I don’t usually shop the deli counter at our grocer (for those in the area, I mainly shop at Sprouts), but last week I was feeling a bit pressed for time and thought I would splurge on one of their prepared salads. Maybe it is the warming weather (It was 84 degrees yesterday!), and the fact that Spring is right around the corner, but I have been craving light and fresh tasting salads. This one really hit the spot, so I decided to recreate it. It was delicious on it’s own, but would be just as nice served alongside a sandwich or burger.

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
• 1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
• 1 (12 oz) bag frozen shelled edamame
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• juice of 2 lemons
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook quinoa. In a pot bring two cups of water to a boil. Add quinoa, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, or until cooked. Remove from heat, let cool.
2. In a large pan over medium heat warm 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add chopped onion, red bell pepper, celery, and jalapeño (I tried to chop things so that the pieces were close in size to the corn and edamame). Cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic. Cook veggies until softened, but not too soft, you want a little bit of bite left in them. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. In a small bowl stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, cilantro, salt and pepper.
4. Stir all ingredients together (including the cooled edamame and corn). Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours.

This soup has recently become a favorite in our household. It is creamy, hearty, flavorful, and filled with just enough spice to make it interesting. I found this recipe in Heidi Swanson‘s cookbook, Super Natural Cooking, and have adapted it slightly. I have made it three times in the past two weeks, and am already thinking of making it again!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week and no Friday Favorites. I thought it would be kind of lame to have two Friday Favorites posts in a row, so next week will be double the fun. So yeah, I have been off the internet all week nose deep in projects. I have been knitting and sewing like crazy as well as snuggling with a really cute little 17 month old. I will share what I have been working on in the next couple days.

Anyway, I posted a picture of these banana-oat pancakes this week on Instagram and had a request for the recipe, so I thought I would share it here. The recipe comes from King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking book. They were moist, light, fluffy, and full of flavor. This recipe suggested sprinkling walnuts on the cakes before flipping, but we used sliced almonds–they were perfect.

• 3 small bananas, mashed
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oat flour (I just buzzed a cup of oatmeal in the food processor until it was a smooth flour)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Stir together the mashed bananas, butter, lemon juice and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat in the eggs. Whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, salt and spices in another medium bowl.

Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir the batter just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Check to be sure the batter is thin enough for your pancakes: you may need to add a touch of milk or water. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes before using.

Heat a nonstick griddle or a heavy skillet. If your surface is not nonstick, brush it lightly with vegetable oil. When the surface of your pan is hot enough that a drop of water sputters across it, give the pan a quick swipe with a paper towel to remove excess oil, and spoon the batter onto the hot surface, 1/4-cupful at a time.

Let the pancakes cook on the first side until bubbles begin to form around the edges of the cakes, 3 to 4 minutes. When the cakes are just beginning to set, flip them and let them finish cooking on the second side, until golden brown on both sides, about 1-1/2 minutes more.

Feeding babies. For something that sounds like it should be so simple, I had no idea just how complicated it could be. One day baby loves everything you put in front of her. The next day, no vegetable will pass her lips. What gives baby?

Food is important to me. As I have gotten older and more self educated on the subject, I have realized just how important everything that goes into our bodies is. Though I have always been a pretty healthy eater, it wasn’t until I got pregnant that I really became slightly obsessed with eating as healthfully as possible (while still saving room for some indulgences).

Anyway, it is my goal to give Lucy the most nutritious, unprocessed diet I possibly can. She loves these pancakes. I tried feeding her squash in another form, and she wouldn’t have it, but I really think she would eat just about any veggie in this form.

• 2 zucchinis/squash (or any other vegetable) shredded (about 1.5-2 cups)
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon dried herbs (I used thyme, but you can really use anything)
• Butter or oil for pan frying

1. In a large bowl whisk eggs. Add grated vegetable, stirring to incorporate. Stir in flour, baking powder, and herbs.
2. In a large preheated pan over medium heat add oil or butter. When butter is melted and just starting to sizzle add a few dollops of the mix.
3. Cook for a few minutes, or until a nice crust forms on the bottom. Flip, and press down with a spatula to flatten. Cook for a few more minutes, until cooked through.

Russ and I were talking about stuffed peppers recently. I for one had never had a stuffed pepper, he had, but had horrifying memories of a green bell pepper filled with ground beef and nothing more. I decided I needed to make some.

This recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics (have I mentioned I am obsessed with the Moosewood cookbooks? Well, I am). The recipe serves six, but I adjusted it to feed just Russ and I. I did put cheese on at the end like the recipe calls for, but didn’t get a picture, I was too hungry.

