fancy-pants bean chili

I adapted David Lebovitz's Chocolate Chili to a) use an InstantPot to cook the beans and b) not have beef (though I did end up using beef bouillon). Recording my modifications here because it's something I'd happily make again:

Chocolate Bean Chili

• 2 pounds (900g) dried red or variegated heirloom beans (I used a mix of pinto, red, and kidney beans)
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 glug oil

• 3 teaspoons smoked salt 
• 2 to 4 dried chiles (I used chipotle, with seeds)
• about 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 medium onions, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
• 2 teaspoons ancho chile powder (if available otherwise use an additional teaspoon of red chile powder)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 cups (50cl) beer (I used an IPA)
• 2 cans (15oz, 200g each) crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 ounces (55g) unsweetened chocolate (or 3 ounces, 85g, bittersweet chocolate, in which case skip the brown sugar)
• 4 teaspoons bouillon
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar or lime juice (I forgot about this....)

First, the beans: soak them overnight, then drain, rinse, and add to instantpot. Add 8 cups of water, a few smashed garlic cloves, and a glug of oil. For this particular mix of beans, I used 8 minutes at high pressure, natural release. It is a lot of beans!

Prepare the dried chiles by chopping them up (remove the seeds if you don't want it to be spicy) and pouring boiling water over them (just enough to cover). When they've softened, drain them.

When you're ready to actually make chili, saute the onions in the oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat until they turn translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the drained chiles, salt, garlic, chile powders, oregano, cumin, and paprika, and saute for another minute, stirring continually to avoid burning.

Add the beer, tomatoes, and chocolate (plus sugar if you're not using bittersweet chocolate). Stir and add the beans, plus as much cooking liquid as seems necessary. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the bouillon, if using. Simmer for 45-60 minutes, until the flavors have melded. If it seems like you need it, add the vinegar or lime juice.

serves: 10-12

A Few Spring/Early Summer Recipes; A Menu for Summer Entertaining

Warm Kale, Coconut, and Tomato Salad: requires heating up the oven, but I suspect could also be done well in a grill basket. And it's sooo worth it.

Jamie Oliver's "Eggplant Parmesan": better not to think of it as Eggplant Parm, because it's not really very like it, but it's delicious.

Tender and Easy Buttermilk Waffles: true to their name, and they freeze and reheat (in a toaster oven) very very well.

ALSO: we had folks over for a grown-up dinner party and had this as the menu:

• Chicken Shawarma
• oven-roasted cubed eggplant (I didn't pre-treat with salt/drain and it was totally fine)
• pitas
• hummus
• feta
• chopped tomatoes and cucumbers (I used a "burpless" variety)
• olives

Just served all of the above separately and let people assemble their own. We had drinks and for dessert ice cream. I didn't come up with a good appetizer-type thing, but it worked out anyway.

"Mexican" Corn Chowder

Like the other recipes from this cookbook, I've been making this soup since college. V specifically requested this the other day (when I had to look up how to make garlic bread.....). The only problem is that we do all of our grocery shopping at a co-op these days, and the one we go to here in MN doesn't stock creamed corn, so this requires an extra trip. On the other hand, since we only visit regular groceries infrequently, when we go it's a bit like the stories about visitors from the USSR - it is completely stunning to see the huge variety on the shelves, and we go a bit wild buying things we "can't" normally get. Very fun. (My secret vice? all kinds of baked beans. The organic ones simply do not compare.)

Mexican Corn Chowder
adapted from Help! My Apartment Has A Kitchen

• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
• 2-4 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 Tbsp Wondra
• 2 15-oz cans creamed corn
• 1 4-oz can green chilies, drained
• 4 C milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 C shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• tortilla chips for serving

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook until mostly softened (5-7 min). Add the cumin and flour and stir constantly until they're absorbed into the vegetable mixture. Add corn, chilies, milk, and salt & pepper and stir thoroughly.

