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Two things:

-Does anyone know where I can find some hominy*?  I tried a million places on Monday after I decided to make my own pozole, and by a million I mean Trader Joe’s and that big greenmarket down the block from Trader Joe’s, and also Chris searched a few places in our hood.  Is this a Whole Foods kind of thing?  I mean, when you attempt to make pozole with black beans instead of hominy, you just end up with black bean soup.  Not what I wanted at. all. 

-If you put 1/2 cup of brown rice and about 5 cups of water over low heat for a few hours, you end up with a delicious delicious porridge known as congee.  Add cilantro, salt, pork/tempeh, mushrooms, whatever your heart desires.  Easy.  Next time I might put a runny egg in the mix.

*This is really asking for a “peas and hominy” joke but I’m going to refrain.

December 08, 2010
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Last night it was cold and rainy and gross so I made Orangette’s red lentil soup.  It was really just an excuse to use my immersion blender again, but it came out so creamy and satisfying and lentils are so darn cheap, I think this might go into heavy rotation.  Leftovers for lunch, obviously.

Last night it was cold and rainy and gross so I made Orangette’s red lentil soup.  It was really just an excuse to use my immersion blender again, but it came out so creamy and satisfying and lentils are so darn cheap, I think this might go into heavy rotation.  Leftovers for lunch, obviously.

October 15, 2010
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Things I’ve Learned Recently:

-There IS such a thing as too much pepper

-Don’t cut up butternut squash into chunks and roast them and THEN try to pull the skin off.  It will only end in tears

-You can pretty much add canned pumpkin to ANYTHING and it will taste good.  Recent dishes that have proved my theory: pumpkin mixed with polenta, and pumpkin + one egg + a box of Trader Joe’s spiced apple bread mix

-If you buy one small appliance this fall, BUY AN IMMERSION BLENDER BECAUSE IT’S THE BEST (I got mine on sale at Target for $20)

-Sometimes when you just sort of make up a recipe on the fly, it’s going to be awesome.  And sometimes…it’s not.  Next time I try to make stuffed zucchini, I’m going to refer to a recipe first

October 14, 2010
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My lovely friend Zach is having a housewarming party this evening, so I decided to make one of my favorite party snacks, goat cheese-stuffed figs wrapped in bacon (!)

The last time I made these was New Year’s Eve, which was PC (pre-Chris), so this time around I made two batches—one with bacon and one without.  I also used turkey bacon instead of regular because, you know, I’m annoying and diet-y like that. 

Anyway it’s super easy but looks fancy, which is perfect for those of us who like to impress but are inherently lazy.

Goat-Cheese Stuffed Figs, With Or Without Bacon

Ingredients:

-About 3 oz goat cheese

-1 Package turkey bacon (or regular)

-Honey

-Pint of figs (I had about 18 total—you’ll need one piece of bacon for each whole fig, so if you want to do a whole crapload of these, you’ll need more than 1 package of bacon)

First, set your oven to broil.  Cut the tops off the figs, and then slice them in half.  If they’re properly ripe, the inside will be red-brownish, and soft.  Spoon some goat cheese into each half and press it down into the inner soft part of the fig, which will sort of smush to the side to accommodate it.  Drizzle with honey.  If these are veg, you’re done—put them aside in an oven-safe pan.  If you’re going all out, take a piece of bacon and slice it in half.  Each half should just about wrap around the outside of the fig half, enough so that there is a slight overlap.  Place each half in an oven-safe pan with the overlapped bacon part facing down.  When you’ve finished stuffing and wrapping, put the pan in the oven.  They shouldn’t need much time—you just want the veg ones to heat through and melt the cheese a bit, while the bacon on the wrapped ones needs to crisp up and brown a little.  About 6 minutes for really crispy bacon.  Done!

P.S. You can use DATES too, which is also ridiculously delicious.  They need to be pitted though, which is annoying.  Plus figs are in season right now.  But yeah, later in the winter?  Definitely use dates.

