Just...Yum

Sometimes, the planets just align for a soul-satisfying meal from elements that should be just so-so. This was one of those times. With the summer season of the CSA coming to a close, I am trying to make sure I don't let any of that organic goodness go to waste. So, I started thinking about what I could do with another bag of Anaheim chiles. While we really did enjoy them stuffed with rice and beans, I wanted something else. And a dinner was born.

I thought of Mark Bittman's bean burgers that we hadn't made for awhile, and how good they would be topped with some cheese and dripping with sauteed chiles and onions. Of course, the bean burgers call for Moomie's buns. Every time I make them, I ask myself again why I EVER buy buns from the grocery store. These just couldn't be easier, and they taste 1,000 times better. Literally five minutes in the KitchenAid mixer, some rising time, slapping the dough around a bit, another half hour of rising, then into the oven to bake.

So, we got that bit out of the way, and it seemed like a great excuse to try Crash Hot Potatoes, the latest potato craze making its way around the Internet. These were pointed out to me on the Pioneer Woman's blog--a site well worth checking out if you are not already a regular visitor. This is actually the second time I've made them, the first being (in my opinion) a greasy failure. So, I'd like to share a couple of things with you that will probably make your attempt rise to the pinnacle of crispy roasted potato goodness that I reached the second time around.

I think the most important thing is to not overcook the potatoes in the boiling stage. They should cook only until they don't give too much resistance to a skewer (or fork, if you live in my kitchen). I cooked them until they were soft the first time, and they just stayed too wet and mushy.

Second, drain them really well before transferring to the baking sheet. See "wet and mushy" comment above.

Third, don't worry too much about how you mash them, BUT you do want the white part of the potato to come out on top. I tried several items to mash with--my potato masher, a glass, my hands protected with paper towels, and my meat mallet. They all mashed them, but I was always left with skin on the top, with the potato flesh sticking out the sides. This time, I mashed them until the flesh popped out, then flipped them around to get that part on time, and then mashed a little bit more. It worked out SO much better.

Fourth, do get the oven really, really hot. I did convection roast at 500 degrees. And these, my friends, were incredible. Crispy. Crunchy. Golden. Roasty. Worth the effort.

So, all of those pieces, none of them difficult or requiring any real skill, came together to a plate of goodness that made me glad to be a vegetarian, because I get the BEST food!

Global Warming

Another CSA treat the past two weeks has been eggplant. Not the big, spongy, take-over-the-world eggplant. No. We've had tiny, tight-skinned globes no more than 4" long. I wanted to do these more justice than just roasting them, so I went to the cookbooks that started this blog. The winning recipe came from Mollie Katzen's book, Vegetable Recipes I Can't Live Without. This recipe is simplicity itself. The eggplant are cut into 1/2" x 1/2" sticks, then sauteed in a very hot skillet until they are brown on all sides and meltingly tender. Off the heat, a plum sauce made of plum (what else?) jam, Dijon mustard, and freshly grated ginger is stirred in, along with the standby salt and pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.



What an incredible burst of flavor this recipe delivers with such a small smattering of ingredients. The spicy mustard plays off the sweet tang of the jam, and the eggplant plays a great supporting role. This would also make a great base for Moo Shoo vegetables. I'd love to have leftovers for lunch, but it's all gone. I saw the Husband standing in the kitchen, finishing off the last of it.

If you're tiring of the summer eggplant standards, and would like to finish the season on a strong note, this recipe is worth a try.

Back into the magical world of the CSA

After getting burned (no pun intended--well, actually, it was) by my previous CSA experience, I have stuck my toes back in the water with Desert Roots Farm Summer Survivor Season--just four weeks to see if this one is going to work for me. So far, so good. We purchased a whole share, even though there are only two of us, thinking that, as vegetarians, the more vegetables the merrier. I still don't know if it's too much, considering my crazy work schedule. I have to decide soon, though, because it's time already to sign up for the fall season. Perhaps while I can't sleep tonight, I can figure that one out!

For those of you who haven't heard of, or aren't sure about, CSA's, I'll tell you what I like about mine:

• It's absolutely local and organic eating.
• Things come to me fresh from the farm, so there is no sitting around losing nutrients in the grocery store.
• My CSA farm is run by a womah. I like that.
• My share comes each week with a compostable bag, so all my scraps from the farm (or other organic produce) go in there, and get picked up to add to the farm's compost pile when my new week's worth of goodies is delivered.
  
• It stretches me and forces me to cook, as I really hate to throw food out. Essentially, I nurture myself through nourishment, forcing myself to take time to cook instead of just work all weekend.

