Rice Noodles

I first made this at Jo's direction just after we had gotten home from Produce Junction, so it's really her idea.  But I just made it for supper tonight and it was awesome.

The other day I wanted some light broth so I made chicken bouillon with rice noodles.  Then I read the label from the bouillon.  This is not something we should be eating.  So,  I bought 10 lb of chicken legs for $7 to make broth to have on hand in place of bouillon.  With broth on hand and wanting something light tonight, I decided to reprise Jo's recipe.

I used about 4 c of chicken broth for two people.  I sliced and roasted 4 large mushrooms (I used white button mushrooms, Jo used shitake;  the shitakes had more flavor) and diced up a large shallot.  Into the pot along with three stalks of celery, some fresh garlic and some fresh ginger.  Salt, pepper, and a little ground mustard, of course.  Simmer until the veg are done, add half a pack of rice noodles, cook until noodle are done.  Serve with rice crackers (ours were Wasabi), and tonight, since there were ripe avocados at the store, sliced avocado.

Great light meal!

Foil Packets

Ever since Andy came home from scout camp and introduced us to "Bunyan Burgers," I've loved the idea of cooking in foil packets.  We almost always have some when we go camping.

Last night we cooked up some foil packets for dinner.  We were going to use the grill, but I got home from an audition pretty late, so we just used the oven instead.  Also, I guess I really should say that Tom cooked the packets.  And they were awesome!

These are super easy, healthy, and delicious.  There's something about the combination of sweet potatoes and spicy food that is delicious.  We didn't really measure, but here's what we threw together.

• Sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly cubed.  Our pieces were pretty big, it cuts down on prep time.
• Onion, again big chunks is fine.
• Zucchini, you guessed it, big old chunks
• Red Pepper, cut however ya want, strips, squares, triangles?
• Olive oil
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Chipotles, one or two cut up depending on how much spice ya like.
• Salt (duh)
• Sausage, we used hot Italian because it was on sale, but you can use whatever you like.

Ok, so chunk up all your veggies.  Throw them in a bowl and toss with some olive oil.  Then throw on the spices til it looks good to go.  At this point I was doing some dishes and there's a chance that Tom added some garlic powder and African bird pepper.  Yeah, ours were super spicy. 

Once your veggies are spiced to your liking, put them on top of a piece of foil.  Then we just put an entire piece of sausage on top and folded up the foil.  You could probably cut the sausage if you want, but we saw no need to do that.  Anyway, we put the packets in the oven at 425 til it was done.  I think it was maybe 25 minutes?  I don't know.

If you're looking for a really quick but delicious and satisfying meal, I recommend this.  If you're vegetarian, you could likely replace the sausage with black beans or chickpeas or something?  Or maybe make a grain the stove and serve the veggies on top.

This is really about the combination of spices and sweet potatoes.  Ours were pretty darned spicy cause we had a healthy amount of chipotle peppers, hot italian sausage, and some African bird pepper.  Boy it made the beer taste good.

Any of you have an foil packet combinations you love?

Enjoy!

Molly

Two of my new favorite things - kale and quesadillas

I recently read a suggestion for a different way to cook kale that has immensely increased my appreciation for this green.  Take a kale leaf, cut out the stalk, then cut the leaves into strips about 1/4 inch wide, cutting across the leaf.  You can then saute the dry kale in a little oil over a medium high - high heat.  The kale will soften and decrease in volume, but not quite wilt and it's not "wet" like other greens get.  I like to throw a clove or two of finely chopped garlic in with the kale and get the best results when I sprinkle it with a little salt as it sautes.  After that there's a lot you can do with it.  My favorites are 1) just eat it.  2) put it in a tortilla with some sharp cheddar to make a kale quesadilla.  Trust me, the cheddar and the kale are GREAT together.  (more on that later) 3) I made up a pasta topping with it for lunch for Aleks, Suzie, and me the other day, and it got great reviews.  Here's what I did:

~1/3 c thinly sliced red pepper, cut into 1 inch long pieces
~1 small-medium bunch of kale, stems removed, sliced into 1/4" strips - - probably about 6 cups of chopped kale
garlic
~3/4-1+ c of cooked white beans - more or less depending on how much protein you want
lemon juice - a few shakes from the bottle, probably ~1-2 T
~2 T cream
~1/4 c grated parmesan
Pasta

Heat some oil in a pan, then add red pepper and saute while you cut the garlic and kale.  When the pepper is starting to get a little soft, add the kale and garlic, along with a bit of salt.  Saute, stirring, until the kale turns bright green.  Add the white beans and let them heat up as the kale finishes cooking.  Add the lemon juice and stir to distribute.  When the kale is finished cooking add the cream and parmesan, stir, then serve over top of pasta.


My other new favorite thing is veggie quesadillas of every kind and flavor.  We get blocks of a decent sharp cheddar for <$4/pound at CostCo, so we've always got it hanging around.  I like to mix it with a bit of monteray jack.  I've already mentioned the kale quesadillas I've been making.  For lunch today I made one using leftover cauliflower that I'd topped with toasted pecans and garlic for dinner last night, and cheddar.  I stayed with the theme and made another one tonight using a few big handfuls of arugula wilted in the microwave, a few strips of steak from last night, ~1/4 red pepper cut into very thin strips and sauteed a bit, a touch of chipotle pepper, and my go-to cheddar/mont.jack mix. At the end I added ~1/4 avocado cut into slices.  It was about an inch thick, mostly veggies and oh man, was it ever good!  These aren't as cheesy as your typical unhealthy quesadilla, but still satisfy my (apparently constant) craving for cheese.

