Orzo Pasta Salad

I'm a big fan of pasta salads. Just not ones with mayo/Miracle Whip. They just seem too heavy to me. I like the light and refreshing ones with just a hint of olive oil, not drenched in the stuff so it collects on the plate or at the bottom of the bowl.

So when I had to come up with some side dish to bring to a potluck, I searched for some recipes for pasta salads. I found a couple that were interesting, but also laden with fat thanks to a creamy dressing like ranch or blue cheese. Plus, I really wanted something with orzo, since I had a bunch sitting in my cabinet. So, when I stumbled across this recipe, it worked out.



Apologies for the poor picture. It was taken quickly at the potluck I brought it to, so I didn't really stage it.

Orzo Pasta Salad
Originally found at Fork Knife Swoon

1 1/2 cups orzo, uncooked
2 Tbsp olive oil, or just enough to lightly coat the pasta
1 lemon
1 large cucumber, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the orzo until tender, according to package directions. Rinse in cold water and toss with olive oil. Zest and juice lemon and mix with pasta. Mix in cucumber, mint, and cheese. Chill at least 1 hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve cold.

My Notes:
I think there needs to be some other spice in this dish, but I'm not entirely sure what. The people at my potluck enjoyed it, though, so I think it's a keeper.

Red Curry Lentil Soup

This is a post I was waiting to post until I got a picture of it taken. That hasn't happened yet and I'm getting sick of it sitting in my drafts folder. So here you go!

For some reason, I bought a jar of red curry a while ago, and have been searching for a way to use it. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a number of recipes for lentils as well. So when I got a gift card to Whole Foods, I figured Lentils would be a good thing to get and I made my way over. Unfortunately, as I was getting ready to make the recipe that I thought sounded the best, I realized I didn't have any coconut milk. Sadness. So I improvised and ended up doing a bunch of substitutions to end up with this lovely soup. It's nice and warm and fills you up nicely.

Red Curry Lentil Soup
Originally found at Zesty Cook

1 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp red curry paste
1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
3 cups vegetable broth + 2 cups water
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 (19 ounce) can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)

In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the onion and carrot and cook until tender. Add the garlic, ginger, and curry paste, heating until fragrant. Add in the lentils, vegetable broth, water, and tomatoes, and cook until the lentils are soft, about 10-15 minutes. Add in the cayenne pepper (more to taste), then add the chickpeas and heat through. Serve hot with a side of flatbread.

My Notes:
This dish has a ton of fiber and protein. The original recipe calls for quinoa as well, but I didn't have any on hand, so I skipped it. They also recommend garnishing with cilantro and plain greek yogurt, but I found it wonderful even without the extra creaminess. It's great reheated, and the flavors really meld together well. Though this makes a ton of food (far more than enough to feed lil' ol' me), I'll be make this again in the future.

Easy Fudge

The lovely Ms. Stephanie over at A Year of Slow Cooking posted this recipe a few weeks ago. I immediately wanted to give it a try. So I went out and bought the only thing I was missing--chocolate chips--and proceeded to make it as one of the first dishes in my new place. It's inaugural fudge!



Easy Fudge
Originally found at A Year of Slow Cooking

3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Spray the crock well with cooking spray. Dump in everything. Cover, and turn heat to low. Stir every 30 minutes. Once the chocolate is fully melted (about 2 hours), pour into a lined 9x9 baking pan. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Cut into bite-sized squares. Store in a cool, dry place.

My Notes:
It's not terrible. It's certainly not the best fudge ever, but it's easy, and doesn't include Marshmallow Creme, which so many of the recipes now do. It's very creamy, but very, very rich. While I normally indulge in fudge quite often, this one I can only do a couple of small pieces at a time (I divided my 9x9 pan into roughly 36 squares).

Overall, it's probably a recipe I'll use again. Just make sure you stir every 1/2 hour or so. Even on low, this gets hot enough to scorch the chocolate if you're not watching.

Chorreadas

This is a dish that I didn't actually have while in Costa Rica, but when I was looking for recipes for gallo pinto, I came across it and was fascinated by it. So much so that I decided to make it. These are fresh corn pancakes, generally made a little sweet. They are evidently served with sour cream, but I'm not much of a fan, so I served them plain.

Chorreadas
Originally found at Taringa.net (note that this page is in Spanish)

2 cups of fresh (raw) corn
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
Oil, as needed

Blend together corn and water until well pureed. Mix in sugar, flour, and eggs until well combined. Heat a small amount of oil over medium-high heat in a skillet, and pour a bit of the batter onto the hot surface. Allow to cook until lightly brown, then flip and brown the other side. Serve warm.

My Notes:
Do not attempt to make these regular sized pancakes, as they do not form quite as well and you'll have a heck of a time trying to flip them. I'd aim for palm-sized pancakes. Mine weren't very pretty, but they tasted awesome. Good enough to eat without any toppings, though you can have fun and top them with whatever you'd like. Previous suggestions I've heard include sour cream, cilantro, etc.

Enjoy!

Gallo Pinto

Last month, I spent 2 1/2 weeks in Costa Rica. And while it was a terrible place to attempt to keep kosher on my own (especially with me not speaking very good Spanish, and my host mom not quite understanding what I could and could not eat), I did learn to love some particular dishes that I encountered there. See, the typical 'casado' is a lunchtime meal consisting of rice and beans (mixed or not), some sort of meat, some sort of salad, and fried plantains, with a side of 'fresa', or fruit juice. Even after being there for 2 weeks, I was still loving the daily rice and beans. Such a simplistic and filling part of the meal, and they made it so flavorful.

In the central region of Costa Rica, the area around San Jose, the combination of rice and beans is referred to as 'gallo pinto'. The dish 'rice and beans' is actually on the Caribbean side and is made with coconut milk. I was not fortunate enough to travel to the Caribbean side (due to concerns over malaria there), so I did not try this version, but I heard it is also awesome.

So without further ado, I present to you the Americanized version of Gallo Pinto.



(Note that this particular picture includes scrambled eggs as well--it's a great variation for breakfast if you happen to have leftovers from lunch or dinner).

Gallo Pinto
Adapted from Perry's Plate

1 1/2 cups rice
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 15oz cans cooked black beans, drained
1 Tbsp cumin
1 ½ tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
salt and pepper

Cook rice as directed. Allow to cool completely.

In a saute pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and red bell pepper and cook until just soft. Add beans and cumin, stirring well and heating through. Combine with rice, and mix well. Add Worcestershire sauce, stirring well to coat rice. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Season as needed with salt and pepper.

My Notes:
This is best done with rice leftover from the previous night or cooked earlier in the day. You really do want cold rice, as it prevents the rice from getting all mushy and sticky.

I was skeptical about using Worchestershire sauce in this recipe, but it actually turned out quite well. My friends went up for seconds, and said they would've gone up for seconds and thirds had it been socially acceptable. Always the compliment of a great dish.