I recently came home from the grocery store and had to work harder than I wanted to to make room in the cupboard for the pasta I had just bought. I concluded that I need to start cooking stuff I've bought but haven't used yet. This mostly falls into the category of whole grains, which I enjoy, but rarely think of when planning meals. So my new rule is that at least one meal a week has to be planned based on something in the pantry that needs to be used up, with bonus points if it also uses something in the freezer.
This week the wheat berries I bought last summer at Echo Hill caught my eye. I did a quick search on epicurious, and found the following wheat berry, onion, and kale salad.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/wheat-berries-with-charred-onions-and-kale-395479
1 1/2 cups wheat berries
2 med. onions
5 sprigs thyme
1T kosher salt (use less if you use regular salt
olive oil
1 bunch of kale
1-2T lemon juice
Cherry tomatoes - my addition, not in the original recipe
Feta cheese - my addition, not in the original recipe
Put wheat berries, 1/2 of an onion (I cut mine into a few wedges), thyme, and salt into a pot. Add water to cover the wheat berries by 2 inches. Boil until tender, yet still firm, about 35 min (but this is really dependent on how fresh your wheat berries are). When they're done, drain remaining water and discard onions and thyme. Mix together lemon juice and ~1T oil, and stir into wheat berries.
Cut remaining 1 1/2 onions into 1/2" wide slices, then saute in 1T oil in a skillet on high heat, letting the edges char a little. Add onions to wheat berries. Saute kale in the same skillet as you cooked the onions. The original recipe says to char the kale too, but I just sauteed it because I really dislike burned kale. Add the kale to the wheat berries and onions, and stir together.
I added halved cherry tomatoes to increase the veggies and give Will and Suzie something to do while the other sauteed kale and onions, respectively (Yup, everyone helped cooked this one!). I put a little feta on top, which adds some flavor and salt. And I sauteed some shrimp to put on top to up the protein content (and get the extra points for using something in the freezer!). I served it with fresh from the oven crusty sourdough bread. Delicious and healthy dinner which has me inspired to look up more wheat berry recipes and to keep shopping in my pantry.
-Maggie
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Bread and Smoothies
Is anyone else on the smoothie train? It's healthier than the gravy train, for sure.
It's not that I don't like vegetables, but for some reason I have to consciously remind myself to put more in our diets. We don't eat a lot of salad but we eat steamed broccoli nearly every meal. I get plenty of veggies at lunch at school, but I still have been looking for easy ways to get some veggies in the diet.
Enter smoothies. Seriously, I pack so much spinach or kale, zucchini, banana, apple, etc into a smoothie and I think I'm having dessert. Seriously, you can put zucchini in a smoothie and you won't notice. Sounds weird, but give it a shot!
Costco was carrying plain, non-fat, Greek yogurt this week too. So now I've added that to the experience and boy is it tasty! We use a handful of frozen mixed berries, some OJ, whatever other fruits/veggies are lying around, load it up with spinach, and blend. Add to that some yogurt and yum!
My new experiment is going to be to use frozen spinach instead of fresh. It's about 2.5 times cheaper and it will last longer. We'll see how that works. If it does, it'll cut down on the cost of the smoothies for sure.
The other thing is bread. I was always intimidated by making bread. I figured I need a stand mixer and fancy equipment. Nah!
Maggie and I have both been trying the crusty breads you make in a dutch oven lately. Boy does that make a tasty crust! You've gotta try it.
I made one yesterday/today that is really, really simple but it's gooood. The only catch is that you need to start the dough a day ahead. If you're like me, it's rare that you think ahead far enough to do that. Well I'm going to try to start making it a point to think ahead.
All I did yesterday was mix the following in a bowl...
3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. yeast
1 3/4 t. salt
Then add 1.5c water and mix it around until it's shaggy (it'll be sort of wet). Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit out on your counter for 12-18 hours. The next day, preheat oven and dutch oven to 450 for half an hour. While the oven is preheating, form dough into a ball/mound on a heavily floured surface. Let it sit for 30 minutes. I put it on parchment paper here so that it'd be easy to transfer.
When everything is preheated, carefully place the mound/ball into the dutch oven, put the lid on and bake for 30 minutes. Then take the lid off and bake for another 15.
