Soba Noodle Salad

Soba Noodles are thin grayish noodles that are made from buckwheat.
Ok. Cool, but what the heck is buckwheat... exactly?

No, no, not the kid named "Buckwheat" from "The Little Rascals" from waaay back in the day.
Buckwheat is a plant, strangely NOT in the wheat family tho!   You would think it was in the
wheat family right!?  Nev-er assume! It's actually closer and in the same family as rhubarb and sorrels- which kind of look like spinach more than a grain. Buckwheat is more of a green plant rather than a grain and therefore it isn't used in cereals like the way almost every other grain is.
The noodles are made from the dark seeds. The flowers of the plant look like this.

Japanese buckwheat is always wrapped in bundles like it is in the picture below.

Soba noodle salad can be made as an entree or a side salad.

Ingredients:
Soba Noodles 
     (2 bundles is a good amount for 3 people for an entree 
     or a side salad for maybe 4-5 people)
Grapes (maybe 1/4 cup or 2 or 3 branches of the whole bunch)
Salad tomatoes (10-15 tomatoes) 
2-3 leafs of Romaine lettuce

Ingredients for sauce:  
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 TBSP of Rice or Balsamic Vinegar
Sesame oil -(drizzle - about 1/2 TBSP)
1-2 TBSP of Agave or any sweetener (grate in an apple)
1 TBSP of hot pepper paste (more for desired level of spiciness)
Sesame Seeds (roasted is best and you want a heavy sprinkle)

The best step to start with is probably boiling some water to cook the noodles.

It's usually best and easiest to make the sauce first in most recipes.
Measure and make the sauce/dressing and set it aside so that it is ready to pour or mix in.
If you haven't put the noodles in the hot water- now is a great time to do so. 

I started by cutting the grapes and tomatoes.

Here is a neat, double duty trick. You want to slice your tomatoes and grapes in half.
Now, you can take a pairing knife and cut each one individually or.... kind of recycle your
take-out food container lids.  You will need 2.  Simply lay one down and place your tomatoes
on it and then top it with the 2nd lid. While slightly pressing down to hold the tomato- lid
sandwich,  take a large knife and slice away!

Ta-Da!  You cut them all half in a matter of seconds.

Now, do the same with the grapes!  Make your grape lid sandwich and then slice away!

By the way... you can use any type of grapes... grapes that are seedless will work best of course!

Take 2-3 stems of romaine lettuce and cut them into long slivers almost like the way cabbage

looks for coleslaw. Combine the noodles, tomatoes, lettuce and grapes into a large bowl.

Add in your already made sauce/dressing  little by little as you use tongs or your hand with
one of those handy plastic throw away gloves.

Hard boiled eggs are another option to adding to the Soba Noodle Salad.
This noodle salad is good to have as an entree or a small side salad with a good steak.

Fast Maryland Crab Cakes

When I think of crabs, I think of the shore and summer.
Even though it isn't summer just yet-
I wanted to make some crab cakes at home.

This is a pretty quick and easy way to make them at home.

Ingredients:
1 egg
2.5 TBSP of mayonnaise
1.5 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 stalk of celery diced up finely
2 TBSP finely chopped parsley (maybe 6-8 stems)
1 pound- (ish) of crab meat
1.5 cup of Panko bread crumbs
drizzle of oil (any oil is fine)

I mixed all these ingredients in a bowl, stirred them, formed them into
little patties and fried them.   You could also lay them on a pan and bake them
on 400 until each side gets brown.
I recommend frying them in a pan on the stove though!

A squeeze of lemon makes seafood even better including these crab cakes!

Linguine Nests

Wow, can we say normal-food  food rut? Sometimes I wonder...
why can't I just eat food normally like everyone else.
Why do I always want to try to make it from scratch or in a different way?

I guess it keeps it interesting and fun?!!! or I'm very weird!

So keeping up with my cultivate and change it up rut theme-
I decided to make Chicken Parmesan the other night and decided to make
linguine nests. I made the pasta noodles (linguine) literally shaped into bird's nests!

This is great because it uses your muffin/cupcake pans as double duty which is
always a bonus when you can use an item or appliance for multiple things.

So simply boil some pasta and strain it.

 I also took one egg and beat the sucker up, I mean the egg.

I filled the muffin tins with linguine and then brushed the beaten egg on top with a brush. You want the
egg to be on and in there to help the pasta form/bake better but at the same time you don't want the egg to cook separately on top of the noodles so make sure the egg is brushed on rather than a little puddle on top.

 Like this picture... you can't even see the egg but the whole egg is mixed in there
with the linguine nests.