Cook, uncovered, at a simmer until the soup thickens (about 8-10 min). Stir in the cheese and cook for a few more minutes, until the soup is hot but not boiling. Serve.

makes a light meal for 4

flu

The last week has pretty much disappeared in a haze of Nyquil for me - I did manage to go to work for 2/3 of the work-days last week, but I'm lucky they like me there because I wasn't good for much. And I collapsed when I got home both days. So we ate a lot of leftovers and delivery; Victor also whipped up several of his go-to dishes (fried rice and omelets). Before I got sick, I did manage to make one meal, though. It's quickly become one of my favorites, mostly because (assuming you've pre-made the dough), it comes together in a snap and requires pretty minimal ingredients.

Margarita Pizza
from the wonderful new Smitten Kitchen cookbook

• ~ 1/2 C strained and pureed tomatoes (I literally strain them to get excess liquid out so it doesn't make the pizza soggy, though I'm not sure that's what she intended)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• pinch red pepper flakes
• few drops red wine vinegar
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 3/4 lb ball pizza dough (recipe follows, or use your own favorite)
• 4-5 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
• some basil leaves, torn or chopped (or use fresh oregano)

Heat your oven as high as it goes (ours goes up to 550F, which works wonderfully). Sprinkle a rimmed baking sheet (9x13) or a medium-sized pizza pan with cornmeal or spray with that cooking-spray-plus-flour stuff I'm so fond of.

Blend the tomatoes and seasonings together. Stretch the dough to cover your baking sheet/pizza pan - no worries about holes or whatever, you can always pinch them together. Spread the mostly-flat dough with tomato sauce, sprinkle with basil leaves, and arrange the cheese slices to more-or-less cover your pizza. Bake for 7-11 minutes (in my oven, it always takes the full cooking time). The cheese should be very bubbly and even a little blistered.

serves 2 generously

"Leisurely" Pizza Dough
also from the new Smitten Kitchen book; she has a "rushed" pizza dough, too, but I've never made it; instead, I make a double batch of this one and freeze the second half. The day before I want to make pizza, I move it to the fridge and then proceed with the recipe as written. The book also has directions for hand-kneading the dough.

• 1/2 C warm water
• 1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp dry yeast
• 1 1/2 C (190 g) AP flour (or a combination of AP and whole-wheat flour - I generally do about 50/50)
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt 
• little bit of olive oil

Combine water and yeast in the mixer bowl; let stand for a few minutes if that's a thing your yeast needs. Add the flour and salt and mix with the dough hook until you have a craggy mass. Reduce the speed to low and let it bang around for about 5 minutes, until it is a smooth and cohesive ball. Take the dough out and coat it with a little olive oil; then put it back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest in the fridge for at least 8 hours and up to 24.

When you're ready to use it, remove from the fridge and allow to double in a warm spot (I put mine on top of the kitchen radiator).

makes about 3/4 pizza dough, enough for a medium pizza

healthier, simple "pasta alla vodka"

Not really at all like pasta alla vodka in ingredients or method, this nonetheless is reminiscent of it. Victor made this up the other day when we didn't have much food in the house; it's amazingly creamy even though it has no cream. Wholesome and decadent? Sign me right up.

Linguine Cacio e Pepe, with Tomato
adapted from Smitten Kitchen by Victor

I made the sauce while my pasta cooked. It fits right into that amount of time (8-12 minutes, depending on your pasta), and you get to serve both the pasta and sauce immediately after they've finished cooking.

Pasta Ingredients:

1/2 pound spaghetti or linguini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 twelve-ounce can diced, fire-roasted tomato (I used Muir Glen)

Pasta Directions:

Cook pasta in well-salted water to your al dente tastes in a large pot.  Drain pasta, reserving 3/4 cup of the cooking water.

Dry out your pot, then heat the olive oil over high heat until almost smoking. Carefully add drained pasta and 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water.

Add butter, cheese, and ground pepper, and toss together with tongs. Add more pasta water, cheese, pepper or salt to taste.

