hazelnut cookies

Have too many hazelnuts you need to use up?  Make these simple shortbread-type cookies with a food processor!  So easy, so tasty!

Yield
    Makes about 40 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup hazelnuts (2 oz)
• 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan until fragrant and skins begin to loosen, about 6 minutes. Rub nuts in a kitchen towel to remove any loose skins (some skins may not come off) and cool to room temperature.

Pulse nuts and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely ground, then add flour and a pinch of salt, pulsing until combined. Add butter and pulse until dough just forms a ball. Divide dough in half, then roll dough on a work surface lightly dusted with sugar and flour into 2 (11-inch-long) logs (each about 1 inch wide). Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, 1 hour.

Cut logs crosswise into 1/2-inch slices and arrange rounds 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until bottom edges just begin to turn pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on sheet 2 minutes. Place remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in a small dish and dip tops of cookies in it, then cool sugared cookies on a rack.

protein salad

From the Whole30 cookbook.

Protein salad base

-1# protein (cooked chicken, salmon or tuna, 8 hard-boiled eggs)
-1/4 c creamy base (mayo)
-2 T acid (lemon juice, lime juice, vinegar such as rice wine or ACV)
-salt & pepper

What I typically add: apples and almonds and celery and onions (green), with lettuce

Other good mixes:
-sliced grapes, onions, celery, slivered almonds
-Kalamata olives, roasted tomatoes, pine nut, basil (with red wine vinegar)
-mandarin orange slices, celery, chopped kale, cilntro (with lime juce or rice wine vinegar)
-sliced strawberries, blueberries, green onion, pecans, fresh parsley
-diced apples, roasted sweet potato or butternut squash, sweet onions, raisins, walnuts (with ACV)

black bean dip

I have A LOT of black beans.  They were on sale and so I have approximately 1,500 pounds.  OK, actually it's only 15 pounds, but that is still A LOT of black beans.

So I'm looking for things to do with them.  I can them up and then what? 

And here's for black bean dip!  Super quick and tasty.

Put into a food processor and whirl it up:

-a pint jar of black beans (recipes said to drain them but I think it makes it too dry)
-1 clove garlic chopped
-cilantro
-onion (not too much or it's too strong - maybe 1/4 cup?)
-cumin (1/2 tsp)
-chili powder (1/2 tsp)
-salt
-pepper
-lime juice (1 Tbsp)
-jalapeno or canned peppers

canning rhubarb in quart jars

My neighbor was giving me more rhubarb than I could use, but then I realized I could can up a few quart jars and have it on the ready to make into a crumble for an inexpensive potluck dessert.  Local foods year-round!

Here's an easy way that I found in a Facebook group (Rebel Canners):

"Chopped rhubarb
1/4 cup sugar per jar
(1 tsp lemon juice per jar - OP included this, but my understanding is that rhubarb is acidic enough to not require this but it can help retain color)

Fill with water to appropriate headspace and WB can, I do 20 mins out of habit

When you want to make the pie filling drain the liquid into a saucepan with 3 tsp cornstarch and heat until thick. Fold in rhubarb and then into your pie shell, crumble, etc.... doing it this way also saves it for later use of you want to make other things with rhubarb like jam, butter, bbq sauce, etc."

chicken broccoli pasta bake

Still on my fridge-cleaning bender, I'm making a chicken-broccoli-pasta bake modeled after this.

And broccoli stem hummus or pesto or something such.

chicken broccoli pasta bake

Ingredients

• 10-14oz chicken tenderloin (raw), breast or thigh, cut into 1/2" pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme (or other herbs and/or spices of choice)
• 8 oz spiral pasta, uncooked (See Note 1 for other shapes)
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth/stock , preferably warmed
• 2 cups milk, preferably warmed
• 1 large garlic clove , minced
• 1 - 2 tbsp butter (optional)
• 1 large broccoli or 2 medium broccoli or cauliflower , broken into small to medium florets
• 1 - 1.5 cups shredded cheese, any melting type
• 1/4 cup flour  

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees convection (or 375).
• Sprinkle chicken with salt (be generous), pepper and thyme, toss to coat.
• Spread pasta in a baking dish. Sprinkle over flour.
• Pour over milk and broth, add garlic and butter. Stir.
• Spread chicken over the top, then broccoli.
• Cover with foil, bake for 15 minutes (or 20 minutes if milk & broth were cold).
• Remove foil, STIR WELL. Add most of the cheese, then STIR WELL again. Top with remaining cheese.
• Return to oven. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until top is golden and sauce is thickened (See note 4 for troubleshooting).
• Stand for a few minutes then serve immediately!

yumm sauce and bowls

There is a restaurant in Oregon called Cafe Yumm that serves yumm bowls.  These are rice and beans with accoutrements, including a super tasty sauce over it.

