Welcome back, or maybe you didn’t do any traveling for summer’s last hurrah, either way – I hope you had a relaxing and fun-filled Labor Day weekend!  Whether it’s with a sigh of relief or a twinge of regret, we wave good bye to summer and return to our school/work routines while anticipating the balmy days of fall.  It’s September and time to say hello to this month’s Top Mom – many of you already know Roxana from her delicious baking blog A Little Bit of Everything, and if you haven’t had the pleasure, I’m pleased to be the one to introduce you to her.

When you see what Roxana whips up in her kitchen you can’t believe that she only began cooking two years ago! I could tell that this is a woman who excels at anything she puts her mind to. After learning she had high cholesterol, Roxana quickly adopted a vegan diet and began sharing amazing recipes for quick breads and desserts that she had adapted to be dairy free and, many of them are gluten free also.

Since baking isn’t second nature to me, I admire people that make it look so easy! 1-2-3 and your whole house is filled with tantalizing aromas and, violà, you have before you a warm slice of fresh-baked bread, a plump roll, or moist fruit-filled muffin – that’s Roxana! She shares simple recipes that are full of healthy ingredients, delicious flavors, and easy enough for the home chef, on her website as well as a number of food blog clubs, communities, and weekly roundups. I wish I had half her energy! Say good bye to summer while enjoying this savory vegan zucchini quick bread – all sorts of healthy deliciousness toasted for breakfast, a lunch box treat, or a savory afternoon snack!

Hello everyone. My name is Roxana and I’m the baker, photographer and writer behind A little bit of everything.  As my blog line states, I bake a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I love baking yeast breads, sweets or not, and after finding out I have high cholesterol I left the butter and cheese at the store and came home with dairy and egg-free ingredients. I was a vegetarian, so going vegan wasn’t as hard as you may imagine. Instead of regular butter I now use soy-based vegan butter. As for the eggs, I have not yet used store-bought egg replacer but used mashed bananas, applesauce or flax seed meal. So far everything went well, with a few failures but that could happen even to the best of us.

When Priscilla asked me to be September Top Mom I jumped with joy. Oh my goodness, I was featured on one of the blogs I enjoy reading. As you know Priscilla is a sweetheart and her recipes always make me hungry.

I’m happy STHM of a beautiful 22 month-old daughter. I’m blessed I have the opportunity of staying home and watching our precious daughter grow. Today I’m going to share with you a vegan bread recipe. As probably some of you know I LOVE zucchini. It’s a yeast bread, perfect with a salad or a bowl of soup. I added some seeds to the dough, just for the crunchy bite.

I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly not disappointed!  I’d like a few slices of Roxana’s zucchini bread right now

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When people ask me what is my favorite food, I’ve never been able to give them a straight answer because I love variety and the unique flavors of so many cuisines. But, if I HAD to pick a favorite, pizza is certainly at the top of the list, so I was really pleased when Natasha and Lazaro announced that pizza was the theme for August’s Five Star Challenge.

The true origin of pizza differs depending on the source and whether you’re talking about the etymology of the word “pizza” (Latin), or what culture was the first to start adding toppings to flavor bread (Middle East and Mediterranean), or who invented the edible plate (Greeks). Generally, its agreed that pizza, as we know it, came from humble beginnings; a Galette flat bread with a red sauce, it was a dish of the poor people and sold in the streets of Naples, Italy in the 16th century. Later, after tomatoes were brought to Europe by explorers from the Americas, the sauce was made from oil and tomatoes.

Origins aside, pizza has evolved to gourmet status with a place on the menu of many a fine dining establishment. The pizza’s appeal transcends borders and its versatility knows no bounds – you can have pizza for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert now!

The pizza I created for this challenge speaks to my roots in the South (the S in SXSW), my love of Southwestern flavors (the SW), and the bounty of tomatoes from our garden. This year we planted three varieties of tomatoes: Organic Beefsteak, Heirloom Black Krim, and Sweet Tangerine Hybrid and I used each one in this delicious vegetarian thin crust SXSW Pizza.

