frazzled.

Okay -- it's time to come clean, here. I am officially frazzled. Dan's been out of town (on tour with the band) for a week now, I haven't been sleeping well (for a variety of reasons,) and I've been working something like 60 hours a week. Good times. This week is proving to be even busier, and although I have next weekend completely off, the band will stop back in town for 24 hours (Sat-Sun), before leaving for three more weeks.

Needless to say, I had a HUGE to-do list for my one day off (today) this week. Thankfully, my friend Ann drove me around last night so I could get my errands done, and "hit the ground running," so to speak, this morning. Today, I managed to get some laundry done, but not all of the cooking projects that I wanted to accomplish. In times of greatest stress, I feel best when I'm prepared -- and a big part of that is a stock of nutritious leftovers on which I can nosh over the course of the week. Here's what I got to today:


Peanut-peanut-butter cookies. YUM YUM YUM. (Dessert makes me happy!)


I'm not a big fan of the "mock meats," nor of heavily processed foods in general, but the veggie meat loaf recipe I wanted to try called for frozen beef-type crumbles. So, I tried these -- WAY less sodium per serving than the Boca brand, which was how I made my decision between the two. Conveniently, they were the same price.


Comfort food: garlic-mashed parslied potatoes, half a baked sweet potato drizzled with maple syrup and sprinkled with salt, veggie meatloaf (very tasty -- a VT recipe from this month's issue,) and sauteed kale with garlic and S&P.


I saw these corn-pasta duckies at the store and HAD to try them in . . .


. . . Chickpea Noodle Soup! Although I didn't use chickpeas this time -- I used TVP instead. It's still just as yummy. And those pasta duckies make me smile every bite!


This is another new recipe, this time from Cooking Light -- Mexican Tomato-Bean Soup with Corn Dumplings. The only change I made from the original recipe was using fire-roasted tomatoes instead of regular ones, and this soup is EXCELLENT! The dumplings are a bit fussy to make, but cook quickly. On the side is a quesadilla made with blue corn tortillas, sauteed mushrooms and spinach, and queso fresco.

The two projects I didn't get to were sushi, which I will probably make for supper on Wednesday night before I head to church choir rehearsal, and a pan of lasagna, which I wanted to prep and park in the freezer for dinner Saturday. (I figured since Dan's only going to be in town for 24 hours, I didn't want to spend a bunch of time cooking -- I wanted a quick, pop-in-the-oven-add-salad meal.) I think I'll make the lasagna Thursday night, (my one night off this week,) since I already picked up all of the ingredients.

I hope you all found some time to relax this weekend -- off to wash some dishes before I finally have my chance to relax a little bit!

miracle dinner

I started a new temp job today . . . I am a glorified envelope-stuffer. It's boring and repetitive, but pays much better than working in the store, which I will continue to do, and, bizarrely, this company I work for has cable TV in the breakroom. Since I get two 15 minute paid breaks and one half-hour lunch per day, those little Food Network hits might be just enough to keep me going through my day! This afternoon, I watched Giada make a "pizza rustica," but I didn't get to see it come out of the oven. Fifteen minutes is only so long.

Anyhow, enough complaining.

Ravenously hungry when I arrived home this evening . . . wanted something quick for dinner . . . eggs sounded good, but poached eggs and toast just wasn't going to fit the bill tonight! I had some red bell pepper that needed to be used up, and I went searching for a can of artichokes . . . no luck. Then, I went searching for frozen broccoli . . . no luck . . . but I found frozen peas! I concocted an onion, red pepper, and pea frittata, topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese, and served it alongside a slice of no-knead bread, toasted, with Earth Balance and a local, raw honey. (Even though it's snowing today, allergy season is right around the corner, I swear!) Sometimes, I impress even myself:


YUM.

Mountain of dishes (from the past week or so,) awaiting me in the kitchen . . . calling my name . . . must go!

step-by-step sushi!

