Super Quick White Beans

This dinner was just a quickie, thrown together out of things that I had on hand, but it was pretty good, so I figured I'd share it just to show that you're never in quite as dire straits as you think...

What you need:

-1 can white beans (cannellini beans or white northern beans, or white kidney beans), drained and rinsed

-a few handfuls spinach, or if it is all you have, frozen spinach

-walnuts (toast them, seriously)

-half an onion, chopped

-1 sausage (I used Trader Joes chicken sausage)

-garlic, about a tsp

-a bit of olive oil

What to do with it:

Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until soft. Add sausage and cook until done or heated (depending on what kind of sausage you're dealing with, mine was cooked already). Dump in can of beans after draining/rinsing, including a few tablespoons water. Stir around and heat up. Toss in the spinach, heat until wilted (or melted if it is frozen). Serve, and top with toasted walnuts.

This entire process takes about 10 minutes, which seriously is not bad at all, and very handy for a week night. I think all of it went well together, but toasting the walnuts really makes it delicious and also makes it taste like something that took a lot longer to cook (of course, I'm also obsessed with toasted walnuts right now and am putting them on everything and keeping a big bag in the freezer at all times, so I may be biased, but, still, you should do it). Anyhow, if you have basic ingredients on hand, this could be your dinner! Also, obviously, you can leave out the sausage and vegetarian-ize the whole thing.

Frozen Herbs... woah!

I recently discovered a product that I had absolutely no idea existed, but that seems like one of those really really awesome ideas, and you can't figure out why you haven't been using it for years... what could this be, you ask?

 Yes, you read that right... it says frozen cilantro! (and basil) This company Dorot (http://www.mydorot.com/default.aspx) has had the foresight to freeze teaspoon sized ice cubes of fresh herbs that you can pop out and add to recipes!

My herb garden is looking a little pathetic these days (although the weeks of torrential downpour in LA did help a bit), which makes this all the more appealing. Also, it just seems handy- for instance, the other day, I made my chana masala recipe, and one of the things I love about that is that its easy just to whip up out of things in the cupboard (basically all it has is onion, canned tomato, garbanzo beans, and spices). But, fresh cilantro makes a huge difference- thing is, I had no desire to go to the store just for a bunch of cilantro that I'd only use half of anyways, so I went without. No more! It was only $1.99 for the entire pack, so this can easily fit into your budget cooking store of herbs because they'll last quite a while, it seems. I'm excited!
(I found this at Trader Joes).

Dinner from Three Boxes...

Sometimes, you get home at 8:30, and you want dinner, and you're not quite desperate enough for the ever classy bowl of cereal and glass of wine gourmet combo. Thankfully someone invented Trader Joes, which is fully equipped to let you feel like you're cooking something wholesome with the absolute bare minimum effort. Witness: dinner from 3 boxes. (ok, ok, fine. technically some of them are bags. that just doesn't have a good ring to it).

Now, for the very complex ingredient list:

(plus a sliced mango. because sometimes if you go to the store when you're tired and hungry, you somehow end up dazed and void of willpower, wandering in the mango section).

Here is what you do:
1. Throw the chicken on the BBQ (or oven according to package directions)
2. Throw the bag of rice in the microwave.
3. Heat a little sesame oil and ginger or garlic in a pan (I used ginger paste in a jar which is now my staple way of getting ginger), and cook the green beans for however long it takes for the meat to be done (not long).
4. Slice the mango.

and... voila!

 

The curry chicken tenders aren't quite my favorite of the marinated TJ meats, because I was hoping for them to be a little bit saucier, but the flavor was pretty good, and they cooked fast, so I was happy.

ps. there MAY have been a fourth box, which I can highly, highly recommend...

Korean Beef Salad

I posted a few months ago about my Korean Fusion Tacos- inspired by the many L.A. taco trucks and helped along by Trader Joes- since then they've become a staple feature at our barbecues and are always a hit.

