Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Bye Bye Barnum Black Bean Salad


This salad recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks. It's the Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook. Native Foods is a restaurant in southern california which offers only vegan food. But there dishes are amazing! I have converted many a meat eater to Native Foods, one never feels like they're missing something with their dishes. The name "Bye Bye Barnum" is a reference to getting rid of Barnum and Bailey's circus for animal rights issues. In particular, the elephants. Probably my most favorite dish is a salad from this book, so I thought I would try another salad on a super hot summer day. This one sounded a bit boring, but trusted the folks at Native Foods. What a good call! This was delicious! I think it was the balsamic vineagerette which made it. With black beans, brown rice, tomatoes, cilantro, lettuce and onion this was also a rather healthy salad. I will definitely make it again!


Johan Scale: 4

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Spaghetti with Shrimp, Tomatoes and Feta Sabraw

Another winner from epicurious.com! My boyfriend loves shrimp and pasta, so I decided to try this recipe. It sounded a little boring, but good reviews made me give it a try! I was super excited to find normal sized, uncooked shrimp in Sweden so tonight was the night. This was another super simple and quick dish. I first sauteed the shrimp in olive oil and garlic, then added the tomato, scallions and basil to heat through. Plus, I love cooked tomatoes! Once the pasta was cooked, I just mixed it all together to make a delicious dinner! Will definitely make this one again.

Johan Scale: Solid 4

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/LINGUINE-WITH-SHRIMP-TOMATOES-AND-FETA-SABRAW-14179

Rhubarb Streusel Cakes

These may not look like something really specail, but do not be fooled! My boyfriend loves rhubarb, so I thought I'd try to make a great rhubarb treat for him. This recipe I got off of epicurious.com. One of my favorite sites because one can read reviews from others who have tried the recipe. I have never been disappointed following the advice from the reviews. I followed the advice from a review on this one (teacherhansens) and these muffin cakes were fabulous! They were quite easy and quick to make. Which often makes or breaks a recipe for me. Although I would call these muffins, they are actually cake. I made the cake batter and folded in the rhubarb. Then dropped this into the muffin forms and covered with some struesel.

While I'm at it, I may as well comment on the silicone muffin forms i used. I have had these for a couple of years, but not used them much. I now have no choice if I want to make muffins as I don't have a muffin pan. But these were a breeze! A little difficult to clean if you (as i don't) don't have a dishwasher. But they are reusable and the muffins don't stick to them. But make sure you have enough. If you need to take the muffin out, it will dry out (or get soggy, depending where you live). Overall, a great summer treat!
Johan Scale: 4.5

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/RHUBARB-STREUSEL-CAKES-108008