Buckwheat Kasha

Who cooks buckwheat anymore? Seriously?
Well, this recipe is so simple, so good and so nutritious, it might just restart everyone's love for buckwheat. This grain is easy to cook and a perfect breakfast start - packing a punch that will keep you full for a long time. My wife always wants to know how I make this, so this should once and for all clear it up and help any of you who might have been intimidated as to what in the hell to do with wholegrain buckwheat. Did I mention that toddlers will devour this?

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Buckwheat
2.5 cups water
2 cups 2% milk
salt & pepper

 Buckwheat can be found sold in bulk in most health food stores and some grocery stores.
The best way to cook is to toast the grain first before cooking. This brings out the nutty flavors and is really tasty. So, before you begin, make sure to pick through your grain in large bowl or sheet pan and remove any small pebbles or seed hulls or dark grains.

Toast the buckwheat in the same pot you'll cook it in, a medium sized one. When you can start to smell the toasted grain, that's when you know it's ready. Add the water & keep on high until it boils. Add a pinch of salt. Reduce to low and cover. Should be done in about 10 min. Will be a mushy consistency, with little or no water left. There should be whole grains visible, but they should be tender. Don't overcook.

Next add a large wad of the buckwheat to a bowl and add about half a cup of cold milk to it. This makes it creamy, adds nutrition and simultaneously cools it down to be ready to eat. Add a pinch of kosher salt, some fresh ground pepper and stir. Yum!

Double Spinach Pasta and Roasted Brussel Meat Balls

My take on spaghetti & meatballs, with roasted brussel sprouts as the "meatballs." They work really well with the light savory spinach pasta.

This recipe feeds 2.5 people.

Ingredients:

spinach linguini (fresh)
brussel sprouts - whole
3 large handfuls of spinach
1 medium onion - sliced
3 garlic cloves - minced
half of a lemon - juiced
half a green pepper - sliced thin (optional, I think it might have been better without it)
1 cup of sliced olives & their juice
olive oil
salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese - shredded or shaved

Wash & trim the brussel sprouts and toss well in olive oil and s&p. Put them on a sheet pan and roast on 400º for 20 min, shaking the pan every 5 min. They should look like this when done:

Meanwhile, set up a pot of water for pasta, heat on high.
Heat some olive oil in a steel pan and add garlic - 30 sec.
Add onions - 2 min.
Add peppers - 2 min.
Add spinach, lemon juice, olive juice & olives - cook until spinach wilts fully then remove from heat.

When water boils, add salt & pasta.  Cook to package instructions; fresh pasta needs 4-5 min tops.
When pasta is almost ready, add 1 cup of pasta water to pan with veggies & return to heat.
Use pasta spoon to remove pasta from water directly into sauce pan.

Cook for a minute or two until sauce thickens up. Add a few tbsp of good quality olive oil & serve immediately with tongs and top with Parmesan. Serve with roasted brussels on the side in a large bowl.

Leftover Salmon Becomes Salad

Leftovers are one of my favorite things to cook. They require a certain amount of imagination, a well stocked pantry, and some trial & error. It's like a big experiment...sometimes it blows up in your face. But the great thing is you only get better with practice.
The great thing about leftovers is...they're already cooked! The seasoning is there and so is most of the prep, so you have more time to play with texture, style and combination.

This particular meal was made with a leftover half of a baked salmon fillet, some greens, and a quick vinaigrette.

Ingredients:


Leftover Salmon, Chicken or Pork - hell, I bet beef or tofu would work too - cold & crumbled.
mixed greens - enough that you want to eat

Dressing:
1 Meyer lemon - juiced 
1 or 2 garlic cloves - minced
olive oil
s&p
parsely

add all dressing ingredients into small jar or tupperware oil:lemon = 2:1
shake it like you mean it

pour dressing over salmon over greens and enjoy with rice or crusty bread or some tea.

Sausage Sauced Turkey Fettucini

This was a last minute thing...kind of like this blog.
We were all hungry and already had some ground turkey; I knew I wanted pasta (little Cyan asked for pasta earlier). Pretty simple dish, hella satisfying. This is one of those pantry meals, as long as you have some ground turkey and some veggies in the fridge, you're golden. The fennel and red pepper adds a nice sweetness and a reminiscence of sausage. The 2.5 year old stuffed herself silly with this and it's packed with all kinds of veggies and good stuff. Hope you like it...

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey
5 cloves garlic - minced
1 medium onion - diced
1 pack of shrooms - crimini is good - diced
1 red bell pepper - diced - this was hanging out in our fridge along with the opened box of shrooms, feel free to substitute here: shredded carrot, green pepper, artichoke...
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
2 tsp sage
2 tsp fennel seed
2 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp paprika
sugar
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1lb your favorite pasta, we used fettuccine
olive oil (light & extra virgin)
shredded or shaved Parmesan

1. Start by filling a large pot with water and having it on standby. Heat up a large skillet on medium, add about 3 tbsp extra virgin, drop in the garlic. 30 sec, add onion. 1 min, add shrooms. 1 min, add red pepper. Add 1/2 spices, s+p and cook until tender & caramelized. Remove from pan, set aside.
2. Return pan to heat, increase temp to med high, add 3 tbsp light olive oil. Add meat & brown. Make sure you chop it up fine as it cooks and break up any clumps - this helps it mix well & absorb the sauce. when it's almost cooked, add remaining spices and season with s+p well.
3. Turn on pasta water heat.
4. Add veggie mix to meat and stir well. Add can of tomatoes & 1 tbsp of extra virgin. Stir, heat through and taste - make sure it's seasoned well. Add 1 tbsp - 2 tbsp of sugar to help cut the acidity of the mater sauce - it helps, trust me, but taste it as you add.
5. Let sauce simmer on low in pan uncovered. Add nice toss of salt to pasta water once boiling and add pasta. When almost cooked, add 1 cup of pasta water to sauce. Drain pasta & serve with sauce & parm on top.

enjoy.
dk