Couscous Volcanoes

This is really just a variation of (family favorite) stuffed acorn squash with rice, but with an Italian twist. The creamy couscous complemented the smooth texture of the squash, while the pesto highlighted its nutty undertones of flavor. 

If you have the time to bake the squash, this is a fast meal to prepare, and it got a big thumbs-up from all diners, even the one who “doesn’t like vegetables.”

Couscous Volcanoes

Makes 4 large servings

2 acorn squash, cut in half, seeded, and baked until soft. (place squash upside down on baking sheet with lip; cook for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees, or until soft.)

Filling

Olive or vegetable oil for cooking

1 medium red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (stewed with garlic and bell peppers style, if available)

1 small can tomato sauce

About ¼ cup basil pesto (made with basil, olive oil, pine nuts and parmesan)

About 1/2 cup meat-substitute crumbles, defrosted in microwave

1 cup (dry) plain couscous (prepared according to package directions)

Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Leave oven on, or preheat to 350 degrees. In large skillet, sauté the bell pepper, onion, and garlic until vegetables are beginning to soften. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, pesto and crumbles. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

While vegetables and sauce are simmering, cook couscous according to package directions and put aside.

When sauce flavors have mixed, turn off heat. Put aside about 1/2 cup of the sauce. Add couscous and about ½ cup grated fresh parmesan to the remaining sauce. Stir to mix thoroughly. Use an ice cream scoop to heap filling in squash shells in “volcano” style. Drizzle each volcano with a bit of sauce “lava.” Shave some fresh parmesan on top of that.

Place in oven until cheese melts, about 5-10 minutes. Garnish with fresh thyme or oregano.

Tomatoes 5 and 6: Panini with Cheese, Garden Tomato, and Pesto; Black Bean salad

The tomato vines in the Tiny Garden are yellowing and looking fallish, although I still have one or two stragglers ripening on the counter.  Still - 80 degree October weather or not - it's time to finish off the Summer 2011 Tomatoes posts with this Saturday lunch we all loved a few weeks ago.

Panini with cheese, garden tomato and basil, pesto, and 3 cheeses

I'm not saying this was a healthy choice, but mmmm. Seriously, these are the panini you eat in your dreams. If you have very good dreams.

To use the ripe, juicy tomatoes without making the sandwiches soggy I sliced them thin and let them sit between pieces of paper towel while I prepared everything else. One slice of bread got a layer of pesto mayonnaise (just fresh basil pesto mixed with a little Hellman’s). Then a layer of cheese (muenster), a few slices of (jarred) roasted red pepper, a thin layer of a more piquant cheese (irish swiss - it was on sale), the tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, and one more layer of cheese (provolone until I ran out, and then mozzarella). 

I don’t have a sandwich press, so I improvised. Make sure either the top of the sandwich or the bottom of the upper pan has been oiled.

Black Bean Salad with Fresh Tomatoes

1 can rinsed black beans

Corn from 2 leftover ears of corn on the cob

Sweet onion, about ½ medium

1 large or 2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced

¼ to ½ red bell pepper, chopped

Cilantro – about 2 Tblsp, or to taste [why is there no cilantro showing in this photo? Beats me]

Dressing

About 1/3 cup sweet vinegar (or use wine vinegar and sweeten with some sugar, or both)

About ¼ cup oil

Juice of one lime

Salt and pepper

Alternatively, use more lime juice, oil, and sugar and leave out the vinegar.

The kids don't like the salad although they like all of its component parts. More for us adults - keeps great in a fridge for a quick healthy lunch (and doesn't wilt in a lunchbox, either.)

Tell me that's not meaty (Tofu Kebabs)

Tofu. It's so fast, so delicious - and yet, there is something elusive about cooking with it. I think the most common question people ask when they find out we cook vegetarian meals is, What do you do with tofu?  

I didn't fully get the tofu possibilities until a neighbor grilled marinated tofu for us a few years ago. Wow! And (cue choir) the kids loved it too! But it still took some practice to figure out how to get our tofu to not crumble into cottage cheese-like pieces and slide onto the barbecue grates. 

The secret: Give the tofu time to drain, and time to marinate.

Extra-firm firmness varies. Trader Joe's brand holds together well. Some people suggest freezing first, then thawing, to help get the water out. I think the frozen texture can be a little spongy, but for grilling I don't notice a difference when I made some of both in the same batch.

We like Asian-flavored marinade, but any marinade for chicken or fish should work. We usually serve grilled tofu without any additional sauce except soy sauce at home, but this peanut sauce is great, too. We brought it to our "food on a stick" themed dinner with neighbors a couple of weeks ago and it was a hit.