Sauce Directions:

Open the canned tomatoes now. You'll need them in a minute or two.

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is up to temperature, add the diced garlic. Push the garlic around in the oil until it all pulls together into a little clump. There should be just enough oil there to keep all the little bits of garlic floating, basically shallow-frying in a little puddle.

When the garlic begins to brown visibly, add the entire can of diced tomatoes. There's a bunch of liquid in there, so it may splatter a bit. Stir the tomatoes and garlic together, then spread the mixture evenly across the skillet. Lower the heat to medium. I used a splatter guard, but it wasn't really necessary after the first big sizzle was over.

Let the tomato mixture cook until all of the visible pools of liquid have cooked off, 8-10 minutes. If the skillet begins to show through while there's still liquid in the pan, stir and spread the mixture again. When most of the liquid is gone, you'll have something that looks a bit like chunky tomato jam (it's not jam, though, because there's no sugar in there).

Serving:

Serve pasta, sprinkling with reserved cheese and an extra grind or two of black pepper. Add a generous ladle of the tomato sauce on the side.

When I made this recipe, we both ended up mixing the pasta and sauce together. The result was a pinkish and creamy sauce that was remarkably like a vodka sauce. That makes some sense, because it's got a similar list of ingredients (cheese, fat, tomato). But, there's no alcohol and much less fat here. What are the vodka and cream really for, then? The cream is obvious - rich and sweet. The vodka is supposed to develop tomato flavor. We got a similarly deep, sweet sauce by using canned fire-roasted tomatoes and cooking them down in their own liquid. Take that, fattening restaurant food! It's like Cook's Illustrated up in here! Except that I got this result by accident, and I've only done it once, so it's possible that it was a total fluke.

"The Simplest Potato & Leek Braise"

Our cookbook club (see here for an excellent description of what a cookbook club is and how to start one) met for the second time this month. We had two books this time, both by Molly Stevens: All About Braising and All About Roasting. I only have the braising book, so that's where I chose my recipe from.

It was great - comforting and tasty; it would be fabulous served alongside a ham, I think, although it certainly went well with the wild assortment of braised and roasted foods everyone brought to the potluck. (There were two different roasted chickens, a roasted goat leg, braised white beans, roasted broccoli, a pasta salad made with roasted tomatoes, and roasted brown-sugar pineapple. Plus probably some other things that I've forgotten. It was all very tasty.)

The Simplest Potato & Leek Braise
from Molly Stevens, All About Braising

• about 1 1/2 pounds leeks
• 1 1/2 lb yellow-fleshed potatoes
• 1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• pinch of freshly-grated nutmeg
• coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 1/4 C chicken stock, heated to near boiling
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 C heavy cream

Heat the oven to 325F. Butter a shallow baking or gratin dish.

Trim the leeks of their leathery green top parts. Clean them, and cut the tender green and white parts into 3/4" sections. Peel and chop the potatoes.

Mix leeks, potatoes, thyme, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in the baking dish. Spread the potatoes out into a relatively even layer and pour the hot stock over them. Dot the top with butter.

Cover tightly with foil and braise (without disturbing) for about 45 minutes until the leeks and potatoes are almost tender. Remove the foil and gently stir with a rubber spatula. If there's not much liquid left, re-cover with the foil. If there's liquid halfway up the sides of the dish (or more), leave the foil off. Continue to braise until completely tender (another 20-25 min).

Remove the dish from the oven, and increase the oven temp to 425F. Remove the foil if you haven't already and pour the cream over the potatoes. Return to the oven, uncovered, and bake until the top is browned and bubbly, another 25-30 min. Let rest at least 5 min and serve directly from the baking dish.

serves 6 as a side dish

Not-Entirely-Unhealthy Mac & Cheese

I came across this recipe recently and immediately bookmarked it. I don't have a favorite mac & cheese recipe, mostly because I haven't found anything that's relatively healthy but still tastes good. (I recently picked up a box of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese and it was frakkin' delicious... but not at all something I can justify eating on a regular basis.) This caught my eye because it wasn't crazy complicated, it used whole wheat pasta, AND it wasn't full of butter or cream.

