Food for Laughter

Recreated Cruise Ship Oatmeal Cookies

2012-01-30T07:58:00.003-05:00

We didn't bring many purchases home from our cruise trip - in fact, we only brought one small one - can you guess? Something food related, of course... Vanilla! I'd previously purchased huge bottles of vanilla on trips to Mexico, so I was eager to try local carribbean vanilla. And for its first test recipe... My attempt at recreating our favorite dessert on the cruise ship: oatmeal cookies. These must have been seriously good oatmeal cookies to top all the elaborate pastries, right? Oh, indeed they were...

If you want the exact experience of the cruise cookies you can swap the SmartBalance spread used here for real butter... But I think this recipe either way produces some very grown up oatmeal cookies... And our new vanilla added an extra nostalgic touch!

Cruise Ship Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup SmartBalance Light
1 1/2 cups raw turbinado sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup almond milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
~ Cream together the SmartBalance Light and sugar until fluffy.
~ Add the eggs and beat well.
~ Stir in the almond milk and vanilla.
~ In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and 3 spices. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet.
~ Fold in the oats, raisins, and walnuts.
~ Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheets, and bake approx. 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks... Or serve warm!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

2012-01-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

I should really stuff vegetables more often. I always imagine the creation of stuffed vegetables as a huge Production, perhaps awakened by the visceral stress reaction associated with stuffing, say, a 20 pound turkey. Yet I had these beautiful yellow acorn squash, and it seemed a shame not to utilize the lovely shell, so I made a very classic, creamy stuffing, and viola, the perfect vegetarian Thanksgiving main course. In January. 2 months late, one might argue. However, I'd prefer to think I'm 10 months ahead of schedule, wouldn't you?

Stuffed Acorn Squash

2 large acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed
2 T olive oil
1 lb vegetarian sausage style crumbles, such as GimmeLean or Morningstar brands
1/2 lb portabella mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup reconstituted vegetarian gravy mix
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a skillet over medium heat, brown the veggie crumbles, mushrooms, onion, and garlic.
- Stir in the celery seed, wine, and gravy, and simmer for 5 min.
- Remove from the heat, and stir in the breadcrumbs and cheeses.
- Spoon the stuffing into the acorn squash shells.
- Place on a baking sheet, and bake for 45 min to an hour, until the squash is tender, tenting the tops with foil if needed. Serve warm!

Quick Wintertime Super Bowl Salsa

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Super Bowl is stereotypically associated with rich, caloric foods, as recipe magazines make a startling shift from January's light recipes to February's Super Bowl and valentines day, well, you know. I'm never going to complain about chocolate... But since I'm ambivalent about hot wings anyway... (I know, I'm sure someone is going to be scandalized) it seemed fitting for me to step forth with a healthful Super Bowl recipe. I had plenty of inspiration, because my visit with my parents took place during the last weekend of playoff games, and mom took the opportunity to introduce me to her favorite football snacks... Perfect for a healthful Super Bowl party!

Roasted Edemame

- Toss whole Edemame pods with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and roast for 30 min, stirring halfway through... Serve warm! Protein packed nibbles!

Quick Wintertime Salsa

28oz can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
15oz can black beans, drained
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup dehydrated onion
2 pinches cayenne pepper

- Stir all the ingredients together, and season to taste with salt. Serve with baked chips or nice crunchy whole grain crackers! We served them with some spelt flatbread crisps and some great whole wheat crackers with no added salt, fat, or sugar - just wheat, water, and spices! They had a great nutty flavor that paired well with the spicy salsa...

Vegan Chocolate PB Truffle Pie

2012-01-23T13:00:00.000-05:00

Chocolate peanut butter pie?? That's vegan?? And made with tofu instead of tons of cream and saturated fat?? And tastes crazy blissful over the top delicious?? YES!!!

(can you tell I'm excited?)

I'm also extremely excited about my new mobile blogging app, but I haven't yet discovered how to move pictures within the post to change the layout - right now all the pictures I upload from my phone appear only at the bottom of the post. Does anyone know how to fix the placement of photos within the blogger mobile app? I would be oh so grateful for advice!

And I promise to share this amazing pie recipe... Right now!

Vegan chocolate peanut butter pie

1/2 cup cocoa powder
12 oz silken tofu
1 cup natural peanut butter
3/4 cup maple syrup
Pinch of salt
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1 graham cracker crust
1 container TruWhip or another vegan frozen whipped topping

- In a food processor or with a whisk, beat the cocoa powder, tofu, peanut butter, maple syrup, and salt until smooth.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the mixture into the graham cracker crust.
- Spread the TruWhip on top, using your whisk to make decorative peaks.
- Chill until set, and serve cold!

Life changing mobile blogging

2012-01-22T09:07:00.001-05:00

I've been contemplating ad nausim the various reasons I've been blogging less recently, but the most honest, non-existential, unglamorous reason is that I'm simply not home enough!

Last night, all this changed, however, because I awakened at two am wondering if a blogger app existed. Of course it did. And my life was thus transformed.

Case in point, Im currently at my parents home, miles away from Ohio, leaving Dayton in a rush to visit my grandmother who, sadly, had a stroke last week. Yet now, small and insignificant as it may seem, I'm able to find comfort in writing a note to my lovely blog friends, sharing a few photos of the more cheering elements of my brief trip: a bowl of blueberries, cheese on toast for breakfast, intensely black coffee, and greetings from my mother and Marigold the dog, of course.

I'm not entirely sure how this post will format when I publish it, so if you have mobile blogging tips to share I will gladly receive them! I've enjoyed being able to say hello from afar...

Honeymoon at Sea...

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

Where have we been? On our honeymoon!

Yes, we did get married 7 months ago, but at the time Zach's military schedule didn't allow him enough time off for a wedding and a honeymoon, so we grateful accepted the time we had for our wedding and postponed our honeymoon until Zach's vacation time in the new year!

We flew to Miami...

and took a little cruise...

To Puerto Rico...

St. Thomas...

And St. Martin!

Most magical vacation. Ever.

So thankful for the memories... and happy to be back home in our own kitchen! :-)

2011 Favorite Recipes

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Drumroll please... The 11 most-popular recipes of Food for Laughter in 2011!

(Determined in a completely unbiased way by the number of page views, in case you were wondering... :-)

#11. Rosemary Garlic Whole Wheat Bran Bread

This bread was created during an unprecedented snowfall in Georgia. I adore baking yeast breads, so I was delighted to discover one of my favorite yeast bread recipes was a blog favorite as well...

#10. Pumpkin Spice Cookies

It seems as though pumpkin enthusiasm increases every year - which is just fine with me! Especially since Zach has recently discovered he enjoys pumpkin after all... We even found pumpkin Kefir this fall! These delightful little cookies are so cozy with a cup of tea, and are reasonably sensible as well.

#9. Quorn Stir Fry with Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushrooms

We discovered Quorn brand vegetarian products in 2011, and while this may seem an inconsequential event they are a revelation when you have a household that regularly attempts to introduce non-vegetarians to vegetarian dishes... This flavor-packed stir fry is a perfect universal dish.

#8. Protein Powder Banana Muffins

I became utterly obsessed with hemp protein powder this past year... and still am! This particular recipe also commemorated a long journey to healing...

#7. Fajitas

I was honestly surprised that this recipe emerged in the top ten, because it's such a fundamental dish, but I'm delighted that this Foodbuzz inspired creation did rank so well - it's positively delicious and perfect for a speedy weeknight supper!

#6. Strawberry Layer Cake with Amaretto Cream Cheese Frosting

This is one of those lifetime achievement cakes - the kind of cake your friends and family still talk about 6 months later... I am ridiculously proud of this cake.

#5. Acorn Squash and Leek Soup

Last winter I posted quite a few recipes introduced to me by a friend who grew up in rural France. Almost all of these recipes involved leeks, and all of them are now personal favorites in our home. This gorgeous squash recipe is the very first...

#4. Coconut Milk Mocha

I'm the first one to admit I love the atmosphere of a community coffee shop. However, everyone should start making these amazing mochas at home too... because they are so much more healthful, so much more delicious, and so much more economical than anything from a cafe...

#3. Teff Crepes

As close as you'll come to making injera at home without days of fermentation... The healthiest, most fiber and protein packed crepes I've ever seen... Also the most perfect, paper thin crepes I've ever made... Pure magic. Completely worth searching out teff flour, even just to make these crepes.

#2. Red Cabbage with Red Wine Vinegar

Our runner up for 2011... Is cabbage. After I ran all the stats, plugged numbers into an Excel spreadsheet, and began tallying this list, I was somewhat in shock when I discovered that my second most viewed recipe from the past year wasn't a layer cake, wasn't homemade bread... It was a side dish of cabbage. Yet, once my surprise dissipated, I was truly delighted. Cabbage is a totally underrated vegetable, and this is seriously amazing cabbage. Totally worthy of joining the most-viewed lineup this year and ushering a new era!

#1. Peppermint Mocha Brownie Cupcakes

The title says everything. Since the first time I fixed these for the holiday season an entire year ago, they have been requested repeatedly... and then requested again... Without a doubt my most requested dessert recipe among family and friends this year - and apparently the recipient of quite a bit of blog love as well.

Speaking of blog love, I would just like to send warm hugs to all of my wonderful blog friends across the globe... You all keep me inspired, keep me laughing, keep me energized at the end of even very long days! My gratitude and fondness knows no bounds.

I'll be away from the blog for at least the coming week, and look forward to sharing energized recipes for a new year when I return...

Happy January, Y'all.

Sweet Potato Gingersnap Pudding

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

The close of 2011 has been somewhat eventful for our household. I had surgery on my toe, which is a rather insignificant body part in terms of undergoing an operation but has given me a new perspective on just how often I bang my right big toe into unsuspecting objects throughout the day. I feel it's important, somehow, that I've been incidentally made aware of my general disregard for the whereabouts of certain body parts and their right to survive a day without being thumped into various and unfortunate pieces of furniture.

Our dining room table also caught on fire, when one of the cats knocked over a candle and demonstrated that yes, just in case we were wondering, tablecloths and wooden furniture are indeed flammable.

It's been a dangerous week for our home furnishings, apparently.

Otherwise, life has been proceeding quite sedately. Zach is still working night shifts, but I've been managing rather well on my own. I've visited the farmers market, which is in session year-round here in Dayton, much to my delight, and is decorated rather jauntily in wintertime...

A lovely breakfast treat - baked mushroom omelet, fruit salad, and a banana walnut muffin...

Coffee with NUTMEG!!

I've discovered a new favorite tea... and if any tea can capture my attention without the addition of milk or soymilk, it's a truly remarkably flavorful tea indeed! Black tea and cinnamon are an idyllic combination.

I was able to locate kumquats, which are without a doubt my favorite fruit but are so elusive! I filled an entire bowl with them in my enthusiasm - they seemed just meant for vintage Pyrex...

And I've concocted a moderately sweet baked Sweet Potato pudding, which Zach loves for supper alongside something smokey, such as roasted chicken or baked tofu with paprika, and which I absolutely and genuinely adore for dessert with a little vanilla ice cream...

As long as we can avoid any further fires or surgical procedures in the coming year, I have grand hopes for 2012. I am grateful for the blessings bestowed upon us, and simply pray for their continuance in the coming year.

Sweet Potato Gingersnap Pudding

(Adapted from Bon Appetit November 2011)

5 oz gingersnaps (I used a 5oz package of Pepperidge Farm ginger cookies, or you could make your own)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons Smart Balance Light
3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled (I almost never peel vegetables, but it's necessary here for the texture)
3/4 cup 2% evaporated milk
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons Smart Balance Light, melted
2 tablespoons raw turbinado sugar
2 tablespoons apple butter
1 3/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
4 eggs
5 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt

~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 9X13" baking dish with cooking spray.
~ Pulse the first 4 ingredients in a food processor until combined, then pulse in the Smart Balance Light until the mixture has the texture of coarse meal.
~ Cook the sweet potatoes, either in the microwave or oven. Cut into large chunks.
~ Whisk together the remaining ingredients, then add the sweet potato chunks and mash until smooth and fluffy.
~ Spread the sweet potato mixture into the baking dish.
~ Dollop the pecan mixture on top.
~ Bake for 35 to 40 min - until golden brown. Serve warm... Perhaps with some extra gingersnap topping! :-)

Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Rosemary Cream Sauce...

2011-12-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

Zach loves gnocchi. After we first discovered them at a tiny Italian restaurant located all too dangerously close to our old house in Georgia, Zach went through a period of gnocchi obsession which culminated in our finally learning to make them ourselves, after which restaurant gnocchi paled in comparison and the gnocchi obsession was reinvented into The Dish We Fix For Extremely Posh Dinner Parties When We Need to Impress Our Guests.

I'm not sure what made me think of Gnocchi for our Christmas /Chanukkah celebration - most likely culinary envy of my friend Kathleen's Italian family's Christmas menu, which centers around homemade stuffed shells - but it dawned on me that, since gnocchi isn't hard to make, we would be much more likely to fix them more often if I could come up with a whole wheat version. Of course, since I was working on a holiday dish at the time, I added copious amounts of creamy, buttery rosemary sauce to the gnocchi for the occasion... The important piece of information, however - along with the fact that rosemary + Parmesan + homemade cream sauce + pillowy potato dumplings equals gastronomic heaven - is that whole wheat gnocchi are not only possible, but positively delicious. A remarkably good everyday gnocchi, if you will. I just love imagining we have the kind of household where one makes everyday gnocchi... Naturally, we would also reside in an Italian farmhouse on a verdant hillside...