Seriously, it's the best crust! Maggie has been experimenting with sourdough versions of this that I'm gonna try next.
Woo!
Molly
It's not that I don't like vegetables, but for some reason I have to consciously remind myself to put more in our diets. We don't eat a lot of salad but we eat steamed broccoli nearly every meal. I get plenty of veggies at lunch at school, but I still have been looking for easy ways to get some veggies in the diet.
Enter smoothies. Seriously, I pack so much spinach or kale, zucchini, banana, apple, etc into a smoothie and I think I'm having dessert. Seriously, you can put zucchini in a smoothie and you won't notice. Sounds weird, but give it a shot!
Costco was carrying plain, non-fat, Greek yogurt this week too. So now I've added that to the experience and boy is it tasty! We use a handful of frozen mixed berries, some OJ, whatever other fruits/veggies are lying around, load it up with spinach, and blend. Add to that some yogurt and yum!
My new experiment is going to be to use frozen spinach instead of fresh. It's about 2.5 times cheaper and it will last longer. We'll see how that works. If it does, it'll cut down on the cost of the smoothies for sure.
The other thing is bread. I was always intimidated by making bread. I figured I need a stand mixer and fancy equipment. Nah!
Maggie and I have both been trying the crusty breads you make in a dutch oven lately. Boy does that make a tasty crust! You've gotta try it.
I made one yesterday/today that is really, really simple but it's gooood. The only catch is that you need to start the dough a day ahead. If you're like me, it's rare that you think ahead far enough to do that. Well I'm going to try to start making it a point to think ahead.
All I did yesterday was mix the following in a bowl...
3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. yeast
1 3/4 t. salt
Then add 1.5c water and mix it around until it's shaggy (it'll be sort of wet). Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit out on your counter for 12-18 hours. The next day, preheat oven and dutch oven to 450 for half an hour. While the oven is preheating, form dough into a ball/mound on a heavily floured surface. Let it sit for 30 minutes. I put it on parchment paper here so that it'd be easy to transfer.
When everything is preheated, carefully place the mound/ball into the dutch oven, put the lid on and bake for 30 minutes. Then take the lid off and bake for another 15.
Seriously, it's the best crust! Maggie has been experimenting with sourdough versions of this that I'm gonna try next.
Woo!
Molly
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Giardiniera
We have been enjoying our pickled hot peppers so much I got a hankering to try my hand at making giardiniera. For my first try, I took guidance from a recipe on the internet It came out good, good enough to warrant a second try, but needing some tweaks: the hot peppers I used weren't really very hot, so it had almost no heat; we thought the recipe used too much vinegar and not enough salt; couldn't really get any sense of the garlic; etc.
Today, I tried my second batch. One change was to use a wider variety of veg than before and to make the veg more colorful, so I added a red bell pepper and some pearl onions. I upgraded half of the green pepper rings from cubanelle (not really hot) to jalepeno (should be hot but this one didn't really taste all that hot to me). I did not take the centers out of the jalepno rings because I thought they looked pretty this way and hoped that the seeds would provide some extra heat. Then, just to overdo it, I added a dried Thai pepper to each jar. Here is the veg cut up waiting to be added to the jars:
For process, I started with 5 cups of water heated to a boil, added the garlic cloves, and simmered for 5 minutes (per the internet recipe; I skipped this step last time and could not taste the garlic). Fished the garlic out of the water and added the cloves to the bottom of two quart mason jars. I then added 1/4 cup Kosher salt to the water and packed the jars while the salt dissolved. I put one Thai pepper on the bottom of each jar with the garlic and tried to mix up the rest as nicely and as tightly packed as possible. Then to each jar I added:
1/2 t Dill Seed
1/4 t Pink Peppercorns
1/4 t Black Peppercorns
1/2 t Celery Seed
1/2 t Coriander Seed
1/4 t Yellow Mustard Seed
1/4 t Black Mustard Seed
1 Juniper Berry
I jiggled and shook the jars to get the seeds to flow down and distribute.