We had some excellent whole wheat elbow pasta I'd been meaning to use in something, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I ended up doctoring the recipe pretty substantially, and I'm still not sure that it was quite right, but it's a keeper nonetheless. (Also, Victor LOVED it.) I think it would be good topped with fried or caramelized alliums (leeks and onions would both definitely work, and maybe garlic).

Not-Entirely-Unhealthy Mac & Cheese
inspired by this recipe

• 2 pieces hearty whole wheat bread
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 2 1/2 C whole wheat pasta
• 3 C whole milk
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1-2 C water (if needed)
• 1 C shredded cheddar (I used Dubliner)
• 1 C frozen peas
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan, optional

Make bread crumbs: toast the bread, then tear into pieces and pulse in a mini-prep until broken into small crumbs. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat, add the crumbs and 1/2 tsp salt. Toast, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Add the pasta, milk, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and mustard to an oven-safe medium sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the pasta is tender. If the milk thickens too much before the pasta is cooked, add some water. When the pasta is tender but still slightly al dente (for whole wheat pasta, I find that this point is where it still tastes slightly bitter but has softened - it will finish cooking in the oven), remove from heat and stir in the cheddar.

After the cheddar has melted, stir in the peas. Top with the bread crumbs and the Parmesan, if using. Bake (uncovered) for 10 minutes.

serves 4

where crispy = caramelized

Friday: Fragrant Lentil Rice Soup with "Crispy" Onions; fresh-baked bread

(Originally planned for Thursday; foiled by my own tiredness and desire for take-out.)

A lovely soup, even though it turned out that I didn't have any greens to stir in near the end. I don't know why she calls the onions crispy, as they're clearly caramelized (and she calls them that in the head notes). But whatever - it is indeed fragrant, and we both enjoyed it.

Fragrant Lentil Rice Soup with (optional) Spinach & "Crispy" Onions (adapted from Cook This Now)

For the caramelized onions:

• 3 medium onions, halved from root to stem & thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• pinch kosher salt
• pinch sugar

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Melt the butter and heat the oil, then toss in the onions with the salt. Cook until they release their juices (5 min), then sprinkle with sugar, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook until golden (7 more minutes). Turn heat to high, and cook, stirring only a few times, until they are deeply caramelized (5-10 more minutes). If you're me, you won't be able to resist adding a few tablespoons of water and deglazing the pan at this point. Either way, set aside the finished onions.

For the soup:

• 2 Tbsp oliv oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped*
• 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped*
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped*
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• pinch ground allspice
• a bay leaf
• 6 C stock (chicken or veggie)
• 3 C water
• 1/2 C brown long-grain rice
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt more to taste
• 1 1/2 C red lentils
• 5 C baby spinach leaves (~ 4 C) or equivalent amount chard or kale (just be sure to cook less-tender greens a bit longer)
• lime (or lime juice), optional

Heat a large pot over medium heat; warm the oil in it. Add the aromatics (if you didn't puree them together, add the onion first; just add the ginger & garlic with the other spices) and saute until they begin to smell cooked - about 4-5 minutes. Add the spices and cook until very fragrant, about another minute. Add the stock, water, rice, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the red lentils and cook until the rice is done and the lentils are meltingly soft, about 30 more minutes. Stir in the greens (if using) and let them completely wilt. Tast, and add more salt if necessary. If the dish tastes flat, add a little lime juice.

