January/February 2014

Soooooooooo.......THE NEW YEAR!  I know it's an arbitrary marker of time, but I think it can be a powerful one.  I'm not too big on resolutions, because when you have a whole year to get something done it's very easy to, well, not do it, but I do like the idea of shifting directions, changing lifestyles, even just a bit, for the better.  And let's face it, the kitchen is a delicious place to tackle this!

I think we've finally hit spring here in Texas....I know it's much earlier than most parts of the country, but let me tell you: the cold puts me in a terribly bad mood!  How I survived--and was happy!--in the Northwest for so long is kind of incredible....

This is little Charlotte, who's been sick these last couple weeks.  I've learned that getting medicine into a chicken's mouth is possibly the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.  Even with two people the shortest time it took us was just shy of half an hour.  The longest, which included a seriously epic breakdown on Mama's part, was an hour and a half.  Ohhhh m'gosh.  Saving grace became her sudden desire to crawl onto my lap as soon as it was over.  It's pretty much the sweetest thing ever.

RECIPES!

There have been a couple new endeavors here at Castle Wallace, one of which being that we've discovered that roasting things is a really, really good idea (and that balsamic vinegar is INCREDIBLE!  How did I not know this??).  

Aside from burning the bejesus out of our glass baking pan one evening, roasting has been a huge success, and soooooooooo easy.  Really, any-thing goes.  This is yams, onions cauliflower and broccoli, with some olive oil, vinegar and fresh herbs.  

It's a great way to make a dish when you only have limited veggies to work with.  Even if it's just broccoli, it turns it into something special.  

A sprinkling of cracked salt is always good, as is parmesan.

Fermented Foods!

The other thing we've gotten into lately (as in, just this week ;) is making our own fermented foods.  So far so good: our first batch of sauerkraut is totally edible, as in straight out of the jar!  We followed somewhat of a recipe from Wild Fermentation by Sandor Elix Katz:

http://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sauerkraut-2/

but it's mostly a guideline, and encouragement that it's really very, very easy.  Cabbage, salt, a little TLC and time.  Fermented foods are supposed to be amazingly good for you, and it gives me something to do with all the green cabbage that keeps showing up in our farmshare boxes! :)

 

Approximate price: $3

We also started our first batch of pickles yesterday, so we're not quite sure how those have turned out yet, but again, super easy!  Stuff in a jar with a brine concoction made from distilled vinegar, white wine vinegar, and spices (recipes all over the internet) and 24 hours of patience.  That's my kind of home made!  There's an initial investment for spices and vinegar, but after that it's mostly just the cukes.

Approximate price: $5


Stuffed Pumpkin!

Apparently pumpkins last forever, or close to it.  I did want to use them before they suddenly were rotten all over the counter, which is probably what would happen.  I figured that they're just a squash (right?) so I could treat them as such.  On their own the flavor isn't all that pleasing, but filled with good stuff they do all right--and serve dual purpose as an edible bowl.

I cut one in half, rubbing the flesh with olive oil and putting the halves face down on a baking pan.  I usually heat the oven to 400 for baking squash, and left them in until tender.  After 30-45 minutes, I flipped them and cracked some salt on top, putting them back in for another few minutes.  This one is filled with red quinoa and sauteed veggies, and sprinkled with parmesan.  Looks pretty, doesn't it? :)

Fresh greens are always a good side.  Kale, chard, salad.....whatever you got!

Approximate price: $5


Current Favorite Ingredient: Balsamic Vinegar!

Maybe I just hadn't had the right kind yet, or had some kind of misunderstanding, but balsamic that is a little sweet, a little thick.....oh my gosh, the best thing.  I've started trading out some of the soy sauce for it in Mama's Miracle Dressing, using it for dipping fresh veggies, and it's great for roasting.  Yes, please.

