lemon

Grilled Portobellos with Meyer Lemon Pesto and Spinach

February 6, 2013 by Erica

Grilled Portobellos with Meyer Lemon Pesto and Spinach | coffeeandquinoa.com

Monday was all about cake. Not to give it away, but Friday is going to be all about cookies. And unlike Monday’s cake, Friday’s cookies contain absolutely zero vegetables. So let’s try to squeeze in some green stuff in the meantime, shall we?

Grilled Portobellos with Meyer Lemon Pesto and Spinach | coffeeandquinoa.com

Look at all that spinach! I feel healthier already.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to do a lot of baking on the weekends. It’s what Nate calls my “wake and bake” (hah) – scones, cakes, muffins, etc. If we haven’t destroyed all the sweets by the time Sunday night rolls around, I try to bring them into work and pawn them off on my unsuspecting co-workers on Monday morning. They think I’m being generous, but really I’m just trying to get all the butter and sugar out of my house before I go back for more. By mid-week, I’m (hopefully) back to my healthy weekday routine of veggies, gym, and yoga.

And that’s where these portobellos come in! Last summer I discovered the portobello/pesto combination and fell in love. And while I eagerly await summertime basil (like, reeeeally eagerly), I figured I’d make a different but equally tasty citrus pesto.

Grilled Portobellos with Meyer Lemon Pesto and Spinach | coffeeandquinoa.com

This was my first time using meyer lemons! My regular grocery store doesn’t have them, so I trudged out in a snowstorm the other day to pick some up from another nearby store. And I’ve have to say it was worth it! They are so pretty.

Grilled Portobellos with Meyer Lemon Pesto and Spinach | coffeeandquinoa.com

If you can’t find meyer lemons, you could use a regular lemon here. Because the rind is much thicker, though, I would probably suggest using only the juice and zest, instead of tossing whole chunks of regular lemon in.

For this dish, I spread a layer of lemon pesto on top of the grilled portobello, then topped with spinach and a sprinkling of parmesan and pine nuts. You could also add a quinoa layer (or combine it with the spinach) for a more filling dish. I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it would be delicious!

Grilled Portobellos with Meyer Lemon Pesto and Spinach | coffeeandquinoa.com

Grilled Portobellos with Meyer Lemon Pesto and Spinach

Serves 2 as an entree or 4 as a side

Ingredients:

For the meyer lemon pesto:

1 meyer lemon

1 small clove garlic

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 tsp honey

sprinkle of salt and pepper

For the grilled portobellos:

4 portobello mushrooms

olive oil

salt and pepper

2 small cloves garlic

10 oz. fresh spinach leaves

handful of toasted pine nuts

sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. Break the stems off the portobello caps, and clean each cap with a damp paper towel. I prefer to leave the gills in, but you can scrape them out if you wish. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 minutes with the gills facing up, then turn gills face down for another 5 minutes.

While the mushrooms are cooking, make the pesto. If using a meyer lemon, cut it into chunks and remove the seeds, then toss the entire chunks into the food processor. (If using a regular lemon, add only the zest and juice of the lemon to the food processor.) Blend with the rest of the pesto ingredients, scraping the sides with a spatula occasionally, until smooth.

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add a tiny drizzle of olive oil. Once hot, saute the garlic for 30 seconds to a minute. Add the spinach, a few handfuls at a time, and saute until wilted and bright green.

To assemble, spread a layer of lemon pesto inside each mushroom. Pile 1/4 of the spinach into the mushroom cap and top with a sprinkle of extra parmesan and pine nuts.

Enjoy!

Time:

35 minutes

Lemon Pepper Hummus

January 3, 2013 by Erica

Must Love Lemon: that’s the warning that comes with this hummus.

If you aren’t interested, I understand. You can have your hummus plain. But if you’ve ever wanted your hummus to have a bit more kick to it, this lemony, peppery, fluffy and delicious hummus is for you.