With the salt dissolved, I added 1 cup distilled white vinegar to the brine and returned it to a boil. Next, I filled the jars with the boiling brine. Next, put lids on and jiggle the jars to get air bubbles to float to the top, refill with brine, repeat as many times as necessary to get the air pockets out. At the end, I filled the jars to just overflowing, floated the jar lids on the liquid, and screwed the rings on. Brine runs over the side as the lids tighten down. As this is filled to the tippy top when hot, the liquid contracts and draws a vacuum as it cools. The hot brine cooks the veg slightly so let them sit and cool gradually. For storage, these must be refrigerated; this is not a reliable preserving process. The internet recipe suggests these will last for up to 3 month in the refrigerator but I doubt 2 quarts will last that long in this house.
Here is a picture of my final product:
These have to work for a couple of days before they are ready to be eaten, so I will report back on the result when we get to taste them.
Today, I tried my second batch. One change was to use a wider variety of veg than before and to make the veg more colorful, so I added a red bell pepper and some pearl onions. I upgraded half of the green pepper rings from cubanelle (not really hot) to jalepeno (should be hot but this one didn't really taste all that hot to me). I did not take the centers out of the jalepno rings because I thought they looked pretty this way and hoped that the seeds would provide some extra heat. Then, just to overdo it, I added a dried Thai pepper to each jar. Here is the veg cut up waiting to be added to the jars:
For process, I started with 5 cups of water heated to a boil, added the garlic cloves, and simmered for 5 minutes (per the internet recipe; I skipped this step last time and could not taste the garlic). Fished the garlic out of the water and added the cloves to the bottom of two quart mason jars. I then added 1/4 cup Kosher salt to the water and packed the jars while the salt dissolved. I put one Thai pepper on the bottom of each jar with the garlic and tried to mix up the rest as nicely and as tightly packed as possible. Then to each jar I added:
1/2 t Dill Seed
1/4 t Pink Peppercorns
1/4 t Black Peppercorns
1/2 t Celery Seed
1/2 t Coriander Seed
1/4 t Yellow Mustard Seed
1/4 t Black Mustard Seed
1 Juniper Berry
I jiggled and shook the jars to get the seeds to flow down and distribute.
With the salt dissolved, I added 1 cup distilled white vinegar to the brine and returned it to a boil. Next, I filled the jars with the boiling brine. Next, put lids on and jiggle the jars to get air bubbles to float to the top, refill with brine, repeat as many times as necessary to get the air pockets out. At the end, I filled the jars to just overflowing, floated the jar lids on the liquid, and screwed the rings on. Brine runs over the side as the lids tighten down. As this is filled to the tippy top when hot, the liquid contracts and draws a vacuum as it cools. The hot brine cooks the veg slightly so let them sit and cool gradually. For storage, these must be refrigerated; this is not a reliable preserving process. The internet recipe suggests these will last for up to 3 month in the refrigerator but I doubt 2 quarts will last that long in this house.
Here is a picture of my final product:
These have to work for a couple of days before they are ready to be eaten, so I will report back on the result when we get to taste them.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Shredded Chicken Burritos
I can't remember if I've posted this before, but Maggie requested the "recipe," so here goes.
I hesitate to even call this a recipe, because it's so easy, but it's really great. It's definitely one of our regular meals especially when we're busy. We also like making it up and taking it camping cause the leftovers heat up easily.
Here's what ya need...
Chicken breasts (we use two, use how many you need to feed your fam)
Red salsa (a good amount, I probably use 1.5 cups, but I've never measured)
Corn (some, from a can or frozen)
Black beans (again, some from a can or your freezer)
Seasonings (take your pick, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, etc).
I usually put everything in the crock pot except for the chicken. Mix it all around to make sure it's evenly distributed. Then put the chicken in and make sure it's all covered up with the mixture.
Turn it on low and go to work.
When you get home, take the chicken breasts out and shred them. Put the shredded chicken back in and stir it all around.
When it's time for dinner, we serve it with tortillas and cheese, maybe avocado. You could throw it on rice or whatever. Fresh cilantro would be a nice touch.
Anyway, super simple, but so good!.
I hesitate to even call this a recipe, because it's so easy, but it's really great. It's definitely one of our regular meals especially when we're busy. We also like making it up and taking it camping cause the leftovers heat up easily.
