cooking ala mel

Asparagus Bruschetta

June 8, 2011

I love finger foods. A spread of appetizers (tapas, anyone?!) for a meal would make my belly perfectly happy. When posed with the request of having dinner started when Alex got home from his internship, I eyed up the 9 grain baguette we had sitting on the counter and decided it was just screaming to be toasted up and topped with something delicious. With some fresh mozzarella and sautéed asparagus at the ready, I threw together these asparagus toasts – or asparagus bruschetta, as you will.

The asparagus was sautéed in olive oil with some onion, a bit of sea salt and Garlic Garlic seasoning. I threw the baguette slices under the broiler topped with fresh bruschetta and drizzled with olive oil, and then I topped them with asparagus, sprinkled some basil on top and a nice drizzle of a sun dried tomato vinaigrette. Yum indeed.

I served it up with some salmon lightly cooked in a blend of sesame and olive oil with a bit of soy sauce, sea salt, pepper and garlic. Odd combination, I know, but I knew Alex would enjoy it. So that was that. And it was delicious.

Asparagus Bruschetta

serves two – 4 slices each

5 oz. asparagus, woody ends trimmed off and chopped into pieces

1/4 cup onion, sliced/chopped

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 t Garlic Garlic seasoning

sea salt & pepper, to taste

1 T sun dried tomato vinaigrette

fresh or dried basil, for sprinkling

2 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced into thin pieces

8 baguette slices

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add in the onions and allow to soften slightly. Add in the asparagus and cook until slightly soft, 2-3 minutes. Add in the Garlic Garlic, sea salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 more minutes.

Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Top with the slices of mozzarella and place under the broiler until the bread is lightly toasted and the mozzarella is slightly melted. Top with the asparagus mixture and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle with basil. Serve immediately.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

June 7, 2011

I have been craving blueberry muffins since before I can remember. As soon as strawberry season started, I began dreaming of berry filled desserts – but only something blueberry will satisfy me. After making the mini fruit pizzas, we had lots and lots of blueberries left over, so my dad froze them. I brought one of the bags to the apartment, but I ended up devouring them just eating them by hand. I did manage to throw a few into some crêpes for our first breakfast made in our kitchen, but alas, no lovely blueberry baked goods.

While I was at home picking up my new car (a 2010 Honda Fit, brand new!), I made some blueberry walnut oat waffles, and that was CLOSE to being enough to satisfy my craving. But then I keep eyeing up the blueberry muffin recipes..and then I finally got a pint of fresh blueberries yesterday. So what did I do today? Blueberry muffins, you better believe it. I’ve got bread exploding throughout the apartment – I got a whole grain baguette and a loaf of high fiber bread yesterday, AND I made bagels – yet I still felt the need to add a few more carbs to the mix. We could always use some sweet ones, right? And they’re still pretty good for you, I will admit. Doesn’t mean they taste any less sinful – oh sweeeet blueberries, how I’ve missed you.

I was surprised with these – Alex actually enjoyed them! Usually when he realizes that I’ve made something healthier, it’s impossible for him to like it. He even set one out for his breakfast in the morning. I’m very pleased with the results! They’re subtly sweet, moist, with just enough berries.

I tossed all the rest of the muffins into a freezer bag and into the freezer so that we can just reheat them when we want them and don’t feel obligated to eat them all right away! I’m excited to have ready made breakfasts and snacks waiting for me in the freezer! I’m sure they won’t last long.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

yields 1 dozen muffins

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 T baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 T + 1 t ground flax seed

3 T water

1/3 cup agave nectar

6 packets truvia (or 1/2 cup sugar)

1-5.3 oz. container plain greek yogurt (a bit more than half a cup)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 t almond extract

1/2 t vanilla

In a small bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flax seeds and water, until thick and foamy. Whisk in the truvia until well combined. Add in the greek yogurt, applesauce, extracts and agave nectar. Stir until well incorporated. Add the blueberries to the flour mixture and toss lightly to blend together. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir until just combined – do not overmix!

Scoop with a large spoon into a greased muffin tin and bake at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Whole Wheat Garlic Onion Bagels

June 7, 2011

Alex loves bagels. Only savory, though. He’ll down an everything bagel or an onion bagel with butter, cream cheese and lox in seconds, but if you offer him a blueberry or cinnamon bagel, he won’t even touch it. He’s been wanting to have bagels for his breakfast before he goes to work, and I just keep deciding not to buy him any, poor guy. Today, after doing a bit of grocery shopping and finishing up some things around the apartment, I decided I’d make him some homemade bagels. We didn’t really have any cream cheese he’d like – only some neufatel cheese in the freezer – but I figured he’d overlook that seeing as the bagels were fresh.

I mixed some dried minced onion and garlic into the dough so the flavors would be baked in, and he thawed out the cream cheese and mixed some spices into it to make it how he wanted. Once I had them all baked up, we packed all but one of them into an airtight container and split it so we could try it. Alex was upset about the cream cheese; he thought the texture was off too much, but I thought it was perfectly fine, of course. The bagels were fantastic – so much flavor packed into them!

I’ve been more into a sweet-savory kind of combination, so with some of the neufatel cheese, I mixed in cinnamon, nutmeg and honey and had that on my half of the bagel. I loved it, although I’m sure it seems extremely weird to most out there. I sprinkled a few raisins on top, too, which was really nice as well.

Don’t be intimidated by the several steps in making bagels – they’re extremely easy to make! And SO worth it. You can control what goes in them and how they’re flavored..and you really can’t get better than homemade!

Whole Wheat Garlic Onion Bagels

yields 6 bagels

1 cup warm water

1 1/2 t active dry yeast

1/2 T honey

1/2 T brown sugar

1/2 T salt

3 cups white whole wheat flour

1 T dried minced onion

1/2 T dried minced garlic

1 egg

In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the honey, brown sugar and yeast in the warm water, and allow to sit for 5 minutes, until foamy. Add the salt, minced onion and garlic and stir to combine. With the dough hook rotating, slowly add in the flour, and continue mixing until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (should be smooth and elastic). Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap sprayed with oil. Allow to rest in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.

Remove the dough from the bowl, and divide into six balls. Press your finger through the middle of each ball until it goes all the way through, and then stretch the hole out to about 2 inches in diameter. Place the balls with holes in them on a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and allow to rise again for about a half hour in a warm place.

While rising for the second time, place a pot of water on the stove and heat to boiling. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Once the dough balls are done rising, place them into the pot of boiling water, one or two at a time (depending on the size of your pot), and boil each side for about one minute. Once boiled, place on paper towels to blot any excess water. Move to a parchment lined baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg with a splash of cold water. Brush the egg wash onto each bagel on the parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with any spices you’d like. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Allow to cool on a wire rack and serve as desired.