Mediterranean Herb Salad

With the new year upon us, resolutions are everywhere! Some of us are probably feeling ultra virtuous. But even with healthy resolutions, we must eat! And I don't know about you, but come January 1st, I'm still hungry...

Resolution or not: what's better than a delicious recipe you can feel good about eating? Health and taste! Winner winner chicken vegetarian dinner.

Ingredients for 4-6 servings:

1 medium eggplant

2 tomatoes 

1 cucumber 

1 bunch scallions

1 lemon, juiced

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 bunch mint

1 bunch parsley

1 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Salt + pepper to taste 

Avocado (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice eggplant into rounds and generously salt, place on a cutting board and let sweat about 30 minutes

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

3. Wipe excess salt and liquid from eggplant, dice into similarly sized pieces

4. Place eggplant on a large baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, bake 30-40 minutes or until browned (toss eggplant halfway through baking)

5. Halve and remove seeds from tomatoes and cucumber, dice into bite sized pieces, set aside

6. Whisk remaining tablespoon of olive oil and lemon juice until well combined

7. Julienne parsley and mint, set aside

8. Thinly slice scallions, set aside

9. Remove eggplant from oven

10. In a large bowl, mix eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, scallions, chickpeas, feta, lemon vinaigrette and fresh herbs, toss to combine and season to taste

11. Eat immediately or refrigerate, serve alone or with pita chips

what you'll need

peeled cucumber

halved tomatoes 

eggplant awaiting roasting

ingredients to be mixed

into the bowl 

closeup 

my favorite way to serve a side salad: in a ramekin 

a heartier lunch option with pita chips 

If you don't love mint and parsley, swap them any fresh herb you prefer.  Dill or cilantro would bring interesting flavors to this dish.  And for those who wish to add avocado, use it as a garnish for extra buttery flavor. 

As with most vegetable dishes, this recipe does improve with age.  Leftovers are delicious, but the acidity in the lemon will diminish the look of the vegetables.  If you are making for guests, I would suggest serving this fresh, and keeping the leftovers for yourself.  After all...waste not, want not.

What's your favorite way to eat eggplant?  Please let me know how you like this recipe if you try it at home!  Hope you enjoy...

xx,

Mrs. Wolf 

Wedding Recap: Welcome Bags!

Our welcome bags were a labor of love. Both literally and figuratively. We wanted our bags to reflect us as a couple. My hubby is from the Washington DC area, I'm from Boston. We decided what represents us better than food? I love cook and we both love to eat and we wanted a taste of our hometowns in each bag. So we compiled a grocery bag of sorts, complete with a few of our favorite items including goodies from some great companies generous enough to share their bounty with us.

Being the environmentally friendly folks we are, we opted for brown paper grocery bags, with an m&s embossed white hangtag. Personalization was a theme throughout our weekend...

We presented each guest with a brown paper package, tied up with string:

Here's what we filled our grocery bags with:

Water -- My beverage of choice for hydration, always.

Pain killers -- For those who may have imbibed a few too Howling Wolfs (more on that later...)

Nature valley granola bar -- Who doesn't love this old standby?! And these single bars are pre-portioned. Yes!

Personalized pink, gold and silver m&ms -- They read: Megan & Stewart, The Wolfs, New York City and 11.9.13, packaged in a clear cellophane bag, sealed with twine and a small sticker reading "love is sweet."

Homemade old bay seasoning sealed with an embossed m&s sticker (same embossing as the hangtag) -- we love a well seasoned crab boil with Old Bay. 14 cups of this stuff later, we'll likely never run out. Or ever have to buy the commercial stuff again.

Dunkin' Donuts coffee -- A New England staple!  I grew up with Dunks, so the small 2oz containers we included felt like a taste of home.  And is there any better hangover cure than a good cup of coffee?

NYC magnets and a NYC map -- A memento to remember their visit, plus a little help getting around the city.

Flatout bread -- Who can resist a good wrap, sandwich bread or flatbread? Not us. Plus these babies come packed with fiber and protein: two stay-full components to any good food item. Have you ever made pizzas with these flatbreads?  They.Are.So.Good.  We especially love the foldits. And, they fit veggie burgers so perfectly.  

Peanut Butter & Co peanut butter -- Peanut butter may be my favorite food of all time (I know I say that about a lot of foods...but I'm serious about it this time)  I love peanut butter.  And this particular brand is amaze-town, USA. The flavors!  I don't think I can pick just one. But...if you twisted my arm it might be Cinnamon Raisin Swirl or White Chocolate Wonderful. OMG, they are so good.  The three is us have been hanging out for ages.  We're BFF. You know who else is BFF? Peanut butter and bread. Our guests could easily compile their own sandwich in no time at all. Lucky, lucky people! 