That last part gives me the heebie-jeebies a little bit, though. Right now, I have things cooking everywhere, knowing that the weekend may be the only time I really get to do much in the kitchen. Today, for example, I roasted butternut squash. I approached the task with some trepidation, as neither the Husband nor I have ever really been butternut squash lovers. However, they were in the bag and needed to be used, so what'a girl going to do?

I got out a big, giant knife and started working on skinning those varmints. Even though mine were small, the skin was still hard. I started with a paring knife, and quickly graduated to my 9" chef's knife. I hacked off the skin, scooped out the seeds, chopped the flesh into big chunks, then tossed the whole bit with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and tossed into a 450 degree oven. I have to admit to thinking the whole time that this was a total waste, as we don't LIKE butternut squash.

To my surprise, though, it started to smell pretty good. While the squash was cooking, and winning me over with its aroma, I chopped some walnuts and toasted them in a skillet. In a short time, the squash chunks were roasted, with crispy exteriors and meltingly soft interiors. I tossed them with a bit of walnut oil and the toasted walnuts, then took the bowl to DH with two forks. And you know what? We ate it. All of it. Every last, little bit (well, except for the two bites DH gave the dog, who wagged appreciatively.) So, I think we have another winner.

Isn't it crazy how we work ourselves to death sometimes with recipes when really simple preparations are also delicious? While I can see a riff on the plain roasted squash with walnuts being a possibility (sauteed onions, browned mushrooms, delicate frisee of sage?), it was good-really good-just as it was. I have to admit to frantically looking through cookbooks for something to do with that squash, then falling back on our standby of roasting when nothing else sounded all that good.

Speaking of recipes, though, I do have one to share. It started off with a bag of Anaheim chiles from the CSA. I poked around on their website a bit and found a recipe for chiles stuffed with a can of pinto beans, white rice, and salsa. That sounded like a good starting point, but not a good way to finish. So, I borrowed the idea and improvised heavily, and the results were delicious.

I started by blanching the Anaheim chiles in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. I almost skipped this step, but I'm glad I didn't. The final recipe doesn't have much liquid in it, and I think the peppers would have been tough and fibrous without their first soak in the Chile Spa. The hot bath was followed by a quick dip in ice water to stop the cooking. I stopped there and bagged the chiles to use one night during the week. I also cooked a generous handful of basmati rice with some salsa added as part of the water, also setting that aside in the refrigerator.

On the night I made this, I got home from work and got into the kitchen. They were in the oven in about 20 minutes. I did use the can of pinto beans from the original recipe, but then went to work on some seasonings: onions, garlic, chopped green chiles, and tomatoes to moisten the mix. And cheese, of course. Hello. Beans and rice without cheese is like Thelma and Louise without a car. (I did have more filling than would fit in the chiles, so I just packed it into a small casserole dish and baked it right along with the stuffed chiles. While they were baking off in the oven, I chopped some tomato to toss over the top. About 30 minutes later, we had a dinner that we both enjoyed tremendously. Another one to go into the rotation, based on what came in my CSA bag. What's not to love?

Mashed Potatoes meets Artichoke Dip

The last few weeks, I've pretty much eaten garbage, albeit vegetarian garbage. It's taken a toll on my wasteline AND my finances, as that Wendy's egg, cheese, and tomato panini with a large diet Coke costs about $5--every day. Lunches have been nonexistant or have come from the school cafeteria, neither of which is a good choice. Dinners have been a boring blur of quick standbys or take out. So, this weekend I decided I really wanted to get some cooking done ahead of time so that I could eat something that at least came from my own kitchen.

Add to that that I've had this weird craving for artichokes. I don't know why. I never had artichokes as a child, and my exposure as an adult has been limited. Nonetheless, artichokes in anything have made my ears perk up. At the same time, I've been craving some of the creamy comfort of mashed potatoes, but when you don't eat meat, it can be hard to find something to serve them with.

It was destiny, I suppose, to find this recipe for Parmesan Artichoke Potato Casserole over on the CLBB. It goes together quickly and uses few ingredients. It makes a large casserole full, so it is even economical. But best of all, it's good. There's something about the piquant tone of the artichokes that offsets the potatoes perfectly. There's just enough tang, just enough creaminess, to make it all work well together.

I put this together this morning, just to take for lunches. Then we had an impromptu gathering of our children and grandchildren. I still tossed the casserole in the oven to finish it off. Frankly, I didn't think they would eat it. Artichokes? Faggidaboutit. Mayonnaise? Their proper raising doesn't always stop them from making gagging sounds. My nice full pan of casserole? Down by 1/4. And I didn't serve it to them, which explains why there are so many spoons and little bowls in the dishwasher. Like little chicks, they just kept going back and pecking at it while we waited for our "real" lunch to be ready. So, I would say this one definitely qualifies as a winner. Sorry I have no pictures yet, but you can see it in your head. My pretty green casserole dish filled with white creamy goodness, with that crispy-cheesy topping of bread crumbs, parmesan, and paprika baked to crackly goodness. Mmmmmm....lunch will be good this week, for sure!