Here's what ya need...
Chicken breasts (we use two, use how many you need to feed your fam)
Red salsa (a good amount, I probably use 1.5 cups, but I've never measured)
Corn (some, from a can or frozen)
Black beans (again, some from a can or your freezer)
Seasonings (take your pick, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, etc).
I usually put everything in the crock pot except for the chicken. Mix it all around to make sure it's evenly distributed. Then put the chicken in and make sure it's all covered up with the mixture.
Turn it on low and go to work.
When you get home, take the chicken breasts out and shred them. Put the shredded chicken back in and stir it all around.
When it's time for dinner, we serve it with tortillas and cheese, maybe avocado. You could throw it on rice or whatever. Fresh cilantro would be a nice touch.
Anyway, super simple, but so good!.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Quinoa cakes with kale - a pregnant lady's cravings discover a new good dinner...
I haven't even done a lot of the crazy pregnant lady food cravings, but every once in a while they hit me. Tonight, I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner and all I kept coming back to was quinoa cakes. I was trying to figure out what to have with it and my brain kept remembering the queso fresco I bought earlier in the day. In an attempt to make sure we had some veggies I was running through the list of what we typically have in the fridge: carrots, beets, broccoli, tomatoes, etc. And then my brain alighted on kale, and I thought "Yes! What I want for dinner tonight is quinoa cakes with sauteed kale and queso fresco!" Aleks looked at me a little oddly, but since there was a 99% chance that I was the one who was going to cook, he wisely agreed that while it was weird, it was okay if I made it. And it turned out really well! I think Mom especially would enjoy it.
The quinoa cakes recipe is from an old Gourmet recipe that I've probably posted before: quinoa cakes with eggplant ragu. I've been trying to come up with other toppings for the cakes, since I like them so much.
Cook 1 c quinoa in 1.5 c water with 1/2 t salt. Cool slightly, then stir in 1 egg, lightly beaten. Using a dry measuring cup, press about 2/3 of a cup of quinoa into a 1 cup measure, packing well, to make 4 patties. Chill for 15 min or more. The chilling part is important for helping the cakes hold together. Heat some oil in a skillet and carefully add the cakes, cooking on each side lightly browned and crisp. Don't try to turn them too soon, or they'll fall apart. Though, the crisp edges are the best part of these, and you get more of those if the cakes fall apart, so...make your own decision.
For the kale, I rinsed it, cut out the stems, then cut cross-wise into thin (1/4" or less) strips. In a skillet, heat some oil, then add the kale and as much minced garlic as you like. Sprinkle with salt, and cover. Cook, turning frequently to prevent browning, until kale is bright green, a bit softened, and slightly reduced in volume.
To serve, pile that garlicky kale on top of a quinoa cake and top liberally with crumbled queso fresco - or whatever your favorite cheese is. A good cheddar would probably also be good.
Seriously, this comes together into a light, tasty dinner better than you would think!
Maggie
The quinoa cakes recipe is from an old Gourmet recipe that I've probably posted before: quinoa cakes with eggplant ragu. I've been trying to come up with other toppings for the cakes, since I like them so much.
Cook 1 c quinoa in 1.5 c water with 1/2 t salt. Cool slightly, then stir in 1 egg, lightly beaten. Using a dry measuring cup, press about 2/3 of a cup of quinoa into a 1 cup measure, packing well, to make 4 patties. Chill for 15 min or more. The chilling part is important for helping the cakes hold together. Heat some oil in a skillet and carefully add the cakes, cooking on each side lightly browned and crisp. Don't try to turn them too soon, or they'll fall apart. Though, the crisp edges are the best part of these, and you get more of those if the cakes fall apart, so...make your own decision.
For the kale, I rinsed it, cut out the stems, then cut cross-wise into thin (1/4" or less) strips. In a skillet, heat some oil, then add the kale and as much minced garlic as you like. Sprinkle with salt, and cover. Cook, turning frequently to prevent browning, until kale is bright green, a bit softened, and slightly reduced in volume.
To serve, pile that garlicky kale on top of a quinoa cake and top liberally with crumbled queso fresco - or whatever your favorite cheese is. A good cheddar would probably also be good.
