Cooking with Trader Joe's - Energy Bars

I love homemade granola bars! I wanted something that could be a quick snack during the day and these chewy little bars seemed like the perfect fit. I used what I had on hand so I ended up swapping some ingredients: dried cranberries instead of raisins, almond butter instead of sunflower seed butter, and sunflower seeds instead of pepitas. I also used half the amount of agave it called for, and it was sweet enough for me.

I found this recipe in a new cookbook I got for my birthday: Cooking with Trader Joe's. This version is all about "skinny" recipes using Trader Joe's products.

All the recipes seem nice and easy and heavy on the veggies. There are lots of recipes using tofu and tempeh. We loved 4 out of the 5 recipes we've made from it so far:

1) Mexican potato hash: this dish gets it's kick from soy chorizo, which I'd never had before but really liked. Potatoes and shredded carrots make up the bulk of the dish, which help make it really filling.

2) Tofurella sticks - yep, exactly like it sounds - these are lightly breaded and pan-fried, dipped in marinara. Just for fun, I made a couple of mozzarella sticks using string cheese as well.

3) Crave-worthy Brussel's Sprouts - delicious, and very simple. Lightly sauteed with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.

4) Lentil Pate - this was just so-so for me. It's basically a dip with lentils, olives, capers, lemon juice, and garlic. I really liked it when it was freshly made and still warm, but later on in the week I was reluctant to eat it.

5) These energy bars. A big hit with me, obviously.

Energy Bars
adapted from Cooking with Trader Joe's Cookbook - Skinny Dish
makes 12 bars

Notes: If you don't have ground flaxseed, you can substitute an equal amount of cornstarch, but only use 2 tablespoons of water instead of 3. You'll just be missing out on some omega-3s. Depending on what nuts and seeds you use, these bars will be about 5-6 WW Points+ each.

1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed)
3 tablespoons warm filtered water
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
1 cup roasted and salted pepitas, or roasted sunflower seeds, or just about any other seeds or crushed nuts
1/4 cup packed raisins or dried cranberries
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup sunflower seed butter, almond butter, or other seed or nut butter
2-4 tablespoons agave nectar, depending on how sweet you want it
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.

Stir together the flaxseed meal the the water in a small bowl and let soak for 10 minutes until it forms a gel.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, coconut (if using), pepitas, and raisins.

In a separate medium microwave-safe bowl, microwave the sunflower seed butter, agave, and vanilla for 30 seconds. Stir together until well mixed. Add the banana and mash with a fork to combine. Stir in the gelatinized flax mixture.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Press the mixture firmly into a lightly greased 9x9-inch baking dish and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool on the counter for 15-20 minutes, then chill in the fridge for about 45 minutes before slicing into 12 pieces.

Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days, or individually wrap and freeze for up to 2 months.

Pro-tip: Try crumbling one of these bars over Greek yogurt lightly drizzled with maple syrup for a fabulous dessert!

Cantaloupe with Gruyere, Honey, and Thyme

One of my favorite parts of our trip to Greece was the food. I realize that we had a very limited experience since we spent most of our time in Athens, but we were still really impressed.

Honestly, I was a little worried about the fact that we would be eating restaurant food for ten days straight. Usually when I have to eat out at restaurants for several meals in a row, I get sick of it very quickly. American restaurant fare can be so heavy that I just can't take it for more than a couple of days in a row without feeling completely drained physically and mentally. I didn't really feel that way in Greece though. I'm not really sure why. We ate some combination of bread, cheese, olive oil, and meat with almost every meal. Maybe it was that the portions were usually smaller than they are here. Maybe it was that everything was prepared with fresh ingredients. Maybe it was because they didn't rush you and in fact expected you to sit for hours savoring your meal. Regardless of the reason, I never got sick of Greek food, and I even made an attempt to replicate one of my favorite simple meals the minute I got home!

Before I get to that, here are some highlights of our trip, as promised:

Temple of Zeus.

View of the Acropolis from the Temple of Zeus.

Arch of Hadrian

Panathenaic Stadium

Parthenon

View of Athens from the Acropolis.

Sometimes we got lost in the labyrinth of tiny streets so we took some photos while we got our bearings.

We went on a day cruise to a couple of islands. Our favorite was Hydra.

Many sleepy stray cats on Hydra.

We got some beach time on Aegina.

Gorgeous sunset on the ride back.

Warning: Here comes the food porn...

Feta cooked with sliced tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions.

Moussaka - one of my favorites.