Ah well. I can still make scandalously good gnocchi 6 stories above inner city Dayton... More than enough to be thankful for!

Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Rosemary Cream Sauce
2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup 2% evaporated milk
1 tsp rosemary
2 T Smart Balance Light
4 oz grated mozzarella cheese
3 T panko breadcrumbs

3 T grated Parmesan cheese

~ In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, eggs, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.
~ Stir in the flour to form a soft dough.
~ Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
~ With damp hands, gently roll small, 1/2" diameter balls of dough, and drop them into the boiling water.
~ After about 3 minutes, you will see the balls start to float. They're not done yet, though... Notice how they're floating but also still bobbing about in the boiling bubbles? That's how you know they still need to keep cooking... When they are floating definitively and stably on the top of the water (approx. 5 minutes more), you know they're done. Fish them out of the water with a slotted spoon, and transfer them to a colander to drain. You will probably have to cook them in 2 or 3 batches to get all the dough cooked.
~ When all your gnocchi are draining, heat evaporated milk with the rosemary and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and set aside to steep for 30 min.
~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
~ Transfer your gnocchi to a casserole dish.
~ Dot the gnocchi with small bits of the Smart Balance Light.
~ Pour the milk and rosemary mixture over top.
~ Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.
~ Stir together the panko and Parmesan, and sprinkle the mixture on top of the mozzarella.
~ Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes - until lightly golden and bubbly. Serve warm!

Happy Chanumas!

2011-12-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Zach and I celebrated both Christmas and the 6th night of Chanukkah, on Zach's precious one night off from work which was worthy of celebration in itself! Amidst the incessant tedium of our jobs, we were both very thankful to have an opportunity to share the holidays together.

So happy to have my hubby home... :-)

I shared some of our celebration in my previous post, as we had our "Christmas Eve" on Christmas morning when Zach arrived home from work... Then, while Zach napped during the day, I cooked! Naturally. ;-) When Zach awakened... The festivities began! :-)


My camera was confused by all the blue in this picture, and even with my best photo editing efforts the image still looks rather Blue Man Group esque... but I couldn't resist sharing Zach's enthusiastic reaction! :-)

Zach made my day with lots of books... :-)

The biggest surprise of the holidays was this AMAZING Le Creuset skillet!! We're so excited to use it! :-)

Zach was also very enthused about his collection of craft beer glasses... A must for any beer snob. :-)

I also want to give a call out of gratitude to our friend Alyssa, who sent us a holiday package all the way from Georgia and painted this gorgeous fleur de lis ornament for us with our names and the date of our wedding! So moving and special!

I'm eager to share recipes... I shall pause here, however, lest this post begin to resemble the blog version of War and Peace. Culinary updates soon to follow... With holiday joy and thankfulness to last the year through.

Red Velvet Soup!

2011-12-25T12:49:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Chaunkkah!

Last night while Zach worked at the hospital, I baked pecan pies for Zach and his co-workers, baked muffins for the next morning, and filled Zach's stocking(s)! I get super excited all year long gathering up stocking stuffers for Zach, so it's a good thing he has two stockings I can fill... :-)

We opted for eco-friendly, recycled wrapping this year - even the little things make a difference! We used recycled bags from friends, paper grocery bags, and the boxes in which our shipped gifts came! Our tiny tree looks even more diminutive with the gifts underneath... :-)

When Zach arrived home from work this morning, he suggested that we each open one gift before he fell asleep... Here's a very sleepy Zach with his Irish Whiskey! Needless to say, he'll sample it much later, not at 8AM... :-)

Here's a very sleepy me, with this amazing cookbook from Zach! It's gorgeous!

And a sleepy kitty, who wants to know why we can't have a Christmas morning nap... :-)

Time for Zach and the kitties to take a nap, and for me to make Red Velvet Soup!

Red Velvet Soup

1 cup quinoa
4 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 T olive oil
1 Onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 rutabagas with their greens, roots and green parts separated and each chopped
2 beets with their greens, roots and green parts separated and each chopped

~ In a medium saucepan, stir together the quinoa and two cups broth. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until all the broth is absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Remove from the heat, and set aside.
~ In a large soup pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until limp and translucent.
~ Add the greens from the rutabagas and the beets, and saute a bit more - just a couple of quick turns.
~ Pour in the remaining two cups broth, and the chopped root veggies.
~ Cover and simmer until the root vegetables are tender.
~ Using a food processor or immersion blender, puree until smooth.
~ Stir in the quinoa, heat through, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
~ Serve warm, garnished with Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast if you'd like to keep the dish vegan! Very festive and healthful...

Merry Christmas and Happy Chaunkkah! Wishing peace and joy to all...

Baked Mashed Potatoes and Work vs. Life

2011-12-23T12:03:00.000-05:00

I wonder if I could run a statistical analysis on how many of my blog posts have begin with the words "Zach is working night shift this week..." It's only Zach's first year of residency, and already I feel as though I write about his absense more than his presence. Part of being a medical Intern, however, is having to work alllll of the worst possible shifts when no one else wants to work - such as night shift on the two weeks encompassing Christmas and New Years.

So, much as when I worked night shifts and Zach worked day shifts and we were apart then, or when he had to travel around the country for most of his fourth year of medical school, having fascinating experiences in the Cleveland Clinic ICU while I got lonely and took in yet another stray cat, I am once again spending time with myself as just myself, which has its own merits as well. Last night I nibbled microwave popcorn (the Newman's Own, organic, 94% fat free kind, of course), listened to holiday music, and wrote holiday cards in bright, glittery colors.


Along with hot chocolate, of course - hot chocolate is mandatory when listening to holiday music...

All in all, an utterly pleasant way to spend an evening. Managing to mail holiday cards before Christmas (even if only 1 or 2 days before) and while Chanukkah is at least still in progress always makes me feel like the domestic goddess I long to embody, when in reality I'm much closer to a frazzled, overworked career ladder-climber who logs ten to twelve hours a day at work and then arrives home and pretends its practical to begin baking bundt cakes and yeast bread from scratch.

Zach actually sat down with me last night (in our 10 minutes of overlap between our respective departures to and arrivals from work) and told me, genuinely, honestly, that he felt I was allowing my work to take over my life too much. While there has been massive emotional turmoil at my job recently, I am passionate about the work I do, the support I give to my patients and my employees, and the positive change I'm trying to enact in a very new, very tumultuous department within a very large (and therefore inherently inefficient) organization. I arrive at work having been brainstorming ideas since I first work up and dashed off to the gym at 5am, and drive home still muttering to myself about the inevitable crises that arose during the day and how to reconfigure the next morning. Zach and I are both glued to our jobs, and while we're both content with the fact that many of our conversations revolve around work - as we are in the same field, after all, so we have the luxury of being able to share graphic tales of Emergency Room encounters while at the dinner table - but I've never intended my job, which ultimately pays the bills and doesn't share my home with me at night, to be the priority in my life. I walked down that road years ago, chasing academic success above all else, and found the journey to be largely lonely and unfulfilling. Yet both Zach and I are highly intellectual, hyper-energetic individuals who seek the mental stimulation of a challenging job - I just need to make very certain I don't allow my career to run away with my life while I'm not looking.

I hope over the holidays I will find the right way to let my husband know that he is always the most important part of my life...

and since most noble goals are accomplished one day at a time, tonight I am going to come home from work early, and fix Zach chili and twice baked mashed potatoes...

Chili!

Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes

4 large baking potatoes
Olive oil
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 cup grated low-fat cheddar cheese
Handful finely minced chives

~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Prick the potatoes with a fork or knife in a few places, rub the outsides with olive oil, and bake for approx 1 hour - until the potatoes are cooked through.
~ Allow the potatoes to cool to touch, then cut into chunks and mash together with the milk and Greek yogurt.
~ Fold in 3/4 cup cheddar cheese and the chives, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
~ Lower the oven temp to 350 degrees F.
~ Spread the potato mixture in a casserole dish, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese.
~ Cover and bake until heated through, then uncover and bake 5 min more, until the cheese on top is nice and melted. Serve warm!

2011 Musings

2011-12-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't written for quite some time - a whole 8 days, to be exact, which is possibly a record in the blog's 4 year history. Partially, I haven't posted for holiday-flurry related reasons - I've been cooking, naturally, but also utterly absorbed in finding the (hopefully) perfect present for everyone, organizing holiday events at work, and mailing 40+ work-related holiday cards in addition to holiday cards for our family and friends, that I haven't found a spare moment to actually write about everything we've been cooking!

Also, I've been giving quite a bit of thought to the direction of the blog - after over 4 years of publication, it seems natural that the blog would experience a sort of self-reflection period, a blog's mid-life crisis, if you will. The blog received a bit of a design update, and the theme evolved a wee bit to encompass both health and nutrition information and personal antidotes from the perspective of two medical providers (who also happen to consider themselves all-around spontaneous, creative, passionate, arty, philosophical individuals). In the coming months, I intend to explore the personal aspect a bit more. Never fear, I have not suddenly decided to dissolve the blog into a confessionalistic, sensationalist memoir or a public diary of teenage-esque angst. But I will admit in print that the other, very small reason I haven't written recently is that I've simply found myself without something to say. Certainly not without recipes to share, but without the stories I'm usually aching to tell. I've always considered this a text-focused blog, the creative outlet of a writer and amateur chef with a fondness for self-deprecating humor and dry sarcasm. Years ago I used to write poetry incessantly, documenting an unceasing, unconscious flood of words - sometimes creating poems of ghastly poor quality, which should never be known to anyone else except myself and my pencil, and sometimes creating actual, respectable verses. And then I stopped, suddenly, the inspiration somehow vanished from my brain and my fingertips as abruptly as it arrived years ago. Now, amidst the unceasing hours I log in front of a computer at work, amidst all the chores and projects that await me outside of work, I fear my last vestige of art, my humble blog prose, threatens to slip away from me as well.

I'm still not certain what I will write about tomorrow, or the next day, but I know I will continue cooking... and reading nutrition journals... and I continue to desire to share both of those with you. Some days, perhaps, my words will be brief and plain, but I take comfort in the counsel I have read that advises to keep blog posts short and to the point anyway (a guideline I've always tended to disregard, perhaps unwisely). Some days, I hope to share more of our lives with you, through words and through my (very) basic photography. And always, we're creating new recipes, continually reinventing in the kitchen... and in every aspect of our lives.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Blossoms

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

These are the healthiest holiday cookies I've made so far this season. Note I said healthiest, not healthy. These are holiday cookies, mind you, not granola bars. ;-) Still, in the theme of revamping holiday classics, I decided to bake Hershey's peanut butter blossoms recipe, which I had shockingly never made before. Naturally, I felt I had to make them "grow up" a bit - I used crunchy natural peanut butter, for extra peanut flavor and a little less sugar, and added egg whites to keep them nice and fluffy. And of course dark chocolate made an appearance...

In addition to copious cookie baking to stay in the holiday spirit, I also may have also purchased myself two holiday gifts... I feel everyone should give themselves a present for the holidays and their birthday - you know, all that self-help guru advice about loving yourself. And caring for youself. In the mad-dash rush of the every day, I find it easy to forget that I'm a person, rather than just a department organizing, patient advising, errand running machine... So I turned back into a person last night. A person who just happened to long for a vintage Pyrex divided casserole dish in a rare 1958 promotional pattern...

I shall write about the other little splurge soon... ;-) but back to cookies. I baked these for a darling baby shower, and they were a smashing success. I fancifully envisioned dying the dough pink, but quickly discovered that my usual method of creating pink baked goods, namely carefully adding a few drops of red food dye, resulted, when in tandem with peanut butter colored dough, in a rather disconcerting shade of orange-brown... The coloring project was abandoned, and they were still a lovely addition to the shower after all... Then I baked another batch for Zach, and he consumed an impressive quantity and declared them the much needed conclusion to a long shift on call at the hospital. And then I baked another batch... because with the egg whites and dark chocolate in these cookies, I've been more than happy to justify eating them for breakfast.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

(Adapted from Hershey's classic recipe)

1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup SmartBalance Light or another vegan spread
3/4 cup chuncky natural Peanut Butter
2/3 cup raw turbinado sugar
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Approximately 30 unwrapped small dark chocolates, such as Hershey's Dark Chocolate Kisses

~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with foil, and coat with cooking spray.
~ Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
~ Beat the SmartBalance and peanut butter until creamy.
~ Whisk in the sugar until fluffy.
~ Beat in the egg whites, milk, and vanilla.
~ Fold in the flour mixture until just combined.
~ Shape the dough into 1" balls, and bake for 8 minutes - just until lightly golden but still soft.
~ Immediately press a dark chocolate into the center of each cookie, which will cause the dough around the edges to crack.
~ Transfer onto wire racks to cool completely, then store in a closed container, taking care with the tops of the chocolates because they will be soft for a while... Enjoy merrily! :-)

Salted White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

By nature one who likes to celebrate, who fully supports baking a cake and raising a toast on a Tuesday just because it's Tuesday, I am, as one would expect, always excited about upcoming holidays. This year I'm especially enthusiastic about the winter holidays - I'm humming and singing even more than usual, I have festive decorations scattered all over the house and positively smothering my desk at work, and I feel a passionate urge to bake cookies every night of the week. Perhaps my exponentially increased enthusiasm has something to do with our first holiday season in the cold weather, where it actually feels like winter, or, more likely, has to do with the fact that this is the first year in a very long time when I'm not in school, working night shifts, or logging a 4 hour round trip daily commute. Having a shred of one's sanity for once does tend to contribute positively to one's sense of joie de vivre.