I meant to post my step-by-step guide to making sushi over the weekend, but I got a little bit busy . . . working . . . dinner with friends . . . lots of singing at church (it was Easter, after all!) . . . going to see The Namesake (which was FANTASTIC, by the way,) and spending a LONG time on the phone with several people kind of ate up all my time. Sorry for the delay!

Anyhow, on to sushi!

1. Plunk 1 cup of sushi rice (short-grain glutinous white rice) in a colander and rinse under cold, running water for a couple of minutes, or until the water runs clear. (Another way to tell if your rice is well-rinsed is to set the colander of rice in a bowl of cold water and allow the rice to soak for a minute – if the soaking water is cloudy, you need to rinse more, but if it’s clear, you are ready to move on!)


2. Combine the well-rinsed rice with 1 1/4 cups cold water in a saucepan. Bring the whole thing to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the rice, and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat, leave it covered, and allow it to sit for 10 minutes.


3. Cool and season the rice by sprinkling sushi vinegar (rice vinegar with sugar and salt in it,) over the rice and gently folding, while someone else fans the rice with a magazine or other helpful fanning tool. (If you do not have a fanning assistant, you can take breaks from folding to fan the rice.)

(As an aside, Dan was NOT convinced that he was helping by fanning the rice . . . but he did it anyway. You can see fanning action in the top half of this photo.)

4. Place one sheet of toasted nori, shiny side down, on a bamboo rolling mat. Spread a thin layer of rice over 2/3 to 3/4 of the nori, (I like to use a silicone spatula for spreading the rice, since the rice won’t stick to the spat!), and then spread or line up your toppings. (I was trying for a spiral avocado roll here, which didn’t really look very nice in the end, although it tasted quite delicious.)


5. Use the rolling mat to help you roll up your sushi. Dampen the edge of the nori that doesn’t have the rice on it, and press gently to seal the roll.


6. Slice the roll, dipping your knife in a glass of water before each cut, and serve. (I’ve also had some success wrapping non-sliced veggie rolls tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerating for 24 hours before serving. But sushi is best served fresh.) Enjoy with prepared wasabi, soy sauce or tamari, and pickled ginger. A side of steamed edamame is always nice, too!


This is the only type I've made and technique I've used to date, and it seems to work well for me. What have your sushi making experiences been like?

I guess opposites do, indeed, attract.

I made poached eggs, hash browns, kale, and grapefruit for dinner tonight.

My plate:


Dan's plate:


In reality, these photos kind of sum up our personalities.

I hope you find this as hilarious as I did!

a very disjointed post:

I have been wanting to tell you all about my most recent addition to my kitchen arsenal, but I keep forgetting! So, here it is:

My grandma and grandpa sent me $10 in a letter not too long ago, and with my discount, I was able to buy a mortar and pestle for only a couple bucks out of my own pocket! I have been wanting one of these for ages -- handy for smashing up spices and ginger when making chai, pulverizing garlic cloves, and cracking cardamom pods when making Indian food. I've only used it once so far, but I can't tell you how much easier crushing spices was this time 'round! (I used to use my meat mallet to crush them on a cutting board . . . allspice bits flew everywhere!) Perhaps I can now finally give away my meat mallet -- I have found it handy for crushing garlic cloves, but not much else, since I quit eating meat a year and a half ago!

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When Dan and I have sushi for dinner, there usually isn't much talking, because Dan likes to use so much wasabi in his soy sauce that it makes him cough and have watery eyes. (I enjoy a hefty but moderate amount of wasabi -- enough that I can feel it up in my nose, but not beyond that.) I just thought you'd like to see how much wasabi Dan enjoys with his sushi:

Super-Wasabi-Man decided that this wasn't quite enough for him after he mixed it in and took his first bite, so he actually added a bit more. (His soy sauce usually ends up a creamy brown color from so much wasabi!)

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How's THAT for a vegan lunchbox!

