Fresh Mint Tabbouleh

 

When I visited Kate in Minneapolis, she took me to the Birchwood Cafe, where I had their Mint Tabbouleh. I couldn’t get it out of my head, so I emailed the cafe and they graciously gave me the ingredient list. I’ve been eating this for lunch for over a month. Here’s how I’ve been creating it.

1 cucumber, peeled, finely chopped

1 red pepper finely chopped

1 bunch  parsley (flat leaf or Italian) finely chopped. About 1/2 cup ish

1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped

juice of one fresh lemon

2 tsp olive oil, or your other favorite oil (I’ve been using sesame seed oil)

salt and pepper

Almonds, at least 1/2 cup, however you like them, chopped big.

1 cup uncooked quinoa (then cook it as directed). You can use bulgar as well, but I couldn’t find it easily, and I’m lazy when it comes to shopping.

Optional: add chickpeas if you want even more protein.

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, except the quinoa. Once the quinoa has cooled a bit, then mix it in.

Stick it in the fridge so it gets cold. Eat it.

Nutrition Facts (this isn’t exact, but it’s close)

Serving Size 149 g (based on 5 servings per recipe)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 212

Calories from Fat 78

Total Fat 8.7g

Saturated Fat 0.9g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 6mg

Total Carbohydrates 28.2g

Dietary Fiber 5.0g

Sugars 2.8g

Protein 7.5g

Vitamin A 20%	•	Vitamin C 69%
Calcium 6%	•	Iron 15%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Kiwi Lime Bars

Yes, there’s a theme today. This is the last one, though. I got in my head that it’d be super-Eastery-fun to have pink, yellow, and green bars (all of this based off of Pinterest pictures — perhaps I should have known better). I found a recipe for lime bars, but I wanted to try to figure out how to make them green without food coloring. I Googled to see if anyone out there thought that kiwis and limes tasted okay together. I found enough recipes that used both to go ahead and try it. So this recipe is the result — it’s adapted from this one (already a hybrid of a couple of other recipes). These actually turned out to be my favorite of the three, but they are definitely not green.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 stick cold butter

Filling:

• 1 cup fresh lime juice (fresh really does seem to be important; don’t use the bottled stuff)
• 2-3 teaspoons lime zest
• 1/2 cup kiwi puree (made from about 3 kiwis)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• (powdered sugar for dusting finished bars)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
2. To make the crust, combine the flour, powdered sugar, and sea salt in a large bowl. Cut in the cold butter and work with your fingers until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Press into a greased 9×13-inch pan and bake for about 17 minutes, or until set at the edges.
3. While the crust bakes, prepare the filling.
4. In a blender or the bowl of a food processor, combine lime juice, lime zest, kiwi puree, sugar, and eggs and process until smooth. Add in flour, baking powder, and salt, then pulse until smooth.
5. Gently pour the filling over the hot crust when it has finished baking. Return pan to oven and bake for 23-26 minutes, until the filling is set.
6. Cool completely before slicing and use a damp knife to ensure clean slices. Dust with powdered sugar.
7. Store in refrigerator until ready to eat.

Butter Commercial

After watching this, you will want to start cooking some of Renae’s latest recipes! HT to my cousin Megan Shannon.

I Scream, You Scream

I haven’t tried a new recipe in awhile. We been eating meals from the freezer, improvising with what’s in the cupboards, and eating out way too much. But I can’t stand this blog remaining without fresh fodder for too long, so here is the question:

What kind of ice cream do you like, love and/or dream about? Be as specific (or general) as you care to be.

Grilled Kabobs

We’re trying to incorporate a few more vegetarian meals, and I really liked how this grilled tofu turned out. In fact, we liked it so much that for tonight’s dinner I am making chicken on the grill using the same marinade — that way we can use up the leftover veggies as well. Red peppers were crazy expensive, so I just used green. Next time I will probably double or triple the marinade and marinate the veggies as well. And it would be super easy (and delicious) to experiment with different veggies for the kabobs — cherry tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini.

Ingredients:

Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 pound extra-firm tofu
• 1 onion, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 16 medium-sized mushrooms, cleaned
• 1 large green pepper, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 1 large red pepper, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil,as needed.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl or flat dish, mix the marinade ingredients.
2. Cut tofu into 2-inch pieces, place in marinade, cover and marinate for an hour or more. (Marinate in the fridge two hours or longer.)
3. Steam the onions for three to four minutes until tender.
4. Alternately thread marinated tofu and vegetables onto skewers.
5. Brush the kabobs with oil and place on the bottom rack of the grill. Cook over low heat, turning often for about 10 minutes or until tofu is grilled.

Raspberry Truffle Fudge

Leeza, from allrecipes.com, sure did something right by sharing this recipe. It’s the simplest candy recipe I’ve ever made (seriously) and it tastes amazing. Check out my blog for more photos from the bridal shower where I served the fudge.

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
salt to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup raspberry flavored liqueur
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Spray a 9×9 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray, and line with wax paper.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 3 cups chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Heat in microwave until chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to let it scorch. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Spread into pan, and cool to room temperature.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine cream, liqueur, and 2 cups chocolate chips. Heat in microwave until the chocolate melts; stir until smooth. Cool to lukewarm, then pour over the fudge layer. Refrigerate until both layers are completely set, about 1 hour. Cut into 1 inch pieces.

**Based on others’ reviews, I exchanged seedless raspberry jam for the raspberry-flavored liqueur. I simply melted the jam in the microwave and made the easy substitution. Also, I drizzled more melted jam on top of the fudge. Mmm, mmm good!!

Creme de Menthe Brownies

For some reason I had no idea Creme de Menthe was alcohol (yes, I made it to age 32 before learning such a thing), so I naively picked up mint extract instead. Fortunately for me, I know how to make icings, so my mint mixture turned out just fine once I added a bit of green tint to it. I also opted to use two boxes of brownie mix to make things easier. Recipe from Paula Deen Celebrates!

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

4 oz (4 squares) unsweetened baking chocolate
1 C (2 sticks) butter
4 large eggs
2 C granulated sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla extract
1 C all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened
2 C sifted confectioners’ sugar
4 T green creme de menthe

Icing:
6 oz (1 C) semisweet chocolate chips
6 T (3/4 stick) butter

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.
2. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter over simmering water. Cool slightly.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until blended, then add the sugar and continue whisking until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the cooled chocolate mixture, the salt, vanilla, and flour. Beat with the whisk until all of the ingredients are thoroughly blended.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool in pan.
5. Make the filling: With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until well blended. Stir in the creme de menthe. Blend well. Spread over the cooled brownies. Refrigerate in the original baking pan until the filling is firm.
6. Make the icing: Melt the chocolate chips and butter in the top of a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Pur the warm glaze over the filling .Tilt the pan to ice the filling evenly. Refrigerate until the chocolate hardens.
7. To cut the brownies, remove the pan from the refrigerator and allow the brownies to come to room temperature so the chocolate will not crack. Cut into 48 brownies. Remove the brownies from the pan and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Weird Food Combinations

If grilled cheese with jam is wrong, I don’t want to be right. I’ve been told over and over this is weird, but have you tried it? What do you eat that others think is weird?

Giving Thanks

We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with Jason’s family today, and I was reminded how thankful I am for his Christian heritage. We sang grace:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Thanksgiving wishlist

If I planned Thanksgiving dinner, we’d have

Grilled Turkey

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows on Top

Green Bean Casserole

Corn Pudding

Cranberry Sauce

Stove Top Stuffing

My Grandma’s Swedish Rye Bread

Brook’s Pumpkin Pecan Pie
What would your menu look like if you had no time or effort constraints?