rainy chococoatmeal pepita cookies

this is what i made yesterday. it happened as a result of being stuck inside with the baby, while outside rained all day long.... my husband went to a rock concert after work so i had a good chance of devouring half of the cookies before he got back :) thank god it's not raining today (i might need a jog or some other fitness activity)....
nevertheless, the cookies were amazing, and as my dear hubby said when he tried them late last night "seriously, the best cookies i have ever tasted!"
here are the ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup grated unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1/2 cup or less chocolate chips (i used about 1/3 actually, because i don't like when the cookies are overwhelmed by the chocolate-y taste)
1 1/4 cups regular rolled oats (i prefer the texture of these, as opposed to quick cooking oats)
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

the making: preheat oven to 375°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper

put butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat with mixer until fluffy. add the egg, vanilla and salt and beat again just until combined. stir in coconut and pepitas. in another bowl, combine oats, flour and baking powder, mix well then add to butter mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined.

drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheets, spacing them about 1-2 inches apart. bake about 10-11 minutes for softer/chewy cookies. then set aside on a cooling rack.wait!for them to cool before eating (if you can).serve with a nice latte.. store in an airtight container.

spanakopita/ banitsa with spinach

this might be either a greek or a bulgarian recipe, but regardless of the nationality- it's a tasty and hard to mess up dish..it's also something rather quick you can make if you have unexpected visitors. i'm not claiming it's healthy by any means though....
here's what products you'll need:


- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 stick butter
- bunch green onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb package frozen spinach (use organic, spinach is one of the "Dirty Dozen" )
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup crumbled sheep's feta cheese (Bulgarian vs Greek, I make it with Bulgarian)
- pinch of nutmeg
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup yogurt
- 12 sheets phyllo dough
- more olive oil for sauteeing the spinach and oiling the baking dish

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 9x9in baking pan (or use 4qt pyrex baking dish, also works)
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute green onions and garlic, until soft. Mix in the thawed spinach and parsley, and continue to saute about 5 minutes. Season with nutmeg and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, mix together eggs, yogurt and feta. Stir in spinach mixture.
Melt the butter. Mix it in with the 2tbs of olive oil. Lay a sheet of phyllo dough in the baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil mixture. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with oil mixture, and repeat process. After 6 sheets pour in and spread the spinach/cheese/yogurt mixture. Then layer remaining 6 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil mixture. PRIOR to baking cut the spanakopita into squares- this will allow for the filling to spread and cook evenly.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into the pre-cut squares and serve warm. Yum!

chicken ceasar salad with yogurt dressing

a simple salad with a healthy twist on the dressing and minus the anchovies.. i made this for dinner together with the kale soup ;)


ingredients:
1 lb chicken breast, thinly sliced
1 head of romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
6 cloves garlic
1 cup greek/strained yogurt
1 bunch of cilantro (i know people either love or despise this spice so if you are of the latter group of people omit or substitute it using common sense..)
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
few pitted kalamata olives
2 tbs shredded parmesan (to sprinkle on top)
1 tbs grated parmesan or asiago cheese (for the dressing)

how to cook chicken:
blend cilantro in food processor or blender with half of olive oil, half of the lemon juice, 3 garlic cloves, adding some black pepper and salt. marinade chicken in this mix for 1+ hours in the refrigerator. then grill on a stovetop grill pan or broil chicken until done. set aside.

how to make dressing:
mince the remaining 3 cloves garlic. whisk them in the yogurt with the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, grated parmesan, salt and pepper to taste. if desired add more lemon juice for tartness..

now the salad is almost ready:
stir dressing into lettuce, top with shredded parmesan, chicken breast and kalamata olives. enjoy!

creamy kale soup

kale is sooo good for you, vitamins, minerals and all that makes it a wonder veggie! yea, tell that to my husband.. but with this easy and yummy recipe i had him asking for seconds and thirds ;)


here's what you need:
1 bunch of kale, washed, chopped, stems removed
4-5 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
600ml chicken bouillon
olive oil
sea salt
black pepper

how to make it:
saute the green onions in some olive oil (use as much as you need, i didn't measure). when they become soft add the minced garlic and cook a few minutes longer. set aside. meanwhile bring the bouillon to a boil. saute the potatoes in some olive oil. add the onions, garlic, potatoes and kale to the bouillon. bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. puree soup in blender until smooth and creamy. add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy with a fresh salad :)

the flourless, sugarless, eggless, butterless cookies

i've meant to post these last week when i made them, but didn't have time. the two dozen i made were gone in just a couple of days! so they must have been good :)
here is what you need:
2 cups rolled oats
3 large ripe bananas
2/3 cup almond or hazelnut meal ( i used hazelnut this time); alternatively if you have neither you can use whole wheat flour, but then they won't be flourless :)
1 ts pure vanilla extract
1/3 coconut oil, warmed until liquid
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raw shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts sea salt
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup (you can adjust the amount depending on your preferred sweetness, i omitted entirely and the cookies were still sweet enough, because of the ripe bananas)
how to make them:
preheat oven to 350F. place racks in the top part of the oven.
in a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork and combine with the vanilla, honey/maple syrup and coconut oil. in another bowl mix the oats with the almond/hazelnut meal/flour, shredded coconut, pumpkin seeds, salt and baking powder. combine the wet and the dry ingredients and mix well. drop spoonfuls of the dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. bake about 15 mins. enjoy with your tea or latte; for me they're perfect in the morning. i guess they're also perfect for vegans :)