We’ve been having a problem with the Beefsteaks developing “blossom rot”, so have been picking them before they mature into their biggest, brightest, beautiful selves – this is the variety I used for the fried green tomatoes. The Black Krim’s have a dark maroon skin with red flesh, they grow to a medium-size which is perfect for bites of pizza, alternated with slices of the extra sweet, golden orange Sweet Tangerine Hybrid. With Marcella Hazan’s dough recipe (thank you, Angela of Spinach Tiger), a sprinkling of aged Asiago cheese and the delightful crunch and Southwestern flavors of toasted pepitas and smoky roasted corn – this was a garden fresh, gourmet pizza bursting with flavor that I think you’ll love and that I’ll be making again and and again.

Besides being a catchy acronym for the South by Southwest flavors in this fabulous pizza, SXSW also makes reference to the annual  SXSW in Austin, Texas, the mega happening of interactive, media, music, and film festivals that one day I’d like to attend

Cheers to pizza in all its incarnations!

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In keeping with my garden theme during this bountiful time of year, the past week was officially declared Zucchini Throwdown at She’s Cookin’ and I’ll be sharing three simple + seasonal recipes for this most prolific summer squash. First up is a recipe from Chef Michael Symon’s Easter Goes Greek spread featured in Bon Appétit‘s April issue.

Michael’s big personality and bawdy sense of humor had me smiling as I read his tips for preparing this holiday feast, like #4 “Go Hard – lots of ouzo, straight up, no retsina!” , and #5 “Put the Fun in Dysfunction – When you get a bunch of Greeks in a room it gets very emotional. I explain to my friends that regardless of the yelling or crying, it’s all a sign of happiness.”

Plus, I’m crazy for Greek food – helloooo, did you see my post on the Taste of Greece? – and everything from the Lamb Chops with Lemon to the Walnut and Pistachio Baklava had me salivating! But what earned the dog-eared page was the Zucchini Keftedes because I’m always on the lookout for ways to morph the zuke into something fabulous.

Keftedes are actually Greek meatballs and in the recipe head notes Michael referred to them as zucchini fritters, which is what I would call them – either way it’s a delicious vegetarian dish with flavors of bright lemon and mint and salty feta, perfect as a starter or several fritters make a satisfying and delicious vegetarian main dish.

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You live with someone for half your life and just when you think you know everything about them: you can complete their sentences and predict their response to nearly any situation – they surprise you. And that’s somewhat refreshing when you get to this stage of the game For some reason I thought The Don abhorred cauliflower, in fact, in my mind I vaguely remember him telling me this one evening after dinner; vague being the key word I guess. But I was wrong! He raved about this colorful curry, exclaiming how he loved sweet potatoes (which I knew) AND cauliflower, and how I should make it more often! Who knew? Certainly not me.

So, thanks to my friend, Faith at Edible Mosaic,  not only was this fragrant and savory vegan meal a home run with the huz, but it satisfied my sudden craving for Indian curry. The Indian name for this dish is  Aloo Gobi Masala, and  the minute I saw it,  I made a mental note to buy cauliflower on my next grocery run. Because we love the orange tuber, and for more color and nutritional value, I substituted  sweet potatoes for the white potatoes in the original recipe. I also had a fantastic Madras Curry from Williams Sonoma and substituted that for garam masala and added more peas, because you can never have enough sweet peas in my book. Edible Mosaic holds a place in my Blogroll because Faith always inspires and amazes me with her creative, unpretentious recipes  - please take a moment to check out her site, I think you’ll love it too

Shown served with hummus and whole wheat pita.

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© Priscilla for She's Cookin' | from the heart, 2011. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cauliflower, easy, Meatless, Meatless Monday, Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Curry, sweet potatoes, vegan, vegetarian

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We’ve all heard the saying “you are what you eat” and yesterday my post focused on a recent article about how, more than ever, food defines social class in America more than the clothes you wear or the car you drive. Basically, the food that is available and affordable to the vast majority of Americans is processed foods and not organic, sustainable, fresh fruits and vegetables. We hope to change that, but it’s going to take time and a change in the mindset of many.

Meanwhile, it is possible to eat healthy on a limited budget without spending hours in the kitchen.  One of the most nutritious foods that even finicky eaters like in one form or another is tomatoes AND it’s on the shelves of every store from big box retailers to small neighborhood markets and quick stops. When I was growing up, I really didn’t like tomatoes  - even though they were homegrown and organic from our own garden. But I did love a bowl of chunky chili or my mom’s comforting beef stew on a frigid winter’s eve. It  wasn’t until much later in life  that I realized how utterly sweet and luscious those tomatoes were  and started planting a garden just so I could eat a juicy, red (or yellow) meaty tomato!