September 18, 2010
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Have you ever cut up a sweet potato into bite-sized chunks, roasted it in the oven for half an hour with a little olive oil and salt, and then added it to your chipotle-spiced black bean tacos with avocado, sour cream, and Trader Joe’s salsa in corn tortillas?  No?  Well get on it, because it’s ridiculously delicious. 

Have you ever cut up a sweet potato into bite-sized chunks, roasted it in the oven for half an hour with a little olive oil and salt, and then added it to your chipotle-spiced black bean tacos with avocado, sour cream, and Trader Joe’s salsa in corn tortillas?  No?  Well get on it, because it’s ridiculously delicious. 

September 01, 2010
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It’s embarrassing, I know, but despite my Italian roots I don’t eat a lot of pasta these days.  It’s just that, as grains go, I get more bang for my buck, calorically (and often nutritionally) from polenta, quinoa, etc.  A “serving” of whole wheat pasta is 2 dry oz, which is a sad sad serving indeed. But!  If you make a really strong, thick ragu-esque topping of some kind, the whole dish instantly becomes filling and satisfying, and I can have my little 2 oz of pasta and Chris can have, like, 200 oz cause life is not fair.  ANYWAY that was the goal with this dish which, as per usual, was mostly improvised. Ingredients: -Whole wheat pasta (penne is my noodle of choice, Chris had spaghetti) -1 medium-large zucchini (Seasonal!  And thus: always on sale at Key Foods) -1 large can chopped tomatoes (the short fat can…16oz maybe?  Whatever, ratio-wise you should have more tomatoes than beans) -1 can white beans (14 1/2 oz) -1 cup chopped mushrooms -2 cloves minced garlic -2 tablespoons capers (or more.  I like capers!) -Worcestershire sauce (to taste) -A good sprinkling of dried basil -Salt and pepper I made this last week so I may be forgetting something…but I think that’s it.  Oh, Parmesan on top, obviously.  So cook your pasta, and meanwhile get a large saucepan going.  You’ll want to sautee the mushrooms first, then add garlic, sautee, then add zucchini and let everything get nice and soft.  Now add the tomatoes, with juice, and simmer.  Add capers, basil, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce.  Keep simmering until the whole thing reduces down and gets nice and thick.  Add the beans last because they’ll get mushy otherwise (oh apparently you should always drain and rinse canned beans, because that way you’ll get less gas?  You learn something new every day, amiright?) and then when the beans are heated through, dish out pasta into a bowl, add as much ragu as you’d like (I think about 1/3 of this recipe is a decent serving) and top with parmesean.  I guess this recipe was better last week when it was freezing and rainy, but seriously, you need to do SOMETHING with all that zucchini.  AND the leftover 1/3 tastes really good later that night, cold, from the fridge, sans pasta.  JUST SAYING.

It’s embarrassing, I know, but despite my Italian roots I don’t eat a lot of pasta these days.  It’s just that, as grains go, I get more bang for my buck, calorically (and often nutritionally) from polenta, quinoa, etc.  A “serving” of whole wheat pasta is 2 dry oz, which is a sad sad serving indeed.

But!  If you make a really strong, thick ragu-esque topping of some kind, the whole dish instantly becomes filling and satisfying, and I can have my little 2 oz of pasta and Chris can have, like, 200 oz cause life is not fair.  ANYWAY that was the goal with this dish which, as per usual, was mostly improvised.

Ingredients:

-Whole wheat pasta (penne is my noodle of choice, Chris had spaghetti)

-1 medium-large zucchini (Seasonal!  And thus: always on sale at Key Foods)

-1 large can chopped tomatoes (the short fat can…16oz maybe?  Whatever, ratio-wise you should have more tomatoes than beans)

-1 can white beans (14 1/2 oz)

-1 cup chopped mushrooms

-2 cloves minced garlic

-2 tablespoons capers (or more.  I like capers!)

