Pasta, Peas and the Palouse

Leaving Walla Walla two years ago, I knew one thing about my future--I was heading to Guatemala for six months without knowing a word of Spanish. Knowing that the best chapter of my life to date was coming to a close left me feeling like graduating from college was the end of something amazing, and the beginning of something I wasn't ready to deal with.

As anticipated, my life took some turns for the best and some for the worst. I made mistakes, learned from them, and made some more. I traveled to India, spent two unforgettable weeks in an ashram, and somehow ended up back in Walla Walla on a complete whim.

I thought moving away from Walla Walla would be easier the second time around. After a summer of incredible food, wine, and friends, the thought of moving to Moscow, Idaho and diving into a world of studying, exams, and life decisions was incredibly daunting. Don't get me wrong, I was excited for medical school--I just had no idea what to expect from this whole WWAMI thing (I'm doing my first year of UW medical school in Pullman and Moscow before heading back to Seattle for second year).

I have made it through five weeks and I have one exam under my belt! I have never studied this hard nor enjoyed it this much. Surprisingly, forcing myself to find balance away from all the studying has given me a chance to get back into the kitchen. Do I dare mention the food blog reading habits I've developed?! Anyway, the farmer's market here is absolutely incredible and I live in house with some pretty incredible cooks and eaters.

Using this as my inspiration I whipped up this pasta the other night...

Lemon Pepper Pasta with a Pepita Pea Pesto

Ha. Not only is this dish filled with alliteration, but the roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) remind me of eating pepillan (see previous post).


Pesto:
1/2 bag of frozen petite peas
1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil
1/4 cup of roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds--I toasted them in the broiler for 3 minutes or so)
2 lemons (zest one and collect juice from both)
4-6 tbsp of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Roasted garlic (I threw 3 cloves into the oven while I was roasting the pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup of grated Asiago cheese

Baked Tofu (optional)
I tossed one package of extra firm cubed tofu with 1/2 tsp of ground thyme, olive oil to coat, salt and pepper and baked it at 400 F for 15 minutes or so until the tofu was crispy on the outside.

1 package of Lemon Pepper Pasta (Trader Joe's) cooked al dente

First, boil water and dump the peas into the boiling water for 3-5 minutes until they begin to float. Drain the water (use it for the pasta). Add the peas and the rest of the pesto ingredients into a food processor and mix.

Serve over pasta with baked tofu. Garnish with roasted pepitas and grated asiago.

You can easily replace pepitas with walnuts or pinenuts depending on your personal preferences.




I spent my first weekend afternoon here in the Palouse picking blackberries and cliff jumping. We made these blackberry ricotta scones inspired by this link.
I exchanged blackberries for raspberries. I also added 1 tbsp of lemon zest.

And one more thing:
The Head and the Heart is an incredible band.
So is this song

Madness.

I just discovered the original food journal that began this whole blog thing...


The best part of this journal is that every single recipe is a food dream. I never actually created one of these meals after I thought them up. Some of them are recollections and alterations of of meals I created in college and others are completely theoretical.

Maybe I'll figure out how to make a few of them this summer...

~ Hummus 3 ways
1) With roasted red pepper, garlic and lemon
2) Cilantro and Lime with a hint of spice
3) Indian style with curry powder, cumin, garlic and roasted sesame seeds

~BBQ Thai Pizza
I used to make this all the time senior year- throw pizza dough on the BBQ. Use ready made coconut red curry sauce for the "sauce", top with veggies and mozzarella cheese.

~ Gnocchi with butternut squash cream sauce
I had a lot of left over squash- I think ricotta or marscapone was involved in addition to a hint of nutmeg. I vividly remember searing the gnocchi so it was crispy. Yum.

~Apple cinnamon flatbread
Thinly sliced apples, butter, honey, brown sugar and cinnamon. Need I say more.

~Coconut corn curry soup

~Earthlodge Veggie Enchiladas
WHERE IS THAT COOKBOOK?!

~Gloria's Guatemalan Broccoli Salad
Steamed broccoli, cooled then topped with lime juice, finely diced onion and tomatoes.

~ Nedy's Mashed Potatoes with Spinach
Can I just say Nedy was beautiful. Anyone with tan skin, blue eyes and overalls without a shirt should come exist in Moscow Idaho in the fall... Did I mention he was also an incredible vegan chef. Think mashed potatoes plus a few handfuls of spinach.

~Gnocchi with Figs and Gorgonzola
Gorgonzola cream sauce I'm guessing... I'll have to figure out how to incorporate those figs. I'm thinking some kind of fig sauce drizzled over the thick cream sauce... Salty but sweet. Could be good?

~Ricotta Lemon Scones
I could do that. Interestingly I have "add a dash of saffron" in the notes. Hm, cardamom instead?

~Cold Cabbage Salad with a Miso Tahini dressing

~Penne Carbonara with Chantrelle Mushrooms
This need to wait for the fall

~Watermelon Feta Salad
Still need to try this. Always on the back of my mind.

~Cacoa and Chai Cheesecake
Roasted then ground cacao, chai spices, raw brown sugar and honey. This sounds bomb. If only I could figure out how to make it.