Red pepper nori roll, edamame, and pickled ginger, with soy and wasabi for dipping.

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I love polenta. SO much. My favorite method of polenta enjoyment is simple: a little pat of Earth Balance and a little drizzle of pure maple syrup.

Yummy.

That's all for today! I promise to post pictures of sushi making sometime this weekend.

mmmm . . . FIBER!

Why is it that just about everything I make is fiber-loaded?

I suppose it's that whole commitment to whole grains, plant proteins, and lots of fruits and vegetables. Well.

Anyhow, on to the food!

Here is a very belated photo of the lentils and rice I made last week, with some frozen broccoli mixed in. This was surprisingly tasty and satisfying!


Last night, Dan and I completed our first joint cooking experience and made the vegetable curry that is in the May/June 2007 issue of Cook's Illustrated. I have mixed feelings in general about Cook's Illustrated, (mixed enough feelings to allow my subscription to lapse,) and have had mixed results with their recipes. This curry was a LOT of work, and yielded, in my opinion, mediocre results. I felt the finished product needed considerably more salt than the recipe called for, (but I did use unsalted diced tomatoes, which could have been the problem,) and in general, I thought the curry was "just okay." Curries, like soups, are always better the next day, though, so I'll update once one of us eats the leftovers. Anyhow, here's Cook's Illustrated's Vegetable Curry served with Onion Relish and a big dollop of whole milk yogurt:


I recently purchased a big bag of Bob's Red Mill White Whole Wheat Flour, and gave it a test-drive this week in some blueberry-lemon muffins. I am especially excited to try this flour in no-knead bread, (I'm thinking about making a loaf that is entirely white whole wheat flour, because of its higher protein content,) and was curious how a higher protein wholegrain flour would perform in baked goods. The blueberry muffins do have a somewhat more "bready" texture, as opposed to the typically cakelike texture of most muffins. However, I love them! My only complaint is that they aren't lemony enough -- I used the zest and juice of one lemon for 12 muffins, and I may need to use two lemons next time. :) These are quickly disappearing around here:


Last but not least, I made another batch of chai this morning. I have been experimenting with the amount of different types of spices and also the amount of sweetner in this recipe, and I think I may have gotten it "just right" this time . . . unfortunately, I didn't take notes, so I may not be able to replicate this! Alas. I'll just have to enjoy it now, and experiment again another time.


Back to working on the cookbook! (Editing has been going smoothly, and I have several more recipes to add, and many more recipes to test! I'll post when I'm ready for testing helpers!)

sushi and ice cream

I was feeling bored, busy, and more than a little bit restless yesterday afternoon, and since everyone was busy working, (most people are busy working on a Monday afternoon,) I decided to get busy in the kitchen and work on a couple of cooking projects. After a mountain of dishes, (I needed to find some room to cook, after all,) I made a simple green lentils and rice, with a somewhat French-inspired dressing -- red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried fines herbes . . . come to think of it, that was the exact same thing I marinaded my portobello cap in yesterday . . . ha! Anyhow, after I finished the lentils and rice, I set to work on dinner:

Since it was 80 degrees in MN yesterday, I wanted something cool and refreshing for dinner. Sushi, believe it or not, is a quick, relatively simple supper, as long as you have all of the ingredients on hand! I made two cucumber and red pepper rolls, and steamed half a bag of edamame, and that was plenty for Dan and I. YUM.

After dinner, Dan and I walked over to Sebastian Joe's for ice cream cones. Dan ordered chai ice cream, I ordered green tea, and we switched halfway through. Yum yum yum yum yum. (I also tried a very unusual sorbet -- orange basil! It was good, but I wasn't sure I could eat an entire cone's worth.)

And that's all for now. I may disappear a little bit over the next week or two, since work will get extra-busy, but I'll be back!

Swedish Fish are evil.

