Filed under: bell pepper, bulgar, cheese, quinoa, spinach, tomato, zucchini | Tags: bulgar, feta cheese, food orgasm, pepper, quinoa, spinach, tomato, zucchini
oh. my. god. i just had a food orgasm.
it was perfect. well seasoned. time consuming, but worth it. it was even so good we can totally disregard how i cannot eat anything a stuffed pepper in a neat and/or ladylike fashion.
yes, a stuffed pepper. but it doesn’t have to be, if that’s not your thing. that’s the beauty of it.
i started off with this recipe for spinach and bulgar pilaf. this is what it became:
ingredients (this is enough to make a big ol pot. roughly 5-6 cups.)
the ingredients listed in the original recipe were in much better proportion than my “use what i got” technique. obviously my obsession with tomatoes and caramelized onions would incline me to use way more in the future. but this worked fine.)
also, obviously i make meals in huge portions, it’s so i have something i can just throw in tupperware and bring to work the rest of the week. adjust accordingly.
4 plum tomatoes.
1 t brown sugar.
1 T olive oil.
1-2 t balsamic vinegar.
2 t minced garlic.
1/2 t coriander.
1/2 t salt.
1/2 an onion, finely chopped.
1 tsp minced garlic.
1 T olive oil.
6 oz bulgar.
6 oz quinoa (RINSED).
2 1/2 cups stock (i used water).
salt and pepper.
1 large zucchini, chopped.
about 5-6 oz chopped spinach. use as much as you want, it wilts anyway.
2 t olive oil.
hungarian paprika and ground fennel (to taste) (i used a lot)
the other half onion, finely sliced.
1/2 T olive oil.
sprinkles cinnamon and brown sugar.
and, if you’re following my lead: 1 green bell pepper and feta cheese.
1. preheat oven to 350º F. cut up the tomatoes, and put them in a baking dish with the brown sugar, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, coriander, and salt. stick it in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. i did this in 2 separate pots.. i don’t know quite how it would work out in just one. divide the onion and oil among two pots over a medium heat, stirring until the onion is transluscent. add the garlic and cook for another minute or so. add 6 oz of each grain to each pot and cover with 1.25 cups of stock/water. bring to a boil, then reduce both to a simmer and cover. the bulgar should take about 15 minutes and the quinoa about 20.
3. in a large pot over medium to high heat, combine the zucchini, oil, and spices you choose. once these have cooked a bit, add the spinach and cook thoroughly. if you are making this in stuffed pepper form (and i suggest you should), now is the time to stick your hollowed out pepper shells with feta cheese in the bottoms in the oven (oh yeah, you heard me. feta cheese in the bottom. heck yes). once all veggies are combined you can add in the grain mixture and the roasted tomatoes.
4. in a small frying pan, heat up the last bit of oil good and hot. now, without burning yourself, add the sliced onions. cook until they are crispy and brown, and add the cinnamon and brown sugar. cook about a minute longer until the resemble all that is good and beautiful in the world.
now, stuff the pepper and then stuff your face. or, use this as a side dish. or a main dish, sans pepper. it would probably be really, really good with toasted sunflower/pumpkin seeds or pine nuts. i’m serious, this will change your life. it also goes really well with barefoot moscato wine. alas now due to my exam tomorrow, i’m switching to coffee and headed out to study……
Filed under: bulgar, cous cous, summer squash, tomato | Tags: bulgar, grape tomato, israeli cous cous, summer squash
ok, so, i think i made bulgar.
but i’m not sure.
this all started with a trip to honest weight on sunday following an adventure trying to find a farmer’s market in march in upstate new york (don’t get me started). as it was the first time i had been there, i was experiencing far too much wonder and awe to be paying much attention at all to what i was doing (which is pretty typical for me). i purchased a few grains from the bulk bins, but didn’t feel the need to label what i bought. so thusly, i’m about 95% sure about this bulgar situation.
the food co-op, by the way, was pretty wonderful. i purchased 2 summer squash, a pound and a half of brussels sprouts (more about this later), 2 cara cara navels (also more on this later), polenta, bulgar (?), and red quinoa (!!!)… for $9.70. holllerrrrrrrr! so, i made the brussels sprouts last night, something i have never tried before, and used a recipe from one of my new website obsessions, 101 cookbooks. they were… awesome. crispy, salty, cheesey. really i’m all about anything golden crusted. the cara cara navels? wikipedia them. seriously. they are like the most deliciously delectable sweet orange i have ever experienced.
anyway, the bulgar recipe. i tried to do that fancy thing where the rest of this entry would be in a link in case you aren’t interested in my experience with bulgar, but during that attempt all that i had typed up til this point disappeared and i had to start over. so until i become more tech savvy, you will have to deal. i also want to point out how it currently says its 11:28 am, when it is most definitely 10:28 pm. hmmmmm. i got a few ideas for this recipe from smitten kitchen.
bulgar and israeli couscous pilaf.
makes about 5 cups.
(this is not technically a pilaf because i did not brown the couscous before i boiled it. i did this the last time i made it, and i wanted to try it a different way. attribute the weird amounts of ingredients below to me wanting to use up what i had in the pantry)
ingredients:
1/2 cup israeli (pearl) couscous
3/4 cup bulgar
1 summer squash
1 pint grape tomatoes
drizzle of olive oil (this is a really exact measurement)
sea salt and old bay seasoning to taste (don’t go overboard on the old bay like i did)
feta cheese (optional)
1. i put the oven on 325 (a number i randomly chose) and chopped the summer squash to bite size pieces and the grape tomatoes in halves. i put them on a baking tray with some olive oil and sea salt and started them roasting in the oven. i ended up keeping them in for about 30 minutes, but this is personal preference (read: i like really crispy things).
2. i boiled 1 1/2 cups of water for the bulgar and then let that simmer for about 20-30 minutes until it appeared to be soft, absorbed, and all that good stuff. (i had to strain some water out in the end, but from what i read about bulgar this is sometimes normal? i’m not sure. this is the first time i’ve made it.)
3. then boiled 1 cup of water for the couscous, let that simmer for about 5 minutes until it was good and done.
4. can you guess what comes next? i mixed the bulgar and the couscous and seasoned with (too much) old bay. it evened out when i added the veggies though, so all’s good. i sprinkled it with some feta cheese before i ate it and it was delicious!
since i’ve got that whole nutrition thing going, here’s some info on this dish (according to my various resources/calculations):
1/2 cup israeli couscous: 285 kcal, .75 g fat, 0g fiber, 9g protein.
3/4 cup bulgar: 113 kcal, .3g fat, 6g fiber, 4g protein.
1 summer squash: 31 kcal, 0g fat, 2g fiber, 2g protein.
1 pint grape tomatoes: 50 kcal, 0g fat, 2g fiber, 4g protein.
1 T olive oil: 124 kcal, 14g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein.
totals: 603 kcal, 15g fat, 10g fiber, 19g protein.
per serving: 120 kcal, 3g fat, 3g fiber, 6g protein.
(1/2 oz of feta cheese adds an extra 40 kcal, 3g fat, and 2g protein.)
i promise, the next time i make food i will take pictures so i don’t end up with such a boring looking blog update ever again. if i can learn to make food look artistic/pretty. shap will have to teach me. i just want to say this took me like 2 hours to write. i’m serious. okay bye!
