Savory sausage bread pudding muffins

Savory sausage bread pudding muffins: a fun riff on the traditional breakfast casserole, perfect for feeding a brunch crowd.

I love it when the stars seem to align -- that is, when my real life dovetails perfectly with my blogging life. How so? Katie of Healthy Seasonal Recipes asked me to take part in her spring entertaining giveaway on the very same day that my BFF sent me a recipe for a savory bread pudding that she thought I would like.

Booyah.

Spring entertaining made me think immediately of Easter brunch and, I swear, there is nothing better (or easier) for feeding a brunch crowd than a breakfast casserole. And it seemed to me that this savory bread pudding was just begging to be made into cute single-serving muffins.

(So, should we be even cuter? Should bread pudding muffins henceforth be known as "puffins"? No, I don't think so either.)

Therefore, you can see why I called it an alignment of the stars. 

In my quest to make my recipes more stealthily healthy, I cut way back on the whole-fat dairy in this bread pudding -- and you won't miss it: it's still rich and filling with lots of cheesy flavor. For a vegetarian version, simply omit the sausage and double up on the amount of bell pepper (a combination of red and green looks smashing).

CSA Share Ninja Rescue 2013: kohlrabi (6 ways)

Photo by Michael and Christa Richert via the stock.xchng

Welcome to another installment of the 2013 edition of CSA Share Ninja Rescue, a weekly feature in which you tell me on Fridays what veg you got in your CSA share box (or found at the farmers' market) that you don't know what to do with and I'll give you a whole slew of recipe ideas on the following Monday.

Recipes by request: how cool and easy is that?

This week, my readers are looking for help with kohlrabi. You might not even know what it is -- but it's that alien-looking veg you see in the photo above. Freaky, no? 

Kohlrabi is a root vegetable, either green or purple, that is in the same family as cabbage (and even tastes a bit like it), so, when shredded, it makes a great substitute for cabbage. It is has historically been widely popular throughout eastern Europe, due to its cold-hardiness. I also learned recently that is sometimes referred to as "German turnip."

Ready to get creative with kohlrabi? Here are six ways:

1. Potato-kohlrabi puree: a great alternative to mashed potatoes (you could throw a little celeriac in here, too)
2. Roasted kohlrabi: simple and delicious side dish
3. Quick kohlrabi pickles: pickling non-traditional veg yields some fun, interesting results 
4. Kohlrabi soup: this would be a unique (and easy!) starter for your next big family dinner
5. Sweet and spicy slaw: simply substitute kohlrabi for the cabbage -- lovely with burgers
6. Nouveau colcannon: again, substitute kohlrabi for the greens -- it will add a nice touch of crunchiness

Now, with what veg can I give you a little help next Monday? Leave a comment -- The Ninj wants to know.

CSA Share Ninja Rescue 2013: radishes & lettuce (8 ways)

Welcome to the first installment of the 2013 edition of CSA Share Ninja Rescue, a weekly feature in which you tell me on Fridays what veg you got in your CSA share box (or found at the farmers' market) that you don't know what to do with and I'll give you a whole slew of recipe ideas on the following Monday.

Which is today.

Last week, readers told me that they're having a little consternation with radishes and lettuce -- mainly, how to use each in something other than a boring old salad. 

Check out these eight non-salad salad veg recipes:


Radishes

• Roasted radishes: This would be a great alternative to traditional root veggies alongside a nice roast chicken
• Baked radish chips: A good-for-you snack that's easy to make
• Mango-radish salsa: Tangy-sweet, awesome as an accompaniment to chicken or pork (or even fish!)
• Easy pickled radishes: Easy to make in the refrigerator, they make a spectacular bruschetta when placed atop mashed avocado on toast rounds

Lettuce

• Grilled romaine with blue cheese dressing: Next time you grill burgers or steaks, grill up some lettuce, too
• Pea, lettuce and tarragon soup: A gorgeous green summer soup
• Peas and lettuce: Apparently, serving peas and lettuce together is a popular side dish in France
• BLT pizza: Lettuce on a pizza? Why not!

