What Did You Eat?

WHB: Herbed Turkey Meatballs With Cranberry Sauce

Does this picture look odd?   The color of the cranberry sauce looks like nail polish, but trust me, it tasted very good.  I imagine many people have figured out that I'm mad for meatballs, and this recipe also fulfills my quest to eat iron rich foods.  Turkey is high in iron, and the cranberries supply vitamin C, which facilitates absorption of iron into the body. 

These aren't my favorite meatballs, but I liked the taste of the fresh oregano in the recipe, coupled with the tart, sweet cranberry sauce.  Fresh oregano tastes very different to me than when it's dried.  I like them both, but prefer Penzeys excellent dried oregano, which explodes with flavor and aroma.  But, the bitter, pine taste of fresh oregano seemed the perfect herb to complement the cranberry sauce.  And it seems a good recipe for Weekend Herb Blogging, the weekly event created by our marvelous Kalyn, of Kalyn's Kitchen.   This week WHB is being hosted by the lovely Simona at Briciole, where you will find a recap of herby recipes from bloggers around the world.

WHB: Lentil And Spinach Patties (Cumin)

I'm trying to stay positive.  My anemia will eventually be a thing of the past.  But, right now, I'm feeling blue about the whole thing.  True, my restless legs are improving, but I'm tired all the time.   If I have to walk farther than twenty feet, I grow extremely tired and lightheaded.  My right foot is often numb because my hemoglobin is so low, it can't get oxygen to my extremities very well.  I don't like to be an object of pity, but feel free to shake your head and say, "How pathetic."  But, I will take my supplements, eat iron rich food, and use the example of Scarlett O'Hara to improve my blood.  As God is my witness, I'll never be this tired again!

These lentil and spinach patties are loaded with iron, but I didn't know if I would  enjoy them as much as chickpea patties. They were a little tricky to form into patties, but came out of the skillet nicely.   I used puy lentils, but would like to try red lentils, (my favorite) next time.  The original recipe used curry powder, but I didn't have any, and substituted cumin.  I think cumin is perfect with legumes, so I was quite pleased with these nutty patties  I had cherry tomatoes from my garden, which contain lots of vitamin C, and help plant based iron absorb into the body quickly. I used a cilantro salsa from Dos Coyote,  a local Mexican restaurant.  But, any salsa would taste great with this dish.

WHB: Sweet Cherry Ice Cream

I promised a friend that I would make her some sweet cherry ice cream with the fruit I harvested and froze a few months ago.  This was my opportunity to use my Donvier Ice Cream maker, which is probably 15 years old.  Once a trendy device, it's been surpassed by newer ice cream makers.  But, as I don't make ice cream very often, I find that the old Donvier works just fine for my purposes.

The recipe is very simple, just cream, eggs, sugar, chopped sweet cherries, and vanilla.  Some people like almond extract with cherry ice cream, and that is a good pairing.  But, I prefer vanilla because it tastes better to me, and doesn't overwhelm the cherry flavor.  Vanilla pods are actually the fruit of an orchid, which is a pleasant thing to consider.  However, that wonderful vanilla taste and aroma happens only after the vanilla pods are cured for several months.  This salute to vanilla is perfect for Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted by (drumroll, please) our fearless leader, the noble Kalyn herself, who created WHB. Go to her site, Kalyn's Kitchen, for a recap of herby recipes from bloggers around the world, probably on Monday.

WHB: The Return Of The Chickpea Patty

Yes, it's obvious that I have a fixation on certain types of food.  I can't resist most meatballs, or get enough chickpea patties.  The last one was not so long ago, and it was rather simple, but delicious. The chickpeas were ground fine, and combined with tomato sauce and a little cream, to make a patty crisp on the outside, but creamy on the inside. This time, I wanted to make them more rustic, rough textured and filled with vegetables.  And I would season them with the dynamic duo--cilantro and cumin.  I also made a "jam" made of chopped tomatoes, lemon juice, dried cherries, and honey.  It turned out just the way I wanted, delicious and filling.

WHB: Meatballs With Ginger Root And Radish Greens, For The Sensitive Stomach

After a week of eating little to no food, and what I did eat was very bland, I decided to test my stomach.    I wanted something with ginger root, as it's  a time honored remedy for an upset stomach. In truth, I wanted it more for the taste.   And I wanted it in meatballs.  Once the thought came into my head there was no going back.  So, I ground two skinless, boneless chicken thighs in the food processor, with radish greens from my garden, a little soy sauce, and ginger root.  I made five meatballs, cooked them in a skillet, ate them with profound pleasure, then waited for my stomach to protest.  It didn't. There was nary a peep out of it.

I've loved radishes all my life, but only recently began using the tops in cooking. They have a marvelous tangy bite, like horseradish, and paired nicely here with the ginger root.  And since radishes can be shockingly expensive at times, it's nice to use both the root and tops.  They are amazingly easy and quick to grow yourself, which is what I do now. 