• 1 cup raw quinoa
• 6 medium bell peppers
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
• 1 cup peeled and diced carrots
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced zucchini
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

Mediterranean Lentil Salad (from this book)

I seem to have had some sort of food revelation recently. You see, I previously (and foolishly) thought that good food  meant lots of preparation and lots of time. Pre-baby I loved spending an hour or so working on dinner. The thought of spending that time on dinner now is laughable, but up until recently I had been having a hard time adapting.

It has been a gradual climb back to the top, but once again I am feeling good about the food I am making.  I spend 15 minutes or so chopping and stirring while Lucy plays at my feet. Sometimes I turn off the burners to go play or nurse her, then return to the food I was making. Dinner is becoming easier, and tastier.

I have made this recipe multiple times in the past month. It is easy, fast, and delicious. It has quickly become one of my favorites. While it may seem a bit more appropriate for a warm Summer night, when the thought of standing over a hot stove sends you running for the hills, it is just as good in the cooler almost-Spring weather we are experiencing. I made a double batch last time around and ate it straight from the fridge for both breakfast and lunch one day.

Be sure to have a toothbrush or mint on hand–all the best foods give you bad breath!

1 cup brown or green lentils
4 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme,(½ teaspoon dried)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
boiling water
½ cup diced celery
½ cup diced red or yellow bell pepper
½ cup minced red onion
½ cup chopped fresh parsley

⅓ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground fennel
1 rounded teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Rinse the lentils. In a medium saucepan, bring the lentils, water, bay leaves, thyme, and garlic to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until tender, stirring occasionally.

While the lentils simmer, cover the sun-dried tomatoes with boiling water in a heatproof bowl and set aside. Combine the celery, peppers, onions, and parsley in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients until smooth. When the sun-dried tomatoes have softened, drain and mince them, and add to the vegetables.

Drain the lentils and discard the bay leaves. Remove the garlic, mash it, and mix it back into the lentils. Toss the lentils with the vegetables and dressing, and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Serve immediately, or cover and chill to serve later.

Lucy and I went to a meetup play-date and potluck today. The theme was Autumn, so this morning I threw together this pumpkin bread pudding. It turned out absolutely delicious, which I was very pleased to find out, since it was the first time I made it. I guess you could say that is risky business bringing a dish you never made to a potluck, but I like to live on the edge. Well that, and bread pudding is probably the easiest thing to make, you can even do it with a baby attached to you (well, remove baby before you take hot objects from the oven) and even if you mess up it usually still tastes good. If I had served this at home I probably would have made a glaze or icing to drizzle over the top before serving, but since we took it on the road I didn’t. It was still delicious, and if you love pumpkin half as much as I do, then give this recipe a try.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

• 1 loaf of French bread, cubed
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 3 eggs
• 1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4  teaspoon salt

1. Toss bread cubes with milk in a large bowl. Toss in raisins. In a separate bowl whisk eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Pour pumpkin mix over bread, stirring to coat. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or so.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F.

3. Pour mix into a 9×13 baking dish. Bake until pudding has firmed and is golden brown on top, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Last week I posted an Instagram photo of the peach and fig cobbler I made and got a request for the recipe. Quite honestly I can’t remember exactly what I did, so I thought I would share the basic peach cobbler recipe I use. I didn’t have quite enough peaches for the entire dish this week so I threw in some pluots (a cross between a plum and an apricot, for those wondering), kind of like I threw in the figs last week. It really works well with just about any fruit. Apples, berries, or any stone fruit would be delicious in place of the peaches. I absolutely love making cobbler because it is so simple to make, really the hardest part is cutting up the fruit. You really can get creative with this one.

• 8 fresh peaches (you can peel them, but honestly I can’t be bothered)
• 1/4 cup white sugae
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch (more if fruit is especially juicy)

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup water

• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. In a large bowl combine fruit, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake ten minutes.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, white sugar, brown sugar,  baking powder, and salt. With a pastry cutter cut in butter until texture is about the size of peas. Stir in water until just combined.

3. Remove peaches from oven, drop flour mixture over the top. Sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon mix. Return to oven and bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold with vanilla ice cream. (Sorry, don’t have any pictures of it being served, we brought it to a BBQ)

I apologize for the quality of the pictures. I am still without camera and have to rely on my iPhone for all my photos. I am thinking about trying to sell some of my vintage in order to raise money for a new camera. I haven’t decided yet, but would that be too annoying to see blog updates on vintage for sale in an etsy shop?