Greens and Fruit Salad

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

4 cups lightly packed lettuce or spinach

6 ounces plums/apricots/pears/apples, sliced

1/4 cup almonds or maple walnuts (1 1/2 ounces), coarsely chopped

2 ounces feta, crumbled

Whisk together oil and vinegar in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add greens, strawberries, almonds, and feta. Gently toss until salad is evenly coated with dressing.

Pickled Eggs

2 C white vinegar

1 t salt

1 med onion, chopped

2 T sugar

2 t mixed pickling spices

hard-boiled eggs

beet juice (optional)

Boil above together for 5 minutes.

Cool and pour into a wide-mouthed jar.

Add as many peeled, hard-boiled eggs as will be well-covered by liquid.

Let stand at least overnight.

Add beet juice if color is desired.

Refrigerated, will keep for weeks.

Puerco Pibil

5 T. annatto seeds
2 t. cumin seeds
1 T. whole black pepper
8 whole allspice berries
1 t. cloves
2 habanero peppers
2 T. salt
8 cloves garlic
1/2 c. orange juice
1/2 c. white vinegar
5 lemons, juiced
2 shots fine tequila
5 lbs. pork butt
banana leaves

Instructions:
Grind the dried spices (annatto, cumin, black pepper, allspice, and cloves), thoroughly (I'd use a blade-style coffee grinder, though not one that I ever intend to use for coffee again)
Mince the habenero peppers, after removing the seeds

Combine the orange juice, vinegar, lemon juice, tequila, dried spices, minced habenero, salt, and garlic in a blender and liquify.

Cut pork into 2 inch squares, place in a large ziplock bag, and fill with the marinade

Let the pork marinate for at least twenty minutes (overnight is fine, too)

Line a 9" x 12" pan with banana leaves, pour pork & marinade in, cover with more banana leaves, cover tightly with foil
cook at 325 degrees F. for four hours

Serve over white or Spanish rice.

Director Robert Rodriguez's Puerco Pibil recipe from his Ten Minute Cooking School on the Once Upon a Time in Mexico DVD.

Banana Bran Muffins

2 C cake flour
1 1/2 C bran
1 1/2 t baking soda
2 t baking spice
1/3 C ginger bits (dried & candied)
1/3 C shredded coconut
12 T room temperature butter or 3/4 C olive oil
2/3 C sugar
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
4 medium size bananas (to make 2 1/2 to 3 C puree)

Preheat oven to 400° F.
Combine flour, bran, baking soda, baking spice, ginger bits, and coconut in a bowl.
Combine butter/olive oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and banana puree in a separate bowl.
Pour banana mixture into the first bowl and combine.
Spoon the batter into muffin pans (use muffin cups or grease the pans first)
Bake 15 to 20 minutes.

Makes approximately 20 to 24 muffins.

Chicken en Papillote

3 carrots
3 spring onions
5 hot sweet piquante peppers
1/3 C parsley
2 chicken breasts, approximately 6 - 8 oz each
salt
pepper
zatar
2 T dry white wine
2 papillote bags (or use parchment paper, cut to right size)

• Preheat oven to 450° F.
• Slice carrots lengthwise, then slice lengthwise again, then cut them into 3/4" chunks.
• Trim spring onions' greens so the onions will fit into the bag, then slice onions lengthwise.
• Slice/chop piquante peppers.
• Chop parsley.
• Place chicken breasts on a plate and pat dry with paper towels.
• Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken, to taste.
• Sprinkle zatar on both sides of chicken, to taste.
• Divide chicken, carrots, spring onions, piquante peppers, and parsley between the two papillote bags.
• Use a teaspoon to sprinkle the white wine over the contents of the bags
• Crimp the opening of the bags to seal them.
• Put the bags flat on a baking sheet and place in the oven
• Cook 15 - 20 minutes until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165° F.
• Place each bag on a plate, cut open the top of the bag, and serve. 

Basic Fruit Muffins

1/2 C quinoa
2/3 C water
3/4 C purple barley flour
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C coconut
1/2 C ginger bits

1/2 C cacao nibs
2 t. baking powder
2 t. ginger

2 t. cinnamon
1/2 C sugar
3/4 C olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 C milk
2 t vanilla

4 bananas (or 1 can butternut squash or pumpkin or sweet potato)
3 stalks rhubarb (or 12 oz. raspberries/blueberries or chopped apples or...)

optional: cranberries, orange zest, orange juice

Combine quinoa and water in a small pot.
Bring to a fast simmer over high heat, then cover with a lid and turn heat to low.
Cook for 17 minutes (or until water is gone), then set aside with lid on.

Combine  flours, coconut, ginger bits, cacao nibs, baking powder, and spices in large mixing bowl.
Whisk together sugar and olive oil in another bowl.
Whisk eggs into sugar mixture.
Whisk milk and vanilla into sugar mixture.

Puree bananas (or open can) and add to sugar mixture
Fold sugar mixture into flour bowl.
Fold fruit into flour/sugar mixture.
Fold quinoa into flour/sugar/fruit mixture.
Fill muffin cups (approx 18).
Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Triple-Ginger Muffins

3/4 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C pastry flour
3/4 C bran
1 t ground ginger
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1/2 t ground cardamom
6 T minced crystallized ginger
1/2 C olive oil
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 T grated fresh ginger
1/2 C buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 F
Combine first 8 ingredients in medium/large bowl.
Combine olive oil and sugars in another bowl, then mix in eggs, then ginger and buttermilk.
Stir latter ingredients into first bowl.
Transfer into muffin cups in muffin tin(s).
Bake approximately 20 minutes.