So I finally got around to making plantain gnocchi again, but was so tired that I didn’t even make a sauce to go with them and just ended up topping them with some fresh tomatoes. They were still delicious though, mainly because they were stuffed with chunks of cheddar cheese! I actually overstuffed them (but really, can you ever have too much cheese?) and they ended up looking more like dumplings than gnocchi. So we had to call them koldunai, which is the Lithuanian word for dumplings.

The only trick with these little guys is that the amount of flour you’ll need to get the dough to the right consistency may vary. The first time I made them I used smaller plantains and needed less flour. But if you’ve made gnocchi before, you shouldn’t have any trouble, and they’re worth the extra effort!

Plantain Gnocchi/Koldunai Stuffed with Cheddar Cheese
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 black-brown plantains, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 8-ounce block of sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small chunks
3 chopped tomatoes or several cups of your favorite salsa

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Boil the plantains for 10 minutes or until tender. Remove from the pan and mash thoroughly in a medium bowl.

After letting mashed plantains cool to room temperature for about 15 minutes, mix in the egg. Mix in salt and flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms (you may need to add a little more flour, depending on the size of your plantains, when I had 1 3/4 cups of mashed plantains I needed 2 1/2 cups of flour). The dough should not be too sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface; use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large square and then cut the square into 2×2-inch squares. Place a chunk of cheese into the middle of each square of dough and seal the cheese inside the dough. Makes about 40 gnocchi.

Bring large pot of water to boil. Working in batches, boil gnocchi until they are tender and float to the top, about 3 to 5 minutes. Mix gnocchi with fresh tomatoes or your favorite salsa. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 435 calories, 4.2g fat, 3.4g fiber, 16.8g protein per serving
Cost: $1.09 per serving

Apolinaras kept popping his head in the kitchen last night while I was prepping dinner because he was so excited we were having salmon. Apparently he thought a little cheering from the sidelines would hurry things along because he kept doing little dances to amuse me. But his plan backfired because I couldn’t stop giggling, which just slowed things down! I didn’t have time to cook this weekend, so I was multitasking and things took a bit longer than usual to come together. I first made a baked pasta dish to enjoy for lunches this week and then went back and chopped a bunch of fresh summer veggies to make a sauce for the salmon. It was close to 11pm before the salmon made it on the table, but it was well worth the wait. I know Apolinaras was a huge fan because I got a text after he ate the leftovers today letting me know again how much he enjoyed it!

Cumin is a spice I frequently reach for since it’s so tasty and versatile. I rubbed the filets with a mixture of cumin, salt, and chili powder and then topped it with a sauce starring fresh corn and red peppers.  We had a bit of the sauce left over and have been enjoying it on chicken breasts!

Cumin Rubbed Salmon with a Fresh Corn and Red Pepper Sauce
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
Kernels from 2 fresh ears of corn
2 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of half a lime
11/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon hot chili powder
4 salmon filets (ours were 7 ounces each)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and sauté red onion, jalapeno pepper, and red pepper for 5 to 7 minutes. Add corn and sauté 2 to 3 minutes or until all veggies are soft. Add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Place veggies, lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor and pulse until a smooth sauce forms.

Meanwhile, mix remaining 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, and chili powder in a small dish. Sprinkle spice rub evenly over salmon filets and lightly rub it into the filets. Heat remaining tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet and sear the salmon filets on both sides. Bake salmon for 10 to 12 minutes at 350˚F or until cooked through. Spoon sauce over the salmon. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 413 calories, 20.1g fat, 3.1g fiber, 41.8g protein per serving
Cost: $3.00 per serving

Our apartment balcony is filled with foliage. My plant tending days ended after the demise of Petey, a plant my good friend Britt and I attempted to care for in college, so I’m lucky that Apolinaras has a green thumb! He’s already dreaming of the day we have a real yard, but for now is happy tending his mini-vegetable garden. He has six different herbs growing that I frequently use, along with jalapeno and banana peppers and cherry tomatoes. He also planted an avocado pit that has sprouted, so we’ll see how that goes. Anyway, our cherry tomatoes are finally beginning to ripen and we’ve just been popping them straight into our mouths off the tree every day. But this weekend our little plant was particularly bountiful and he managed to harvest a whole handful of cherry tomatoes! When he brought them in on Saturday and proudly announced that we had enough to use in a recipe, I immediately knew I wanted to make a pasta dish packed with summer veggies.

This pasta is mixed with fresh zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and chicken, but my favorite part is the rich and creamy sauce, which I made by blending roasted eggplant, red onion, garlic, herbs, and ricotta together. This is one of those dishes that is even better the next day!

I also wanted to share the other foodie project I worked on this weekend. I went crazy with different icing colors and decorated sugar cookies for a surprise baby shower for my labmate Sima. Big thanks to Michelle and Julie for posting such easy to follow decorating directions! This was my first time working with royal icing and I was pretty proud about how cute the cookies turned out!

Summer Veggie Pasta with an Eggplant and Ricotta Sauce
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 eggplant, cut into small chunks (mine was a little over a pound)
1 red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 zucchinis, cut into small chunks
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta in a colander, return it to the pot, and keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet and sauté eggplant for 5 minutes. Add red onion and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until veggies are soft, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Place eggplant mixture, ricotta cheese, vinegar, salt, oregano, and basil in a food processor. Pulse until a smooth sauce forms.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same skillet over medium heat and sauté zuchinni for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove zucchini and add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add chicken and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked and no longer pink in the center.

Mix pasta, sauce, chicken, zucchini, and tomatoes until the sauce evenly coats all ingredients. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 449 calories, 11.5g fat, 10.7g fiber, 34.4g protein per serving
Cost: $1.43 per serving