To serve, spoon into bowls and top with a bunch of caramelized onions, a bit of flaky salt, and maybe a tiny squeeze of lime.

serves 6

* I cut the aromatics into chunks and pureed them in a mini-food processor.

all greens, all the time

I'd planned to make a bit more for dinner, but Monday night's nosh ended up being very light: just this kale salad. I didn't really measure any of the ingredients, but it came out very well. V kept saying "This is DELICIOUS" in an incredulous voice - I don't think he'd had very high hopes for a raw kale salad (truth be told, I was a little dubious too). We ate most of it last night; I had the rest for breakfast.

well, that worked out pretty well

Sunday: Braised White Beans; sauteed greens; bread. Apple Sharlotka for dessert.

I made all the recipes pretty much as-written.

For the braised beans: It took about 45 minutes on medium-high before I was satisfied with the beans' caramelization. They smelled amazing - the finished recipe was good, but wasn't quite able to live up to their initial aroma. I added about 1.5 Tbsp strong Dijon mustard, lots of salt, a bit of better-than-bouillon (chicken flavor), and a bunch of pepper. I ended up simmering the beans for just under two hours (I started with the saddest looking bag of discount beans from the grocery store, but then soaked them for two days. YMMV.)

The greens were a bunch of semi-random greenery that had been floating around the fridge - a half-bag of Trader Joe's prewashed greens that I picked up in a moment of panic on Christmas Day and a bag of greens from last week's farmer's market excursion. I cut up a single strip of bacon, fried it 'til crispy, and then cooked two garlic cloves a bit before adding the greens, some smoked paprika, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. I added some water to steam, and kept cooking 'til we were ready to eat.

Because we decided (somewhat last minute) to have someone over for dinner, I made Smitten Kitchen's Apple Sharlotka as well. I LOVE this recipe, and I don't even know if I cooked it enough. Was it really supposed to be creamy in the center and crisp around the edges? Does it matter? It was delicious, and I'll definitely be making this again. But for the time it takes to cut up the apples, it's very low-effort, and the ingredients are minimal.

I can't speak for my dinner companions, but for me, this meal was a total success.

Sweet Potato Noodle Kugel

I originally clipped this recipe from a magazine many years ago, and I've been making it ever since. Sadly, I don't think it would ever be kosher for our seder table (I've never found kosher-for-Passover egg noodles; more importantly, we eat meat at that meal, so the sour cream & butter make this dish a no-go). I sometimes make it with peach jam, since often I make more of that than apricot; it's good either way.

Dried Fruit Extravaganza

Monday: Roasted Root Veggie Tsimmes; Farro Pilaf

Tsimmes is a traditionally Jewish dish, and one of my favorites (sweet-salty main dishes are very much my thing, after all). This one is from Clean Start, which I have checked out of the library. I'm not very enthusiastic about cookbooks that are prescriptive (rather than descriptive), so I found the "clean start/clean food" concept to be a little preachy. It's also an entirely gluten-free cookbook, which is a dietary restriction I'm grateful not to have (I think it makes baking especially difficult). I'm only willing to jump through all the gluten-free hoops if I'm cooking for someone who needs to eat GF, so most of the recipes for baked goods would be special-occasion-only in our house. All that aside, though, there are some great-looking recipes in here, and I definitely enjoyed Walters' version of tsimmes.

Fruits-and-Roots Tsimmes
adapted from Clean Start

• 1 tsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
• 1 C orange juice
• 8-10 C mixed root veggies, cut into 1-inch chunks (she suggests carrots, sweet potatoes, and parsnips)
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 10 pitted prunes, halved
• 1/2 C dried cherries
• thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
• 1/4 C maple syrup
• juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• peel from 1 lemon, roughly chopped
• salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk a bit of the orange juice into cornstarch or arrowroot powder until it forms a paste. Whisk in the rest of the juice. Combine all ingredients (just use a few pinches of salt to start) in an oiled casserole dish. Cover, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover, stir, and bake another 15 minutes. Stir again, and bake for a final 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, stir again, add salt to taste, and serve.

serves 4-6

The pilaf is something I improvised to use up some farro I found in the back of the pantry.

