Cottage Cheese Pancakes

What else is there to do when it's 90 degrees by 10:30am? Shut the windows, turn on the AC and cook something delicious for your kids since they never actually ate their breakfast (unless you count the yogurt pops).

Then, while you write about it, let the kids flood the bathroom* because a recipe this good cannot be kept secret.



I have made cottage cheese pancakes a few times and I think I've finally perfected a recipe that is quick and easy with great results.

The girls topped theirs with jam and then rolled them up. We ate every last one.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Makes approximately 12 pancakes (3 inches in diameter)

3 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
Dash of cinnamon and pinch of nutmeg (more or less depending on how "spicy" you like things)
1 Tbsp. Agave nectar (maple syrup or honey would work too)
Butter for frying

Heat a large skillet to medium-low. Using a hand mixer and large bowl, or a blender, blend all ingredients until batter is smooth.

Put a small amount of butter on the pan and swirl it around. It should bubble a bit. The batter is thin so don't over-pour. I fit 3 pancakes at a time on my 11 inch non-stick skillet (yes, I still use non-stick for delicate things. I almost burned down the house once trying to season cast iron and I have been scared to try again!).

They are ready to turn when the edges start to firm up and your instincts tell you to go for it!

Let me know how yours turn out and what you topped them with. The possibilities seem endless.

* The girls helped "clean" the mess in the bathroom themselves. There was also toothpaste involved.

Beet Green Squares

I really struggled to name these beauties. Beet Green Quiche-Fritatta-Popover-Cheese Puff wasn't rolling off my tongue. I was also a little nervous about how this recipe would turn out.

So imagine my glee when these "squares" came out of the oven - butter bubbling around the crisp, golden top, savory onion and beet greens below and the perfect amount of sharp cheese flavor holding it all together.



I confess to eating almost the whole dish. They are just that good. As I kept "testing" them I thought about their wonderful versatility -- breakfast, potlucks, brunch, side dish, snack, warm, cold...or straight out of the pan before anyone else can get one!

Beet Green (Quiche-Fritatta-Popover-Cheese Puff) Squares
Serves 1-9

2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
6 cups chopped beet greens
3 large eggs
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheese
Salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease the bottom and sides of an 8x8 baking dish with about 1 tablespoon of the butter.

Heat a large skillet and begin to saute the onion in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook until onion begins to brown and soften. Make sure your beet greens are well cleaned and very dry. Add beet greens and a sprinkle of salt. Cook until beet greens are just tender. Drain off excess liquid given off while cooking.

While the onion and beet greens cook whisk the eggs, milk and flour into a smooth batter. Stir in the cheese.

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in the baking dish and place dish in the warm oven until the butter melts. Then swirl it around the bottom of the dish. Put the onion and beet green mixture in the baking dish. Pour the batter evenly on top.

Cook for about 30 minutes in the center of the oven until puffed and golden. It will deflate a bit while cooling. I don't know if there is a technique or a trick to prevent it from deflating or if that's just what should happen. Either way it's delicious.

Variations
I used a blend of sharp cheddar, mild cheddar and Parmesan. It would be fun to experiment with other cheeses and even other vegetables. I have also made this with broccoli and might try zucchini next time. Or maybe even red peppers and zucchini!

When using other veggies you would only need about 2-3 cups plus the onion for the filling. The beet greens cook down a lot so more is required. Doubling the recipe works well. Just use a 9x13 pan.

This would also work well in a 10 inch pie plate but then what would I call it?

By the way...my girls ate the squares below! A great recipe for sneaking in leafy greens.

Chickpea and Cabbage Soup

The day I made this soup was a perfect soup day...in July. Sigh. Today is yet another dreary, cold day. I maintain good spirits. The forecast calls for sun so I am off to finish the leftovers before it starts feeling too summery for soup.



This simple soup can be ready to eat in under an hour but, like all soups, tastes better the next day...even in summer.

Chickpea and Cabbage Soup
Serves 4-6

1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1-2 cups green cabbage (chopped as you like it)
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1 15oz can chopped tomatoes
1-2 Tbsp. tamari
4 cups water or stock
1/3 cup chopped parsley
2 cups cooked chickpeas (without liquid)

In a large soup pot over medium heat, saute the onion in the butter and olive oil until lightly browned and tender. Add carrots and celery. Cook for a few minutes and add the cabbage. Cook until veggies begin to soften. Add garlic, cumin and bay leaf and cook while stirring for another minute

Add tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until juices begin to thicken. Add water and 1 tablespoon tamari. Bring to a light boil and add parsley and chickpeas. Simmer for about 10 minutes until veggies are tender. Add more tamari, salt and pepper as desired.

Yum.

Summer

Perhaps a very underrated vegetable. Is is a vegetable? Or an herb? Or perhaps something else entirely.

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Corn, corn and more corn.

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Hikes, picnics, ponds...turtles, frogs, tadpoles...meadows, gardens, butterflies...mud, water, sand.

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When I should be so happy about all the fresh, local produce I actually start to feel sad that it only lasts a few months.

Lentil and Celery Salad

This salad is so simple and so good. I love it any time of year but something about a cold lentil salad in the summer is so nice.



And while we're talking about lentils I have to say how much I love the lentil's flexibility. Warm and comforting in a winter soup or fresh and bold in a summer salad. Curried, pattied, baked, simmered...

Variations on the lentil salad theme abound in cookbooks and magazines everywhere. I have enjoyed playing around with different dressings from simple lemon juice and olive oil to complicated vinaigrette.

Use this recipe as a foundation for your own experimentation. You won't be disappointed.

