Yesterday we cooked our first recipes from Our Syria by Itab Azzam & Dina Mousawi. This is one of them, a very simple vegetable appetizer that can be put together in minutes. I've altered it slightly here to cook the garlic a bit, rather than adding it raw at the end of cooking, since the Kidlet finds raw garlic to be "too spicy" and I usually prefer the cooked flavour, too.

The original recipe calls for chard. We're more likely to have kale (and I prefer it anyways), so that's another adjustment made.

Kale with Garlic and Lemon

Our Syria p.47

Ingredients

• olive oil
  
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 450g kale, coarsely chopped
• salt
  
• Juice of 1 lemon
  

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add a bit of olive oil and the garlic and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
3. Add the kale and a splash of water and cover until the kale is warmed through and wilted slightly.
4. Remove from the heat and toss with lemon juice, salt, and a bit of extra olive oil if desired.

One more Hello Fresh. This was, unsurprisingly, a hit with the Kidlet, who likes absolutely everything in it.

Cornmeal-crusted Salmon with Green Beans & Potatoes

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 720g potatoes, sliced into 5mm rounds
• 120mL cornmeal
• 30+90mL mayonnaise, divided
  
• ~500g salmon filets, boneless
• 340 green beans, trimmed
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 180mL sour cream
• 30mL white wine vinegar
• 15g dill, finely chopped
  
• 15g parsley, finely chopped
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Toss potatoes with 30mL oil. Season with salt and pepper, and bake until golden-brown, 25-30 minutes.
3. Combine cornmeal with 2.5mL salt and 5mL pepper in a shallow dish.
4. Brush salmon with mayo 30mL and then dredge in cornmeal.
5. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Add 30mL oil, 60mL water, green beans, garlic, and shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender-crisp, 6-7 minutes. Remove and buffer.
7. Reduce heat to medium, add another 30mL of oil, and cook salmon until golden-brown and cooked through, ~4-5 minutes/side.
8. Whisk together sour cream, vinegar, parsley, dill, and remaining mayo in a small bowl.
9. Serve with mayo on the side as dipping sauce, or drizzled over fish and potatoes.
   

We make a lot of sourdough pancakes. Usually, however, they're a simple savoury affair. Just fry up some onion (or green onion), pour a bit of discard on top and cook! Serve with a fried egg and your favourite toppings. I usually go for mayo and laoganma and maybe a bit of chopped cucumber or shredded carrot. This makes for a nice, fairly low-effort weekday breakfast. However, the Kidlet is much more fond of fluffy sweet pancakes. (Because of course she is.)

I've made fluffy sourdough pancakes before, but it doesn't look like I ever got around to doing a write-up for them. I can no longer remember which recipe I used. I think it might've been from the King Arthur Flour website. This time I grabbed a recipe from a blog post I stumbled across. It produces pleasingly fluffy pancakes with just a hint of sweetness. I made them with just a hint of whole wheat flour this time (so as not to disappoint the Kidlet), but I think I'd probably go for something closer to a 1:1 ratio next time, or even 100% whole wheat depending on which flour(s) I'm using.

Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes

Slightly adapted from Taste of Lizzy T

Ingredients

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 225g sourdough discard (unfed starter)
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp. oil

Directions

1. Combine flours and sift in baking powder and baking soda.
2. Mix in sugar.
3. Add the starter, milk, egg, and oil.
4. Mix until just combined. A few small lumps are okay.
5. Heat a griddle or cast iron pan and grease if necessary.
6. Pour desired amount of batter into the pan. I normally like to use 3-4 Tbsp. of batter per pancake as this keeps the size manageable and easy to flip.
7. Once bubbles begin to form and pancake starts to look dry around the edges, flip it.
8. Once pancake is browned on both sides and cooked through, remove from pan.
9. You may keep the pancakes warm by placing them in a 95°C (200°F) oven until ready to eat.
10. Serve with butter, jam, maple syrup, fresh fruit, whipped cream, and/or other toppings of your choice.

As is often the case with Hello Fresh's vegetarian dishes, this is tasty but not well balanced -- it's best served with a salad and some kind of protein.

It's quite similar to the pasta with cheesy cauliflower sauce I was fond of as a kid, though.

