more eggplant

Eggplant-themed meals continue! Dinner last night:

Italian Eggplant Ragout, from Vegetarian Times, tossed with whole-wheat elk shaped pasta from the marketplace at IKEA. (Who knew I'd ever find organic, whole-wheat pasta at IKEA? Especially organic, whole-wheat pasta shaped like elks. I had to try it.) So, the eggplant -- excellent! I made a few alterations to the original recipe -- I used one whole eggplant instead of two (and scooping the insides out like the recipe suggests -- what a waste!) and I didn't salt the eggplant first. I also used a can of crushed tomatoes (instead of diced,) since I wanted the ragout more "saucy" for the pasta. It was fantastic! A nice change from regular marinara. Dan and I both liked the chickpeas in there, too, even though neither one of us usually cares for beans in Italian-type pasta dishes. Yum all around!

So, my elk pasta got me thinking . . . what's the goofiest food item you've bought lately?

pizza pizza.

Hold that thought . . . breakfast first.

We had a large mango in our fridge that was RIPE, and ready to be eaten immediately yesterday morning! I decided to make a sort of traditional mango lassi to supplement our breakfast:

Ingredients: 1 single-serve carton unsweetened vanilla yogurt, 1 large mango, diced, a sprinkle of natural granulated sugar, and enough "lime water" (we have a pitcher of water in our fridge with sliced limes floating in it) to cover. The mango was so sweet the sugar wasn't needed, and this made a wonderful "first breakfast." Mmmm!

(Lately I've been splitting my breakfasts into two courses -- one at home, one as soon as I get to work -- otherwise, I get major hungry before lunch and end up eating whatever junk I can find at work. The new system works well!)

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Eggplant are in season right now, and I had myself a long "think" about what I could do with eggplant in our meals this week. Pizza was one of the ideas I came up with right away! I cubed a small/medium eggplant from the Farmer's Market, tossed it with some olive oil, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper, and roasted it at 400 until the edges began to brown. I pureed the lot with a little extra olive oil, and it made a beautiful, interesting topping for one of our pizzas last night:

Half whole-wheat Artisan Bread dough, topped with eggplant puree, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, heirloom tomatoes, and fresh basil. Yum!

The second pizza was a little more traditional:

The second half of the batch of dough, topped with organic pizza sauce, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, shiitake mushrooms, red onion, tons of sliced garlic (Dan's request,) kalamata and green olives, dried oregano, and chili flakes. Extra yum!

Even though we both enjoyed the first pizza, Dan and I were in agreement that the second pizza was the better of the two -- I guess we are just traditionalists when it comes to pizza! (Plus, I really like chili flakes on my pizza lately.)

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

jam-o-rama

I woke pretty early this morning, (I guess that's what happens when one goes to bed somewhat early,) so I decided to get to work peeling and slicing my peaches -- they had magically ripened overnight! So, as I was peeling and slicing, peeling and slicing, I realized I had a LOT of peaches. After I filled three trays for the freezer, I ended up chopping the last eight cups, plopping them in a pot, adding a cup of agave nectar, and covered them to cook later for jam.

Off to the farmer's market! Look what I found:

Not cheap by any means, but the way I see it, it's a once-a-year treat! For perspective:

These may have been the largest blackberries I've ever seen. Incroyable!

After finishing up my errands, I came home, unpacked the groceries, and set the jams a-bubbling:


A couple hours later:

4 cups of blackberry and 5 cups of peach . . . hooray! If you tally up all of my jam making this season, (strawberry, one jar of raspberry with a couple of ill-fated cartons that dumped over on the way home from the FM, blueberry, blackberry, and peach,) I may have more than enough to last us the winter! (Dan and I really like jam toast for breakfast in cooler weather. Plus I think Dan sneaks spoonfulls sometimes.) :)

And if you're curious, yes, I did save one pint of blackberries for fresh eating. We had them for dessert tonight, tossed with a little sugar. (They were quite tart on their own!)

Dessert? Wait! What about dinner?

