Edamame & Cauliflower Pasta Salad

Last night's dinner came from one of my favorite sources of inspiration - thekitchn.com. This is an amazing website which is full of delicious seasonal recipes - both local and exotic, great tips and how-to guides, and useful kitchen planning and gadget ideas. I signed up to their mailing list a couple of years ago and it would take me another couple of years just to get through all the recipes I have printed off and not gotten around to so far!!

I was very happy that I got round to this little number! I dont really eat salads as I find them quite boring and usually find myself starving again an hour later, and pasta salads usually conjure up an image of soggy overcooked pasta drowning in mayonnaise. *shudder* However, with the California summer upon us, I thought it was worth exploring some salad-esque options.

I am a huge fan of edamame, and they are such an awesome source of protein so I am always looking for new and yummy ways to use them. I also love cauliflower but find it can be a rather dull vegetable so I was (quite tragically) rather excited to have an excuse to try something new. 

The recipe on the website was for a party size portion, serving 8 to 10 people, so I decided to half it as I was just looking to get dinner and a few lunches out of it. Personally, I would probably half it again as it still made a gargantuan bowl full of salad - after feeding me and my friend last night and sending him home with another couple of portions, i am still left with about 3 lunch size portions!!!

Anyways, here is the recipe for the quantity I made:

Edamame & Cauliflower Pasta Salad

• 1/2lb pasta - I used Camapanelle as it is pretty, but whatever you have in the cupboard will do
• 8oz shelled frozen edamame
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped into bite size florets
• 40ml olive oil (1/6th of a cup, or 2tbsp + 2tsp)
• 1/2tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2tbsp soy sauce
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, stems removed, leaves roughly chopped
• 1 bunch green onions (spring onions) green parts only, finely sliced
• 4oz feta cheese, crumbled

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook pasta according to instructions until al dente. Drain and put in a large bowl, then add the frozen edamame and toss to combine. The heat from the pasta will defrost the edamame, and the edamame will cool the pasta so both will be perfect when you are ready for them - genius!!
2. Refill the pot with salted water and bring back to the boil. Add the cauliflower and cook until just tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and let cool.
3. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce and maple syrup in a jug, then pour over the pasta and edamame and toss to coat.
4. Add the mint, green onions, feta and drained cauliflower and toss well.
5. Taste, and add salt and pepper as required

You can serve this warm, at room temperature or chilled - I have tried it at all three stages and it was delicious each time. According to the recipe, it will keep well in the fridge for a week or more.

I'll admit, I was a little dubious about some of the ingredients on paper - when I think of soy sauce I think of something really salty, and maple syrup as overly sweet - but when they were combined they all complemented each other perfectly, and made a very fresh summery pasta salad, with just the right amount of bite coming from the feta. 

I will definitely be making this for my next party or pot luck offering!

Lentil & Mushroom Bolognese

This is a staple that I have been making for a few years, and as far as I am concerned is every bit as satisfying as the meaty version. It is hearty, healthy, budget friendly and really easy to make - all things I look for in my everyday cooking. So here's how it goes

• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 fat cloves of garlic, minced
• 8 oz mushrooms (I use button or portabella), chopped to desired size
• 1 cup lentils, well rinsed
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 3tbsp tomato paste
• 2 Knorr stock cubes
• 2 cups water
• 1 glass red wine
• 1tsp dried basil
• 1tsp dried marjoram
• 1tsp dried oregano

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat and saute onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for a minute more. Add mushrooms and saute for a couple of minutes more.
2. Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, lentils, water and wine and bring to the boil. Throw in the herbs and the stock cubes, then season to taste. After 5 minutes or so give it a little taste and see if the seasoning needs any adjustment.
3. Reduce heat to very low, cover and leave to simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. At this point it would be ready to eat, but I like to leave it off the heat for about another hour so that the lentils soak up any additional water and become more tender.
4. Serve over pasta and topped with as much parmesan cheese as your diet allows :-)

I would usually try and use all fresh herbs when making this as it does taste so much better, but this was a spur of the moment dish rather than planned and it still tastes amazing with dried herbs. I did have a small bunch of fresh basil in the fridge though so I threw that in and reduced the dried basil to 1/2 tsp. 

I would also recommend doing a taste test about half an hour into the cooking to see if it requires any more seasoning, and possibly a wee pinch of sugar although that was not required today.

This batch makes about 6 hearty portions and keeps well in the fridge for 3 or 4 days, although I bagged up 4 portions and put them in the freezer to save for a lazy hungry day.

Enjoy!! x

Sangria Sundays!!

After a couple of margaritas on Saturday night my friend Heather and I decided that it was a genius idea to start Sangria Sundays. Brilliant, don't you think?!?! 

Ive had a few sangria recipes that I have been waiting for an excuse to try and Heather quite rightly pointed out that Sunday was as good as excuse as any!

So allow me to present the first in what I hope will be a regular segment for The Puuurple Kitchen.

My first foray into the wonderful world of sangria comes from the Better Homes and Gardens website, and was a rather delicious sparkling sangria. 

Sparkling Golden Sangria

• 3 cups white grape juice, chilled
• 1/2 cup Cointreau
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 medium nectarine, chopped
• 1 orange, quartered and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup sweet cherries, pitted and halved, or canned mandarin sections, drained
• 3/4 cup raspberries
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1 bottle prosecco, or other sparkling white wine

1. In a large pitcher or punch bowl combine grape juice, Cointreau, sugar and honey. Stir until sugar has dissolved
2. Add the fruit and herbs and stir. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 24 hours, stirring occasionally
3. Just before serving, add the prosecco
4. Drink!!

This was a very tasty and refreshing drink to enjoy on a warm evening, although it was a little sweet for my taste (which probably means it would be crazy sweet for a lot of people!) I couldn't find cherries so I used the mandarin which may have made it a bit sweeter so I would definitely like to try it with cherries next time. I think I will also play around a little with the amount of sugar and honey next time.

To accompany the sangria, I also knocked up a little guacamole - another first for me as my friend Katy makes such good guacamole I would always make something else to bring to the table.

A quick search took me to the Food Network website and this recipe sounded good to me.

Guacamole

• 3 Haas avocados, halved seeded and peeled
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced (the recipe only called for 1/2 a jalapeno but I was feeling brave!)
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (I used about 3 tablespoons as I LOVE cilantro)
• 1 clove garlic, minced

1. Place the avocado and lime juice in a large bowl and toss to coat. Drain and reserve the juice
2. Mash the salt, cumin and cayenne into the avocado
3. Fold in onions, jalapeno, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic
4. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice
5. Cover and leave to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before serving

The recipe actually makes about twice this much, but I forgot
to take a photo at the start - whoops!

Again, this was a successful first attempt at making guacamole, but again there are a couple of changes that I would make for next time. The onion made it a little too sweet so I think I would either reduce the amount or use red onion instead. I would also increase the seasoning as it could have had a little more character. Maybe try an extra 1/4 teaspoon of cumin and cayenne and see how that goes?

All in all, they were the perfect accompaniments as Heather and Kelly joined me to watch the Monaco Grand Prix last night and I look forward to making both of them again, as well as bringing you the next installment of Sangria Sundays!

UPDATE 06/24/13

I got to make the guacamole again for a World Cup party last weekend and made it with 3/4 tsp each of the salt, cumin and cayenne, and I reduced the jalapeno to 1/2 a pepper. This time it had a much punchier taste and still just the right amount of kick, and is definitely how I will be making it in future!