Farro, pecorino and balsamic salad

21 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by Zoli in cheese, healthy, italian, quick and awesome, salad, Sauces, Vegetarian

Tags

balsamic, balsamic reduction, balsamico, farro, Italian salad, Pecorino, vegetarian salad, viniagrette

Oh balsamic reduction, where have you been all my life? I’ve probably eaten this gorgeous liquid gold a few times in restaurants, but this is the first time I’ve made it. And I have been eating it with everything since–vanilla ice cream, pasta salad, bread, creamy cheese… It’s so darned good.
This salad would be better with arugla/rocket leaves but I had to use what I had to use; a dark green, soft-leaved romaine. Pecorino cheese is super salty and you need it to complement the acidic and sweet balsamic sauce. Everything in this simple salad goes together in perfect harmony.

Ingredients for 2 people
1 cup farro
About 2 cups fresh rocket or soft lettuce, washed and torn
Pecorino (or similar salty cheese) diced or grated
About 12 grape tomatoes, halved diagonally
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp sugar
extra virgin olive oil
fresh cracked black pepper
Extra pecorino to serve

1) Cook the farro according to directions and set aside to cool. I tend to use 1:2 farro to water.
2) Gently heat up the balsamic vinegar in a small pot and whisk in the sugar. Let reduce to a thick (but still runny) syrup. Watch it to make sure it doesn’t get too thick. About 5 minutes. Let cool.
3) Drizzle the cooked farro with the olive oil and mix to coat.
4) Add in the lettuce, tomatoes and pecorino cheese. Add a little more extra virgin olive oil and toss.
5) Plate the salad and drizzle about 1 tsp each of the balsamic reduction over the salad and grind some pepper over it. Serve with grated or shaved pecorino.

Huevos rancheros with chipotle

14 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by Zoli in breakfast, cheese, gluten free, quick and awesome, Sauces, tex mex, Vegetarian

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

avocado, chipotle, corn tortillas, Huevos rancheros, salsa, vegetarian breakfast

This is what I felt like making today and what my lucky lucky husband felt like eating. Me, myself and I never (ever) eat sunnyside-up eggs but I do love to fry them and look at them. They’re striking and pretty… in a gross way.

He also requested a side of beans and rice like he gets in his Cuban cafe for lunch, but that would simply take too much of my time. Huevos rancheros on their own, like this, are quick, simple and easy. There are a gazillion recipes for huevos rancheros as we all know. This is just one of them.

Ingredients for 2 ppl
4 corn tortillas
4 eggs
olive oil
grated cheese such as queso fresco
any sides such as sour cream, greek yogurt, avocado, hot sauce, rice and beans

for the warm chipotle salsa
1 200g can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed and sliced
1 jalapeno chili, deseeded and chopped
1/2 to 1 whole chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped*
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
salt and pepper to taste

* If you don’t have these chipotles in adobo sauce, skip them and add in chopped pickled jalapeno or use chipotle powder for the smoky flavor and extra spice.

1) First make the salsa. Heat up olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the chopped onion, garlic, chilies and peppers on a med-high heat for a couple minutes.
2) Add in the can of diced tomatoes. Ground the cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle and add these in with a few grinds of salt and pepper. Then add in the chopped chipotle pepper.
3) Bring to a simmer and then turn heat down to med-low and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.
4) Next heat up olive oil in a small frying pan and fry the tortillas one by one to soften and warm. They don’t take long. Less than a minute on each side. Lay 2 tortillas on each plate.
5) Heat up a little more oil and crack two eggs in. Cook the sunnyside up eggs the way you like and then set them on the tortillas.
6) Warm up the salsa and then ladle it over the eggs, as much as you like.
7) Serve with grated cheese and other sides and condiments.
Enjoy! If you have these with a paloma (fresh grapefruit juice, tequila and a squirt of lime juice, then you will REALLY have a great morning. Spring is coming!