I feel there's nothing else to do but allow my enthusiasm full reign. I baked several batches of cookies for coworkers, friends, and Zach last weekend, with the culinary goal of adding updated, modern twists to classic, favorite cookie tropes. This batch is one of my favorites - a reworking of Zach's beloved white chocolate oatmeal cookies. I used buttermilk as the sole rising agent and a minimal amount of sugar, adding a pleasant, yeasty tang, and added coarse sea salt for a utterly mesmerizing hint of saltiness amidst the rich sweetness of the white chocolate.

So whether you're covered in flour like me or muttering about an overdose of carols on the radio already, bake at least one batch of cookies for my sake... I dare say these, in particular, would cheer up even Dickens' gloomiest Scrooge.

Salted White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2 Cups white whole wheat flour
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 rounded tsp coarse sea salt
1 Cup low fat buttermilk
4 egg whites
1 Tbsp honey
3/4 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips

~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil and coat lightly with cooking spray.
~ Whisk together the flour, oatmeal, sugar, and sea salt, and set aside.
~ Whisk together the buttermilk, egg whites, honey, canola oil, and vanilla until well blended.
~ Gradually stir in the flour mixture.
~ Fold in the white chocolate chips.
~ Scoop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheets, and bake for approx 12 minutes - until set but still soft.
~ Allow to cool on the cookie sheets or on wire racks - or enjoy warm! :-)

Onion Cream Gravy and Thankfulness

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Many holiday season recipes feel like they are thematically appropriate for any of the festive occasions celebrated this time of year, so on I continue sharing holiday recipes practical and fanciful alike.

And doing so gives me even more opportunities to be sentimental and thankful out loud for all the things deemed cheesy if uttered the rest of the year... When in fact I am thankful all year for the opportunity to write and be creative here on the blog, thankful for my wonderful friends here in blog land who actually read my notes and mutterings, thankful for our family and friends all over the country who call, text, and write daily and make me feel as though anywhere in the world is home. I'm thankful for my fellow Air Force wives, equally transplanted from across the map, who welcomed me with open arms and made me feel as though arriving in a new location from seemingly outer space every 3 to 4 years is normal. I'm thankful for my husband, who always makes me feel loved and cherished even if most days I only see him waving at me in passing on his way to the hospital.

I'll stop the happy tears now, I promise. On to something very brown, unphotogenic, and utterly essential - gravy. I always like to make a non-meat based gravy for holiday dinners, so that vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike can enjoy the delights of gravy on their mashed potatoes... and stuffing... and anything else imaginable. And, coming from the south where gravy carries almost as much weight as a measure of one's culinary abilities as one's pie crust, I fret over the gravy to such an extent each year that I only gather enough courage and fortitude to whisk and thicken one gravy - so a vegetarian gravy it is. In the past I've always used mushrooms for a deep, hearty flavor, but realizing with increasing awareness that not everyone is as madly in love with edible fungi as I am, I decided upon caramelized onions this year. With a creamy twist of decadence for festivity...

Is it strange to say I'm thankful for onions?

Onion Cream Gravy

2 T olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup vegetable broth
1 T Dijon mustard
3/4 cup 2% evaporated milk

~ In a saucepan over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until limp and starting to brown.
~ Stir in the broth, mustard, and evaporated milk, and simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened.
~ Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve warm! Delicious over steaks, chicken, or tempeh...

Pumpkin Cheesecake Souffles

2011-11-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

This year we were blessed with not just one Thanksgiving celebration, but two! A potluck event at a friend's house, for which I was busily cooking on Thanksgiving day, and where Zach joined us after a hectic day's work at the hospital, followed by our Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday with 12 friends attending! And then there are the treats I plan to bring to Zach and his coworkers all along the journey between Thanksgiving and Chanukkah/Christmas as well... Needless to say, I've been in a menu tizzy for nearly a month.

With so many events, I have a glorious opportunity to explore a variety of different holiday desserts, embellishing our manditory dessert menu of pecan and apple pies. This is one dessert that left us particularly enchanted... Even Zach, who normally isn't a fan of pumpkin pie and would be expected to mutter something about pumpkin invading his cheesecake, was enthralled by this dessert. Just the right balance of creamy cheesecake on the palate with the light, fluffy texture of a pumpkin mousse, and the irresistible, nutty spices of fall...

As we continue to celebrate our first Thanksgiving in our new home in Ohio, I wish everyone much joy, the unparalleled joy of sharing a meal, a flavor, a memory with those you love...

Pumpkin Cheesecake Souffles

Individual ramekin dishes
2 packages (8 ounces each) reduced fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
4 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt

~ Coat the ramekin dishes with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
~ In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg whites; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt.
~ Divide the batter between the ramekin dishes, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes - until the center is set.
~ Allow to cool at room temperature, then refrigerate and serve slightly chilled...

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Cakes

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

I told myself no. I would not purchase Halloween candy, and I certainly wouldn't bake any of the decadent, tempting recipes for post-Halloween candy cookies. We were out of town in Texas for Halloween, so I figured I was safe - we weren't home to receive trick-or-treaters, so no need to purchase tempting bags of chocolate. Indeed, I sailed through exactly three weeks past Halloween, with nary a hint of holiday candy tip-toeing into my grocery cart. And then the next season of Thanksgiving/Christmas/Chanukkah treats emerged...

and I just so happened to spy a package of Reese's Minis peanut butter cups. Mini miniature peanut butter cups, adorably tiny, already unwrapped and perfect for baking. All resolve flew out the window.

Naturally I baked cookies. Chocolate chip peanut butter cup cookie cakes.

A completely life altering experience.

Totally worth waiting for in utter suspense, careening past Halloween and nearly into Thanksgiving. Because in a world full of tricks, everyone needs a treat now and then...

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Cakes

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup SmartBalance Light
1 1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites
1 cup dark chocolate chips (at least 60% cacao)
Reese's Mini's peanut butter cups

~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners.
~ Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
~ Beat the SmartBalance Light, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy.
~ Beat in the egg whites.
~ Stir in the dry ingredients.
~ Fold in the chocolate chips.
~ Place a scoop of dough into each muffin cup, filling each cup approx 1/2 full.
~ Bake for 10 minutes.
~ Remove from the oven, and immediately place two Mini PB cups on each cookie cake, pressing down gently to ease the PB cups into the dough.
~ Return to the oven for 2 more minutes.
~ Allow to cool on wire racks... and enjoy! :-)

'Twas the Monday before Thanksgiving...

2011-11-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

... and I am frantically preparing for a holiday long weekend off from work, practically unheard of in the medical field. Of course, this means I have to cram an entire week's work into three days in order to savor these precious few days off, so I am having a somewhat hectic and harried start to the week...

So, please forgive me this brief note, and please write me to tell me what brilliant delicious ideas you're formulating for your Thanksgiving menus! Speaking of which, Zach does have to work on Thanksgiving, so we will be having our festive Thanksgiving celebration the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, and I will do my best on the actual Thursday of Thanksgiving day to bring holiday cheer to Zach and his co-workers at the hospital.

And in the meantime, our CSA box brought us greenhouse avocados this week! A remarkable holiday gift indeed!

Dinners on the Fly...

2011-11-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

With Thanksgiving fast approaching (and by fast I actually mean galloping towards me at an alarming and thrilling rate, reminding me of all the shopping and menu finalizing I still have yet to accomplish), I've been dialing down the regular weekday cooking and prepping the fridge and freezer to receive the bounty of Thanksgiving dishes, thus trending more towards understated weeknight suppers with minimal leftovers. Yet while these dishes seem so humble to me, I always love learning about other folk's approaches to speedy weeknight options (all too appropriate for these weeks when Zach is working night shift and needs a quick dinner ready before he dashes out the door to work just as I'm arriving home), so I decided to share a few here in case you too are spending more time this week shopping for sweet potatoes and freezing homemade stock than thinking about Monday night's dinner... Or in case you and your spouse are attempting to compress an entire day's conversation into a 30 minute dinner scheduled between your opposite work shifts... In either instance, dinner should be memorably delicious... and efficient.

With some lovely jalepenio yogurt cheese from the farmers market, we created quesadillas with arugula and thinly sliced apple...

Spinach sauteed with garlic and sliced radishes, topped with feta cheese and served alongside black rice...

The most intuitive dish, yet utterly delightful - acorn squash, with the seeds scooped out and roasted with a light coating of cooking spray, turbinado sugar, and cinnamon, the squash baked separately, then served with a small dollop of SmartBalance light, the roasted seeds, and more cinnamon...

Kale, red onions, red peppers, and lots of garlic sauteed together, then folded into an EggBeaters omelet topped with parmesan cheese...

A bunch of veggies tossed in the crockpot with kidney beans, black beans, and chili spices, topped with a wedge of LaughingCow cheese which totally elevated this simple veggie chili to new creamy heights...

I'm eager to hear - what are you favorite quick culinary delights for a speedy supper? :-)

Pumpkin Fiber Bars

2011-11-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

We're just a bit obsessed with fiber in our household. Technically a form of carbohydrate that cannot be digested, as you likely know, fiber comes in two forms - soluble and insoluble - both usually lacking in the typical American diet. Thus, Zach and I have been on an evangelical quest to encourage our family and friends to consume more fiber. Granted, this creates interesting dinner table conversations, and at work I'm known as the fiber-girl who's always telling her coworkers "yay fiber," but fiber is worth it! The average American consumes only 15 grams of fiber a day, yet the recommended quantity is at least 25 to 30 grams per day! Zach and I aim to consume at least 50 grams of fiber from dietary sources each day, and most days we exceed our goal. (Just in case your interested, my dietary fiber count for yesterday was 65.3 grams... Score!)

While most of the time we simply focus on whole grains, lots of legumes, and lots of veggies for our fiber sources, I have become a recent fan of FFactor cereals, particularly the Skinny's and Skinny's n Fruit, both of which contain 18grams of fiber in a 1/2 cup, 70 calorie serving! I'm very pleased with the way this cereal uses minimal ingredients and real dietary sources for the fiber - just wheat bran and oat bran. Most mornings if I'm having Greek yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast I'll sprinkle some of the cereal on top... But last weekend I decided I should branch out and bake a high-fiber treat! Our pumpkin obsession continues, naturally, as we drift from Halloween into Thanksgiving, thus, voila, pumpkin bars. Pumpkin bars with an enormity of fiber. Surprisingly, they emerged still very moist and full of rich pumpkin flavor, a wonderfully cozy and satisfying spice bar. After serving a few to Zach's friends one evening and finding them polished off with rapidity, I even felt confident enough to spread the fiber love further and bake a big batch for Zach to take to work the next day, where Zach reported they were much enjoyed for breakfast. As we are fans of not-so-sweet deserts that are healthful enough to double as breakfast, I love how these seamlessly transition from dessert with a scoop of ice cream one night to breakfast with a bit of peanut butter the next morning...

Pumpkin Fiber Bars

(Adapted from Betty Crocker)

2 cups high fiber cereal, such as FFactor or FiberOne original

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup apple cider

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree

4 egg whites

1 1/2 cups whole wheat or white whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups raw turbinado sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

~ Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
~ Place cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag. Seal bag and crush with rolling pin - or crush in food processor).
~ In large bowl, beat oil, apple cider, pumpkin, and egg whites until well blended. Stir in crushed cereal, and let stand 10 minutes.
~ Beat in remaining bar ingredients except walnuts until well blended.
~ Stir in walnuts. Spread evenly in pan. The mixture will be thick.
~ Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, then slice and enjoy!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Spinach

2011-11-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Occasionally, I find myself thinking that cooking is a lost art in today's era, especially amongst my generation. I recollect when I was the only one amongst my graduate school classmates who cooked at all, and the ridicule they levied my way for being so "old fashioned" and "participating the patriarchal oppression" simply because I prepared actual meals. (I should add that I always irrefutably responded, "how come you always come over to my house for dinner, then?")

Then I remember my wonderful blogger friends, keeping the art of home cooking alive... and I am reminded of how many wonderful friends with which I've been blessed who share my passion for preparing nourishing, nurturing meals.