"Black Bean Burgers" from VCON, oven-roasted sweet corn, quick pickles, and sweet potato fries. Yum summer!

So tell me . . . what would you do with all of those blueberries, peaches, and blackberries?

Blueberry Lemon Corn Muffins

As I sat last night contemplating the bowl of fresh blueberries in my fridge, muffins kept calling me . . . really I couldn't help it. :) I wanted something a little more out of the ordinary than regular blueberry muffins, so I went a-searchin' . . . and found this recipe for Blueberry Lemon Corn Muffins. Time to bake!

Now, given that I can't ever leave well enough alone, and also that I didn't have a few of the ingredients called for in the original recipe, of course I had to make a few changes . . . see below.

Blueberry Lemon Corn Muffins
yield: 12 (I doubled the original recipe)

Combine:
1 1/2 cups AP flour (I used "gold 'n' white," because that's what I keep on hand)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup fine cornmeal
1 cup granulated sugar (I use natural sugar)
2 tbsp lemon zest (I only used 1 tbsp, since that's what I had)

After the dry ingredients are well-combined, toss in:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Whisk together:
4 egg yolks (I whipped 1 tbsp egg replacer with 1/4 cup lemon juice)
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup whole milk (I used 1/2 cup almond milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream, since it's been lingering in the fridge and I need to use it up)
1/2 tsp lemon extract (my own addition!)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together just until combined.

Fill muffin papers and sprinkle the tops with a pinch of additional sugar. Bake at 375 until the tops are golden brown. (The original recipe says to bake for 15 minutes, but my muffins needed MUCH longer than that.)

Result:

Oh. Yes. So tender they are almost precious, the first couple fell apart on me when I tried to take them out of the muffin pan. I allowed the muffins a few more minutes to cool, and, voila! Gorgeous, beautiful, sweetie-sweet, crunchy from the sugared tops and cornmeal interior, with a little zip from each blueberry and a comforting, lemony aroma. Mmmm.

This recipe needs some work, though -- too much white flour, too much butter, and too much sugar for my liking! As they are now, they are more of a dessert muffin, rather than a breakfast muffin, and I'd like to fix that.

Here's what my ideas are so far . . .

~ use 1 cup cornmeal, 3/4 cup AP flour, and 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
~ cut sugar down to 2/3 cup (or use 1/3 cup agave nectar)
~ use two whole eggs instead of the four yolks (or continue with the egg replacer)
~ use 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup canola oil in place of the butter
~ use the full amount of zest and continue with the lemon extract, for extra lemon flavor (the wholegrain flour will hide some of this, I know)
~ use whatever milk is on hand (once the heavy cream is gone, I won't need to use it up!)

Any other suggestions?

jam-tastic

I drove out to Delano this morning to pick up the second half of our Michigan fruit order -- blueberries and peaches!

Most of the blueberries are destined for the freezer, (I really, really, really want to make a pie, but we still have half a chocolate-zucchini cake left in the fridge,) but I did decide to make a big batch of freezer jam this afternoon!

Blueberry Freezer Jam
yield: about 5 cups

Ingredients:
8 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup agave nectar

Directions:
Combine blueberries and agave in a large (3+ quart) saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower the heat and simmer the jam, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about two hours, or until the jam thickens to your liking. Pour into clean jars, cool, cap, and freeze until ready to enjoy!

Next up?

(Oh Blogger, I hate it when you think I need to rotate photos!)
My peaches aren't ripe yet, but that doesn't mean I'm not busy scheming up ways to use them!

more tasty food

Even though our refrigerator is practically bursting with leftovers, I decided to cook again last night . . . I had prepped two packages of tempeh earlier in the week, and since they had been sitting in their marinade for four days now, I figured it was about time to cook 'em up!

