment?

caramelized onions

After reading Tea's post on caramelized onions, I had to try it for myself since I had never caramelized onions before. (You should know that most adventures in my kitchen are "first times" for me.)

The "new" or spring onions are in season now, these onions are tender and sweet, great for roasting...great for caramelizing.

Tea suggests a heavy pan but I didn't have one, only a non-stick one.

I sliced 2 onions and used a tablespoon of olive oil. And then I let it cook down. I added a total of 4 tablespoons of oil and 30 minutes later....

I got this...sweet caramelized onions.

So what to do with them?...

You could try making the "Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onions and Arugula Pizza" by Ellie Krieger. I did it with feta and flour tortillas, but it was still delicious.

You could make Shepard's Pie. I actually saw Su-Lin's photo and wanted to make some. I added some caramelized onions to fresh peas and carrots and bell pepper, some ground beef seasoned with garlic and a little onion then topped it with the mashed potato. I cooked the peas, and the carrots and bell pepper I "heated" up with the water from boiling the potatoes. The mashed potato, I added some plain yogurt and a little skim milk. Then I baked it. I liked this but want to try her version with a tomato based sauce.

You could try Tea's recipe for curried oatmeal. I have to tell you a little story...When Satoshi and I were first married, I would make his breakfast then go off to work. (I would usually make a bowl of oatmeal and he would eat it when he awoke.)

One day, when we were eating breakfast together, I noticed that he put furikake onto his oatmeal. At first I thought...ewww. I guess because I grew up with oatmeal being a sweet dish rather than savory. He said the consistency was more like o-kayu (rice gruel), which is why he would add furikake.

I didn't have the madras curry powder that Tea used, so I used the curry powder that I had. Her recipe is for one, but I made half the recipe and split it between Satoshi and I.

Satoshi liked it. He said it wasn't "oatmeal-like", though he wished it could have been spicier. Maybe he'll eat more oatmeal if I cook it this way. I liked it and served it with some sausage for breakfast.

What do you use caramelized onions for?

p.s. Happy Easter!