The first thing I want to tell you are a few modifications I've made since the original post... the core of the recipe is still the same- TJs Bool Kogi Beef, and some flatbread. There is a subtle difference in the toppings, though... the broccoli slaw is still fine, but I've taken to using English/hothouse cucumbers which I slice thin using a grater. Toss on some rice vinegar, a little sesame oil, and some red pepper flakes. In a seperate bowl, thinly slice red onions and marinate in the same stuff. Then chop a little cilantro. And... assemble!

Now we have: Tacos, 2.0

What we have here are day after remnants, in a sort of deconstructed taco, salad-like form. It was pretty much just a way for me to use up the leftover meat and cucumber, but actually, it was delish. I warmed the meat a little because this meat is just not that good completely cold, but that contrasted really well with the chilled tart cucumbers. This would be a really nice summer meal (or, if you live here, and its 90 in October, a really nice meal for a blazing hot fall evening). Try it!

Squash Fries!

In yet another squash themed post, I present to you a super fast weeknight meal that is truly easy to just throw together in 20 minutes from deciding to do it to eating at the table.

The squash is another in my list of new-to-me summer squash varieties from the CSA box. This one is patty pan, or scallop squash. I'll give it this, it is the cutest one yet- it looks like a cross between a flower and a space ship, and that is something you don't see every day. Also, it has now been in my fridge for almost 2 weeks (in a ziplock bag in the crisper drawer) and it held up beautifully.

I cut it into lengthwise strips, about the size of thick cut french fries. These were pretty large (I think sometimes this variety can be fairly small) so it worked well.

I used just a little bit of my fancy butter (from the coconut cupcakes) since I have to do something with it (2/3 of a pound are in the freezer, for some special occasion, but I have about a quarter of a stick worth sitting around, so why not), a chopped clove of garlic, salt and pepper, and just a tiny sprinkly of dried rosemary. I just pan fried the squash and let it get a little brown. Summer squash and rosemary is one of my absolute favorite combination and is probably the way I most frequently eat it (although, usually it is steamed).

I had this with the now staple food item of Trader Joes chipotle chicken skewers, just because they are so easy! Over all, it was a quick, easy, and 95% healthy dinner. Yum!

Korean Fusion Tacos- Trader Joes Style

Here in Los Angeles, sometimes it seems like you can't go 3 feet without running into a trendy lunch truck. You can't go 5 feet without one of those trucks selling some kind of fusion taco (like Kogi and Calbi and Bool). I initially had mixed feelings about this, in a city chock-full of awesome regular taco stands (which I partly love because they feed my very severe horchata addiction), but recently I've come around.

Given the profusion of Korean fusion tacos we, as a city, have been experiencing, its no surprise that when I saw Bool Kogi Sesame Marinated Boneless Beef Ribs (no, I'm not a paid advertisement), the first thing that popped into my head was tacos.

A delicious component of these tacos is some kind of vinegary slaw... to make mine, I used Trader Joes (of course) shredded broccoli slaw and some very thinly sliced red onions. I marinated these in seasoned rice vinegar and a tsp or so of sesame oil. (as a side note... my favorite cucumber salad is just thin sliced English cucumbers and rice vinegar- so refreshing!).

I was not in a tortilla kind of mood, so to continue with the fusion theme, decided to use the Trader Joes (you're getting the theme now, yes?) Middle Eastern flatbreads, which are soft and delicious. I lightly toasted them, but you don't have to. You can basically use any wrap-like material that you like.

Now, at just about this point, I realized my grill is either out of gas or in some other way non-functional, which was a shame. I was in too deep to give up, so decided to steal my my Mother's method for cooking meatballs- basically, take a cooling rack, put it over a baking pan, and put the meat on that. I used the broiler, she uses the oven. It works well because the fat is able to drain out as it would on a grill (see exhibit A, below. I apologize to my vegetarian friends for the meat close-up):

All thats left? Assembly!

 

 I served mine with corn (upcoming post) and the remainder of the slaw. I don't eat a lot of red meat, but when I do I like to eat it like this, in a scenario where there can be minimal meat in the context of a lot of veggies. This was really good! I don't know that it'll put the taco trucks out of business, but it would definitely be an interesting twist to throw at your next BBQ!

