Carrot Ginger Soup and Pear Chevre Cashew Salad

Last night's dinner was lovely, in spite of deciding not to serve the fish course due to questionable freshness... bummer! They were lovely tuna steaks but I am committed to the "when in doubt, throw it out" rule. (Apologizing for a missing course is definitely less embarrassing than giving someone intestinal difficulties...)

With cheese and bread, soup and salad, wine and dessert - it turned out delicious and perfectly filling. By popular demand I am writing out the "recipes" of last night's success. Tiny disclaimer: Please know that I make dishes, sometimes for years, without ever really paying attention to how much of this and what measure of that. I just eyeball it and shrug my shoulders and experiment. Sometimes I win a little extra grace from the kitchen gods and it turns out exceptionally well.

As I've shared in earlier posts, I'm also blessed with a partner who delights even in my seeming failures. I hope that all of you have the support and chutzpah, and grocery income, to play in the kitchen as well. And I'd love to hear how your experiments with my recipes turn out as well. May all your meals be thrilling and always shared with people you love, or at least with people who are interesting...

Carrot Ginger Soup
3-4 cups chopped carrots (fat coins)
1/2 medium yellow onion, fine dice
1-3 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2-3 Tbsp oil (suggest safflower, sunflower or canola - olive may be too strong tasting)
1/8 tsp salt, plus extra to taste
1/8 tsp white pepper, plus extra to taste
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp ground coriander
4-6 cups stock, chicken or veggie
1 cup snow pea pods, rinsed and cut in half diagonally

METHOD:
In stock pot or large pot, heat oil, salt and spices over medium heat until fragrant.
Add ginger and onions and saute until light fond develops.
Add carrots and saute briefly, but don't allow ginger to burn.
Add stock and bring to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat, simmering until carrots can be mashed when pressed gently with a spoon (about 30 - 40 minutes).
Puree the soup (half batch at a time) in a glass blender, or use a "wand blender" directly in the pot.
Taste and add more salt and white pepper if desired.
Place a handful of pea pods halves in each soup bowl and ladle soup over top. Peas will blanch right in the puree and add a lightly crunchy counterpoint to the richness of the soup.
Serve and enjoy! Makes 4-6 adult portions and recipe can be doubled.

Pear Chevre Cashew Salad with Mustard Apple Cider Vinaigrette
2-3 cups mixed greens & spinach
1 cup baby arugula (preferably sylvette)
1 ripe bosc pear (neck should yield to gentle pressure, but fruit should not be soft)
1 cup roasted lightly salted cashews
1/2 cup goat cheese

METHOD:
Rinse and dry greens, and place them in large serving bowl.
Cut pear into quarters, discarding stem and seeds.
Slice each quarter diagonally into crescents and place in bowl with greens.
Spoon or crumble goat cheese over salad.
Top with cashews and toss to distribute all evenly.
This salad is great with a varying cast of characters. Try other combinations of tree fruits, nuts or seeds, and cheeses. Mustard Apple Cider Vinaigrette
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup oil (suggest safflower, sunflower or canola)
1 - 2 Tbsp spicy brown mustard
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (remove stems), minced salt and black pepper to taste.

METHOD:
Place all ingredients in lidded jar or container.
Close lid tightly and shake the jar until your arm gets tired.
Give the jar to a friend to shake until their arm gets tired.
Dressing should get lighter in color and expand in volume as it emulsifies.
Taste and add more seasoning as needed. Dress salad and serve with fresh bread.
If you get a chance to try these two, or any of the other recipes we've shared, please share your stories with us here in the comments or via email at crouchinglentil at me dot com
Cheers!

we may have set fire to the wagon with this one...

mexican spiced chocolate "homo" cakes
chili spiced chocolate enrobed chocolate layer cake, with an orange cinnamon crunch buttercream in the middle. this is my tribute to a mash up of a whoopie pie and a hoho, with some extra spiciness thrown in... thus the "homo" was born. and now for your bingeing pleasure, the recipes involved in this crazy crackfection.


wacky cake
a war time chocolate cake recipe, perfect for when eggs were scarce
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. yields two shallow 9 in rounds, or one 9 in cake. can be doubled to make a 13x9.
2. in a large mixing bowl sift the following dry ingredients together. (if you don't want to do layers, then you can mix this decadent cake right in the pan!)