Creative Household-y Stuff

 

I love my new bag system!  I 

found this antique at a garage sale, 

and I'm not sure what the original 

use would have been, but I loved the 

fabric, and figured I could certainly

find a use for it.  The bags are all 

separated out: 

plastic grocery bags

coffee bags

small ziplocks

small non-ziplocks

large ziplocks

large non-ziplocks

Holy cow :)




I wish thee all a fair coming of spring, and happy eating!! 

November/December 2013

Wowwweeeeeee, somehow I convince myself every year that the holidays don't necessarily HAVE to be crazy--if I plan a little better and don't try to do too much--but each and every year they are (probably because I don't plan better, and try to do too much! ;)  That's ok, because every year is wonderful, in its own chaotic and quirky way.  I hope you all had a great month and are looking ahead to an amazing new year......I'm so, so excited for this one (and getting better at that "planning" I mentioned earlier!)

I'm glad to announce that this sweet little rascal has been cone--and disaster--free for 3 weeks now!  Bless that little face :)






RECIPES:

Simple Soup~

We were spoiled with amazing meals and leftovers for several of the last 5 weeks, but cooking always finds its way in.  We made simple soup from two turkey carcasses, and now have leftover ducks to tend to as well.  We couldn't let any of it go to waste.  All you need is a big enough pot and some patience, both for time and for the bones.  There are many.  There are also plenty of recipes offering vegetables and seasonings to add to your broth.  Last year I added nothing but noodles and garlic.  This year my sweetie took the reigns with a little more ambition, adding potatoes, other veggies and seasoning.  Either way, a huge pot of soup stored in meal size containers, either in the fridge or freezer, is a gift that keeps on giving!

Eggy Toast~

Where has savory french toast been all my life??  It probably wouldn’t be as good with all kinds of bread, but super hearty seedy wheat breads are amazing.  It’s the perfect I-don’t-quite-have-a-meal-yet finishing touch, and often ends up being the favorite thing on the plate.  

I use straight eggs, mixed in a bowl with a flat enough bottom to let them soak into the bread a little.  I like using butter in the pan because, well, butter is delicious, but so is coconut oil or olive oil.  We like it Drizzled with Mama’s Miracle Dressing, garnished with fresh basil (which Texas provides until it freezes!) or green onions.  Melted cheese is always a good idea as well.

Approximate price: $2

Grilled Kohlrabi~

There are very few vegetables that I just don’t know what to do with.  Usually there’s an intuitive sense about it and I don’t look many ingredients up, but this one finally became a must.  I’ve seen it, I know it; it even made it into a song I wrote about my dear chef friend Mary who tended to keep more things in her refrigerator than she could use in their prime, but I’ll be a monkey’s uncle before I figured out how to make it tasty on my own.

Turns out when you bake it in slices in the oven with some oil it’s pretty darn amazing.  It took a while to get tender, maybe 30 minutes, while collecting a flavorful layer on the outside.  I sprinkled them with salt and parmesan and put them back in for a few more minutes.  Really good. 

Approximate price: $3

CURRENT FAVORITE INGREDIENT: PARMESAN CHEESE

Speaking of parmesan......I had completely forgotten about it, and am regretting every day of my life that I did.  I think because it’s most often around when pizza is involved, and pizza has enough cheese on it already that it never seems necessary.  But how about other things that are NOT already caked with cheesy goodness?  Like baked kohlrabi, or pasta, or quinoa, or squash?  The answer to the question, “Should I put some parmesan on that?” has never once in our house been “No.”  I’m all about the little things that pack a big punch.