Drain and Marinate the Tofu

Open and drain 2 1-lb tubs of extra-firm tofu. (portion note: 1 lb is just enough for my family of 4 if we have a couple of sides, but with 2 lbs we will have leftovers. The picture below shows how much 2 lbs makes.) 

For kebabs, the cubes need to be pretty large, so slice each hunk of tofu once the long way (to make two rectangles). For grilling "steaks" slice the hunks twice the long way to make three rectangles the same size as the original hunk, but thinner.

Put a couple of layers of paper towels down on a cookie sheet with a rim on all sides. Put the slices of tofu on the paper towel, then a couple of more paper towels, then either another cookie sheet or a cutting board - something flat - on top of that. Weight the top of that with something heavy (a cookbook, some cans from the pantry, your laptop.) Leave tofu for at least an hour. If you're going to make kebabs, start soaking bamboo skewers now.

Discard the paper towels, drain the cookie sheet, and pat the tofu slices dry. If making kebabs, I like to cut and skewer before marinating. Keep the cubes pretty large - there's no muscle to hold these things on the sticks, so be gentle. Lay the skewered tofu back on the cookie sheet (or something with a rim) and pour marinade on generously. Allow to marinate at least an hour, more is better. If you have the opportunity, gingerly turn the skewers a couple of times while marinating.

Everyday Marinade

1/4 cup soy sauce (or tamari sauce)

1/4 cup sesame oil (half sesame, half canola is fine)

1/4 cup rice wine (or dry sherry)

optional: a few grates of fresh ginger root

Grill

Tofu doesn't need to be cooked the way meat does, so you want a medium-high heat to sear the outside and make nice brown grill lines. If you have a gas grill, preheat for about 15 minutes at 425 or 450 degrees.

Brush some oil on the grates. Have both tongs and spatula ready. Don't overhandle the skewers - let one side get nice and brown before turning.

Peanut Sauce

This peanut sauce was adapted by Tom from a Food Network recipe. Our version is milder for the kids.

Peanut Sauce with Coconut

3/4 cup canned coconut milk

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp. mild yellow curry powder

1 tblsp. brown sugar

1 Tblsp. lime juice

1 tsp. canola oil

1 tblsp. soy sauce

Dash of sweet paprika (or cayenne if your diners are up for it.)

Use an immersion blender to mix all ingredients until creamy. Warm in microwave or warming oven and serve as a dipping sauce or pour over tofu kebabs.

Enjoy!

Tomatoes 4: skewers of garden grape tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella balls

Not a recipe, more like a paint-by-number. Grape tomatoes and fresh basil picked by the kids in the garden. Fresh mozzarella balls. "Fancy" toothpicks. Salt and pepper. If you really want to live it up, a drizzle of white balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Why yes, the boys did help themselves before I got here with the camera!

Tomatoes 3: Grilled pizza

So, I had heard of grilled pizza. But like deep-fried turkey, it sounded like a food hack for someone more adventurous. I am so happy to have been proven wrong - it is faster and easier than oven-baked, and even more delicious. 

Friend and fellow school parent Teresa S. suggested grilled pizza in a Facebook thread when I was looking for ideas to use the extra fresh tomatoes ripening on the kitchen counter – and she was kind enough to type the entire recipe in comments.

Teresa’s tomato-garlic-basil topping is – mmm – better even than it sounds. Divine! Hurry up and get some of the last tomatoes at the farmer’s market this month and try this.

With her permission, here is the recipe, transcribed from a chain of FB comments. I just added a few notes and photos.

Teresa S’s Grilled Pizza with Garden-Fresh Tomatoes

·         ‎5-6 garden-fresh tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into ½” dice [I missed the part about seeding – it was delish anyway, although a bit moist]

·         ½ C grated Mozzarella cheese [use real mozzarella and grate yourself]

·         ¼ C grated fresh Parmesan cheese

·         Kalamata olives

·         Fresh garlic cloves

·         Fresh basic cut into ribbons

Toss tomatoes and table salt in medium bowl; transfer to colander and drain 30 minutes (wipe out and reserve bowl).

 Shake colander to drain off excess liquid; transfer tomatoes to now-empty bowl. Add a clove or two of freshly-pressed garlic (to taste) to tomatoes, along with about a teaspoon of olive oil and ribbons of thinly-sliced basil. Gently toss, then set aside. 

Combine cheeses in second medium bowl and set aside. Cut olives crosswise and place in a third bowl and set aside. (I know this seems like a lot of bowls, but pizza cooks pretty quickly on the grill, and you want everything right at your fingertips so you can add it quickly.)

Turn gas grill on high to get it nice and hot (about 15 minutes), then back it down to medium. It takes a little longer to cook the pizzas, but honestly, they go so fast when the heat's on high it's overwhelming. 