Whether you eat them raw or canned*, tomatoes are a significant source of fiber, Vitamin C and the antioxidant lycopene. Research results were presented at the American Dietetic Assocation’s Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo in November, suggesting that the nutrients in tomatoes may have a measurable impact on heart disease prevention. Since cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the U.S., this is a VERY important finding in helping us pave the way toward heart disease prevention! Heart disease has directly affected our family, and more than likely, many of you reading this.

My husband was relatively young when he had bypass surgery, he ate healthy home-cooked meals and exercised regularly. In fact, his first heart attack struck him while he was on his regular 26 mile bike ride. In the words of his cardiologist, he had three strikes against him: he was male, over 40 and had heart disease in his family.  So start eating some tomatoes – in soup, salsa, chili, stew, pasta, pizza, or hey, even ketchup (minus the sugar and corn syrup please).

So let’s get to the recipe! I created this curry using Hunt’s diced tomatoes because it’s a brand that all stores carry. Not only did this take less than 15 minutes to prepare, but it filled the house with an exotic aroma, and has the added benefit of 6 grams of fiber from garbanzo beans I served it with spinach Bolani but its also great with pita bread or naan (which you can buy at Trader Joe’s for $2.99).

*Note: Research published in the British Journal of Medicine actually shows the body more readily absorbs lycopene from canned tomato products vs. fresh tomatoes, I was skeptical when I first read this, but it’s published in a medical journal here if you want to read it.

Disclosure: I was paid to write this post, Yay! Still, my opinions are my own.

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© Priscilla for She's Cookin' | from the heart, 2010. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bolani, chickpea curry, chickpeas, easy, garbanzo beans, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian

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Romesco is a sauce originating in Catalonia, Spain and typically made from almonds, pine nuts and/or hazelnuts, olive oil, roasted garlic, olive oil  nyoras – a smaller, sweet, dried variety of red bell pepper.  Other common ingredients include roasted tomatoes, red wine vinegar, and onion. It’s a fantastic all-purpose sauce that goes well with vegetables, meat, and fish. I’ve tossed roasted potatoes with it, served it alongside fish, and, of course, it lends itself beautifully to pasta. Enjoying a late season harvest of tomatoes, I was inspired to recreate a Romesco sauce redolent with roasted tomatoes,  similar to that of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc At Home recipe.

I’ve made this sauce twice in two weeks, the first time I included red hybrid and yellow heirloom tomatoes along with an orange pepper. This latest edition included all red tomatoes and green peppers from our garden – so, as always, I encourage you to  take liberties, be creative – make it your own!

Romesco Sauce

inspired by Ad Hoc At Home’s Romesco Sauce

6-8 tomatoes, halved lengthwise

1 red bell pepper, halved lengthwise, cored and seeded

½ large onion, cut in half

3 large garlic cloves

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

¼ cup slivered almonds

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the tomatoes, pepper, onion, (cut side down) and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 1 hour, until the vegetables are well browned with some charring on the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, heat a small pan over medium heat. Add the almonds to the pan and toast for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant.

Remove the skins from the tomatoes and peppers. Remove the outer layer of the onion and coarsely chop the onion. Add the roasted vegetables, chopped onion and roasting juices to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Season to taste.

Makes about 2 cups. Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 weeks.

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Mix with sauce and serve with shrimp and garnished with frizzled kale (directions below).

For the shrimp:  marinate 1 pound of fresh shrimp (rinsed, shelled, and deveined) in the juice of 1 lemon and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil seasoned with 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves, sea salt and freshly ground pepper for 30 minutes to an hour before cooking. I quickly cooked the shrimp in the hot olive oil after the frizzled kale – turning once, 1-2 minutes until they’re opaque in color.

Vegetarian option: Shown here with Barilla Plus thin spaghetti, topped with frizzled lacinato kale , also known as dinosaur kale, adding a delightful crunch and a huge amount of nutrition. I’ve never been a huge fan of kale, which is why I wanted to experiment with another way to prepare it other than boiled or cooked down in the southern greens fashion. After washing and removing the center rib, wrap in paper towels to dry, and tear it into bite-size pieces with your fingers. Heat about ½ inch of olive oil, sprinkled with red pepper flakes, to med-high and add a handful of kale at a time to frizzle. Be careful of splattering oil from water remaining on the kale leaves.