Fresh, hot loukoumades - drizzled with honey and topped with cinnamon and chopped nuts.

Fried feta topped with honey and sesame seeds. Tzatziki and pita bread. 

Tomatoes stuffed with rice and meat.

Pies: one filled with cheese, the other tomato sauce and olives.

Grilled sea bass with vegetables.

Salad with sun-dried tomatoes, croutons, and mizithra cheese from Crete.

Souvlaki

Pita gyro.

Koulouri - slightly sweet sesame bread. Made a great mid-morning snack and street carts everywhere were selling them.

Boiled greens with olive oil and lemon.

Gruyere with melon, drizzled with honey and thyme.

Ok, back to the recipe I tried to replicate at home. You can probably guess it based on the photo.

Our first CSA box after we got back contained a perfectly ripe cantaloupe revealing bright orange, juicy flesh. I used a melon baller to make some melon balls. Deciding to make it an appetizer, I cubed the gruyere, stacked the cheese and melon and skewered them with toothpicks, and placed them on a plate that I first drizzled with honey. After taking the photo I decided that was not enough honey so I drizzled a bit more over the top before eating. You could also forego the pretentious fanciness and just put all the ingredients in a bowl and dig in with a fork. It's just a wonderful combination of ingredients, you really can't go wrong. 

Chunky Fresh Tomato Salsa

One of these days I want to can my own salsa, but for now making a batch at a time is what works for me. We made this salsa to go in burritos filled with our favorite America's Test Kitchen beef taco filling. It's just a great, basic fresh salsa recipe that you could put on practically anything.

CSA Week 11:

In the box: 1 green leaf lettuce, 1 bunch carrots, 1 basket cherry tomatoes, 2 pounds Sweet Girl tomatoes, 2 pounds red potatoes, 1 head garlic, 1 bunch cilantro, 1 basket blackberries, 1 basket strawberries

We were out of town for most of the week, so we didn't do anything super spectacular with this week's haul. We continued to work through the lettuce from last week in addition to this week with side salads at dinner and big salads at lunch. The carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, and berries made good simple snacks.

I made a great lunch salad this past week that I was pretty proud of. I used lettuce, cherry tomatoes, feta, homemade pesto, sliced chicken sausage, and boiled red potatoes. It was very filling and flavorful, with a good mix of carbs, proteins, and veggies. I boiled the potatoes the night before, packed things in separate containers, and tossed them together when I was ready to eat it. I could have eaten the whole salad cold, but since I had access to a microwave I warmed up the potatoes and sausage before adding it to the salad.

For the rest of the potatoes, I made a potato and green bean side dish using a recipe from my friend Sarah. You just toss together steamed green beans and warm boiled potatoes with a dressing that included olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, dried oregano, minced garlic and finely chopped onion. What did I have with it? A hot dog sans bun. Sometimes I'm more interested in planning the side dish so the entree/protein ends up being an afterthought. On another note, I highly recommend Applegate Farms beef hot dogs, they have the best flavor of any hot dog I've ever had. I signed up for their email newsletter so I can get coupons.

About half of the Sweet Girl tomatoes and some of the cilantro were used to make the salsa recipe below, and the rest were used for a batch of pico de gallo that I made ahead and brought along to enjoy with our friends over the weekend. 

Chunky Fresh Tomato Salsa
adapted from Rick Bayless - Mexican Everyday
makes about 2 cups

Notes: Don't even bother making this unless you can use ripe (preferably local) summer tomatoes.

1 garlic clove, peeled
Fresh hot green chiles to taste (such as 2 serranos or 1 jalapeno), stemmed and halved, remove some or all of the seeds if you want it less spicy
1 pound ripe round tomatoes
1/3 cup loosely packed roughly chopped cilantro
1 large green onion, roots and wilted outer leaves removed, chopped onto small pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (or light-flavored vinegar)
Salt, to taste

Turn on your food processor. While it's running, drop the garlic and chile pieces in one at a time, allowing each piece to get finely chopped before adding the next. Turn off the processor and remove the lid. Chop about half of the tomatoes into quarters and add them to the processor, along with the cilantro. Pulse 4-6 times, until the mixture resembles a coarse puree. Scrape this mixture into a bowl.

Chop the rest of the tomatoes into 1/4-inch pieces and add to the bowl, along with the green onion. Taste and season with the lime juice (or vinegar) and salt (I used a generous 1/2 teaspoon). Stir to combine.

This salsa is best if eaten with an hour or two, but you can also store it in the fridge for a few hours if you want to make it ahead of time.  