Cook directly on grill. [Jen’s note: Yes, I gave into the temptation to try on a grill pan. Don’t make my mistake. Directly on grill is what you want.]

Slide the crust directly onto the grill and close the lid and cook for 2-3 minutes, until top is bubbly and bottoms have grill marks. Pull them off the grill for minute so you can add the toppings - it gets too dang hot to try and top while they're on the grill. 

Once they're topped, but them back on the grill until the cheese bubbles, usually about 3-5 minutes, but watch to make sure the bottom crust doesn't burn. A cookie sheet (one that has a lip on 2 sides only) and grill tongs work pretty well to slide the pizzas on and off the grill.

 

More notes from Jen: 

We made 4 small pizzas, which allowed us to figure out the temperature settings that seemed best for our grill. I think it was somewhere in the 400/425 degree ballpark, but I also think this is one of those things that will vary by grill and improve with practice. Even our most overdone pizzas were delicious, though.

Puppy watching intently, wondering, where's my pizza?

Two of the pizzas were made with store-bought fresh dough (Super Tony’s, for local friends, although Trader Joe’s also sells fresh dough.) For the other batch I made dough in our bread maker. I thought my homemade dough was worlds better, but no one else in the family had a preference. 

Pizza Dough for bread machine 

(adapted from Sunset Italian Cookbook)

Proof 1 package of dry yeast in 1 cup of warm water, allowing to sit for 5 minutes until bubbly. Put in bread machine. Add ½ tsp. salt and 2 tsp. olive oil. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour. Mix to blend. Add another ¾ cups flour. Set machine for “dough” setting and allow machine to do the work for you. When done, roll dough for pizzas.

Tomatoes 2: Garam Masala with Tomatoes and Tofu

My neighbor, The Extraordinary Gardener, always suggests the best Indian recipes. When I wondered aloud, how am I going to use all these tomatoes for dinner this week?, she mentioned that she had just made a recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, Chicken with Tomatoes and Garam Masala.

The seasonings below are taken exactly from the cookbook's chicken recipe but, except for the tomatoes, I changed up all of the other ingredients, substituting garbanzo beans and tofu for the chicken and adding zucchini. (steps are mine - I got lazy while hand-copying the recipe)

Interesting thing about Indian seasonings - you can change just a couple of the spices and end up with an entirely different flavor. We use garam masala a lot, but the blend of spices in this recipe gave a whole new dimension and richness. The cardamom pods and cinnamon are wonderfully aromatic while this is cooking.

Garam Masala with Tomatoes and Tofu

5 Tblsp. vegetable oil

3/4 tsp. whole cumin seeds

1 inch stick cinnamon

6 whole cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp. whole peppercorns (can sub ground pepper if you hate chewing on the peppercorns like I do)

6-7 cloves garlic, minced

6 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped 

To peel the tomatoes, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in whole tomatoes and let sit in the water for about 45-60 seconds. Peels will come off easily under running cool water.

1 package extra-firm tofu

1 (16 oz) can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed

1 medium zucchini, diced

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. cayenne

1/2 tsp. garam masala blend

Heat oil in dutch oven or other largish pan, medium heat. Add spices (cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, and peppercorns). Allow to warm/pop for 1-2 minutes until your kitchen smells like an Indian restaurant.

Meanwhile, in another pan, or on the grill, cook the tofu. I drained, tossed with some garam masala powder, salt and pepper, and cooked on the stovetop just until some of the moisture was gone and flavors mixed. Put aside.

Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute. Add the garbanzo beans and zucchini, cover and cook for about 5-7 minutes, until zucchini starts to change color and look cooked. Add the tomatoes and the cooked tofu. Cover and allow to cook another few minutes. Add the remaining seasonings, stir, and allow to cook another 1-2 minutes. Whole spices should be removed before serving.  

Serve with rice. (serves 4)

Tomorrow, we're trying Theresa's grilled pizza! Wish me luck.

Tomatoes 1: Grannie Annie's Tomato Toast

'Tis the season when even we gardeners of  Tiny Gardens have counters overflowing with tomato-y bounty.

 

In the next couple of posts, how we're using our fresh tomatoes. I just harvested another 8 ripe beauties, so please share your favorite recipes in comments! I'm getting desperate here.

 Grannie Annie's Tomato Toast

Tom's mom sometimes makes this when we visit and it's now a family favorite at our house. It's a great breakfast or lunch snack that an older kid can make on their own. James (11) will ask for it, and even Milo will eat a serving.

1. Slice ripe garden tomatoes and arrange on a cooking sheet (if broiling or using a toaster oven) or microwaveable plate.
2. Sprinkle lightly with your choice grated cheese. 

3. Broil or microwave until cheese is melty and tomatoes warm (about 2 minutes on high in our microwave)
4. Scoop onto toasted whole wheat bread.