Breakfast Green Smoothie

Not very seasonal at the moment, but one of my friends asked about the protein-rich breakfast smoothies that Victor and I have all summer long for breakfasts, and when I went to look up the recipe, I realized that I never wrote it down! So, here 'tis:

Blueberry Power Greens Smoothie 

• 1/2 block soft silken tofu

• 1 C frozen blueberries

• 1 C orange juice (I actually use two tablespoons of OJ concentrate and 1 C water)

• 1 banana

• 2-4 scoops protein powder (this is the one I use)

• as many greens as I can cram into the top of the blender jar, two large handfuls or so

Blend, blend, blend.

Serves 2 

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

Fall Cleaning

I have a stack of probably 200 recipes that is floating around our kitchen (not really, but the stack keeps migrating from one place to another). It's a mix of things I intend to make, things I aspire to make, things we've made a million times, and things we made once but didn't really like. I'm cleaning it up! (This morning we tried to find the recipe for buttermilk waffles there, and it was a delay to breakfast we just didn't need.) So.

Recipes in our regular rotation:

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Winter Squash: Melissa Clark is my go-to, and this recipe is a perfect example of why - it hits every flavor note for me.

Warm Kale, Coconut, and Tomato Salad: I could eat this forever, loads of umami

Joan's on Third's Curried Chickpeas: great thing to make on the weekends to throw into salads during the week

Things we tried:

Indian Roasted Broccoli and Sri Lankan Dal: both were incredibly rich, but good

Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce: I loved this; Victor felt the cardamom pods were too much

Masoor Dal: very meh

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.

some recipes to remember

Roasted Cabbage with Mustard Vinaigrette (so good, and also convinced me that I should roast cabbage more often)

Roasted Carrot and Red Lentil Ragout (we've been roasting a lot of veggies on the weekend for eating during the week, which makes this into a super-fast pre-prepped weeknight dinner. also it will make your house smell amazing.)

Seitan Porcini Stew (delicious, you won't miss the beef)

Marinated Tempeh (ended up tasting oddly cheesy when added to a salad, but in a way I enjoyed)

Pasta with Tomatoes, Corn, Squash, and Ricotta (yep, this is a summer recipe - it's been a long time since I've posted here)

Yotam Ottolenghi's Legume (Noodle) Soup (amazing, but best eaten the first or second day)

Balsamic Grilled Potatoes (another summer recipe, this was basic but is a technique I want to remember)

Farro Salad with Cranberries (a delicious and healthy make-ahead lunch)

Wheat Berry Salad with Blood Oranges (ditto)

Squash and Chickpea Salad with Tahini (both great on its own and mixed into a bunch of greens)

Paloma (for summer parties)

Pan-fried Chicken with Asparagus and Lemon (and Potatoes) (simple, and springy - will probably make this again soon)

early summer misc recipes

Initially didn't think this was very flavorful, but apparently it just needed an extra day for the flavors to meld - it was a fantastic lunch: Farro Salad

This was delicious, and the potatoes were basically bliss itself: pan-fried lemon chicken with asparagus and skillet potatoes

Although it was (very) tasty, this butter chicken was kind of a pain to make, and super duper rich.

This spring-time carbonara was kind of meh (and also Victor thought it had too much egg).

We made this soup back when it was actually appropriate, seasonally speaking, but I don't think I noted it at the time: white bean and kale soup.

some late spring recipes and miscellany

Loving this chickpea salad right now. (Note: I always end up cooking the onions for closer to 15 minutes than 8.)

Liked - but did not love - this farro salad.

Attempted this approach to having pre-prepared shredded beef on hand, with only moderate success (there may have been a truly disgusting attempt at making beef-barley soup in the pressure cooker).

Trying to take more of a 'make-ahead' approach in general, I made carrot-coconut soup, which we both liked a lot.

I currently have a big batch of farro cooling, as suggested in this post.

unbelievable rice pudding

It doesn't seem possible that this is enough rice - but it is!

http://www.dinneralovestory.com/come-and-get-it/ <-- almond="" also="" and="" br="" coconut="" full-fat="" great="" in="" light="" milk="" of="" place="" whole="" with="">

healthy loaded baked potato soup - ymmv

I *loved* this soup, but Victor wasn't so positive - I ended up eating it all myself. Which was a huge win for me.

http://foodinjars.com/2015/01/veggie-stuffed-hippie-soup/

upcoming week's menu

• Double batch of this, using mirepoix from freezer
• "Tandoori" chicken & steamed broccolini
• skillet-seared tofu & sauteed kale
• mac & cheese & tuna

Baked Oatmeal

Our favorite 'working' coffee shop serves a baked oatmeal/cake thing for breakfast that I love. It's not what I normally think of as 'baked oatmeal' (which would just be oatmeal that's cooked via baking) - it's way better. And I say this as someone who loves oatmeal. They serve it with fresh fruit on top and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

My dad and step-mother are in town right now, so I auditioned a version of this dish for them (we'll probably end up serving it at a big potluck brunch in a few weeks). I started with this recipe, but made some modifications. Chances are good I'll make it with a layer of bananas on the bottom next time (inspired by the coffee shop version).

