Tahini Broccolini

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.  I shop at Trader Joe's so often that I'm almost embarrassed by the frequency.  Shopping at Trader Joe's enhances my mood.  The food is high-quality and healthy, and the prices are very reasonable.  While they don't carry everything, they do have a a lot of great stuff, and much of it's organic--yay!  Additionally, the people who work at Trader Joe's are helpful and friendly, the island-themed decor is appealing, the background music is fun (gotta sing along), and the food samples are tasty (at the very least, I have a tiny cup of coffee, which fuels my after-work shopping).  I could go on and on.

Like the author of the The I Heart Trader Joe's Vegetarian Cookbook, Kris Holchek Peters, I think that Trader Joe's is the best.  I recently made a trip to Trader Joe's (luckily, we live very close to one!) to pick up a couple of things I needed to try out the Tahini Broccolini recipe from the cookbook. (I received this cookbook as a Christmas present from my sweet hubby, as mentioned in my last post.)  I needed the two most important ingredients in the recipe, broccolini and tahini sauce.

Of course, I bought more than just those two items (it's impossible to resist the tempting goodies at TJ's, many of which are now staples in our home), and I made an exciting discovery--organic coconut milk!  I will use this the next time I make curry.  But for now, here is the recipe for Tahini Broccolini.

TAHINI BROCCOLINI

Grilled in the panini press

Ingredients:
2 (8-ounce) packages of Trader Joe's Broccolini, ends slightly trimmed

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 (8-ounce) container Trader Joe's Tahini Sauce

Serves 3 - 4

 
Directions:
I've "rewritten" the directions for this simple recipe just a bit.  The basic idea is to season the broccolini with the olive oil, salt, and pepper, then to roast or grill it for about 8 - 10 minutes, until the stalks are tender (but still crisp), and to serve it with the tahini sauce.  I used 1 (8-ounce package) of Trader Joe's Organic Broccolini and about half of the 8-ounce container of Trader Joe's Tahini Sauce, as this was a side dish for two, me and my husband.  I was intrigued by the idea in the cookbook, to grill the broccolini in a panini press.  I'd never thought of doing that before.  I grill sandwiches in the panini grill, but that's about it.  Our panini press is on the small side, so I grilled the broccolini in two batches, using a medium heat.

After grilling the broccolini, I put it in a warm oven (about 250º) for a few minutes, to heat up the cold tahini sauce, and to keep the vegetables warm; then I sprinkled it with some oregano (because I can't leave well enough alone).  It really is delicious! 

This particular recipe is vegan and gluten-free.  The I Heart Trader Joe's Vegetarian Cookbook features 150 recipes, and includes a vegan version of every recipe.  I may try several other recipes from this cookbook.  The Tuscan Tomato Soup, African Peanut Stew, and Thai Lentil Simmer sound especially tempting. 

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I'm linking this post to Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads, and Foodies Read 2016, hosted by The Spirit Blog.

Thanks for reading!  Are you also a Trader Joe's fan(atic)?  Your comments are welcomed.

Weekend Cooking: Quick and Easy Blueberry Muffins

Do newly wed women still receive Betty Crocker cookbooks when they get married? It may sound a bit passé in this day and age, but when I was first married, someone gave me Betty Crocker's Cookbook. And I must admit that over the years, I've referred to it to learn the basics of cooking. Recently I consulted this cookbook to find a recipe for blueberry muffins, because we had guests and I wanted to bake something fresh for them in the morning. The day before, I had brought home a large package of big, organic blueberries from Trader Joe's.  I believe in getting whatever fruit is in season, and use organic produce as much as possible; we're lucky here as San Diego County has the greatest number of organic farms nationwide.

The recipe is easy to follow and the muffins take very little time to mix together, and about twenty minutes to bake. There is something so enticing about warm muffins made from scratch for breakfast, or at any time of the day. Here is the recipe:


BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or drained canned blueberries, or 3/4 cup frozen blueberries, thawed and well drained

Preheat oven to 400º. Grease bottoms only of 12 medium muffin cups, or line with baking cups. Beat milk, oil, and egg together. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, all at once, just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter among muffin cups. Sprinkle muffin tops with a bit of sugar, if desired. Bake until light golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Immediately remove from pan. Makes 1 dozen muffins.

I like the fact that these muffins are not overly sweet, even though I sprinkled a bit of sugar on the muffin tops before baking them. They are very good--and very hard to resist. The cookbook also offers variations of this recipe, such as apple or oatmeal raisin, if you want to try baking muffins of a different flavor.



I've seen Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads numerous times on Bermudaonion's Weblog, and am happy to participate in this meme for the first time. In Beth's words: Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.