~Cheese tarts in filo dough
Ricotta, cheddar, green onion, lime zest, cilantro and oven roasted tomatoes. Sounds so freaking weird. What was I thinking?! Maybe I had something Guatemalan with those flavors that actually worked...

~Soba Noodle Salad with a Tahini Orange Dressing.

~Spinach Dip (healthy)
Cook spinach with garlic and onions... cool and blend with nonfat yogurt, dill and creme fraiche.

~Cauliflower and cheddar soup

~Pepillan and Chirmol (YES!! I Vaguely have the recipes for my host mom's sauces!)
Pepillan Sauce is made from toasted pumpkin seeds, toasted sesame seeds, cumin, whole cinnamon sticks, roasted tomatoes, salt, vegetable broth. Thickened with wheat or corn flour.
Chirmol sauce (use a mortar and pestle) is made from roasted/boiled tomatoes, roasted jalepenos, onion, lime, vinegar, salt and garlic


Wow. I have officially sent myself into flashback mode.

Polenta Napolitana

Stir fry and rice or veggies and pasta. My two staples for the days when I'm feeling uncreative, have very little time, and have bunches of vegetables that need to be eaten. My usual go to when it comes to stir fry is a bunch of veggies in some kind of ginger soy sauce served with whatever grain I have lying around that I can cook in the rice cooker. Pasta and veggies is equally simple. Sauteed veggies, red sauce from Trader Joe's and some kind of pasta thrown together and served with some kind of grated cheese on top.

Anyway, I have an awesome dish to add to my culinary repertoire for those days when I'm frantically trying to feed myself and I'm sitting on vegetables that need to be eaten.

While working at a little Italian restaurant in Edmonds, I fell in love with the way they served polenta. As an appetizer they would top a bowl of polenta with creamy gorgonzola sauce, mozzarella cheese and broil the delicious-ness before serving. As an entree they would serve a chicken breast over polenta and grilled asparagus. The sauce from the chicken or veal would soak into the polenta and the melted cheese on top would do the trick...

Tonight I was cooking for my little brother who is a the novice in the kitchen. Over the course of the summer I have been showing him my tricks and hopefully teaching him a thing or two about feeding himself in a healthy manner. I decided to throw tofu into this recipe but it is completely optional... I imagine it could be replaced with some kind of meat (ground lamb would be awesome or even something like tempeh).

Polenta:

2 cups of water
1 cup of milk
2 cloves of garlic (use a garlic press for best results)
1 tsp of dried chives
1 tsp of thyme (I used fresh but dried would work equally as well)
1 tsp of salt
pepper to taste
1 tsp of butter (because butter makes EVERYTHING taste better)

1 cup of polenta (corn meal is what I bought not knowing there was specific stuff just for polenta... this worked great!)

2 oz of goat cheese
1/4 cup of grated extra sharp white cheddar (I love the New Zealand extra sharp white cheddar from TJ's)

In a pot add all of the ingredients except for the polenta and cheese. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and vigorously whisk in the polenta. The mixture will thicken quickly. Add the cheese. Keep on low and stir for about 5 minutes.

(Polenta seriously takes less than 10 minutes to make!! So much easier than rice!)

2-3 cups of vegetables
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp of Italian Seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1.5 cups of marinara sauce
1 package of firm tofu
1/4 cup of grated cheese (mozzarella would be ideal here)

Sautee 2-3 cups of vegetables in olive oil and 1 tsp of Italian Seasoning. Once vegetables have cooks sufficiently (I like them slightly crispy) add 1 whole package of extra firm tofu cut into extra small pieces and 1 cup of marinara sauce. Once this mixture starts to simmer turn it off.

Place the polenta in a deep baking dish. Add the veggie sauce combination on top. Pour another 1/2 cup of marinara on top and top with 1/4 cup of cheese of your choice (I used the NZ cheddar again).

Broil on Hi for 4-7 minutes or until the cheese on top is light brown and crispy.

Lemon Raspberry Muffins

I've been on a bit of a muffin kick lately. I made these for my brother and served them with vanilla bean coconut ice cream. Perfect summer treat!

Lemon Raspberry Muffins

"Wet ingredients"
1/2 cup of buttermilk
3 tbs of plain greek yogurt
2 egg whites
zest and juice from one lemon
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbs of vegetable oil

"Dry ingredients"
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp of baking powder
3/4 cup of light brown sugar
1 cup frozen raspberries

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Mix wet ingredients, then dry ingredients. Combine and spoon into lined muffin tins. Bake for 15-17 minutes.

Serve with vanilla bean coconut ice cream.

Goat Cheese: Flatbread pizza and lemon asparagus pasta

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love goat cheese. I've been working on a brick of it for the past week and these are my two favorite creations.


Herbaceous Flatbread with Ricotta and Goat Cheese

1 Trader Joe's Garlic and Herb pizza dough

"Sauce"
3 cloves of minced garlic
Handful of minced basil
3 tablespoons of minced chives
6 tablespoons of olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Make the sauce and set aside.