I know a lot of people would like to cook more meals at home, but don't feel that they have the time, energy, or knowledge to make it an easy and enjoyable experience.  I've put together a list of 12 ingredients that make up the majority of at least 90% of meals I make!  And none of them are more than a few dollars.  Awesome? Awesome :)

12 Things to Always Assure You Have a Meal~

black beans: I keep organic cans on hand, though cooking your own is great too

rice/quinoa: one of the main 4 bases I use, great for stir fries or side dishes

pasta: another main base to mix with veggies and/or sauces

some sort of pasta sauce: red sauce and alfredo are the basics, both also good for pizza

soup broth/canned soup: soup + eggy toast or plain warm bread + salad = yummy meal! 

canned tomatoes: great for adding to anything! Pizzas, pastas, grain or egg dishes

fresh veggies of some sort: Every meal needs some veggies. Build around what you have.

potatoes/yams: another good base, to be mashed, fried, baked, or hashbrowned

pizza crusts: I have yet to make my own, but a few bucks gets you homemade pizza!

cheese: Most things are better cheesy, primarily pizza.

good bread: I mostly put this on the list for eggy toast, and as soup's partner in crime

eggs: Frittatas, toast, mixed with rice/quinoa, and a staple for a simple breakfast 

That's it!  The most expensive things on there are probably cheese and eggs, and quinoa runs about $4 per lb for organic, but when a cup of it can be the base for a meal for two that's a pretty good deal! :)  I encourage you this year to redefine what makes a nourishing and fulfilling meal.....I bet you'll find that it's often less than you think.  Amazing things can come from simple endeavors, and fresh veggies always ensure distinct flavors.  I remain swooning over the dinner my sweetie just made for me, consisting of garlic roasted squash and broccoli, and a salad.  Trust me, I'm full.  

Creamy Garlic Cauliflower Soup

                             Before....                                                              After! :)

Ok, wisdom teeth out = a little brutal.  The teeth themselves were fine (black as they were).  I virtually had no pain during or after, just the intense discomfort of knowing that there were sizable bloody holes in my mouth, but I was so paranoid about keeping them clean and free of food that I wouldn’t chew anything for over a week.  Even with yogurt and ice cream I kept it contained inside my teeth for fear the it would do damage to the tender areas.

My sweetie’s mom saved my butt more than once (and my stomach) by sending me home with potato soup, and fixing super soft meals that I could eat in less than graceful smooshing fashion.  Left on my own though I was pretty much eating yogurt with maple syrup, and miso soup, and going seriously hungry.

I was reading an article about how the recommended daily amount of sugar is not to exceed 20 grams, and realizing three things: 1) that’s impossibly low, 2) the actual average stated (100-something) was also impossibly low (2 cans of soda--or anything else and you’re there) and 3) I had blown that number out of the sugar soaked water that day (maple syrup has 53 grams per 3 tablespoons or something insane like that).

Short story: I was craving vegetables, for God’s sake something healthy.  I figured the blender was a good place to start.

I steamed some cauliflower (cut into bite sized florets) for a bit longer than I normally would until they were soft under a fork and put them into the blender along with an avocado, a few spoonfuls of plain yogurt, apparently enough garlic to kill a horse (I did not realize this at the time), a few spoonfuls of Mama’s Miracle Dressing, some fresh basil and a small amount of water (just enough to make it blend).

This turned out so absolutely, splendidly delicious.  I mean, we’re talking fancy restaurant soup that you pay $8 a bowl for (ok, so those are the fancy restaurants I go to....$10 a bowl?...twelve??....)  I ate it both warm and cold and both were wonderful.  I bet a garnish would be nice too, which I can eat next time I make it :)

Creamy Garlic Cauliflower Soup

Approximate price: $5

Sauteed Coconut Cauliflower with Black Bean Salad

I’ve been absolutely submerged in a stack of Country Living magazines that my sweetie’s mum and gram have passed on to me.  Ok, it’s not JUST Country Living.....there’s also some Martha Stewart and Good Housekeeping, but I love them.  I have about 100 pages dog eared of crafty endeavors I’d like to implement while my honey is away.....let me tell you, this do-it-yourselfer can do a lot of damage in seven weeks! ;)

Anyway, one of the things I read was something on a group of super veggies that are supposed to be totally amazing and healthy for you (which is my other favorite thing to read about) and cauliflower was among them, so the next time I was at the store I picked some up.  I’ve been allowing my meals to be tremendously simple, just cooking for myself, but they’ve still managed to be tasty and nourishing so far!

