Roasted Broccoli with Blistered Grape Tomatoes

June 17, 2013June 19, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 6 Comments

Broccoli. I have so many regrets about not trying it until I was an adult. Growing up, my single-dad didn’t really have the culinary skills necessary to promote healthy eating in a picky eater like myself. It’s okay though, because I fixed it and he’s making up for it by doing generous things like buying my husband a grill for father’s day! He is one proud grand-dad.

So, broccoli: it’s my go-to vegetable for a healthy side, snack, or entree.

My hopes are that Margot won’t be a picky eater like I was. As soon as she’s able to eat solids, I’ll be making her baby food myself. Over time, I plan on introducing her to a wide variety of foods, and re-introducing them to her until she’s acquired a taste for them. That’s pretty much how I learned.

My favorite side (and occasional lunch) is this roasted broccoli with blistered grape tomatoes dish. It’s great on its own, dipped in marinara, or tossed into pasta.

Roasted Broccoli and Blistered Grape Tomatoes Recipe:

Ingredients:

3-4 cups broccoli

1 cup grape tomatoes

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 tablespoon grated parmesan — more or less to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Slice broccoli into florets, then in half so they lay flat. In a large mixing bowl, toss broccoli and grape tomatoes in olive oil. Season with dried oregano, and salt & pepper.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy clean up) and spread the veggies evenly over the pan. Lay the broccoli on their flat sides, and bake for 20-25 minutes until the broccoli is browned and the tomatoes are blistered. Check in on your creation about 18 minutes in to make sure the tomatoes don’t shrivel up into oblivion.

Use tongs to serve (be gentle!), and dust generously with grated parmesan.

Notes:

I used freshly dehydrated oregano in this dish because I happened to have it on hand, courtesy of a local Olympia farm. If you have some like this, rub it between your hands to break it down and release its oils as you sprinkle it over the dish. This is the easiest way to maximize the flavor.

Try tossing these veggies into a bowl of hot bow tie pasta that has been mixed with goat cheese. It’s becomes a decadent, healthy macaroni and cheese.

The blistered tomatoes should be cooked until they wrinkle out of shape, if they’re still firm when you pull them out of the oven, be careful. They’ll squirt when you puncture them!

And if any of you moms out there have tips on homemade baby food, or preventing your child from becoming a picky eater, do tell!

Homemade Iced Vanilla Latte

June 4, 2013June 4, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 4 Comments

I’m too caught up in the weather. I have a dozen or so cities saved into my weather checker favorites so I can regularly envy someone else’s weather. Santa Fe, NM, Bakersfield, CA, Oklahoma City, OK; you all seem to be having warmer weather than Washington State. I by no means miss the warm weather, but I do miss enjoying a cold beverage on a hot day, or walking out of an icy-cold movie theater into the sweltering summer heat. Those are the fondest memories I have of beating unbearable summer heat.

In honor of those missed (or hopefully, upcoming) summer days I’ve whipped up a delicious iced coffee drink; a subtle reminder that the seasons are changing. It’s brilliantly simple, and positively refreshing.

Iced Vanilla Latte Recipe

Ingredients:

For the Cold Brew Concentrate:

1 cup fresh ground espresso roast coffee (or the equivalent of making 8-10 cups in your coffee maker) – must be dark!

Cold water, enough to cover the grounds and fill the french press to the brim.

For the Latte:

One extremely generous splash of Vanilla Creamer, or a few pumps of vanilla syrup if you’ve got it. As you can see, I like my coffee drinks VERY WHITE.

1/2 or 1 cup cold milk, I use 2% — again according to preference

1/2 – 1 1/2 cups cold brew coffee concentrate, depending on how strong you like your coffee beverages

One small splash of half and half (optional)

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

For the cold brew, grind espresso beans in grinder according to manufacturer directions. I use the setting to ration out grounds for 8 cups of coffee. Pour grounds into French press, add cold water to saturate the beans completely. Fill French press with water, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow coffee to steep for 8-16 hours at room temperature.

Then use French press plunger to separate the grounds from the brew. Pour into container with a lid to store in the fridge. I used a clean Nalgene water bottle.

Fill glass with ice, pour your preferred amount of coffee concentrate over ice. Add milk, creamer, vanilla extract and half and half, if using. Stir, and enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

May 28, 2013July 30, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 7 Comments

I’ve been enjoying myself far too much in the kitchen lately, meaning my once-kicked sugar habit is now on reprieve. An ice cream maker was finally added to my arsenal of small appliances, and it’s been busy churning frozen greek vanilla bean yogurt (what a mouthful!) nearly every day.

The greek frozen yogurt I’ve been making is wonderful when fresh, but I find that it freezes hard as a rock, making it cumbersome to scoop and serve a day or so after making it. So I gave in to a more traditional ice cream recipe, and made it a little lighter. And bonus!, it includes two of my all-time favorite flavors: vanilla and strawberry.

This recipe also had the benefit of an extra taste tester since my sister-in-law is in town. After touring rainy Olympia like we should have done as residents long ago, it was nice to unwind to a little ice cream served in a soda fountain glass, garnished with a fresh strawberry.

It’s also such a delight when my husband and his sister can play with Margot in the adjacent living room while I’m busy in the kitchen. During the work week when I’m at home alone, and Margot begins to cry, I usually keep working and holler “it’s okay honeeeey!” until I can hurriedly stop what I’m doing and rush to her aide. I already sound like a terrible parent, but I still have a house to run! Okay Moms, time to reassure me that that’s a sort-of normal thing for us to do.

Vanilla Bean Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 eggs

3 cups of 2% milk

2 cup half and half

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 Vanilla Bean – slice lengthwise and scrape caviar, discard bean

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup sugar free organic strawberry preserves

Directions

1. Using whisk attachment in mixer, beat eggs until light in color. Add sugar and beat until creamy. Add milk, half and half, salt, and vanilla bean caviar and stir well to combine.

2. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer directions. In my Cuisinart ice cream maker, it takes approximately 30 minutes to get a decent texture, but it still requires several hours freeze time to get a solid ice cream scoop.

3. Approximately five minutes before completion in ice cream maker, stir in half of the strawberry preserves.

4. Spoon ice cream out into 2 quart glass casserole dish, swirling in the remaining strawberry preserves.

5. Freeze for 2-5 additional hours, or until firm.

Notes:

In my Cuisinart ice cream maker, it takes approximately 30 minutes to get a decent texture, but it still requires several hours freeze time to get a solid scoop of ice cream. If you plan on making this ice cream for a group, or would like it ready by a certain time, I recommend giving yourself six hours to let the ice cream set.

Recipe adapted from Apple A Day: Oklahoma Farm Style Ice Cream.