Finally succumbed to the whole green smoothie thing...

OK, lets get this out of the way first-- I apologize on 2 fronts: 1. these pictures are STILL taken with my cell phone given the untimely demise of my camera. 2. I'm STILL sick so I can't post anything new other than smoothie recipes. But even so, its a good one, don't you worry.

There has been a lot of hype about adding dark leafy greens to smoothies. This is supposed to supply all kinds of extra nutrients, in addition to increasing energy levels and keeping you full longer. I have loved spinach since I was just a wee little child (I was apparently a weird wee little child- we have a copy of a Dr. Seuss book, "My Book About Me", in which I claim spinach is my favorite food. as a 4 year old). So, I went with spinach (don't get all excited about the camera, this is a free stock photo from http://www.sxc.hu/).

I was highly suspicious, but this was actually very good. I'm not going to go so far as to say you'd never know the spinach was in there. But I will say that you probably won't mind.

-1 cup fat free plain yogurt
-1 cup frozen blueberries
-1 cup baby spinach, washed and all that jazz
-2 tbsp walnuts
-1 squirt honey (I leave it to you to determine the volume of the squirt)
(see, now this is a camera phone picture).

Blend it either in a blender, or with an immersion blender, which is what I did.
The verdict: it is pretty good! It definitely is nutrient packed with the spinach, yogurt, blueberries and walnuts giving you plenty of antioxidants, vitamin A & C, iron, calcium, and omega-3's. Also, I really was full (but not overly full) for the entire morning, after sipping this. Don't be scared- I highly suggest you try it! I liked it enough that I've made at least 3 of them by now.

AN IMPORTANT WARNING: it is important to remember that you have just blended spinach and blueberries into tiny bits. I do NOT suggest drinking this at work unless you also bring a toothbrush. I also suggest not smiling at anyone until you have the opportunity to do a tooth check. Just saying.

*** ADDENDUM: I just made one this morning (these pictures are from a few days ago). I added Trader Joes lemon curd, to give it a little kick. holy smokes. I highly recommend either that or some lemon zest, it really brightened it up!

Pancake Time!

You know, sometimes you just want pancakes.

These pancakes are easy, pretty guilt-free, and yummy- what else can you ask for? It also makes a perfect sized batch, and doesn't require boxes of mix or any of that extra stuff that I never seem to have around at the exact moment I'm craving these.


The stuff:
1/4c oatmeal (NOT steel cut oats)
1/4c cornmeal
1/2c nonfat yogurt
1 egg white (or one egg)
1/2tsp baking powder
1/4tsp baking soda
cinnamon

optional:
blueberries (just dump the frozen ones in there, still frozen)
half a banana
chopped nuts
vanilla
anything else you can imagine

What to do with it:
Basically, mix everything up in a bowl. Heat up a skillet/griddle, with some butter-like substance (I use Earth balance). I divide it up into 4 pancakes, because they fit on my griddle, but these are substantial! Cook on a fairly low temperature- when bubbles appear in the middle of the pancakes, flip. Cook until they're brown and done.

I topped them with Cranberry-apple butter from Trader Joes, because I freaking love that stuff. But, you could also use syrup, jam, microwaved frozen fruit which becomes kind of juicy, peanut butter, or whatever else it is you like on your 'cakes. One note- this doesn't make tons, but it is easily pancakes for 2- the pancakes in the picture are from an (approximately) 3/4 batch, and it was still a lot. But, you could easily freeze any extra ones if you wanted. Or, just eat a lot of pancakes, they're not that bad for you anyways!

These are really good- they kind of have a multi-grain like vibe to them, and especially if you load them up with delicious fruits and things, they're much more filling and substantial than plain pancakes... try them, they're good!

Butternut Squash and Spinach and Chicken and Rice and mmmmm...