-Worcestershire sauce (to taste)

-A good sprinkling of dried basil

-Salt and pepper

I made this last week so I may be forgetting something…but I think that’s it.  Oh, Parmesan on top, obviously.  So cook your pasta, and meanwhile get a large saucepan going.  You’ll want to sautee the mushrooms first, then add garlic, sautee, then add zucchini and let everything get nice and soft.  Now add the tomatoes, with juice, and simmer.  Add capers, basil, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce.  Keep simmering until the whole thing reduces down and gets nice and thick.  Add the beans last because they’ll get mushy otherwise (oh apparently you should always drain and rinse canned beans, because that way you’ll get less gas?  You learn something new every day, amiright?) and then when the beans are heated through, dish out pasta into a bowl, add as much ragu as you’d like (I think about 1/3 of this recipe is a decent serving) and top with parmesean. 

I guess this recipe was better last week when it was freezing and rainy, but seriously, you need to do SOMETHING with all that zucchini.  AND the leftover 1/3 tastes really good later that night, cold, from the fridge, sans pasta.  JUST SAYING.

August 31, 2010
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Sometimes when you’re stuck in a food rut the best thing to do is just pick three random ingredients from your fridge and google them. That’s how I found this mustard-crusted tofu with sweet potato and kale recipe, which was incredibly delicious and filling and perfect for this weird Fall weather preview we have going on right now.   I used cooking spray instead of vegetable oil, which worked just fine.  Definitely start cooking the veggies first, because the tofu cooks up quite fast, while the sweet potatoes take a while to get all soft and smushy.   Also: you really need to dry the tofu well.  Like, super duper dry, otherwise the mustard just slides right off.  A nice hot, mostly-dry pan helps as well.

Sometimes when you’re stuck in a food rut the best thing to do is just pick three random ingredients from your fridge and google them.

That’s how I found this mustard-crusted tofu with sweet potato and kale recipe, which was incredibly delicious and filling and perfect for this weird Fall weather preview we have going on right now.  

I used cooking spray instead of vegetable oil, which worked just fine.  Definitely start cooking the veggies first, because the tofu cooks up quite fast, while the sweet potatoes take a while to get all soft and smushy.  

Also: you really need to dry the tofu well.  Like, super duper dry, otherwise the mustard just slides right off.  A nice hot, mostly-dry pan helps as well.

August 24, 2010
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Despite the heat, I was craving some serious comfort food last night.  This dish is usually a staple of my winter diet, but it’s pretty easy to make and really satisfying, so I rolled it out again. Mushrooms and White Beans over Polenta (Serves two) Ingredients: -Pre-made polenta (the kind that comes already in log form—I get mine at Trader Joe’s but they deffo sell it at Whole Foods too.  You could make your own, but in the interest of keeping cool in the kitchen, I wouldn’t bother).  For me, a portion size is about 5 oz, but Chris eats like…double that. -About a cup of chopped mushrooms -1 can of cannellini beans -Fresh sage (thanks Mom!  Dried sage works too) -Veggie broth -Salt and pepper -Parmesan Get out a big skillet and put some oil in there.  Slice up your polenta log and put the slices in the pan. Get another, smaller pan going with some oil as well.  Saute the mushrooms, then chop up the sage and throw it in there (or just crush the dry sage).  When the mushrooms have cooked down a little, drain the can of beans and add it to the pan.  Continue to cook the mixture, pouring in a tablespoon or two of veggie broth when it starts to dry out a little. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir. Flip over your polenta slices (they should be slightly browned on the bottom by now).  When both sides are nice and brown, split up the polenta onto two plates, and spoon the mushroom and bean mixture on top.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. That’s it!  So easy and yummy and comforting. BONUS: If you are feeling protein deficient, add a poached egg on top.  When you break up the yolk it will mix with the beans and mushrooms and it will be delicious.

Despite the heat, I was craving some serious comfort food last night.  This dish is usually a staple of my winter diet, but it’s pretty easy to make and really satisfying, so I rolled it out again.

Mushrooms and White Beans over Polenta

(Serves two)

Ingredients:

-Pre-made polenta (the kind that comes already in log form—I get mine at Trader Joe’s but they deffo sell it at Whole Foods too.  You could make your own, but in the interest of keeping cool in the kitchen, I wouldn’t bother).  For me, a portion size is about 5 oz, but Chris eats like…double that.

