Moroccan Meatballs with a Curry and Tomato Rice.

I LOVE Sunday dinners!! I often try to put a little more love and effort into meals shared on a Sunday evening. I think there’s no better way to end your week (and gear up for the new week ahead) than with a happy and full belly. This weekend, I  made some Moroccan meatballs in a tomato and curry rice. It was super easy and made from fresh ingredients I had at home, vs. using store-bought rice and curry mixes that contain unknown (and unhealthy) ingredients. Check it out!

Total: 1 hour

Active: 25 min

Yield: 4 servings

Level: Easy

INGREDIENTS

• White or Jasmin Rice (uncooked)
• Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers
• Meatballs (homemade or store-bought)
• Olive Oil
• Garlic (fresh, crushed, or powder)
• Curry Powder
• Turmeric
• Dried Basil
• Coriander
• Cumin
• Saffron
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• Red Wine
• Cream or Half and Half
• 1 Box Chicken Broth
• Feta Cheese

Step one – cut up fresh tomatoes – any kind. I used a mixture. Cut up 2 bell peppers (I used 1 red and 1 chocolate beauty.) Add to pan with garlic powder and olive oil. Cover and cook on medium for 5 minutes.

Step Two – Remove tomato and bell peppers mixture from heat and transfer to mixing bowl. Add a bit more olive oil. Using an immersion blender to puree the mixture. If you do not have an immersion blender, this can also be done in a food processor. Return mixture to pan and stew by covering and cooking on medium heat for another 10 minutes.

Step Three – Add 2 cups uncooked rice to pan. Add 1 full box of chicken broth – I used low sodium so the rice would not be too salty. Then add your spices! I used: curry powder, dried basil, cumin, coriander, turmeric, 1 bay leaf, and 1 cinnamon stick.

Step Four – Stir well. Then cover and cook on low for 15 minutes.

Step Five – After 15 minutes, add some of your favorite red wine.

Step Six – Stir well and cover again, cooking for another 10 minutes.

At this point you want to taste test the rice. If it is softened and ready to eat you can move on to step seven. If not, continue to cook, covered, on low heat – adding minimal water as needed to soften the rice.

Step Seven – add your meatballs, saffron, and a little bit of cream – I used half and half. Mix well.

If meatballs are not warm when you add them, cover and cook mixture on medium for 5-10 minutes until meatballs are warm throughout. Be sure to stir so the rice does not stick and burn.

Step Eight – Serve with feta cheese!

BUON APPETITO!

-Susannah

SOCIAL MEDIA – instagram @sdgastronaut

Crostini: Garlic Ricotta with Fresh Blackberries and Agave.

Hey Y’all,

Quick post here about an easy recipe you can make for almost any event. You can serve up a few before dinner, make an entire tray for a party, or fill a plate and eat them for dinner! Crostini are my go-to side dish during summer because they are light and often call for fresh vegetables or fruits. In San Diego, summer brings a variety of tomatoes and tons of stone fruit!

Crostini are an Italian appetizer consisting of small slices of grilled or toasted bread and toppings. The most famous of which is of course, bruschetta.

In fact, it wasn’t until I lived in Italy did I learn that bruschetta is part of a larger crostini family. I just always assumed we had toasted bread with toppings, and the Italians, the amazing Italians, had BRUSCHETTA!

There is literally no end to the crostini combinations you can make, but, here’s a pretty good list to get you started. CLICK ME.

OKAY, let’s get started.

Crostini: Garlic Ricotta with Fresh Blackberries and Agave

Total: 30 min

Active: 15 min

Yield: 4 servings

Level: Easy

INGREDIENTS

• 1 fresh baguette – bread of your choosing
• Olive oil
• Garlic (fresh, crushed, or powder)
• Fresh blackberries
• Whipped ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice baguette into rounds. Place on oven safe baking dish. Apply decent amount of olive oil to each slice, spreading with basting brush. Do not saturate bread. Use just enough oil to prevent the bread from drying out or hardening in oven.

(Note – if you are using fresh or crushed garlic, apply to bread at this time. You need only use a small amount.)

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove from oven. Allow to cool to the point you can touch.

Spread a generous portion of ricotta cheese onto each slice.

(Note – if you using garlic powder, apply a small amount to each slice, on top of the cheese.)

Add fruit. Drizzle with agave.

Serve with chilled white wine.

Enjoy!

SUSANNAH

Follow my cooking Instagram for step by step directions – @sdgastronaut   

Shrimp Egg Bakes!

Hello Gastronauts,

As promised, our CSA has started back up! Week 1 of Spring CSA is here:

100% organic kale, beets, radishes, green onions, lemons, cilantro and assorted salad mixture.

I excitedly jumped right into cooking this stuff up! So here are the recipes for garlic kale and shrimp egg bake, and (for the non-kale lovers) radish and shrimp egg bake.

—

KALE – if you’re like me you totally understand the nutritional value of kale but you struggle to find enough new recipes to keep you excited about eating it week after week. Hopefully, you will try out this breakfast or brunch idea and find a new way to eat kale in your home!

INGREDIENTS – kale (4 leaves including stems), 1 green onion (leaves and bulb), crushed garlic (1 tablespoon), olive oil, shrimp (pre-cooked, medium sized), 2 eggs (preferably farm fresh), milk, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, and your favorite cheese (shredded.)

STEP ONE – cook the kale

Chop the kale into semi-bite sized pieces (I say semi because the kale will cook down and become smaller.) Place in pan with garlic, olive oil, and chopped green onion. Cook on medium heat until mildly wilted. Do not burn or let it become crispy.

STEP TWO -Transfer to mixing bowl and add shrimp. Add salt and pepper to mixture as desired.

(Ignore my Snap Chat captions LOL)

STEP THREE – grease ramekin or baking dish. You won’t need a very big one, this is going to make a personal pan pizza size serving 🙂

Add contents to the ramekin.

In separate bowl beat 2 eggs. Add milk. Then pour the eggs/milk combo into the ramekin.

STEP FOUR – top with breadcrumbs and shredded cheese (I used fontina.)

 

( I will get to the minis shortly!)

STEP FIVE – Cook at 375 Fahrenheit (°F) for 25 minutes (uncovered.) Then broil for 5 minutes to make the cheese and breadcrumbs extra crispy.

STEP SIX – top with cilantro and serve warm.

—

Okay what to do if you have someone in your house who is not a fan of kale? Substitute radishes for kale! (If they don’t like radishes, maybe just no vegetables at all.)

Pictured are mini ramekins with shrimp (cooked), sliced radishes, and chopped green onion. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Follow the same cooking instructions as above.

Garnish with cilantro and a few more radishes.

And that’s it! Enjoy!!

• Susannah 🙂

Instagram – @sdgastronaut