I've got graduate school. And I've got work. And I've got a dog. I also have a husband, but he's deployed right now. I'm lucky that I have my sister, brother-in-law and niece next door. So when I feel that urge to make for others -- they get fed. First up: Elana's Pantry zucchini muffins, only these are made with chocolate chips.
Then a kale salad that I whipped up.
Sweet potato and zucchini pancakes that I pan fried.
And stuffed peppers, in honor of my beloved Grandma.
And my niece eating the kale salad right out of the serving bowl. I see another "good eatah!"
The Farmers Markets here in Illinois are quite awesome. Don't get me wrong, I love my New England ones, but the sheer amount of food you can purchase here is almost overwhelming. And everyone's so darn friendly! 
This weekend I picked up a butternut squash, but I was looking for something to do with it other than roasting or pureeing. So after a little search on epicurious, I discovered this. It is a great, hearty side dish that's even good as a breakfast porridge! I adapted mine from theirs, making it dairy free and using fresh butternut squash, so here it is:
Finally! A recipe! After tasting the delicious sweet and sour cabbage over mashed potatoes combination a few weeks ago, I've come up with a super simple and healthy way to make it myself.
Red Sweet and Sour Cabbage (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)
(serves 4 as a side dish)
1 medium sized cabbage, shredded
1 small onion, sliced
1 beet, peeled and shredded
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons agave (can use brown sugar instead)
freshly ground salt and pepper (about a teaspoon of each)
1/2 teaspoon ground all spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
In a saucepan on medium high heat, add all of the ingredients, mix and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down heat to a simmer over low-medium. Continue to simmer for 45 to 55 minutes and check occasionally and stir. Serve immediately warm, or chill in the refrigerator and serve cold over mashed potatoes.
Born in 1913, my Grandma's formidable years took place during the Great Depression, and you could tell. She was always one to cut coupons and take sugar packets from restaurants (don't all Grandma's do this?), taking home leftovers in a doggy bag, even if there was only one bite left. Her frugality showed in the kitchen as well, she was able to "doctor up" something that cost two dollars and make it taste like a million dollars. My mother does this too; I'm beginning to think it's something ingrained in mother's minds, the ability to stretch a buck. I'm attempting to learn it as well.
Grandma's Doctored Up Baked Beans (gluten-free, dairy-free)
1 28 oz can of baked beans, I used Bush's Original Recipe
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard (yellow works too)
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon molasses
2 strips of bacon, cut in half (I use this kind)
Preheat oven to 375. Place the beans, onion, mustard, ketchup and mollasses in a dutch oven or casserole dish and carefully mix until combined. Taste if you'd like and adjust ingredients. Add the strips of bacon on top and cook for 25-30 minutes until the bacon is cooked through.
Poor Henry can smell bacon from a mile away.
My friend and co-worker Carol has been following the elimination aka caveman aka paleo(lithic) diet for close to a month now. Her original intentions were to see if she had any trigger foods, or allergies, that were affecting an ailment of hers, but ended up losing weight and feeling significantly better as well. I've been interested in the paleo diet for quite some time too (please note, this isn't a diet in the sense that people go on it to lose weight), as I was the one that suggested it to her. After being on the diet for two days she approached me and said "how did you do this!?" to which my reply was "well, I haven't actually done it. I just heard about it." But after a few days of getting over cravings, she's stated it's actually really simple to stick to. So, I think someday I may dabble in it and see how it makes me feel. I agree with the research and theory behind it.
I had such a difficult time trying to figure out what to call this: Sweet potato souffle? Sweet potato custard? Crustless sweet potato pie? Delicious sweet potato side-dish/breakfast/brunch/Thanksgiving day food? It could be all of them!
Sweet Potato Pudding (gluten-free, dairy-free)
serves 4 for dessert, or side-dish, or breakfast...
2 lbs sweet potato (or about two cups mashed), cooked and peeled (a simple way to cook a sweet potato is in the microwave: about 6 or 7 minutes should do)
1 cup almond milk (or soy, rice, hemp...)
3 eggs, whisked
2 teaspoons coconut oil (or any other light tasting oil)
1/3 cup agave
2 tablespoons mollasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a baking dish (sorry no measurements -- mine was round and ceramic) with a bit of coconut oil. Whisk together the almond milk, eggs, coconut oil, agave, mollasses, cinnamon, nuteg and salt. Add the sweet potato and either: transfer to a food processor to evenly mix eveything together, or use an immersion blender to incorporate all the ingredients -- I did the latter. Pour into dish and bake for just under an hour, or until a knife comes out clean in the middle.
Serve warm, or chill in the fridge and serve cold.
Henry really has a thing for sweet potatoes; I usualy end up baking the skins that I don't use and give them to him as treats.
