Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

One of my go to use-up-leftovers meals is fried rice, because honestly, there is almost nothing you can't throw in there. This only increased once I discovered the frozen packs of Trader Joes brown rice, because the one leftover I *don't* normally have on hand is rice. This takes that idea, and shakes it up a bit. If you're watching your carbs or looking for a way to get in some extra veggies, this is the recipe for you.

The basic idea behind this recipe is that rather than rice, you use riced cauliflower. I was mildly concerned about my ability to pull this part of the recipe off, but it didn't end up being a problem. BUT, you must must must have a food processor.

Stuff you need:

-veggies (whatever you like- peppers, pea pods, bamboo shoots, carrots, green onions, green beans, broccoli, whatever)

-protein (chicken, tofu, beef, whatever. should be cooked).

-flavoring (ginger, garlic)

-soy sauce (or, Braggs liquid aminos)

-oil (vegetable, or sesame. I do not recommend olive oil here.)

-2 eggs

First, take raw cauliflower (I used a whole head and had lots of leftovers, you could use half). Chop into florets, (and chunks of stem) and throw in batches into the food processor. Chop, and put in bowl. If you overload the food processor container, the big pieces won't get cut up and you'll get annoyed. So, do it in batches. I also had some baby carrots, so I threw those in with the cauliflower for kicks. I could have also julienned them.

Now, chop up your add ins. I had on hand some cooked chicken, onion, pepper, and ginger. This could be anything you have around. The only constraint would be that if your leftover meat (or tofu) is marinated already, of course you should make sure the flavors are compatible.

Now, heat up some oil (I used sesame oil). And, saute the veggies that need it (here, onions, peppers, and ginger). Once they were cooked, but still a bit crunchy, for texture, I threw in the chicken to heat it. Then, I poured in the cauliflower mixture. Now, just lightly beat the eggs in a little bowl, and pour over the cauliflower. This sounds weird, but it really provides an important binding component to the dish. (If you're vegan and know what would accomplish the same binding action without using eggs, I'd be very interested to hear, but personally I don't know because normal egg substitutes like flax seeds don't seem quite right.). Toss everything around in the pan until the egg is cooked, and add the soy sauce while you're doing it. Always remember that you can always add more soy sauce, but if you put in too much you're stuck with it.

Now...serve up!

This was really satisfying but healthy. It also made a TON and froze really well. Give it a shot!

Rustic Chimichurri

Now, I'm not a big steak person, but let me tell you- steak with this amazing chimichurri sauce on it is something to behold. (for the vegans among you, I also really enjoyed it on my grilled veggies and it would also make a good marinade for tofu).

Now, the reason I'm calling this "rustic chimichurri" is that while we followed a recipe, I may or may not be on vacation in a location with no access to a food processor (see below):

So, this is the version we made (from Emeril). The main difference is that we didn't have a food processor and instead used our own little hands, resulting in a less smooth, more rustic finish which I personally liked. In addition, we didn't marinate the steak because we didn't have skirt steak, we used it as a (substantial) garnish. It made a lot, so we're freezing some to marinate something in the future.

This is based on Emeril's recipe, but includes our modifications:

• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup sherry wine vinegar (originally 2/3)
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice (originally was 2)
• 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (we used curly)
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves (1 vacuum package)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves (we used dried) 
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper (originally 1/4)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (originally 1/2)
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Now, if you have a flat type of steak (which we didn't) you could marinate it, which we did not. We ARE planning to use it as a chicken marinade soon, though, and tofu would also be really good. Whatever you do decide to do with it, I guarantee deliciousness!

OK people, go nuts!

Grilled Pizza- Go Make This RIGHT NOW!

I don't know if it's some holdover from childhood birthday parties or what, but something about pizza is just fun. BUT, as fun as I might have thought it was before, frankly, now that I've made it on the barbecue, the fun factor has gone through the roof.

Now, I'd heard about this whole grilled pizza thing, and to be honest I was a little nervous and was pretty sure that in my hands the result would be a globulous mess that I would never in a million years be able to scrape off the barbecue. Clearly my cooking partner feeesh thought the same thing, because he came back from Trader Joes with a package of pizza dough, plus a backup pizza dough for when we wrecked the first one. But, not only did it turn out, it turned out so well we made them both!

Now, the first thing we did was use pre-made pizza dough because they have it at Trader Joes, it's cheap, and it's easy. We got one wheat and one herbed dough. The first step is to roll it out as best you can- ours were totally freeform. Meanwhile, clean the bbq well and then rub the slats with olive oil. Then, turn it on high and let it get really really hot. Take the flat dough out and toss it on the grill. Try not to freak out, it'll be fine. This part is very quick- you basically just want to cook it for about 3 minutes to kind of seal the underneath side of it.