Ingredients

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp cocoa (i use black cocoa or special dark, for an extra deep rich cake)


3. make three wells in the dry ingredients and add the following:


1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp vinegar

5 Tbsp melted butter or oil (if you want to keep it vegan. i like sunflower, safflower or canola)

1 cup cold water over all, and stir well - but careful not to over mix. just do it until all dry is incorporated. batter should be fairly thick.



4. if doing two layers, grease and flour the bottoms of the pans for easy removal.
5. bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes (or 35 minutes for single cake). cake should spring back when you touch the top, and fork should come out clean from the center. place cakes on wire rack to cool, before placing bottom layer on serving plate or cake stand.



orange cinnamon filling
Ingredients
1/4 lb unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar (2/3 fine, 1/3 coarse demerara or raw)

1-2 tsp fresh cara cara orange zest

1 Tbsp fresh cara cara orange juice

1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

Method:
cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add zest, juice, salt & cinnamon. beat well.
leave out at room temp until cakes have cooled fully. smear generously to cover bottom layer and set top layer on to this.

enrobing chocolate 
bring all ingredients together in double boiler, to melt chocolate. i use a pyrex mixing bowl over a saucepan filled with water just to touch the bottom of the bowl. heat over low heat, whisking as it melts. set aside until cakes are cooled fully & filled (if you're doing layers).
9-10 oz bittersweet chocolate chips

2 pinches chipotle

pinch salt



pour pool of chocolate onto center of cakes and tilt plate to have it drip over edges. pop the whole delicious mess into the fridge or leave out at room temp to let chocolate set up. 
cut with sharp knife (you can heat it first to help get through the shell), and serve it up.
 serves 8-10 happy homos (or allies)

Back on the wagon-ish

Quinoa, Black Beans and Garden Salsa with Avocado
The following yields two adult dinner servings and a hearty lunch for one.

quinoa - 1 cup, rinsed well
2 cups water
1 vegan bouillon cube
put everything in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
reduce heat and cover, simmering until all liquid is absorbed - 15-20 minutes.

black beans - 1 15oz can
1/2 tsp cumin
dash salt
dash chipotle
1/4 tsp chili powder
put everything in small saucepan and heat over low, until bubbling

garden salsa
1 cup mixed tomatoes, small dice (we used little yellow pear/cherry guys quartered and an amish paste with its guts removed)
1/2 jalapeno, minced
2 tsp red onion, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
dash salt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 avocado, diced
1 tsp oil, like sunflower or safflower
mix everything together and let it marinate together while beans and grains are cooking.

plate and devour, giving thanks for the last remnants of the summer bounty on a cold autumn night. mmm, stick it in my yum!

I also made a side of roasted butternut squash which I'm enjoying as a dessert.
Peel (carefully) and cube a butternut squash, discarding the seeds. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place squash in glass 13x9 baking dish and toss with some oil and a bit of sea salt. Roast for 30-45 minutes, turning once or twice, until squash starts to caramelize a bit. Serve with a sprinkling of coarse demerara sugar or maple syrup. Looks like sunshine, and tastes like pie. YAY!

Beet Carrot Apple Slaw

This is one of Mary's favorites dishes to make. She is in fact responsible for teaching me to prepare it - something she may be loathe to acknowledge since it runs counter to her steadfast belief that she doesn't know how to cook... This simple salad is a great accompaniment to all kinds of dishes, like our Wild Rice Pilaf with Cherries and Grapes, and you can vary the flavor depending on which beets or apples you choose, and what citrus you prefer.

Ingredients:
1 medium sized beet, peeled & grated
1 medium sized apple, peeled, cored & grated
2 carrots, peeled & grated
1-2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
1-2 Tbsp safflower oil (or sunflower, or olive)
pinch salt

Grate roots and apple into a mixing bowl (discarding peels and seeds). Drizzle the lot with citrus juice and oil, and toss in pinch of salt. Toss everything and serve. Easy peasy and delicious!!!

back on the wagon

okay okay. we confess to a moment of weakness. but, after a day of hard labor, that burger was calling our names. i should also add: we had already tagged on an extra week of full elimination to wait out erika's sinus infection. when saturday night rolled around she was still having symptoms, we were both famished, erika was feeling bitter that we hadn't started reintroducing any foods yet, and i'd been craving a burger since we started this endeavor.

we discussed the pros and cons and decided if we were going to do it it had to be while erika was having symptoms anyway. why not? we could fall off the wagon then jump right back on again.

so, we went to Screen Door and split the best tasting burger we've ever had in our lives along with a side of fries and tomato soup. the owner comped us the whole meal, which i think qualifies it as the best dinner experience we've ever had in our lives.

i felt languid during the car ride home (erika had a few reactions as well) but didn't regret it in the least.

Approximation

I'm not much one for following recipes, except when I bake. I have also been pretty lax at writing out recipes for the meals I cook since I often do things pretty fluidly and intuitively. So when I was browsing NPR the other day, I was relieved to learn about a new cookbook for cooks like me. You can read the story here - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=107019060 , but the premise is you don't need recipes if you understand ratios... This sounds easy to tackle, and some are already stuck in my noodle, as with most grains the ratio is one measure grain to two measures liquid. In spite of this discovery, and impending trip to the library to search out the book and expand my ratio repertoire, I'm endeavouring to follow through on a promise to post recipes for all the dishes we've already made.

Let's begin with the beginning - Quinoa Salad. This dish has innumerable possibilities. Choose your favorite style of cuisine and use the flavors to gussy up this delicious tender grain. We've been stuck on Mexican, but I've also made Greek style, and imagine versions for Thai and Italian and so much more. But here's a basic recipe for the Mexican style, with a disclaimer that I made this recipe up on the spot, and measurements (for the spices) are approximate. Try it out and tweak to taste. And Buen Provecho!

Quinoa Salad
1 cup quinoa
2 cups veggie stock

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp diced red onion or shallot
2 cups assorted chopped veggies - recommend cabbage, carrots, radish, avocado
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup safflower or sunflower oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp chipotle
salt to taste

Rinse quinoa well and add to pot with stock. Bring to boil, then cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Sweat onions (cook lightly until translucent over medium low heat) in a pan with a tiny bit of oil and salt, and add drained beans. Cook gently to warm mixture and remove from heat.

Place chopped veggies in large mixing bowl with cilantro. Add beans, and cooked quinoa. In small lidded container shake oil, lime juice and spices vigorously (should yield about 1/3 cup). Add salt to taste, and pour dressing over all contents in bowl. Warm grains and beans will absorb dressing and flavor permeates the entire salad.

Serve with plantain chips and grilled chicken, or just a spoon. Mary and I have a hard time quitting once we start eating this salad, but under normal circumstances this would serve four generous entrée portions. It makes it perfect for dinner for two and lunch for both the following day! It's also great as a side for 6-8.

not currently a spectator in our own kitchen

Mary read this excellent article by Michael Pollan to me this morning as we enjoyed a late brunch. We were so moved by it that we'd like to share it with you, and hope you'll take some time to read it and share your thoughts. Thanks!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02cooking-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine

This weekend we almost succumbed to lack of planning and laziness. We'd failed to finish off the week's menu, but managed to cobble together things to get us through "safely". Saturday we passed that mark of stable blood sugar, into the territory where decision making falls apart. When we rallied, we ended up with an odd but tasty meal, thanks to a convenience food, the allure of fresh avocado and some leftover gruel. I realize gruel is a particularly unappetizing word, but I haven't found a better one for what I did to the amaranth yet, so for now it will be called that.

Turkey Sausage Patty, Amaranth Gruel and Avocado

Tonight's meal was a success, though almost completely unplanned. We're working hard to use staples at hand rather than looking into an overflowing pantry and whining "There's nothing to eat"... Last trip to the grocer M picked out some pasta that was gluten free. Normally I think the prospect is sure to disappoint, and pass on it, but I relented. It saved the day tonight, when we thought to make a vegan pesto (with some garden herbs, pignolas and nutritional yeast) and whip up a light supper.

"Pesto" Penne with Carrots

I actually found the gluten free pasta palatable, and was happy with such a quick and creative solution to our unplanned dinner dilemma.

Mary relished the dish with particular gusto, as evidenced here.

Recipes for all the dishes featured thus far will follow soon.