French Lentil Salad
Serves 2-4

1 cup dry French Lentils, rinsed
1 clove garlic cut in half
bay leaf
1/3 cup chopped celery
1 chopped scallion
1/4 cup chopped parsley
olive oil and sherry vinegar
sea salt and pepper

Simmer lentils in 6 cups of water with garlic and bay leaf until tender (about 20 minutes). I usually make extra lentils so I have extra for another recipe or for the kids. Drain, remove garlic and bay leaf and let lentils cool a bit.

Toss warm lentils with the celery, scallion and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with sherry vinegar and olive oil to taste. Serve warm, room temp or cold.

P.S. My kids love plain lentils drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt (they like to do that part themselves).

Raw

I have recently been reading about the virtues of raw - raw meat, dairy, fish, honey and of course fruits and veggies. I will only be writing about raw veggies today but perhaps will cover some of the other topics another day.

I am always thrilled when I can add another raw vegetable recipe to my repertoire. I know it's important to eat a lot of veggies but it's also important to eat them raw sometimes (maybe even a lot of the time).



I am also excited about this recipe because it uses a vegetable I often struggle with preparing...zucchini. Other than Zucchini Bread I usually just roast my summer squashes (grilling is another option but since I have Grillaphobia roasting is my alternative).

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Stone Hearth Pizza. A tasty pizza place in our new town. Their menu featured a thinly sliced zucchini salad. Although we didn't even order it I couldn't stop thinking about the concept and had to try my own version.

I hope you like it as much as we did. I have been anxious to share this recipe sooner but I had to go and recreate the dressing because when I made it I didn't pay attention to measurements.

Zucchini Ribbons Salad
Serves 4

1 medium to large zucchini
1 ear cooked corn removed from cob
1/2 cup grape tomatoes
1 scallion chopped
feta cheese (optional)

Using a vegetable peeler create zucchini "ribbons" using just the skin and flesh (not the seeds). I made mine 2-3 inches long rather than the whole length of the zucchini. Toss the zucchini ribbons, corn, tomatoes and scallion with the dressing. Crumble on feta to taste (or goat cheese...yum!). Eat.

Sherry Vinaigrette
Yield 1/4 cup

2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. maple syrup or honey (will have slightly different results)
1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Whisk together everything but the olive oil. Slowly add olive oil while whisking until combined.

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P.S. Also featured on my plate are Pesto Chickpeas (as easy as it sounds) and Mozzarella Ham bites. My kids love to eat hors d'oeuvres...little bite size nibbles. This is also how I make 2 slices of ham feed a family of four. Ooops! I mean 5. But only 4 of us are eating with our teeth :-)

Leftovers

I've been doing a lot more cooking and eating lately than the blog reflects. Something I've been enjoying is finding ways to use up leftovers.

I am ashamed to admit, though I doubt I'm the only one, that I often find containers of leftovers buried deep in the fridge that end up in the trash.

I have also been trying to cook and/or prepare less. Instead of planning menus we've been enjoying, what my husband affectionately refers to as, "potpourri dinners." I have also heard the concept referred to as the "Kitchen Special"...just open the fridge and eat what's already in there.



Salmon and Red Bean Salad
Quantities of each ingredient depends on the contents of your fridge :-)

red beans
chopped red pepper
chopped scallion
grape tomatoes
fresh corn
wild salmon
cilantro
lime

Wheatberries

To soak, sprout, grind, steam, or simmer? Thanks to Weston A. Price I am feeling some confusion about how to eat grains lately. Hoping my new book will help sort some things out.



In the meantime I soaked then simmered some wheatberries and enjoyed them immensely alongside some Sockeye Salmon. All they needed was a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Of course I also made some caramelized cabbage and onion to go with it. So good.

The next day I combined the leftover wheatberries with some leftover French lentils and chickpeas. Again, just a splash of olive oil and some sea salt was the perfect dressing. I also added some chopped, leftover broccoli we had steamed the night before. The best part...a hunk of feta cheese that I just broke up with my fork right in the bowl.

As I ate it I kept saying to myself that I should really take a picture. Not because it was pretty (although I do think it is pretty) but because it was so good I just had to write about it and felt my post should have a photo.

So before eating all of it I put the remaining salad in a small bowl and took its picture. Then I finished it!

Ice Cream

One of the most important tasks when moving to a new town is seeking out the best local ice cream shop. I am glad to say we already found it.

Rancatore's is not only the best ice cream in Belmont it is quite possibly the best ice cream I have ever had. Its convenient location, a mere .4 miles from my front door, could make it just a bit too accessible. Is that possible?

So far I've only tried vanilla and banana. We might have to go later to replenish the two pints we polished off in just one day.

Life

Things are moving fast one minute and slow the next. With farm stands, markets and grocery stores overflowing with local produce I do less planning and more improvising.

I have also been spending some time considering some ancient wisdom, the possibility ofmiracles and a dose of modern science. It all leaves me a bit more confused than ever before.

So instead of food photos I'd like to share some thoughts and images from our so-called summer.



The neighbor asked if she was enrolled in school and the words came out of my mouth. This time with certainty. And suddenly we are homeschooling.

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I keep forgetting to buy sugar so instead of cinnamon sugar she put salt on her toast. She didn't like it.

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Home is where your bed is.

A New Kitchen

Another home, another so-called kitchen. And another temporary one at that. Been away for awhile, moving and enjoying the warmer days (mostly wet and warm unfortunately).

I somewhat enjoy the challenge of moving into a new kitchen, setting it up in a way that works for us and finding features to enjoy that I didn't have before.

Like our GIANT double sink, a little more room to move around and, the best part, windows overlooking our new backyard.