Yes, I'm still here!

I haven't forgotten my blog, not at all. In fact, I spend a little time every day feeling guilty that there is nothing new posted for the past few months. As always, the end of school was very busy, then we were off to Hawai'i the day after. Sixteen days later, our plane landed at home, and eight hours after that, I was on another plane to Baltimore for a conference. A couple of weeks at home trying to catch up on a year's worth of tasks didn't leave much time for cooking, then I was back at work.

There have been a few new things here and there that I will share over the next few days, but we've relied a lot on improvisation and stand-bys. Tonight, I wanted to show you a light dessert that had us pretty much licking the dishes. Since our traveling wings are clipped by the resumption of the school year, we have to rely on food to take us to exotic destinations. For some reason, it is foods of the Mediterranean and the Middle East that most often do that for me. It is those foods that you can sit down with, knowing that you might have a counterpart thousands of miles away, eating the very same type of thing--not in a fancy restaurant, but outside watching a sunset, or around the table with her family.

This recipe was born out of the fact that I had figs--too many to eat out of hand. The figs were the result of an overly ambitious trip to Costco. So were the mangoes, pineapple, grape tomatoes, and oh so many other things, but that's another story. I borrowed technique from a Nigella recipe, then went with my instincts.

The figs are prepared by slicing them almost all the way through in quarters, then fitting them into a buttered baking dish close together, but opened just a little bit. I used about a dozen. Melt about half a stick of butter, and stir in a generous 1/4 cup of sugar and a drizzle of vanilla. Pour it over the figs, especially into the open area. Roast the figs in a 500 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, spoon some Greek yogurt into a dish, topping it with a drizzle of honey and some chopped almonds. When the figs are out of the oven, let them cool just a bit, then spoon them over the yogurt along with a bit of their syrup. Top with another dollop of honey and scatter some more chopped almonds over the top. (Nigella recommends pistachios, which would also be good. I even like the idea of pignolias.) Quick and low maintenance, and much cheaper than a trip to Greece.

A Sweet Ending

When I was at the grocery store today, I guess my subconscious was working on what to do with all that strawberries sitting in the refrigerator, because my cart was suddenly drawn to a place I NEVER go--the forbidden zone--the cookie aisle. Seriously, why would I go down there? I don't eat sweets at all very often, and when I do, I make them myself. But I knew I wanted to do something with those strawberries and I didn't want to turn on the oven to bake a pound cake. So...this little creation came from a package of Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies. There's not a recipe--just a block of cream cheese blended with some agave syrup (or sweetener of your choice), the zest of one lemon, and a drizzle of vanilla. Strawberries macerated with a bit of sugar. Put the cookie on a plate, spread on some of the cream cheese (chilled back to its original consistency), and spoon on the strawberries. These quickly became addictive, and I'm afraid that we all ate far too many. They were certainly good, though. If I were serving them to company, I think I'd go for nicely sliced fruit and skip the macerating. Perhaps even just setting some raspberries and blueberries into the cream cheese could be nice. I think I see more of these in our future!


While I haven't had much of a chance to cook the past couple of weeks, I did have this photo lying around of a recipe I haven't posted yet. And that's a shame, because this was truly an exceptional, and exceptionally quick, side dish. You start by using a microwave to bake a few potatoes--just as many as you need. I used four medium Yukon Golds. (And for those who know me well--yes, I did use "microwave" and "potato" in the same sentence. You can shut up about it now. Taunting me will not really make your life better.) When the potatoes come out of the microwave, they take a little bath in ice water to spare your fingerprints from being cauterized off of your body. Slice 'em or dice 'em, it really doesn't matter. But get some olive oil in a skillet, heat it up, and throw those babies in there. When they begin to turn golden, add lots of sliced scallions, as much minced garlic as sounds good to you, and a "generous" sprinkling of paprika. I used smoky Spanish paprika, and loved it. I guess I should mention that this is one of the "no recipe" recipes from Vegan Express. I actually have re-planned the menus that I planned on, and shopped for, two weeks ago from this book, so hopefully, that cooking will actually get done this week.

Stay tuned!