My friend Claudia recently shared with me this remarkable recipe, perfect for chilly nights when you crave comfort food but still want a more healthful version of the classic, decadent dish... I should add that I called this "spinach casserole" when I served it to Zach, because otherwise he would have said "why is there spinach in my mac and cheese?!" Yet without preconceived notions of what macaroni and cheese should be like, this dish is glorious - creamy, intensely flavorful with the piquancy of lots of black pepper and nutmeg, and perfectly soothing on a winter's night.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Spinach

(Adapted from Eating Well)

3 panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 16-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed (I used Trader Joe's frozen spinach - Gina is right, this is the best frozen spinach ever!)
1 3/4 cups 2% milk, divided
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups shredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 cups whole-wheat penne

~ Put a large pot of water on to boil. Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat an 8-inch-square baking dish with cooking spray.
~ Mix breadcrumbs, oil and paprika in a small bowl, and set aside.
~ Place spinach in a fine-mesh strainer and press out excess moisture.
~ Heat 1 1/2 cups milk in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until steaming. Whisk remaining 1/4 cup milk and flour in a small bowl until smooth; add to the hot milk and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce simmers and thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Cheddar until melted. Stir in cottage cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
~ Cook pasta for 4 minutes, or until not quite tender. (It will continue to cook during baking.) Drain and add to the cheese sauce; mix well.
~ Spread half the pasta mixture in the prepared baking dish. Spoon the spinach on top. Top with the remaining pasta; sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture.
~ Bake the casserole until bubbly and golden - 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm!

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Blondies

2011-11-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

I never buy iceberg lettuce, because I know it's simply green water, devoid of the nutritional value of dark leafy greens... But... A head of iceberg lettuce arrived in this week's CSA box, and I had to do something with it, right? On a whim, I decided to make a classic iceberg wedge salad, something I've never fixed before, because, well, see above. Of course, I had to fusion it up a bit, and opted to drizzle the massive boulder of crispy lettuce with a sesame ginger dressing, then sprinkle it with chopped pecans and feta cheese. And I have to admit, the salad was so much fun. There was something elegant and enchanting about the presentation, and something so whimsical about a salad that requires a fork and knife, and makes one feel simultaneously proper and retro combined with a child-like urge to pick up individual salad leaves with your fingers. Having discovered the wonders of this presentation at last, I'm very eager to see how it transfers to other, more nutritious and colorful lettuces and greens - I do believe I shall try a romaine salad wedge next...

Rest assured, though, I didn't just come here to talk about iceberg wedges! I initially came here to talk about chocolate chip cream cheese blondies... Which, upon reflection, needs no further introduction...

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Blondies

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup SmartBalance Light
1 cup raw turbinado sugar
4 egg whites
1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
12oz bag dark chocolate chips (at least 60% cacao)
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese, cut into very small pieces

~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9X11" baking pan with cooking spray, and then dust the pan with flour.
~ Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
~ Whisk together the SmartBalance, sugar, and egg whites.
~ Blend in the Greek yogurt and vanilla.
~ Fold in the dry ingredients.
~ Fold in the chocolate chips.
~ Spread half of the batter into the baking pan.
~ Place the cream cheese pieces evenly across the batter.
~ Carefully spread the remaining batter across the top of the cream cheese layer.
~ Bake for 30 minutes - until set on top.
~ Allow to cool for 10 to 15 min, then serve while still warm to achieve the full effect of the melted chocolate and cream cheese... To serve leftovers, rewarm briefly in the microwave...


These make a lovely sundae with chocolate and pumpkin ice cream... :-)

Roasted Root Vegetable Medley

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have a culinary bucket list confession to make. Until recently, I had never cooked with Daikon radishes. I knew what they were, vaguely, I'd probably consumed them while eating out at some point (this is why I fervently wish every restaurant dish came with a list of ingredients so I could be fully aware - both for health purposes and sensual appreciation - of what I'm eating), but I'd never actually walked over to one, put it in the grocery bag, and marched it home. Shameful. A foodie should try everything, right? (Good thing I have several more decades of living ahead of me, God-willing. I can easily compile a long list of ingredients I still need to learn to cook, right alongside my list of novels to read...)

Anyway, upon opening a recent CSA box, a very long, alarmingly anatomically shaped tuber emerged. My first thought, always having an intense, homesick longing for chicory coffee in the recesses of my subconscious, was that I had received a chicory root. Upon finding an utter dearth of recipes for chicory root on the web (perhaps it's only used in coffee?), I concluded this mystery vegetable required further examination. Peering at it pensively, yet another corner of my subconscious concluded: Daikon radish. Shockingly, I was correct, though I'm not sure from what distant memory this knowledge emerged. Regardless, I was delighted to have a new vegetable, and was utterly clueless as to how to prepare it. A bit rashly, perhaps, I concluded that it was a root vegetable, so surely it could be roasted alongside a medley of other root vegetables for a glorious, early winter harvest dish.

I later discovered that the proper way to serve a Daikon radish seems to be raw and thinly shredded, as a salad, but the innocent discovery had already been made. The roasted Daikon radish, alongside little classic red radishes, sweet potato, and turnips, was magical... and was guaranteed a place at our fusion-cuisine obsessed Thanksgiving table.

So, please do share... What's on your culinary list of ingredients to cook with for the first time? And, because I love hearing about what my friends are cooking and reading, what's in your pile of books to read?

Roasted Root Vegetable Medley

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1" pieces
1 large Daikon radish, cut into 1" pieces
4 medium turnips, cut into 1" pieces
1 large bunch red radishes, cut into 1" pieces
2 onions, quartered and layers separated
1 T Olive oil
1 T Rosemary
1lb Italian-style turkey sausage, sliced OR 1lb Italian-style vegetarian soy "sausage," sliced (such as Tofurky brand)

~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position the oven rack in the upper 1/3 of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up, and coat the foil with cooking spray.
~ Toss together all the veggies in a large bowl with the olive oil and rosemary. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
~ Spread the veggies in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
~ Remove from the oven, give the veggies a stir, and scatter the sausage or veg sausage on the baking sheet with the veggies.
~ Bake for 30 minutes, or until everything is cooked through. Serve warm! This also makes a lovely, casual first course with a glass of red wine...

Harvest Garlic-Herb Kale Soup

2011-11-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

Energized by my success in presenting one Thanksgiving recipe ahead of time, I've been experimenting with several other potential holiday recipes. As this is the first year I'll be hosting our Thanksgiving completely solo, without the assistance of Zach's family and my family's culinary insights combined, I feel as though some advance preparation is necessary. While in the past I've vacillated between very modern and very traditional for my Thanksgiving dishes, this year the rhythm of cooking seasonally from our CSA box has me inclined to let the rustic nature of the fall and winter harvest vegetables, such as hearty leafy greens, lead the day...

Harvest Garlic-Herb Kale Soup

2 T olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, diced
2 heads garlic, separated into whole cloves
1 bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped (approx 1/2 to one cup, depending on how much you like parsley)
4 cups vegetable broth (plus more if needed)
2 (15oz) cans white beans, drained
1 T Italian seasoning
5 cups roughly chopped kale

~ In a large soup pot over medium heat, saute the onion, celery, carrots, garlic cloves, and parsley in the olive oil until the veggies are tender. (If you like a stronger parsley flavor, add the parsley to the broth in the last few min of cooking instead of sauteing it. Personally, I'm a fan of the nice, mellow-green flavor it acquires when sauteed...)
~ Stir in the broth, white beans, and Italian seasoning, and simmer until the beans are nice and tender and the flavors have developed.
~ Stir in the kale, and continue to simmer until the kale is tender.
~ Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve warm!

Pumpkin Spice Beer Bread

2011-11-02T09:13:00.000-04:00

Lately I've really been enjoying being a beer snob not only when it comes to drinking beer, but also for baking beer bread. Different beers make a surprisingly huge difference in the flavor of the bread! Last week I whipped up a loaf of apple beer bread with a New Holland Mad Hatter IPA, and the sweetness of the apples paired beautifully with the hoppy sharpness of the beer - almost like an apple and cheddar cheese pairing. (To recreate this loaf, simply use Farmgirl Susan's basic beer bread recipe and add 1 finely diced apple while using an IPA beer.)

While sorting through the pantry contents recently, I discovered I had half a cup of pumpkin puree and one lone raspberry wheat beer lurking in the fridge. This particular raspberry beer was especially fruity, so I decided raspberries weren't too far from cranberries and thus hoped the beer would go well with the pumpkin! The result was a revelation - intensely spicy, with a deep, mellow pumpkin flavor accentuated by the subtle notes of the fruit beer, and best of all, a slight sweetness not at all like intensely sweet classic pumpkin breads, but instead just perfect to accompany a hearty main course stew. The pumpkin also made the bread incredibly moist, and added a chewiness not usually found in beer breads... I can't wait to try more beer and bread pairings! Now if only Zach would spare an oatmeal stout for the baking cause...

Pumpkin Spice Beer Bread

3 cups whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
1 T cinnamon
1 (12oz) bottle fruit beer
1/3 cup pumpkin puree

~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9X5" baking pan with cooking spray.
~ In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
~ Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the beer and pumpkin puree. Stir until you have a thick dough.
~ Scoop the dough into the baking pan, and bake for 45 min - until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.
~ Allow to cool at least partially before slicing... If you can! :-)

Ginger Pumpkin Pie

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-04:00

I finally did it. After years of posting holiday recipes after the fact, because I just couldn't find the time (and organization) to cook for the same holiday twice, I actually prepared a holiday recipe about which I can write in advance of the holiday.

My family has made the same, classic pumpkin pie for years, certainly as long as I remember. I'm the first family member in our three living generations of pumpkin pie bakers to begin branching out into the realm of new recipes a few years ago, fixing a bourbon pecan pie for one year's Thanksgiving that resulted in my mother's polite but terse comment: "It's very nice, dear, but it's not grandma's pumpkin pie..."

Regardless, I was committed. From cheesecake to strusels, the possibilities for Thanksgiving pumpkin desserts seem infinite. Then there's this pumpkin pie that only slightly, delicately deviates from my childhood recipe - lighter and fluffier, and heady with the grown up flavors of ginger.

One could argue, perhaps, that I simply fixed this recipe because, as a pumpkin dessert, it's appropriate for Halloween as well... I would simply respond, however, that such an observation only means that I managed to post a recipe for two holidays ahead of time. Regardless this dish is certainly reappearing on our Thanksgiving table. Which makes me feel rather triumphant.

Pumpkin pie and Southern Tier PumKing Pumpkin Ale...

Ginger Pumpkin Pie

1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 graham cracker pie crust, either store-bought or homemade (You can also use a traditional pie crust for this pie, of course. I've only started trending more towards graham cracker pie crusts for the decreased calories and saturated fat when compared to a proper pastry crust...)

~ Preheat your oven to 375 F.

~ Whisk together all the ingredients from pumpkin to cinnamon.
~ Pour your custard into the pie crust.
~ Bake for 40 to 55min - until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
~ Allow to cool, then serve with whipped cream!

Yellow Eggplant Gratin

2011-10-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

I have a great fondness for historical cookbooks, particularly 18th century "Cookery Books" with their recipes for Green Sallats, Herring and Fruit Pie, and A Rich Cake containing a truly shocking quantity of eggs. I also have an inordinate number of little community cookbooks from the last 70 years or so of Deep South cooking here in the US, treasuring a piece of my culinary heritage documented in my ancestors' somewhat perplexing fondness for gelatin salads.

Within the pages of these Ladies Auxillary and Junior League spiral bound volumes, I've noticed a recurring pattern in the approach to cooking vegetables. Largely, regardless of the type of vegetable at hand, the method of attack seems to be "cook it, mash it, add cheese, top with crushed crackers, and bake it."

Despite my affection for reading these recipes, I have yet to actually employ this approach in the kitchen. Yet I have to admit, we still today recognize that most savory foods are more delicious with cheese (or vegan cashew cheese sauce, or crumbled tofu, or anything else to satisfy the creamy component we crave in a texturally well-rounded dish). Thus, as I've been purchasing a plethora of eggplant lately, having discovered a local diner where the cashier sells yellow eggplant from her garden at the checkout counter, it seemed time to move into the casserole category with my favorite vegetable.

Granted, the resulting dish was an elegant gratin, almost a loosely bound, much lighter version of eggplant Parmesan, rather than a mixture of cream sauce and saltine crackers. Yet still, I felt just a bit connected to my family's cooks of the 1950s as I layered the gratin and slid the casserole dish into the oven...

I do believe the ladies of the Junior League would have been impressed.

I love the way a gratin emerges all bubbly and browned and messy, but they do not photograph well... At least for me...

Eggplant Gratin

3 medium eggplant, thinly sliced, then soaked in very salted water for 30 min, then turned into a colander to drain

4 T olive oil

2 medium onions (since I was using yellow eggplant, I thought it would be fun to use a purple-red onion instead of a yellow onion, just as my eggplant was yellow instead of deep purple)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

1 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 cup marinara sauce or any of your favorite tomato sauces (I used the leftovers from a gorgeous roasted garlic tomato sauce Zach made)

1/2 cup grated low-fat cheddar cheese

6 T grated Parmesan cheese

~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 9X13" baking pan with cooking spray.

~ In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion is limp.

~ Add the parsley to the onion mixture and saute until the parsley is wilted. Remove from the heat, and set aside.

~ Line the baking pan with a layer of eggplant slices. Sprinkle the eggplant with salt and pepper.

~ Scatter the onion mixture across the eggplant layer.

~ Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.

~ Top with another layer of eggplant.

~ Spread the marinara sauce across the eggplant.

~ Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese.

~ Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes or until the eggplant is very tender. Serve warm!

Coconut Stew with Pumpkin and Bok Choy

2011-10-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

Whenever I find truly unique vegetables, I feel like I need to fix each one individually in it's own recipe to really give the vegetable at hand it's due. Yellow eggplant, orange cauliflower, green pumpkins... All perched artfully on my countertop, awaiting the possibilities. And then I remember what a multitude of veggies we have, between the farmers market and our CSA box, and I remember how much I love vegetable stew, how my mother's vegetable barley stew seemed so perfect and comforting to a small child on a cold night, and, of course, I fix stew. All the happier for it.

Coconut Stew with Pumpkin and Bok Choy

(Adapted from Johanna's excellent recipe)

2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mustard powder
1 T sweet paprika
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 medium eggplant, cut into 1" cubes then soaked in salt water for 20 minutes, then rinsed and patted dry
1 cup vegetable broth
1 (15oz) can lite coconut milk
1 head bok choy, roughly chopped
1 small pie pumpkin, peeled and chopped
12oz firm tofu, cut into 1" pieces
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

~ Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Saute the onion onion until translucent.
~ Add the spices and stir constantly until fragrant.
~ Add broth, coconut milk, eggplant, and pumpkin.
~ Season to taste with salt and pepper, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes.
~ Add cauliflower, bok choy, and tofu, and simmer uncovered cauliflower is tender.
~ Season again to taste with salt and pepper, and serve warm - topped with hot sauce, or grated cheddar cheese, or vegan cheese!

Rustic Pumpkin Bread Cupcakes

2011-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my dear friend Ashley here in Dayton who also happens to be a remarkably innovative and talented chef, I have at last been introduced to the SkinnyTaste blog. I'm not typically a recipe follower, so when a recipe arises that actually does capture my devotion I feel it's worth mentioning... Like this pumpkin bread recipe, which I adapted into rustic cupcakes and served with cream cheese frosting for a recent beer tasting dinner party we hosted...

Rustic Pumpkin Bread Cupcakes

(Adapted from a recipe from SkinnyTaste)

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 tbsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup egg whites
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

~ Preheat oven to 350° F. Line muffin cups with paper liners, and spray them with cooking spray.
~ In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt with a wire whisk.
~ In a large bowl, mix oil, egg whites, pumpkin puree and vanilla, beating until creamy.
~ Stir in the flour mixture, taking care not to over -mix.
~ Scoop the batter into the muffin cups, filling them nearly all the way. Bake for approx 25 minutes - until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake emerges clean. Serve warm immediately, or allow to cool and serve with your favorite cream cheese frosting!

Spiced Quinoa with Chickpeas

2011-10-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my last post that I'd found turnips at the farmers market,

(and a giant red bell pepper!)

so I couldn't resist sharing the other items I found on our first Fall trip to the downtown morning farmers market around the corner from our apartment.

Wonderfully spicy jalapeno yogurt cheese...

Whole grain Dijon mustard...

Remarkably beautiful onions for only 75 cents each...

Adorable tiny marshmallows - how could one resist?

And multi-colored quinoa!!

Our favorite Amish dry goods store at the farmers market offers the best price on quinoa in town, unequivocally. Even though I'd already fixed a spelt pilaf for supper that night, I wanted to prepare a recipe with our beautiful quinoa right away, so I added this versatile dish to our evening menu... Somehow everything from the farmers market just tastes better, even humble dried grains.

Spiced Quinoa with Chickpeas

2 T olive oil
1 1/4 cup quinoa
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T dehydrated onion
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 cups vegetable broth
1 (15oz) can chickpeas, drained

~ In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil and toast the quinoa, garlic, dehydrated onion, curry powder, cumin, and cinnamon until the spices are fragrant.
~ Pour in the vegetable broth and chickpeas, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed. Serve warm!

Turnip and Kale Stew

2011-10-09T06:00:00.001-04:00

Ever since I was a small child I was fascinated by okra and turnips, the only two vegetables my mother wouldn't eat. They might have remained a distant childhood curiosity had not my grandmother one day served me a bowl of stewed okra (indulgently, knowing of my curiosity, as my grandmother too was not fond of okra, unusual for a Southern woman like herself). I still remember that simple bowl of okra as one of the best dishes I've ever tasted, and from that moment I became convinced that turnips too were a magical food of which my mother was simply unaware. By the time I was 10 or 11 and old enough to contribute to the family's cooking I asked my mother to bring home turnips one day, and when she did I fixed a simple dish of baked turnips and apples. Even my mother had 2nd helpings of this hearty, comforting, soothing dish, and from that day forward I was a devotee of turnips as well as okra.

Today, they still remain a more unusual vegetable in our kitchen - perhaps my mother is not alone in her wariness of turnips, because I find this simple staple vegetable rather difficult to locate on a regular basis. When I found a single, lone turnip in our CSA box last week, however, I immediately ran to the farmers market to purchase an entire bag of turnips so I could fix a dish centered around a long-term personal favorite once more. What emerged was a comforting, rustic stew, simple enough for a weeknight in the slow cooker, yet unique enough for company on a weekend dinner, and at every moment just as delicious as I remembered turnips to be, so many years ago...

Turnip and Kale Stew

1/4 lb center cut, uncured bacon, diced OR 1/4 lb turkey bacon, diced, OR 1/4 lb smoked tempeh, diced
1 link andouille sausage, diced OR 1/2 package Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo, diced
2 links Italian style sausage, casings removed OR 2 links Tofurkey vegetarian Italian style sausage
1 large onion, thinly sliced
5 turnips, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 carrot, diced
5 cups vegetable broth
1 (15oz) can cannellini beans, drained
4 cups roughly chopped turnip greens or kale

~ Coat a large soup pot with cooking spray, and set it over medium heat.
~ Brown the bacon/smoked tempeh, andouille sausage/soy chorizo, and Italian sausage/vegetarian sausage.
~ Add the onion, turnips, carrot, and broth, and simmer for 10 minutes.
~ Stir in the beans and turnip greens or kale, and simmer until completely cooked - approx 20 more minutes. Enjoy warm!

Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

2011-10-03T08:06:00.000-04:00

I've moved into the 21st Century at last. Only about, oh, 11 years behind the curve. I finally have a SmartPhone. After years with my stalwart flip phone, I've crossed the line into the realm of downloadable applications, mobile internet access, and a phone camera that actually takes at least recognizable photos. In other words, all the accoutrements to which Smart Phone Users have already been accustomed since the very first iPhone emerged, oh, I don't know, several years ago.

Self deprecation aside, we still don't have television access, so perhaps its not surprising that I persisted for years in maintaining my tiny flip-phone was adequate. "I should be thankful to have a cell phone at all," I reasoned. I'm Jewish. We do guilt well. It's a cultural thing.

Anyway, this tiny technological device Zach surprised me with one morning (he's had one for years, because in the medical world nowadays you're expected to have some form of Blackberry/SmartPhone device for looking up medication doses and all the other things you'd really prefer to have instantaneously when your patient is crashing rather than paging through the latest 10-pound volume of Physicians Desk Reference) is truly the best present ever. Did you know Epicurious and CookingLight have smart phone applications? (Of course you did. Please just humor me and allow me this moment of enthusiasm.) Now, when I'm at the grocery after work or savoring a precious 10-minute lunch break, I can peruse the inspiration to be found in thousands of recipes at my fingertips, and already have a meal envisioned before I even get home... Oh, the joy! Oh, the new and creative ways to prepare the bushels and bushels of corn arriving in our CSA box each week! Disclaimer: To all you SmartPhone users, thank you for humoring my glee in the above paragraphs. Perhaps you too once had a similar application-discovering experience? To all of you who still don't have a SmartPhone, kudos to you for holding out longer than I did! In case there's any tension between these two groups, I hope I have offended no-one with this innocent post... I am perhaps somewhat more sarcastic than usual at 5AM. I shall return to neutral territory now and discuss corn chowder... Something on which I hope we can all agree. Unless you're allergic to corn. In which case, please fix this chowder with white beans instead, a version I already plan on trying this winter when fresh corn is no longer abounding. It's too delicious to go without for an entire season...

Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

(Adapted from Bon Appetit May 2006)

1/4 cup SmartBalance Light
1 1/2 cups diced smoked turkey (about 8 ounces) OR 8oz smoked tempeh strips, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 4 ears of corn), corncobs reserved
1 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
Vegetable Broth

~ Melt SmartBalance Light in heavy large pot over high heat. Add turkey or tempeh, onion, bell peppers, and garlic and sauté until vegetables are tender - about 10 minutes.
~ Add corn and stir 5 minutes.
~ Add sweet potato and enough broth to make a soup of your preferred thickness, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
~ Season soup to taste with salt and pepper, and serve warm!

Protein Powder Banana Muffins

2011-09-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, I joined several of my co-workers for the American Heart Association 5K here in Dayton. To all my amazing runner friends a 5K might not seem significant, but after having been told by my Neurologist and my Physical Therapist that it would never be safe for me to run again, or even walk long distances, a simple 5K seems like an enormous gift, a true cause for joy and thankfulness.

So, on Saturday morning, I braved the rain with a glad heart... and to celebrate, I baked a festive batch of protein powder muffins!

Protein Powder Banana Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup protein powder (I use Nutiva organic hemp protein and fiber powder)
1 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
6 egg whites, beaten
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup mashed ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (at least 60% cacao - I used the Endangered Species 88% cacao chocolate)

~ Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin cups with paper liners, and coat them lightly with cooking spray.
~ In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through cinnamon).
~ In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (starter buttermilk through vanilla).
~ Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined.
~ Fold in the chopped dark chocolate.
~ Fill your muffin tins until they are nearly full. Bake for approx 20 minutes - until the tops of the muffins are just set, and a toothpick inserted gently in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool on wire racks, and store in the fridge in a closed container... and make sure to enjoy one or two warm right away! :-)

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

2011-09-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

I have been baking more than usual... It's the best thing about Fall, I do believe, when the oven becomes a cozy source of warmth and the chill, damp weather outside is ameliorated by the comforting scents of spices and pumpkin. Especially now that Zach has concluded he does like pumpkin after all...

These cookies were baked the night of an XBox video game extravaganza Zach and his friend were holding in order to de-stress from a long week of work at the hospital. In order to maintain optimum visibility for the video game, then had turned out all the lights in our apartment... and, as I am not one to question or interfere when a game of zombies is at hand, I quite contentedly baked cookies by candlelight. A very peaceful way to work in the kitchen, actually... and a true testament to the reliability and flexibility of this recipe, which tolerated my limited visibility remarkably well and still produced remarkably moist, flavorful, cozily spiced oatmeal cookies...

I foresee much celebration of pumpkin season in our household this year! :-)

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 egg
6 oz pumpkin puree, either fresh or canned
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans

~ Preheat oven to 350° F. Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray.

~ In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin spice and cinnamon.

~ In a large bowl, with a mixer, cream together the sugars and the pumpkin.

~ Whisk the egg into the sugar mixture, followed by the vanilla extract.

~ Stir in the flour-oat mixture until just combined.

~ Fold in the pecans.

~ Dollop rounded tablespoons of the dough at a time onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for approx 11 min - until light brown on the edges.

~ Allow to cool on baking sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely... Or, of course, serve warm! :-)

Smokey Chickpea and Beet Greens Stew

2011-09-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

With the onset of cooler temperatures, I begin checking weather reports with all the diligence of a farmer bringing in late harvest crops. I claim this behavior occurs because I was raised on a farm, but a more honest explanation is likely due to the fact that my three most visceral greatest fears are spiders, zombies, and cold weather. The only way I know of to cheer myself as the temperatures creep lower is to cook lots of comforting, soothing, nourishing, hearty stews.

And wear scarves.

And bake. More about the baking very soon. For now, an autumnal stew...

Smokey Chickpea and Beet Greens Stew

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces andouille sausage, diced OR 12 oz vegetarian soy-chorizo, crumbled (we use Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo)
2 1/2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained
2 bay leaves
4 cups roughly chopped beet greens (I used beet greens because I happened to have them on hand, but I'm sure other greens, such as kale or swiss chard, would be lovely as well)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

~ Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add onion, and sauté 3 minutes.
~ Add garlic and andouille or chorizo, and sauté 2 minutes.
~ Stir in broth, chickpeas, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer until the chickpeas are tender.
~ Add beet greens and remaining ingredients, stirring just until the greens wilt and the stalks are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve immediately...

Fruit and Cheese Winter Squash

2011-09-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

Just as I wrote a post recently about savoring the last few days of Summer and celebrating Summer vegetables in all their end of season glory, our very next CSA box contained the first squashes of the cooler seasons. Not that I'm complaining, though, really, as perfectly round pumpkins are a lovely surprise to find on one's apartment doorstep...

Fruit and Cheese Winter Squash

2 large winter squash (I used 1 medium sized pumpkin and 1 butternut squash), sliced in half, placed in a baking pan with 1/2" of water, and baked in a 350 degree oven until tender
2 T SmartBalance Light
3/4 cup pear cider
1 cup grated sharp aged cheddar cheese

~ Scoop the cooked winter squash into a large pot on the stove-top over low heat. Stir in the Smart balance light and pear cider, and mash with a potato masher or large wooden spoon until smooth.
~ Once the squash mixture is warm and smooth, stir in the grated cheddar cheese until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve warm, with cinnamon and nutmeg for garnish, if you like!

