broccoli pesto with barley

A few years ago, I stumbled upon this recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks and fell in love with the dish. It was a tasty way to sneak in lots of greens, eat briny olives, and feel reasonably good about it for its health benefits.

I've since made it in its original form with whole wheat pasta countless times. But this time around, I had some barley on hand, and figured that may be an interesting switch. After checking with Heidi for her thoughts, I gave it a whirl, cooking up the barley with a mushroom bouillon cube for some additional flavor, then making the dish as the recipe states with a delicious broccoli pesto, wilted spinach, briny olives, and leftover broccoli florets.

The result was a nuttier version of the dish from the barley, but man oh man, this is the type of dish that would make becoming a vegetarian bearable. (Only entertaining that thought for a brief moment in time, look ... it's passed.) Highly recommend you all give it a try.

Down with the sickness

Being sick in the pits. I think there's global agreement on that. After a few back-to-back weeks of planes, trains and automobiles, my immune system finally waved a white flag and took a vacation, leaving me congested, exhausted, and feeling somewhat deathly. Lo and behold, this was right when swine flu mania began, making my explanations of a) heavy travel b) allergies that kicked in when I was in the UK and c) nasty headcold somewhat moot.

Thankfully, after a few days of drowning myself with lemon, ginger, and honey concoctions and spicy miso ramen soup, I was feeling a bit better, and looking for some food with substance. My cravings were somewhat bizarre, as if I was a pregnant woman eating sour pickles and peanut butter.

The result:
- spicy veggie curry with cauliflower and tomatoes
- white bean spinach soup
- cutlets, just like sab and her mom used to make.

Not too shabby, eh? Lots of protein, a good amount of spice, and relatively healthy.

The curry is an old standby, this one including garbanzo beans, cauliflower, 1 potato and a can of stewed tomatoes. Add a bit of garam masala, some cumin, stock and garlic. Then simmer away until it's mushy-like. That's the scientific term for it too. :)



Very similar in procedure as the curry I made a few months ago.

Serve with some naan, rice, or, as I did later in the week, a side of cottage cheese. Odd, I realize, but healthy and cuts the heat of the curry.

Beans were the main ingredient of the day ... what can I say. Tasty, and also cheap as all get out. Win win.



I first spotted this soup - the white bean spinach soup - over at Not Quite Nigella. I chose to make this without the chorizo, which is a decision I don't regret, to tell you the truth. The basics include a mirepoix to start, adding about 10 oz. of spinach and stock, 2 bay leaves half a pint of stock. Simmer for 20 minutes, then puree using an immersion blender. This is a thicker soup, but great comfort food. Yum.




Oh, and the cutlets ... not Agro cutlets (my best friend and her mother make, by far, the best cutlets EVAR. no joke.) These were just craving food. Delicous, slightly salty, breaded craving food.