Mediterranean Farro (or Quinoa) Salad

This is a dish I very much enjoy and is good for lunch or dinner. Farro, an ancient grain, is available in Italian groceries, health-food stores, and most well-stocked grocery stores. If you cannot find farro, or if you prefer, you may use quinoa instead. If using quinoa, cook according to package directions. This recipe serves four people.

I was not able to upload the photo I have for this recipe. My apologies.

Ingredients
1 cup farro
Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
8 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 English (hothouse) cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
6 oz. baby spinach
5 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:
1. In a saucepan over high heat, combine the farro and 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the grains are plump and tender to the bite, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, uncover and let cool slightly. (The farro can be prepared up to 1 day in advance and stored in the refrigerator.)

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, salt and a pinch of pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil until smooth.

3. Add the radishes, cucumber, mint and farro to the vinaigrette and toss to coat evenly. Gently toss in the spinach and feta and serve.

Zucchini with Rice

This recipe is loosely based off of a dish that my dad invented. It's a hearty vegetarian meal that doesn't take long to make and tastes great served hot or cold with some cheese or bread on the side.

Ingredients
5 squash (any type) (thinly sliced)
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 - 1 tomato
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/2 Tbsp Chana Masala mix spices (optional)
3/4 cup of short grain rice
2 eggs

First chop up the garlic and onion and add them to a pot with some olive oil. Let them cook until slightly soft. Take this opportunity to start cutting the squash.

Cut the ends of the squash and clean their skin thoroughly. It is NOT necessary to peal them. Then cut them into thin slices.


Add the squash and tomato to the pot and cover the pot so that the water in the squash does not escape. Add the salt, pepper, dill weed, and or any other spices you think would make this dish taste good. I suggest something a little spicy. In this case, I also added some Chana Masala mix spices.





After about 5-10 minutes check to see if liquid has accumulated at the bottom of the pot. If so, add the rice so that it covers the squash. Mix everything together. Keep the pot covered and let the juices from the squash cook the rice until soft. This process takes about 15 minutes. Feel free to add a little bit of water if necessary.




The contents of the pot should reduce. Mix everything together. Taste to see if any additional spice should be added. At this point you could stop and enjoy the meal. To add a bit of protein and change the taste slightly I added two eggs. Add the eggs and mix them into the vegetables and rice.




Vola! I really enjoyed this meal. It serves about 5-6 people. I put the food in plastic containers to use for lunch during the week. You can also add some chopped red pepper with the other vegetables. It tastes good but mainly it gives the dish a nice red color. Another possibility is to replace the rice with Quinoa.

Asian Noodles with Vegetables and Egg

This recipe is based off of a recipe first created by Linda Cai. We were in New York and she cooked me some food because I was hungry. I liked it so much I decided to try it a few more times with alternate vegetable choices depending on what was available. The most basic recipe calls for tomato, scallions, and garlic.

Ingredients
1 egg
1 tomato (diced)
2 scallions (chopped)
1 garlic clove (minced)
Bok Choy (optional)
handful of asian noodles
1/2 - 3/4 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste

This recipe is particularly easy. Start by cutting up some choice vegetables. In this case I used Bok Choy, scallions, garlic, and tomato. Broccoli or mushrooms would probably work well also (replacing the Bok Choy). Cut them up into small pieces and add them to a hot pan and add half a cup of water so that the vegetables can steam. I've found that there is no need to add oil but if you would like, add salt to taste.




When you see that the dish has begun to bubble and the liquid has turned slightly red from the tomatoes, it is time to add some asian noodles. Asian noodles are particularly nice because they only take 2-5 minutes to cook and become soft. In this case I have used Beijing Noodles but anything you prefer will work. Let the noodles sit in the vegetables and if there seems to be a lack of water, add some so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Slowly stir the noodles into the vegetables as they soften in the boiling liquid.



After the noodles have successfully integrated into the vegetables, add an egg and mix it into the entire dish. The egg will cook very quickly and the heat can be shut off at this time. When using an electric stove top, the heat can be turned off before adding the egg since the stove stop will remain hot. Add some cheese if you want... this is a noodly omelet-like dish after all.



Simple, bon appetit!