Seriously, this comes together into a light, tasty dinner better than you would think!
Maggie
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Chili - the kitchen sink version
Whenever I used to make chili, I did the Zoe Keck method. I loved it. SUPER easy, SUPER simple, and definitely delicious!
I just used ground beef, onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, whatever inspired me in the spice dept, peppers, a can of black beans, can of red beans, and a can of diced tomatoes and/or tomato sauce.
I always said that my chili had no bells or whistles, but I always really liked it.
Well a month or so ago, we tried a Steve Raichlen recipe for chili. It had many more ingredients but it was KILLER. We looooved it.
The other night we wanted to throw together a chili and instead of using a recipe, we just made what we're now referring to as the Kitchen Sink Chili. We used inspiration from the Raichlen recipe with the "dump it in" inspiration from Mom.
Here are some of the things we've added...
I just used ground beef, onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, whatever inspired me in the spice dept, peppers, a can of black beans, can of red beans, and a can of diced tomatoes and/or tomato sauce.
I always said that my chili had no bells or whistles, but I always really liked it.
Well a month or so ago, we tried a Steve Raichlen recipe for chili. It had many more ingredients but it was KILLER. We looooved it.
The other night we wanted to throw together a chili and instead of using a recipe, we just made what we're now referring to as the Kitchen Sink Chili. We used inspiration from the Raichlen recipe with the "dump it in" inspiration from Mom.
Here are some of the things we've added...
- beer
- chicken broth
- chunks of pork
- cocoa powder (or whatever chocolate you have lying around)
- brown sugar
- liquid smoke
- cut back on the tomato (most of the liquid comes from broth and beer)
- chipotles
- cinnamon
- hot sauce
That's obviously not all that we use, but it's the new things we use. It's so good! The other thing that makes a difference is giving the chili enough time to simmer (probably a big duh!).
I'll tell ya, it's fun to stand over a pot and just throw things in for fun until it's delicious. There's no right or wrong!
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Bread: This Just Works
Pretty much the highest praise software can get is the comment, "it just works". Many different programs "work", but to "just work" means that what the program did was so fluid and intuitive that the user hardly noticed it working. Google's search engine "just works".
Recently I've gotten in to a new way of baking bread that "just works". You do not knead the bread. You mix up the ingredients in batches large enough to last a couple of weeks (takes 15 minutes, max). After it rises once, you toss it in the 'fridge. When you want bread, you hack a chunk of dough off and do whatever you want with it--including make really fancy artisan breads. I have done sandwich bread, flat breads, pizza crusts, crusty bread, and each one has worked amazingly well. It's nearly effortless, and fast enough to do on a whim after work.
I won't plagiarize the recipes here, but I'll put a link to the website: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/. I got the New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes out of the library and liked it a lot. Pat and Samara got me the Healthy... version for Christmas and I like it too. The New... had a wider variety of recipes, so I'd start with that if you get one.
I never expected to be on a home-made bread kick, but I totally am. It's awesome. I know a 'real' bread baker will probably feel like a Unix user in 1995 (Dammit Gates, you're making this too easy, now everyone can do it!), but I'm not fussy--if it works it works.
Recently I've gotten in to a new way of baking bread that "just works". You do not knead the bread. You mix up the ingredients in batches large enough to last a couple of weeks (takes 15 minutes, max). After it rises once, you toss it in the 'fridge. When you want bread, you hack a chunk of dough off and do whatever you want with it--including make really fancy artisan breads. I have done sandwich bread, flat breads, pizza crusts, crusty bread, and each one has worked amazingly well. It's nearly effortless, and fast enough to do on a whim after work.
I won't plagiarize the recipes here, but I'll put a link to the website: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/. I got the New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes out of the library and liked it a lot. Pat and Samara got me the Healthy... version for Christmas and I like it too. The New... had a wider variety of recipes, so I'd start with that if you get one.
I never expected to be on a home-made bread kick, but I totally am. It's awesome. I know a 'real' bread baker will probably feel like a Unix user in 1995 (Dammit Gates, you're making this too easy, now everyone can do it!), but I'm not fussy--if it works it works.
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