Bring it in, flip it over, and put the side that was down, up and get ready for the toppings! First, brush the entire thing all the way to the edges with a light cover of olive oil. We made one with pizza sauce and one with pesto and liked the pesto one better, possibly because it was a little moister. Put on the other toppings- both of ours had peppers and onions, and one had pepperoni and the other had artichoke hearts and chicken sausage. 

Add a little cheese and you're good to go!

Now, you CAREFULLY slide it back on the grill, but turn down the heat to low. Let it cook until the cheese is all nice and melty, which will be about the same amount of time it takes for the dough to finish cooking.

Seriously, I'm not kidding, your mind will be blown. This does not taste like home made pizza at all, it tastes like something in some restaurant with a huge brick oven. Plus, it's fast, and it doesn't make your kitchen into a sauna, making it perfect for summer as well. 

Don't stop, don't pass go, don't collect $200... just go make this pizza!

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

This is a nice winter meal that was the perfect thing to have baking and smelling delicious while decorating the tree, and then to be enjoyed while admiring the twinkling lights.

I found this recipe over at Four Corners Foodies but made a few minor tweaks.

Squash filling:
1 butternut squash
1/4c almond milk
pinch nutmeg
pinch cinnamon
salt/pepper
1/8c parmesan cheese

Spinach filling:
1 24oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 egg whites
salt/pepper

Bechamel sauce:
4c almond milk (or regular milk)
4 tbsp butter (or butter substance of your choice)
4 tbsp flour
2 pinches nutmeg
pinch cayenne

Misc:
1 package no-bake lasagna noodles (I used Barilla flat noodles)
2/3c bread crumbs
1/3c parmesan
2 tbsp olive oil
optional, about  3/4c mozzarella

The first thing to do is get the squash going- cut it in half, remove seeds, and rub a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg on it. Bake at 400 until it is very soft, probably about 45 min. Scoop out of the rind into a bowl. Mash the squash, stir in the almond milk and the parmesan. Taste it, it should be very moist and delicious- add more of whatever you think it needs. Remember that the béchamel will also have nutmeg so no need to go overboard on that. I did consider using canned pumpkin in this, and I think that might actually work if you don't want to spend the time roasting. If you do that, I'd recommend the larger sized can, because this was a pretty large amount of squash.

Thaw the spinach and really squeeze all the water out (one way is by putting it in a clean dish towel and squeezing). Mix well with the 2 egg whites and salt/pepper. You could leave the egg whites out, but they do help make it puffier.

Now, this was my first time making béchamel, which was convenient because just that morning we'd watched Top Chef where they had to make the four "mother sauces", of which this is one. At any rate, it turned out to be really easy, and also easy to vegan-ize, if you're into that kind of thing. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, and let it brown a little. In the meantime, heat up the milk so when you add it, it isn't cold. Gradually whisk into the flour mixture and add the nutmeg and cayenne. Bring it to a boil and let it cook for 10 minutes, being sure to stir a lot. Then you can set it aside.

Finally, it's time to assemble. Put a thin layer of sauce, then noodles, then spread with squash and drop spinach all over it. Keep going, I ended up with 3 layers of filling with a layer of noodles on the top. Pour any leftover sauce over the top. Then top with mozzarella, if you like, and then the breadcrumbs and parmesan, finally drizzle the olive oil on top.

This smelled amazing and looked BEAUTIFUL. It is also a really nice and hearty vegetarian main dish. You could make it vegan by making appropriate milk/butter choices, and eliminating the cheese (I'd add extra salt to make up for what is in the parmesan).

I served it with a really simple salad, and it was a delicious dinner!

Spicy Egyptian Couscous

This is a delicious, quick easy veggie recipe that makes a nice light but comforting dinner. I found it here, but these are my adaptations.

1 cup couscous (and 2 c water for cooking or else 1c water/ 1c broth)
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 zucchini, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup carrots, grated
1/2 tsp. coriander
pinch cayenne pepper (more if you like spice)
2 cloves garlic, crushed (or 2 tsp chopped garlic from the jar)
3/4 tsp. cumin
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
4 tsp. water

Cook the couscous by itself (just bring the 2c water to a boil, pour in the dry couscous, cover, and let it sit while you do the rest).

Heat up the oil and add the coriander, cayenne, garlic, cumin- stir for a minute, then add the onion, zucchini, and cook until soft. Then, pour in the beans and 4 tsp water. Combine with cooked couscous, stir, let sit a bit to mix, then eat! It also reheats really well in the microwave for lunch.