Dinner last night:

"Hot Sauce-Glazed Tempeh" and "Messy Rice," both from VCON, and a side of Lemony Coleslaw with Fresh Dill, from Vegetarian Times. Of course, I can't ever leave well enough alone, so I added some sliced green onions to the coleslaw recipe, (I think green onions are the BEST addition to most slaws,) and I nervously substituted ketchup for the tomato paste in the rice recipe. My jar of tomato paste was very fuzzy when I opened it up earlier this week, and I dug and dug and dug through my cupboards with no luck. :( Enter, ketchup. I was super worried that the rice would be "ketchupy," but luckily, it was just fine. Whew! Good to know for next time, eh? The tomato paste is still better, (brings more flavor and color to the rice,) but ketchup will work in a pinch.

By the way . . . this slaw is FANTASTIC. For dill fans only, since the recipe calls for a whole cup, but it is so simple, refreshing, and flavorful! Mmmmmmmm!

starring . . . vegetables!

I love this time of year, even though I HATE the weather -- why? Because EVERYTHING is in season! I feel like there is so little I need to do to cook these days, because veggies are all so fabulous and fresh and flavorful. (How's that for alliteration?)

Here's a fantastic pasta salad I made for dinner last night:

I topped a bed of local lettuces with Roasted Garlic, Olive, and Tomato Pasta Salad. Fresh, local basil and heirloom tomatoes starred in this creamy, tangy, salty pile of pasta and goodness. Mmmmm! Plus, given I had already roasted the garlic this past weekend, this dinner was ready FAST! I like that.

And another veggie-riffic dinner tonight:

Baked sweet potatoes, from the Farmer's Market, "Chile-Cornmeal Crusted Tofu," from VCON, and Kale Slaw with Peanut Dressing. Now, I always love baked sweet potatoes, and I love that tofu recipe, too, (especially since I discovered I can cut the dipping/breading ingredients in half and still cook up two packages of tofu,) but I must say, this kale slaw stole the show. SO fantastic! We've never really had raw kale before, and I think we both really liked it -- not as bitter as cooked greens, and the slightly sweet, slightly tangy, peanutty dressing was FANTASTIC.

Check out those links, because I'm definitely going to have to spend more time on Apartment Therapy in the coming weeks . . . so far, their recipes have been incredible! What's your latest awesome recipe resource?

hiding vegetables in cake

Now, those of you who frequent my blog know that we have no problem getting our required servings of veggies . . . but sometimes I still get a kick out of "hiding" veggies in unexpected places.

Enter, Chocolate Zucchini Cake:

This recipe originally came from a coworker, who brought a mountain of this cake to work a few weeks ago. I enjoyed the cake so much that I asked her for the recipe, but I also knew that the cake wasn't to my liking -- it was too sweet, and just not chocolatey enough! I loved how the zucchini kept the cake very moist, though, and used her recipe as a starting point. Here's my version:

Magical Chocolate-Zucchini Cake
makes one 9X13 pan

Beat together with an electric mixer:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup canola oil
1 3/4 cups sugar

Beat in:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 packed cups shredded zucchini

Whisk together, then beat into wet ingredients at low speed:
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup AP flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp Penzey's Baking Spice (or cinnamon)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Cool. Top with ganache -- measure 4 ounces (1/4 lb.) good quality dark chocolate into a mixing bowl. Bring 1/2 cup heavy cream just to a boil, and pour the cream into the bowl with the chocolate. Allow the chocolate/cream to sit for a few minutes, to melt the chocolate. Whisk the ganache until smooth. Allow the ganache to cool slightly, before spreading over the cooled cake. In this hot/humid summer weather, this cake definitely needs to be kept in the fridge.

I really like that my version is chocolatey and rich without being overly sweet, and that the cake hides both a little whole grain goodness and some zucchini nutrition. Awesome! I also really like the thin, glaze-like layer of ganache on top -- adds a little extra chocolatey-ness without being overwhelming. Plus, the zucchini keeps everything moist, so you don't even notice the whole-wheat flour. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

And, since we cannot live on cake alone, here are more Asian salads:

Just as good as last time, with the addition of a few sliced cremini mushrooms that needed to be used up ASAP. Happy lunch!

I heart weekends.

