Warm Cauliflower and Herbed Barley Salad

• 1/2 cup pearled barley
• Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 15-ounce can gigante, corona, or butter beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, divided
• 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, divided 

Place barley in a large saucepan; add water to cover by 2 inches. Season with salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, 25-30 minutes. Drain; run under cold water. Set aside. 

 

Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and 5 tabespoons oil in a medium bowl until emulsified. Season dressing with salt and pepper; set aside.

 

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cauliflower; cook, turning occasionally, until browned in spots, 10-12 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water, cover, and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. 

 

Transfer cauliflower to a large bowl; add beans, 1/4 cup parsley, 1 tablespoon tarragon, reserved barley, and half of reserved dressing. Toss to coat; season with salt and pepper. 

 

Divide salad among bowls; drizzle remaining dressing over. Garnish with lemon zest, 1/4 cup parsley, and 1 tablespoon tarragon. 

 

Serves 4; 420 calories. 

 

VERDICT:  I'm on the fence about this one.  There is no end to the dishes it uses, but it's not hard to execute.  The flavors are not strong, but are interesting--I almost never use tarragon, so it's kind of novel.  Keep for a while. 

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

• 1 cup roasted red bell peppers
• 2 tablespoons toasted almonds
• 1 ounce whole-grain bread
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan 
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Place bell peppers, almonds, bread, garlic clove, olive oil, vinegar, grated ­Parmesan, water, and paprika in a food processor; process until smooth.

Serves 4 (1/4 c.); 122 calories.

VERDICT:  Good flavor (smoked paprika is always good!), but a little too runny to be a serviceable dip.  Toss.

Creamy Spinach and Feta Dip

• 6 ounces nonfat Greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese 
• 2 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream 
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach 
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 

Place yogurt, feta cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and crushed garlic clove in a food processor; process until smooth. Spoon yogurt mixture into a medium bowl; stir in spinach, fresh dill, and black pepper. Cover and chill.

Serves 8 (1/4 c.); 75.

VERDICT:  I made this for there to be a healthy-ish thing at the Oscars.  It's not bad at all and a possible substitute for Marzetti's.  Keep.

Poached Egg with Rice and Edamame

• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 sliced clove garlic
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 cups chopped kale
• 1/2 cup thawed frozen edamame beans
• Coarse salt
• 3/4 cup cooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup shredded red cabbage
• 1 large egg

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add kale and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add edamame and cook until heated through. Season with salt. Transfer to a bowl with rice and top with cabbage.
 

In a small pot, bring 2 inches water to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Crack egg into a teacup and gently slide into water. Cook until white is just set but yolk is still loose, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and serve over rice and vegetables. Season with salt and red pepper flakes. 

 

Serves 1.

 

VERDICT:  So disappointing.  The colors are so vibrant--greens and purple and bright yellow from the yolk--but it didn't taste exciting.  All the ingredients just tasted like themselves and didn't add up to anything more interesting.  Toss.

Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew

• 2 Tbsp coconut or extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 diced large onion
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 minced cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 peeled and diced sweet potatoes
• 1 diced (stemmed, seeded) red bell pepper
• 1 1/2 cups rinsed red lentils
• 6 cups Cleansing Broth
• Chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook cumin, turmeric and curry powder until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion with a few pinches salt, and cook, stirring, until tender, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until tender, about 2 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and bell pepper and cook 1 minute.

Add lentils and Cleansing Broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Top with cilantro before serving.

 

Serves 4.

 

VERDICT:  Good, and with easy-to-come-by ingredients.  I used water instead of creepy-sounding "Cleansing Broth."  Keep.

 

Red Wine Pear Crisp with Spiced Streusel

Streusel:

• 2.25 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/2 cup) 
• 1/2 cup regular oats
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted 

Filling:

• 2/3 cup cabernet sauvignon or other dry red wine 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 4 peeled Bosc pears, cored and thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 pounds) 
• Cooking spray 

Remaining ingredients:

• 3/4 cup frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare streusel, weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, regular oats, brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, and salt in a medium bowl. Add butter, stirring with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

To prepare filling, combine wine and granulated sugar in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium. Add lemon rind, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, and sliced pears to pan, stirring to coat; simmer for 15 minutes or until the pears are tender.

Spoon pear mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle streusel evenly over pear mixture. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve with whipped topping. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, if desired.

Serves 6; 311 calories.

VERDICT:  We made this to use up some Bosc pears before they went bad.  It fortuitously also used up some not-so-good leftover red wine.  Surprisingly, it was pretty great.   Note: much better warm.

Coconut Eggnog

• 2 cans (14 ounces each) light coconut milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 8 ounces spiced rum
• Ice
• 1/3 cup toasted, large unsweetened coconut flakes, for garnish

Bring coconut milk to a simmer in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth and pale.

Gradually whisk half the hot coconut milk into the egg mixture, then pour into pot with remaining coconut milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until thick and mixture nearly coats the back of a wooden spoon, 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in rum, and refrigerate at least 3 hours and up to overnight. Pour into a pitcher, and serve over ice, garnished with coconut flakes.

 

Serves 6.

 

We just had about half a can of coconut milk leftover from a curry, so I made a quarter-batch of these.  We were sorry we didn't have more--so good!  Keep.

Almond Date Breakfast Bar

1 cup chopped dried pitted dates
1 1/4 quick rolled oats
3 Tbsp barley or whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp freshly grated orange zest
1/4 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8-by-8-by-2-inch pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing the paper to go up the opposing sides. Do the same in the opposite direction. This parchment “sling” makes it easy to remove the bars from the pan in one piece.

Stir together the dates, oats, flour, wheat germ, almonds, salt, and cinnamon in the bottom of a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond butter, olive oil, honey, orange zest, and almond extract until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry mixture, and stir them together until the dry ingredients are evenly coated. Spread the batter in the prepared pan, pressing the mixture firmly onto the bottom, edges, and corners to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan.

Bake the bars for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are brown around the edges – don’t be afraid to get a little color on the tops too. They’ll still seem soft and almost under baked when you press into the center of the pan, but do not worry – they’ll set once completely cool.

Cool the bars in their pan placed on a cooling rack or in the fridge.  (Alternatively, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment "sling" to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way.  This can speed the process up.)

Once they’re cool, use a serrated knife to cut the bars into squares. If bars seem crumbly, chill them further in the fridge for 30 minutes, which will fully set the “glue,” then cut them cold.

To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic, or stack them in an airtight container--even if they seem firm to begin with, they'll soften overnight in a container.  They also freeze well.

Makes 16.

VERDICT:  I admit I made some substitutions that probably didn't help (I didn't have sliced almonds, but I did have whole almonds, so I chopped 'em up and threw them in), but these were super crumbly, making the bar format kind of pointless.  Toss.