All right, all right, I know that I may have kind of overdone it with the butternut squash this winter, since its come to you already in the form of pizza, and pasta, and strange wheatberry concoctions... but THIS is totally different, and totally delicious, and you should totally try it (plus, I can't be blamed for the squash this time, the meal was the inspiration of my co-chef).

Anyways, this is a rendition of one of those fresh prepared meals at Trader Joe's, which are usually really good. It was inspired by that, then helped along by this recipe, which is pretty similar. SO, here is our version...
The stuff:
2 chicken breasts (I used frozen)
1 red pepper, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
some garlic
1 butternut squash
1c brown rice
fresh spinach leaves
some chicken broth
sage (I used dry, fresh would be good too), salt, pepper, olive oil
(red pepper flakes, optional)

What to do with it:
Squash
-Peel and cube one butternut squash. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 400 until all nice and soft and browned.
-once its done, put it in a food processor or blender with some additional spices, and about half a cup of broth (or, whatever amount you need to put in to get it to blend it)

Rice
-cook 1c brown rice in 2c water (add a little onion, and spices, if you want)

Chicken
-Coat chicken with olive oil, pepper, salt, and sage- defrost. cut into chunks.
-Brown onion and a little garlic
-Toss in chicken. When the chicken is almost done, put in the red pepper slices
-Pour in some chicken broth, to make a little light sauce. Toss in the red pepper if you'd like it.

Spinach
rinse and prep some baby spinach leaves. you might even chop them very coarsely

Putting it all together..
Make a little bed of rice, top with butternut squash, chicken/onion/pepper mixture, and top the whole thing off with the spinach.

This was nice because it was warm and the sage and squash and everything make it nice and comforting, but at the same time it wasn't too heavy, and the fresh spinach was really a nice addition... when you stir the whole thing up together it becomes yummy and unique. Try it!

(ps. I liked the chicken, but if you wanted to veggie-fy this, I'd recommend taking some white beans and cooking them with garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and sage and using them instead of the chicken- if you did that, it would actually be vegan).

(UPDATE: ok, so it seems that the good people at Trades Joe's may actually season the squash with Indian-style spices rather than sage. I think that might give it the little kick this needs and will probably try it next time)

Butternut Squash Pizza

Ok, so, I seem to have redirected my obsessions with roasted butternut squash, toasted walnuts, and gorgonzola- which have previously been seen together in a wheatberry based format this time, into pizza.

Basically, this is the story:
--herb pizza dough from Trader Joes- you could make your own, or use a Boboli-type crust, but this stuff, which comes in dough form, is just awesome. roll it out, and coal with olive oil.
--1 little pack of butternut squash, also from TJs. or, just roast one, but that is going to be a much bigger commitment. cook it in the microwave until its really soft, and cut into even smaller pieces.
--a few handfuls of fresh spinach
--some crumbled gorgonzola
--a handful of toasted walnuts
--a shallot, sliced, and browned

Roll out the dough, brush with olive oil. Spread the spinach leaves, then layer on squash, gorgonzola, walnuts, and shallots. Sprinkle with pepper. Bake in 400 degree oven until crust seems done.

You'll note that this is not a cheesy pizza. You can add a bit of shredded cheese to hold it together (since you're already going to TJs, I get the Quattro Fromagio)- but, I only added about a quarter of a cup on the entire thing. There are so many flavors, its kind of nice to enjoy them and not have the focus be a pile of cheese (not, for the record, like I'm ever opposed to piles of cheese).

Anyways, if you want something warm and comforting, and a little different, this pizza's your man!

Butternut Squash Pasta

You can probably tell I tend to go on food kicks (like the great wheatberry kick of a few weeks ago which, frankly, you don't even know the full extent of because I still have wheatberry recipes in my backlog). Since its winter, the latest thing has been roasted butternut squash. There are a couple of reasons why this is so great: 1. you can eat it all kids of ways (soup, side dish, etc) 2. if you buy an actual squash, you can roast the seeds and its like a little mini batch of pumpkin seeds. and pumpkin seeds are awesome.

So, obviously, when I saw this recipe for Butternut Parmesan Pasta, how could I resist?