-About a cup of chopped mushrooms

-1 can of cannellini beans

-Fresh sage (thanks Mom!  Dried sage works too)

-Veggie broth

-Salt and pepper

-Parmesan

Get out a big skillet and put some oil in there.  Slice up your polenta log and put the slices in the pan.

Get another, smaller pan going with some oil as well.  Saute the mushrooms, then chop up the sage and throw it in there (or just crush the dry sage).  When the mushrooms have cooked down a little, drain the can of beans and add it to the pan.  Continue to cook the mixture, pouring in a tablespoon or two of veggie broth when it starts to dry out a little. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir.

Flip over your polenta slices (they should be slightly browned on the bottom by now).  When both sides are nice and brown, split up the polenta onto two plates, and spoon the mushroom and bean mixture on top.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

That’s it!  So easy and yummy and comforting.

BONUS: If you are feeling protein deficient, add a poached egg on top.  When you break up the yolk it will mix with the beans and mushrooms and it will be delicious.

July 29, 2010
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File under: Things I can no longer justify making for dinner i.e. things that are NOT vegetarian friendly, AT ALL. Meat Wrapped in More Meat aka Pork Loin Wrapped in Sage and Prosciutto Ingredients: -1 boneless pork loin (Trader Joe’s has this for really cheap and it’s the perfect manageable size, I think about 1.3 lbs) -1 package thinly sliced prosciutto -Fresh sage leaves -Salt and pepper Tools -meat thermometer -glass baking dish large enough to accommodate the pork loin -wax paper (not totally necessary—but helpful!) Season your pork loin with salt and pepper, then set it aside.  Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll out a sheet of wax paper that’s as long as your pork loin and lay it down on your counter.  Unwrap the package of prosciutto and lay down one slice on the far left edge of the wax paper.  Lay the next piece down slightly to the right of the first, so they over lap just a tiny bit.  Continue with this process until you have all the strips laid out, like a heavenly pork blanket.  Depending on how long your pork loin is, you may or may not need the entire package (!) Next, place some sage leaves down on the prosciutto (don’t overlap them unless you REALLY LOVE SAGE).  Now put your pork loin down on the bottom edge of the prosciutto blanket and use the edge of the wax paper to wrap the prosciutto around the loin (this sounds more confusing than it is). Now put the wrapped loin in the glass baking dish, pop the meat thermometer into the thickest part of the loin, and toss it in the oven. Depending on how pink you like your meat, you should cook the loin until it reaches about 135 - 140 degrees.  Take it out of the oven and cover it in tinfoil, keeping a close eye on it until the thermometer rises another 5 - 7 degrees.  Slice and serve immediately, preferably over polenta that’s been mixed with some canned pumpkin puree (trust me on this one).  Ooh and some asparagus!  Go nuts.  This pork will be delicious AND it will look fancy.

File under: Things I can no longer justify making for dinner i.e. things that are NOT vegetarian friendly, AT ALL.

Meat Wrapped in More Meat aka Pork Loin Wrapped in Sage and Prosciutto

Ingredients:

-1 boneless pork loin (Trader Joe’s has this for really cheap and it’s the perfect manageable size, I think about 1.3 lbs)

-1 package thinly sliced prosciutto

-Fresh sage leaves

-Salt and pepper

Tools

-meat thermometer

-glass baking dish large enough to accommodate the pork loin

-wax paper (not totally necessary—but helpful!)

Season your pork loin with salt and pepper, then set it aside.  Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Roll out a sheet of wax paper that’s as long as your pork loin and lay it down on your counter.  Unwrap the package of prosciutto and lay down one slice on the far left edge of the wax paper.  Lay the next piece down slightly to the right of the first, so they over lap just a tiny bit.  Continue with this process until you have all the strips laid out, like a heavenly pork blanket.  Depending on how long your pork loin is, you may or may not need the entire package (!) Next, place some sage leaves down on the prosciutto (don’t overlap them unless you REALLY LOVE SAGE).  Now put your pork loin down on the bottom edge of the prosciutto blanket and use the edge of the wax paper to wrap the prosciutto around the loin (this sounds more confusing than it is).