Farro Pilaf

• 1.5 C farro (we get ours at the farmer's market from Bluebird Grain Farms)
  
• 8 C stock (or water plus bouillon)
• 1/2 C dried cranberries
• 1/2 C walnuts, chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped
• juice from 1/2 lemon
  
• generous grinding of pepper, to taste
• salt, to taste

In a dry skillet, toast the farro for 4 minutes or so over medium-high heat. The grains will begin to brown and pop in the pan toward the end. Add the liquid, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 5o to 60 minutes. The grains should be tender (sadly, they will still be "squeaky"). Drain.

Toss with remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. (I found that this dish tasted best with a lot of pepper.) Serve warm.

serves 4-6

a recipe in search of a menu

No menu this week, since I was gone for most of it. I'm back from my vacation, and was craving home-made food. I ended up making a comforting spicy-greens-with-buttermilk-grits recipe from Running with Tweezers. Awesomely, it required no shopping - I used powdered buttermilk, canned tomatoes, and some elderly kale that was hiding in the produce bin. The only change I made was to finish the grits with a bit of butter before serving. If we'd been a bit hungrier, we might have poached some eggs and put them on top, but for tonight, this really hit the spot.

from the "archives"

It should be in the archives, anyway, as I made this soup back in October. I defrosted the leftovers and had them for dinner before my trip to Mexico. I thought I'd posted the recipe here, but apparently not. After much searching, here it is.

N.B. This soup improves enormously with a "rest" period - it is substantially better the next day (or even months later, if you are as bad about rotating frozen leftovers as I am).

Cauliflower and Bell Pepper Chowder
adapted from Cooking Light

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 4 large shallots, minced
• 1/2 C sliced celery
• 5 C home-made stock (veggie or chicken) or 5 C water plus Better Than Bouillon
• 1 head cauliflower, chopped
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers, chopped
• 1 C peeled and chopped red potato
• bay leaf
• 1 C 2% milk
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 1/4 C sour cream

Melt the butter in a soup pop over medium heat. Add shallots and celery. Cook 5 minutes or so, until softened. Add stock or water & bouillon and bring to a boil. Add cauliflower, bell pepper, potato, and bay leaf; return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potato is tender (about 20 min). Stir in milk and pepper; discard bay leaf.

Using an immersion blender, process until some of the soup is pureed, but leave a few chunky bits. Stir in basil and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

serves 4

guess I should update my profile...

I finally overcame my distaste for dissertating, finished my dissertation, and successfully defended it in late January. Crazy. Anyway, between the exciting (by which I mean "terrifying") run-up to the defense and Victor's long hours at work, there hasn't been much cooking around here. I'm slowly getting my cooking mojo back, though, and planning to post a bit more regularly. Of course, I'm heading off to Mexico in a little more than a week, so don't get your hopes up quite yet (and, to any potential internet baddies - Victor and our ferocious attack-cats will both be staying here in Seattle).

I had some folks over for a soup swap last night, so it feels fitting that I'd start posting again with that recipe. It's one I've made many times and keep returning to, because it is tasty, healthy, and easy.

Chipotle-Kissed Red Bean and Sweet Potato Chili
(adapted from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow-Cooker)

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 ½ lb sweet potatoes, cut into ½” chunks
• 1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 15.5 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (or 1 ½ C cooked beans)
• 1 ½ C water
• salt, to taste
• 1 Tbsp minced chipotle chiles in adobo

Heat the oil in a large skillet (if you’ll be using a slow-cooker) or in a heavy soup pot (if you’ll be cooking the chili on the stove). Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and a little salt, and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the sweet potatoes, and stir to coat with spices.

If using a slow-cooker, transfer the mixture to a large slow-cooker crock and add the tomatoes, beans, and water; otherwise, just add them to the pot you used to sweat the onions and garlic. Season with a bit more salt.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours in a slow-cooker or simmer for an hour (or so) on the stovetop, until potatoes are soft. Stir in the minced chiles (NOT the whole can) and salt to taste.

serves 4-6

I have a strong suspicion that this whole "blog" thing would be more useful if I were less lazy. Oh well.