Why? Because I love them so darn much, I can eat nearly an entire package in one sitting, and then feel considerably ill later. Alas.

Anyhow, two meals of note, of late:

Last night, I got home from work around 7, ate some leftover risotto, and got to work on the laundry. And then . . . I watched Oliver pee in Dan's duffel bag. ARGH! So, lots and lots more laundry later, 11:45 rolled around and I hadn't had dinner yet. Conveniently, neither had Dan when he arrived shortly after midnight, so a quick dinner of some whole wheat & potato gnocchi with porcini mushroom tomato sauce and shaved romano cheese, and a delicious side salad were quickly prepared by yours truly. Gnocchi are tasty . . . and an incredible timesaver. Whew!


I finally made myself a portobello mushroom "burger" for lunch today. I cleaned a cap, scooped out the stem and gills, marinaded it in a simple balsamic vinaigrette (balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and dried fines herbes,) broiled it on both sides, topped it with a slice of muenster cheese, and added a toasted bun, some vegenaise, spinach, and sliced tomato to the sandwich party. (Side of Asian pear.) This will definitely be a repeat visitor at my house!


Off to nurse the Swedish Fish-full belly now . . . ugh. (You'd think I'd know better by now!)

kitty, avocado, risotto, waffles, muffins . . .

First, the Oliver update:

I bought a bunch of new toys for Oliver at the pet store the other day, and he is in love with this catnip-filled sock. He totes it around the apartment like a security blanket, and cradles it between his paws while he sniffs and licks at it. Silly cat.


Also, while Oliver has not warmed to Dan yet, he is improving. While he does typically hide most of the time while Dan is here, Oliver has also moved towards sitting somewhat near Dan on the couch, while looking incredibly irritated, meowing in protest, and occasional hissing. I'm starting to wonder whether this is all for show!


AND NOW . . . on to the food!

Teeniest avocado pit I've ever seen:


Last night's dinner: two-mushroom risotto with a balsamic vinegar reduction drizzled over the top. YUM.


This morning's breakfast: homemade waffles (half AP flour, half whole wheat pastry flour,) with peanut butter and real maple syrup, and a side of kumquats. Dan bought these for me to try . . . and I tried them . . . and I don't much care for them. (Yet! I hear they are an acquired taste. Not giving up on the kumquats yet!)


And, last but not least . . . what to do with three nearly-black bananas? Well, make banana-oat muffins, of course!


And that's all, folks. For now, anyhow!

chana dal

I've been fascinated by chana dal, ever since Dan gave me a big bagful when he moved out of his apartment, and have been looking for ways to use these quick-cooking baby split chickpeas. (Chana dal = tasty hummus, just so you all know!) I had been wanting to make Indian food for a while now, and decided to adapt and vegetize a recipe for "Balti Butter Chicken" that I had made years ago. Curried chana dal, here I come!

Curry never photographs well, does it? Anyhow, I'd call this meal pretty tasty -- not spectacular, but a valiant effort, and absolutely edible. The recipe needs more tweaking, yet -- how to keep the richness I'm looking for, without an entire stick of butter . . . sheesh. I also used fat-free plain yogurt, since I couldn't find low-fat plain yogurt in the little cups, which was a mistake -- I forget that fat-free dairy has a tendency to curdle when heated. (It's been a while since I've really cooked with dairy!) Indian food sure is tricky! On the side is a brown basmati rice pilaf with almonds and raisins, seasoned with butter (again, not much -- and I think this time the reduction was a good thing!), cardamom, black pepper, and bay. In the end, I'll have to keep working on this one . . . and someone can test it for the cookbook, once I get it the way I like it!

cats do the darndest things.

I haven't made any food that is blog-worthy in a while -- I've actually been eating out quite a bit this past week, which is strange for me, but I've had lots of plans with friends that happened during mealtimes. Alas. So, I thought I'd show you a few of the things Oliver has been up to:

Looking for the Tweetle-Bugs, maybe?


"Pay no attention to the kitten behind the laundry basket."


This isn't the greatest picture of him, but I think it's really cute when he tucks his paws up underneath him when he's sitting with me at the desk. Silly cat.


And that's all we have for you, for now!

Miso hungry . . .

. . . so I made miso soup!

I had a lengthy conversation with one of my coworkers about miso soup a while back, and he informed me that, according to his opinion, I don't actually make miso soup -- I make vegetable soup with miso in it. Technicality . . . whatever. Regardless of what you call it, I made soup for lunch! Yum:



I love adding tofu and soba to my miso soup, because then it's more of a whole meal in a bowl. Warm, slightly salty, gingery-garlicky goodness, with a bunch of richness from the miso. Nummy. And really, miso soup isn't miso soup, in my opinion, without mushrooms and greens. (I usually use spinach, but kale works well, too!)

This has been called "miso soup deluxe" before, which I suppose is a more fitting title!

No-Knead Bread!

The latest buzz at work these days has been about a recipe that originally appeared in the New York Times last fall, and was reprinted in the Star Tribune a few weeks ago. The recipe? No-knead bread. (I would love to read the original article by Mark Bittman sometime . . . but the Times makes you pay for archived articles. Boo!) Anyhow, I finally scrounged up a recipe for the bread, and started working on it yesterday. Here's my version of the process, with accompanying photos:

1. Stir together 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat bread flour, 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast, and 2 teaspoons of salt in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 5/8 cups warm water, and stir until everything is combined. It will look like a sloppy mess!


2. Cover the dough and let it sit at warm room temperature (I stuck it in my oven so the pilot light could keep it just a little bit warmer,) for 12 to 24 hours. (I went about 13 hours on this first rise.) It will look like an even bigger mess now:


3. Flour your work surface well and turn your dough out onto the surface. (I found using a silicone spatula to help the dough along during this process was indispensable.) Fold the dough over once or twice, and let it rest for 15 minutes. Still messy:


4. Shape the dough into a ball, using enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and the board, (I ended up using almost a cup of flour during this process,) and transfer this ball to a very well-floured dishtowel or Silpat. Flour the top of the dough, and cover it with another dishtowel or a piece of plastic wrap. Looking less messy now:


5. After about an hour and a half, preheat your oven to 450 degrees Farenheight, and stick a large (4 to 6 quart, although I used a 3 1/2 quart All-Clad casserole) pot or Dutch oven (ungreased) in the oven, so it can get nice and hot, too. Wait at least another half an hour, and up to an hour and a half, until your dough has doubled in size. (My dough got flatter and much, much bigger -- see?)


6. Take the pot out of the oven and use the towel or Silpat to flop the dough into the pan. (I thought ahead and used a pastry brush to remove most of the excess flour from the towel and the top of the dough before floppping, to prevent a huge, messy cloud I'd later have to clean up. It worked wonderfully!) Give the pan a shake or two to evenly distribute the dough:


7. Cover and bake the bread for 30 minutes. Then take the lid off:


8. Bake 15 to 30 minutes longer, until the bread is lovely and browned. Turn your bread out onto a wire rack. (It will just fall right out of the pan . . . it's truly amazing! Resist the temptation to grease the pan!)


9. Cool on a wire rack, then enjoy.


Other than having to time your bread process somewhat, this was nearly effortless, and produced the best loaf of homemade bread I've ever made. Light, chewy, airy, delicious. Make some and tell me how yours turns out!

"She's a maniac, maniac . . . "

. . . in the kitchen, that is!

Must tell you about my day first:

After a lengthy phone conversation with Chelsea this morning, (she was going to head on down with the girls and we were going to hang out today, but because of our recent blizzard and subsequent crummy road conditions, she decided to keep them home and safe,) Ann and I decided to take the bus Uptown and have lunch at Lucia's bakery. I had heard rumors about Lucia's . . . wonderful, wonderful rumors. I was not in the least bit disappointed. I had a carrot-ginger soup, a popover, and a salad of arugula, some kind of blue cheese, thinly sliced pear, sunflower seeds, and a delicious sort of vinaigrette. The soup was incredible -- perfectly balanced, not overly anything, just perfectly sweet-gingery-smooth-creamy deliciousness. The popover . . . well, it's a popover. Eggy, fluffy, crispy-on-the-outside heaven. And the salad . . . again, perfectly balanced. I was in food snob heaven. :)

After lunch, Ann and I headed over to my work so I could pick up a few key ingredients for this evening's cooking projects, and then hit the Wedge for some additional ingredients. (P.S. the Wedge has started carrying Laptop Lunchboxes! Many months ago, I contacted the ladies at LL and suggested they contact the Wedge as a potential retailer . . . who knows whether it was me that made it happen or not, but it's awesome that the Wedge now has the full lineup of lunchbox fabulousness!)

Then I came home, put away all of the groceries, cleaned up the kitchen, and began to cook.

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I made chai from scratch, using a recipe from Cooking Light magazine, which I altered slightly. I've made chai before, and it's always a bit of a hassle, but it tastes so incredible, it's always worth it. I always make a fairly large batch, because it is such a hassle, and well, it's just as easy to make two servings as it is to make four!
CHAI FROM SCRATCH
Combine, bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes:
3 cups water
14 cardamom pods, crushed
12 whole cloves
8 peppercorns
1 3-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
2 cinnamon sticks, broken up a bit
1 2-inch piece vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
2 star anise
1 bay leaf
6 whole allspice
(look how pretty:)

Then, add:
2 cups plain soy milk
2 tablespoons loose black tea
Continue to simmer your chai for 4 to 5 minutes.
Whisk in:
1/2 cup honey (or agave)
Strain through a cheesecloth lined mesh strainer, and you get:

Mmmmmmm. Perfect mid-afternoon snack.

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I decided to use some of the ultra high-quality Valrohna chocolate I bought and make vegan chocolate pudding pops. I can't remember which fellow blogger I got this chocolate pudding recipe from, but it's INCREDIBLE! I've never tried freezing it before, so we'll see. (I got the popsicle mold for free from Ann's sister Katie. Thanks, Katie!)
CHOCOLATE PUDDING
puree until incredibly smooth:
12 ounces firm Mori-Nu, obvious water drained off
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, melted
pour into a serving dish and chill, or popsicle molds and freeze. So cute:

(*** UPDATE . . . Best. Fudge. Pop. EVER. Make these! ***)

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I also made lentil soup. This soup recipe is based on Isa's French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme from Post Punk Kitchen, but with several of my own modifications.
KILLER LENTIL SOUP
Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a 6-quart soup or stock pot.
"chop and drop:"
1 cup carrot, scrubbed
1 cup celery
1 cup onion
1 cup white button mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
Saute the above for about five minutes, or until soft.
Add and bring everything to a boil:
30 ounces diced tomatoes with liquid
6 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
several cranks of black pepper
Add:
2 cups French green lentils, rinsed,
then lower the heat, cover the soup, and let it simmer for 45 minutes.
Little soup soldiers, all queued up for the freezer:


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The real reason I bought the Valrohna chocolate (and, well, Valrohna cocoa powder for that matter,) from work was to make these brownies. They were also from Cooking Light, and I'm not as impressed with these. Don't get me wrong -- they are an incredible, deeply chocolate, fudgy yummy pan of tastyness. They just don't taste "spicy" enough for something called "Chai Latte Brownies." I'll have to perhaps bulk up the spices next time, and then I'll post the recipe for all to see. Picture, regardless:


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And last, but not least, a non food photo. Dan bought me a plant!


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Stay tuned . . . because I'm in the middle of working on no-knead bread. SO EXCITED!!!!!!