More cooking than time

Although I haven't had much time to post this past week, I have been cooking from the cookbook I previously mentioned, Vegan Express by Nava Atlas. I picked this up while browsing through Borders a couple of weeks ago. Actually, I didn't go in to browse; I went in to purchase a specific guidebook for our June trip to Kauai. However, they were out of the book. Never one to waste a coupon, I headed to the cookbook section. Bad. Bad. Bad. This one appealed to me because of the creative-sounding recipes loaded with anti-oxidant rich veggies that could be prepared in (mostly) 30 minutes or less. So far, I have to admit that I'm not loving this cookbook. I don't think it's the cookbook's fault, though. I think we're just not "vegan enough" yet to appreciate it. We recognize that there is a process we must go through to change our taste buds' expectations for dinnertime delights. I think we can also attribute at least a little bit of my dissatisfaction to user's error. I just haven't really fully developed my vegan cooking bag of trips with some of the more popular ingredients.

I do think there's hope, though--both for the book and for us. Different just means different--not bad. We are committed to moving into the vegan camp in the coming months--maybe even years before we're there 100%. And the journey should lead us to new appreciate for flavors, ingredients, and cuisines.


So, what was on the menu this week, and how did it fare? The one I liked the best was Golden Tofu Triangles with Rich Peanut Sauce. Cute little tofu triangles were simply sauteed in olive oil, then topped with a Rich Peanut Sauce. I served these over some coconut rice that was in the freezer from a previous cooking spree. The perfect side was a Bok Choy, Red Cabbage, and Carrot Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing. Even the Husband, who doesn't like cabbage AT ALL was able to eat it (2 helpings, in fact). He did say he didn't love it, but knew it was good for him, and he could tolerate it. That's what I mean about learning to develop new tastes; you've just gotta keep coming back until a new appreciation develops. And I will say that the salad was an absolute stunner on the plate. Beautiful, beautiful colors, especially against the golden browns of the tofu, rice, and peanut sauce. (What I'm trying to say is that the tofu dish would have been B-O-R-I-N-G to look at without the salad!) I did use the optional cilantro, and in my opinion, it added the perfect piquant note to the plate.




Another dish that we need to develop an appreciate for is the Quinoa with Wild Mushrooms and Mixed Squashes. I know that quinoa is a nutritional powerhouse, but I really don't love it. I can eat it, but it will never get me all excited; it's too mushy. This dish, in particular, just didn't hit any major notes of pleasure for us. It's functional, certainly, but there's too much good food to make do with functional. However, it's possible that, again, we just haven't "arrived" at our appreciation for this. Therefore, I've included the recipe for those who might be further along in their vegan evolution--or for those who just love quinoa. In this dish, the vegetables are pan roasted. However, there are so many vegetables that they tend to steam and never develop the rich, dark fond that I love. I wouldn't want to switch them to the oven to roast unless it was done in a pan that would allow the deglazing with white wine, which does add a unique note to the dish. This could also benefit from the addition of something bright--red peppers, sun dried tomatoes--something to wake up the mouth. There really isn't anything here that does that.


I also made BBQ Flavored Roasted Tempeh with Vegetables. I think we might have liked this had I followed my instincts. The recipe called for roasting a mixture of tempeh strips, bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and onions after giving them a light bath in barbecue sauce. However, it called for a roasting time that would merely have softened the vegetables, not truly roasted them. In my heart, I knew I should wait until the vegetables were about half done to add the tempeh to the pan, but I didn't. Instead, I put it all in at once. By the time the vegetables were done to my liking, I had tempeh bricks. I could have built a cute little adobe house model out of them, in fact. They were edible, but barely. However, the vegetables had a nice flavor, and the barbeque sauce as the roasting liquid (replacing oil) was a very nice touch.

One real winner from the book was served alongside my tempeh brick disaster--Pan Roasted Corn with Peppers and Pumpkin Seeds. I didn't have any pumpkin seeds on hand, so I can't vouch for what they would have added, but this dish melded the sweetness of corn and thinly sliced red bell peppers with the smoky hint of cumin and the bite of hot chiles. The recipe called for jalapenos, but I couldn't find the one I thought was still in the crisper. Instead, I pulled some jarred yellow chiles out of the refrigerator, minced up several, and threw them in the pan. This is a keeper side dish, one that will reappear on our menu again. I wish I'd taken a picture, as the colors and varied shapes in the bowl were vibrant.

There's a lot more on the menu this week. I have two more weeks of menus planned from this cookbook, so hopefully, I'll find more winners. If not, we've still at least eaten well and made healthy choices for our bodies. I'm now going to return to cell phone Hell. It was time to resell our souls to Verizon today, getting two new cell phones for us and adding my parents to our account. I'm going crazy trying to figure out how to set the numbers to the speed dial positions in which I want them on mine, and I'm setting up new phones for my parents--their first. I never feel older than when new technology comes to my house. That, and my beautiful baby turning--gulp--30 years old. Happy birthday, honey!