The flavors in this are nice- the carrots give it a sweetness, and if you put enough cayenne to get some heat, it makes a nice combination. The zucchini and extra water also make it very moist. Give it a shot!

Oh, Zucchini.

I'm sorry to have been such a delinquent hostess around these parts... I was on a lovely vacation, which has been followed by what can only be described as a data analysis frenzy. As a result of said frenzy, by the time I finish for the day the last thing I want to do is look at my laptop, I'd rather do more important things like pander to Charlotte's whims and watch the first season of Game of Thrones. You know, the important stuff.

At any rate, boy do I have a lot of backlogged recipes for you! To get through them, I might get a bit thematic... so today's post is brought to you by our old summertime friend, zucchini.

Zucchini #1
First, I'm going to tell you how to make the best grilled zucchini ever. You might be thinking "meh, I know how to grill zucchini" and planning to skim right past. But, do you really want to be making sub-par grilled zucchini for the rest of your life? Do you? I didn't think so. Fortunately, it's super easy, and only has 1 secret ingredient.

Here's what you do... take your zucchini and slice into appropriate sized pieces- small enough to cook through, big enough not to fall through the grill slats. Coat with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and... tumeric! It's the tumeric that does it. Much like when I used it in eggs, it doesn't give an aggressive flavor, but rather just adds another subtle level of taste that really really makes it delicious. Try it!

Zucchini #2
This recipe was borne of a need to put something together fast out of the things in my kitchen, but was actually delicious. It was inspired by this Egyptian style spicy couscous recipe, but here is my version.

The Stuff:
1c couscous
2c water
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1/3-1/2c carrots, grated
1/2 tsp corriander
3/4 tsp cumin
pinch cayenne
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/8c water
1 can drained and rinsed garbanzo beans

What to do with it:
Prepare couscous as usual (either according to package directions, or just boil the water, pour in the couscous, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit).

Heat oil, sautee onions, zucchini, and carrots until soft; add garlic, cayenne, cumin and corriander. Stir in beans, and add the extra water so the mixture is moist. Mix in with couscous, and there you go!

This was so simple, really flavorful, came together quick and reheated really well for lunch- what else can you ask for? Plus it's vegan, if you're into that kind of thing. Well worth a try!

Simple Summer Chicken and Corn

This is an easy and delicious dinner perfect for summer...

First, the chicken... for this, you can use my tried and true ziplock baggie approach. Here is what you need:
-3 thawed chicken breasts (or, however many you need)
-juice of one fresh lime
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1 tsp cumin
-1/4tsp chili powder
-big pinch of salt.

Throw it all in a gallon sized ziplock baggie. Push out as much air as possible and seal- then kind of squish it around with your hands so the marinade is mixed well and contacts all the surfaces of the chicken. Let marinate in the fridge for an hour. Don't let this marinate for too long, because the acid in the lime juice has the potential to make the chicken break down and get mushy. Then, just toss on the grill!

The corn is one of my favorite ways to eat fresh corn (technically, you can make it with canned corn, but it really isn't the same).
-4 cobs fresh corn, kernels cut off
-1/2 small red onion, diced
-1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
-1 small tomato, diced (again, must be fresh)
-about 1/4c fresh chopped cilantro
-(here I had one can well drained and rinsed black beans, but that was just to add protein in case I ate it for lunch during the week, I recommend trying it first without them. If you do use them, add them with the corn).
-2 tbsp butter, or butter substitute
-1/4c seasoned rice vinegar
-cooking spray
-black pepper

Cook the jalapeno and onion in the cooking spray until soft, then add the tomatoes, and cook until lightly cooked through. Pour in fresh corn kernels, vinegar, and butter and saute briefly (about 5 min, you really want the corn to be fresh and crisp- you barely need to cook it). Turn off the heat and add the cilantro, serve immediately.

This can be a side dish for almost any light summer meal, especially one that is grilled- fish, chicken, steak... all of them would be delicious!

Garbanzo Beans and Kale Bake

Now, we enter the phase in which I start to tell you the thrilling tale of how I used up CSA Box #1. I'm just warning you, there were a whole lotta greens in there, so get yourself ready.

This recipe was really good, and suuuuuuuuper easy. You really can't go wrong when there are so few ingredients!

The stuff:
1 onion, quartered and sliced
1 can garbanzo beans (or, white beans) drained and rinsed
4 cloves garlic
a big bunch of kale, rinsed, big stems removed, and chopped
Parmesan cheese- better quality is better, but all I had was the finely grated kind.
(also olive oil, salt, pepper)

What to do with it:
Take a 9x13 pan, dump the beans, onions, and garlic inside. Sprinkle salt and pepper according to taste (although, watch it with the salt, this starts tasting salty fast), and toss with about a tablespoon of olive oil. It might sound like a lot, but all the other ingredients are low calorie, and using olive oil as opposed to something like cooking spray makes a big difference with such a simple dish. Bake the mixture at 400, stirring occasionally, until the beans and onions are lightly browned. With the garlic and onions, it should smell delicious.