I made the cauliflower my main dish, really just wanting to enjoy the unique flavor that I don’t get to taste very often (and when one usually eats cauliflower it’s raw on a plastic tray with some sort of uber creamy dip).  My big splurge for the day was organic unrefined coconut oil ($11 for a 16 oz jar) and cooking the cauliflower in it seemed like the best idea ever, so I did.  First things first though, I steamed the bite sized florets in a colander over boiling water for about 5 minutes before putting them in a pan with a few spoonfuls of oil.

Then I went outside to continue waging war on fire ant hills (in bare feet because this week’s swarm attack rendered me unable to wear shoes for a few days), and ended up leaving the pan unattended for longer than I meant to.  I swear I’m not irresponsible.....it was on low.....I mean, the worst thing that could happen was burning my dinner.  And it turns out that a little burning was exactly what my dinner needed.  Lightly blackened, if you will (and only on one side of course :)

I added a splash of Bragg’s (which I’ve gone back to--just for cooking--after realizing that we go through a bottle of soy sauce in, um, NO time at all), and a spoonful of nutritional yeast once the pan was turned off.  It got topped off with fresh green onions from the porch and served with a black bean salad (which is my fancy way of saying salad with black beans on it).

Aaaaaaaaand this is probably what I will make every night until the rations are gone.  

Sauteed Coconut Cauliflower with Black Bean Salad

Approximate Price: $5

Egg Drop Soup

For Christmas last year I made an Egg cookbook for Will (which I was very, very proud of, despite the fact that the messy, wrinkly properties of Elmer’s glue left it looking like a kindergarten art project).  Our four (very much grown up :) babies produce, on average, an egg per day each, and I figured we would need to start getting creative in that department or we’d either be sick of fried eggs or buried under a mound of fresh ones.  

I looked in the cookbook the other night, just for ideas (as we all know the anticipated stress of following a recipe is enough to break me out in hives) and found Egg Drop Soup, which couldn’t possibly be that hard......

I used the ingredients we had (or something close enough....) and simply left out the others.  For most kinds of cooking, this is really ok.  Baking, as far as I’m concerned, is a science that looms well over my head, but most of the rest of cooking adventures are just a mixture of one kind or another.

The recipe called for 4 cups of chicken stock, I used ___?___ cups of veggie broth.  It called for cornstarch; we had none.  It called for mushrooms, instead I threw in a healthy dose of minced garlic.  The only important part of the process was stirring in the lightly beaten eggs while the liquid boiled.  And man is that ever cool.

I added a few spoonfuls of organic soy sauce, a splash of Sriracha (just for kicks--pun very much intended) and a handful of chopped green onions from the backporch.

Can’t go wong with this one!

Approximate Price: $5 

Whole Wheat Broccoli Pasta with Parmesan

What a lovely, lovely family dinner we had!  My mama was in town, and my sweetie’s family all came over to share a meal and an evening.  I’m always a little bit anxious cooking for them because his mom is a master chef and cooks up a storm of masterpieces every time we go over (and assuredly many times in between!) and I, well, just never know exactly what I’m doing, and do not have a single real recipe under my belt.  So.....let’s do this.

I wanted to make a pasta dish, ‘cause it’s generally an easy, safe way to feed a lot of people, but wanted something a little different from the standard marinara variety.  I went for a veggie base, choosing broccoli as the main guest of honor, and the kind of whole wheat pasta shaped like bite sized tubes.  I thought whole wheat would be more hearty and fitting with the broccoli. 

I cooked the pasta fairly early, using a colander atop the pot to steam the bite sized broccoli pieces, and then put it into a large frying pan with some butter, on medium low heat.  The idea is to get the flavoring to somewhat crust onto the noodles a bit, though I’m still working on honing that craft....before the meal was served I rescued a small share of crispy-enough-to-embarrass-me pasta shards.  Having enough butter/oil in the pan is important, and a few good splashes of organic tamari (soy sauce) will help get some chewy flavor accents going.

