Peanut Butter & Coconut Cookies

 

*Recipe intended for babies*

 

Ingredients

· One 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

· 1 banana, peeled and sliced

· 1/2 cup peanut butter

· 1/4 cup desiccated coconut, plus more to decorate

· 2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted

· 2 tbsp. milk of your choice

 

Steps

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2) Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Spoon the mixture onto the parchment paper (you need about 1 1/2 tablespoons per cookie, to make 24). Use a fork to flatten and shape each cookie (they don’t spread when cooking so try to get them to the shape you want now). Sprinkle a little more desiccated coconut on top.

3) Bake for about 30 minutes until the cookies are crisp and golden on top.

4) The cookies are best (and crunchiest when they are first cooked. They become softer as you leave them. They’ll keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container.

 

From: Veggie from the Start: Easy Vegan and Vegetarian Foods for Babies and Up

By: Rachel Boyett

 

Pork Chuleta

 

Ingredients

· 1 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

· 1/2 teaspoon coriander seed, toasted and ground

· 1/4 teaspoon ground canela (or pinch of ground cinnamon)

· 2 teaspoons kosher salt

· 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

· 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

· 8 (5 1/2-inch) soft yellow corn tortillas (page 13), for serving

· Garnish: Avocado slices dressed with a squeeze of fresh lime juice

 

Steps

1) In a large bowl, place the pork slices and sprinkle with the coriander, canela, salt, and pepper, being sure to coat the pork evenly. In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the pork slices and sear on both sides until the meat is barely cooked through, about 6 minutes. Dice the pork into bite-sized pieces and serve immediately.

2) To serve, lay the tortillas side by side, open face and overlapping on a platter. Divide the filling equally between the tortillas and top with avocado and salsa. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco: lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some filling, top with avocado and salsa, fold, and eat right away.

 

From: Tacos: 75 Authentic and Inspired Recipes

By: Mark Miller

 

National Salad Month

Cobb, Caesar, macaroni, fruit – the list goes on; whatever kind of salad you prefer, make sure you enjoy some this May for National Salad Month. If you like to start your meal with a quick salad, BPL has just the thing for you! Not only do we have hundreds of cookbooks with yummy salad recipes, but we have books specifically dedicated to them. We recommend the titles:

• Salad as a Meal: Healthy Main-Dish Salads for Every Season, by Patricia Wells

• 500 Salads: The Only Salad Compendium You'll Ever Need, by Susannah Blake

• Super Salads: More Than 250 Fresh Recipes From Classic to Contemporary

There’s something for everyone and there’s all five types of salads to choose from: green, bound, dinner, fruit, and dessert. If you’re looking to try something new for National Salad Month, all the titles above can be found in our in-house collection under the call number “641.” For our patrons that utilize our digital resources, Hoopla and Libby have a more vast collection to choose from. Some of our favorites include: 

• Food52 Mighty Salads: 60 New Ways to Turn Salad into Dinner

• Salad Freak: Recipes to Feed a Healthy Obsession, by Jess Damuck and Martha Stewart

• The Complete Salad Cookbook: A Fresh Guide to 200+ Vibrant Dishes Using Greens, Vegetables, Grains, Proteins, and More, by America's Test Kitchen

Let us know some of your favorites and how you choose to spice up your salads!

Basic Vinaigrette Dressing

 

Ingredients

· 1/2 Tbsp. finely minced shallot or scallion

· 1/2 Tbsp. Dijon-type mustard

· 1/4 Tsp. salt

· 1/2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

· 1/2 Tbsp. wine vinegar

· 1/3 to 1/2 cup excellent olive oil, or other fine, fresh oil

· Freshly ground pepper

 

Steps

1) This is a bare-bones recipe for the simple all-purpose vinaigrette, which you will vary as you wish. Its beauty lies solely in the quality of your ingredients. Note that you will so often see proportions of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil, but that can make a very acid, very vinegary vinaigrette. I use the proportions of a very dry martini, since you can always add more vinegar or lemon but you can't take it out.

From: Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and recipes from a lifetime of cooking

By: Julia Child

 

Posole

 

Ingredients

· 1/2 medium red onion, cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices

· 1/2 pound tomatillos (about 5 medium tomatillos), husks removed

· 2 large poblano chiles

· 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

· 1/4 cup canola oil

· 2 teaspoons kosher salt

· 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

· 1 tablespoon chili powder

· 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), cut into 1/2-inch cubes

· 6 cups chicken broth

· 2 (28-ounce) cans white hominy, drained and rinsed

· 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and minced1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

· 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

· 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

· 1 medium ripe avocado, diced

· 1/4 cup sliced radishes

 

Steps

1) Preheat the broiler with the oven rack 5 inches from the heat. Separate the onion slices into rings. Toss together with the tomatillos, poblanos, black pepper, 1 tablespoon of the oil, and 1 teaspoon of the salt on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil, turning occasionally, until blistered and charred in spots, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool completely, about 20 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, stir together the flour, chili powder, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the pork, and toss to coat.

3) Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large Dutch oven over medium- high. Add the pork, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Add 5 cups of the chicken broth and 11/2 cans of the hominy; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes.

4) Meanwhile, peel and seed the poblanos. Process the poblanos, tomatillos, onion rings, jalapeño, oregano, 3/4 cup of the cilantro, remaining 1 cup chicken broth, and 1/2 can hominy in a blender until smooth. Add the mixture to the pork mixture in the Dutch oven; cook 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the lime juice. Garnish the servings evenly with the avocado, radishes, and remaining 1/4 cup cilantro.

 

From: Valerie’s Home Cooking: More than 100 Delicious Recipes to Share with Friends and Family

By: Valerie Bertinelli