There is something incredibly satisfying about making an entirely vegan meal and feeling full afterwards. Before I went gluten and casein(dairy)-free I equated vegan eating with salads and feeling hungry; little did I know that my gluten and dairy intolerances would lead me to eat naturally vegan foods that now make up a large part of my diet. Foods that are satisfying, healthy and simple to put together.
I don't know if anyone else out there is like me, but I often cook right when I get up in the morning. Sure, a lot people probably cook eggs and pancakes first thing in the morning, but for some reason this morning I wanted lentils -- so lentils it is. I adapted a lentil recipe in Mark Bittman's book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and I do enjoy it quite a bit. I hope you do too.
Simple Lentil (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)
serves 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk (including leaves)
1 carrot, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads (optional)
1 cup of dried lentils
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 cups of water
salt and pepper to taste
Add the olive oil to a pan on medium high heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot and saute for about five minutes. Add the garlic, saffron, cayenne pepper and lentils and saute for one minute. Then, add the water, bring to a boil and then down to a simmer for at least thirty minutes until the majority of the liquid has reduced. It shouldn't be a soup, but it shouldn't be dry either.
I'm hoping at some point to ground dry lentil into a flour and create a batter to replicate the Indian daal wraps (they have a name that I cannot remember) that I get at Indian restaurants. They are amaaaazing.
Really, I believed people when they said using fresh pumpkin was so much better than using canned pumpkin in recipes, but I always thought that roasting a pumpkin, or peeling, chopping and boiling a pumpkin would be time consuming. It is, not terribly so, but it is soooo worth it: the color is more vibrant, the taste is so fresh and there's something satisfying about carving the top out of a pumpkin and scooping out those hard-to-get seeds that puts a smile on my face.
Melissa's* recent post on cabbage got me thinking about it's cousin, and my favorite vegetable: kale. Superfood is the word that comes to mind when thinking about kale; it's my go-to leafy green. And for someone who doesn't eat milk products (three years ago I would have never believed I could be someone who doesn't eat cheese or milk, but that's another story...) and misses out on calcium; it helps to fill that void.
*You should also check out her recent post on sugar, it is filled with the facts you need to help cut the sugar habit (if you're like me, that is, and eat too many sweets).
We started off one meal with this delicious gluten-free hard cider -- J.K. Scrumpy's. We found it at Whole Foods and it wasn't too sweet, which I find to be the case with most hard ciders. Then came the food -- I eat differently around him; the word "hardy" comes to mind when I think of the food we eat. I often try to get him to eat kale and spinach and use agave instead of splenda, but when a man comes home from war -- you just want him to eat what he likes. So no off the cuff experimental foods. Steak and potatoes (and I even snuck an onion in there) were on the menu.
It's funny how well we work in the kitchen together. I chop, he mixes. I braise, he roasts. All while not bumping into each other (and Henry who is always at our feet waiting for something to fall) in my small kitchen. I think it says something about our future: may our married life be as easy as our time together in the kitchen.
First, I cut two zucchini lengthwise and scooped out the seeds with a spoon.
Then, to a pan on medium high heat I sauteed the onion and pepper in olive oil for about five minutes.
Then, I added the cooked quinoa and added the "butter" and chili sauce. Cook for a few minutes and taste. Add salt, pepper and more butter and/or chili sauce to your liking.
Spoon the quinoa mixture into your zucchini, there will be plenty left over, so I just served it on the side.
Enjoy!
But, a girl's got to eat and there's no better way to distract yourself from your emotions than to mix up some food. And a day like yesterday needed something substantial. Something that's going to put a smile on my face and remind me of the simpler things in life, like fries, well fries and ketchup. But not your typical potato fries; I needed some green, so zucchini fries it is.
Zucchini Fries (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)
serves 2 as a side dish
2 zucchini, cut into "fries"
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
just under 1/2 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs (I pulsed Kinnikinick Brown Bread in a food processor)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (I use Salt-Free)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Season breadcrumbs with Italian herbs and place on a large plate. Pour olive oil on a cookie sheet and coat zucchini "fries" in olive oil. Coat each piece of zucchini with breadcrumb mixture and place back on cookie sheet. Once they are all coated put in oven and bake for fifteen minutes. Serve with ketchup if you'd like.
There are a lot of things that my Dad does well: he's the best Dad ever (and proving to be a great Grandpa as well), he's one helluva storyteller, a great athlete and the man can grill. My Mom takes the cake in the kitchen (her dishes and memories of cooking at home are what inspire me to cook -- and write this blog), but Dad's got the magic touch with the grill. I'm guessing there's some man gene that makes the open flame appealing to the male gender (my testosterone-laiden fiance loves to man the grill as well), but not all do it with the impeccable timing of my Dad. The side dishes will be ready in fifteen minutes? He'll wait three more to put the steak on. Along with meats, he grills a mean vegetable, but my favorite thing that he grills? A little tuber named: the sweet potato.
