Pearl Couscous Salad- Summer approved!

Another hot day in EDH and we have been craving easy, light, and as close to "no cook" as possible.  Turning on the stove or the oven = no bueno!  Fresh salads are the perfect solution.  But sometimes a salad doesn't feel like enough.  We want something with a bit more substance and the ability to leave you feeling full.  Adding in a grain or pasta does the trick.  The salad is made with pearl couscous, but could just as easily be made with brown rice, quinoa, or small shell pasta.  Personalize this to your taste.

For those of you who haven't tried pearl couscous, seriously go buy some!  It's not like the traditional couscous, much bigger, and to me it is reminiscent of tapioca balls!  (Not slimy like pudding, promise.) It's a great addition to your grain rotation with a completely different texture and experience.

And as always, I added fresh veggies and fruit I had on hand.  There are so many options that would work well for this. Tomatoes from your garden, some cucumbers, maybe bell peppers. And it can easily change with the seasons.  I'm imagining a version with pumpkin, beets, and brown butter sauce in a few months...

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry pearl couscous
• 1 cup of grapes, sliced in half
• 2 sliced green onions
• 1 avocado in cubes
• 1 cup chopped greens (arugula & spinach mix)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• shaved parmesan to garnish

Directions

1. Cook pearl couscous according to directions.
2. When cooked, spread on a cookie sheet and put in the fridge to cool
3. Chop your veggies and line up in pretty colorful rows.  (ok, you don't have to line them up, but I like to see my veggies in colorful little stripes.  Maybe it's just me!)
4. Add your cooled pearl couscous into a bowl, and mix in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Feel free to add more to suit your taste.
5. Add veggies, fruit, and protein if you choose (Josh added chicken.)
6. Top with some shaved parmesan 

Veggie and Fruit only!  Spinach is a good source of vegetable protein.

Chicken added for more protein.

Peach Pizza! Yes, I said Peach Pizza!

Have I mentioned before that we have fruit trees in our yard?  And that they somehow have survived 8 years of my neglect...  Well one of those trees is a dwarf peach, although I'm unsure of the actual variety.  It has beautiful red "marbled" flesh instead of the standard bright yellow, and tend to be very sweet.  I harvested the last two for the season yesterday and wanted to celebrate my "harvest" in style.

I considered doing another crisp like I did a few weeks back.  (Recipe here!)  But decided to embrace the fresh fruit and instead just cut them up, sprinkled some raw sugar, and chilled them for a refreshing, after dinner dessert!  How pretty does that look?

But I still needed to make dinner!  And figured I'd just stay in a Peachy mood with a summertime Peach Pizza.  We had mozzarella, basil, and baby heirloom tomatoes left over from our Caprese Pasta a few nights back, and it was like everything was just falling into place for a refreshing summer pizza.  A quick call to the hubby to pick up some more peaches, prosciutto, and pizza dough, and we were set.  If you have never made pizza before, don't freak out.  It seriously couldn't be more simple.  Your local grocery store or italian deli should have fresh dough in their fridge section, ready for the oven!

Ingredients

• Your favorite, fresh Pizza dough
• 1 large peach- sliced
• handful of heirloom tomatoes- sliced
• fresh mozzarella (we used the baby bite sized, but slices of larger balls would work well too!)
• fresh basil
• Prosciutto
• Olive Oil
• 1 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• Shaved parmesan for garnish
• Spinach & Arugula mix as a bed (skip if you want to JUST eat pizza.)

Directions

1. Begin by reducing your balsamic.  This is done by heating over a medium flame until it just begins to bubble, and then reducing to a simmer to allow the liquid to burn off and the vinegar to become thick.  This takes about 30 minutes.  Just watch it and stir occasionally as you do all the steps below.  (*I used a cup to reduce to about 1/3 cup, but really it was too much.  Even with Josh using some as a dippy dip for the pizza later, I poured some out during clean up.  The problem is, that using less means you risk burning it during the reduction process...so use less at your own risk!)
2. Preheat oven to 500 degrees (yes I know that's hot!  But you are creating a "pizza oven.")
3. Let your pizza grill or stone pre-heat in your oven.
4. Slice your peaches, tomatoes, prosciutto, and mozzerella (if you have a bigger ball of mozz.)  Set aside.
5. On a floured surface, massage your dough outwards with your fingers, starting from the middle and moving around the dough in a circle.  You want the edges to end up a bit thicker than the middle to ensure it cooks more evenly.  I went with a thicker crust and the dough was about 1/2 inch thick.
6. Carefully remove your HOT grill from the oven, add a thin layer of olive oil with a brush (pouring it will just slide right off in a big puddle, trust me) and transfer your pizza dough to the surface.  I find that folding your dough in half (taco style) and then once more in half, will allow you to quickly move it to the grill, and then unfold it without stretching it out, losing the shape, poking holes, or burning yourself on the grill.
7. Lightly grease the dough, add your mozzarella, and place in the oven.
8. Bake for about 5 minutes until you see the cheese melting.
9. If large bubbles appear in your dough, it's best to poke/pop them real quick to keep the surface fairly flat.
10. Add the peaches, tomatoes, and prosciutto.
11. Bake for another 5 minutes or until the dough is golden. (You should a have total bake time according to the directions on your dough)
12. Cut the basil (I demo how to make it fancy and chiffonade it on the Caprese Pasta Post here.)
13. Remove your pizza from the oven.
14. Top with your fancy basil.
15. Sprinkle your balsamic over top with a spoon.  (Don't drop spoon fulls, but dip your spoon in the balsamic and let the liquid simply drizzle off.
16. Sprinkle some fresh shaved parmesan. 
17. Create a bed of arugula & spinach on a plate, drizzle with balsamic, and top with a wonderful slice of pizza!  

