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Recently, after resolving to be more adventurous in my grain consumption, I picked up some wheat berries from Whole Foods. I had never cooked them before and only knew that they are unprocessed wheat kernels that are ground into flour. I was pleasantly surprised by their nutty taste and texture and found them easy to prepare. Even though it's winter, I made a colorful salad to be served at room temperature and it brightened up my day!
For this recipe you will most likely want to use the high-protein variety, known as hard wheat berries (as opposed to the "soft" low-protein wheat berries).
Colorful Wheat Berry Salad
Recipe adapted from epicurious.com
Ingredients:
1 cup wheat berries
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 green onions, minced
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
sunflower seeds, toasted (optional)
Directions:
Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add wheat berries, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Drain.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add red onion; sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 4 tablespoons oil, then vinegar; whisk to blend.
Toss wheat berries, green onions, carrots, bell pepper, parsley, and sunflower seeds in large bowl. Pour dressing over; toss to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)
Sure, both are guilty pleasures, but I used to think the link between food and fashion was tenuous at best. Then came this dress:
And this dessert-- proof that designers can make just about anything way too expensive:
And of course, I'm not-so-patiently waiting for the next season of Project Runway and its obligatory food challenge!
Blog: Genesis of a Cook
This eighteen-year-old baker and cook from the UK comes up with fun new recipes to satisfy her family's tummies. Inspired by her own cinnamon cravings and constrained by her family's taste buds, these cinnamon sugar muffins are a guaranteed quick treat!
Note: Click on the photo to see Tarah's original post.
Blog: spicy icecream
This nineteen-year-old Australian graphic designer creates family-inspired dishes with a Down Under flair. After almost a year of tweaking from its original recipe in Fresh Magazine, this moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is simply tantalizing.
Note: Click on the photo to see Lisa's original post.
There is an article in the Boston Globe today about how Au Bon Pain is launching a "Portions" line of smaller dishes. Each one will have fewer than 200 calories, but will cost between $3 and $3.50. I'm hoping our blog readers will respond to this. What do you think the aim of this new project is? Is it just a straight-up money-making scheme, or do you think ABP is really trying to go French and offer smaller portion sizes?
It's an interesting way to go about business. Do you think the new line will be successful or popular at Penn? Maybe I'm reading too far into this, but the idea intrigued me.
Here's a delicious recipe for what is quite possibly the easiest dessert you can call a cake.
Monkey Cake
Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks of butter (at room temperature)
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 tsp of cinnamon
4 8-oz packages of buttermilk biscuits
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate and cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Mix the sugar and the cinnamon in a plastic bag, and stick the biscuit pieces in the bag and shake 'em up. Take out half of the biscuit pieces and put them in a bundt pan. Melt the butter and 1 cup of sugar and pour 2/3 of this over the biscuits in the pan. Put the rest of the biscuit pieces on top and cover with the remaining butter-sugar mix. Bake for 35-40 minutes our until golden brown. Enjoy!
“Can I please get a large Mama’s?”
“White or wheat?”
“Wheat please.”
“Why wheat? White tastes better and is healthier."
“Haha, okay.”
“You want hot sauce?”
“A little bit.”
“Have you been here before?”
“Yeah, a lot.”
“Do you live here?”
“I go to school here.”
“Where?”
“I go to Penn.”
“Ooh, so you’re smart.”
“I try.”
This is the kind of friendly (and if you’re a girl, flirtatious) service you can expect from the cute Israeli boys behind the counter at Mama’s Vegetarian, the infamous Kosher falafel joint on 20th, between Market and Chestnut. Falafel from Mama’s is something of a Sunday afternoon tradition for me.
The falafel are always hot out of the deep fryer and the necessary condiments are constantly being refilled from buckets of freshly chopped cucumbers and tomatoes. The guys who make your sandwich are not only good-looking with exotic accents, but they assemble your meal like only a professional falafelist could. The slice, spread, dollop, scoop, 3 falafel, scoop, 2 falafel, squeeze of tahini...it's a process that makes you feel like you're watching a well-oiled machine. The only delay can be when you have to wait for more falafel to come out of the fryer, which in the end is even better because they are hot and greasy and even more delicious.
Expect to see all sorts of unexpected clientele at Mama’s on your average Sunday afternoon. You have the older Orthodox Jewish couple, the young Israelis, the Orthodox college students, maybe an Asian or Indian kid, and many others of ambiguous descent. Basically, everyone goes to Mama’s. And you’d be silly not to – where else can you get a hearty and delicious meal, entertaining service included, for only $5? That doesn’t include the wide selection of Israeli beverages in the cooler or the numerous side dishes.
If you’re there during peak hours, be prepared to wait--after all, Mama’s is no secret. And they aren't open on Saturdays because of Shabbat--this is probably the main drawback of it being a Kosher restaurant. Mama's is cash only, but there is a Wawa with a no-surcharge ATM at 20th and Chestnut.
If you haven’t been to Mama’s, I recommend going. It's my favorite restaurant in this entire city, although I probably haven’t been to enough to seriously judge. It's at least my favorite lunch spot. And if for some reason you find yourself down on South Street, or if you want meat, there is Mama’s Grill between 6th and 7th.
Moral of the story: eat at Mama’s!