--1 butternut squash weighing about 1 pound OR a little bag of butternut squash cubes from Trader joes
--6 ounces of bow-tie pasta (I used whole wheat)
--2 t of olive oil (if no bacon)
--2 shallots, chopped
--1/3 cup of packed, freshly grated Parmesan cheese
--1/2 cup of chicken stock
--1/8 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
--3 slices thick cut uncured apple bacon from Trader Joes (optional; without this, use olive oil)
--Salt and pepper to taste
--Water as needed to thin the sauce

0. boil pasta according to instructions
1. Separately, roast the butternut squash if you have time, if not and you're using the little bag, thoroughly cook in microwave according to instructions
2. chop the bacon, and brown. add chopped shallots, brown.
3. put in squash, mash up. add chicken stock, and thoroughly mix to thin a bit.
4. add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cheese. mix until smooth.
5. Divide pasta in two, top with squash mixture.

This is really good, its definitely comfort food and is a bit like grownup mac and cheese. I think though, that I'm going to backtrack to the original recipe a little more when I make it. The original involved heavy cream, which seemed a bit much and I replaced with broth. I think it needed that creaminess though- at least some milk. I'd also consider replacing the parm with a softer creamier cheese (someone in the comments to that original recipe suggested Gruyere). I also may have undercooked my squash, and in this scenario I think if anything you want to err on the side of overcooking since you want it to mash smoothly. At any rate, I'm totally trying this again!

Thai Wheatberry Salad

I had an experimental dinner the other night. The version I made involved things like boiled over coconut milk that I have yet to fully get out of my stove, a miscellaneous assortment of leftover grains, and simultaneously burnt and raw chicken. But, surprisingly, the final product was pretty good. I'm going to tell you a bit about how I made it this time, but the recipe itself will be how I'm going to make it next time. Because I definitely will.

The whole idea came because I really wanted cold peanut noodles, but I'm trying to be healthy so wanted to bypass the noodle aspect of things. Instead, I arrived at a plan to use wheatberries cooked in coconut milk. I love wheat berries- they have a perfect texture for hearty grain salads. Unfortunately, I mis-read the internet, and cooked my wheat berries with a ratio of 4:1 liquid to grain rather than 2/2.5:1 which would have been better (hence the boiled over coconut milk). I also realized that I had a lot of extra liquid, so started adding bulgur (which cooks fast) on the fly. Either way, wheat berries have to cook a while so plan ahead. I then used a homemade peanut sauce, similar to this one. But later in the week, when I refreshed the leftovers a little, I realized the Trader Joes Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette (which is delicious) would have been fine.

So, here's what I came up with (which was really quite tasty)


And here is how I would do it next time:

Prepare ahead (or use leftovers):
-3/4c dried wheatberries, cooked in water and chilled (I get mine in the bulk grains area at Whole Foods; put about 2 c water in a pot with the wheat berries bring to to a boil, then simmer. The berries should become soft (but still a little chewy) and split a little. It can take an hour to cook them, or even more, so plan accordingly. You might need to add a little more water, so check on them).
-1 cucumber, seeded and chopped
-a small amount red onion, diced
-1/2 bell pepper coarsely chopped
-one large chicken breast, cooked, chopped
-bonus points for cilantro and chives

Toss all of it with Trader Joes Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette (or the home made peanut sauce below), chill. Enjoy! Makes great leftovers to take to lunch.

Yum! You could make it veggie by just omitting the chicken, or could add marinated tofu, although it would have to be really firm and probably pressed first in order to stand up, because this is not a delicate salad.

Peanut Sauce (slightly different than version for noodles, because more volume was needed as the grains will absorb some of it; all amounts are approximate- adjust it to your taste)
1/4c peanut butter (briefly microwaved, to soften and help convince it to mix with the other ingredients)
1/8c water
2T soy sauce
4T seasoned rice wine vinegar
.5T sesame oil
.5T spicy chili oil
red pepper flakes
diced ginger (1tsp or more)
diced garlic (1 tsp)

Chana Masala

Recently I went to Trader Joes (aka, my second home), and bought their frozen Chana Masala. Chana masala isn't even in my top tier of Indian food choices (I'm a saag kind of girl), but let me tell you, it was pretty delicious. Of course, having had it in all its deliciousness made me want to learn to make my own (because thats how I am).