Pasta with Creamy Cauliflower Sauce

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 570g cauliflower florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
  
• 15+15mL garlic salt, divided
  
• 30mL oil
• 340g dry rigatoni
• 30mL butter
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 30mL flour
• 240mL milk
• 113g baby spinach
• 180mL sour cream
• 240mL grated cheddar
• 1 bunch chives, finely chopped
  
• chili flakes for serving

Directions

1. Toss cauliflower with oil, garlic salt, and black pepper.
   
2. Bake at 425°F until golden-brown, 14-16 minutes.
3. While cauliflower bakes, cook rigatoni al dente. Drain, reserving 240mL of pasta water.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add butter and onions. Cook, stirring often, until softened, 3-4 minutes.
   
5. Add flour and remaining garlic salt. Stir until the flour forms a roux coating the onion, 1-2 minutes.
   
6. Add milk and cook, stirring often, until thickened.
7. Reduce heat to low. Add spinach and cover until wilted, then stir in.
8. Add sour cream, cheddar, chives, and cauliflower. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Add pasta water as needed to adjust thickness.
10. Toss with pasta and serve with chili flakes.

I could not get over how incredibly odd this recipe sounded. The authors swore it was delicious and an especially big hit with kids. I wasn't entirely sold, but I was curious.

The peanuts and the corn both came through nicely. I don't think they really complement each other, but they don't clash either. I feel like maybe they need another element to tie them together. I think adding a few blueberries might make the peanuts feel a little more harmonious and like they're actually meant to be there. Overall, I can't say that I think this will become a new favourite, but the muffins were tasty enough. I might try them again sometime. Especially if I have blueberries to use up.

Peanut-Corn Muffins

Slightly adapted from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 3/4 c. cornmeal
• 1/4 c. roasted, unsalted peanuts, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1/4 c. natural (no salt or sugar added) peanut butter
• 2-3 Tbsp. honey
• 1 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 c. blueberries, tossed in 1-2 tsp. of additional flour (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a muffin tin.
2. Sift baking powder into flour.
3. Add salt, cornmeal, and peanuts.
4. Whisk oil and honey into the peanut butter.
5. Add buttermilk and egg and mix thoroughly.
6. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
7. Stir in blueberries (if using).
8. Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin.
9. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 18-20 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and let cool in tin for 5-10 minutes.
11. Turn muffins out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

This Hello Fresh box comes together pretty nicely and is really tasty, although I upped the garlic in the salad dressing to a whole clove and the Kidlet declared that to be too many garlic even for her -- taking that into account I've written it up here with the smaller quantity of garlic requested in the original recipe.

Cheesy Italian Burgers with Garlic Salad

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• ½ tsp minced garlic
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• ½ tsp + 2 tbsp italian seasoning, divided
• salt and pepper
  
• 2 mini cucumbers, sliced into 5mm rounds
  
• 225g cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
  
• 113g spinach-arugula or similar green mix
• 4 burger buns
• 360mL shredded mozzarella
• 4 beef or beyond meat burger patties
• 1 C marinara sauce
• oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together garlic, mayo, vinegar, and ½ tsp italian seasoning to form salad dressing; add salt and pepper to taste.
   
3. Toss with cucumbers, tomatoes, and greens.
   
4. Split buns. Coat top and bottom with mozzarella. Bake in oven until cheese has melted and started to brown, 5-6 minutes.
5. Season both sides of each patty with remaining italian seasoning.
6. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sear patties, 3-4 minutes per side.
7. Transfer patties to baking sheet and top them with the marinara sauce.
8. Bake until cooked through, 6-8 minutes.
9. Serve in buns.
   

 

 

 

I don't really feel like doing a write-up today, but I haven't been keeping up with the blog recently and this recipe is at least quick and easy. It's based on a recipe from Cookie & Kate which is, in turn, based off of a recipe from Smitten Kitchen which was, itself, based off of a recipe from Marcella Hazan's famous cookbook. It's basically a modified burro e pomodoro sauce. It has olive oil instead of butter and a few added seasonings.

Marinara Sauce

From Cookie & Kate

Ingredients

• 1 (825mL) can of whole tomatoes
• 1 yellow onion, halved
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. red chili flakes

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
3. Crush the tomatoes and cook for another 30 minutes.
4. Squish the garlic against the side of the pot and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Remove the onion halves and serve over pasta, polenta, or other substrate of choice.