Monday: Sweet-and-Sour Lentils; whole-wheat couscous

Sometimes when I revisit an old recipe, one I used to make frequently, it's great and I wonder why I ever stopped making it. And then there are recipes that I wonder how the hell I ever thought it was worth my time to either make or eat. This one falls somewhere in between, although as I was reading it over to type up for this post*, I noticed that the header says "if you would like the dish sweeter, add a small amount of brown sugar or honey." Why, yes, I would like it sweeter. D'oh. So maybe I'll make it again, add some sweetener, and see if I can move the recipe firmly into the first camp.

Sweet-and-Sour Lentils
adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

• 1 1/2 C brown lentils, rinsed
• 2 C apple juice
• 1" piece ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 C water
• 1 C chopped onions
• 3 garlic cloves, grated or minced
  
• 1 C diced carrots
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1/2 can crushed pineapple
• 1/8 C brown sugar
  
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• chopped scallions (garnish)

Combine lentils, juice, ginger, and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer (uncovered) 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on them near the end, and add some of the excess pineapple juice if they seem to be getting too dry.

Meanwhile, saute onions, garlic, and carrots in oil over medium-high heat until onions begin to soften (~5 minutes). Add pepper, squash, tomatoes, pineapple, and brown sugar. Cover and cook on low for another 10 minutes until just tender. Stir in soy sauce and vinegar. Garnish with scallions and serve.

serves 4-6

*I have a small, highly curmudgeonly pet-peeve about the word "blog." Seasonal Menus is my blog, the individual entries are "posts" or "blog posts," not "blogs." I know it's standard usage at this point, but I feel strongly on this issue. At least, strongly enough that I had to get it off my chest here, in this tiny footnote.

post-farmers' market dinner

Monday: Salmon Roasted in Butter; Tomato, Basil, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad; Blueberries

Wow, it's been a looooong time since I've posted anything. I guess summer is all about food that's so simple I don't need to write it down? Anyway, I have all kinds of tasty food stuff planned for the week (including some canning), and I have a feeling that our holiday weekend will include some pie-makin'.

We had quite the haul from the farmers' market, including an extra-large salmon fillet. We had planned to have salmon once this week (tomorrow), but had so much fish that we made a simple recipe with it (from Mark Bittman's Fish) in addition to a glorious late-summer tomato salad. We also scored some delicious blueberries from Sidhu Farms (which has consistently had the best blueberries at the market, IMO). The salad feels so simple that it's hardly worth writing down, but here 'tis:

Tomato, Basil, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad

• 1 large or two small, very ripe tomatoes, sliced into moderately thin wedges
  
• 2 oz fresh mozzarella (ours was from Golden Glen), sliced
  
• 1 handful fresh basil, chopped or snipped into small pieces
• glug olive oil
• generous drizzle balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper, to taste

Arrange the first three ingredients however appeals to your sense of food style on a plate. Drizzle with olive oil & balsamic; sprinkle with salt & freshly ground pepper.

serves 2 as a side

memorial day 2010

Monday: hot dogs; peanut-radish slaw; baked Pope's beans; sliced pickled shallots

The sun finally peeked out a big Monday afternoon, just in time for us to grill some hot dogs (actually called "country dogs" by the farm that sells them at the market). I also made some slaw - I followed the recipe fairly closely, but I think some cilantro would be a good addition. We didn't have any, though, and it was still great.

I warmed up the kitchen a little bit by making baked beans based on my favorite lentil recipe. Although I didn't add any this time, I do frequently add some crisped bacon to this dish (just 2 strips).