WHB: Chickpea Pancakes

I didn't know what I wanted for dinner tonight. I just knew that I was hungry, but didn't want to eat anything with meat, or flesh of any kind.  So, completely perplexed about what to fix, I turned to my old friend, the chickpea.  As long as I have cans of them in my pantry, I know some sort of quick, satisfying meal is possible.  Then it dawned on me that chickpea pancakes would probably taste pretty good, and allow me to use up some odds and ends in my fridge.  I pureed the chickpeas with a dab of leftover tomato-chipotle sauce, garlic, and cumin, shaped them into rough patties and cooked them in a little oil.  And they were very good.  But, I'm biased in favor of bean patties, so others might not like these as much as I did. 

WHB: Mushroom Balls (Look Ma, No Meat!)

It's no secret that I love meatballs.  Barely a month goes by without a new recipe.  But, I'm aware that many of my blogging friends are vegetarians and can't experience the joy of popping a savory orb into their mouths.   Monday, I saw a large bag of mushrooms in my fridge that needed rescue before they became slime.  Then it hit me, mushroom balls.   So, I made duxelles (thank God for food processors) with the mushrooms, added feta cheese, parsley, onion, and an egg.  I intended to add bread crumbs, but discovered there was nary a crumb to be found in my pantry or freezer.  How did that happen?  Nevermind, they weren't necessary, as it turned out. The meatless balls were delicious, if I do say so myself. And I do.  They looked meaty, but tasted like concentrated mushrooms.  The only drawback is that without bread crumbs, the mushrooms mixture didn't go very far. I only wound up with six medium sized balls. So, I think a person would need a lot of funghi to make enough for a crowd.  Adding bread does seem like a good idea next time.

These lovely balls ( I keep thinking of Alec Baldwin in the classic Shweaty Balls skit on Saturday Night Live) are meant for all vegetarians, but especially Shannon and Anne .  But, you don't have to be a vegetarian to love these things.
 

WHB: Three Pea Stir-Fry With Chicken

As I was cooking this dish, I remembered the first time I grew my own sugar snap peas.  They were all the rage for back yard gardeners at the time. One night I asked my husband to go pick a bowl of peas, as I completed dinner.  The water for the peas came to a boil and I waited for him to come back bearing a large bowl of freshly picked peas. I waited and waited. Finally, I walked out to my garden and found him munching on the pea pods, straight off the vines.  The bowl I'd given him was virtually empty, and as I looked at him askance, he remarked, "Hey, these taste really good raw, why do you bother to cook them?"  I never asked him to gather the peas again, but he had a point.  They're delicious raw, or lightly cooked, as in this dish.  I had my own problems as I was trying to take the above picture, eating the peas from the bowl faster than I snapped the shutter on the camera.

WHB: Meatballs With Parsley And Parmesan

Sometimes I check cookbooks or the Internet for new meatballs recipes.  There's just something about a little orb of meat, seafood, or poultry that captures my interest.  I think it dates from when I was a kid, eating spaghetti and meatballs.  It was always a red letter day when my mother made it, and I regarded the meatballs as some sort of toy food.  You could roll them around on the plate or imagine tossing them in the air and catching them with your mouth. 

Several months ago, I saw this recipe on Epicurious and it immediately caught my attention.  It was rated with four forks by people who made them.  Four forks is not easy to achieve on Epicurious, and when I looked at the recipe it seemed to be pretty simple.  I wondered why it would have garnered such praise?  Well, I made a big batch of the meatballs and they were very good indeed. They aren't my favorite meatballs. That would be Vietnamese Meatballs and Pork And Ricotta Meatballs.  But, they were quite good.
 

WHB: Chickpeas With Arugula And Sherry (Fast And Simple)

Sometimes people tell me that my recipes take too long and have too many ingredients.  My cousin Debbie recommended my blog to a friend of hers.  The friend took one look at my blog and complained that she only wanted to prepare recipes that have, at most, three ingredients, and no chopping.  Hmmmm.  I understand not wanting to spend a lot of time cooking.  I've had many moments like that, so I appreciate streamlined recipes, which I do offer. Maybe I need a recipe category titled Fast And Simple.  Here is one of them. It should take you around ten minutes, from start to finish, to serve a hot delicious meal.  And, no chopping! 

The recipe comes from Nigella Express, which features good easy and fast recipes. So there are cookbooks out there for for anyone who wants to prepare their own meals quickly.  The chickpeas took me less than three minutes to prepare.  I served them with pan grilled salmon, cooked in 8 minutes.  It was a satisfying, healthy meal.  You can serve the chickpeas as a vegetarian meal, or serve it with any type of fish or shellfish. Nigella serves it with scallops and chorizo.