"Fancy" Camp Food #3!

Ya... so over in my bio I mention how I try to be healthy, thrifty, responsible, organic, etc...  And how I sometimes just want Oreo's?  Well this post falls into the second category.  If for no other reason than I just took the easy way out.  I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of having an awesome camping weekend.  Especially not guilt over eating badly.  

(For more recipes and camp ideas, check out my earlier and more fancy camping food posts here and here.)

This was a bit of a last minute trip, which included leaving right after work on Friday (after having to stay and work late...sigh...) and getting all prep, laundry, groceries, and new shoe shopping squeezed into a couple hours Thursday night.  The shoes were not for me!  But instead for our dog, Hudson.  He needed hiking boots.  Bright red ones, to be fancy.

We planned to spend most of our time kayaking, hiking, and exploring.  Eating was just going to be a necessary "evil" invading our fun time.  So the plan was to make it as quick and effortless as possible.

Breakfast

I'm not going to lie... we had donuts and French Press coffee.  Shrug.  I will admit I was jealous of a nearby camper who was making what I imagined to be an awesome egg & veggie skillet based on the undeniable smell of grilled onions and peppers.  And as I sadly looked at my chocolate covered donut, I was only slightly sad for a moment.  The morning of Day two we made coffee again, but added a packet of hot chocolate.  Camping mocha!

Lunch

Josh's parents met us at the lake to go kayaking and have lunch.  We had all the "pick-nic" supplies.  Spread it all out on the table and just picked and snacked away!  This is the perfect way to eat lunch.  There really is NO prep.  I suppose it is an "adult-only" type of lunch.  Not because of any scandalous reason, other than dirty little kid hands.  So maybe they can point and you put their choices on a fun and colorful kid plate.  Or maybe if you actually have kids, you aren't freaked out by the germs as it is most likely part of a normal day.

• Hummus
• Cheese- sliced cheddar, & mozzarella string cheese
• Crackers
• Deli Turkey
• Sliced Avocado
• Grapes
• Cherries
• Sliced Apples
• Edamame
• Trail Mix
• Beef Jerky
• Almonds
• Gummy Bears
• Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies- so good!

 

Dinner

We went with classic BBQ.  Josh made a steak, and I had a veggie patty.  Guilty pleasure- Ranch Style Beans and an easy side salad with avocado and 3 beans made it a complete meal.

The only hiccup was the "3 bean" part of our salad.  I normally buy this in a jar with a marinated mix of kidney, garbanzo, and green beans.  And it's a great, easy way to add color and flavor to some greens with no additional dressing needed.  But neither of our two grocery stores had it late on Thursday night.  So I settled for a version that came in a can.  (Which I never do and shouldn't have panicked and compromised.) Sadly, it didn't even come close.  First it didn't have garbanzo beans but instead wax beans which honestly they lived up to their name 100%.  And second, the green beans actually made a rubbery, squeaky sound when you bit into them.  No thanks.  The only edible item in that can was the kidney beans.  So what I learned was, don't buy that again.  Ever.  I recommend you don't try it either.

It was still a great trip.  A quick weekend get away, time with family, kayaking, and exploring the beautiful scenery that is all around us.  Despite the food fail (I won't mention the stop at McD's on the way home...) the rest of the trip was a complete success.  And so it just goes to prove- It really doesn't have to be fancy!  It just needs to fit in your car.

Can you spot Hudson back there with all the gear?!?!?

Asian Rice Bowl with Orange-Lemon sauce

As most of you know, I'm vegetarian but my dear husband is not.  One of the challenges I have had for the past 16 years is creating a meal that will work for both of us.  Because quite honestly, it sucks to have to cook two entirely different dishes.  And I almost refuse to do it.  I will admit that most of the time if someone is the "loser" in my meal plans, it's Josh.  I mean he CAN eat vegetarian and doesn't mind it.  But he doesn't want to actually be limited and enjoys meat.  I, on the other hand, have no intention of eating meat.  So there lies the dilemma.  I do think I've become pretty good at "and then add chicken to his" type of meals.  But the boy can only eat SO much chicken before he rebels.  So tonight, we are doing an "and then add salmon" dish instead!  Who said I'm not versatile? 