Once the beans are brown, put the kale in the pan, and stir it around. It'll shrink a bit, so don't worry if it looks like a lot. Be sure it is mixes well so the onions, beans, garlic, and oil get their flavor on the kale.  Once it's mixed liberally sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese (if you want it to be vegan, it'd probably taste fine without it). Continue to bake at 400 until the kale is getting a little bit brown, and it seems softened.

This could make a great side dish, although I ate it as a light dinner just as is! It heated up really well for lunch the next day, too. This is definitely going to be a go-to way to cook greens in the future- it comes together quickly, and the ingredients are things that a well-stocked pantry should have on hand. Give it a try!

Buffalo Chicken, Oh My!

I actually made this recipe quite a while ago and somehow the picture was lost to the sands of time. Actually, what happened is that my camera battery died, no photos were getting dates on them, and according to my computer I made these on January 1, 1980, when I'm fairly sure I was actually doing something more like watching Sesame Street and getting potty trained, rather than making buffalo chicken potato medallions for dinner with my boyfriend. As proof, I present a picture of myself on July 5, 1980. I am rocking the stylin' striped turtleneck.

But, now back to business. These things are freaking delicious. I found them over at Cara's Cravings, which is a very reliable source of deliciousness. They could easily be an appetizer, but we had them for dinner with some salad.

The first step is to make her buffalo chicken. Now, this was part of the big draw, because I'm always pumped to find some way to use my crock pot, which I still haven't really fully integrated into my cooking life (and definitely haven't fully integrated into my block, because I'm only batting about 50-50 with that thing).

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken:
4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks- mine were still partly frozen
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced, or, 3 tsp chopped garlic
1 red bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup Franks buffalo wing sauce (you can use some other sauce, but Franks is pretty classic.
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

Toss it all in there, and cook on low until the chicken is cooked. Mine only took about 4 hours- although that may be a function of the size of my crockpot. Once it's done, shred the chicken with a fork. This stuff was DELICIOUS. Also, I like the fact that it has tons of flavor, but no added fat. After making the recipe I'll show you here, I also used this in a creamy buffalo chicken pasta, a buffalo chicken pizza, and the rest is in the freezer, waiting to be enjoyed once I recover from my buffalo chicken overdose.

Buffalo Sweet Potato Medallions:
1 large sweet potato
crockpot buffalo chicken
crumbled Gorgonzola
olive oil/cooking spray
salt/pepper

Now, these are super easy. Take a big sweet potato (we were having them for dinner, so I picked the fattest sweet potato I can find. the girth of the potato will directly control the portion size, so for appetizers, pick a skinnier potato). Slice it into about 1/4 inch slices. Toss them in olive oil, or coat with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast on a tinfoil covered cookie sheet at 425 for 25-30 min, until a little browned, flipping halfway through.

Top each cooked slice with buffalo chicken mixture, and then with Gorgonzola sprinkles. Put the sheet under the broiler to let the cheese melt (about 5 min, depending on your broiler).

Serve either as an appetizer or with a light salad to make it into a main meal. These taste way more decadent than they actually are, give them a try!

Spicy Polenta Casserole

My life right now goes something like this... wake up, drink copious amounts of coffee, go to work, run around all day, come home and watch something really educational like one of the many Real Housewives shows or ANTM (and the girl I liked tooooootally won on ANTM last week- woot!), then I hole up in my room and write grants until midnight while Charlotte stares at me balefully, collapse in bed. Rinse. Repeat.

You will notice that description does not include things "make delicious, creative, healthy meals every night, take pictures of them, and write clever posts about them". My actual dinners are focused more on what I can make that I can then microwave servings of for days on end. Fortunately for you, one of these actually turned out to be super delicious and now you get to read all about it.

What you need:
For the polenta:
1c cornmeal
2c milk (I used almond milk)
1.5c water
1/8c grated Parmesan
1/2c shredded cheese (I used the Trader Joes Quattro Fromagio, which is a staple around here)

For the filling:
a whole lotta chopped cleaned stemmed Kale (or, green of your choice)- probably 6 cups
1/4 onion, chopped
a little oil for browning the onion
1 package "Soyrizo" from Trader Joes*
1/3c water
1 tbsp butter (or, butter-like substance- I used Earth Balance)
pinch of salt (don't need much, what with the cheese and chorizo and all)

*now, you could use regular chorizo, but seriously, have you ever read the ingredients in that stuff? I mean, I'm not a vegetarian, but, man, that stuff is terrifying. The soyrizo is actually awesome, spicy, and unless you are a chorizo aficionado I doubt you can even tell the difference (but, your arteries can!). just try it.