Really, who doesn't? I've had a good one so far -- plenty of time to catch up on errands and work around the apartment, hang out with Dan, and best of all, blog!

I was a busy girl again yesterday -- I went to the Farmer's Market, Asian grocery store, and co-op, washed and prepped two huge bunches of lettuce and FOUR huge bunches of kale, baked a couple of sweet potatoes, roasted a couple heads of garlic, baked up a batch of granola, cut a ton of corn off the cob and froze it for later enjoyment, baked a chocolate-zucchini cake (more on that later when we cut into it and I can get a decent photo,) went for a bike ride with Dan, did two huge loads of laundry, and enjoyed a long and leisurely dinner with Dan and his family -- belated birthday celebration for my sweetie. Whew! No wonder I was so tired last night!

Best of all, I was so busy last week, I have a huge blogging backlog. Let's get started!

Here's Dan's birthday dinner, way back from last Monday night:

When I asked Dan what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he said, "pasta and salad." I harassed him for something a LITTLE more exciting than that, and he came up with, "rigatoni with pesto." Okay! Nobody carries whole-wheat rigatoni, so we had to settle for white pasta (GASP! YUM!) with some sliced zucchini thrown in the pasta water for the last two minutes, all tossed with homemade pesto. (My pesto recipe is pretty basic, but I use almonds instead of pine nuts, since I always have almonds on hand, and pine nuts are ass expensive.) Tasty delicious! Truthfully, my favorite part of the meal might have been the little, local sungold tomatoes in the salad. Sungolds and "Kellog's Breakfast" tomatoes are a tie in my book for the best tomatoes ever. Mmmmmmmmm!

Tacos, how I love thee:

Whole-wheat tortillas from the Farmer's Market, topped with home-cooked black beans (with garlic, onion, and lime juice,) stir-fried peppers and onions, queso fresco, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and shredded cabbage. Now I'm craving tacos again!

Anybody found anyone who doesn't like tacos yet?

"Bulgur, Arugula, and Cannellini Salad," from VCON:

We needed a dinner that would be ready immediately upon arriving home on Thursday night, and this fit the bill. Healthy, chilly, and delicious for a hot and busy weeknight. I might even try this with chickpeas next time! (I'm starting to realize that I really don't like white beans, except pureed into homemade hummus. Is that weird?)

Tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad:

Local heirlooms, local hand-rolled fresh mozzarella, local basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Mmmmmmmmmm! I bought a small loaf of rye bread at the Farmer's Market to accompany this salad, and it was VERY tasty. The bread came from the nice man who I discovered is also making soft pretzels every week . . . heaven! I can't resist the artisan soft pretzel! I must buy one every week. :)

Gorgeous, local, fresh berries:

This is why I spend so much money at the Farmer's Market -- I can't help but buy local berries when they are in season! They are so expensive, but SO worth it! This dessert prompted me to say yesterday, "I LOVE summer! Wait, no I don't -- I hate the weather, but I LOVE the food!" Dan just laughed at me. :)

What do you love about summer?

I have another busy day ahead of me today -- more errands, more cooking, and more laundry. PLUS, Christine and I are making the trek down to IKEA tonight! Yay IKEA! Later!

We Have a Wiener!

No, no, no . . . WINNER! (Although there have been a ton of hot dogs floating around the office this week, which is strange, and has kept veggie dogs on the brain.)

Here's the winner of the free soymilk coupon . . .

(Drumroll please . . . )

Random Integer Generator

Here is your random number:

3

Timestamp: 2010-08-07 03:02:01 UTC

Emily! Email me your mailing address, and I'll send that coupon your direction ASAP!

you could win free soymilk!

Hey hey, a giveaway!

(This is exciting! I don't think I've ever hosted a giveaway before!)



The nice people at Earth Balance contacted me and offered me some free samples of their new line of soymilk -- wahoo! I like soymilk! I like free!

AND . . . guess what? I received not one, but TWO coupons for a free half-gallon in the mail today. That means . . . you could win one of those coupons!