I minced two cloves of garlic to toss it, as well as a good crackling of salt and sprinkling of nutritional yeast near the “end” (the end could have really been any time, but I was keeping it warm until serving time).  If it still seemed too dry I’d add another dose of olive oil.  No better way to live up to the reputation of whole wheat pasta than to make it too dry!  :)  

I put the broccoli in a pan on it’s own for a few minutes just to be sure it got coated in it’s own bit of oil flavoring before going into the soon-to-be overflowing pan.  The last touch was a handful of fresh chopped green onions, served with a spoonful of parmesan.

The rest of dinner included backyard deviled eggs (which I let my mama take care of ;), cheesy bread made on a pizza crust with Irish cheddar cheese, flaxseed and green onion, and a green salad with candied pecans and Mama’s Miracle Dressing (which she now informs she makes with Bragg’s since I turned her on to that some time ago....I’m urging her to go back!  ;)

It was so good and everyone ate very well with even a few leftovers (of the non-deviled egg, or cheesy bread, or salad variety that is :)

Whole Wheat Broccoli Pasta with Parmesan 

Approximate price: $5

Pesto, Sunny Side Up

I love the things that are so easy to make it almost seems like a magic trick what comes out the other side of a few minutes and a few dollars.

We have eggs.  Have I mentioned that yet??  :)  And for me, working from home, an egg + _______ = the perfect lunch (even if the _______ is sometimes just a crackling of sea salt).

I still had a bit of chard pesto that I had thawed out from the freezer (easiest way to make something fancy as far as I’m concerned!  :)  Due to a confused moment of decision I ended up cooking some crumbled tofu (organic firm) in the small frying pan, with a little bit of Mama’s Miracle Dressing.  Towards the end of the cooking time (ten or fifteen minutes) I added in a spoonful of the pesto to get the gorgeous color without cooking any more freshness out of it, and set it aside to cook my sunny side up egg.

We had a few tomato slices left over from burgers with the folks the night before, which I put in the pan for a few minutes to soften them up and make them look more....deliberate than just setting them on the plate ;)  

When my egg was done (however soft you prefer your yolks to be) I nestled it into a bed of scrambled tofu and added a layer of pesto, a crackling of salt and a sprinkling of flaxseed, and snuggled the tomato slices on the side.

Yum, yum YUM!  :)

Pesto, Sunny Side Up

Approximate Price: $2

Garlic Egg Pizza

It was another “I want to make pizza, but don’t have anything to put on it” night, and it was the closest I’ve come to giving up!  But I didn’t!  Not with fresh backyard eggs in glorious abundance in our kitchen :)  

I got the oven preheated and cracked four eggs (and four gorgeous yolks) into a bowl with two cloves of garlic and mixed it lightly with a fork.  The only other thing I added was a spoonful or two of Mama’s Miracle Dressing to give it a little zingy goodness.

I put a little olive oil on the crust (which probably wasn’t necessary, but it didn’t feel right to leave it dry) and began pouring and spreading the eggs around it.  Four was too many, but I emptied the bowl anyway and clumsily watched it reach the edge of the crust and begin siphoning itself out onto the pan.  There was nothing to do but hurry up and get it in the 400 degree oven so hopefully it would harden up before the crust was entirely abandoned!  

Well, that didn’t work, due partially to the fact that the oven has a slightly raised center so it aided the egg slide rather than hindering it :)  I pulled it out after a few minutes and did my best to get at least some of the egg back where it belonged, also adding some green onion and shredded cheese.  I had sauteed up some onions and then successfully forgot to add them.  (They went with the carrots instead :)

By the time the pizza was cooked it was all I could do to scrape (some of it) off of the pan.  I swear egg is like a super glue adhesive....I haven’t even tried to clean the pan yet!  It can soak for another 24 hours...