"Barbecue" Baked Beans
adapted from Cooking Light

• 4 cups cooked beans (reserve 1 C or so of the cooking liquid)
  
• 1 onion, diced
  
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup prepared mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine beans and diced onion in a baking dish. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Pour the ketchup mixture over the bean mixture, stirring to combine.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 1 hour. If the beans are getting a little too dry, add some of the reserved cooking liquid.

serves 6-8

whew

Sunday: spicy asparagus soup; sweet potato, asparagus, and parmesan bread pudding; cherry crumble

This was supposed to be a simple supper that kind of got out of control. My plan was to modify this recipe to use sweet potatoes and asparagus. We've been buying sweet potatoes at the farmer's market (this was the first year they were available); they are by far the most flavorful sweet potatoes I've ever eaten. (Note to self: next time I'm living somewhere with real garden space, grow sweet potatoes!!) And of course asparagus is way more spring-like than butternut squash is.

I roasted the sweet potatoes and then briefly sauted the asparagus before adding it to the pudding. (I was just using up some of the bread-based odds-and-ends from our freezer.) I bought too much asparagus, though, and so I had lots of asparagus (asparagi? asparaguses'?) ends AND more tips than I needed. I've been thinking of making asparagus broth, so I figured I'd give it a try and use the results as the base of a creamed asparagus soup.

I took the ends and simmered them in water to cover with a parmesan rind. After about 40 minutes, I strained out the solids. I sauteed some spring onions and some red pepper flakes in a little olive oil and then added the extra asparagus, which I cooked (lid on) for another 3-4 minutes. I added it back into the warm stock and simmered it all together for another 4 or 5 minutes. Then I pureed it (with an immersion blender). It was spicy, but, with apologies to Eugenia Bone, I didn't love the stock - maybe because I didn't follow her method. Better than Bouillon (chicken-flavored) to the rescue! With that added bit of salt and flavor, the soup was delicious. I think if I had started out simmering the asparagus stalks in chicken stock, that might also have done the trick.

This was the first week that we had cherries at the farmer's market. We just bought a few handfuls, so for dessert we pitted them and improvised a crumble, too.

baked eggs over croutons

Monday: baked eggs over croutons with mushrooms and asparagus.

Wow. Pretty much everything I've made from Vegetarian Suppers has been a success all around, and this was no exception. We made the recipe as directed and I dry sauteed some asparagus tips (left over from a chop salad last night - I only like to eat the stalks raw; the tips need cooking, IMO). The combination of flavors and textures pretty much knocked my socks off.

eggs baked on a bed of mushrooms and croutons with asparagus tips
adapted from Vegetarian Suppers

• 2 Tbsp butter, divided into halves
• 2 slices bread, cut into small cubes
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large finely diced shallot
• 1/2 lb mushrooms (cremini or portobello)
• 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 tsp chopped rosemary
• salt & pepper
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 3/4 C red wine
• 2-4 eggs (adjust to fit your appetites)
• asparagus tips from ~2 lb asparagus
  

Preheat the oven to 400F. Prepare two shallow baking dishes (we used pasta bowls) by spraying with cooking spray or coating with butter.

Melt half the butter in a medium skillet, add the bread, and toss to coat. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until browned and crisp but not hard (8-10 min). Divide the croutons between the dishes and set skillet aside.

Over medium heat, melt the remaining half of the butter in a large skillet with the olive oil. Add shallot and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms and most of the herbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Saute until the mushrooms have started to brown, about 5 min. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the wine and use it to deglaze the pan. Lower heat and simmer until the sauce has reduced to about 1/4 C. Season with a bit more salt and pepper and divide the mushrooms between the dishes.

Meanwhile, heat your first skillet over medium heat with just a tiny bit of additional oil (or use a squirt of cooking spray). Cook the asparagus for about 10 minutes. You don't need to move it around in the pan until it starts to sizzle. The asparagus is done when it's tender and tasty.

Make a shallow depression in the center of each mushroom mound, and break 1 or 2 eggs in each dish. Add a bit more salt and pepper. Bake until the eggs are to your liking (about 15 minutes). Remove, sprinkle with the remaining herbs and maybe a bit more salt and fresh-ground pepper, and serve.

makes 2 servings