French Breakfast Radishes and Anchovy Butter on Sliced Baguette

I think I can officially get on board with radishes. Why? Because I recently learned that it is perfectly acceptable to eat sandwiches that are composed entirely of butter and thinly sliced radishes.  It's a very French thing to do, in fact. The French are awesome.

What's more awesome than butter? Anchovy butter. Yes, you read that right. Mince up a few anchovy fillets, especially the kind packaged in oil, and stir them into a stick of softened butter. Add some minced chives, a little salt and pepper, and you have just made the best.thing.ever!

We literally could not stop eating this - the creamy, salty flavor is deliciously addicting. Definitely not the best thing to pair with a heavy steak dinner, but it can be balanced perfectly with a light soup or salad (and a good sweaty calorie-blasting cardio workout earlier in the day wouldn't hurt either!).

French Breakfast radishes are milder than regular radishes, but regular radishes would work here as well. I accidentally bought a 3-seed baguette at the store, but the seeds were fennel, sesame, and poppy, which actually were a nice compliment to the other flavors, so it turned out great in the end.

CSA Week 7:

In the box: 1 head lettuce, 1 bunch French Breakfast radishes, 1 cucumber, 1 pint Sungold Cherry tomatoes, 1 pound vine ripe tomatoes, 2 pounds Honeypod fava beans, 1 pound Romano beans, 1 pint strawberries, 1/2 pint red raspberries

We ate all the radishes with the anchovy butter.

We made Ellie Krieger's Garlic Basil Shrimp with the cherry tomatoes. We made a few changes, such as adding fava beans and serving alongside roasted potatoes instead of the orzo because I had potatoes leftover from last week and didn't have time to go to the store for the pasta.

A highlight of the week was Mahi Mahi with coconut rice and steamed Romano beans. I based this off of a blog post over at Liv Life and the original recipe from Sunset magazine. I used wild rice instead of white rice, which I think was an excellent choice because it has a nuttier flavor that compliments that chopped almonds that go into it. I did the same thing as Liv Life though - she mentioned in her blog post that she totally forgot to add the coconut flakes to the rice, and I spaced it too! What is up with that? Too funny!  I steamed our whole pile of Romano beans, plus a couple handfuls of snow peas from our garden. I placed the veggies on a sheet of foil, drizzled with water and a splash of white wine, then folded it up into a packet and placed it on the cooler side of the grill while the fish cooked. They came out perfectly tender.

The vine tomatoes, most of the cucumber, and the lettuce became salads for lunch/dinner throughout the week.

We ate the fruit as we usually do. We got an email from the farm to say that they had an overabundance of raspberries that week so they were offering a deal - a flat of berries for only $18. Score! We froze all of them right away. They were in little baskets inside the cardboard flat, and we just placed the whole flat in our chest freezer overnight just like that (ok, honestly, it was two days before I got around it them). Then I took each basket and shook the berries out into quart-sized ziplock freezer bags. Each berry still froze individually! I can't wait to start baking with them.

French Breakfast Radishes with Anchovy Butter on Sliced Baguette
adapted from Bon Appetit
Makes about 16

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 1/2-inch thick diagonal slices baguette
1 bunch French Breakfast Radishes (or regular radishes), trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal

Mix the butter, two of the minced anchovy fillets, and two tablespoons of the chives in a small bowl. Add the third minced anchovy fillet to taste, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the anchovy butter over one side of each slice of baguette. Top with sliced radishes, overlapping slightly, garnish with additional chopped chives, and serve.

The anchovy butter will keep in the fridge for several days, if for some reason you don't finish it all right away.

Homemade Granola

We have been on a granola kick for about 6 months now, and buying it at the store was getting really expensive! When we had the time to drive out to Costco we'd pick up a big box for a pretty decent price, but if we didn't have time to make the trip we'd have to buy it at the regular grocery store which, even from the bulk section, is not a good value at all, especially when I insist on buying a high quality kind without fillers or refined sugars.

So this was my first attempt at making it from scratch. Turns out, it's a piece of cake! Seriously, it takes about half an hour, and it makes enough to last us about two weeks. I used a recipe from America's Test Kitchen, making just a couple of changes based on my personal preferences. There is a lot of wiggle room with granola though. Basically you are just mixing together oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruits to your liking, adding some sweeteners, and baking in the oven until toasty and crisp.

One thing I changed from the original recipe was to grind up some of the oats before mixing them in with the rest of the ingredients. My friend at work said this helps make the granola chunkier, so I tried it with the second batch I made. I did notice that it was a little chunkier, which I liked, so I'm going to continue to do that with future batches.