Now put the wrapped loin in the glass baking dish, pop the meat thermometer into the thickest part of the loin, and toss it in the oven.

Depending on how pink you like your meat, you should cook the loin until it reaches about 135 - 140 degrees.  Take it out of the oven and cover it in tinfoil, keeping a close eye on it until the thermometer rises another 5 - 7 degrees.  Slice and serve immediately, preferably over polenta that’s been mixed with some canned pumpkin puree (trust me on this one).  Ooh and some asparagus!  Go nuts.  This pork will be delicious AND it will look fancy.

July 16, 2010
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I decided to force myself out of my salads-and-soy-nuggets-for-dinner food slump by tackling Thai summer rolls, a dish I’ve been thinking good thoughts about for a long while now.  

Lucky for me I work right on the edge of Chinatown, in close proximity to Bangkok Center Grocery on Mosco Street (I swear the few blocks around Columbus Park contain way more Thai/Vietnamese spots than Chinese ones…so, Chainamtown maybe?  No?).  I stopped by at lunch and picked up some mung bean cellophane noodles, rice wrappers, sweet basil, fish sauce, tom yum paste, and rice vinegar.  Total cost?  $11.  

Chris picked up some cucumbers, carrots, cilantro, lettuce and tofu and we were ready to (summer) roll.  Yeah, sorry.

As with most of my recipes, I kind of winged it.  

Thai Summer Rolls

-12” rice paper wrappers (“the one with the rose on it” is apparently the best.  Also, if you’re not going to eat these rolls like a main meal, get 6” wrappers instead for a better appetizer-sized roll)

-noodles (I went with mung bean cellophane, but you could use rice vermicelli, or, really, whatever looks good at your local market)

-a few tablespoons of rice vinegar

-half a small cucumber, sliced thinly

-lettuce leaves

-a few carrots, sliced

-half a container extra firm tofu, sliced

-Thai sweet basil

-cilantro (I forgot mint.  You should add mint!)

For the Sauce:

-tom yum paste

-soy sauce

-rice vinegar

-fish sauce (add this separately if you’re dinner companion is a vegetarian!) 

The most important thing is to get all your ducks in a row, i.e. chop up your veggies, pull out some individual lettuce leaves, chop up the tofu and the herbs, and lay everything out on a plate or a cutting board.  Put the dry noodles into a large bowl and pour boiling water over them (or follow package directions if they’re different) and allow them to soak for 5-7 minutes or until they look like a jellyfish.  

While those are soaking, get your station set up—put down a few pieces of paper towel on your counter, get yourself a glass baking dish big enough to accommodate one wrapper, and fill it with warm water.  

When the noodles are finished, drain them and run cold water over them until they’ve cooled off.  Toss them with some rice vinegar.  

Rolling takes practice, so expect a few wonky ones when you start.  Soak a wrapper in the water for about 30 seconds, or until the bamboo markings flatten out.  Carefully remove the wrapper from water and lay it down on the paper towel.  It behaves a bit like saran wrap, so it may stick to itself—you can just peel back the stuck bits and stretch it out again.

Place a lettuce leaf on the bottom 1/3 of the wrapper, then pile on the toppings—veggies, herbs, tofu, and a healthy serving of noodles.  Now grab the edge of the wrapper that’s closest to you and roll it over the fillings, fold the sides inward and then keep rolling.  The wrap will stick to itself, so you won’t need to seal it.

The sauce is just two tablespoons of the tom yum paste, and equal parts rice vinegar and soy sauce until you get a creamy consistency.  I added about a teaspoon of peanut butter at the end, which cut down the intensity of the paste.  

My attempts at rolling were far superior to Chris’, IMHO, because Chris tried to cram too much filling it there.  So go easy on the filling or you’ll end up with ripped frankenstein rolls.  

We kept making rolls until we ran out of filling, and ended up with about 9?  I think?  We ate them all (OK I gave one to Pat).  They are just that good.  

July 14, 2010

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Cooking adventures from an incredibly lazy meat lover on Weight Watchers and her vegetarian boyfriend.