Just a quick little recipe that was incredibly easy – and really very delicious. It’s good as stuffed chicken breasts…and also when they are sliced and put into wraps and put on top of salads. And since it’s hot and I don’t want to eat too much that is also hot, chicken that’s versatile enough to be served as cold leftovers is just the ticket. [See below for recipe]
Kale: A Retrospective May 25, 2011
As any reader of our little blog knows, M LOVES KALE and eats it like nobody’s business. In all this time, I sat by and ignored all recipes involving kale because I just don’t usually like my vegetables that….green. However, a combination of forces (M’s constant ravings about kale, my having to write about why you should eat it at my job…and my ensuing sense of dishonesty) forced me to reconsider my position.
So, inspired by M’s recipe for crunchy kale and by a similar recipe, I turned the healthiest leafy green into chips.
And, they were good. (They made the house smell kind of weird…but they actually taste fine.)
So, I give you my recipe, below, and links to all our other kale recipes. Go try at least one.
Cooking with Kale
Kufteh-Inspired Black Bean And Red Lentil Patties With Kale
Roasted Chickpeas/Kale/Seitan With Couscous
Low Sodium Tomato Soup
Mushroom Pilaf
Pumpkin Macaroni & Cheese
Kale Chips
Bunch of kale (curly is better)–wash and dry, remove the stems, and rip into 2-in pieces
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. sriracha (more or less to taste)
Salt
Preheat the oven to 300. After the kale is prepped, put the pieces on a baking sheet, spreading it out evenly. (Don’t worry if the pieces overlap; they’ll shrink as they cook.) Combine the oil and sriracha, then pour over kale and toss to coat. Season with some salt at this point too. Bake until kale is crisp, tossing every 10 minutes, for about 35 minutes. Make sure you let it cool well.
They’re (almost) chip alternatives…and they’re also good to add to an otherwise boring salad.
Curry Rice Krispies Treats May 15, 2011
I will not take credit for inventing this recipe, or even for finding it. Our friend brought these to our apartment back in college, and we fell in love with them.
Rice krispies + curry + sunflower seeds = delicious weirdness.
You’re supposed to serve these at a champagne tasting party…but, since I don’t have champagne tasting parties, I just make them and eat them like the ravenous snack hog that I am. Even the boyfriend liked these!
I sent one with the boyfriend to share, and the recipient enjoyed it. My coworker who had one said his mouth was confused about the flavors that were going on. But everyone ate them.
Definitely worth making if you like curry and dessert.
Curry Rice Krispy Treats
3 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. curry
10 oz bag of marshmallows
6 cups rice krispies
2 cups roasted, salted sunflower seeds
Begin melting butter in a large saucepan, then add curry. After the butter is melted, add the marshmallows and stir until melted. As soon as the mixture is melted, immediately stir in the combined cereal and sunflower seeds and mix vigorously. Then, press into a buttered baking dish. Cut, serve, and nosh immediately.
(To clean out that sticky saucepan, pour in some water, and immediately put back on the stove over medium heat. Stir it around as it starts to simmer to make sure you get all the sugar off the sides of the pot.)
Mojito Burritos May 12, 2011
Growing up in the western half of the US, all during childhood I was convinced that the world saw sandwiches, burritos, and stir fry as I did: they were all basically blank slates for whatever you wanted to eat. Sandwiches could have lunch meat, or egg salad, or meatloaf, or peanut butter on them – much in the way that “stir fry” meant whatever meat and vegetables you had in the fridge, all over rice, usually with some teriyaki sauce or whatever other seasoning you felt like.
I have the same theory about burritos: anything should go in them because a tortilla is primarily a delicious way to get a combination of other things into your mouth. In coming to the East Coast, I’ve learned that burritos aren’t universally treated as cylindrical alternatives to sandwiches, and that most people don’t just keep tortillas on hand. (I also learned that the East Coast is disgustingly obsessed with Italian food, but that’s another story.) In fact, I’ve encountered quite a few people who’ve never had a real burrito (let alone one of the fake ones that I make or that can be bought from Qdoba/Chipotle/etc.).
And so, in case you haven’t been introduced to the burrito as an absorber of leftovers or a flavor-pliable backdrop for dinner, I give you my most recently successful burritos.
Mojito Burritos
Makes 4 large burritos (more…)
Fast/Easy/Unhealthy: Chicken Pot Pie May 10, 2011
Not even going to pretend on this one: it’s fast and unhealthy and requires basically no prep. You don’t even have to pay attention while you make it. (And sometimes that’s all you want after you were away for the weekend, but need to feed yourself after work.)