So most of the crust didn’t come up, but what did come up was super yummy!  (I gave my sweetie the pieces that most resembled pizza, rather than a flat frittata ;)

Garlic Egg Pizza

Approximate price: $3

Broccoli Parmesan Pasta

It was definitely a pasta night.  It was pretty much the perfect day, and I couldn’t wait to make the perfect dinner to follow it up.  We had some beautiful organic broccoli, and colored veggie spiral pasta.  No sauce to speak of, but that’s no trouble at all...

I had gotten on a big afternoon song kick, remembering and playing some really old tunes, and by the time Will got home I was excited and just kept on playing, even managing a few he’d never heard before.  After almost two years with someone with whom your first dates consisted almost entirely of song swapping, that’s an impressive feat!  Dinner was cooked largely between songs with a guitar strung over my shoulder.  Fun :)

I put the pasta water on to boil, and sauteed half an onion in the large pan.  I chopped up a couple cups worth of broccoli and placed it in the colander on top of the pasta water.  (Probably not as clever as I think it is, but I get a small thrill from my resourcefulness ;)  After 7-10 minutes of steaming I transferred the broccoli into the pan with the onions.

I drained the pasta and added butter, garlic, olive oil, soy sauce, nutritional yeast (to help the liquids actually stick to the noodles), and flaxseed (for texture and color), spooning only what I needed to properly fill out the broccoli and onions.  (Sometimes I get overzealous and add too many noodles to not enough “good stuff,” which is always a bit of a shame.)

I like to cook noodles in a pan for a few minutes with their toppings, so they can soak up  more of the flavor, and if I’m patient enough they’ll get a bit of a flavor crust around the edges....me = total pasta junkie.

A little parmesan cheese and a side salad (I’ve grown to accept the “lazy salad” and can get away with organic salad mix and Mama’s Miracle Dressing with no one missing anything) and we had a rather delicious meal!  I commented to Will just how much like my mother I am when I exclaimed excitedly from the kitchen, “Oh this is gonna be goooooood...”   love, love, love my mama :)

Broccoli Parmesan Pasta

Approximate price: $3

Cabbage Wraps with Garlic Carrots

I got the idea for cabbage wraps from a coworker several years ago, and I’m a big fan because A) it doesn’t involve something bready and B) since the cabbage itself is spherical, the leaves naturally roll up nice and small on the edges, leaving the middle to bulge up with as much delicious stuff as you like!

I’ve made them raw for lunchtimes, with more fresh veggies and dressing, as well as steamed them up for dinner with something a little heartier inside.  The only tricky part is getting the leaves separated from the head without tearing them to bits.  The outermost layers tend to be the easiest, but I’ve found that severing them at the base and pulling carefully from there works pretty good.  And even if they rip you can make smaller wraps ;)

We had some leftover grits from Will’s mama, cooked with onion and bits of bacon.  I added a bit of garlic and butter, as refrigerating and reheating have a tendency to dry things out.

Easy, easy dinner!  I steamed the cabbage leaves for about 7 minutes.  There must be a sweet spot in there, where the leaves are no longer crunchy, but they still hold together and the hefty “spine” isn’t too tough.  I spooned the grits into the cabbage and rolled ‘em on up, garnishing with a few spoonfuls of pecan chipotle pesto I had saved from my breakfast bagel that morning.  (Our waitress was more than happy to bring me a tiny to go sauce container :)

The wraps were served with farm fresh carrots cooked up with olive oil, garlic and nutritional yeast.

cabbage wraps with garlic carrots

approximate price: $5

Yam and Broccoli Stir Fry Over Brown Rice

this started out as yams and a separate stir fry, but as often happens they were converged in a moment of decision.