After it was in the oven on broil for about 10 minutes, I took the pan out and added
a little bit of shredded mozzarella and the heat of the nests melted the cheese right away
while sitting on the counter.

It definitely helped my pasta norm-rut. They really did look like little nests.
I added a little marinara sauce and it was a good Italian food night!

I think next time I will add some roasted garlic pieces in between the pasta
when it goes into the muffin tin.

Crescent rolls are SO last year.

Whether it's Pillsbury or a generic brand, we've all seen, had, made, eaten, loved the crescent rolls.
I got tired and bored of the crescent shaped roll just like the plain ole edamames.

I had a "seven years" moment a few weeks ago while making apple pie with my momma.
I added star shaped pieces to cover the apple pie rather than using a pie top/crust.

With that same idea I have since evolved the crescent roll into that same buttery tasting rolls
but into a larger loaf but bite size at the same time. Kind of ironic, I know, larger loaf but bite size?

Let me show you!
Take the can of crescent dough and open it. (Opening THAT CAN will be the hardest part of these rolls)

You'll notice that they are cut into triangles ready to roll into crescents. Ignore the pre-cut lines and
just roll them into quick little balls. I've found that each triangle gives 3 perfect size little balls.

The next part is the BE CREATIVE and cultivating part. Simply make it your own by adding
whatever you like. I usually make it with a sprinkle of garlic powder and drop a handful of
shredded Parmesan cheese. This time around,  I had a ridiculous amount of chives in
the refrigerator so I decided to add a little chopped up chives into the little balls.
You literally add the rolled balls into an oven safe dish and throw your
seasonings/cheese/herbs/whatever on top.
Bake it in the oven for about 15 or so minutes on about 350.

About 15 or so minutes later.... TA-DA!  Warm, browned little balls into one larger roll/loaf.
These are so people friendly and share-able as you can very easily pull each little ball piece off.
It's almost impossible to have any left-over.

You can get even more creative by cutting them out with little cookie cutters. 

reativity can be endless along with things to put in it... 

shredded Gouda, pepper jack, craisins, herbs, roasted garlic pieces,

slivered nuts, cooked, diced apples.... 

Roasted Green Babies...

I wanted to eat some edamame but was kind of bored with the usual flash steam then snack on it,
so I decided to try roasting it with some craisins. It came out pretty well and was a nice side dish.

I took a heaping handful of already peeled edamame and after rinsing it, I laid all the little
green babies on a paper towel to dry them up a little bit.
(I call these babies because they are literally babies, baby soy beans)

I then added a little olive oil on a oven safe tray and tossed in some craisins
along with some sea salt and black pepper.

I put the oven on broil and roasted the vibrant green babies until they started to get
toasted with a little brown, toasted coating.

They had a slight crunch and they were good with the taste of the salt and slightly
chewy craisins in the mix.

Fresh Chocolate Pudding

I adapted this recipe from Michelle for home made chocolate pudding and decided to try it out.
I titled it fresh chocolate pudding because I think this is as fresh as chocolate pudding can get
without literally crushing your own peanuts etc...

 Ingredients:
1 avocado
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 honey
2 TBSP cocoa powder 
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
sprinkle of salt

Simply take all the ingredients, put them into a large bowl and use a hand held blender
or a regular blender if you don't own a hand held one.

I grated in one apple and lessened the sugar a little which was very natural tasting in general.
This home made chocolate pudding was pretty good and very easy to whip up.

Basil Greenhouse = FRESHER & LONGER

Nothing is better than adding fresh herbs when you are cooking food or making a drink.
It adds a more vibrant and flavorful kick to your food along with looking fresher
and prettier.... blah blah blah, we already know this right?

I've often had the problem with some herbs not lasting as long as I'd like.
As I was catching up on my dvr- I came across an episode of Rachael Ray and
the tip was to make a little green house of your herbs especially basil.

I bought this basil and normally after about 2 days if I'm lucky- they would wilt in the refrigerator.
The tip was to trim the bottom stem, like you would to fresh cut flowers and then place them in a mug/cup
or vase and then simply place a zip lock bag over it from the top keeping the bag unzipped.

You can see how it creates a greenhouse like space for the basil. You can just keep this on your kitchen counter or table and it will last waaaay longer.  The picture on the bottom is after a week!
I can now make margherita pizza and make a caprese salad with the SAME bundle of basil in
a 10-14 day period without having to toss the dried and wilted leaves. So far I've only tried this with
Basil, Parsley and Cilantro.

 This is the basil with the bag removed....now, is that fresh basil or what?
(and don't be clever and say what.)