I've estimated that two tablespoons of this granola is about 2 WW Points+. It's helpful for me to think of it more as a condiment. I like to sprinkle it over my morning bowl of Cheerios or plain yogurt to add some flavor and healthy fats.

What ingredients do you like in your granola? What's your favorite way to eat it?

Classic Granola
adapted from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
makes about 7 cups

Notes: Since this granola has a shorter shelf life than a store-bought product, it only lasts about a week stored in an airtight container at room temperature. It does freeze well, however, so I store half of my batch in the freezer in a sturdy ziplock bag and just take it out and let it thaw on the counter once we've finished the first half.

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Make sure you have an oven rack adjusted to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 F.

Measure out 1/2 cup of the oats and grind them in a small coffee grinder or food processor. Add them to a large bowl along with the remaining rolled oats, walnuts, coconut, almonds, flax seeds, and sunflower seeds. Toss the ingredients together to combine.

To a small saucepan add the oil, maple syrup, and honey. Warm this mixture over low heat for a few minutes, then add to the large bowl of dry ingredients and toss to coat.

Spread the granola in an even layer over a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the mixture has turned a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and stir in the cranberries or raisins. Let the granola cool to room temperature. It will continue to crisp up during this time. Loosen the granola with a spatula. Store in an airtight container for up to one week (see note above regarding freezing).

Rich and Sweet Blueberry Scones

I love our lazy weekend breakfasts. Most mornings, a simple fried egg and piece of toast will suffice, but other days we require a more decadent morning meal, so we will lie in bed and flip through a cookbook or two, searching for that perfect breakfast pastry item that uses only things we already have on hand (so we don't have to go to the store, obviously, although, seeing as we live in a college town, I would not look the least bit out of place if I decided to waltz into the grocery store in pajama pants and slippers).

On this particular morning, we had almost all of the ingredients to make these amazing scones from America's Test Kitchen. We even had sour cream (not expired! imagine that!). It called for whole milk, which we didn't have, but equal parts half-n-half and nonfat milk made for an adequate substitute. We didn't have a lemon like it wanted, but we did have an orange, which I think went perfectly with the blueberries we used.

I'm so glad my sister and I went blueberry picking this summer.  For only $10, we picked about eight pounds of fresh, local blueberries. Into the freezer they went, and I've been having them on my cereal most weekday mornings since. I froze them (unwashed) individually on cookie sheets, then I put them into freezer bags in 2-cup increments. This way, I don't have to pull out a huge bag every time I just want a small handful.

A perfect morning: coffee, scone, and Barbara Kingsolver.

Rich and Sweet Berry Scones
adapted from America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book
makes 8 scones

Notes: You can use fresh or frozen raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries (hull and cut into 1/2-inch pieces) in place of the blueberries. Also, since I knew that my blueberries had not been rinsed yet, I quickly rinsed and dried them, then put them back in the freezer while we made the dough so they would still be frozen.  The key to getting these scones just right is to work the dough as little as possible and use cold ingredients, even chilling the bowls and the flour mixture if it's particularly hot.

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (do not defrost)
1/2 cup whole milk (or use 1/4 cup half-n-half and 1/4 cup nonfat milk like we did)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon grated fresh orange or lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

If you happen to have butter in the freezer already, hooray! If not, you need to put 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of the butter in the freezer for a bit until firm; this will make it easier to grate it in a later step. The Test Kitchen suggests freezing two sticks and just grating half of each, I assume because your hand warms up the end of the stick of before you can grate it.  Ours was already thoroughly frozen so we didn't have that problem.

Move an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Rinse your blueberries if needed and put them back in the freezer.

When the stick of butter is frozen, grate the butter with the large holes of a box grater.  Put back in the freezer until needed. Whisk the milk and sour cream together in a medium bowl, place in the refrigerator until needed.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, baking powder, orange zest, salt, and baking soda. Add the butter that you just grated and use your fingers to gently combine.  Get the chilled milk mixture out of the fridge and fold it into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined (do not overmix).

Sprinkle flour over a clean surface and turn the dough out onto it. This dough will be very sticky, so lightly flour your hands, and sprinkle some on the dough too while you're at it. Knead the dough gently six to eight times until it holds together in a ragged ball, adding additional flour as needed.

Flour a rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a 12-inch square. Fold the top and bottom of the dough over the center (just like when you fold a business letter in thirds to go in an envelope).  Next, fold the sides of the dough over the center to form a 4-inch square. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured plate and place in the freezer for 5 minutes (do not overchill).