i started out chopping up the two medium sized yams we had into 1/2 inch or so cubes and putting them into boiling water.  next, i put 1 cup of rice in a saucepan with 2 cups of water to bring to a boil (once boiling turn down to simmer with the lid on).  then, i proceeded on as i always seem to do, with a chopped yellow onion in a lightly buttered frying pan.  

our veggies for the night were red peppers and broccoli, so i chopped and put the peppers in soon after the onion.  to soften the broccoli up before putting it in the pan i used a colander atop the boiling yams to steam them for five minutes or so.  once the broccoli was added to the stir fry i minced two cloves of garlic to toss in as well (if too much of the surface area of the pan is bare the garlic can burn easily).

when the rice was soft enough i mixed in a few spoonfuls of mama’s miracle dressing, some sunflower seeds and some ground flaxseed.

i scooped the rice onto plates with a heap of stir fry drizzled with my pesto-less chard pesto (leftover from red pepper and chard pesto-less pasta with grilled eggplant) and sprinkled with flaxseed.

served with a side of kale chips.

yam and broccoli stir fry over brown rice 

approximate price: $6

***in general, i’m pretty sure that the sum of orange and green things mixed together become suddenly less appetizing than their parts.  the last dinner i really messed up (see HERE :)  involved orange and green and i had an “uh oh” moment thinking i had done it again.  it tasted plenty good, it just didn’t look so pretty....the flaxseed evened it out a bit though.

Backyard Deviled Eggs

ok, so i really just wanted to show off a picture of deviled eggs made by my happy babies in the backyard!  how cool is that!  :)

deviled eggs are super easy.  i put four eggs covered by water in a sauce pan and boiled them for ten minutes, switching them over to a bowl of cold water to cool down.

i cracked the shells against the cutting board in a few places around the wide end, as i find it’s easier to peel from the little pocket of air that ends up down there.

i rinsed them off and sliced them in half (carefully, so as not to tear them), and got out the mayo, mustard and cilantro.  i took the yolks out and put them into a bowl, mixing with a spoonful of mayo, mustard and a bit of mama’s miracle dressing (which you will now see in probably everything i do from here on out! :) 

you can season it however you like, which is the beauty of everything i do here at shit in a pot!  :)  then just scoop it back out into the perfect little half circles just waiting to be filled back in.  paprika is the traditional topping for them, but i thought cilantro would do just fine....

backyard deviled eggs

approximate price: $2

veggie black bean tacos and salad

we played some music down at a farmer’s market last weekend and traded our loot straight for veggies, and locally made pasta and rosemary cheese curds.....oh heavens!  sooooo fun to come home from that and decide what to make for dinner :)

i’ve been trying to eat less gluten and dairy lately....(not doing very well on either count!) so i got corn tortillas instead of flour, and fancy cheese instead of the Big Block Standby.  i’d been craving peppers but hadn’t wanted to get them at the grocery store because the red ones are almost $4 apiece and i knew i could get them straight from the farm for much less, i just had to wait a bit.  (contrary to popular practice it really is good to have to wait for some things before you have them!  ;)  and our local grocery store chain now has organic cilantro AND green onions!  very good news :)

i wasn’t feeling up to making a pasta dish worthy of our Spinach, Basil and Garlic Fettucini yet, so i opted for soft tacos.  first thing to do was put on half a fresh yellow onion and two small red peppers ($1 each! :) to saute for a bit (with a touch of organic pasture butter).  

i then opened a can of black beans and put them on low heat in a small sauce pan.  as they heated up i added a bit of salt, ground flax seed, and nutritional yeast to give them a more interesting flavor (“interesting” is all i go for sometimes!  it usually works! ;)

when the onions and pepper started getting soft and a bit browned i added a clove of minced garlic, and used the time to put some salad mix in a bowl and chop up some preparatory cilantro and green onion.  our standby salad these days is mix/lettuce + cherry tomatoes from the garden, sunflower seeds, ground flax and cilantro/green onion.  um, YUM.  