How to enter? Leave me a comment on this post, telling me what kind/brand of milk or nondairy milk is in your fridge right now. I will choose one winner at random on Friday, August 6, at 8 pm CST.

(This is fun! Maybe I will have to work harder at hosting more giveaways in the future!)

Oh, and I should answer my own question, right? Currently, we have some homemade almond milk in our fridge right now. :)

Happy Birthday, Dan!

Today is Dan's (35th!) birthday, and we went camping this weekend to celebrate. Dan chose Glacial Lakes State Park, about 3 hours northwest of the Twin Cities, for his birthday vacation. We had a great time! The park is gorgeous, and even though the campsites are not very well-screened, we managed to have mostly quiet neighbors, slept well, and enjoyed beautiful weather.

If you're curious, the park is tallgrass prairie and oak savanna, with small lakes, (caused by melting chunks of glacier,) and crazy glacial formations like kettles, moraines, eskers, etc. Translation? Beautiful rolling hills, plenty of sunshine, and wildflowers galore! Photos . . .



















I may edit this post later and write more . . . but right now, since It's almost 8 pm and I haven't even unpacked the cooler yet, I need to fly! Hope you had a great weekend, too!

beautiful salads

Inspiration struck! I made gorgeous salads!

This first one is loosely based on an Asian-style slaw recipe I found on a blog:

Green leaf lettuce, shredded, and very finely shredded cabbage, topped with slicecd cucumber, carrot, red bell pepper, sugar-snap peas, green onions, peanuts, and fried tofu cubes. I made an Asian-style vinaigrette, (switching up my favorite basic recipe from Crystal,) which I also used to marinade the tofu in. The whole salad was so crisp and refreshing and delicious! A perfect, gorgeous summer dinner.

My coteacher sent me a link with something like 15 different salad recipes the other day, and I swear to you, I wanted to make every single salad on the list. Here was the first one I loosely copied:

Now, I really didn't follow the recipe at all, except that I did use 6 ears of fresh sweet corn and 4 ripe heirloom tomatoes. It was WAY too hot and humid to cook the corn last night, so I just left it raw, chopped the tomatoes, added some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, chopped basil and parsley, and a half-log of goat cheese, crumbled, at the very end. Another crisp and refreshing hit! This salad probably won't keep well, though, so find someone cool to give the leftovers to (we unloaded the last 2 cups on Dan's brother, who has been saving my butt lately with Oliver. Let's just say our home life has been disrupted for the last month and a bit due to pest control issues, and Oliver has had lots of sleep-overs at Ryan's. Plus, Ryan always comes over to feed him when we go out of town! Shout out to Ryan!)

weekend eats

We've had a nicely laid-back weekend -- running errands, doing laundry, hanging out at home and reading, and, of course, cooking!

Monster batch of beans and rice:

I make a huge amount every time, because this dish is so versatile. We tend to have portions topped with shredded cheese (this week, a smoked chipotle gouda,) for lunches, scoops stuffed into tortillas and baked in the oven for burritos, and mountains on top of lettuce with avocado, salsa, and sour cream for taco salads. On its own, the dish is relatively low in fat and quite high in fiber, and a nice way to get some whole grains, beans, and veggies in us several times throughout the week. I had a big bowlful topped with cheese for lunch today, and I scooped it all up with some organic corn tortilla chips. Bonus!

Dan's brother, Ryan, came over for dinner last night and I made sushi!

Huge platter of veggie sushi (cucumber, avocado, and red pepper) for the vegetarians, (Ryan and I,) and Dan went to Costal Seafood and bought himself a couple of small pieces of fish. I made him a couple rolls with his fish, and then sliced the rest as thinly as I could for some sashimi. He was happy. :) Ryan and I dominated the edamame, too!

Leftover buttermilk syrup + stale bread = perfectly good reason to make French toast!