So, a perusal of the internets began.I found a number of recipes, but this lady was by far and away not only the cutest of them all, but the biggest influence on my ultimate product.

(I preface this with my usual caveat about how I come from a Nordic people who do not make curry, so everything here is based on me liking stuff, not necessarily me being super authentic and making everything definitively. Plus, I like to experiment too much to make anything definitively, anyways).

SO!

Take a diced onion and slowly saute in some oil. I think that slowness is the key here, so that they get really soft, translucent, and a bit brown.

After they've been going for a bit, throw in a few cloves of diced garlic and some diced fresh ginger (I love ginger, so probably used about 3/4 of an inch of a plug of ginger). Then toss in a diced jalapeno (seeded). Let them cook until the onions are really nice and soft. Put in some cumin and coriander seeds and let them pop.

Now, dump in a can of crushed (crushed! must be crushed!) tomatoes, and stir around. Add 1/2-1tsp tumeric, 1/2 tsp red chili powder, 2-3tsp coriander, and stir it all up and let it cook a bit.

Then, dump in a can of drained chickpeas. Let it simmer for a while- you might need to add a bit of water, but this amount of tomatoes actually provides a lot of liquid. To thicken, just smush a couple of the chickpeas, which will release their starch. After its been cooking and the beans seem soft and the sauce tastes pretty good, add a little salt and 1/4-1/2 tsp garam masala. Right before you serve add a big squeeze of lemon and some cilantro and let that sit a second.

This was goooooooooood. And, cheeeaaaaaaaaap. (if you have your budget cooking basic ingredients, you are almost entirely good to go!).

Summer in a Skillet

Ok, I lied. The "Summer in your ear" (did I really call something summer in your ear? yes. yes I did) earring post was not the end of my summer series... THIS one is.

This is something I threw together (which, to be honest, is how most of my dinners come about), but it was really tasty. Basically, what we have here is whatever summer veggies were on sale. I got white corn (2 ears), 1 Anaheim chili, 2 small tomatoes, and some yellow squash. In just a little bit of olive oil I stir fried some onion and the chili, then threw in the squash, followed by the tomatoes (because I hate raw tomatoes and wanted them to be really cooked), and at the very end put in the corn, which I had cut off the cob*. I like to put the corn in at the end so its still crisp- then, add salt, pepper, and a splash of apple cider or white vinegar (this makes ALL the difference, it just makes everything taste fresh). When it was all ready I threw in a ton of fresh chopped cilantro.

I wanted to add a little protein because basically this was dinner (although it would make a great side dish), and I was too lazy to make chicken or something, so I threw in defrosted turkey meatballs from Trader Joes. It was so fresh and delicious! Perfect and easy for a hot summer day.


* I have an on-off relationship with Rachael Ray, but in an 'on' phase while watching her show I learned an awesome corn slicing trick. Take a big bowl, and put a much littler bowl upside down inside it. Balance the corn on one end on the little bowl and slice off the kernels- they all go into the big bowl and you don't get corn kernel shrapnel all over the place!

Tomato Thai Curry Soup

I know, I know, this can barely be construed as cooking. But, when faced with a busy day, an empty fridge, and a need for comfort food, I settled on a can of tomato soup. But, that seemed a little boring, so I spiced it up. I can't even bring myself to write this as a recipe, but I'm sure you can figure out what to do! (if you can't, add a few spoonfuls of curry sauce to the soup, and... you're done!)

Rosemary Chickpea Couscous Salad

Ok, this is... really good. It is PERFECT for a hot day, and let me tell you, it is nothing if not boiling hot around here these days. I made it, as inspired by AllRecipes, but as you well know, I think sticking exactly to recipes is boring. So, here is my take on it in 4 easy steps:

1. Make some couscous. This could be any kind (regular, whole wheat, Israeli- which is what I used) or some other kind of grain. Just make it the way the box says, and let it sit out for a while cooling while you do everything else.

