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.

Mailbox Monday: New Books for the New Year

It's been a long time since I participated in Mailbox Monday!  It's not that I haven't been getting books in the mail, or elsewhere, it's just that it can be rather time consuming to track where my books came from, and to add all of the book, author, and blog links.  (I'm sure many of you can relate.) Anyway, I cast aside my laziness in this regard, because I do want to post more often this year.  ;)

Here are the new books I've gotten recently.  I won some of them on other blogs.

I won Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers by Sally Allen and Book Life: A Book Lover's Journal by William Mc Kay from Vicki's blog, I'd Rather Be At The Beach and iRead Book Tours.

I won the Brenda Jackson mini notebook and cowboy bookmark from Renee's blog, Black 'n Gold Girl's Book Spot.

Paradise Drive by Rebecca Foust is from Poetic Book Tours for an upcoming tour date, as mentioned in my previous post.

The I Heart Trader Joe's Vegetarian Cookbook by Kris Holchek Peters was a Christmas gift from my husband.  I didn't see it under the tree on Christmas morning, and so my sweet hubby presented it to me several days later (it was nice to get a "late" Christmas gift).  I really do love Trader Joe's and know that I'll enjoy trying some of these recipes.  I hope to participate in some food-related reading challenges this year, like the one created several years ago by Margot from Joyfully Retired, Foodies Read, which will be hosted in 2016 by The Spirit Blog.  I'm a bit of a foodie. Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows this--I take a lot of pictures of food!

Thursday, 1:17 PM, is a (uniquely titled) new book by Michael Landweber that I received in the mail from Catherine from Coffeetown Press.  This book will be available to the public in May of 2016.

So there you have it, my most recent "Mailbox" books!  Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia from To Be Continued, and is now hosted on its own blog with the help of Vicki, Leslie, and Serena.  What did you find in your mailbox recently?  Have a terrific Monday, and thanks for reading!