Chicken Pot Pie
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded or otherwise cut up (This is a great time to use chicken you’ve cooked and frozen ahead of time)
2 cups frozen vegetables
1 can condensed soup (I used chicken and mushroom)
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
Spices (I used oregano, garlic, and rosemary)
Preheat the oven to 400. In an ungreased pie pan, mix together vegetables, chicken, and condensed soup. Meanwhile, mix together the Bisquick, egg, and milk. Then, spread it on top. Put it in the oven for 30 minutes until crust is golden brown.
Yes, that’s it. No, it’s not healthy. But it is delicious, and it is totally going to become one of those guilty pleasure / instant dinners that I’m going to make going forward.
Barley, Bacon, and Root Vegetable Pilaf May 6, 2011
Again, trying to use up what’s in my cupboard – plus, this is a recipe I copied down from my mom over a year ago, and I’ve been waiting for an excuse to try it. You’re supposed to use a variety of veggies, but I used what I had (carrots), and it was still delicious. I could see this working pretty well with beets too, though it would probably end up pink, like my fall hash.
I love barley – such a great flavor, and a different texture. [I recognize that my execution of this dish proves I need to become a better foodie, but, whatever. I liked it and it’s incredibly easy.] And yes, that’s a picture of the dish on my desk at work. It even tastes good at the office.
Pearl Barley, Bacon, and Root Vegetable Pilaf
2 cups chicken broth (or water + 1/2 tsp. salt)
1 cup pearl barley, rised, drained, and picked over
Bring the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Then, stir in barley. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, until barley is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain.
6 oz. bacon, diced
1 shallot, minced [Yeah, yeah, I used an onion. You try cooking for one (or sometimes two) and keeping all the types of onion-like vegetables on hand without breaking the bank…..but seriously, if you have an idea for solving this problem, let me know.]
1 1/4 cups 1/4- to 1/3-inch cubes peeled root vegetables (i.e., celery root, carrots, turnips, parsnips, butternut squash)
Pinch of sugar (small pinch)
1-2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
1-2 tsp. thyme
1-2 tsp. rosemary
Saute bacon in large pot over medium heat until brown and crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels. Pour off all but 2 Tbs. dripping from pot. Add shallot; stir 30 sec. Add cubed vegetables and sugar; saute 6 min. Add barley, lemon juice, and herbs; stir 2 min. Mix in bacon; season with salt and pepper.
If you make this ahead of time, you may need to add water (tablespoon by tablespoon) to moisten when you reheat it so it stays moist.
Beer-Baked Beans May 4, 2011
I recently read that you’re supposed to throw out all of your spices and get new ones after a year or two because the flavors get “muddy.” Uh, ok, but who is going to pay for that? Spices are the most expensive thing on my shopping list. The reason I don’t cook with saffron is I can’t afford it.
Anyways, it got me thinking about how I need to use up some of the staples I keep around, just to make sure they stay fresh. And what I wanted to go through this time was my remaining dried white beans. And, I happened to be attracted by Everyday Food’s “Cooking with Beer” series of recipes…So, we get beer-baked white beans.
So delicious. They have a good tangy flavor and aren’t so heavy that I’m wishing I’d made them in the fall. Really awesome side dish. (If only I had the wherewithal to make a main dish this week…) recipe below (more…)
Bacon-Garbanzo Bean Salad April 30, 2011
It’s the end of an era: my roommate, a boon from craigslist, has officially moved on to a more wonderful job in an area with more wonderful weather. Her adorable cats, one of whom was the star of a dinner party, are gone, and I’m the only one filling up our hardboiled egg carton.
And, to overcome a general morose atmosphere, I am turning to new recipes to occupy me (I’m also reading this website that makes me giggle). I’ve also turned to a horrifyingly unhealthy “meat” that I haven’t used in months (thanks to the influence of said roommate’s dedication to salads, lean protein, and working out): I’m cooking with bacon.
Once I’ve opened the package, I can’t just stop cooking with it – I’m really stuck until I’ve used the whole dang thing. Unfortunately, I don’t have a brunch scheduled for this weekend, so I’ve had to find ways to use it that don’t involve blatantly pawning it off to people who are eating pancakes.
Thankfully, I’ve been trolling cooking blogs and saving all the recipes I’ve liked…and I found a wonderful blogger who loves bacon. LOVES bacon like I love cayenne and chocolate and butter. She happens to have also used garbanzo beans recently – so I decided to copy her success in my own fashion.