Enjoy

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© Priscilla for She's Cookin' | from the heart, 2010. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: kale, lacinato kale, pasta, Romesco sauce, shrimp, vegetarian

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I think most of us are trying to eat more sustainably, buy organic when we can, be more conscientious about buying locally and seasonally at farmers markets, etc. But I’d like to share a few tips that you may not have considered from  50 Tips for Eating Sustainably at Whole Living.

1. Use the whole vegetable: the stems of cauliflower or broccoli, the inner leaves of celery, the fronds of fennel, the greens of beets, even the stems of herbs: all edible, all tasty.

2. Get to the root: try to forgo packaging and buy vegetables with the roots still attached.

3. Get farm fresh food delivered: find a community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm near you at eatwellguide.org or localharvest.org and pay a subscription fee for regular batches of local produce (and, in some places, grass-fed meat).

4. Be package conscious – try to select food that comes in the least amount of packaging possible or that is packaged in recyclable containers.

5. Google your milk:  Until the USDA revised the standards, 30 to 40 percent of milk that was labeled organic was actually from factory farm-raised cows. Regulations are tighter now, but not all organic milks are created equal. Check your brand at sustainabletable.org — and opt for antibiotic- and rBGH-free (no artificial bovine growth hormones).

If  you would like to see the slide show and all 50 tips, visit  WholeLiving.com

What I’m focusing on today, is Tip #24: Eat more real corn – not processed corn, because according to the USDA, at least 85 percent of the corn grown in this country has been genetically modified, meaning the plants were altered to make them more pest resistant. Corn is easy to stockpile. While there is still beautiful, sweet, farm-fresh corn in the markets; buy a bunch, blanch the cobs, strip the kernels (its easy using a corn peeler) and freeze it. You’ll taste a little bit of summer every time you add it to soups and stews during those bleak winter months!

With that in mind, my long goodbye included grilling corn using a recipe adapted from Martha Stewart by Sippity Sup, a food blogger whose posts never cease to amaze, amuse and educate me, all at the same time. One of the only things I’ll eat at county fairs is the grilled corn with chili seasoning and this preparation is that and more.

Grilled Corn with Feta and Lime

• 4 ears of corn, in husks

• 2 T mayonnaise

• 1 lime, juice and zest only

• 1⁄4 t chili powder, to taste

• 2 oz feta cheese

• kosher salt to taste

• lime wedges as needed

1. Heat the grill to high. Soak corn in cool water for 10 minute, turning occasionally.

2. Peel back the husks of the corn without removing them completely. Remove as much of the silks as you can. Return the husks to as close to their original place as possible, tying them in place if necesary.

3. Transfer to grill. Cover; cook, turning often, until husks are charred, 10 minutes. Remove from grill.

4. Using a kitchen towel, pull back husks. Combine mayonnaise, lime juice, and chili powder; brush onto the partially cooked corn.

5. Return corn to grill (with husks pulled back and off heat). Cover; cook, turning often and brushing with more chili-lime sauce as needed, until kernels are charred in spots, 10 to 15 minutes.

6. Remove to a serving plate and dust with finely grated feta cheese. Season with coarse salt and serve with lime wedges on the side.

Shown served with Annie’s Favorite Cornbread - it was a very corny evening. Enjoy

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© Priscilla for She's Cookin' | from the heart, 2010. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 50 TIps for Eating Sustainably, corn, cornbread, easy, grilled corn, vegetarian

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Thanks to my friend Diane, I went to see a movie and came home with a cornucopia of fresh, organic produce. Diane, a Master Gardener who specializes in edible gardens, had been to a garden swap and brought two huge baskets full of veggies, including some unique varieties of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. with names I don’t remember, and encouraged us to take whatever we wanted. It was a veritable farmers market in the Regal Cinema’s parking lot!