Soft Pretzel Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

2011-09-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

This story begins with a giant soft pretzel from the farmers market, which was so huge that even though it served as the centerpiece appetizer for a dinner party Saturday night, we still had glorious soft pretzel leftovers! The very same day, my friend Alyssa texted me a photo of this adorable grilled cheese recipe... and an idea began to formulate...

Soft Pretzel Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

Imagine a soft pretzel, paired with whole grain mustard, fresh tomato slices, mozzarella cheese, and veggie sliced ham, toasted to perfection? Oh yes indeed...

Soft Pretzel Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Soft pretzels - either individually sized, or large and sliced into individual sizes accordingly. The most important thing is to simply slice them lengthwise down the middle with a good serrated bread knife to make two halves for each sandwich.
Laughing Cow spreadable cheese, 1 wedge for each sandwich - we used the sundried tomato for this recipe
Whole grain mustard - approx 1 T per sandwich, depending on how much you like mustard
Sliced fresh tomato - 2 to 3 slices per sandwich, depending on the size of the tomato
Grated part-skim mozzarella cheese - approx 2 T per sandwich
Sliced vegetarian "Ham," such as LightLife Vegan Ham Style Deli Slices - 3 slices per sandwich

~ To assemble each sandwich, spread a laughing cow wedge on one side of the sliced soft pretzel, and spread mustard on the other side. Layer your fresh tomato, veggie "ham," and sprinkled mozzarella cheese on top of the laughing cow side, and press down the mustard side on top.
~ In a large skillet coated with cooking spray over mmedium heat, toast the sandwiches on each side, pressing down on top with a second skillet, until the cheese is melted and each side is nicely golden brown. Serve immediately, toasty warm!

Jungle Jim's and Coconut Curry

2011-09-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

One of the greatest things about moving around quite a bit is getting to be a tourist in your new home! Not quite on the grand scale of Melinda of Nutrition Food Travel and More, who recently moved to Japan, but fun nonetheless!

The ultimate foodie destination in our area is Jungle Jim's, conveniently located halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati. We thought we'd spend an hour or two at Jungle Jim's and then drive into Cincinnati - little did we know what Jungle Jim's had to offer! 6 hours later, we were still at Jungle Jim's! This is a 6 acre gourmet international foods store... Apparently an hour per acre wasn't nearly enough, because we still only were able to see about two-thirds of the store when we finally departed!

A glimpse of the culinary wonders Jungle Jim's has to offer...

The olive bar...

Huge barrels of pickles...

Aisles and aisles of cheese, wonderfully organized... This huge row showcased the goat cheese collection alone!

and this is simply the feta and Gouda aisle!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this adorably named sheep cheese from Holland...

A rainbow of watermelons...

Just look at all the wondrous green vegetables!

The dry goods selection was equally astounding... Here we find the pickle department...

Heirloom popcorn!

The BBQ sauces and hot sauces, all organized alphabetically, where Zach spent nearly an hour...

I confess I myself spent quite a bit of time in the jam and fruit butters section...

Lentils in bulk...

German honeys...

Very unique chocolates... (the black sea salt caramel dark chocolate is incredible!)

A plethora of Ritter Sport!

and spices galore!

and what did we bring home?

Perhaps the most exciting find turned out to be two young coconuts, because Zach used the coconut water inside to create a tantalizing coconut curry! Zach's goal was to recreate a coconut curry of which we are especially fond from a nearby Thai fusion restaurant, but I do believe, with the fresh ingredients and extra coconut flavor, he far surpassed the goal. Isn't it delightful, bring a tourist in your own hometown?

Coconut Curry

3 tablespoons SmartBalance Light
2 medium onions, chopped
1/4 tsp ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Curry Powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 (15-ounce) cans unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups coconut water
4 tomatoes, chopped
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" strips OR 1 lb firm tofu, pressed dry and cut into 1" cubes
Cooked brown or black rice

~ Heat the SmartBalance Light in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions, ginger, and garlic and cook slowly until the onions are very soft, about 15 minutes.
~ Add the tomato paste, curry powder, cinnamon, and crushed red pepper flakes, and season with salt and pepper.
~ Pour in the coconut milk and coconut water and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook until the sauce has thickened - about 20 minutes.
~ Add the tomatoes and chicken or tofu, and continue to simmer until cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes. Season again with salt and pepper, and serve warm, over the rice!

Pomegranate and Za'atar Spiced Pita Filling

2011-09-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday evening, Zach came home with a new coffee:

"Shock" hyper-caffeinated coffee

This is how I know he's in intern year of medical residency.

That, and the fact that nearly the only time I see him is when we have supper together. Still, I'm used to his schedule, and I work long hours myself, so we make an excellent team as always. Fortunately, we are at least still able to cook together on the weekends sometimes, like last Sunday when I chopped fresh vegetables and Zach prepared this beautiful filling for our whole wheat pitas...

Pomegranate and Za'atar Spiced Pita Filling

(Adapted from Joumana's Sfeeha on Pita recipe)

1 lb ground turkey OR 12 oz vegetarian Quorn "beef-style" grounds
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/8 cup finely minced parsley
4 T tahini
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 T pomegranate molasses
2 T tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
1 1/2 tsp za'atar

1 T olive oil
Toasted whole wheat pita bread
Romaine lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Greek yogurt

~ Mix the all ingredients through the za'atar (excluding the olive oil, etc) together gently in a large bowl.
~ In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the mixture in the olive oil until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
~ To serve, fill a pita with some of this mixture, along with lettuce, tomatoes, Greek Yogurt, and more za'atar if you like... Or, you can make a salad, as Zach did, topping the lettuce with your spicy, warm mixture, tomatoes, and Greek yogurt as a dressing, if you like!

Mollie Katzen's Lentil and Bulgur Salad

2011-08-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

The ideal gift for a foodie is, naturally, a cookbook. After a year or so of stringently maintaining that I had more than enough cookbooks, even Zach finally gave in kindly and now nods politely when I explain how each volume occupying shelves and shelves of wallspace opposite our kitchen has a unique niche and purpose, and even adds to the collection, knowing a cookbook present is always guaranteed to bring squeals of delight.

Even more special is a cookbook with a sample recipe alongside! When my parents visited us a few weekends ago, mom kindly treated us to Mollie Katzen's adorable little latest volume, a pocket-sized collection of salad recipes. Since they drove to Ohio for their visit, mom also brought along a generous tupperware of Lentil-Bulgur Salad! Such a lovely gift! She technically brought the acurate recipe, in deconstructed form so it wouldn't become soggy on the car ride, but, in light of the already chilly nights here, I requested a modified version of the recipe as we set about assembling in the kitchen here, so that we could serve the salad warm instead of cold the way the recipe initially suggested.

One of the reasons I'm so excited about this cookbook, is that I am inordinately fond of warm salads. Even in the summertime, I just love the way vegetables become instant comfort food with a simple saute or steam, plus a light dressing. In a culture of maccironi and cheese comfort food, I like to think of warm salads as my revolutionary healthy alternative... Lentil and bulgur fans, unite!

Lentil and Bulgur Salad

(Adapted from Mollie Katzen's Salads)

1 cup dry brown lentils
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dry bulgar wheat
1 cup boiling vegetable broth
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/8 cup minced parsley
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 lb olives

~ Place the lentils, garlic, and 2 cups broth in a sauce pan, and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat, partially cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes - until the lentils are tender but not mushy. Drain well, and transfer to a large bowl.
~ While the lentils are cooking, place the bulgur in a bowl, add the boiling broth, cover with a plate, and let stand 10 to 15 min.
~ Add everything to the lentils, stir gently, and season to taste with fresh ground pepper. Serve warm! We topped ours with Greek yogurt...

Sauted Cucumbers and Basil Butter

2011-08-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

I am acutely aware that Summer is drawing to a close. I am aware of this, because while back in the South temperatures remain balmy and unchanging, here in Ohio the nights are now chilly (by my fragile standards), the mornings brisk and cool, a new, crisp wind making me shiver as I walk to my car on my way to work.

I know soon, I will come to terms with this unavoidable changing of seasons, I will celebrate Fall and the glorious opportunities for pie baking and apple cider brewing - but not quite yet. For a little longer, I'm keeping company with Summer. I'm cherishing each week of our CSA box's continued explosion of Summer vegetables, and walking dreamily between the stalls at the farmers market each Saturday. Come saute simple summer salads with me a little longer, shall we?

Sauteed Cucumbers

2 T SmartBalance Light
3 medium cucumbers, cut into 1/2" pieces
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 cup minced chives
1/2 tsp dill
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

~ In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the SmartBalance light and saute the cucumbers until they are very tender, stirring in the salt, sugar, chives, dill, and lemon zest as you saute.
~ Remove from the heat, and stir in the feta cheese just until it melts a bit and coats the cucumbers. Serve warm!

Beets and Sugar Snap Peas with Basil Butter

1/2 cup Smart Balance Light
1/8 cup minced basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 T lemon juice
3 large beets
2 cups sugar snap peas
1 cup baby carrots

~ In the food processor, blend the SmartBalance Light, basil, garlic powder, and lemon juice until smooth. This will make your basil butter. You'll have much more than you need for this one recipe - scoop the basil butter onto cling wrap, press to seal, and store in the fridge.
~ Cook the beets as you prefer - if you have time, you can roast them in the oven, otherwise, I microwave them in 1 cup vegetable broth for 15 min, then drain the vegetable broth. If you're using the microwave method, cut the beets into big chunks before cooking. After the beets are cooked, cut them into 1/2" pieces.
~ Steam the sugar snap peas and baby carrots (I do this in the microwave also).
~ In a large bowl, fold together the beets, sugar snap peas, and baby carrots with 2 T of basil butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve warm!

Trail Mix Blondies

2011-08-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

When I'm apprehensive about something, I bake. When I'm nervous about an upcoming medical procedure, I bake. When I'm anticipating surgery, however minor, I bake A Lot. Fortunately, as the days slipped past while waiting for the removal of a mercifully benign small chest mass last week, I found at least one recipe that's both remarkably speedy and has nicely healthful qualities, so I didn't inundate our kitchen in too much indulgence or become utterly incapable of attending to more mundane household chores...

Really, this is a delightfully cleaver little recipe. I'm not usually much of a recipe follower, preferring to read my beloved cookbook collection novel-style, using the instructions for inspiration rather than for literal following, but the idea, found in The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook, of using whole grain pancake mix for healthy blondies, struck me as so brilliant that I made very few changes to the recipe, as the technique is very basic. The end result, though, is enchanting. Much more textured than classic blondies, certainly, but pleasantly so given all the chunky good things stirred into the batter, and the dark chocolate and dried cherries add a grand, grown-up richness to the not-too-sweet treat. Even friends of ours with devoted sweet teeth gave these high praise, and asked for seconds!

So, with the gentle guidance of blondie baking, I faced my procedure, and am now gratefully back to normalcy, whatever that may be. Isn't it wonderful, however rare, when life simply lets you pick right back up again...

Trail Mix Blondies

(Adapted from The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook)

2 cups buckwheat pancake mix
1 cup raw turbinado sugar
1/2 cup SmartBalance Light, melted
2 egg whites, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (at least 60% cacao)

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8X8" baking pan with foil or parchment paper, and spray the lining with cooking spray.
~ Stir together the buckwheat pancake mix, sugar, melted SmartBalance Light, egg whites, and vanilla until well combined.
~ Fold in the dried cherries and dark chocolate chips.
~ Spread the batter into the baking pan. Bake until set and cooked through but not dry - approx 30 min.
~ Serve warm or cool...

Curried Sweet Potato Salad

2011-08-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

Now that we live in Ohio, I finally got to meet in person my wonderful blog-friend, Gina of The Candid RD! After being blog friends for so long, it was such a treat to be able to chat at length in person, all while walking around the beautiful Eaton mall in Columbus,

(A Williams-Sonoma treat... vanilla bean paste!!)

and of course shopping at Trader Joe's!

Gina is incredibly sweet, and brought me a remarkably thoughtful package of her famous granola and granola bars! Gina, you truly need to patent these and start selling them online, because they are beyond amazing!

Back home in Dayton this week, I had the fanciful idea of creating a dish in Gina's honor... :-)

I started with sweet potatoes, because I purchased them during our trip to Trader Joe's! Then I added Greek yogurt, which Gina and I both agreed is amazing... and finally, I knew I had to include walnuts, because Gina taught me how healthful they are! Thus, curried sweet potato salad found its beginnings...

As always, I'm thankful for the inspiration of friends!

Curried Sweet Potato Salad

4 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup plain fat free or 2% Greek yogurt (I used fat free, but I would imagine the salad would be even more amazing with the slight upgrade to 2% Greek yogurt)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce (I used a chipotle hot sauce)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup minced chives
1/2 tsp celery seed
6 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts

~ Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool.
~ Whisk together the yogurt, curry powder, hot sauce, salt, chives, and celery seed.
~ Fold the yogurt mixture into the potatoes.
~ Sprinkle with the walnuts, and serve chilled!