2 onions - caramelized on low heat with a tsp of butter, salt and pepper

5 tbs of ricotta cheese
1/4 cup of shaved parmesan
3 oz of goat cheese

3-4 leaves of basil chopped for garnish once it comes out of the oven

Roll out the dough, place in a pizza pan and bake for 5-7 minutes at 425F
Top with the herb olive oil sauce (if you have a food processor- throw this mixture in there first)
Arrange caramelized onions on top
Top with cheeses- use two spoons to make one dollop the ricotta on each piece.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the crust is light brown and the cheese is melted. Top with fresh basil.



Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta with Goat Cheese and Asparagus

During my obsessive reading of food blogs last week I discovered this recipe. I decided to make some changes and give it a go with the awesome asparagus I picked up from the Walla Walla farmer's market and my favorite pasta from Trader Joe's. I copied this recipe directly and switched out the pastas and herb.



1 bag of Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta from Trader Joe's
1 pound slender asparagus spears, trimmed, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
4 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
1 5- to 5 1/2-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese (the pre-crumbled stuff will not melt as well)
Juice from one lemon

Cook your pasta in a large pot of well-salted water until it is almost tender. Add asparagus and cook until firm-tender, another two to three minutes. Drain both pasta and asparagus together, reserving one cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, combine olive oil, lemon peel, basil and cheese in a large bowl, breaking up the goat cheese as you put it in. Add hot pasta and asparagus to bowl, along with a couple slashes of the pasta water. Toss until smoothly combined, adding more pasta water if needed. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Browned butter banana strawberry muffins

I'm not going to lie, getting through that cleanse was tough. I honestly didn't think I could go without sweets, yogurt or cheese for ten whole days.

I really shouldn't have tortured myself while on the cleanse but I accidentally did so in two ways.
1) I spent way too much money buying cheese at Trader Joe's the day before I started the cleanse--I actually had to put my cheese library in a tupperwear at the back of the fridge just so I wouldn't be tempted.
2) I discovered a list of the best food blogs and subsequently went a little nuts while browsing them in between customers in the tasting room last week.

Numerous new food blogs combined with deprivation does strange things to the brain. I found myself dreaming of a life where all I do is make/drink/critique wine and write a food blog. I began wondering if I would love being a doctor as much as I love food, learning about wine, drinking wine, reading about food, writing about food, taking pictures of food and dreaming up recipes.


My top five favorite blogs:
101 Cookbooks
Joy the Baker
Smitten Kitchen
What Katie Ate
Cannelle et Vanille

I snapped out of my obsession with becoming a professional foodie/wino the moment I ate these muffins. I am super excited to start medical school and spend the next four+ years of my life studying my butt off.

I followed this recipe and used half a cup of buttermilk instead of yogurt to make muffins... I baked my muffins for 22 minutes at 350 F. The oven at my new house is a bit temperamental so I would check them after 15 minutes and go from there.

6 ounces unsalted butter, melted and browned to just over 1/2 cup of butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/4 cup mashed banana (from about 3 medium bananas)

1/2 cup diced strawberries plus 1 strawberry very thinly sliced, for topping

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Butter will begin to foam and crackle as it melts. When the crackling subsides, the butter will begin to brown. Swirl the pan as the butter cooks. When the butter browns and begins to smell nutty, remove the pan from the flame and transfer the butter to a small bowl. Taking the butter out of the hot saucepan will stop the butter from overcooking and burning. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla extract, and yogurt or buttermilk. Whisk in the mashed bananas. When butter has cooled, whisk in the browned butter.

Add the wet ingredients, all at once to the dry ingredients. Fold together, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to reveal any hidden pockets of flour. Fold in the diced strawberries. Fold together ingredients, but try not to over stir.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins and top with thinly sliced strawberries.

(Adapted from Joy the Baker)



I've mentioned this before but I freaking love breakfast!

Sometimes your body needs a break

I spent the first ten days of June on a cleanse. Before you jump to any conclusions- I did not drink only lemon juice, honey and cayenne. I did not consume crazy clay drinks and only eat fruits and vegetables. I also did not waste away and turn into a pile of bones.

Instead, I spent 10 days reminding my body that I am in control of what I eat... I laid off the caffeine, fried foods, gluten, processed sugar and dairy; ate lots fruits and vegetables; drank 8+ glasses of water each day; used very little oil in my cooking; made a lot of lentils, quinoa and lean protein; fell in love with avocados (treat of the day!); and spent time with my friends without drinking.

I wasn't perfect. I broke the cleanse twice after careful consideration- once to enjoy a glass of rose while watching an incredible sunset on a porch, and again to have a drink prepared by Jim German. I still exercised control but couldn't justify missing out on the Walla Walla/Waitsburg experience because I was on a "cleanse".

I was very surprised how people reacted to my "cleanse". I expected criticism for not drinking at gatherings and a lack of understanding while attempting to cook for other people. I was pleasantly surprised by the understanding, support and encouragement I received.

I walked away being able to function in the morning without caffeine, snacking more responsibly and exercising more will power when it comes to sweet things. Something about doing this cleanse made me more aware of all the little things I put into my body on a daily basis...

Also, did I mention I feel great?!

Click here for the cleanse I did. Highly recommended!