The Chia Company chia seeds -- These chia shots were too cute. Chia seeds are packed with healthy fat, protein and fiber and when they're mixed with liquid, they form an amazing gel.  We like ours best added to smoothies, oatmeal or yogurt. Or in chia pudding. Could this be any more convenient? Pre-portioned packages of health!

Popchips - If there's one thing I really love  in this world, it's salty, carbohydrate rich snacks. And I can gladly indulge in Popchips because they are a healthy alternative to regular potato chips. At 100 calories, they add a tasty crunch to many a lunch at our house. That aforementioned veggie burger on the Flatout bread? A perfect match with Popchips. Our favorite flavor is BBQ.

Thank you so much to each of our sponsors. Our grocery bag wouldn't have been the same without you. And our guests got a healthy dose of our favorites. Head on over to their sites and give them some love. But don't take my word for it...go out and sample the different variety of products. Find your fav and let me know!

xx,

Mrs. Wolf 

Spinach and Feta Wrap

This morning for breakfast I searched our refrigerator for items to make a tasty breakfast.     I think I have to stop telling you all about how much I hate to throw away food...am I starting to sound like a crazy hoarder?  I hope not.  But, this dish came to fruition because of food in need of eating, so, I guess I actually can't stop talking about it.   YES!! The love affair continues...

Ingredients for two servings:

2 Tumaro's low-carb tortillas

2 eggs

2C spinach

1/2 an avocado

1 oz feta cheese

truffle salt

Directions:

1. Sautee spinach in a bit of olive oil (I used our Misto)

2. While spinach is cooking, spread avocado on tortillas

3. When spinach is finished cooking, set aside 

4. Using the same skillet as the spinach, cook eggs until whites are cooked but yolk is still runny (about 3 minutes)

5. While the eggs are cooking, layer spinach and feta on the tortilla

6. When eggs are finish cooking, place the egg on top of avocado, spinach and feta, season with truffle salt

7. Fold up the tortilla, cut in half and serve 

Is there anything better than a runny yolk?  With avocado? And feta? And truffle salt.   Unlikely...

Nutrition information per serving:

214 calories, 15g carbohydrates, 14g fat, 16g protein, 10g fiber

What did you have for breakfast?

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf 

Meatless Monday Garbage Bowl

After a busy weekend, with too many meals eaten out of our apartment, we had many a vegetable in need of consumption. 

This is the epitome of garbage bowl. But in the best way possible... 

Ingredients:
1 bunch broccoli rabe, rinsed and dried

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, separated into 1tbsp + 1/2tbsp (for the croutons)

1/2 head garlic 

1/4 jar sundried tomatoes, sliced

1C cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained 

1 oz ricotta salata, shaved 

Day old bread (amount of your liking)
Garlic powder (for croutons)

Smoked paprika (for croutons)

Salt + pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400, slice off the very top of the garlic so that the cloves are visible, cover with foil and place in oven for 30 minutes 

2. Using the same technique as the challah croutons, prepare the day old bread 

3. Roughly chop rabe and place in a large sauté pan with 1 tbsp olive oil, cook about 10 minutes or until wilted

4. When the garlic and croutons are finished -- the garlic should be golden brown -- remove the garlic from its peel by gently pressing each clove until it pops out, roughly chop  

5. Mix all ingredients except cheese in a large bowl, stir to combine

6. Serve in two smaller bowls and top with ricotta salata 

Ricotta salata - so salty, so good:

Details of the finished product:

You can swap any and all ingredients in for things you have on hand or things you like better.  This is perfect for Meatless Monday, but I imagine it would be good served with a simple roast chicken. 

How do you use up produce?  If you make this, I'd love to hear how you like it!

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf

Crazy for Quackers

Guys, this is serious. Like please stop everything you are doing to read this. I put down my Weight Watchers cookies and cream bar to type this. That is huge.

I discovered a new obsession today - rosemary quackers from One Lucky Duck. And they are re-donk-a-donk. Cray. Bomb.com. You get the picture...

One Lucky Duck is part of the vegan NYC hub from the owner of Pure Food And Wine.  So good!

The "quackers" are made from rosemary, almonds, flax seeds, nutritional yeast and sea salt. Organic. Raw. Vegan.  If that doesn't make your insides clap with glee, I don't know what will.