This was the first thing I made when I got back from my parents’ house after Christmas. I just couldn’t wait to make it and then the next afternoon when I finally did, I ate so much of it that I called it dinner. It’s good stuff!

If you missed my other recent hummus post, let me summarize quickly: You shouldn’t be afraid of making homemade hummus just because it’s come out badly in the past. I recently learned a trick to making creamy hummus, and it’s super simple: you just blend the tahini, water, and lemon juice before adding the other ingredients. That makes the hummus light and fluffy instead of thick and gunky! It’s magic.

Before we move on to the recipe, there’s something kind of important to mention about the pepper. I used pre-ground black pepper, and I’m pretty sure that the pre-grinding of this pepper happened circa 2004. Oops. I know I really shouldn’t be using old spices… but I kind of inherited Nate’s spice collection (that he inherited from an old roommate who probably inherited it from another old roommate) when we moved in together, and it just seems like a waste to throw out about $50 of Whole Foods spices. I’m “thrifty.” So I’m trying to use them up! But really, 2 tsp of 2004 ground black pepper could equate to like 1 tsp or less of 2013 pepper, especially if it’s freshly ground. So tread lightly and don’t say I didn’t warn you, OK?

Should it bother me that I was possibly in high school when that pepper was ground? Don’t answer that.

Lemon Pepper Hummus

Adapted from my Extra Creamy Hummus

Ingredients:

1/2 cup tahini
3/4 cup water
juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
zest of 1 lemon (about 5 packed tsp)
3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 15-oz cans, rinsed and drained)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
veggies or pita for dipping

Instructions:

In a food processor or blender (I used a blender this time), combine the tahini, water, and lemon juice. (You may wish to start with 1/2 cup water and add the rest later if the hummus is too thick.) Blend until tahini is light and fluffy, about 10 seconds. Add in the garlic and lemon zest and blend again until smooth.

Add chickpeas and olive oil, 1/3 at a time, blending until smooth after each addition. If hummus is too thick at any point, add more water or olive oil. Add salt, black pepper (start with 1 tsp if you like), and red pepper flakes and blend until smooth.

Serve with veggies or pita. Will keep in the fridge for several days.

Time:

5-10 minutes

Healthy Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Lemon Tahini Sauce

November 7, 2012 by Erica

I don’t want to get too political or anything… but I am one happy girl today.

OK, now back to food.

Until recently, I didn’t think I liked sweet potatoes.

I think I’d mostly seen them in a casserole dish (there’s your first mistake) covered with marshmallows and tasting as sugary as candy. That’s just not my idea of a potato, you know? If I have to pick a potato, it’s going to be white and mashed up with lots of butter and cream. With so many dishes on the table at Thanksgiving, even I can’t do them all, and my potato compartment has historically been reserved for mashed potatoes only.

But last winter my roommate introduced me to sweet potatoes without all the other sweet stuff, and I kind of liked them! And now, after making these stuffed guys, I really like them.

These taste simple and yummy and are simple to make. Saute some onions, spinach and chickpeas while the potatoes are cooking, whisk together the dressing, heap it all on top of each other, and grab your fork.

This dish is healthy and so filling! It got the Nate stamp of approval – always a good sign. Best served with some Utah beer, as pictured above!

Healthy Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Lemon Tahini Sauce

Inspired by The Kitchn and Smitten Kitchen

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 small sweet potatoes
½ red onion, diced
1 lb fresh spinach
3 cloves garlic, minced (divided)
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tsp lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup tahini
2 Tbsp olive oil
¼ cup water
½ tsp kosher salt
parsley for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

First, bake the sweet potatoes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash sweet potatoes thoroughly, pat dry, and pierce each one several times with a fork. Place on a baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

While sweet potatoes are baking, make the dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients (lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, water, kosher salt and half of garlic) in a small bowl and whisk (or blend with an immersion blender – my favorite!) until smooth.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until translucent and beginning to brown. Add in the chickpeas and the rest of the garlic and cook until the chickpeas begin to turn golden, about 3 minutes. Add the lemon zest.