Preheat the oven to 400. Grease an 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray.

First, you're going to make the filling.  Heat the oil, and cook the onion until translucent and soft. Then, toss in the soyrizo (don't put in the casing! it's plastic!) and stir it around. Put the kale in, put in the water (so it can steam a little) lower the heat, and cover the pan. When it is still pretty bright green, but is soft, uncover it and let it sit.

Now, you need to make the polenta (my instructions, and general inspiration, came from the Food Network). Boil the water/milk/salt. Turn down the heat, and slowly pour in the cornmeal, stirring as you go. Keep on stirring it, and it will thicken- you want to keep stirring because if it's lumpy, it'll be gross. It'll become kind of like the texture of boxed cafeteria style mashed potatoes (sticks together, but still stirrable), and then you're done. Stir in the cheese and the butter, and really mix it up.

Next, pour half the polenta in the pan, put in the entire kale/chorizo/onion mixture, and spoon on the rest of the polenta, you'll probably need to spread it around with a spoon. Then, bake it in the oven for 20-25min, it should be nice and golden brown. Wait a minute, then serve!

It was sooo good! Something about the cheeziness and the cornmeal and the spicy chorizo.. mmm. It also microwaved really well (which was important because I ate it for quite a few dinners/lunches that week). This could actually work as a breakfast casserole, it might go well with scrambled eggs. Also, if you want to use it as a side dish you could leave out the chorizo (the original recipe didn't have it). But, honestly, it was delicious, and I wouldn't if I were you. Anyways... try it!

Rosemary Gorgonzola 'Soysotto'

This recipe goes in the "a little bit different" category. I got the idea from a post over at Cara's Cravings, but it turns out it actually comes from Rocco's "Now Eat This!" cookbook, which I actually own and which was the source of the Penne alla Vodka post from a few months back. I think I probably overlooked it in Rocco's book because his version relies on mushrooms, which frankly, I have never managed to get fully on board with. Cara's version involves butternut squash and sage, which I was immediately very excited about, but also called for pecorino romano cheese, which turned out to be a bit strong for me in this dish. So, tonight I made it my own!

Now, you're probably wondering what this whole "soysotto" deal is. Basically, it's risotto, but the general idea is that given how carby and fatty risotto can get, this recipe tries to healthify it (yes, that is a word now) by using textured vegetable protein (TVP) as a base instead of arborio rice. The net result of this is that the dish has higher protein content, lower carbs, and cooks much more quickly. I think it's tasty and satisfying and easy. However, if you are a risotto purist, you're going to want to give this a skip, because it doesn't really have exactly the texture I associate with a truly good creamy risotto. I am not a risotto purist, so I found the texture to be just fine and for me it was a very reasonable substitute.

What you need:
1.5c TVP*
3c chicken or veggie broth
1 tsp (or a clove, chopped) garlic
half an onion
a bit of oil/butter for browning
pepper, to taste
2oz gorgonzola**
fresh rosemary- I used 2 sprigs, each ~4 inches long, and stripped the leaves
3 big handfuls baby spinach, roughly chopped.
1/4c chopped walnuts, toasted

What to do with it:
Chop the onion into strips, brown in the oil/butter of your choice.
Once the onion is translucent and brown, add the garlic and stir for a few minutes.
Pour in about 1/4 a cup of the broth, to deglaze pan.
Put in TVP, stir in the rosemary.
Add half the remaining broth, stir until absorbed.
Add the rest of the broth, let simmer. If it becomes too dry, add a bit of water. It should remain quite moist.
Once the water/broth is fully absorbed - about 10 minutes- (there may be a little  bit at the bottom, thats fine)- turn off the heat.
Stir in the cheese, until melted. Add pepper.
Stir in the chopped spinach, and cover until wilted.
Top with toasted walnuts.

*I used Bob's Red Mill, which I got at Whole Foods- I used to buy it in bulk but haven't found it lately. If you're wondering, one big point in favor of TVP is that it is an incredibly cheap protein source and very versatile. Of course, some people are not in favor of too much soy, but I think as one part of a varied diet it can be fine.
**Now, you might be wondering if you can skip the cheese and make it vegan. Honestly, I don't know if I would- the melted cheese plays a big role in bringing the texture together, and also provides a lot of flavor. If someone gives it a try with a vegan cheese, you should let me know! If you do use a plainer cheese, I'd up some of the other spices/seasonings.