Transfer the dough back to the lightly floured surface and re-roll into a 12-inch square. Sprinkle the berries evenly over the surface, pressing them down lightly into the dough. Using a bench scraper or a thin metal spatula, loosen the dough from the work surface and roll into a tight log, pinching the seam closed. Lay the log seam side down and gently press into a 4-inch rectangle. Flour a chefs knife or other sharp knife and slice the dough in half crosswise, then slice each of those rectangles in half crosswise so you have four equal rectangles (4 in. x 3 in., if you want to get really precise). Slice each rectangle on the diagonal to create two triangles.  You should have eight triangles total.

Use the bench scraper again to gently place the scones onto the prepared baking sheet.  Melt the remaining two tablespoons of butter and brush it over the scones.  Sprinkle them lightly with sugar.  Bake for 18-25 minutes, until the scones are lightly golden brown on top, rotating the pan halfway through.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Make ahead instructions:
Cut, unbaked scones can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking as directed.  You could also freeze them unbaked, on a cookie sheet, covered, for about 6 hours, then transfer to plastic freezer bags and store for up to one month.  Bake the frozen scones at 375 F for 25-30 minutes.

Adventures In Canning, Part Two

I did it!  I made my own apple butter!  It wasn't difficult, and the result tastes really good!  My main reason for making it was to be able to share it with my dad, who LOVES the stuff.  He's getting like half the batch - which should last him a couple months :-)  

I was going to attempt to re-write the recipe I used, and give detailed instructions on canning, but I'm afraid I will miss some details or not explain them well, and it's really not the kind of thing you should cook by just reading a one page recipe anyway.  I think if you are going to can something like this you should have a book to refer to in case you have a question or something doesn't seem to be going just as planned.  You need to follow the directions to the letter to be sure that your product is safe.  I borrowed my friend Amy's canning supplies and the book she uses.  I really liked the book, it's called "The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food" by Janet Chadwick.  It tells you everything you need to know about canning, freezing, and drying food.  I'm going to get my own copy, along with my own canning supplies, because this was fun.  I also like this website.  It has a ton of info on canning, along with stuff about local produce in general.  

So instead of typing the recipe exactly, here are some pictures and brief explanations of what I did.  In case you noticed, you're right, this is not my kitchen.  I ended up house-sitting for a friend on short notice, so I made the apple butter in her kitchen.

First, I went to the Farmer's Market and bought about 12 pounds of apples (I was making a double batch).  I was looking for tart apples, such as Liberty, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, and Jonathan.  I bought a few pounds from about four different farms so I had a good variety.

About half of the apples I bought.

I loved this recipe because I didn't have to peel or core a single apple!  I just chopped the apples into small pieces, including the peels and cores, and put them into a pot with 2 cups of apple cider (which I bought from one of the apple farms).  I brought it to a boil and let the apples cook for about 20 minutes.

They cooked down considerably.

I then ran the cooked apples through a food mill in batches.  My awesome mother-in-law was kind enough to mail me her food mill so I wouldn't have to buy one (needless to say, when I return it to her, she's getting a jar of apple butter to go with it!).  The food mill helps to separate out the peels and seeds, so you are left with, basically, apple sauce.  I blended it a little more with an immersion blender to get it a little smoother.  

I spread the mixture out into a shallow baking dish and put it in a 200 F oven and let it cook for 8 hours, stirring every hour or so.  Then I added a little ground cinnamon and cloves (no sugar at all!). 

About an hour before I was ready to fill the jars, I filled the waterbath canner and turned the heat up to bring it to a boil (it took a LONG time).  I got the lids gently simmering in a pot of water, and I had another pot of water barely boiling in case I needed to add more to the waterbath at any point.  I cleaned the jars in the dishwasher so they would be clean and hot when I was ready.

I filled the jars, wiped the rims with a clean damp cloth, and put on the lid and screw band.  Then I loaded the jars into the rack in the water bath and lowered them to the bottom.  I had to wait awhile for the water to come back to a boil, but then I just had to boil them for 5 minutes and then I took them out and let them cool for 24 hours on the counter.

Jars loaded, ready to be lowered.

Jars lowered, waiting for water to return to a boil.

I know the lids are sealed because the center is depressed (no popping when pressed), and I can pick up the lid by the edge and it stays sealed.    

The jars had a fine white powder on the outside, I think it was residue from the metal rack.  It wiped right off.