There's some weird stuff going on at my condo complex. For the past month, there have been construction workers tearing apart balconies, roofing, fences and patios -- and just this week they got to me. So, grilling is now (and will be for the remainder of the summer -- err!) off limits because the patio that I do have is covered with tarp and plywood. I also no longer have a fence, which means that every person that walks by my unit can get a glance inside my first floor, which as you can imagine, freaks Henry out (I do pull my curtains most of the day, but little Henry is too smart for that and finagles his head next to the window). So, while trying to distract Henry from the contruction workers, neighbors and their dogs I needed to make some lunch, so I went with a couple of tried and true's: a blueberry banana smoothie and quick and simple curry rice.
Smoothies are personal, but this is my go-to mix when I need something to cool me off -- it's easily adaptable, so use your favorite flavor combo. Loaded with antioxidants from the blueberries and potassium from the banana, it's a good workout recovery drink too.
Blueberry Banana Smoothie (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)
1/4 cup fresh blueberries (you can definately use frozen here)
1 frozen, then slightly thawed banana
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 dash of cinnamon
1 sprig of mint for garnish (optional)
Place the first four ingredients in your blender or magic bullet and blend until desired consistency is reached; mine took about a minute. Enjoy post-workout or to cool off with the spicy dish below.
Oh, P.S. I sometimes add a tablespoon of peanut butter.
There's an Indian dish that I really love: vegetable biryani. Most recipes that I have seen for the dish involve myriad, hard to find spices and a cooking time that I just didn't have today, so I go for my quick and simple version. I often cook up a batch of brown rice each week to use as I please, so this recipe assumes you have some sitting in the fridge too.
Lazy Eatah's Vegetable Biryani, or Quick and Simple Curry Rice (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)
serves 2 as a side dish, or 1 as a meal
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1/3 cup coconut milk
1-2 tablespoons red curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen, which says gluten-free on the label)
1 loosely packed cup of sliced yellow onion
1/2 cup frozen peas (or pretty much any vegetable you have on hand)
In a skillet on medium heat, add the coconut milk and the curry paste. Whisk together the two until they have thoroughly combined (the coconut milk will turn redish). Add the onions and simmer for a few minutes. Next, add the rice and stir until combined (the rice will now take on the color of the curry). Lastly, add the peas and cook for another minute or two.
Enjoy!
So politely he sits -- quietly waiting for a bite, just a taste of the food before him. But yet again, Mr. Nibbles (his nickname because he likes to "nibble" on things, including my fingers at times) cannot eat what I have made. Onions, you see, are another big no-no in the diet of dogs (macadamia nuts are too, I learned). Besides, he has a kosher hot dog waiting to be cut up in his dinner tonight; his most favorite treat. (fyi dog owners: my dog trainer suggested you microwave the hell out of hot dogs until they get rubbery to make a very good training treat)Back to the potato salad. My mom makes the most amazing balsamic potato salad. I love it. I crave it. I need it sometimes, which reminds me of a very funny story. Apparently when I was little my parents kept some chocolate bars on the top of the refridgerator that I noticed one time when my dad was giving me a piggy back ride. Well, using my curly blonde locks and little kid lisp to my advantage, apparently I told him that I neeeeeeeeeeeed chocolate. And I got it. Before dinner. Score! And so began my chocolate addiction.
Ok, back to the pototo salad, really I swear. In my opinion this potato salad is best when served chilled. It's a nice break from your typical mayo-based potato salads and it's gluten, dairy and soy free and vegan! And, if you plate it nicely it can pass as something super-classy. This isn't my mother's recipe though, I could have called her and she would have given it to me in a second, but I didn't, so here is mine.
Balsamic Potato Salad gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, vegan
28 ounces (or 1.75 lbs) of baby yukon gold potatoes (you can use normal sized ones here, just cut into small pieces)
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 cup, divided
chopped fresh parsley, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the potatoes and cook until slightly tender, about fifteen minutes. Drain the potatoes and let cool. Once that is done, cut the potatoes into fourths and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large pan on medium heat add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the sliced onions and cook over medium to medium-low heat for at least twenty minutes, or until carmelized. Once the onions have turned a golden brown color, add the balsamic vinegar and cook for another five minutes, then add the rest of the olive oil and cook for another few minutes. Next, add your potatoes to the onion mixture, stirring to coat evenly and place in a large bowl, then add the chopped parsley. Salt and pepper to taste and add more balsamic vinegar if you would like. Keep in the refridgerator until chilled and serve.
Enjoy! They're even better the next day.
Also know as: brown rice with chives. Risotto's great, but sometimes I can't stand in front of the stove for thirty minutes straight. Sometimes, someone decides to act like he's on crack and do his weird "dog talk" thing where he follows me around the condo not quite barking, and not quite wimpering, but sounding like a pig being slaughtered. I really need to capture it on video sometime for you all (well, all three of you).