2. Make some dressing.
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
a whole bunch of fresh chopped rosemary (MUST be fresh).

3. Chop up some veggies.
half an English cucumber
some sundried tomatoes (I used the marinated kind from TJs)
a handful or 2 of fresh spinach

4. Stir everything up in a big bowl. Toss in some feta (I used fat free; leave it out to make it vegan), dump in a drained can of garbanzo beans, and add some salt and pepper. Chill for a while to let the flavors get to know each other.

This is good! Beware though, if you use the whole box of couscous like the original recipe says (and I did, because my box was 8oz not 10oz like theirs, so I thought it'd be ok), you will end up with a LOT. I will be eating this all week, apparently! (also, the rest of the things in the picture will appear in later posts, so keep your eye out!)


Now, the other thing I've been meaning to bring up (sit down, lets have a little chat), is that I've gotten a couple comments from different people I know who read this saying that they would love to make the things here except that they're either a. on a budget or b. don't know how to cook. I've decided to try to tackle both these things on this blog in general, but haven't figured out how yet. For this recipe, I'd like to report that it only involves 2 skills- boiling water, and chopping. You can do this. I promise. Really. Also, all of these ingredients (couscous, garbanzo beans, lemons, rosemary, vinegar, olive oil, sundried tomatoes, cucumber, spinach) are available at your local Trader Joes. It may sound like lots of ingredients, but I would estimate that when you break it down, its probably only about $1-2 per serving, which you really can't beat for something so fresh and healthy and homemade! Be brave, try it!

Something Old, Something New

Well, its been a little hectic and I haven't been posting much, but I'd like to bring you a few brief updates...

1. I know you were waiting on the edge of your seat, so I've got to report that I finally was able to make the Miso Glazed Saki Drenched marinade with fish (which is what I was going for in the first place- you can see the recipe at the old post). I didn't have cod, which is what I think would be best, but I got frozen Mahi Mahi from Trader Joes with met my 2 main criteria- 1. it was not break the bank expensive, and 2. it was one of the few varieties of fish I can actually stand. I think overall, it went pretty well, it definitely has delicious potential. The one thing I'd say is the fish seemed to soak up a lot more of the miso, which did make it seem a bit on the salty side. So, for fish, I think I'd up the amount of Mirin, and decrease the amount of Miso. But, it was tasty, and here is the glamour shot...


2. And, big news item #2 is that I made a new series of pendants that I'm kind of into... and, here one is! (you can see more info here)

Balsamic Lentils... Holy Smokes!

This recipe comes courtesy of The City Girl Cooks who picked it up over at Savory Spicy Sweet which is quickly becoming a favorite, as it was also the source of the very delicious butternut squash gnocchi from a few weeks ago.

Anyhow... I consider myself something of a lentil connoisseur (seeing as how they are both healthy and cheap, two criteria which top my list), and these lentils are, to say it briefly, completely awesome. My first thought upon tasting them (well, first of all after "woah!") was basically, "and, why don't I use balsamic vinegar on absolutely everything?". They have sausage, which I almost never cook with but I decided just to try the recipe as is and it was really good and hearty. It could be easily veggie-fied, either by just leaving it out (it would be really flavorful just by itself) or else substituting veggie sausage.

Here is my take on it...

What you need:
some olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of minced garlic (probably 2-4 depending on taste)
red pepper flakes, to taste (I like a lot, probably used half a tsp- 1tsp)
3 links fully cooked chicken sausage, sliced- I got some garlicy sausage from TJs
2T balsamic vinegar
14oz can diced tomatoes
chopped fresh basil (could sub dried basil, in which case you should put it in at the same time as the pepper flakes)
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup dry lentils
1 1/4 cup water
5 oz fresh spinach or so, roughly chopped (I threw in almost a whole bag and did not chop it because I am lazy)

What you do...
Heat some olive oil in a pretty decent sized saucepan/pot (I just used my olive oil mister- all you need it for is browning the onions). Add the onions and cook until softened and a little brown.
Add ~1T balsamic vinegar, garlic, chicken sausage, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and sauté a couple minutes more.

