Measuring spaghetti

I have a hard time knowing how much spaguetti to cook. Which is of course, one little excuse for wishlisting this

(via: reykjavikcornerstore.com on Pinterest)

Spray it, don't squeeze it!

I will steal kottke's words on this: "When life gives you lemons, turn them into spray bottles"!!

Such a cool attachment for lemons! I wonder how well it works. If it works, it would be good to train someone  into the Mexican practice of putting lemon juice into almost anything edible :-).


(via kottke)

Punchfork

Just when I think that I should post more things other than kottke-curated, he comes up today with this link: Punchfork. It's a website that gathers recipes from popular cooking websites like Serious Eats, Epicurious, and 101 Cookbooks (which I follow, of course, but never read or cook any of their recipes :P). I like the layout and the feel of the webpage.... I hope it motivates me to restart my cooking.

Summer Salads: Wheat Berry Salad with Lemon-Cumin Grilled Chicken

I have read so many summer salads I want to try. I discovered quinoa last year, I think. Now I am up for trying all sorts of equivalents and relatives. They make the salad heartier and it is still healthy. Shouldn't add much to the cost either.

This salad below looks attractive, easy, and practical. Exactly what I need! Now I just have to hope I will remember to buy the ingredients next time I go to the supermarket. How do you feel about this "cereal-salads"?

(via Say Yes to Hoboken!)

Summer Salads: Wheat Berry Salad with Lemon-Cumin Grilled Chicken: "

I know, I know wheat doesn't really sound like a summer salad but it's mixed with all sorts of other fresh and light ingredients, plus it's so delicious I had to share the recipe which is from Ellie Krieger and right here.

I actually used farro instead of wheat. Attention Whole Foods: How can you consider yourself a seller of 'whole' foods and not carry wheat grain? Um, it's only the staff of life (according to the bible and my mom). I only had a tiny bit of wheat grain left and I of course I have to save it for its primary purpose: Easter grass growing. Duh. I also used a berry mix from Whole Foods which included golden raisins, dried cherries and dried blueberries. Such a great mix to have on hand for morning oatmeal, chicken salad, quinoa dishes, etc.

I served it with some homemade whole wheat bread (my sweet grandmother's recipe right here). Perfection. She made this bread every other day for about 100 bazillion years. And those are even her pans above I inherited when she passed. I miss her terribly every time I use them.

The salad is so hearty you really don't need anything else with it and it keeps well (i.e. no greens!). And now I know what to do with all those bins wheat grain if I'm ever caught in some kind of natural disaster and living in my parents basement (both situations would be unfortunate to say the least). You simply boil it up like rice, friends! I just saved all of our lives right there. You're welcome.

"

Another couple of quinoa recipes...

I'm awful. Instead of cooking and then writing about these recipes, I am just posting them. Well, I guess that's how it will be most of the times :). I need to put them aside somehow and I am just checking if posting them on this blog will work. If you do try any of them, please comment :).

Quinoa, Lentil Sprout and Arugula Salad - Recipes for Health: "Use lentil or sunflower sprouts, which have a peppery flavor, in this well-textured salad."

Quinoa and Beet Pilaf - Recipes for Health: "This beautiful pink pilaf is made with roasted beets and their greens, so little is wasted."

Quinoa Pancakes - Recipes for Health

About a year ago I discovered quinoa (reading a cooking blog, of course). Not only it is versatile, I really like the texture it brings to salads and, more over, it is very healthy. With summer around the corner, I thought of looking for some new salad recipes, but instead I stumbled on a pancake recipe published in the NYT (!). Looking forward to trying it!

Quinoa Pancakes - Recipes for Health: "Quinoa can make buttermilk pancakes surprisingly thick and moist."