This is a simple rice bowl with fresh veggies and some steamed veggies and your choice of protein.  Part of what makes it easy is that you don't have to stick with the veggie combo listed, you can sub for items you have on hand.  Having said that, I do think the list below is the perfect combination!  I adapted my final version from a Sushi Bowl recipe I found on 101 Cookbooks.  This works great for my family as it becomes a BYOB- Build Your Own Bowl!!!!  I've made this for guests as well for the same reason.  Easy for them to eat the items they like without feeling that they HAVE to eat those items they don't.  No guilt!

So first, I will honestly admit that I did NOT cook that salmon.  Neither did Josh.  I hate the smell of fish cooking in the house. Some people like it, or at least don't mind it...I am not one of them. And since we live in a town with summer temperatures comparable to the surface of the sun, Josh did not intend to stand outside and BBQ it either.  The solution for us is a quick trip to our local grocery store, Nugget Markets, where they have awesome prepared items.  Josh picked out his favorite piece of salmon and then had the coffee bar make me a surprise raspberry lemonade.  Why?  Because he loves me and he is the best husband EVER!  (OK, I promise that's the end of the mushy stuff.)

Ingredients

• Brown Rice- I prefer brown but he likes white.  And I had the easy white "rice in a bag" left over from camping.  Shrug.
• Protein- you choose.  We had tofu and salmon.  I imagine this would be great with pork as well.
• 1 head of Broccoli
• 1 Carrot
• 3 Green Onions
• 1 Avocado (not pictured because hubby missed the last two items on the shopping list and made a second trip to the store!)
• 1/2 cup Edamame (not pictured, missed, second trip, blah blah blah)
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• Juice from 1 orange

 Directions

1. Prepare your rice- for me the rice in a bag takes only 10 minutes once it's boiling.  If you cook "real" rice then you are going to have more time to prep your other items.
2. Drain Tofu- You need to get much of the water out before you cook it to retain the shape and not end up like a sticky "scramble."  I don't have a fancy press so I cut the tofu in half to make it thin, sandwich it in paper towels, place on a plate, top with another plate and the bowl for my veggies.  Pictures below in case that didn't make a ton of sense.  (I used only half of the block and freeze the remainder.) 
3. Cut your veggies to be steamed- Broccoli & Carrot- into bite sized pieces, place into the "tofu press" bowl above.
4. Boil some water and place veggies in a steamer basket on top.  I like them still a bit crunchy and steam for about 4 minutes.  Feel free to steam them into mushy goodness if that is your preference.
5. Slice your onions & avocado and set aside on a plate.
6. If you bought your edamame shelled, then you are good to add to your onion/avo plate.  If not, start popping those little baby's out of the pods.
7. Tofu- this should be dry enough to use.  Cut it in half once more to make it 1/2 inch thick.  Cut into long, thin strips.  Add to a fry pan coated in a thin layer of oil on medium high.  Just let it sit there crackling and popping and resist the urge to mess with it.  This is also where you could season if you needed to with salt.  I find that the soy in the orange-lemon sauce has enough salt and flavor that I'm not inclined to add more salt at this stage.  But you might.  After about 3-4 minutes, flip and cook the other side.  Place on a paper towel to reduce the amount of oil clinging to your strips.
8. Check your rice- if it's done, take it off the stove.
9. Now to make the sauce-
10. Add brown sugar, lemon juice, and orange juice to a small pot and bring to a gentle boil.  Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes
11. Add the soy sauce and rice vinegar and bring it back to a gentle boil.  Turn down the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
12. Everything should be ready to set out in individual containers to create your BYOB station.
13. Pile in what you want, sprinkle with some sauce, and dig in!

Cut in half and ready to be pressed!

Tofu sandwiched between plates and serving as a platform for my veggie bowl.

Golden Strips of Tofu.  So pretty.

Chop your onions and avocado

Fresh veggie plate with edamame safely rescued from their pod prison

I never knew to put the fruit in "backwards" with the peel up until like 2 months ago!

Bring juice and sugar to a gentle boil

Create your BYOB station

And THAT is what it should look like!  Yummy right?

One thing to be clear about- This does have a bit of prep involved.  There are veggies to cut, rice to cook, tofu to fry, and a sauce to make.  So I won't label this "easy" simple because it has many steps.  None of the steps are actually hard.  And I'd say this took me about 30 minutes to make.  All in all, it's absolutely doable so please don't be intimidated by the number of steps.  I have confidence in your multi-tasking skills!

I did chose to leave out the toasted sesame seeds and the nori seaweed sheets from the original recipe.  The first time we made this, I did all of that.  But the nori was more of a pain than it was worth and I don't see myself using it in a lot of other recipes.  Having it on hand just isn't in the cards for me.  And the sesame seeds WERE good.  Hubby liked them.  I can't eat them and quite honestly just didn't bother this time.  Or even mention to hubby.  He's none the wiser and STILL told me how good it was.  Shhhhhh....

Here is a pic of the last time we made it- sesame seeds, nori, asparagus, & chicken instead!  Looks good, right?  Proof that you can change up the items easily.  Now go check your veggie bin and see what will work.  You got this!



Oh!  Did I mention this works GREAT as cold leftovers?  (And no, I have no idea what my hand was doing there...)