Brush a pre-made pizza shell with some olive oil. Layer on cooked chicken and bacon and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake at 425 for about 8 minutes or until the cheese is toasty. While the pizza cooks, toss some sliced lettuce in a bowl with some mayonnaise that has been diluted with a little water. Layer the pizza shell with slices of tomato and avocado and top it off with the lettuce.

Now, with what veg can I give you a little help next Monday? Leave a comment -- The Ninj wants to know.

Roasted strawberry-rhubarb jam

There's a ton of rhubarb in my garden.

Last year, I was fortunate enough to inherit part of divided rhubarb patch that one of my neighbors was giving away. Given that I had only gotten turned on to rhubarb the year before, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with the harvest.

After today, I will never again worry about that because I have discovered roasted rhubarb jam.

And now I wish I had more, more, MORE rhubarb in my garden, perhaps an entire garden of just rhubarb, simply so I could make jar after jar of this jam. It is that good.

Oh, and did I mention absurdly easy? Set-it-and-forget-it easy? No pectin or lemon juice easy?

Yep, that easy.

Gardening: hardening off your seedlings (part 2)

If you've been playing along at home, the seeds you started indoors under a grow light are now healthy little seedlings.

Congratulations! They're nearly ready to be planted in your garden.

But not so fast. Being inside, protected from the elements, and growing in ideal conditions under 16 hours of perfect light every day is just a wee bit different than being outside in the garden, exposed to the natural elements.

You'll need to prepare your seedlings for this transition so they don't die from the shock (literally!).

Just as you would with any change in your own routine or environment, introduce the seedlings to change gradually. This is called hardening them off.

Hardening off can take anywhere from a one to two weeks. If you're pressed for time, just follow the advice I give below for about a week. If you have a little more time, stretch it out to two weeks to ensure you have the best-prepared seedlings for planting. Over this one- to two-week period, you'll be gradually exposing your seedlings to increasing levels of of sun and wind exposure, as well as temperature fluctuations, which will all be much more like the outdoor environment in which they will live for the summer. 

Liz's quiche

Regular readers are probably pretty surprised to see me touting quiche because I've long claimed to be a crust hater.

I think I should have clarified. I really only dislike that thick crust edge and when a pie has a top crust. Most people would argue that that's pretty much the whole crust, right? Which is why I always say that I hate crust.

But as long as I'm the one doing the cooking, I can make pies or quiches without a top crust and give the fluted edge to Mr. Ninj. Problem solved.

So I guess I'm back on the crust bandwagon. Especially with an easy, whirl-it-up-in-the-foodprocessor crust recipe (see below).

This quiche, however, is about more than its crust. This quiche has history.

This quiche is one of the first things I ever cooked -- when I was seventeen years old.

Gardening: how to start seeds indoors (part 1)

As spring is just around the corner (knock on wood) here in Vermont, I can finally let my thoughts turn again to gardening.

It's difficult, over the course of the long winter, to think about next year's garden when it feels like the cold and the snow might just last forever. But once March rolls around, I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel and start planning my garden.

Each spring, I make a graph-paper map of my garden and decide what plants I'm going to put where, being mindful that most crops should be rotated around the garden space annually, rather than being replanted in the same place. At the end of the gardening season, I make notes on that map, delineating the successes and failures, yields, pest issues, amounts of mulch and compost used and any other significant items that I want to remember -- because, if you're like me, you can't remember details from one month to the next, let alone from one year to the next. Then, in the spring, when I make my new plan, I consult the previous year's notes and use those to guide my plant selection and placement.

A few weeks ago, I drew my plan for my 2013 garden and decided which vegetables I would grow. Now it's time for the fun part: seed starting.

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: zucchini

Zucchini chips

This week, readers have started receiving zucchini in their shares.

Let the great summer zucchini onslaught begin!

I tried to include both traditional and non-traditional ideas for using zucchini; there's only so many times you can serve sauteed zucchini as a side dish without your family looking weary, am I right?

As always, if you need help with a veggie you've received in your CSA share, leave a comment below or send me an email before this coming Friday.