Now, I actually ate this as a light meal all by itself, and it was delicious- it would also be good paired with a simple salad. You could also serve it as a side dish- if you wanted to make it easier (for instance, if you were already serving it with a protein and a vegetable), you could always just make it with just the rosemary and gorgonzola. But, I liked it just as is! I will definitely be making it again.

Weeknight Cooking

This is very exciting, I've added a new tag for your sorting pleasure... this time... week-night dinners, which are things that don't take hours to cook and are well-suited to throwing together on a week night. They still involve cooking, but nothing extensively long. Enjoy!

http://yellowfishblog.blogspot.com/search/label/week-night%20dinners

Some examples of things in this category are...

Balsamic Lentils
Peanut Noodles
Squash Soup
Pineapple Chicken Tacos
Apricot Walnut Chicken
Chana Masala
Butternut Squash Pasta
Chickpea Tomato Quinoa
Chicken Chili
French Lentil Salad
Shredded Asian Beef
Rosemary Chicken with Lemon-Almond Bulgur

Some of the things that differentiate these from other recipes are that, for instance, you can marinate meat all day in the fridge (for instance, the Pineapple Chicken Tacos, or the Rosemary Chicken), or, some are slow-cooker recipes (like the Shredded Asian Beef, Apricot Walnut Chicken, and Chicken Chili), others use ingredients like lentils and bulgur that are very quick cooking, or pre-cooked beans (like the Chana Masala). Good luck!

Chicken Adobo, NYT Style

Sometimes I get a bee in my bonnet (yes, thats what I said), and just can't keep going until I make the thing I'm obsessing about. Recently, I read an article on Chicken Adobo with accompanying recipe, and there was the bee.

You can go see the recipe yourself, for once I did exactly what they said to do... but, I was very pleased to see that it actually looked strikingly like the photo in the paper!

 

 We had it with salad, and some roasted sweet potatoes. I think it would be more traditional on rice, but, what can I say, this is what we did- actually, the tangy sauce was delicious on the potato! I highly recommend the recipe...

Pineapple Chicken Tacos

I have developed a bizarre obsession with pineapple lately. I have NO idea where this came from, but its been a few weeks and shows no signs of fading, so I've decided to embrace it. Today's results? Pineapple chicken tacos!

The chicken:
I used my tried and true marinating technique of throwing frozen chicken breasts into a ziplock baggie, putting the marinade in there, and letting it sit there while the chicken defrosts (in the fridge, to avoid food poisoning). I threw mine on the grill, because it I live in L.A. and you can do things like grill in January. You could also broil it.

The marinade:
1/2-3/4c pineapple juice (this could be from the can of pineapple you'll be using for the salsa in a few minutes, mine was)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1tsp fresh garlic
1 tsp fresh ginger
(my garlic and ginger are from a jar. I think it is a good solution- much better than dried, but much less work than cutting things up)
Sriracha/rooster sauce/chili sauce (or in a pinch, red pepper flakes)- this depends on taste- more for spicier, less for not.

The salsa:
half a diced cucumber
half a can of pineapple, diced (or, I suppose, well drained crushed pineapple)
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sriracha/pepper flakes/etc
optional- diced red onion

I served mine on warmed corn tortillas, with the salsa on top, topped with avocado. Sour cream would have been good, too! This was relatively quick, healthy, and delicious!

Apricot Walnut Crockpot Chicken

I feel like in some ways I should call this "never give up" chicken, because I hate to admit it, but I almost did.

I am trying to learn to use my crock-pot, and there is a lot of variation in how well this goes (I nearly had a Thai-beef-curry induced meltdown a few weeks ago). I saw this recipe, which seemed easy and good, made some tweaks, and gave it a shot.

--11 oz jar of apricot preserves- it took me a while to find one without high fructose corn syrup, and surprisingly the grocery store brand is the one that won out

--1 T dijon mustard

--2 T soy sauce

--2 tsp ginger

--1/4 to 1/2 t red chili flakes, OR 2 tsp chili sauce (like Sriracha)

--6 chicken breast pieces or (thighs would work)

--1/4-1/2 cup walnut pieces

 Throw it all in there, and turn it on. I put it on low, and theoretically it should have taken 5-6 hours, but it took more like 4.5, probably because my chicken pieces were pretty puny.

Now, this is the point where I almost gave up.

My chicken did not look delicious like the chicken in the picture on the blog I read, it looked like flat chicken pieces in thin brown soup. Chicken floating in thin brown soup (chunky soup, because of the walnuts!) actually looks pretty gross. BUT, Charlotte reminded me that I am not one to back down from a challenge, and that cooking on a budget does not allow for throwing away large quantities of chicken, and I continued on. I took all the sauce, put it in a saucepan, and simmered it for a while until it was reduced into something thicker and more appetizing (see below).