when toppings were ready i put the corn tortillas in a pan with some grated smoked gouda on low heat ‘til the cheese started to melt.  i put the tortillas on a plate with a dose of black beans, peppers and onions, cilantro and flax, and a drizzling of  Mama's Miracle Dressing, along with a small mountain of salad and we had a delicious dinner!  will got to guess what the flavors were...one of my favorite parts of this game ;)

veggie black bean tacos and salad

approximate price: $5 

mama's miracle dressing

when i was growing up i was not the biggest salad fan.  not that i disliked vegetables in general, but salad dressings were never very good and salad, for the most part, felt pretty darn boring.  i always ate it dry, most often as finger food.  (i was as fine with that as a kid could be ;)

and THEN....my mom made a dressing from three ingredients, and three ingredients only.  

olive oil

soy sauce (or tamari)

garlic

that was it.  about a half/half liquid ratio, and as much garlic as you can or can’t stand.  (it stays separated so it needs to be mixed with a spoon and scooped out to get some of everything.  we keep a stocked tupperware container on hand.)  and suddenly i was eating as much salad as was humanly possible.  oh my god.  sometimes we crave brownies.  sometimes we crave soy sauce and garlic.  i have no trouble attempting to satiate the latter.  

i made the dressing for Will recently and we both have turned into raging salad monsters.  plus i have realized that the dressing is good to put on all sorts of other things, like, well, pretty much any other savory thing i may be eating at the time.

fried/scrambled eggs?  YES.

pasta of any kind?        YES.

stir fry of any kind?       YES.

grain dish of any kind? YES.

try it!  grow list, grow!  :)

red pepper and chard pesto-less pasta with grilled eggplant

so pasta is just one of those things that you don’t realize is so much better it’s a small locally made batch....i mean, i love pasta already.  it’s one of my favorite things, but local pasta?  it’s above and beyond in ways that i couldn’t imagine before i had it.

we got spinach, basil & garlic fettucini from the farmers’ market and i couldn’t wait to come up with something delicious for dinner!  our poor garden finally surrendered to the cold nighttime temperatures, and after the first morning of waking up to sad, dark droop i harvested what i could from the tomatoes (hoping that with some tricks suggested by friends will ripen indoors :) and chard, which was already looking a little sad from absolute obliteration by caterpillar.  unfortunately the basil turned brown overnight so i didn’t have any for pesto, but i still had my eye on the chard for, well, pesto-less pesto :)

we also had some local red peppers and yellow onions, which i put on to saute with a li’l butter, and an eggplant (also loot from the farmers’ market), which i sliced lengthwise into pieces about a 1/2 inch thick.  i also put them in a lightly buttered frying pan on low, flipping them within five minutes or so to get some oil on the other side as well.  (it tends to soak up quickly.)

i prepped my chard, washing and removing the thickest part of the stems, and cutting it just once or twice to make it a bit easier to fit in the pot of boiling water.  i left them cooking for a bit longer than i would to serve them as greens, in order to make them more agreeable to a blender.  i removed the greens from the water with tongs, letting them carry some of the liquid with them, and put them in the blender, adding a quarter or so cup of olive oil, three cloves of chopped garlic and a half teaspoon-ish of salt, blending until smooth.  

the pasta instructions were to cook for six minutes, so they were saved until the end.  i used the chard water to cook them (why not?) and prepped a handful of cilantro.  (one might argue that cilantro doesn’t necessarily go with basil, but it wasn’t fresh basil....and i really like cilantro!)  

i drained the noodles in a colander and put them back in the pot with the lovely green sauce from the blender.  i served it onto the plate, with a big scoop of red peppers and onions, topped with cilantro and accompanied by tender slices of eggplant drizzled with Mama’s Miracle Dressing and sprinkled with flaxseed.  

red pepper and chard pesto-less pasta with grilled eggplant 

it was one of those dinners we didn’t say much over, other than how good it was!  (and how much it looked like christmas :)

approximate price: (i won’t lie, the pasta was pricey!) $12