Now, with a huge bowl of veggies from Diane and my garden on my kitchen counter, I set to thumbing through my cookbooks and the gorgeous two-page photo spread of the mise-en-place for Summer Vegetable Gratin in Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc At Home caught my eye. Here tomatoes, squash, and eggplant are layered on a cooked onions and baked with a cheese and bread crumb topping. I actually sliced  an eggplant but didn’t use it because my baking dish was smaller than the 9×13 suggested.

The recipe states that this is a good dish to assemble ahead and then bake before serving.  But I ended up hurrying to slice everything up and get it in the oven as soon as the Young Baker was finished making the cookies she was taking to a sleepover. I made fresh bread crumbs, but in my hurry forgot to sprinkle them on top! Not to worry, this didn’t stop us from devouring every bit of this gratin down to the delicious juices in the bottom of the baking dish.

“Get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, ManPans and Rouxbe.”

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© Priscilla for She's Cookin' | from the heart, 2010. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ad Hoc at Home, summer, Thomas Keller recipes, tomatoes, vegetable gratin, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow squash, zucchini

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Patio dining in southern California doesn’t get much better than this – unless you’re at the beach!
Two of the best items on the menu: silky Edamame Dumplings and Caramelized Onion Tart with Figs and Gorgonzola.

True Food Kitchen, newly opened in Fashion Island next to Roy’s.

451 Newport Center Drive

Newport Beach, CA

(949) 644-2400

P.S.  Bring your sunscreen – the stylish awnings have gaps and, since June gloom has finally disappeared, the  sun was intense! The photos were taken under the shade of the awning, where alas, I was not.

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© Priscilla for She's Cookin' | from the heart, 2010. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Fashion Island, gluten-free, Newport Beach, True Food Kitchen, vegan, vegetarian

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Today, we have a Guest Blogger – actually bloggers – from southwest Florida – that got my attention because they are a Mother/Daughter team and their  beautiful farm-to-table tart, recently featured in the  Foodbuzz Top 9,  caught my eye. I’m a huge fan of rustic tarts that highlight seasonal veggies (Zucchini and Sundried Tomato Tart and Mushroom and Spinach Tart ) and recently judged the special Culinary Arts competition, The Art of the Tart,  at the Orange County Fair – so I’ve had tarts on the brain.  Gorgeous in its simplicity; direct from CC Recipes:

Rustic Cherry Tomato Ricotta Tart

This is one eye-catching tomato tart, that is truly super simple and looks like you spent hours making it. Made with a super easy tart dough, cherry tomatoes, ricotta and cream cheese, and a sprinkling of fresh basil leaves.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
pinch of salt

7 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut in cubes

1/2 cup heavy cream

For the Tart:

1 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced
2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 cups fresh cherry tomatoes, washed and drained

1-2 Tbsp basil leaves

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Place the butter cubes around the flour and pulse until a crumbly mixture is formed.

2. Slowly add the cream while still pulsing the flour mixture, Keep adding the cream until the dough comes together into a bit of a ball.

3. Remove the dough from the food processor and move to a lightly floured surface. Gently knead the dough a few times until it is smooth.

4. Wrap up the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (can stay in the refrigerator overnight).

5. Preheat the oven to 375F.

6. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and the garlic together; set aside. In a separate bowl, add the cream cheese, ricotta cheese, 1 teaspoon of the garlic olive oil (that you previously whisked together), salt and pepper, mix well. Toss the tomatoes with the remaining garlic olive oil.

7. Remove dough from the refrigerator and on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch round.
Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet (if you line the baking sheet with parchment paper, it will be easier to transfer to a plate later).

8. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the bottom of the dough, leaving a 1 inch border. Top the ricotta mixture with the cherry tomatoes and basil leaves (I keep the basil leaves whole, but you could cut them if desired), spreading the tomatoes and basil out evenly still leaving a 1 inch border. Fold the edges/border over the filling, pleating the edges to make it fit, The center will be open. Brush the top of the pastry crust with the egg.

9. Bake for about an 30 – 45 minutes or until the shell is evenly browned. Let cool for 5 minutes, then slide the tart onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy

Thank you CC Recipes! From their About page: This is a blog created by mother Christine and daughter Camala (C and C) to share our favorite recipes, talk about food and baking, share pictures of the food we make and dish about anything we feel like.

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© Priscilla for She's Cookin' | from the heart, 2010. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cherry tomatoes, Meatless Monday, ricotta cheese, tarts, vegetarian

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