Recipes suggestions are posted on Mondays.

• Zucchini chips: Near and dear to my heart, as these are my only official prize-winning recipe. 
• Zucchini pecan cake: Whether you make it as a cake or muffins (minus the frosting), this recipe from In Praise of Leftovers is a winner.
• Lemony zucchini goat cheese pizza: I love this easy, unusual recipe from Smitten Kitchen -- perfect for casual summer dining.
• Cream of zucchini soup: I just discovered this one from The Meaning of Pie -- easy and delicious, my favorite combination!
• Morning glory muffins: Just substitute shredded zucchini for the carrots called for in this great breakfast muffin recipe.

You can also check out last year's suggestions for using zucchini.

What's your favorite way to prepare zucchini? The Ninj wants to know.



[Shared with the What's in the Box? link party]

Caper pesto: a recipe

Whole wheat spaghetti with caper pesto

When I think about those certain ingredients that draw me to a recipe in a cookbook or to a dish on a restaurant menu, I realize I'm probably a little too addicted to salt.

And bacon, but that's another story.

I'm mainly thinking of anchovies and capers, extra awesome when in combination. (Remember the Mediterranean tuna pasta? Just like that.)

So imagine my delight in finding a recipe for a pesto (one of my faves because of how easy it is) made largely with anchovies and capers.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Summer is a great time of year for pesto, since it requires a large amount of one herb or another as its base. I usually have an overabundance of basil, which often ends up as a traditional pesto that gets frozen in small containers for use throughout the winter.

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: arugula and other greens

Spring greens soup

Finally, finally, finally -- we're starting to see some fresh greens in our gardens here in Vermont!

I'm harvesting baby lettuce and arugula, and my mustard greens, bok choy and kale are cookin' right along.

This week readers requested recipe help for arugula. Since I have tackled arugula before, I thought this week I'd just share one really good recipe in which you can use arugula or any other interesting greens that your CSA might be offering right now.

(Administrative note: Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you've been getting in your CSA share with which you need help but be advised that there will be no CSA Share Ninja Rescue post next week, as I will be on vacation. The feature will resume on Monday, June 25.)

Spring Greens Soup (adapated from Better Homes and Gardens)
I've called out arugula and spinach in this recipe, but feel free to substitute equal amounts of whatever spring greens you have on hand.

1 onion, halved and sliced
3 cups sliced mushrooms
olive oil
3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
12-14 ounces Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 cups arugula leaves
3 cups baby spinach
2 cups parsley (I used Italian)
sour cream or creme fraiche, for serving

In a soup pot, cook the onion and mushrooms in some olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes to the pot and return the mixture to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat. Use and immersion blender to blend the potato mixture until fairly smooth. Add the arugula, spinach and parsley and return the pot to the heat. Bring it to boiling again, then remove from the heat again. Use the immersion blender again and blend it all up until it is smooth and has turned a beautiful spring green color. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and serve with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche.

[Shared with the What's in the Box? link party]

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: hakurei turnips and sunchokes

I made yummy ice cream with these first-of-the-season strawberries!

Veggies are slowly coming into season here in Vermont but a bit more quickly in other areas of the country, based on reader requests and comments.

I have reached out to the CSA programs in my area to let them know about this feature, so they can share it with their members. If you're in a CSA and finding this "service" helpful, please feel free to do the same!

This week, we're talking turnips and sunchokes.

Hakurei Turnips

Smaller and with a more delicate flavor than standard turnips, Hakurei turnips were developed in Japan in the mid-twentieth century. Word on the street is that you don't even have to peel these little cuties (heck, one of the recipe authors called them "the Hello Kitty of turnips").

Strawberry-rhubarb drop scones: a recipe

Strawberry-rhubarb drop scones

Strawberries and rhubarb: what's the history behind this winning combination?

Well, apparently, like a bajillion other things Americana, we have good old Ben Franklin to thank for rhubarb; he is credited with bringing the first seeds to America in the late 1700s.

As for the strawberry part, I couldn't really find any definitive answer, other than the first strawberries emerge just as the last of the rhubarb wanes, so, based on plenty and seasonality, both became popular pie fillings.