Then, add the lentils, canned tomatoes, and water, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for around 25 minutes or until the lentils are just about done. Add spinach and chopped basil and cook 10 minutes more, until spinach is wilted and lentils are tender. Stir in remaining balsamic vinegar, garnish with extra basil, and serve.

This was seriously delicious. The balsamic vinegar really brought out a great flavor in the lentils, and it smelled absolutely fantastic. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Wheaty Veggie Pizza

This happened a few weeks ago but I'm just now posting it... for some reason the other day I got a bee in my bonnet about making pizza dough. I had a second bee in my bonnet about trying to make something somewhat healthy, so started looking around for whole wheat dough recipes. Obviously, the internet has everything, so I found one in short order. It was also purported to be both easy and fast, which is hard to argue with.

Here is my version

2 c. whole wheat flour
1 little packet active dry yeast
3/4 tsp. salt
1 c. warm water
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. honey

Preheat oven to 425. Mix flour, yeast, and salt in a pretty big bowl (I also included a little dry oregano, basil, and garlic powder). Then mix in the liquids (water, oil and honey). Cover the bowl with a damp cloth, and set it somewhere warm for about 10 minutes to rise.

After it has risen, punch it down and press into a greased pan- not having a pizza pan, I used a rimmed cookie sheet which worked just fine. One nice thing about this was that there was no rolling, it was totally possible to spread it out just by pushing with your hands.

Now, top with whatever you want. I used sauce, a layer of spinach, onions, peppers, cheese (I really like the Trader Joes Quattro Formaggio), and some leftover tomato sliced on top. This thing weighed a ton. Bake it at 425 degrees until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted- while the direction said 15-20 min, mine took at least 1.5x that if not twice as long.


This was pretty good. The only issue, to me, was that the crust lacked a certain chewiness that I like in a good pizza crust. It was definitely easy, and definitely fast. Basically, it wasn't the ultimate pizza but it did do the trick.

Gnocchi & Sage & Butternut Squash, Oh My!

Ok, this is good stuff. I got most of the recipe from over at Savory Spicy Sweet, but took a few liberties. Here's what went down...

I used...

Butternut squash, cubed
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh sage leaves
1 package gnocchi
4 ounces high quality Parmesan, shredded or shaved
1 can white beans

Now, here is where Trader Joes is awesome:

I could have spent 45 minutes and lost a couple fingers trying to cut up and peel a butternut squash (that is one of the things I am very very bad at), but the nice people at TJs have opted to put pre-cut cubes in cute little bags for a price low enough to make it worth it. So, I used 2 bags. I also used their gnocchi which seem just fine.

This is what you do:

Toss the squash, onion, and half of the sage (chopped) with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast it in the oven at about 375-400 for 40 minutes or until its getting brown and everything is cooked and soft. Towards the end cook the gnocchi according to the directions, drain, and set aside.

Now for the sage. I loooooooove it when things have crispy sage leaves in them so this was pretty much the main motivator for making the whole thing. Basically, heat some oil, toss in the leaves, and remove them when they're a little brown and crispy. Mmmmmm.

Take that out (if you're me, you may not have any experience frying leaves, so I kind of overcooked them. therefore, I changed the oil so there was no burnt taste). In 2 batches toss in a mixture of gnocchi and the veggies and lightly brown in the oil (the 2 batches part is apparently important so it all gets brown). At this point I added the drained and rinsed beans (I couldn't get white beans but that would be best. the recipe doesn't call for them but I wanted to add some protein). Toss them in with the remaining sage and Parmesan cheese (the fancier the better. mine was not remotely fancy). In addition, the real recipe calls for toasted pine nuts which might have been nice but I didn't miss them.

This was GOOD. I also only used about 2/3 the package of gnocchi and it made a ton.
Try it!