It actually turned out! One note is, this was really sweet (I should have known something involving an entire jar of jam would be sweet), I think kids would like it as it is, but if I make it again, I'll double the chili sauce and soy sauce to jazz it up a little. Enjoy!

ps. I'd like to make a shout out to my sister-in-law Carmen, the Christmas-Elf who supplied me with some new and exciting plates to make my blogging photos more exciting... yay!

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...

Summer Squash and Gorgonzola Polenta

I'm reaching the home stretch on my first CSA box (although this is posting a little later than real-time)- I really wanted to use the whole thing before it was time to order again 2 weeks later, and I'm almost there (technically you can get them every week, but as much as I love vegetables there is no way I could take that thing down in a week). I had a summer squash, and a craving for Gorgonzola, and the internets provided via EatingWell.

its a little hard to take a delicious looking picture when 100% of the dinner is yellow. but, nonetheless, it was delicious.

The stuff:
-Broth of your choice- 3.5 cups (I use these little squeezable packs from Trader Joes that become 1 cup of broth when you add water).
-1 yellow squash (very large. normal grocery store ones might require 2-3).
-a bit olive oil
-.5tsp sage
.5tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1.5 tbsp flour
3/4c cornmeal
3/4c Gorgonzola (a wholelottacheese, is what that is)
1c water

What to do with it:
Polenta: (caveat, this is the second time in my life I have attempted Polenta. other than accidentally spilling massive quantities of pepper int there, it was pretty good)
Basically, boil 2.5c broth and 1c water. Slowly pour in cornmeal, whisking the whole time. Put on lower heat, and simmer for 15 or so minutes until it becomes creamy (when you taste it, you shouldn't taste little granules). Once it reaches that state, remove from heat and pour in pepper and cheese.

Squash:
Heat up a little olive oil, and throw in the garlic (if you're me, you use the chopped garlic in the jar. so easy!). Then throw in peppers, and just brown them a little (they'll cook more later). Sprinkle the flour on, and stir to cover squash. Then, pour on 1c broth and add the sage. Lower the heat, it'll thicken up as it cooks- just wait until the squash seems nice and soft.

Spoon the squash and sauce over the polenta. This could totally be a main course. I have unfortunately had a vast quantity of squash-as-the-main-course dinners recently, so decided to supplement with a little chicken. I went the easy route, and cooked a Chipotle chicken skewer from Trader Joes (so good! so easy!). Obviously minus the chicken, and using veggie broth, its a great vegetarian entree.

This came together pretty quickly- the entire thing was done in about 25 minutes, so it can easily be done after work, but it is very warm and satisfying. In addition, this kind of gave me a revelation about sauce- this is such a simple way to make a sauce for vegetables, I have no idea why I never thought of it before- it could be adapted to any veggie main dish that you want to serve over rice, or in some scenario where a little sauce would make it extra tasty... I'll be doing that again!

Stuffed Rond De Nice Squash

In my continuing CSA adventures, I'm learning to identify and cook some squash varieties I've never even seen before (including one thing I thought was a squash and was about to eat for dinner until I cut it open, and it turns out it was some weird cucumber! I still haven't gotten to the bottom of that one yet).

At any rate, in order to identify these things I've taken to doing google image searches of 'squash' and trying to find ones that look like what is in my fridge... and, low and behold, I have a Rond de Nice Squash, which apparently is actually a French type of round zucchini (oooh la la). Basically everyone on the internet stuffs them, so, I went for it.

Cut the top off, and hollow out the middle. BEWARE! this is NOT like a pumpkin, because the skin is just thin zucchini skin. So, the only thing stopping you from digging a hole straight out the side of the squash are your own razor sharp reflexes.

My filling:
-half an onion, diced
-a jalapeno (from my pepper plant!)
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp corriander
-ground red pepper
-1 cob corn, cut off cob
-1 can drained rinsed black beans
-3 cloves garlic
-the extracted squash insides, chopped up
-1/4c shredded cheese (or feta!)
-a little olive oil

Cook the onions and garlic in with the olive oil. Toss in the jalapeno and the cumin/corriander/pepper. Put in the beans and the corn and let cook. Put in cheese at the very end. Stuff the peppers with it.

Now, I'd say my primary mistake was in making my filling to wet- I was worried about it being dried out, but the squash itself released a lot of water, so I'd err on the dry side. I put the little hat on it, and baked at 350 for 30 minutes. Then, I took the lid off, topped with a bit more cheese, and let it keep going until it was brown and bubbly.