Regardless, it is in fact a great combination.

Regular readers will remember (probably with horror) that I don't really like pie (it's a crust thing), so I had to get my strawberry-rhubarb fix another way.

Scones, baby.

I love scones; they are so much richer and substantial than cake or muffins. And they sound so classy, don't they? Very British-high-tea and all, but they are quite easy to make. Normally, once the ingredients are combined, you pat out the dough into a thick round and cut the scones into wedges with a knife or use a biscuit cutter to make round shapes.

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: rhubarb and broccoli rabe

Rhubarb, in my garden right now

This year, I'm really enjoying the differences in requests for CSA Share Ninja Rescue help that are coming in based on a reader's geographic location. For example, this week we'll be tackling not only rhubarb, which is in season (albeit a short one) in the northeast, but also  broccoli rabe, which is plentiful for a reader in Colorado but generally more of a fall offering here in Vermont.

So keep those requests coming, no matter where you live.

As always, if you need help with a veggie, leave a comment below or send me an email before this coming Friday. Recipes suggestions are posted on Mondays.

On to this week's recipes...

Rhubarb

My sister calls it "that stuff that looks like red celery" in the store. Yep, that's it. If you buy it from a store, farm stand or farmers market, you will get stalks only; if you pick your own, be sure to remove the leaves as they are extremely toxic.

Cream of asparagus soup with crab: a recipe

I'll just say it was an Instagram photo, so it's supposed to look this crappy.

Wow. Let's try not to let today's craptacular pictures deter from you trying this soup. Promise? Please?

If I had better white-balanced and hadn't been in a rush to EAT IT, you would see what a lovely chartreuse color the soup is. Really, a perfect spring soup.

Regular readers already know about the CSA Share Ninja Rescue: this week's post included some ideas for asparagus, but I had to keep this one separate for its own post.

It's solo post-worthy. (Try saying that five times quickly.)

It was also a huge milestone in our house because Mr. Ninj hates asparagus. HATES. I mean, doesn't-even-like-to-be-in-the-same-room-with-it hate. (That's a lot of hate.)

Turns out, after all these years, we've realized it's a texture hate, not a taste hate. So when we were out to dinner recently at the Kitchen Table Bistro, I asked him to try the asparagus-ramp soup I had ordered ...

... and he liked it!

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: kale, asparagus, fennel and radish

Kale!

Clearly the harvests have started coming in around the country: I received more requests than I could handle this week for CSA Share Ninja Rescue, in which you, the readers, tell me, The Ninj, what veggies in your CSA share are giving you consternation and I give you some recipe ideas.

(Sadly, not so much bounty yet here in Vermont, where we just had another freakin' frost warning on May 17th!)

As always, if you need help with a veggie, leave a comment below or send me an email before this coming Friday. Recipes suggestions are posted on Mondays.

This week, readers in the Northeast asked for help with kale and asparagus, while some West Coast friends were confounded by fennel and radishes.

Kale
It's dark, it's tough, it's hearty -- and it's awesome! If you're new to kale, start out with lightly cooked versions. If you're already a fan, try using it raw, as well (I like to use it in place of lettuce on sandwiches and cabbage in slaws). Now, if only I could get Mr. Ninj to eat more kale, I'd be one happy camper.

• Kale and sweet potato quesadillas: These easy quesadillas have become a staple for me now. And I'm quite convinced that even kids will eat them.
• Kale chips: Move over potato chips, there's a new sheriff in town. 
• Kale and amaretti salad: Cookie croutons on your salad? Oh yeah! (adapted from a Ron Suhanosky recipe in the February 2012 issue of House Beautiful)

  Ingredients:
  1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  2 tablespoons olive oil
  1 bunch kale, washed, stems removed, chopped
  handful amaretti cookies, crushed (about 4 cookies if you use Lazzaroni brand)
  1/2 ripe pear, thinly sliced
  1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  salt and pepper
  
  Directions:
  Whisk together the oil and vinegar and toss with the kale. Add the pears and toss again, gently. Lastly, add salt and pepper to taste and top with crushed cookies.

