Faux Pho

Tonight was the perfect night for soup. I'm recovering from a cold. M had a late lunch and wasn't super hungry. Thus my plan was realized to fake it in our kitchen and make "pho". I didn't snap any photos of the finished product as it disappeared too quickly. Here's what you need to make your own impasta (hachachachacha). The following serves two for dinner or three for a light lunch.

Ingredients:

32 oz container chicken stock (I like Pacific Natural Foods' broth if I haven't made stock, and I often don't)

1 cup water

2 tsp rice vinegar

1/3 package thin rice noodles or cellophane noodles

1 Tbsp oil

1 boneless skinless chicken breast

1/4 onion sliced thin (red or yellow works)

1 nub ginger sliced thin (approx 1 tsp)

Garnish

1 lime, rolled and quartered

1 jalapeno, sliced thin

small handful fresh basil leaves

medium handful fresh cilantro

1 cup green cabbage, fat chop (I didn't have bean sprouts and I wanted something slightly sweet and crunchy)

Method:

In a 2 - 3 qt saucepan, heat broth, water and half the sliced ginger over medium low .

While broth heats, heat oil in small frying pan over medium heat. 

Add good dash of sea salt, and saute onions and remaining ginger until just browning.

Move aside onion mixture and add chicken breast to the pan. Cook until seared on one side, then flip and repeat. 

Cover and cook over medium low heat until the thickest part of the breast is 155-160 degrees.

Once broth is at rolling simmer (just shy of boiling) add noodles and remove from heat.

Set aside chicken to rest for several minutes, then slice thinly.

Add any juices from chicken pan, the sliced chicken & splash of rice vinegar to the broth.

Prepare a plate of all the garnish - this is the best part of the soup.

Dish out bowls of noodles (which have magically cooked in the passing minutes), chicken & broth.

Add torn basil, cilantro, jalapenos, cabbage (or other veggies) and squeeze that lime.

Dig in and be sure to slurp because it makes dinner more fun.

This yummy first attempt didn't have the complexity that a lot of pho broth has, since I didn't cook porkbelly or do anything much except open a carton and cook some aromatics. It did pack a nice amount of warmth and was a definite success, even if it's one I'm ready to improve upon. M and I are committed to getting back into the kitchen since cooking at home more is the only way we're going to pay for our home's seemingly endless remodel. Here's to this being the first of many meals we'll be sharing soon. Thanks for reading!

Cheesy Polenta with Brussels & Lemon Herb Oil

Today I see strong signs of Spring - buds on the plum tree, a raucous meeting of birds in the trees, daffodils standing like strange arrows shoulder to shoulder, and the first hummingbird I've seen this year! It was barely the size of my thumb, drab but iridescent goldgreen, flitting around the rue plant in our front wall garden. Such a beautiful harbinger made quite a pairing with the lunch I cooked up. I made cheesy polenta, caramelized some onions and shredded brussel sprouts, and pureed parsley & cilantro in a delicious olive oil pressed with Sicilian lemons (thanks due to my work for giving me discounted access to such mouth-pleaseing treasures). A little salt and Meyer lemon juice finished off the oil, and all the colors were vibrantly alive. It was sunshine in my mouth! Here's the breakdown so you can recreate at home. It was very easy and quick - less than 25 minutes prep and cook time.

Cheesy Polenta
Ingredients:
1 cup coarse corn grits (polenta)
3 cups water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cube vegan bouillon
1 Tbsp butter
1/2-2/3 C shredded asiago/parmesan or other hard Italian cheese mix
dash of hot sauce (optional)

Method:
Bring the water, salt and bouillon cube to boil in medium saucepan. Slowly stir in polenta and reduce heat. Stir frequently and cook uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add butter, cheese and hot sauce, stirring to incorporate well as it melts. Turn out mixture into non stick pan of choice - we used a pie tin, so we could cut out (1/8th) slices. Set aside to cool and set up a bit.

Brussels and Onions (This can be doubled or tripled)

Ingredients:
1/2 lb brussel sprouts cleaned, stemmed and shredded (about 1.5 cups)
1/4 onion, sliced very thin
1 Tbsp butter
sea salt, to taste

Method:
In heavy bottom saucepan heat butter & salt over medium heat. Saute onions until translucent and lightly browned. Add brussels and saute until lightly browned and wilted, when all the colors are really popping.

Lemon Herb Oil
Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used the aforementioned import - Casina Rossa -which already has lemons pressed in it, but any high quality oil will taste great)
1/4 cup cilantro chopped fine
1/3 cup flat Italian parsley chopped fine
juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon, or more to taste
sea salt to taste

Method:
We used an immersion blender but regular blender or cuisinart will do the trick. Put all ingredients into the blending vessel and puree until herbs are very finely cut and blend begins to emulsify a bit. You can tell this is happening when the volume appears to increase, and it doesn't separate when you pause.

Plating - Cut out a slice of polenta, top with a big spoonful of brussels and drizzle with oil.
Buon appetito! If you try this at home please share how it turns out. If you hate brussels, like several of my friends who are crazy, then other veggies make great substitutes. Try it with lacinato kale, broccolini, or any kind of raab. Toasted almonds would make a terrific addition to it as well.

Warm bulgur salad, ceci & lacinato

Tonight we both came home belly-aching, literally, so dinner had to wait for stomachs to settle. When M wandered into the kitchen looking lost I knew it was time to sort it out. I grabbed bulgur wheat, a ripe lemon, flat leaf parsley, shallots, chick peas, lacinato kale, olive oil, tahini, cumin seeds & a vegan bullion cube. You can make this quick and easy meal too. In our house this "recipe" makes two dinner servings plus two lunch leftovers.

Warm Bulgur Salad
1 cup bulgur
1 vegan bullion cube
2.5 cups water

Bring water with bullion cube to a boil in a 2 qt sauce pan. Add bulgur, cover and remove from heat. Let sit until most of the liquid is absorbed. Drain remaining liquid (I used a mesh sieve) and set aside.

Lemon Parsley Dressing
1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
juice of one lemon (2-3 Tbsp)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and coarse ground pepper to taste
Combine all in a lidded jar and shake it up well, until it starts to emulsify. Pour dressing over
bulgur and stir well.

Ceci (chick peas) & Lacinato
2 small shallots, minced
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 15.9 oz can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1/2 bunch lacinato kale, chopped
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 pinch asafoetida
2 tsp tahini
reserved liquid from bulgur

In nonstick saute pan heat oil, cumin seeds and asafetida over medium heat. Saute shallots until they sweat a bit. Add ceci and saute until golden brown. Add kale and stir to cook lightly, before adding tahini and reserved liquid. Cook everything together until kale brightens but remove from heat before it wilts. It should stay al dente.

Serve bowls of the bulgur salad topped with ceci & lacinato. Stick it in yer yum! Can't wait to hear how you like it. If you're off wheat other grains work great as well. You can do almost the same thing with quinoa, millet, rice etc. Just cook per directions for that grain (liquid:grain ratios may vary).
Rock it out and add things that sound good to change up the flavor profile.