Now, I must say, the other reason I found this recipe is because I’ve been trying to figure out a way to use all the dried garbanzos I reconstituted. (As a side note: canned garbanzos, which all recipes involving garbanzos seem to call for, are cooked, not just canned. When you reconstitute garbanzos from the little dried guys you find in bags, you get a whole new chickpea. They taste entirely different and have a wholly different consistency. I don’t know why someone would know this unless someone else told them. So, consider yourself warned. Buying bulk dried garbanzos may be economical, but they are a different animal than canned garbanzos.)
On to the real recipe! (yes, it’s delicious. I even opted to eat it instead of ice cream for dinner. If you’ve ever seen the half gallons I keep in the freezer exclusively for my use, you know that this is an enormous deal.) I do feel like I adulterated a hippy food with the pork bacon, but whatever. It was low-sodium bacon, which makes it healthy, right?
Easy Office Lunch: Eggs on Rice with Soy Dressing April 29, 2011
As I mentioned before, it’s been really hot for April in Philadelphia. It’s really bumming me out – the kitchen has been so uncomfortable(!!!). On the bright side, hot weather makes me want to eat a bit healthier (the threat of summer weddings and beach days is growing).
This recipe perfectly addresses both problems: it involves minimal cooking (and no cooking that requires you to pay attention to the stove) and is incredibly light. Plus, it seems to me like the PERFECT lunch to take to work: perfect as leftovers (because you assemble right before you eat), easy to transport, and really cute…just in case someone asks what you’re eating.
[For those of you who don’t know, yes, I take my lunch to work every day, and yes, I have a real, insulated lunch bag that I carry around. I might work for a global consulting firm in a high rise in the city, but I still wear old, squeaky sneakers on my walk to work. Deal with it, world.]
Eggs and Rice lunch (makes 2 lunches)
3/4 cups long-grain white rice, cooked [you need a fluffy rice to contrast with the texture of the egg. Trust me.]
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. sesame oil (or less) [sesame oil is strong – you need to know how much you like the flavor when deciding how much to add]
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more)
2 hard-boiled eggs (or medium-cooked, if you’re into that)
2 green onions, torn up into bite-sized pieces
If you’re cooking this for yourself and eating it right now: cook the rice. In the meantime, stir together the soy sauce, lemon juice, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes to make a dressing. When the rice is done, divide between two bowls. Top with one sliced egg and one green onion, chopped, each. Top with soy dressing.
If you’re taking it somewhere: After you’ve cooked the rice, divide into two containers. Let rice cool for a bit, then top each container with one green onion, chopped or torn apart, each. You can then refrigerate as you would normal rice you were taking somewhere (i.e., for more than a day). Mix up the soy dressing, and divide into two smaller containers. Do not put on top of the rice until you’re ready to eat. Putting it on ahead of time saturates the rice a bit too much and makes it too salty. So, when you pack your lunch, keep your rice, dressing, and egg separate. When assembling, heat the rice and green onion for about 30 sec. Then, top with the dressing and sliced egg.
Delicious.
344 Calories per serving: 6 g fat, 57 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 12 g protein (see all that protein? It’s so filling!)
Peas with Bacon Vinaigrette April 27, 2011
Usually, I believe vegetables are best served relatively plain. Broccoli should generally not be covered in orange cheese sauce, asparagus should not be doused with lemon, and corn really doesn’t need butter. However, I am breaking my own desire to keep my vegetables healthy with this delicious side dish.
Peas. With bacon. It’s delicious. Maybe it defeats the purpose of vegetables, but it does make for a really easy side dish when you have an otherwise dull meal. And this is one recipe from Everyday Food that I didn’t actually alter. (I don’t actually think a dish with bacon needs too many other spices.)
Peas with Bacon Vinaigrette
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 small shallots, finely chopped
2 Tbs. white-wine vinegar
1 bag (16 oz) frozen peas, thawed
Salt and pepper
2 Tbs. fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
Heat bacon in a large skillet for about 6 minutes, or until bacon begins to crisp. Add shallots and continue cooking for about 6 minutes, or until shallots become translucent and start to brown. Then, stir in vinegar. Add the salt, pepper, and thawed peas, cooking until warmed through. Then, top with mint leaves. [YES! The mint leaves are crucial – they make the flavors stand out from one another and keep the dish tasting fresh]
And you’re done. When divided into 4 portions, you get 206 Calories: 11 g fat, 9 g protein, 19 g carb, 5 g fiber [I made my servings quite a bit smaller; you don’t need a large helping to enjoy the flavors or feel sated]
Breadwinner 