This was good! The squash got really soft, and it was a delicious combo of veggies. You could really put almost anything in there- a lot of people used sausage, but I didn't want to go there. Mine had a Mexican flavor, but you could go anywhere.

It was very filling and I used it as a main course, but if you cut the peppers in half (they're softball sized, so pretty large) you could use them as a side dish. In addition, it made way too much filling for the 2 squash I had (it would be perfect for 4). So, I put them in tupperware with some rice (as part of my whole lunch packing system), and have 2 lunches in the freezer!

If you see these things, give it a whirl! 

Penne alla Vodka, minus the Vodka

I found this recipe in the Now Eat This! cookbook by Rocco DiSpirito, and he's used it all over the internet as an ad for the book, so given that it seems fine to actually post the recipe here.

Now the claim is that vodka is not actually a key ingredient in penne alla vodka, and it was perfectly delicious without it so maybe thats true. I'll leave it up to your imagination how to replace the vodka you're now missing in your life.

The stuff:
-whole wheat penne pasta
-a jar fat free marinara (they have some at TJ's) or other marinara. you can make it yourself, but then this becomes a whole lot less like something you can throw on the stove when you get home at 8:00
-red pepper flakes
-1 7oz contained low fat plain Greek yogurt
-1c chopped basil (fresh! FRESH!)
-salt/pepper
-parmesan cheese
-cooked chicken chunks (optional, minus which it is vegetarian)

What to do with it:
-Boil water, cook pasta (you can figure this out).
-heat the marinara sauce, adding red pepper flakes, simmer a bit
-now you have to mix in the yogurt, and I think this is a good trick, it keeps the yogurt from curdling. mix about half a cup of marinara with the yogurt, then stir it back in the sauce
-toss together the sauce, pasta, and basil, (and chicken) topping with the cheese.

Basically, this is ridiculously easy, and pretty healthy to boot- it really tasted creamy and good, it actually made me want to start adding yogurt to everything (so, watch out!!). If you can boil pasta and stir together pre-made sauce and store-bought yogurt, you're golden. I love recipes like this, that you can throw together at the last minute, but that still taste like you're treating yourself. Try it, you'll like it!

(note- this clearly also pre-dates the whole farm box thing.. be patient, I'm getting to it! my blog posts lag a little behind my real life unless I'm over the top excited about something: exhibit A, inaugural CSA box).

Roasted Cauliflower, Bulgar and Toasted Walnuts with Pumpkin Sauce

This recipe is perfect for a crisp fall evening- its light, but it is also very satisfying. It was borne out of the list of things that existed in my kitchen, but turned out surprisingly well. It's close to being vegan, but doesn't quite make it although I'm sure where there's a will, there's a way.

What you need:
1c bulgur wheat
half a head of cauliflower
1 cup mashed pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix!!!)
1/2 large onion, diced
3/4 c broth (chicken or veggie)
3/4 c milk (I used plain almond milk)
1/4c parmesan cheese
2 tsp ground sage (or, fresh if you have it)
3 cloves garlic
1/4c fat free greek yogurt
walnuts
olive oil

What to do with it:
Cauliflower- cut into florets, toss in a little olive oil, roast in 400 degree oven, stirring a few times, until nice and brown

Bulgur - this is very easy to cook. You can actually just boil water, pour 1 c bulgur into a bowl, pour 2.25c water on it, cover,  and let it sit while you do everything else. Stir once while it sits.

Walnuts- for me, toasted walnuts are like crack. Seriously, I don't even like plain walnuts but when you toast them they turn into something amazing and decadent, and they added a really critically delicious crunch that you don't want to miss. So, toast the walnuts. I did this under the broiler, which resulted in an initial batch of blackened burnt nuts. The second ones... delicious!

Pumpkin sauce- this is based on a very delicious recipe that I found out in the Washington Post.  Saute the onions and garlic in a bit of the olive oil until soft and brown. Add sage and cook a few more minutes. Add the broth, the pumpkin, and the milk, and cook for about 10 minutes, letting it thicken a bit. When your cauliflower, walnuts and bulgur are ready, remove the sauce from the heat, and stir in the cheese. Then, at the last minute stir in the yogurt (the sauce shouldn't be boiling when you do this). You could do this without the cheese and yogurt to make it vegan, but I can't make any promises about the cheesy goodness in that scenario.

Assembly... basically, serve some bulgur, top with cauliflower, add sauce, and then the walnuts! I had my doubts about whether the sauce would be overly pumpkin-y, but it actually was amazing, and I plan to make it again. It would also be delicious on pasta. Enjoy!



(FYI, this post refers to a dinner prior to receiving my glorious CSA box, so despite all my hype about using that for the next 2 weeks, none of this was in there).