Spring creations

It is my sincere hope that I'll get recipes, pictures, etc., posted soon for these two new creations. It has been a while, after all. But...I'm not making any promises. In the meantime, how about some narrative descriptions?

Hawaiian Crepes
I freely admit it: I still love Jacques Pepin, and I eat crepes as often as I can manage it. Last weekend I created toasted macadamia nut crepes, topped with honey-grilled pineapple and coconut syrup. For the crepes, I ground up macadamia nuts to a coarse flour, toasted the flour lightly, and then substituted the macadamia nut "flour" for half the real flour in my crepe recipe (which you can find in the previous post). With the trusty George Foreman grill, I grilled pineapple slices brushed with a 3:1 honey and pineapple juice glaze and got charming grill marks on the fruit. I topped all of that with a coconut syrup made by sweetening a can of coconut milk with a simple syrup (1/3 cup sugar dissolved in 1/3 cup water), thickened slightly with a little cornstarch. For garnish, a little toasted coconut. It was...well, it was spectacular, if I do say so myself. It's a fairly sweet concoction, though, so to make it passable for dinner I served it with a green papaya salad (shredded green papaya, carrots, and green beans, tossed with a soy-lime-chili-garlic dressing, substituting soy sauce for the traditional fish sauce because I don't like fish sauce). Seriously, it was awesome; leftovers were nonexistent.

Spring Mac and Cheese
Tonight I was seduced by the asparagus at the store. It's so fresh and tender in the early spring. When I got home I tossed together a macaroni and cheese using whole wheat macaroni, blanched asparagus, and a garlic-parmesan cheese sauce. I made it with soy milk because that's what I had, but any kind of milk would work (with the possible exception of rice milk, which may not have enough fat). The sauce is just a basic white sauce, with garlic and parmesan stirred in at the end, then seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Pour it over the drained pasta and asparagus, sprinkle with some breadcrumbs if desired and a little more parmesan, broil for a couple of minutes until the top is a nice golden brown, and voila! Again...mmmmm.

Pasta e Fagioli

This recipe is from Shannon, one of my oldest friends and one of the best cooks around. She's also insanely busy, with one husband, three kids, one dog, and a million responsibilities. This is her version of a fantastic weeknight soup.

Start to finish: About 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Pasta e Fagioli
1 lb. ground beef
3 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 large onion, fine dice
1 cup shredded carrots
8 cups chicken stock
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup macaroni
crushed red pepper flakes to taste, if desired

1. Brown ground beef, celery and onion until meat is no longer pink. Drain.
2. Bring chicken stock to simmer. Add meat mixture, spaghetti sauce, beans and macaroni. Simmer until mac is al dente.
3. Add red pepper flakes if you want. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.
4. Serve with garlic toast. Yum!

Penne Siciliano with Jewel Fruit Salad

It doesn't get much easier than this. You just toss a bunch of stuff into a pan and heat it together. It's simple, light, and very tasty. For a non-vegetarian option, add sliced grilled chicken. The salad makes a sweet and pretty accompaniment.

Start to finish: 45 minutes
Yield: 2 servings with plenty of leftovers

*Note: Start marinating for the salad before you do anything else.

Penne Siciliano
1 cup vegetable broth
12 dehydrated sun-dried tomatoes
1 (8 oz) package uncooked penne pasta
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups bagged baby spinach
1 small can sliced olives, drained
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
Parmesan cheese to taste

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place penne pasta in the pot, cook until al dente (9-12 minutes), and drain.
2. When you put the water on to boil, put the broth into a small saucepan and bring the broth to a boil. Remove from heat. Place the sun-dried tomatoes in the broth for 15 minutes, until softened. Drain, reserving the broth, and chop the tomatoes.
3. While everything's boiling and soaking, place the pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir until lightly toasted, then remove from heat. (Watch carefully -- they can burn quickly. You can skip this step if you want.)
4. When the pine nuts are done, heat the olive oil and red pepper flakes in the same skillet over medium heat. Saute the garlic for about a minute, until tender. Mix in the spinach and cook until almost wilted. Stir in the olives, artichoke hearts, and chopped tomatoes. Pour in the reserved broth. Cook for about 2 minutes, until heated through.
5. In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta with the spinach mixture and pine nuts. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Jewel Fruit Salad
Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pomegranate juice
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Salad:
3 tangerines
1 cup pomegranate juice
4 cups mixed greens
1/4 cup sliced red onion
2 tablespoons pine nuts

1. Before you do anything else: Peel and section the tangerines. Place the tangerines in the cup of pomegranate juice and set aside to marinate.
2. Mix all the vinaigrette ingredients together in a jar with a lid. Set aside.
3. Drain the tangerines.
4. Mix marinated tangerines, greens, red onion, and pine nuts in a large bowl.
5. Toss with vinaigrette and serve.