Toss in the spinach in large handfuls, waiting a minute or so for each handful to wilt and make room in the pot before tossing in the next. Once all the spinach has been added and reduced a bit, stir in about half the dressing. Toss so that everything is evenly mixed and continue to cook for a minute or two until the chickpeas and spinach are heated through.

Cut a slit down the center of each sweet potato and stuff with the spinach and chickpea mixture. Serve with extra dressing on the side and parsley for sprinkling.

Enjoy!

Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Cake with Candied Lemons

November 2, 2012 by Erica

Happy Friday!

I’m so excited to share this cake today. Mostly because it’s just SO pretty. (Apparently candied lemons will do that to just about anything. Even a cake that rose slightly higher on the sides than in the middle!)

But I’m also excited to share it because it tastes good! I am typically a frosting person, but this cake is so flavorful on its own that it really doesn’t need much extra. The tart lemon, aromatic rosemary, and rich olive oil are all noticeable in the finished cake, without being overpowering. This made me so happy – I hate it when unique ingredients seem to bake off and are totally undetectable in the finished cake. The spelt flour adds nutty whole-grain flavor, too. All combined, it is both sweet and savory, and something a little outside the ordinary – in a very good way!

I’m lucky that Nate and I had a few friends to help us polish this off. (Thanks guys!) Otherwise I guarantee I would have gone to bed with a big stomach-ache.

While I didn’t intend to use an existing recipe for this cake, once I started researching, it just sort of happened that way. I guess I’m scared of developing my own recipes when baking, or even modifying existing ones, because you can only do so much taste testing as you go. At some point you have to stick it in the oven and commit to any horrible newbie vegan baking mistake that comes out on the other side. I don’t know. I’ll get there. For now, this is a lovely recipe from The Gluttonous Vegan. It may seem to have a lot of components, but it’s really very simple (mix it up and put it in the oven) and fun to make.

If I tell you to bake this cake this weekend, will you do it?

Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Cake with Candied Lemons

Adapted from The Gluttonous Vegan and Eat, Live, Run

Ingredients:

For the cake:
3 cups spelt flour (whole wheat pastry flour would also work)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
½ cup olive oil
¾ cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
¼ cup canola oil
1 tsp grated lemon zest
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
Juice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezed

For the candied lemons:
2 lemons, thinly sliced
½ cup water
½ cup granulated sugar

To top:
Sprig of rosemary

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 inch cake tin or two smaller tins.

Combine all the dry ingredients (flour through rosemary) in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Pour in the olive oil and almond milk and beat until those are incorporated. Now add the canola oil and mix again. Finally, mix in the lemon juice and zest.

Pour batter into the greased cake in. If you can, mound the batter up in the middle a bit, as the sides may rise more. (I ended up using a spring-form pan because it’s really the only cake-shaped pan I have. If you have a 9 inch cake tin, that should work, or use 2 smaller ones.)

Bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The original recipe said to bake 25-30 minutes, but mine took 42. This will vary a lot based on your oven and the tin that you use! I would say test every 5 minutes starting at 30 minutes. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before glazing.

While the cake is in the oven, candy the lemons. This part is optional, but I absolutely love the way they look (although they served purely as a garnish; we didn’t really eat them). Bring the water and sugar to boil in a large pan. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add in the lemons. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the lemons are translucent. Remove with tongs and drain on wax paper, then refrigerate until cooled.

Next up, make the glaze. Sift the powdered sugar into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk in the lemon juice one tablespoon at a time, continuing until you have a pretty runny consistency.

Last but not least, assemble your cake! Once the cake has cooled, place it on your serving platter and drizzle the glaze over. You may not use all the glaze. (In fact, I recommend using only half unless you have a major sweet tooth.) Finally, garnish with candied lemons and a sprig of rosemary!

So pretty. Enjoy!

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