Quinoa Tabouleh

This is my favorite new summer salad- just like regular tabouleh in taste but GLUTEN FREE - and a good source of protein.

Add or subtract the amount of mint to suit your taste buds.

1 Cup organic quinoa
2 Cups water
1 bunch fresh mint, diced
1 bunch fresh parsley, diced
1 bunch fresh scallions,diced 
1 English cucumber,seeded and diced
2 tomatoes, diced
2 fresh lemons, juiced  (⅓ cup)
½ Cup olive oil
1 Tbsp salt

Combine quinoa and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 25 minutes until quinoa is soft and water is absorbed.

Let cool slightly and add mint, parsley,scallions, cucumber and tomatoes and toss to combine.

In a small bowl, mix lemon juice and olive oil with salt. Pour over quinoa and chill until ready to serve.

Mom’s Date ’n’ Nut Bread

When I was growing up my Mom belonged to a benevolent women’s group called The Circle League. They encouraged education for women and gave out scholarships to needy students. They published a cookbook as a fundraiser and this is one of my favorite recipes from that book. It is a dark, rich date ‘n nut bread- perfect to slice and “smear” with cream cheese as we will do this weekend for a tea we are catering in Southbury,CT. I make the loaves in smaller pans so they are tea sandwich size- Enjoy!

Date Nut Bread

1 Lb. chopped dates

4 tsps. baking soda

⅓ Cup butter (the size of a small egg)

2 Cups boiling water

2 Cups sugar

2 Whole eggs well beaten

2 tsps. salt

2 Cups flour- a bit more if batter is thin

2 tsps. vanilla

½ Lb. diced walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Cut dates and place in a large bowl. (I do not recommend using sugared pre cut dates- they are too hard.)
2. Top the dates with soda and butter. Bring water to a boil and pour over the date mixture and stir well until butter is completely dissolved.
3. Add sugar to date mixture and blend. Add beaten eggs, salt and vanilla.
4. Add flour and walnuts and mix until blended.
5. Pour into 2 well greased and floured loaf pans. Place baking pans on a cookie sheet and bake at 325°F for45-50 minutes. For a soft crust- If using smaller pans adjust the cooking time but bake at the same temperature. Let cool and remove from pans.

Sriracha Sauce

My thanks to Gwyneth Paltrow- this recipe comes from her cookbook- My Father’s Daughter- and it is a keeper.

Last week I had the fun of seeing the taping of THE CHEW in NYC. As though spending a day with my dear friend Kate wasn’t enough of a treat, all the stars on the show were present AND Gwyneth  Paltrow was the guest chef for the show.We all received a copy of her cookbook and on the train ride home, I had the time to read it cover to cover.

So we all know about local, organic, farm fresh but in her cookbook Ms Paltrow makes a strong case for limiting the preservatives we unavoidably add on to all those good products by using commercially processed sauces.

Since sriracha sauce is appearing in more recipes, I decided to have a hand at making it from the red hot chili peppers on down ! The result is a very bright taste- HOT but not screaming and with a balance of vinegar to spice. I’m sure this sauce will keep well for 2-3 weeks but we have gone through a whole recipe this week. Hope you try it -Cautionary note wear gloves when you slice those peppers!

Sriracha Sauce

1 ½ Cups clove garlic, peeled

1 Lb. red jalapeno peppers, stemmed,sliced and cut into thein rings

2 ¼ Cups rice wine vinegar

¼ Cup agave nectar

2 Tbsp coarse table salt

1 Tbsp arrowroot

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1. Place the garlic in a small saucepan and add cold water just to cover. Bring to a boil, immediately drain and run the garlic under cool water.
2. Return the garlic to the saucepan, cover with cold water and bring back to a boil. Rinse the garlic and slice the blanched garlic into thin slices.
3. Combine the cut red jalapeños,blanched garlic and rice vinegar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the agave and salt and stir to combine.Let the mixture stand, covered for 1 hour for the flavors to steep and cool. ( I let the mixture rest overnight to cool completely.)
4. Puree the mixture in a blender until smooth- some seeds will remain in tact but that's fine.
5. Return the mixture to a saucepan and bring back to a boil. Simmer 10-15 minutes, skimming off any foam as it rises to the top. The mixture will thicken slightly as it cooks down.
6. In a small bowl, dissolve the arrowroot with 1 Tbsp of lukewarm water. Whisk the arrowroot into the sauce and cook for 2 more minutes or until nicely thickened. Remove from heat let cool slightly and stir in fish sauce.

Oscar Night Popcorn

For all the years I have owned a microwave oven ( too many to admit to) I have been making commercial microwave popcorn. Well, guess what? That’s not necessary. Good popcorn placed in a brown lunch bag works just as well. Who would have guessed? The recipe is fool-proof! It’s just popcorn kernels microwaved in a brown paper bag. From ½ cup of kernels I made 9 cups of popped popcorn.

Three things to keep in mind:

1. I used a good sized bag-my bags measured 8" across by 15" deep.(If you don’t have lunch bags and you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and we’ll give you one to use- we have plenty in stock)
2. Place the popcorn in the bag and fold the top over 2 times, then place in microwave.
3. In my oven ½ Cup popcorn took 3 minutes at full power but every microwave is different so you need to play around to get the right timing- and yes, you can “re-pop” kernels that are left in the bottom of the bag.

If you like flavored popcorn, here are some combinations to jazz up your basic mix:

Pizza Popcorn

2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian Herbs
1 tsp paprika
Combine the ingredients in a food processor or blender until mixed. Pour over 8 cups popcorn and toss.

Southwestern Popcorn

1/2 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp salt
Combine the ingredients and pour over 8 cups of popcorn and toss.

Cinnamon Popcorn

1/3 Cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp butter
Melt the butter.Toss over 8 cups of popcorn. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and toss over the buttered popcorn.