I am EXTREMELY picky about my French toast, and almost never order it in restaurants, because it is almost always awful. My secret tricks? Start with very stale, almost dry bread, (I tend to dry mine out in a 200-degree oven if it's not dry enough on its own,) and let the bread soak in the custard mixture overnight, for maximum gooey center potential. Plus, a half-teaspoon of Penzey's baking spice added to the custard mix just makes everything better!

What are your French toast tips/tricks?

Lately, Sunday night has become pizza night at our house! This first pie is topped with olive oil, heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and salt and pepper:

This second pie is topped with organic pizza sauce, red onion, sliced fresh garlic, mushrooms, kalamata olives, and a mixture of four cheeses (mozzarella, parmesan, goat, and feta -- can you tell I was cleaning out the fridge???)

I love pizza!

salad days

I'm in need of some inspiration!

We're getting to the depths of summer here in muggy MN, and I need some ideas. Dan and I have been enjoying meal-sized salads for months now, but our favorites, (Greek, beet & goat cheese, and veg nicoise,) are starting to feel . . . "old."

What are your favorite salad combinations? I'm thinking I might try an Asian-inspired salad with some napa cabbage, veggies, and fried tofu, (with maybe a peanutty dressing?), but otherwise, I'm coming up short.

Happy Friday, everyone!

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UPDATE:

Here are some of your great ideas so far:
grain-based salads
taco salad (I can't BELIEVE I forgot about this one!)
slaws of all kinds
chickpeas, roasted red peppers, fennel, and onions over arugula with a balsamic dressing
pear/walnut/blue cheese/arugula (again, can't believe I forgot! Yum!)
fruit salad w/yogurt dressing

Keep the ideas coming! Love it!

feeling crappy? make tacos!

It's only Wednesday, and I've had a pretty rough week so far.

Work has been tough, my back has gone completely haywire (so I haven't been sleeping very well and am in pain and/or stiff all day long, plus I limp like a peg-legged pirate -- arrr!) my allergies are driving me nuts, and it's been hellishly hot all week long. (I'm kind of a melter in the sticky summer weather.)

To top it all off? I had a MIGRANE today!

UGH.

Dan's at band practice tonight, so I was on my own for dinner. Even though all I really wanted to do was drown my sorrows in a big bowl of ice cream, I did decide I could pull it together enough to make myself some tacos.

Exhibit A:

Whole-wheat tortilla from the Farmer's Market, home-cooked black beans, stir-fried local peppers and onions, local pepper jack cheese, salsa, local sour cream, sliced avocado, and local lettuce.

I feel better now. Especially after following my meal with a much smaller-than-originally-planned bowl of ice cream. :)

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Speaking of tacos, the kids and I were talking about how much we all like tacos today, and I mentioned that I don't think I know anyone who doesn't like tacos. Do you know anyone who doesn't like tacos? I'm curious to test my theory!

oily

First, here's that zucchini bread I made over the weekend:

I'm not totally happy with this recipe, but it is pretty good! Folks at work gobbled down one loaf, and Dan and I have been working on the other two for breakfast this week. I'm glad I used a combination of whole-wheat pastry flour and chickpea flours, (2 cups ww pastry, 1 cup chickpea,) but this bread is TOO OILY. I should have trusted my instincts and NOT used the full amount of oil called for in the original recipe. I think I'll try half oil and half milk next time and see if that helps!

To counteract the oily zucchini bread, we had a delicious, light dinner on Monday night:

Mmmmmm . . . beet and goat cheese salads! I made some fabulous garlic bread on the side, too -- brushed slices of multigrain sourdough with olive oil, broiled them until toasted, rubbed the bread with a cut clove of garlic, and added the teensiest pinch of salt. Yum yum!

"Clean out the crisper" coconut curry:

Even though I REALLY didn't feel like curry for dinner last night, it turned out to be quite the fantastic meal! Tofu and a bunch of veggies, mostly from the farmer's market, never fail to satisfy, especially when smothered in the simplest curry sauce on the planet -- 1 can of coconut milk and 2 tablespoons each curry paste, low-sodium soy sauce, and sugar. Spicy, fatty, and satisfying! :)