Amish Friendship Bread Power Muffins

2011-08-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

Two casual observations:

One: maintaining an Amish Friendship Bread starter is incredibly time consuming.

Two: Baking Amish Friendship Bread is utterly addicting.

An Amish Friendship Bread starter is basically the sweet version of a sourdough starter, a fermented mixture used to activate, rise, and give a delicate but distinctive flavor to a breakfast-style bread. I had never head of Amish Friendship Bread until we moved to Ohio, in an area known for its Amish heritage. Just as I was contemplating whether my bread baking had reached the stage when I really needed to venture into creating a sourdough starter, I was given an Amish Friendship Bread starter and launched into the merry-go-round of dividing and baking batter and bread in a process somewhat more forgiving than Sourdough, but precise and detail-oriented nonetheless. I always manage to spend a disproportionate amount of time in the kitchen, but since I've found Amish Friendship Bread starters Zach has noticed that I've been detained in the kitchen even longer than usual... However, having revamped the original recipe - which seemed to me rather excessively decadent for something designed to be baked every nine days - into a healthful, protein and fiber filled treat just perfect for breakfast muffins, the time spent seems quite worthwhile...

(A batch of starter, all ready...)

(With the rising action of the starter, the dough gets very puffy!)

Amish Friendship Bread Power Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup hemp protein powder (I use Nutiva organic hemp protein and fiber powder)
1 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 small (3.9 oz) box vanilla instant pudding mix
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter batter (if you don't live in an area where lovely people tend to give you a bag of starter when they learn you've just moved in, you can, wonderfully, purchase a starter online...)
6 egg whites, beaten
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla

~ Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin cups with paper liners, and coat them lightly with cooking spray.
~ In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through pudding mix).
~ In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (starter batter through vanilla).
~ Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Yes, the hemp protein powder will give your muffins a distinctive greenish-brown color...
~ Fill your muffin tins until they are nearly full. Bake for approx 20 minutes - until the tops of the muffins are just set, and a toothpick inserted gently in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool on wire racks, and store in the fridge in a closed container - or serve warm all at once for a brunch party! :-)

Reflections and Meanderings

2011-08-11T06:41:00.001-04:00

I'm sure you've all noticed that I haven't been posting as frequently as before, and after much thought and reflection I decided to discuss the topic and ask for advice, as I know many of you, my wonderful blog-friends and readers, have also struggled with the challenge of balancing the blog with the rest of our hectic daily lives.

As the hours of my new job increase in length weekly, and at present I find myself awakening at 5AM and returning home at 7:30PM nearly every day, I've been forced to think about the role my beloved blog, and writing, should play in my weekly routine. Naturally, I desire for the blog to be a reflection only of joy, positive energy, and creativity, not a source of stress and anxiety. Thus, while in the past I've always found a way to prioritize the blog (usually choosing blogging over sleep :-), I find myself now pausing, thinking more deeply, and only posting when I find myself truly in a creative mind frame to genuinely write with passion and inspired energy. I apologize for thus not visiting you more frequently through the web, but I hope that when I do, my posts will be richer for the more meaningful time to which they have been devoted. Still, I miss the days when I was able to blog more frequently, dialog with this vibrant community on a daily basis instead of every 3 or 4 days, and share more of the stories about which I long to write.

I would thus very much appreciate advice from you, my dear readers and friends, as to how you balance blogging and daily life, how you find time to blog on a regular basis, and how one merges the desire for creativity and the desire to finish washing the piles of laundry...

CSA Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

2011-08-05T06:00:00.001-04:00

As an 21st Century Urban Pioneer Woman, I may not be able to grow my own vegetables, but I sure do process a lot of vegetables - from our CSA box!

Moving to Dayton for us meant having access to a local organic CSA box that's affordable and reasonably sized to our two-person household, something that remarkably wasn't available in our area of Atlanta as far as I could discern (although we were blessed with farmers markets aplenty). After waiting years for access to a CSA, our first week's box was met with much joy!

So, what did we fix first? A salad, of course, celebrating the beauty of crisp, homegrown lettuce and flawless summer tomatoes... With buttermilk ranch dressing. Perfect for our own little inner-city ranch.

Summer's CSA Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup reduced fat mayo (I used Trader Joe's low-fat vegan mayo, which we love)
2 T white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 T minced fresh chives
1 T minced fresh basil
2 tsp minced fresh dill

~ In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except for the herbs, then gently stir in the herbs. Serve over a crisp salad!

urban 21st century pioneer woman

2011-08-01T06:00:00.002-04:00

Recently, crossing the parking lot on my way home from work one fading evening, I concluded that I'm an urban 21st century pioneer woman. I'm not The Pioneer Woman, because that's Ree, and no one could begin to fill her shoes. I can't be A pioneer woman, because right now we haven't even a yard or a balcony to claim... In fact, our apartment faces a vast vacant building painted on one brick wall with bright primary colors and the words "seeking hope in the inner city." Definitely no corn fields in sight.

Still, with Zach embarking upon residency, leaving him with even less time than usual to assist me on the home front, and with the start of my new, very intense job, I'm feeling more and more connected to the women of an earlier time who struggled from sundown to sunup with laundry, scrubbing pots, starching uniforms, shopping for staples, etc. While my ancestors of yore had to do all this plus spin, weave, and can preserves for the winter, while I'm wondering if I can maintain a household and climb the corporate ladder, I like to fantastically imagine the struggles are at least slightly parallel across the centuries.

And since I don't know the answer, I hope for centuries we've been concluding "yes." We are invincible. We can conquer every last task on the days list, even if it means going with a few less hours sleep. We can log a hard days work, either in the garden or in the office, and still fly home in time to bake for the local potluck dinner. Or whip on a cocktail dress for a networking dinner. We're urban 21st century pioneer woman. And damn, we make a mean casserole.

Cheesy Polenta Casserole

2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons SmartBalance Light
1 lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed OR 1 lb Sausage style tofu crumbles, such as MorningStar Farms brand
1/2 lb hot Italian sausage, casings removed OR 1/2 lb Sausage style tofu crumbles, such as MorningStar Farms brand
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups 2% milk
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded low-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided

~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat an 11X13" baking dish with cooking spray.
~ Stir together the cornmeal, flours, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
~ In a very large skillet over medium heat, saute the celery and onion in the SmartBalance Light until tender. Remove from the skillet, and set aside.
~ In the same skillet, saute the sausage or sausage style crumbles until lightly browned. Reserve 1 cup, and stir the rest in with the vegetables.
~ In a very large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sage, and pepper.
~ Stir in the sausage-vegetable mixture.
~ Stir in the cornmeal mixture.
~ Fold in 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese.
~ Spread the battered into the prepared baking dish. Top with the reserved sausage or sausage style crumbles, and remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
~ Bake for 25 to 30 min - until golden brown. Serve warm, garnished with paprika, if you like!

Mapo Tofu and Neuro Fuzzy the Rice Cooker

2011-07-29T06:00:00.001-04:00

After years of belonging to the anti-tofu society, Zach recently, spontaneously, decided he likes tofu. After years of having to choose between going without tofu or fixing two versions of our supper, having thus now been given full license to fix tofu dishes for both of us I've been cooking tofu galore! And just last week, I discovered sprouted tofu at Trader Joe's! Sprouted tofu!

Such was my enthusiasm that it merited many texted photos to friends of the package right there in the store (I really adore tofu), and a very special recipe... Sophie's Mapo Tofu from her amazing blog Burp and Slurp. I'm usually quite efficient in the kitchen, but such was my reverence for this recipe that I prepared it slowly, tenderly, carefully, with a cup of tea at hand and precision with my chef's knife, making each zucchini dice exactly symmetrical, black rice simmering away in the rice cooker... Speaking of which, meet the latest member of our kitchen appliance family - Neuro Fuzzy the rice cooker!

When we had yet another rice cooker perish in an explosion of steam, showering the counter with layers of foam and uncooked rice, Zach decided to consult Cooks Illustrated and splurge on their most recommended rice cooker... and thus Neuro Fuzzy came to our home from Japan. I dearly love him, and he makes the most perfect rice - truly, we felt we had never fully experienced rice until we tasted the fluffy, light, buttery rice our dear new rice cooker is able to so skillfully create.

And Sophie's Mapo Tofu is so incredible, so flavorful, truly nothing less than perfect rice would do...

Mapo Tofu

(Adapted from Sophie's Recipe)

1 T soy sauce
3 T rice vinegar
1 T sherry
1 T vegetarian oyster sauce
1 T gochujang red pepper paste
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 rounded tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 T canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 medium zucchini, diced
15.5 oz extra firm tofu, pressed dry and cut into 1/2" cubes (I used Trader Joe's Sprouted Tofu)
Cooked whole grain rice (we used black rice, but brown rice is easier to find)

~ Whisk together the first 9 ingredients, and set aside.
~ Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and add the garlic for 30 seconds - just until fragrant.
~ Add the onion and zucchini, and stir-fry until tender.
~ Add the tofu, pour the sauce over, reduce the heat, and simmer just for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened.
~ Serve warm, over rice!

I'm submitting this post to Bookmarked Recipes, founded by Ruth of Ruth's Kitchen Experiments and hosted by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes!

Chatzilim V'Coussa B'Leben - Eggplant and Zucchini with Yogurt

2011-07-26T06:00:00.001-04:00

It's very easy for me to get caught up in fussy, complex cooking. I enjoy the challenge, the rush of a perfectly smooth hollendase sauce that doesn't break, a successfully competed chiffon cake with its butter-cream and ganache. And then the house chores don't get done.

And then I remember how beautifully simple Mediterranean cooking can be, and I return to the recipes of grilled eggplant and tomato salads with feta cheese like coming home...

Right now, as I type, there is eggplant roasting in our oven for an eggplant and summer squash salad with yogurt, delightful with the lamb and tempeh I will soon place in the oven to roast alongside the eggplant. As the eggplant quietly turns itself into a confection of remarkably creamy, smokey depths, I am finally making progress on the assembly of bookshelves, the never ending clothes washing, and plans for applying to graduate school.

I have no doubts next weekend I will once again be found baking a cake requiring utterly inappropriate amounts of time and utensils. There is a time and place for the joy of all forms of cooking... and today I am grateful for the subtle ingenuity of my ancestors.

Chatzilim V'Coussa B'Leben - Eggplant and Zucchini with Yogurt

(Adapted from Joan Nathan's The Foods of Israel Today)

1 large eggplant
2 medium zucchini
Olive oil for brushing
1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/4 cup tahini
2 T lemon juice
1/2 cup diced tomato
1 T minced green chilies

~ Preheat your oven to 500 degrees, and place the oven rack to the second rung from the top.
~ Pierce the eggplant several times with a fork, and brush the eggplant and the zucchinis with olive oil. Roast the eggplant and zucchinis on a baking sheet lined with foil in the oven for 15 to 30 min, until they are very tender and beginning to collapse in upon themselves.
~ Allow the vegetables to cool, then slice the zucchinis in half lengthwise. Place the two sliced halves back together again, hold them over the sink, and squeeze gently to remove excess moisture. Chop all the vegetables coarsely.
~ Combined the chopped veggies together with all the remaining veggies in a large mixing bowl. mash with a fork or potato masher until you have a chunky salad that also works well as a dip... Season to taste with salt and pepper, chill in the fridge, and serve cold! Lovely with homemade bread...

Zach's Pizza Sauce

2011-07-23T08:48:00.000-04:00

I'm delighted with my new job, so I don't really mind that I have to work late every Friday... Especially because this Friday, I arrived home to find Zach had already created an amazingly flavorful, perfectly nuanced pizza sauce, then transformed the confection into a gorgeous whole wheat mushroom pizza...

Utterly swamped with residency as Zach is at every single moment, he still found time to prepare a luscious dinner for the two of us yesterday evening... and I feel very loved. Isn't that what true nourishment is all about?

Zach's Pizza Sauce

1 T olive oil
1 T SmartBalance Light
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
"Lots of minced garlic" (direct Zach quote)
16 oz marinara sauce
6oz tomato paste
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fennel seed
1 bay leaf
Vegetable broth

~ In a large skillet or stock pot, saute the onion, celery, and garlic in the olive oil and SmartBalance Light until the onion is limp and translucent.
~ Add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and simmer until very flavorful and you have the desired consistency, adding broth as needed if the sauce gets too thick.
~ Use to create your favorite pizza! (To recreate Zach's pizza, use a whole wheat crust, and top the pizza sauce with mushrooms and a combination of asiago and fresh mozzarella cheeses...)

Sage Soda Bread - in the Microwave?

2011-07-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

Some college students have fabulous culinary experiences during their years of higher education. There are universities with elaborate salad bars and make-your-own stir-fry stations, and there are the fortunate students who live on or near campuses large enough to attract food carts of every ethnic and gourmet persuasion imaginable. Personally, I attended a tiny arts college that possessed only an even tinier cafeteria, which seemed to pride itself on serving absolutely nothing of nutritional value. The fruit came from a can, the vegetables looked anemic, and the vegetarian option was usually cheese pizza. In response, my roommates, Lisa and Emily, and I, cooked. Everything. In our dorm-room microwave.

We poached salmon, we cooked rice pilaf, we steamed asparagus, we boiled pasta, we made omelets, we baked cupcakes. Our friend Kathleen, who lived off campus with such luxuries as a kitchen, kindly gave me a gorgeous microwave cookbook for the holidays one year, and our horizons expanded even further. And we continued cooking. In the microwave. I am quite certain our dorm room was the only one hosting formal dinner parties during the four years we were on campus.

Just last night, as I was shelving the last of the cookbooks to be unpacked in our new apartment, I opened my beloved, nostalgic microwave cookbook randomly and happened upon a recipe for sage soda bread, which seemed just the thing to complete our menu as I waited for Zach to finish his evening studying. To our surprise, the bread was delightful - the texture was a bit different from usual soda bread, and a little chewy, but pleasantly so, and a light crust even formed in some magic way while revolving in the microwave. Perhaps there is always a place for microwave-baked 8 minute bread at the table, even years later, dorm rooms a distant memory...

8 Minute Microwave Sage Soda Bread

(Adapted from Carol Bowen's The Microwave Kitchen Bible)

4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp rubbed sage
1 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

~ In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda, and sage.
~ Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and stir in the buttermilk. Kneed by hand just until the dough comes together.
~ Coat a large, microwave safe plate with cooking spray. Shape the bread into a circle, and place on the plate.
~ Microwave on high for 8 minutes, then serve warm!

Breakfasts at Home

2011-07-16T06:00:00.001-04:00

I just had to write a breakfast post, because with the advent of my new job I am finally able, for the first time in years, to have breakfast at home. I know this may seem an overly simple thing about which to generate so much hype, but after years of breakfast taking place in my car, balanced in my lap, while driving a 1 to 2 hour commute to work in the dark, or occurring at 1AM in the middle of an all-night shift, and really perhaps then being dinner and not quite breakfast at all, the concept of being able to actually compose a morning meal, and then enjoy this lovely first culinary experience of the day quietly in the peace of my own home, makes me ridiculously, disproportionately happy. These breakfasts I've photographed so joyously are nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose, but I wanted to share the simple pleasures of breakfasts in our home nonetheless...

Frozen berries with a mixture of plain and blueberry low-fat kefir...

a big jumble of scrambled EggBeaters egg whites with Cajun spices and shredded carrots...

Egg white omelet with veggies and low-fat cheese, with whole wheat toast...

dreamy gorgeous loose-leaf earl gray tea...

and my personal favorite, chai-spiced oatmal with figs and plain low-fat kefir!

Is there a simple pleasure in your morning routine? :-)

Celebration Beet Greens Quiche

2011-07-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday I ran for the first time in a year and a half. Ran outside, for the first time since December of 2009, when I found myself on crutches, dragging my left leg. Since that day, it's been a journey of months of frustrations, followed by eventual milestones. Each new step seemed like a gift, each new step seemed almost enough. First I could move my leg again, then I could bear a little weight. Then I could lie on my back and do range of motion exercises. One day I could walk without crutches, and a few months ago I could finally use the elliptical in the gym - oh, the joy! At this point the doctors and my physical therapist told me this was the upper limit of my cardio - my battered spine had done its best healing disks and nerves, and I needed to be content with the support of the elliptical machine. And content and grateful I was. Yet, just a few days ago, in the sunshine, I ran again. Without pain. With both my legs working together. Such a simple action, such a feeling of gratitude.

So we celebrated. And baked a quiche.

Beet Greens Quiche

(Adapted from Vegetarian Times May 2008)

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 sweet vidalia onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups beet greens, stems trimmed and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth
3 large eggs
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

~ Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until softened.
~ Stir in garlic, and cook 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
~ Add beet greens and broth. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 7 to 10 minutes, or until beet greens are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Cool 10 minutes.
~ Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch glass pie dish with cooking spray.
~ Whisk eggs in large bowl until frothy.
~ Whisk in flour and baking powder until no lumps remain.
~ Whisk in milk, and season with salt and pepper.
~ Stir Parmesan cheese and beet green mixture into egg mixture. Spread in prepared pan. Bake 50 min - until browned and puffy on top.

Strawberry Layer Cake with Amaretto Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-07-10T15:20:00.000-04:00

I admit that I am prone to the hyperbolic tendency of claiming that every holiday was superior to the years proceeding, but last weekend's Fourth of July truly was the most festive, memorable, and beautiful of my recollections. Dayton's CityFolk festival coincided with the holiday weekend, so we were able to walk from our apartment down to Riverscape park and enjoy folk music and workshops all weekend, in addition to incredible treats from all the food carts at the festival. On Sunday, a lecture on rare instruments coincided just perfectly with lunchtime, allowing us to savor the most unique falafel sandwiches we've ever sampled, prepared with pickled cabbage, fresh basil, and fresh mint!

My parents also drove to Ohio to join us for the 4th of July weekend, and they decided to be kids again and get snow cones and a root beer float - aren't they adorable? :-)

Naturally, a 4th of July celebration also calls for a Celebration Cake - after all, we do come from the South, the land of Celebration Cakes, the region where an occasion is deemed an Occasion by the presence of a towering, 4-layer coconut cake.

And this year's 4th of July cake blew us away. Fireworks style. From the vibrant color, to the light, almost spongy cake, bursting with juicy strawberry flavor, to the sensual, alluring frosting... Dayton's fireworks are incredible, especially because we have a perfect view from our living room windows...

(Lilly seemed unperturbed by the sound of the fireworks...)

but this cake was the true finale.

Strawberry Layer Cake with Amaretto Cream Cheese Frosting

(Adapted from Cooking Light May 2009)

1 1/4 cups sliced strawberries
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar
1/2 cup SmartBalance Light
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 cup soymilk
1 T lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring

~ Preheat oven to 350°. Coat 2 8X8" baking pans or 9" round cake pans with parchment paper and cooking spray.
~ To prepare cake, place sliced strawberries in a food processor; process until smooth.
~ Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
~ Place sugar and SmartBalance Light in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.
~ Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
~ Beat in egg whites
~ Stir together the soymilk and lemon juice
~ Add flour mixture and soymilk mixture alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
~ Add pureed strawberries and food coloring; beat just until blended.
~ Divide batter between cake pans, and bake for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Once your cakes have cooled, they're ready to frost and decorate with berries!

For the frosting:
2/3 cup reduced fat cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
2 T amaretto liqueur
~ Place cream cheese and amaretto liqueur in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, and beat just until blended.

4th of July Sun-dried Tomato Cheddar Bread

2011-07-04T10:20:00.000-04:00

I bake bread quite frequently, several times a week, to keep us well supplied for breakfast toast, lunch sandwiches, and before-dinner snacks with cheese and hummus. This is one of my current favorite recipes, created in a thoroughly random manner in a quest to create a reddish bread for the 4th of July (a fanciful idea, indeed), resulting in me simply tossing ingredients into the dough as my fancy dictated after perhaps one too many vodka-tonics. After all, that's how art is created, right? Pure inspiration, once the inhibitions have been dismissed? I wouldn't know, really. I don't paint, I don't sculpt. I only bake bread.

4th of July Sun-dried-Tomato Cheddar Bread

1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 T honey
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp Za'atar
1 T parsley
3 T olive oil
2 tsp yeast
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 finely chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes
1 cup grated reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

~ In the microwave or on the stovetop, heat the water until just barely warm (approx 110 degrees F).
~ In a large bowl, gently stir together the warm water, salt, honey, herbs, and olive oil.
~ Even more gently, stir the yeast into the water mixture.
~ Watch the yeast for a few moments to make sure it foams. When it does, stir in the whole wheat flour, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, and cheddar cheese until you have a sticky dough. Knead by hand or with a dough hook until you have a smooth dough. Turn your dough into an oiled bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough sit for 2 hours or so, until doubled in size.
~ Punch the dough down, then let it rise once more until doubled in size again, 1 to 2 hours this time.
~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Turn the dough onto an 8x8" baking pan coated with cooking spray, shape it into a loaf with your hands, and bake for approx 40 min - until a nice, dark golden brown crust has formed.
~ Let it cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing... If you can resist... ;-)

Edamame Paella

2011-07-01T08:09:00.000-04:00

I hope you'll allow me to drift for a moment back in time, returning to our Las Vegas wedding memories, so I can tell you about the very first meal I cooked for Zach after we were officially married...

Zach and I were married on a Sunday, and we had to fly back to Ohio on Tuesday, so we really only had one day to "honeymoon," technically. Having already spent 6 days in the city of Las Vegas, we were ready for a taste of Nevada's remarkable natural beauty. I still wish we had been able to drive all the way to the Grand Canyon, but alas we were out of time far too fast, so we'll have the Grand Canyon to look forward to on another trip! We were, however, able to drive Red Rock Canyon, and spend a day hiking amidst its splendor...

Returning home, I was suddenly imbued with inspiration to create a colorful, fiery-spicy dish in honor of our memories of the Red Rock Vistas...

Edamame Paella

(Adapted from Cooking Light, April 2011)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces vegetarian soy chorizo (We used Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo, which is amazing)
2 sweet vidalia onions, chopped
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 oz Trader Joe's Soycutash, or another edamame-vegetable blend, or plain shelled edamame
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups cooked brown rice

~ Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the soy chorizo to pan, and cook until browned, crumbling and stirring occasionally.
~ Add the onion and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.
~ Add saffron and garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
~ Add edamame mixture and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring frequently.
~ Stir in balsamic vinegar, and cook for 2 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring frequently.
~ Add vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until some of the liquid is reduced.
~ Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve over brown rice!

Pumpkin Coconut Muffins

2011-06-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

When we moved from Georgia to Ohio we weren't able to take the entire contents of our freezer with us, but there were some items that definitely weren't being left behind, like the massive quantities of pumpkin from the giant pumpkin I roasted, pureed, and then froze in little baggies last fall. Thus, yesterday morning when I felt like baking muffins, even though it's summertime I still had the luxury of being able to bake with the abundant pumpkin in our freezer! Since wonderful Nicole at Prevention RD always posts beautiful, healthful breakfast recipes (Nicole grows eggplant and loves breakfast as much as I do - she's my kind of blog-friend! :-), I turned to her blog for inspiration, and was immediately drawn to her papaya coconut muffins... I didn't have any papaya handy for these luscious, exotic muffins, but I did have plenty of pumpkin!

Pumpkin Coconut Muffins

(Adapted from Nicole's Recipe)

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup hemp protein powder (I use Nutiva Organic Hemp + Fiber)
1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (I used Let's Do Organic reduced fat shredded unsweetened coconut - Zach prefers the fluffy, finer texture of this brand of shredded coconut)
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 egg whites
2 T canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla

~ Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin cups with paper liners, and coat your paper liners with just a little cooking spray.
~ In a large bowl, stir together the flour, hemp protein powder, turbinado sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
~ Stir the coconut flakes into the flour mixture.
~ In a seperate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, egg whites, canola oil, and vanilla.
~ Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined - the batter will be stiff.
~ Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them all the way to the top. Bake for 20 minutes - until a fork inserted in the center comes out clean, but the muffins are still moist and tender.
~ Allow to cool on a wire rack, or serve warm!

Nutrition Facts
12 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories		144.6

Total Fat		4.2 g

	Saturated Fat	1.2 g

	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.7 g

	Monounsaturated Fat	1.4 g

Cholesterol		0.0 mg

Sodium		224.8 mg

Potassium		53.3 mg

Total Carbohydrate		24.2 g

	Dietary Fiber	5.5 g

	Sugars	9.0 g

Protein		5.0 g

Creamy Cauliflower and Cannellini Bean Soup

2011-06-25T10:40:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I worry about posting recipes that are too simple. Everyone already knows, I told myself one day last summer as we were eating salads for supper on the back patio, that artichokes, tomatoes, and mozzarella are delicious together. Truthfully, these aren’t even recipes, these are simply guiding ideas, or delicious facts, which I imagine as some form of culinary universal truths, known to all and therefore perhaps too ubiquitous to discuss.

In reality, though, I quite enjoy reading about other people’s delicious facts. I like to know what other foodies fix as a side dish on nights when they’ve just created an immensely complex lasagna that leaves little time for attention to anything else, or when they arrive home from work on a Tuesday night 3 hours later than anticipated, or perhaps when a quiet spring or summer day just asks for a dish of quiet simplicity.

Thus, I’m resisting my impulsive instincts to make this cauliflower soup more complicated than it needs to be, and simply allowing it to be what it is – a subtle, pure celebration of a cauliflower discovered on a stroll through Dayton’s 2^nd Street Farmer’s Market…

Creamy Cauliflower and Cannellini Bean Soup

3 T coconut oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained

1 ½ lbs cauliflower, cut into florets

3 cups vegetable stock

1/3 cup 2% evaporated milk

Smoked paprika, for garnish

~ In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, warm the coconut oil and sauté the garlic, onion, and cayenne until the onion is limp and translucent.

~ Stir in the beans and cauliflower and sauté for 2 more minutes.

~ Stir in the broth, bring to a simmer, and cook until the cauliflower is tender.

~ Remove from the heat and puree with and immersion blender or in batches in a food processor.

~ Return to low heat, and stir in the evaporated milk just until re-warmed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

~ To serve, ladle into bowls, and sprinkle generously with smoked paprika!