What's your favorite quesadilla filling...?

-Maggie

Whole wheat pasta with garbanzo veggie sauce

We are in a good space right now, coming out of a very busy period.  As you might expect between that and the spring weather, we are on a little health kick.  Our goal is to eliminate hidden sugar from our savory foods, and switch to whole grains wherever we can.  To that end, I found whole wheat pasta for $1.00/lb in the bulk section at Winco.  For dinner on Saturday, I chopped a red bell pepper, an onion, half a bunch of Italian kale, and a double handful of criminis in the food processor.  While they were saute'-ing with a little salt and cumin, I took a small can of garbanzos, covered them with chicken broth, and heated them up.  When the beans were hot, I pureed them until smooth with the immersion blender.  Then I tossed in a leftover hard boiled egg and about a quarter cup of plain yogurt.  I mixed the veggies into the garbanzo sauce and served over the pasta with parmesan cheese, chopped cilantro, and black pepper to taste at the table.  It was wonderful.  Plus, Samara loved the whole wheat pasta.  Patrick and I found it gave us a completely satisfied feeling in about half the portion size of normal pasta.  Later, we both agreed it kept us feeling full for longer, too.  Yay!

Italian Zucchini Bake

Just as I hate when people call bean patties veggie burgers, I hate when people call a pasta substitute pasta.  The recipe I found was for zucchini "ravioli."  Well it's not ravioli, so think of a different name.  Anyway, I digress.

I made a good, veggie-ful bake last night.  We both ate it up and decided it should be added to the list of recipes we re-use.  Here's what ya need and what I did...

What ya need
Onion
Garlic
Spinach
Zucchini
Marinara sauce
Ground beef or turkey or tofu or something
Mozzarella

What I did

1. Make your favorite marinara sauce.  Use lots of crushed red pepper if ya like it spicy!
2. Saute some onions and ground beef.  You could sub ground turkey, crumbled tofu, or just skip entirely I imagine.  Season however you'd like.  I went simple with basil and oregano.
3. When beef is almost done, add more spinach than you think you need.  Fill that pan!  Saute until wilted.
4. Thinly a zucchini lengthwise to form "noodles."  This would be much easier if you had a mandolin.  I do not, so mine weren't sliced evenly, but it was fine.
5. Put a layer of zucchini in the bottom of a baking dish, put some of the beef/spinach mixture on top, then some marinara, then some mozzarella cheese.  Lather, rinse, repeat.
6. Bake until zucchini is soft and cheese is melted.

I bet you could throw more veggies in there.  Mushrooms would probably be great.  Peppers if ya like 'em or have extras lying around.  It was really satisfying.  It didn't feel like we were just eating veggies and pretending it was pasta but secretly wishing it was pasta.  

We had it with eggplant a la Mom, though next time I think I'd just throw the eggplant in the beef mixture.  I also had made some really good rolls to have with it too.  

Yum!

Wanted: Simple veggie ideas

I'm curious to know what you all do for super simple veggies.  I'm thinking mostly as "side dishes."  The most common thing we do is steam some broccoli and throw some salt on it.  I'm happy to eat that almost every night of the week.  However, I'm trying to branch out a little.  Partly for variety, partly because it's fun, and partly because I want to use other veggies I can get at the farmer's market

So this week I have eggplant, green beans, kale, and broccoli for side dishes.  What are your favorite ways to make those bad boys?

I'm also curious about cucumbers because they're cheap here.  I haven't bought any cause I don't really know what to do with it.  Ideas?

Also, Dad, can you post your lentils and rice recipe?  I remember never being real jazzed about it growing up, but I feel like that may have changed.

Molly

Shrimp and rice noodle salad

Maybe it's all the Asian food Molly's been posting about lately, but I found myself making Thai red curry and a shrimp and rice noodle salad for dinners this past week.  The curry was better than I've ever made before, but still not quite good enough to post about.  But, the shrimp and rice noodle salad I made last night was great.  I think it would be especially perfect on a hot summer day - which yesterday decidedly wasn't, but my spring fever carried the day!

It's pretty simple, and I think will lend itself to a lot of variation.  The real key is the sauce.  I used cashew butter, since that's what the recipe I found called for, but I think it would probably be just as good with peanut butter (you might need to adjust the ratios a bit, since peanut is a stronger flavor than cashew).

For dressing/sauce:
Puree in a blender:
1/2 c cashew butter
1/4 c water
3 T rice vinegar
3 T toasted sesame oil (or olive oil if that's what you have)
2 T soy sauce
2 T fish sauce (or another 2 T soy sauce)
2 T sugar
~2T Thai roasted red chili paste
6-8 cloves or garlic
1/2 - 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped
hot sauce or Thai red chili paste to taste, if you want it spicier

For our salad, I used:
 ~1/2 pound of rice noodles according to the package directions, putting them in cold water as soon as they were done cooking.
1 lb shrimp - boiled in the noodle water after the noodles were done, then put in cold water immediately
1 head of Boston Bibb lettuce, shredded/sliced into strips
4 smallish carrots, cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, sliced thinly
~1/2 c cilantro, chopped
~1/3 c chopped cashews
Some thinly sliced red pepper or cucumber would also be really good, I think.

I served it all in one big bowl, with a mound of noddles in the center, surrounded by the lettuce, and everything else just sprinkled on top.  I served the sauce on the side, so everyone could add however much they liked.

I was quite pleased with myself :), Aleks said this one should go on "our list" (he then asked if we actually have a list, to which I had to reply "not really, only in my head"), Will ate all of his, and Suzie ate a decent amount too.

Hope you enjoy it!
-Maggie