beef kofta kebabs

everything started with my husband's complain that i haven't cooked recently any bulgarian KIUFTETA(kiufte= bulgarian traditional grilled/fried meat patty, sort of like a hamburger but made with mix of beef and pork, onions, cumin and other spices). so i decided to make that for tonight's dinner. i thought i can pick up some ground beef and pork on my way back from a gig downtown. but the ugly day it was today, with rain and snow pouring like crazy i barely had a chance to quickly stop by the organic market on washington street in hoboken, where i got only beef. soo..my bulgarian dinner idea transformed into something more exotic- beef kofta kebabs! the same ones i used to get in arabic joints in the old days when i was baby-free and could smoke all the apple hookah i wanted..
then i realized i don't know how to work the broiler in our oven (we just rented this apt a couple of months ago and i haven't cooked much since). my husband, however was in a mood to go out despite the crappy weather(since he had been stuck at home with the baby all day), so he ran to this nearby kitchen gadget shop and got me a grillpan. i love it- you can cook on top of the stove and get even better results than an outdoor grill- no need to use oil, never sticks, easy to clean, made from titanium and basically lasts forever. anyway, i'm sure you can't quite relate to my excitement about this pan right now, so here's the recipe..
what you will need (and don't let the many spices scare you):
18 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30+ mins
1 pound ground beef (organic, grass fed, you know..)
2 medium/small yellow onions (finely minced/grated)
5 cloves garlic (minced)
1 small bunch parsley (leaves only), chopped
1 ts sea salt
1 ts ground cumin
1/2 tbs ground cinnamon
1 ts ground nutmeg
1/4 ts cayenne pepper
1 ts finely minced fresh ginger
1/2 ts ground black pepper

how to make it:
in a large bowl mix the ground beef with the garlic. add parsley and all the other ingredients mixing well with your hands (i know, yuck) or a fork until it's well blended together. shape the mixture into 18 small balls. flatten each ball around a skewer and shape as an oval. place the ready skewers on a parchment paper, cover with plastic foil and refrigerate for 30+ mins. cook on a preheated grill pan over medium heat, turning from time to time, until desired done-ness. i prefer well done, and it took about 4 minutes.

i served it with mixed herb avocado salad and greek yogurt.
say cheers with a shot of turkish yeni raki or just a glass of red wine (as we did) and follow up with a nice flavored tobbacco hookah and a morrocan mint tea (if you can):P

whole wheat pizza with arugula and prosciutto

today was a short day. perhaps, because my husband went out without successfully waking me up, so both the baby and i slept till 10.. fortunately he came back home early and we all went for a stroll. we ended up going into a store called copper kettles on washington st. and bought a pizza stone (which i've wanted to get for a while). even though i had planned on cooking something else today the plans changed around because of the new acquirement and we ended up going to the grocery store for some mozzarella, arugula and prosciutto....
you should have no doubts that i tried to make something as cliche as pizza super healthy..oh, well the prosciutto..maybe not "super" but at least rather healthy. so the dough was 100% organic whole wheat flour (stone ground) and surprisingly turned out delicious (even the texture was not stiff, but a combination between crunchy ad chewy). since i had some yeast which was almost expiring i used a lot of it (just to be safe, given how tough is for the whole wheat flour to rise'n'shine)
dough recipe
ingredients:
4 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
3 packages dry yeast (perhaps you can use less, as i said mine was almost expired, so i wanted to be sure it works)
1 1/2 cups warm water (120-130F)
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs honey
2 ts salt
directions:
in a large bowl combine flour, salt, yeast, mix well.
add honey, oil and warm water stirring with a wooden spoon.
start kneading, until dough becomes elastic, soft and smooth (2-3mins)
rest dough in a covered bowl for 20mins and then separate into two balls.
roll each ball into a 1/8in crust. dimple crusts with your fingers.

pizza topping ingredients:
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed (you ca definitely cut down on that, we're garlic lovers at home)
4 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
8-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped coarsely
6 oz shredded mozzarella cheese/ or substitute fresh mozzarella for a fancier taste
6 thin slices of prosciutto di parma (about 2-3 oz)
4 cups baby arugula (you can use less to your tastes, i just love arugula!)
sea salt
black pepper

preheat oven to 425-450 with pizza stone inside for 20mins.
mix olive oil with crushed garlic, 1 ts black pepper and 1/2 ts salt. spread mix evenly onto the two crusts.
cover crusts with tomato slices, basil and arugula on top, dividing it evenly.
top arugula with shredded mozzarella cheese and 3 slices of prosciutto per pizza crust.
given i only have one baking stone (so far) i baked them one by one for about 8 mins each.

serve with ARUGULA salad ( i know, i just love it too much)
and whatever red wine you prefer,
i'm drinking chilean carménère santa carolina-
cheap, but worthy of mention :)