Poco-Cocoa

Today at the bed and breakfast, I made the banana-pecan biscotti that my sister posted here. The cookies turned out perfectly! They were just golden, but still crunchy, with lots of banana flavor. I doubled the recipe, since we need two cookie jars full (one for each house). I like that there’s no butter in the recipe…which means you don’t have to chill the dough before baking or risk having the dough spread into a thin layer of goop on the cookie sheet (that’s happened to me before with buttery biscotti). Anyway, I highly recommend these.

A few weeks ago, I took my mama’s banana pudding to a small get-together, and everyone loved it. It’s so easy, but so, so good.

Banana Pudding

• 2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding, prepared with skim milk according to package directions
• 1 container of Lite Cool Whip, thawed
• 1 box reduced-fat Nilla wafers
• 3 bananas, sliced

Fold the Cool Whip into the pudding until evenly mixed. In a 2 to 3-quart baking dish, lay down a layer of Nilla wafers, creating a crust that covers the bottom and a bit of the sides of the dish. Spread the pudding over the cookies, then top with a layer of banana slices. Then more pudding, more cookies, more bananas, and ending with enough pudding to cover the last layer of either cookie or banana. Top with crumbled Nilla wafers, and chill until ready to serve.

Makes enough for you and at least five of your friends.

Source: My mama.

Whoa! Sorry, I kind of flaked out there on posting for a few days. I’m back with some beets. Usually we pass our farmer’s market beets to Lindsay and Chad, since Lindsay is a beet-lover of sorts. But this week we kept them, so I made this salad (which I then fed to Lindsay anyway).

Justin doesn’t usually care for beets…but he loved this salad, and even wanted to keep this weeks’ beets, too. To me they taste like roots, like earth, and I just love their color…even when it gets all over my hands. The mix of beets and tangerines is really yummy, and the dressing is so light and flavorful.

In other news, this week at Moxie/Plume, we’re a part of SXSouth Austin, a great alternative to all the pricey SXSW venues. Cafe Caffeine, next door, will be hosting FREE live music from 1:00 p.m. through 10:00 p.m. for five days straight…some on an indoor stage, others on an outdoor stage. Check out the link above for the lineup. Our own Pam, the owner of Plume, will be singing on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. Moxie will also be hosting a silent auction to benefit NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. Any of you Austinites, come out and see us! It should be tons of fun.

Spinach Salad with Tangerines, Roasted Beets, and Feta

• 4 beets (about 1/2 pound)
• 1/2 teaspoon grated tangerine rind
• 6 cups baby spinach
• 1 cup tangerine sections (about 3 tangerines)
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta
• 1/4 cup fresh tangerine juice
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 425ËšF.

Leave root and 1 inch of stem on beets; scrub with a vegetable brush. Place beets on a baking sheet lined with foil; bake for 45 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly. Peel beets; cut each into 8 wedges.

Combine rind, spinach, tangerine sections, and feta in a large bowl. Combine tangerine juice, pepper, lemon juice, oil, salt, and mustard; stir well with a whisk. Pour over salad mixture; toss to combine. Place salad mixture on each of 4 plates; top with beets.

Makes 4 servings.

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine.

We’re still working on using up those gorgeous greens from the farmer’s market. I wonder if we’ll get as many during the summer? I’m running out of options for my non-green-loving husband. He seemed to like this dish, though, most likely because it has kale in it, which he considers the friendliest of greens.

I had planned on following a Cooking Light recipe closely, but once I got to our neighborhood grocery store, I discovered that some of the ingredients just weren’t available. So here we have yet another adapted recipe! I loved the simplicity of this dish…I’m all about beans and greens. I served this with toasted baguette, brushed with olive oil and sprinkle with cracked pepper, and sauteed daikon radish (another farmer’s market veggie).

On the crafty front, I have been making some super-cute things, but I can’t post them yet because they’re for a swap. I’ll share photos with you all in a couple of weeks, once the recipient has seen them!

White Bean and Kale Ragout

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 2 small yellow squash, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups chopped trimmed kale (about 1/2 pound)
• 1 (14-ounce) can vegetable broth
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 (16-ounce) cans cannellini beans or other white beans, with their liquid
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, squash, and garlic, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion has softened. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine.