Lemon-Thyme Roasted Tempeh and Veggies with Barley-Mushroom Pilaf

As a skilled home cook and someone who gets excited about food on a fairly regular basis, I find myself the recipient of gifts of unusual ingredients at times.  Once, a friend brought me a celeriac for the sole purpose of seeing what I would do with it.  :)  (I made soup.)  I am the frequent recipient of "I bought this and now I don't know what to do with it -- you will!" ingredients, and occasionally, these special ingredients are selected just for me.

Such is the case with the mason jar full of "Purple Prairie Barley" that has been languishing in my cupboards for a year and a half.  While I appreciate the thoughtfulness of this gift ... I don't love barley, (I typically find it too chewy for my tastes,) and rarely cook with it.  I do enjoy using pearled barley in risotto-style meals from time to time, but as a rule, I don't keep barley on hand.  I don't recall ever cooking hulled barley previously, so this extra-special barley was a bit of a stumper.

Googling "recipe purple barley" brought me up short, too -- most of the recipes were for salads, which I'm just not in the mood for right now, and besides, the veggies required for these summery meals are no longer in season.  I also infrequently make "protein-veg-grain" meals, so I rarely am looking for a carb-heavy side dish.

Thinking a little more about barley, I remember that mushrooms are frequently paired with barley, and since I also had a packet of dried porcini mushrooms in my cupboard (which I believe were also a gift!) I decided the two were destined for pilaf territory.

But, what to pair with the rich, earthy, umami-rich pilaf I was dreaming up?  I needed something lighter and brighter, something that would wake up my palate and bring some color and interest to the plate.  Something that would provide contrast in both flavor and texture, without "fighting" the barley.  Lemon-Thyme Roasted Tempeh and Vegetables to the rescue!

Barley-Mushroom Pilaf

4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup hulled barley, soaked for at least 8 hours and drained

1/2 oz dried mushrooms (porcini, shiitake, or a mixture of whatever you like or have on hand)

2 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)

1 cup finely-chopped onion or leek (white and light green parts)

1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt/to taste

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp dried thyme

Directions:
1. Bring the vegetable broth to a boil.  Add the dried mushrooms, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft and the broth is infused with mushroomy-goodness.  Strain, reserving both the mushrooms and broth.  Stem the mushrooms (if needed) and finely mince.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  Add the onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent.
3. Add the soaked/drained barley, vegetable broth, and minced rehydrated mushrooms, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.  (I use a heat diffuser to prevent scorching the bottom layer when I cook most grains, but this is entirely optional, especially if you trust in your stove.)  Check the barley at this point -- if there is excess liquid, remove the lid and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has cooked off.
4. Enjoy!  Leftovers freeze well, if you are so inclined.

Lemon-Thyme Roasted Tempeh and Veggies
4 servings

Ingredients:
zest and juice of one lemon
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
8 oz tempeh
seasonal vegetables, cubed (I used eggplant, butternut squash, broccoli, and red bell pepper)

Directions:
1. Make the marinade: combine the zest, juice, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, vinegar, and olive oil in a small food processor or blender (or in a mason jar, if you plan on using a stick blender.)  Puree until smooth and emulsified.
2. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil.  Add the tempeh, cover, lower the heat, and steam for 10 minutes.  Remove the tempeh and cool slightly.  Cut the tempeh into cubes, and gently toss with 2 tbsp of the marinade.
3. Toss the prepared vegetables with the remaining marinade.  (You can add the tempeh to the bowl, too, but it can be delicate and crumbly at this stage, so your choice.)  Allow the veggies and tempeh to marinade for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Farenheight.  Dump out the veggies and tempeh onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Remove any delicate veggies (broccoli, asparagus, green onions, etc.) and set aside.  Roast the tempeh and sturdier veggies for 20 minutes.  Stir/flip the tempeh and veggies, add the delicate veggies, and return everything to the oven for 20 more minutes.
5. Enjoy!

I was pleased with how both of these recipes turned out, although I was definitely more pleased with the tempeh and veggies.  Blame the barley.  I just don't LOVE it.  Do you love barley?  I do have a couple cups of Purple Prairie Barley left ... what to do?  Any fabulous recipes to share?

400-calorie dinners (vii)

Two more 400-calorie dinners we've enjoyed this week . . . 

Stir Fry:

So far, the "tricks" I've discovered to making a delicious, 400-calorie stir fry are these:

1. Use only a little oil (or cooking spray) to brown your tofu and cook up your veggies
(Let's face it . . . most stir-fries can end up a little greasy, can't they?)

2. Keep an eye on your rice portion
(I find 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup is plenty for me.)

3. Make your own sauce!
(Most commercial stir-fry sauces are loaded with salt and sugar, and probably some GMOs or other not-too-desirable ingredients.)
Here's my default stir-fry sauce recipe, in case you're curious:
2 tbsp low-sodium tamari
2 tbsp water
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp chili-garlic sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
Combine all of the ingredients and whisk until smooth.  Add the sauce just as your veggies finish cooking, and boil/cook the stir fry until the sauce thickens and clears.  (This should just take a minute or two.)

Biryani:

I followed the recipe for "Neelam's Festive Rice Pilaf," from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen, nearly as written, making a few substitutions based on what I had on hand, (swapping in currants and dried apricots for the raisins and dried blueberries, and edamame for the frozen peas.)  I also gussied up some fat-free Greek yogurt with a pinch of salt, plenty of minced fresh ginger, chopped mint, and minced cilantro, and served the yogurt with the rice, as the recipe suggested.  Delicious!  The rice is fantastic on its own, (I love the sweet-salty-spicy-savory balance,) but the yogurt really makes the dish.  (Plus, most of us can always use a bit more calcium and protein on a daily basis, right?)

What are your favorite stir-fry ingredients?  I have a tendency to overload my stir-fries (and curries) with every vegetable under the sun, but really showed restraint this week.  :)  I loved the simplicity of using just red onion, broccoli, and shiitake mushrooms!

atop brown rice

Most weeks, I spend some time over the weekend prepping meals/ingredients for the coming week, and last weekend was no exception!  I ended up cooking up three cups (dry) of brown rice for our meals this week, and it wasn't even enough!  Ha!  We stuffed some of that rice into burritos, and had the following two meals:

"Mapo Tofu," from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant:

While this was a good, quick, easy to prepare weeknight stir-fry, (especially when I prepped all of the veggies and sauce ingredients ahead of time,) the flavor was a little . . . strange.  John exclaimed immediately how tangy the sauce was, and I tended to agree.  :(  Personally, I like my homemade stir-fry sauce better, so I guess we'll be sticking with that one!  However, this was a perfectly acceptable meal.

Coconut Curry:

I don't use a recipe for this meal -- just fry up some tempeh or tofu, add veggies, a couple tablespoons curry paste, a tablespoon each sugar and tamari, and add a can of coconut milk.  Rich, flavorful, and delicious!  This week, I used tempeh, sweet potato, red onion, and green beans.  I'm not always a huge fan of leftovers, but this meal improved with time -- bonus.  John wasn't sure about the sweet potato in a Thai-style curry, but I love it!

~~~~~~~~~~

I'm really thrilled about this three-day weekend, although it's raining this morning.  John and I have some errands to run, lots of gardening to do, and a camping trip to prepare for!!!  I can't WAIT to go camping!  What are you looking forward to this holiday weekend?

more burgers

We have been on a huge veggie burger kick lately, due in large part to the humongous bag of sweet potato fries I bought from Costco a while back.  The latest installment:

Quinoa Veggie Burgers from Eating Well were delicious, but not perfect.  I was happy the burgers largely called for ingredients I already had on hand, (I did have to pick up some red quinoa, but, well, I'm sure white quinoa would have worked just fine,) but they did not hold together AT ALL.  (In the recipe's defense, it suggests baking them; as I only have one rack in my oven, I had to pan-fry the burgers to make room in the oven for fries!)  The flavor, however, was spectacular -- hearty, rich, filling, but not heavy.  Next time, I might try adding just a wee sprinkle of vital wheat gluten, in the hopes that these burgers will hang together better.

What's your favorite veggie burger recipe?

Lately I've been . . .

Watching . . .
"Stranger than Fiction."  While John and I don't watch TV, we do enjoy a movie occasionally, often over the weekend.  Blockbuster's within walking distance of the apartment, and this was John's pick this week.  Cute.  Loved Maggie Gyllenhaal and Emma Thompson.

Eating . . . 

Homemade apple crisp . . .

Tofu Steak with Miso and Ginger, carrots glazed with honey and lemon, and brown rice . . .

Whole-wheat spaghetti with homemade mushroom marinara and Nate's Meatless Meatballs . . .

Planning . . . 
On moving in a couple of weeks!  John and I decided until after our wedding to "officially" move in together, as we had so much else to do to get ready for the wedding.  So, in a couple of weeks, I'll be calling Saint Paul home.

Reading . . . 
The latest issue of Mother Earth News.  We just started subscribing to this magazine, and seriously, it's like someone went inside my head, tallied up all of the things I'm interested in, and wrote a magazine about them.  Lucky me!

Inspired By . . . 
Three-year-olds.  They drive me completely bonkers most days, but then they say things like, "Teacher Catherine, I missed you when you were on your moneymoon."

Excited About . . . 
Our garden this summer.  We're going to till up the whole backyard and grow as much food as we can! I'm going to get heavily into preserving this year -- canning and freezing for sure, and maybe some drying.  Those of you that grow a lot of your own food, what would you recommend?

So tell me, what have you been up to?

pumping up the produce

As I wrote earlier in the week, I am trying to make an effort to eat more produce these days -- specifically, more veggies!  I tried to center our meals around veggies this weekend, and chose Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers as my "focus cookbook."  (Do any of you ever do that when you are meal planning?  Sometimes when I'm overwhelmed by ideas and options, I choose one cookbook and select only recipes from it for upcoming meals.)

Breakfast Saturday morning:

How to have French toast nearly effortlessly on Saturday morning?  Slice the bread and set it out to dry before you go to work on Friday morning.  Friday night before bed, make a custard, (I used 4 eggs, a cup of milk, a tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla, several dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg, and a pinch of cardamom,) and soak the bread in the fridge overnight.  With these simple jobs done, all you have to do is get up and fry up your toast!  Yum.  I made us a beautiful fruit salad for the side.

Saturday supper:

Since butternut squash is John's favorite soup variety, I figured I better try the recipe for "Thai Butternut Squash Soup" from my focus cookbook.  I was really pleased with the results!  I made a couple of small modifications, (I roasted a whole squash instead of using frozen puree, used more spinach, and used the whole can of coconut milk and less water,) and we both loved this.  (I especially loved the salty, savory little "tofu croutons!  Tasty delicious.)

Sunday lunch:

"Magic Kale Salad" with pan-fried tempeh.  A repeat, for good reason!  Felt so good to eat a huge plate of greens!

Sunday supper:

A favorite from my focus cookbook this week, "Saucy Hungarian Eggplant."  I haven't made this in ages, and what a shame!  Light yet hearty, this stew is totally nutritious, flavorful, and also helped me take advantage of the GIGANTIC bag of bulgur I bought from Costco not too long ago.

It wouldn't be a quiet weekend without a baking project!

I really felt like baking today, although I wasn't ready to start my Christmas cookies quite yet.  :)  I searched the interwebs for a somewhat healthy muffin recipe full of holiday flavors, and ended up adapting a recipe for molasses spice muffins . . .

Whole-Wheat Gingerbread Muffins
Yield: 24 mini-muffins plus 8 standard muffins

Ingredients:
1 stick butter at room temperature (I used salted)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
pinch cloves

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs, buttermilk, and molasses, and stir until smooth.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and spices.  Stir into the wet ingredients just until combined.
4. Fill muffin liners 1/2 to 2/3 full.  (These puff up a lot, thanks to the buttermilk/baking soda reaction!) Bake mini-muffins for about 15 minutes, standard muffins for about 24 minutes.  Cool, and store tightly covered at room temperature (or in the fridge, if you don't think you'll eat them in a few days.)

Lately, I've been enjoying scooping some of my muffin batter out into my mini-muffin pan, and taking those to work.  I love to bake, but we can't always get through a full batch of muffins before "the fuzz" gets to them.  :(  My coworkers have been enjoying the somewhat healthy, homemade "mini-treats" I bring occasionally!  A great solution to my "problem," and a win-win for everyone!

time for comfort food

I had been battling a migraine most of last week, and wasn't feeling very well when I sat down to do the weekend meal plan on Thursday night.  It was definitely time for some comfort food!

Breakfast burritos!

Even though a burrito might not seem like comfort food for a good little midwestern girl like myself, I can pretty much always eat beans and cheese.  Adding hash browns and eggs just gilds the comfort food lily, in my opinion.  :)

Chickpea Patties!

While the chickpea patty itself doesn't really fall into "comfort food" territory, at least for me, sweet potato tater tots sure do.  :)  (Side dish not pictured!)

Seitan and Dumplings:

I tried a new seitan recipe this time, which I was really happy with.  I find seitan can sometimes be too "strong" tasting for me . . . maybe too much nutritional yeast?  Anyhow, this recipe was quick and simple, offered lovely, light flavor, and worked beautifully in the Herbed Chicken and Dumplings recipe I frequently tweak for a vegetarian option.  (What do I do?  Sub cubed seitan for the chicken, adding it with the broth later in the recipe, and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.  I also double the soup base ingredients, and triple the dumplings.  One never can have too many dumplings, if  you ask me!)

Mushroom Potpie:

This was incredible.  Simple to prepare, smelled amazing when it was in the oven, and tasted fantastic.  (I subbed a pie crust for the puff pastry called for, as that was what I had on hand.)  Pot pies can sometimes be too heavy; not this one!  It was rich and satisfying without weighing me down.  (P.S. artichokes on the side!)

And cookies!

I made these Flourless Peanut-Chocolate Cookies to take to church choir rehearsal on Saturday morning, and it's a good thing there was plenty leftover!  John stated that these might be his new favorite cookie.  Rich and crumbly, with big peanut flavor and loads of melty chocolate chips . . . heaven.

How do you define comfort food?

photo dump!

Yeah . . . it's been a while since I've been able to sit down at the computer and get caught up posting all of the pictures of delicious foods I have stored up on my phone and camera!  Without further ado, here I go:

Instagrammed pizza #1:

Butternut Squash Pizza from Real Simple, made pretty much exactly as written, except with probably extra ricotta.  (I didn't measure.)  John and I both LOVED this, and I'll definitely be making it again and again!

Instagrammed pizza #2:

A 10-ounce package of frozen spinach mixed with 2 cups of "Italian blend" shredded cheese, with a can of well-drained diced tomatoes on top.  I have been trying to find small, subtle ways to replace fresh veggies with frozen, in my nearly constant attempt to keep the grocery bill down.  Frozen spinach works beautifully on pizza, in my opinion, as long as you squeeze it dry before using.  (Fresh spinach tends to make pizzas soggy, in my opinion!)

A simple pasta supper:

Whole-wheat rigatoni tossed with homemade marinara, white beans, and more spinach, topped with grated Asiago cheese.  I thought this was perfectly acceptable; John exclaimed he thought it was "really good" and went back for seconds.  Good news, as John hasn't been a huge fan of beans with pasta in the past!

Lunch Saturday:

I modified another Real Simple recipe this time -- I subbed sauteed mushrooms for the ham in Potato, Ham, and Spinach Frittata.  Delicious!  John and I each had a wedge with toast for lunch, saved some leftovers for work lunch for me, and then took the rest of the leftovers, cut into small triangles, to a Halloween party Saturday night.  Go eggs, go!  I love how versatile they are!   (P.S. MORE frozen spinach!  Woo!)

Sunday lunch was waiting for us in the Crock Pot when we got home from a walk:

Barley and Root Vegetable Soup transitioned effortlessly to the slow cooker, used up some barley, red lentils, carrots, and celery I had on hand, and made for a hearty, warming, and healthy lunch.  Plenty of leftovers to carry us through the week, too!

Lastly, here's my first attempt at homemade stovetop mac and cheese:

I started by using Cooking Light's Cheddar Cheese Sauce as a launching point, and folded it into some cooked whole-wheat shells and frozen broccoli.  (There I go with the frozen veggies again!  Frozen broccoli is another one I don't mind much.)  My sauce turned out runnier this time than last, which could be due to me possibly over-measuring the milk, possibly the sauce just doesn't double well.  Regardless, it was a good first try.

So, here are two questions for you . . .

1. Do you have a homemade stovetop mac and cheese recipe you love?  Do share.
2. What are some of your favorite uses for frozen veggies?

why I think it's important to keep coconut milk on hand

Impromptu curry, anyone?

Ingredients: tofu, mushrooms, bean sprouts, green onions, carrots, cilantro, coconut milk, curry paste, sugar, and tamari.

Man, it feels good to clean out the fridge!

weekend eat-a-thon, again!

Recently, I described my weekend as an "eat-a-thon," as I tend to do most of my cooking over the weekends while John is around, and live off leftovers during the week.  This past weekend was no exception!

Our weekend started a little early this week, as I had some downtime between jobs.  I decided to plan a fun Thursday night dinner -- baked potato bar!  I ended up coming up with so many ideas for toppings, I had to split my potato in half and "theme" each one.

Potato #1 -- the "traditional"

Following a bit of butter and salt, I piled on sauteed mushrooms, steamed frozen broccoli, homemade sour cream, Coconut Bacon, and minced garden chives.  A note on the coconut bacon . . . I really liked it, John didn't.  He doesn't care for coconut, so that makes sense.  :)

Potato #2 -- the "southwestern"

Plenty of seasoned black beans, Cheddar Cheese Sauce, salsa, and garden green onions.  I was really happy with how this batch of beans turned out, and that cheese sauce?  Awesome.  I think this was the first time that I've made a cheese sauce that hasn't broken!  Woo!  The trick?  Let the sauce cool a LOT longer than you think it needs to before whisking in the cheese.  We both loved this sauce -- it was light, creamy, cheesy, totally easy to make, and a budget-friendly way to stretch a small amount of cheese out into several servings.  I think I'll make this sauce again soon, and add it to some hot cooked macaroni for a healthier version of stovetop mac and cheese!

John had a long day working outdoors in the cold on Friday, so I figured he needed a pretty hearty meal at the end of the day:

Nutloaf, homemade-buttermilk-garlic mashed potatoes, Quick Gravy, and oven-roasted green beans.  Nutloaf, while neither inexpensive nor terribly healthy, is terribly tasty.  :)  I recommend leftovers sliced, with ketchup, in-between two slices of good wholegrain bread.  We both really liked the gravy, too, (and it really was quick!) although I think I'd add an extra tsp of flour next time -- it was just a little too thin in my opinion.

Breakfast Saturday -- Carrot Cake Pancakes:

Who doesn't want to sneak in a serving of veggies at breakfast?  :)  I didn't have quite enough carrots this time 'round, so I ended up using about half shredded carrots and half shredded garden zucchini, with good results.  John was out of whole wheat flour, so I used all-purpose . . . and we both decided we preferred the hearty, nutty flavor of the whole-wheat flour in this recipe.  The AP pancakes were too sweet and too plain tasting, in our opinion!

A picnic lunch Saturday:

Homemade butternut squash soup, Kalamata Olive Bread with Oregano, sharp cheddar, and an apple.  The soup turned out really well, and I was excited to use some of the squash we grew in our garden this year!  I also really liked the olive bread -- it was dense without being heavy, savory but not too salty, and held up well during backpack transport.  (I also got to use some fresh oregano from our garden!)

Breakfast today:

Cheesy scrambled eggs, Buttermilk Waffles, orange juice, and coffee.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love buttermilk?  Yeah?  Well . . . these waffles were another excellent use of my new favorite ingredient.  Crispy, light, slightly tangy, offset by a sweet drizzle of syrup.  Waffle perfection!

Dinner tonight -- Festive Chickpea Tart:

This was quite tasty, and very easy to make in advance -- I prepped the filling on Friday afternoon, stuck it in the fridge, and spooned it into the pie shell tonight before baking.  Superfast dinner in the oven!  However, I did make a couple of changes to the original recipe, including adding more oil and a couple of well-beaten eggs to the base.  My filling looked so dry after I mixed everything together, I wasn't convinced it was going to set up at all, and didn't want a crumbly mess on my hands!  Adding the eggs and extra oil gave the tart a beautiful structure, although it was no longer vegan.  Thoughts?  I might try this again using hummus as the base, adding some whole chickpeas for texture, and keeping the other veggies and seasonings basically the same.  Flavor-wise, this was fantastic, and surprisingly filling!

Better get to bed -- big day at the new job tomorrow!

unplanned break

Well, here I am, black from a sort-of unplanned blogging break -- I guess I haven't been cooking much these past couple of weeks!  Come to think of it, I have been eating out much more than usual, using up leftovers, and eating very basic, non-photogenic meals.  :)  I did whip up a couple of nice meals this past weekend, though!

Beets, goat cheese, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette over mixed greens:

Thai Lettuce Wraps:

These were phenomenal!  Sweet, spicy, salty, rich, and packed with healthy, crunchy veggies and herbs, most from our garden.  I've been on a quest lately to find and try more recipes for tempeh, as John likes tempeh a lot, but doesn't care for tofu as much.  This was definitely a winner!  Anyone have any favorite tempeh recipes they care to suggest?

Breakfast prepared by John:

Mixed berries, croissants from the Farmer's Market, chard from the garden, and scrambled Farmer's Market eggs with local Tilsit and green onions from the garden.

 Homemade pizza:

"Olive Oil Dough," from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, topped with olive oil, caramelized onions, mozzarella, four different kinds of mushrooms (including chicken of the woods, which we found while hiking yesterday!), Shepherd's Way "Super Blue" cheese, thyme, and black pepper.  Oh, yum.

Simple, but fancy

Friday night dinners pretty much always have to be simple, in my opinion - I'm usually WAY too tired out from the week to attempt much cooking. Tonight's dinner was fairly simple, in my opinion, but kind of fancy-looking -- Cheese & Spinach- Stuffed Portobellos, from Eating Well:

Packing in the veggies

Here's one way to pack a couple servings of veggies into a grilled cheese sandwich -- sauté together a bunch of mushrooms and spinach, and pile it in-between a couple of slices of Swiss. Delicious! Then undo all of the health benefits of a veggie-packed sandwich by cooking the whole thing in butter. :)

Dinner on a Tuesday

Simple stir-fry for dinner tonight - red onion, shiitake mushrooms, red bell pepper, broccoli, carrot, green onions, and cashews, lightly dressed in my homemade stir-fry sauce: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp chili-garlic sauce, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil, and 1 tsp grated fresh ginger.

not too shabby

Here's what happens when John and I wander aimlessly through the supermarket, trolling for dinner supplies at 6:30 on a Tuesday night, feeling both hungry and tired:

Not too shabby, if you ask me! Stir-fry of rice noodles, onion, mushroom, carrot, sugar snap pea, and almonds, drizzled with a store-bought stir-fry sauce, augmented by some garlic and cayenne. Spicy-noodley good, even though the noodles stuck together en masse, and had to be carefully teased apart with two forks. Gotta love starchy-gooey rice noodles, eh?

Happy New Year!

My New Year's Eve was filled with good food & good company ... and nothing else! Sometimes it's just good to take it easy at (someone else's) home, would you agree?

Feast your eyes on our feast: wild rice soup and popovers:

Sunday dinner

After a busy weekend in the kitchen baking cookies, I had assumed the last thing I wanted to do was mess things up again by making a huge meal . . . but I was wrong. :) I decided I was due a healthy, slightly indulgent, comforting bowl of delicious food for dinner! I had picked up the ingredients for "Mushroom Potato Stroganoff" from The Cheese Factory Restaurant -- and I roasted up nearly two pounds of brussels sprouts on the side. (Every once in a while I get to tag along to Costco with my friend Courtney, and massive amounts of produce always result! Woo!) I decided to mound everything into one of my giant Asian soup bowls and curl up on the couch with a movie:

Yum.

I also grabbed the hugest box of spinach and a giant block of feta when trolling Costco . . . and I have a box of filo in my freezer. Spinach pie, anyone???? :)

fried rice, Friday night

Best thing to do with leftover rice:

Garlic, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, red bell pepper, green onion, shelled edamame, baby corn, water chestnuts, egg, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil all ended up in the wok tonight, along with plenty of short-grain brown rice.

Fried rice on a Friday night is a delicious way to start the weekend, if you ask me! :)

fried rice

Fried rice is one of those meals I tend to forget about -- probably because, when ordered from a restaurant, it is often greasy, overly-salty, and marginally healthy. However, when I make it at home, I have control over the amount of oil I use, (just a few teaspoons to keep everything from sticking to the pan,) the amount of soy sauce I use (usually only a couple of tablespoons of the low-sodium variety,) and most importantly, the variety of veggies I use!

Last night, I dug through my fridge, cupboard, and freezer, and found a whole host of veggies that were begging to be added to my fried rice!

After warming some garlic, ginger, and chile-garlic sauce in a couple teaspoons of canola oil, I went a little crazy! Cabbage, carrot, shiitake mushrooms, red bell peppers, corn, edamame, broccoli, green onions, and water chestnuts all made their way into my dinner, along with brown rice and a few beaten eggs. I finished the dish with two tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce, and a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Perfect! Healthy, high-fiber, high-protein, and packed full of vitamins, but still so delicious.

What are your favorite fried rice ingredients? Do you love that greasy, salty, take-out goodness, or do you prefer to make your own?

first meal

The first meal cooked in my new place wasn't anything terribly Earth-shattering, but it was healthy and delicious!

Penne tossed with asparagus, cremini mushrooms, garlic, chili flakes, and dried parsley, cooked in a hefty amount of olive oil, with grated parmesan for sprinkling at the table. (Iced herbal tea on the side.) MMMMMMM!

Oy. I am SO tired tonight -- it has been a long, busy, fun, exciting, weekend! I'm totally unpacked and settled in -- can you believe it?? Pictures are even on the walls and everything! I definitely need an early bedtime tonight . . . night night!