Baked Oatmeal

• 4 C rolled oats
• .5 C oat bran
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1.5 tsp salt (I used homemade lemon salt)
• 1.5 C milk (I used skim) - if you don't warm it, your butter will congeal. your call.
• .75 C / 6 oz melted butter
• 3 beaten eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 C dried currants

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Mix oats, oat bran, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, mix together the milk, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix in the currants. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

Bake until slightly brown around the edges and pretty dry, about 40 minutes.

serves 8

Broiled Yogurt-Marinated Chicken (and Broccoli)

We started with this recipe, adding more garlic and probably a tad more honey. Marinated for three hours, and then broiled in the Breville (using an oiled broiler pan): broiler set to 500F, middle rack, about 6 minutes/side. (Two packs of chicken thighs fit in the Breville's broiler pan; V would like me to note that the broiler pan cleanup was 'not bad.')

We steamed the broccoli for a while, and then mashed it up with some butter, salt, and pepper.

the trifecta

Healthy, easy, and delicious: http://www.teaandcookiesblog.com/2014/12/my-kind-of-sweet.html

I have a feeling we'll be eating quite a bit of this over the next month or so.

a few things

Adapted this lemon marshmallow recipe to make orange marshmallows (gifted with cocoa mix)

I keep meaning to make extra soffritto or mirepoix when I make some for a soup so that I can freeze the remainder. Actually managed to do it once; having it on hand made this lentil soup recipe into a super-fast after work thing. Very tasty.

Some other delicious things we've made recently:
pork braised in milk
leek fritters
veggie stir-fry

shredding chicken

I've had this pulled chicken recipe bookmarked for ages, but hadn't made it because I loathe shredding chicken (or any other meat). Is there a more tedious, thankless kitchen task? I even hate it more than I hate trimming brussels sprouts.  

However. A comment on the recipe mentioned using a Kitchen Aid to shred the breasts. That comment led me to this life-changing blog post. I haven't tried it on other meats yet, but I think pulled pork will be my next experiment - it works astonishingly well on warm chicken breasts, and I suspect freshly-cooked pork will be even easier.

Also the pulled chicken recipe is fantastic (I use this delicious local BBQ sauce instead of making my own).

putting up (notes)

Beautiful fall day here - mid-60s, sunny - perfect for heading to the farmer's market, picking some grapes from our grapevine, and then spending the rest of the day canning things. Because I always forget what recipes I use (and somehow it usually seems obvious to me, as though OF COURSE the sweet relish recipe I used will clearly be this particular one of the probably hundreds I have bookmarked) here's a list of what we made (some actually finished, some just begun):
- watermelon pickles
- Grape Conserve ("Summer in a Jar")
- Sweet Pickle Relish ("Better Homes and Gardens Special: Canning")
- Tomato Ketchup ("Food in Jars")
- Grape Ketchup ("Food in Jars")

it's hot, but these noodles aren't the answer

My love of miso & soba noodles led me to this dish, but unfortunately it was a complete "never again" for us. It's possible that our choice of vegetables (there were a lot of radishes) or the previously-frozen ginger were to blame, but the dish was bitter and not very interesting. I could see something similar working, perhaps with some herbs (thai basil and mint?) and with 'sweeter' veggies (carrots and snap peas?).

so many menus!

Week of June 22:
Su: Lynx game (Siobhan)
M: slivered asparagus pizza (Smitten Kitchen cookbook)
T: potato frittata
W: out
R: pesto pasta
F: out
Sa: out (Steve & Hannah)

Week of July 6:
Su: out
M: chicken with lemon & anchovies
T: out (Ghandi Majal with Dave & co.)
W: lamb sausages; pan-roasted tomatoes
R: pizza with red sauce & pepperoni
F: salad
Sa: out

Week of July 27:
Su: grilled corn & yogurt chicken
M: grilled sausages and raw broccoli salad
T: pasta with red sauce
W: out
R: steak and corn salad
F: pizza with mozzarella and basil
Sa: out
 
Week of Aug 3:
Su: strawberry gazpacho; grilled corn
M: Unideli ramen (Paul & Paige)
T: 'tandoori' yogurt grilled chicken; corn salad
W: "Nicoise" pasta
R: out (Heather)
F: takout
Sa: pizza with basil, mozzarella, and pepperoni [also made pickled beets and rhubarb chutney from The Joy of Pickling]
 
Week of Aug 10:
Su: "Korean BBQ" chicken; grilled corn
M: fancy franks 'n' beans
T: chickpea curry
W: pasta with red sauce
R: out (Heather)
F: potato frittata
Sa: Little Mekong Night Market (Andy & Jeanette)

Week of Aug 17:
Su: bulgur salad; tomato salad; grilled corn
M: breakfast for dinner
T: grilled yogurt chicken
W: potato frittata
R: pasta with red sauce
F: goosh buns & salad
Sa: John & Alyssa

the perfect gazpacho for right now

At least, if your "right now" includes an early-August trip to a Minneapolis farmer's market where you can buy not-quite-overripe strawberries and perfectly ripe tomatoes. (Some really good olive oil helps, too. And we might end up adding a diced jalapeno, not sure yet.)

I'm looking forward to making more of these recipes, but for today the "tomato, strawberry, and basil" one was perfect: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/03/magazine/bittman-gazpacho-the-simple-chilled-soup.htm

(We'll be eating it for dinner with some grilled corn. Because summer!)