Yummiest Cheese Ever!

You may see this cheese, Pure Luck Farm's Feta , in the deli area of the grocery store and think "Geez! $6.00 for feta? Get real! I'll just spend $2.49 for the HEB brand." But you would be very, very mistaken. This goat feta, made just west of Austin in Dripping Springs, is the yummiest cheese you will ever have and, added bonus!, it is so strong and so fresh that it is one of the few foods where you actually do eat less of it because it's so good!

Me and this cheese go way back. I put this creamy, tart feta on things you would not normally put cheese on but for some reason is totally awesome:

• Apples- I spread a bit of feta on apples and its like a more savory version of apples and peanut butter
• Eggs- the tiniest bit sprinkled on top of cinchy scrambled eggs add a lot of flavor
• Toast or bagels- Pure Luck feta is way yummier than cream cheese even
• An avocado, tomato and feta sandwich with lots of greens is totally easy and very yummy
• In tomato or pesto based pasta sauces, of course
• Zucchini- tossed in with steamed or sauteed zucchini you can't go wrong. Paired with slow cooked summer squash sauteed in butter, this feta is divine
• In every casserole known to man. I just substitute about 1/3 of the feta for the amount of cheddar or other cheese they call for. It always tastes great though. What the feta lacks in volume it makes up in flavor.
  

In short this feta really packs a punch, you are supporting a local dairy at the same time and enjoying a really well made cheese!

Enchiladas

Another thing to make with beans! And leftover chicken. They were so amazing. This wasn't from an actual recipe, but sort of adapted from how I was taught to make chicken tomatillo enchiladas a while back. So, there is not really quantities, and this is what we used. But you can use whatever sounds good to you. And they turned out decently healthy for mexican food.

Corn tortillas
green salsa
cheese, grated (cheddar)
Filling:
leftover/cooked chicken, chopped (about one+ chicken breast)
beans (4 cups black beans)
three tomatillos, boiled until soft, chopped
green onion, sliced
lime juice, from one lime

Put a little bit of salsa on the bottom of a casserole dish. Put filling in tortilla, roll, and place rolled side down in dish. Fill dish with rolled, filled tortillas. Pour salsa over. Spread cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes.

**A sauce can be made from fresh tomatillos -- get a bunch and take the husks off. Place in a pot, cover with water and boil until soft. Put in blender. But salsa from a jar is faster, and seasoned.

Beans

So, in our quest for cheap good food, I discovered how to cook beans. I actually love beans and rice, but cooking dried beans always seems to be complicated, so I've normally relied on canned beans. But I have recently discovered that my crock pot is the easiest way to cook them -- and I don't have to be home or pay attention to it. I have cooked black beans, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas this way. Then I usually make refried beans ( a vegetarian recipe from the Moosewood Cooks at Home cookbook, below).

Dried Beans

Place a 1-lb bag of beans in the crock pot, cover with water until it comes about two-inches above the beans. Soak overnight. Drain in the morning, cover with water again, and turn it on low to cook all day (about 6-8 hours), or on high to cook half a day (3-4 hours).


Refried Beans

1 onion, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp (or more) cumin
salt
4 cups (or two cans) black or pinto beans, drained w/ liquid reserved

Saute the onion in olive oil. Add cumin and salt to taste. Add beans, cook until hot. Mash beans with the back of a spoon or potato masher. Add enough bean liquid until you have the consistency you want.

Lemon-Rosemary Cheesecake

We got a rosemary tree as a Christmas present and I've enjoyed finding fun recipes for rosemary. I've loved this interesting one from Better Homes and Gardens. The rosemary is not over-powering and is balanced well with the lemon. (Just read the preparation time carefully as it does require lots of steps and chill time.)

Ingredients:
2 15-oz cartons ricotta cheese
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
3 slightly beaten eggs
1 TBSP snipped fresh rosemary
2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1/4 cup pistachio nuts

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Soften the cheese and butter at room temperature for 30 minutes; grease and lightly flour a 9-inch springform pan.
2.In a mixing bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in ricotta cheese, flour, baking powder, and vanilla until combined. Stir in eggs, rosemary, and lemon peel just until combined. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake 40 minutes. Turn oven off; let cheesecake remain in oven for 1 hour. Remove; cool cheesecake in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Using a small sharp knife, loosen cheesecake from sides of pan; cool for 30 minutes. Remove sides of pan; cool cheesecake completely on rack. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Top with pistachios.

Quick Tofu Stir-Fry

I improvised this a bit from a Betty Crocker recipe for a chicken stir fry (Pacific Rim Stir-Fry I think they call it) because I had tofu that needed to be cooked, a needy child, and I didn't have time to hunt down the recipe. I had ABC rice (already been cooked) in the fridge that I threw in at the last minute to warm, but fresh rice would be even better. This made enough for 2 generous servings (or lunch the next day!).

sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish oil (or other oil, or broth)
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil

About 1/3 block of tofu
2-3 tbsp sesame oil
splash of soy sauce
Heat the oil and soy sauce in a wok or skillet until hot and then throw in tofu. Stir to coat. Fry tofu, stirring every now and then to prevent sticking until tofu is golden-brown. Remove from pan.

1 can Water chestnuts
1 Carrot, peeled into thin strips (just continue w/ veg. peeler after the peel is removed)
1 large handful of snow peas
1 small bunch green onions
splash of sesame oil (if needed)
Stir-fry vegetables, adding a little more oil, if needed, until vegetables are just tender, several minutes. Add tofu and sauce back to pan and continue cooking a minute or two more, until tofu has absorbed some of the sauce. Serve over rice.

future vegetables of summer

Hi this is Mark (borrowing Kristen's post) and these seedlings are hopefully future vegetables of the late spring and summer: From top left: Toma Verde tomatillos and bell peppers; moving clockwise.... the bigger plants, top-middle from the sunshine gardens plant sale (5 tomatoes, 2 mole peppers, herbs.); top right: Basil (about 18 or so); bottom right: the 4 tomatoes and a few lettuce--all that really made it from the first Jan. seedlings; lower center: tomatoes (about 40 tiny ones sprouted so far... (costoluto, red pear, persimmon tomato); Red Boston lettuce (no luck yet...).

Love/Hate

I have no pictures, but I just had to get that picture of bread off the top of this blog. I am gluten sensitive, so bread is poison to me. I do love bread and would love to eat it, but it doesn't love me. I have a love/hate relationship with food and always have, but it's even more so now that I'm gluten sensitive and even more since I'm now pregnant. I don't enjoy eating all that much, but I have to do it to survive. Being pregnant and nauseous makes it worse because I don't want to eat and nothing sounds good, but I know if I do eat then I'll feel better. Also, I can't eat whatever I crave this pregnancy either. I'm hungry all the time, too, so it's a challenge to find something that's GF, appealing, and that will hold me over a few hours. Sorry for being so negative here. I figured this could be a good place to vent.
I have found a few saving graces here in Austin, though. One is Craig O's pizza. It's a great pizza place for everyone, but what makes it even better is that they make gluten free pizzas and the place is close to our house AND they deliver! This is so exciting. It's really good GF pizza, too!
I do have one question: Does anyone have any good recipes that use quinoa? It's a very healthy GF grain which also is high in protein. I need lots of protein being pregnant, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what to eat. If y'all have any other good ideas or recipes that are GF, let me know!
Okay, I'm hungry...gotta go figure out what to eat again.