I can't wait to smother these babies with homemade blue cheese dressing, kale pesto or garlic hummus. Top with ricotta salata (random, I know but we have a huge chunk in the fridge and I can't stop with the possible pairings), Swiss cheese or fresh mozzarella. Or just eat them plain and drink some bubbles. Now that is happy hour.  The list could go on. And on. But I won't bore you by forcing you into reading the names of foods I love.

Anyway, you can order these online. Or if you're in NYC, scoot over to One Lucky Duck and get your paws on a package or two or five...oh wait, definitely not five -- save some for me.

Vegan-ly yours...

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf

How-To: Quinoa

Quinoa is one of those really easy dishes that may not even qualify as cooking.  But, I'm into labels.  So today, friends, we are cooking!

Quinoa is an interesting creature, loaded with protein and fiber and it's gluten free!  How timely for Passover... 

When making quinoa, I use a 4:1 ratio of water:quinoa -- 4C water:1C quinoa or 2C water: 1/2C quinoa for example.

However, sometimes I do an extra 1/4 or 1/2C of water (4 1/2C of water for 1C quinoa)...because I get busy when I'm cooking.  Sometimes I need to run to my studio and spray paint a random bauble (it's hygenic...I promise I scrub my hands after).   And this way, if you happen to forget that the water is boiling, and let it sit on the burner for a bit longer than you intended, you will still have plenty of water for the cooking if you added a little extra beforehand. 

And who says you can't DIY and cook and plan a wedding all at the same time?  Multitasking at its finest...

Anyway, back to the recipe!

Ingredients for 4 servings:
4 1/2C water
1C quinoa

Directions:
1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat
2. Once you have a rolling boil, add quinoa and a drop of olive oil (this helps with the fluff-age -- we are really technical here on The Domesticated Wolf)
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook about 15 minutes, or until the water has cooked off, checking after 15 to be sure the quinoa is cooked to your liking, then fluff before serving

You can overcook quinoa (the taste doesn't change, just the texture) so just watch it to make sure you aren't going to eat mush.  Unless you want to eat much...then by all means overcook it!

Raw quinoa sort of resembles couscous:

My attempt to show you "rolling boil":

Once the quinoa is in the pot, give it a good stir -- I like to use a slotted spoon...really there's no reason for this, just a habit:

Almost ready for plating:

 Fluff quinoa (as noted above) in a big white bowl:

Nutrition information per 1/2C serving:

159 calories, 28g carbohydrates, 2g fat, 5g protein, 3g fiber

I like to serve my quinoa with a vinaigrette of olive oil, garlic, red wine vinegar, lemon and salt + pepper.  But, it works perfectly as a base for many different dishes, even sweet ones.  Plus, when I make it, I make a lot of it.  Leftovers, anyone?

Have you ever tried quinoa?  How do you serve yours?  Hope you enjoy...

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf

What's In Our Cart -- Grocery Shopping

I've received a few questions recently along the lines of "what do you buy at the grocery store?"  Yesterday, you saw a few shots of my Whole Foods trip...but I didn't show you nearly enough detail! 

I made a few stops yesterday: Whole Foods and Trader Joe's -- they are very close to each other in NYC, so it's a quick stop from one to the other. 

From left to right:

All Whites egg whites
Chobani: 0% plain, 0% apple cinnamon (oh, how I love you so much!)
Trader Joe's tomato sauce
Jarred roasted red peppers
Trader Joe's high fiber penne pasta
Reduced fat Triscuits
Chocolate chip macaroons 
Skim plus milk
Whole Foods' blue cheese
Whole Foods' Parmesan cheese
1 loaf ciabatta bread 
White albacore tuna
Bag of raw walnuts (from Whole Foods bulk bins)
Bag of quinoa (from Whole Foods bulk bins)
Whole eggs 
Baby portabella mushrooms
Whole carrots
Green beans
Baby spinach
Jazz apples
Grapefruit
Red onion
Avocado
Friendship 1% cottage cheese
Morningstar Farms Asian veggie burgers
Dr. Praeger's spinach pancakes

Second shot, couldn't fit everything in!

Round two:

Peanut butter

Green apples

Skinny Cow vanilla sandwiches

Weight Watchers cookies and cream bar

Dunkin' Donuts Hazelnut coffee

Daisy low fat sour cream

Laughing Cow cinnamon cream cheese

Aria vanilla protein powder

Trader Joe's giant white beans in tomato sauce

Tumaro's multigrain tortillas

What do you often buy at the grocery store?  Do we have any of the same items in our carts?

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf