a day of food

I think all I've done today is cook, eat, wash dishes, and procure more food. (I had to walk over to the co-op to pick up a few things . . . most importantly, more dish soap!) Here's what I've been up to:

I started the morning by making some spinach and tomato dal:

We'll have this for lunch tomorrow, over brown rice.

Then I made brunch:

Hashbrowns, grapefruit, and ends-of-veggies tofu scramble. I'm really getting the hang of this "using stuff up" business. :)

I also made some soup:

A simple chickpea and orzo soup, (again with the leftover veggies!) with a little lemon and rosemary for interestingness. I'll send half of this home with Dan tomorrow -- leftovers are awesome!

And then I baked a couple of things. First, muffins:

I made blueberry-lime muffins, and sprinkled them with unsweetened coconut before baking. Heavenly! Oliver thought so, too . . . he ate TWO of the tops off these muffins when I was at the grocery store! Damn cat.

Second, cookies:

Whole-wheat pastry flour, dark-brown sugar, and flax eggs made for a darker chocolate chip cookie than I'd like, but these are still delicious! Dan's been begging for chocolate chip cookies . . . an easy request to oblige.

And, for the finale, tonight's dinner:

Sushi and edamame! I had some black sesame seeds sitting around, and decided to mix them in with the rice. Made for fun, almost polka-dotted sushi goodness. Yum.

Off to relax, now . . . Dan's done the last of the dishes AND scrubbed the stovetop, so all I have to do for the rest of the night is watch movies and read! Woo!

life IS uncertain . . .

BREAKFAST:

Kept things light this morning, with a piece of rye toast and some dried apricots, because I woke up kind of late and didn't want a big breakfast so close to lunchtime. Coffee assumed.

LUNCH:

Annie's "Whole Wheat Shells & White Cheddar" with a melange of frozen vegetables mixed in, and a minneola on the side. Vitamin not pictured.

TREAT:
I had a bubblegum-flavored "Dum-Dums" lollipop while I was waiting for Dan to have his hair cut. I also read "O" magazine, which was actually pretty good! I was pleasantly surprised.

SNACK:

Movie = popcorn, according to Dan. We shared this huge bowl while watching the independent film "Happy Endings." I love Netflix.

DINNER:
Vegan Key Lime Pie:

Yes. We ate dessert first. Why? Because our entree took longer to simmer than I expected, and I was afraid we weren't going to have time for pie before Dan had to leave for band practice. We agreed -- pie must come first. (At least tonight!)
For the entree, Seitan and Dumplings:

I've made something akin to this recipe before, and I made a few changes for the better this time! First, I doubled the recipe, but used only 8ish ounces of seitan. I like seitan, but not huge amounts of it. (I think it's too heavy for me.) Rather than double the dumplings, I tripled them, because Dan and I both agreed there weren't enough dumplings last time. :) I cooked the whole thing in my sautee pan to accomodate the extra dumplings.

SNACK:
An apple and two biscotti.

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Is anyone else shocked by how much food they go through in a given week? Because I'm starting to wonder whether there are elves or some other sorts of creatures visiting my fridge in the night. :)

Come to think of it, it's probably not elves -- more like a 6'3" boyfriend who can eat two to three helpings of any given entree in any one sitting?? :) Still, I wonder where all the food goes!

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I had a request for "recipes" for the greens and hashbrowns I make nearly every weekend. Erm . . . recipes? I'll do my best:

Sauteed/Steamed Greens:
INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch greens (kale and swiss chard are our favorites)
dribble of canola oil or small amount of margarine
minced garlic
seasoning(s) of choice -- I like plain ol' salt and pepper, and occasionally throw in a pinch of red pepper flakes or a splash of balsamic vinegar. Lately, I've been using "Northern Blend" from Wayzata Bay Spice Co. Adds a nice smokiness.
splash of water
DIRECTIONS:
1. Wash and chop the greens.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the garlic, and sautee for a few minutes.
3. Add the greens, whatever seasonings you choose to use, and the water. Cover, lower the heat, and steam 10 to 20 minutes.
4. Enjoy!

*** A note about salting the greens -- remember, the greens will cook down a TON. Add only a little bit of salt to them -- you can always add more later, but you can't take salt away once it's in the pot! (Can you tell I've oversalted greens a FEW times in my past??) :)

Hashbrowns:
INGREDIENTS:
yukon gold potato
safflower oil
salt
cast-iron frying pan
DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat the frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Scrub and/or peel your potato(es). Grate on a box grater. Using your hands, squeeze out as much starchy moisture as you can from the potatoes.
3. Add some oil to the pan, and allow it to heat up for a couple of minutes. Add the potatoes, and sqush them as flat as you can with a flipper so as much potato touches the surface area of the pan as possible. (Crowding hashbrowns isn't a very good idea.) Sprinkle the hashbrowns with salt. (This allows the salt to "melt" into the hashbrowns while cooking.) Cook until the first side is golden brown, then flip and cook the second side. Serve up the crispy-deliciousness.

Saturday night supper

After a long day yesterday, (I had choir practice in the morning, and Dan and I ran errands on foot/via bus all afternoon,) I decided we were deserving of something a little special for dinner. I had been eyeing the recipe for Corn Chowder with Roasted Poblanos from The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook, so there you have it:

The only change I made from the original recipe was to substitute lite coconut milk for the 1% dairy milk called for in the recipe -- no noticible coconut flavor that either of us could detect. This change made the soup vegan, too!

We did, however, top the delicious vegan soup that I made with some shredded pepper-Jack cheese. The cheese definitely upped the deliciousness factor, in my opinion, but it would be great without!

And, 'tis the season to crave sweets, right? However, I haven't started my holiday baking, so I've been lacking in the dessert department. Enter: key lime pie!

I swear this is the easiest pie in the world, containing only three ingredients: eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice. I had the pie in the oven in less than five minutes! (I did by a wholegrain, pre-made piecrust to speed things along further.)

I may start cooking dinner here in a few minutes, to beat back the "Sunday Night Blues." Weekends are ALWAYS TOO SHORT, if you ask me!

birthday pie, birthday breakfast

Dan's birthday was Friday, and we celebrated by going out for Thai food after work! We ordered a couple different vegetarian entrees to share, and unfortunately, had our socks knocked off in the spice department -- when they asked us how hot we wanted our food, we said "medium." They informed us later that they operate on a Thai spicy scale, not an American spicy scale! Whew! The food was still tasty, but we'll order mild-medium next time, for sure. We cooled our palates when we got home by enjoying some of Dan's birthday pie:

Key Lime in a homemae, half-wholegrain crust, topped with freshly whipped, slightly sweetened cream. YUM. The crust was a little tough, since the directions suggested prebaking the crust, then baking it again with the key lime filling. Strange, if you ask me! I definitely won't be doing that next time. Otherwise, the pie was rich, limey, dense, and fantastic! One of Dan's favorites -- he really loves anything citrus!

I did want to cook a birthday meal for him, but since we had gone out Friday night, and had dinner plans with friends Saturday night, I chose birthday breakfast Saturday morning. (Um, really, we're talking birthday brunch Saturday afternoon.)

Mollie Katzen's buttermilk waffle recipe from Sunlight Cafe, majorly altered, since I didn't have a few key ingredients on hand. Even with my significant modifications, these waffles were fantastic! Fluffy, creamy, and rich on the inside, with nice, crispy exteriors. Megan the Vegan's faux breakfast sausages on the side, which Dan has described several times as "WAY better than regular breakfast sausage!" I also made us a quick smoothie from frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries, and orange juice.

I helped out at the store today, so I haven't done any other cooking this weekend. I'm running low on granola again . . . must make another batch! Hopefully I'll have some time this week!

vegetables galore!

I seem to have a little, ahem, problem with the Farmer's Market . . . I tend to go twice in one weekend, buy a ton of stuff, and then wonder what to do with all of it! This past weekend was no exception.

Oliver wants you to see Dan's and my haul Saturday morning:

We were lured into purchasing not one, but TWO different kinds of honey -- I chose a jar of creamy, pale yellow pure raw honey, and Dan was drawn to a jar of thick, dark "Blue Earth Buckwheat" honey by Ames Farm. (Also raw.) I also picked up a beautiful bunch of radishes, a huge bunch of mint, and a gigantic bag of lettuce! After washing and roughly chopping all of the lettuce today, I am realizing I am in for a LOT of big salads this week. :) I've made big salads already for dinner Friday night and lunch Saturday, and am loving my veggies!

Dan and I also stopped at Shuang Hur and the Wedge after our errands Saturday afternoon, to pick up a few essentials for dinners this weekend:

I love the Asian grocery stores for their prices and otherwise unknown to me ingredients, but I DON'T love that they package all of their produce on styrofoam trays, wrapped in plastic wrap! Sigh. Anyhow, we picked up Japanese eggplant, a red pepper, some snap peas, broccoli, limes, green onions, ginger, and tofu for our planned stir-fry dinner, and some lychees!! Lychees, if you've never had them, have the texture of a grape, and are very sweet with slightly coconutty, slightly floral, slightly melon-y flavors. Go buy lychees! Pictured on the right are bulk chickpeas and yellow split peas from the coop, to use later in the weekend.

Basic stir-fry, over udon noodles:

I learned my lesson with Hmong Family sweet soy sauce -- it is SWEET. This was good, but I wouldn't make it again this way -- I'd use regular tamari next time!

Courtney and I went to the Farmer's Market again this morning:

Courtney kindly gifted me a bag of large lima beans, strongly encouraging me to make the baked lima bean dish from VCON. (She's so subtle! Do you think she feels strongly about this recipe???) ;-) Thanks, Courtney! I purchased spinach, beets, dill, a green pepper, and just over a pound of large pickling cucumbers at the market.

I was pretty hungry when I got home, so I made a green smoothie snack/second breakfast:

Pineapple, peaches, banana, spinach, a squirt of agave, and some orange juice. Dan enjoyed his own serving for breakfast, and was pleasantly surprised by the sweet, fruity, slightly grassy flavor. Dan doesn't eat as healthfully as he could during the week, so I'm happy to pack him full of vitamins over the weekends. :)

Give you two chances to guess what I made with the pickling cucumbers and dill . . .

Yes, that's right, pickles! Shocker. I made up a recipe that didn't require any cooking, and that didn't use any sugar -- I like my pickles cold, crisp, salty, and vinegary, and that's about it. Garlic, dill, salt, and peppercorns went in with the cucumber spears, covered with equal parts white vinegar and water. Give 'em a week, and we'll see what I've created!

OH! Forgot to show you two frozen treats I made earlier this week. Pineapple-Coconut Popsicles:

Simple recipe, yielding an amazing treat! One can of light coconut milk, one bag of frozen pineapple, 1/4 cup agave nectar . . . blend, fill the molds, and freeze. SOOOOOOO delicious!

I also attempted peach ice cream:

I used a basic ice cream recipe, lightening it up a little bit by using half and half instead of a mixture of heavy cream and whole milk, but made the mistake of choosing frozen peaches. I think I should have used fresh peaches instead, because this ice cream has NO peachy flavor whatsoever. It's still good, it just tastes like vanilla!

I decided to roast my beets this afternoon, and while I had the oven on I also made another batch of granola:

Dan's sister, Sarah, raved about my granola last weekend -- I should really email her the recipe!!

And last, dinner tonight:

I used the jalapenos Dan grew in his garden and the mint I picked up at the Farmer's Market yesterday, along with a whole host of other ingredients, to make Paraati Chana from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. This has to be one of my most favorite chickpea dishes EVER. (Plus, it's the closest thing I've made to authentic Indian food in my very own kitchen.) I served it atop brown rice flavored with a pinch of saffron, and a side of mixed greens -- kale from last week's trip to the market, and the beet greens from this week's trip.

I sent Dan home with the leftover dill and some of the mint, three lychees, leftover stir-fry, leftover greens, leftover paraati chana, and a jar of granola. As he was getting ready to leave tonight, I said out loud, "why is it that you always seem to leave with a goody bag?" He replied, "because I have a nice Jewish momma who takes good care of me." We both laughed -- I'm neither Jewish nor a momma, but I guess I do take pretty good care of him!