Tomato-green bean salad with shallot dressing: two recipes

Tomato and green bean salad with shallot dressing

Two recipes for the price of one today.

Yeah, you're welcome.

I don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of dishes I make for dinner that can double as lunch the next day. Dinner-cum-lunch.

Which is probably why I eat pasta way too much.

Well, that and the fact that I'm Italian. Clearly it's in my blood.

This tomato and green bean salad started its life as a warm side dish for some honey and lemon glazed chicken breasts, baked on a bed of rosemary (if I hadn't forgotten to take pictures of it, you might have seen that as part of this post as well. But I did so you're not. It happens more than you might think.).

But the leftovers did not seem substantial enough for lunch, all by itself. It needed a little boost of protein.

(Normally this is where I would add bacon or sausage, right? HA! Not today.)

Beef and pepper curry

Beef and bell pepper curry over udon

After all that cheesecake, I think you need to eat something a bit more healthy.

No big family story behind this one, I swear (I'm still a little verklempt over sharing that recipe, honestly).

Always on the lookout for a quick-and-easy recipes for weeknight dinners, I came across this one in the new (June 2012) issue of Eating Well magazine. The timing was great, as apparently it's mega mango season in Mexico, so the stores are full of ripe mangoes, on sale.

(Yes, yes, I try to eat locally as much as possible, but sometimes you just can't if you want to have a little excitement in your diet. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I highly doubt that there are any mango farmers in Vermont.)

Creamy avocado pasta salad: a recipe

Creamy avocado pasta salad

Avocado and pasta? Really?

Oh, just stop it. Yes, really.

You like it in salads, right? And on burgers and sandwiches? And guacamole?

So I say, why not as a cold pasta salad?

Why not indeed.

This recipe couldn't be easier. (Really, it couldn't.) I made it for dinner but I'm sure I'll be whipping it up a lot as a quick lunch as the weather gets warmer.

Additionally, this is the perfect application for your mini food processor, as it's a small amount of ingredients that go a long way. One avocado yielded enough "sauce" for a 13.5-ounce box of whole wheat elbows. If you like your sauces very creamy, drop that down to about 10 ounces instead.

You seriously have no excuse not to try this.

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: leeks, arugula and radishes

Photo by Nathalie Dulex via stock.xchng

Welcome back to the CSA Share Ninja Rescue feature, where you tell me what items in your CSA share are making you scratch your head or lose your patience and I provide you with some help in the form of recipes or ideas.

To see how it works, check out the previous installments:

• Cabbage, kale and peas
• Beets, turnips and fava beans

Commenters from last week have asked for recipe ideas for leeks, arugula and radishes.

Leeks
If you haven't cooked with leeks very much, be warned: they are very, very dirty. But they are also easy to clean -- check out this great demo video from Gourmet.

• Eggs baked in cream from The Wednesday Chef: This makes a lovely brunch dish or light dinner
• Vichyssoise: Potato and leek soup -- a classic!
• Ham and leek bread pudding via The Ninj and Thomas Keller (sort of): No bourbon, but still amazing

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: beets, turnips and fava beans

photo courtesy of Leroy Marylene via the stock.xchng

I think Monday will be the official post day for the CSA Share Ninja Rescue feature, where you tell me what items in your CSA share are making you scratch your head or lose your patience and I provide you with some help in the form of recipes or ideas.

Commenters from last week have asked for recipe ideas for beets, turnips and fava beans.

Beets
Think outside the (CSA) box with beets -- lighter color beets are just as flavorful and easier to work with, as they don't stain your hands! And if you get green leafy tops with your beets, substitute them for other greens in salads.

• Beets, apples and ginger with clemetine vinaigrette from Amanda Hesser by way of the Ninj: oranges or tangerines would be fine substitutes for clementines
• Roasted beet and butternut squash soup from Dinner with Julie: amazingly flavorful and a gorgeous color to boot!

Turnips
Try substituting turnips for any recipe that calls for other root vegetables such as carrots or parsnips.