There are several recipes for it, and I sadly don't appear to have saved that recipe from last year when I had a hankering.

I'm digging through my cupboards for things to eat, and I have over ten pounds of black beans to use up, so Yumm comes to mind.

This one allows me to use soybeans (which were hard to find!  I wanted to get some to make tempeh, and nobody could find them for me; I had to go to a crusty old food store when visiting a friend.  They're doing a "quick soak" right now).

1⁄2 cup canola oil (preferably cold pressed)
1⁄2 cup almonds (for a creamier sauce, use almond flour)
1⁄3 cup nutritional yeast
1⁄2 cup garbanzo beans, cooked
1⁄4 cup soybeans, cooked
1⁄2 cup filtered water (important for flavor)
1⁄2 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)
1-2 garlic clove (small to medium size)
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 1⁄2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried cilantro

• In a blender or food processor blend almonds beans and oil.
• Add all other ingredients and puree until creamy smooth.
• Cover and let stand in the refrigerator for one hour.

(It does freeze pretty well.)

****

Here's a recipe from the Seattle Times and a cookbook:

Makes 1½ cups of sauce
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup raw almonds
1/3 cup water
¼ cup cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried cilantro


In a high-speed blender or food processor, combine oil, almonds, water and chickpeas. Blend until relatively smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate until serving.
From Sarah Matheny , “More Peas, Thank You” (Harlequin, $21.95), Austin American-Statesman

***
Here's another, more like what I made before I think.

Ingredients

Yumm Sauce:

• 3/4 cup canned garbanzo beans drained & rinsed
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup water plus additional as needed to thin
• 1/2 cup almond flour (can make it like this)
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 3-4 lemons
• 1/3 cup silken tofu
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried cilantro
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder

Instructions

1. Add ingredients to a high-speed blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate until serving.
2. To assemble place about 1 cup rice in bowl, drizzle on Yumm Sauce, then top with 1/2 cup beans, avocado, tomatoes, olives, cheese, cilantro and top with greek yogurt or sour cream. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
   
   
   

sweet potato hash

I'm in a refrigerator-clearing phase and landed on sweet potato hash for breakfast (and leftovers for most of the rest of this week).

I looked at this for some guidance but mostly went off script.

Preheat oven to 400.

Saute for about 10 minutes:
-1 onion (I used 1/2 onion that's been in fridge a long time)
-3-5 sweet potatoes (I shredded but next time I think I'll chop into small cubes)

Add in and cook about another 8-10 minutes:
-sausage (I had some spinach/feta sausage from a sale in the freezer; any kind is good)

 Put on top and let it steam for about 5 minutes
-some greens (I used the mizuna that was starting to bolt in my garden, a leftover spinach salad from earlier in the week, and the last of the refrigerator spinach)

Mix it together, then make indentations and add:
-eggs (duck eggs from friend are perfect!)

Bake for 10-15 minutes.  I did just over 15 minutes and the yolks weren't runny at all. 

fantastic carrot salad

I've been trying to make fantastic carrot salads since I had some great ones in France, and somehow it was never quite just right.  And this one probably is nothing like what I remember, but it was so good that I do not care.  I'm running through foods in the fridge and this used up an orange with a soft spot, some green onions that I caught on sale, chervil looking like bolting, and various such things.

Dressing:
-an orange peeled and sliced into small, juicy pieces
-chervil (all that I had growing, probably only about 2 T chopped)
-salt and pepper
-apple cider vinegar
-olive oil
-a little honey

Add to grated carrots (I put in three but it'd be good with up to five probably) and sliced green onions.

I'm going to go plant more chervil.  So, so good.