Today, I took time to cook some Muchines de Yuca which are Ecuadorian Yuca Fritters. I must say they are FABULOUS! They are hard work, but the flavor is AWESOME. The Macaroni Salad is a Cajun recipe which I am not posting in the advent of saving time, and the salad is pretty basic with romaine, green onions, tomato, celery, and a little balsamic vinaigrette.
Here are Muchines de Yuca.
For the recipe, I referred to this link.
Today, I created a masterpiece vegan salad. The flavors are balanced and you can just feel the freshness, power, and energy with each bite. Here is the recipe and photo. The little celery stick on top with peanut butter and raisins is called Ants On A Log. This was created by one of my children.
Bulgar Wheat Vegetable Salad
1 cup of Bulgar wheat
1 onion finely chopped
5 pieces of celery off stalk finely sliced
5 carrots grated
1/2 pound of fresh snow peas
1 can of garbanzo beans
1/3 cup of fresh mint
1/3 cup of fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup of roasted/salted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup orange juice
1/8 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Optional: Half moon orange slices for presentation
1. Boil two cups of water with the 1/2 teaspoon of salt. When it starts to boil, remove from heat and add 1 cup bulgur wheat. Allow bulgur wheat to absorb all water which takes about 15 minutes.
2. In a skillet heat the 1/8 cup of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, celery, and snow peas. Cook these for about four minutes.
3. Add all the vegetables, herbs, juice, seeds, and bulgur wheat to large mixing bowl.
4. Mix everything together thoroughly and enjoy.
This recipe will serve 6-8 people.
Lately, I have been experimenting with a lot of vegetarian based dishes. I decided to try Napa Cabbage for the first time and I am hooked. The flavor is so much more milder than traditional cabbage. I gathered ideas from a few websites regarding Napa cabbage, and ultimately created my own recipe and dish off the ideas.
My recipe is as follows:
Orecciette Pasta Salad with Napa Cabbage, tomatoes, Mushrooms, Onions, and Herbs
1lb Orecciette Pasta
1 yellow onion chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic pressed or chopped finely
1 head Napa cabbage
1 8 ounce package of sliced mushrooms
2 fresh tomatoes
3 tablespoons fresh basil
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon of salt or to your taste
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Optional toppings: Crushed Red Pepper and Parmigiano cheese
The first order of business is to saute all of the vegetables with seasons and herbs in olive oil until slightly wilted for cabbage and slightly softened for other vegetables.
Place all the sautéed vegetables in a large mixing bowl.
While you are doing this cook pasta 10 minutes until al dente or follow package instructions.
Mix the pasta, vegetables, and herbs in the large mixing bowl together with a little more olive oil.
Serve and enjoy.
This recipe will easily serve 6 or more people depending on portion size.
This is one of those dishes were I took a look in the fridge and said,”I need to use my leeks and peppers today before they go bad.” So I grab some white clam sauce and linguine from the cabinet. I take my vegetables and saute them in olive oil, garlic, basil, Italian parsley, and add a touch of fresh black pepper and salt. Combine the linguine, clam sauce, and vegetables, and create a magical dish in less than 30 minutes.
Today, I decided to work with some new dishes for lunch. These two recipes come from the cookbook Creating Empty Bottle Moments by Clive Berkman. I must say that the chicken recipe is one of the best I have ever had, and the roasted beet salad is bursting with flavor. In fact, this is the first time I have ever eaten beet greens. They are delicious!
Here is a link to the cookbook
This book not only covers food, but the love and meaning behind it. It is a cookbook like none I have ever experienced regarding food and life.
And here is my finished product!
This is a quick, tasty, healthy sandwich that I love to make on my panini press. The summer is here, so light food is great when the temps top out over 90. All you need is some mayonnaise, whole wheat bread, mushrooms, tomato, fresh basil, and your choice of cheese and seasonings. I prefer Muenster or Mozzarella for my cheese and a little lemon pepper for season.
The summer is a great time to grow fresh basil which I do.
This is how you should lay everything out on your bread before you place the two slices together.
This is how it should look off the panini press with a side of veggie chips. A quick, easy, healthy, yummy panini sandwich.
Tonight for dinner I have an Indian Sampler plate.
Indian food is so fragrant, spicy, rich, flavorful, and euphoric!
Starting from top left going in a clockwise motion, there is Mutter Paneer which is peas in a gravy of mild spices with Indian Cheese, Baigan Bharta which is smoked and mashed eggplant with onions, garlic, and spices, Palak Paneer which is spinach and Indian cheese, Kadhi Pakoda which is gram flour dumplings cooked Punjabi style in yogurt and Indian spices, Dal Makhani which is black lentils and kidney beans cooked in a buttery gravy of tomatoes, onions, ginger, and garlic, Mutter Methi Malai which is fenugreek and sweet peas cooked in a cashew sauce with mild Indian spices, Basmanti Rice, and Masala Naan bread.
If you have never eaten Indian food you are denying yourself a life’s pleasure.
This dish is influenced by both Japanese and Korean cuisine. It consists of teriyaki beef short ribs, japanese eggplant with mixed vegetables and garlic, and rice topped with a little bit of Sriracha hot sauce. I don’t have a recipe because I make most of my dishes up in my head. After you cook so long, you get to where you know how to balance the seasoning and mix things up.
I call this Kofta kabob sandwich a hybrid because it doesn’t follow tradition other than with the meat recipe. I use black angus 90/10 beef to make the Kabob, an onion naan bread from India, some Labne(Kefir Cheese) from Lebanon, fresh tomatoes, and cilantro for a spectacular sandwich. It is truly mouth watering!
I love cooking flat-iron steaks because they are much cheaper than filet mignon, but they are almost as tender. It is the most tender steak outside of filet. Tonight, I decided against grilling do to the Texas heat, and cubed the flat-iron steak sauteing it in about 15 cloves of garlic, one onion, and some Cajun seasoning. I then sautéed the spinach with garlic, and cooked the angel hair pasta, and mixed it all together with alfredo sauce in my big pasta bowl.
It would have made the greatest Italian happy! Hey, it will make anyone happy.
Here is the LOVELY dish.
Albert Moyer, Jr. 