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This was one of my first ’specialties’. It is a really healthy soup and made with one of my all time favorite vegetables; butternut squash. Depending on how much you blend it, it can come out silky, creamy smooth or slightly chunky and brothy. Tonight I served it topped with toasted pumpkin seeds and with a side beet salad with a dill-garlic-yogurt dressing. AND a slice of Pane Siciliano – BBA Challenge #23 – blog post on that coming soon!
- 1 medium (2lb) butternut squash
- 2 small potatoes, cut into cubes
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 32 oz. chicken broth or stock
- salt and pepper to taste
- cut squash in half, remove seeds, and bake at 375 F for 1 hour
- brown all veggies (including baked squash) in a large pot for 5 min.
- add stock/ broth and simmer for 40 min over low heat
- blend with immersion blender until smooth (or regular blender)
- add salt and pepper to taste and serve! (good with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt)
It REALLY feels like fall now here in Boston. It dawned on me today that i have been donning my fall wardrobe all week long!
Now that i am back to working hard, I am cooking quicker meals (when i do cook). Tonight was breakfast for dinner. These turned out to be the best pancakes that we have ever had.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1 C buttermilk and 1/2 C regular)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- Preheat oven to 250F. Mix dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
- Mix egg, milk, pumpkin puree, and vinegar in a large bowl. Stir dry ingredients into the large bowl, just until combined. You may want to add a bit more milk at this point. Mine was looking very thick so I added about 2 T.
- Pour 1/3 C batter a time into a buttered skillet over medium heat. Be careful while flipping these – they are fragile and have a tendency to wrinkle.
- Keep the finished pancakes warm in the preheated oven.
Filed under: DINNER | Tags: carrots, collard greens, ethiopian, lentils, potatoes, tomato, vegetarian
To celebrate my new job, Joe and i were going to go out for Ethiopian. After my first excursion to the grocery store since ‘the accident’ my ankle was not feeling very good. Plus the fact that it had been raining all day, made it tempting to stay home. So I decided to make it myself instead. Joe bought the Injera at a place called South End Food Emporium, just a few blocks from the Prudential Center in downtown Boston. It felt pretty good to get back in the kitchen. Now that I have a pretty demanding job, it’s hard to find the time to get into cooking during the week. Also, my ankle has healed to the point that i don’t mind standing in the kitchen for a while (especially if i get something as yummy as this afterward).
1. Yataklete Kilkil (Vegetable Stew)
- 6 new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
- 5-6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4″ discs
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 T chopped ginger
- 1 T niter kebbeh or butter
- 1 t ground cardamom (I used 6 whole pods)
- 1 C vegetable broth
- 1 t fenugreek
- 1 1/2 t tumeric
- combine carrots and potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, add 2 t salt and bring to a boil. Boil the vegetables for 20 minutes or until fully cooked. Drain, set aside.
- Puree onion, ginger, and garlic in a blender or food processor.
- Add onion puree to pot with butter, fenugreek, and tumeric (or nitter kebbeh) and saute for 5 minutes (do not brown).
- Add cardamom pods (or ground) and stir a few minutes more. Add vegetables, 1 C broth, stir, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep on low heat while preparing the other dishes. This stew only gets better as it sits.
2. Yemiser W’et (Spicy Lentils)
- 1 C red lentils
- 3 C water
- 1 C onions, finely chopped
- 1 large clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 1/4 C niter kebbeh (or 5 T butter)
- 2 T berbere (this is a tad spicy – but not as spicy as takeout)
- 1 t ground cumin
- 1 T sweet paprika
- 2 C tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1/4 C tomato paste
- 1 C vegetable broth
- 1 C grean peas (fresh or frozen)
- 1 t fenugreek
- 1 t tumeric
- salt and pepper to taste
- Bring water to a boil and simmer lentils until soft – about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. This should yield approx. 3 C lentils.
- Meanwhile, saute garlic and onion in niter kebbeh or butter in a large saucepan until translucent, but not brown. If you are not using niter kebbeh, I advise adding 1 t fenugreek and 1 t tumeric to mimic the spiced butter.
- Add the spices and continue cooking for a couple minutes until fragrant.
- Add the tomatoes, paste, lentils, broth, and peas (if desired) to the saucepan and simmer (stirring every couple minutes to keep from sticking) until it is sufficiently thickened to eat with injera (about 30 minutes).
3. Gomen (Collard Greens)
- 2 big bunches collard greens
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 T niter kebbeh or 3 T butter (i’m sure they use about 6 T in restaurants)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- wash collards, drain, and trim stalks from leaves. chop the stalks into 1/4″ pieces and coarsely chop the leaves.
- saute garlic and onion in niter kebbeh (or butter + 1 t fenugreek + 1 t tumeric) until soft.
- Add the stalks to the pot and saute until softening, about 10 minutes. Then add the leaves and cook until soft and dark, about 20 minutes. Stir every couple minutes to keep from browning on the bottom.
I. Cannot. Sit. Still. I have become hypersensitive to my body since ‘the accident’, though Joe would tell you that i have always been this way. My bruised (?) ankle recovery rate thus far does not bode well for the marathon in three weeks. AAAHHH.
This was my first venture back into the kitchen since the accident. Maybe I went a little crazy, but I had a good time. As a note, the pumpkin photographed immediately below is not done. It needed another 15 minutes after this shot was taken, but at that point I was ready to eat and not taking any more pictures. It was good! And the spiced pumpkin seeds I made after this were pretty tasty too! I served the soup with some wheat rosemary olive focaccia. See that recipe below.
Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin
- 1 5 lb. pumpkin, w/ stem
- 5 T butter
- salt
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 C fresh white breadcrumbs, toasted
- 1/2 t ground nutmeg
- 1/2 t ground sage
- ground black pepper
- 1/2 C grated swiss (all i had was cheddar) cheese
- 3 C chicken stock (I used bullion cubes)
- 2 bay leaves
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Clean pumpkin inside and out, cutting a 4″ diameter hole for the lid. Set the seeds aside
- Melt 4 T butter in a medium skillet and saute onions for 10 minutes over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs, nutmeg, and sage, and cook 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and add cheese.
- Rub remaining 1 T butter (softened) on the inside of the pumpkin. Scoop onion mixture into the pumpkin, then fill with chicken stock to within 1/2″ of the rim. Add bay leaves.
- Bake pumpkin for 1 1/2 hours, or until outside is browning and pumpkin flesh is soft.
- Before serving, use a long handled metal spoon to scrape the insides of the pumpkin and mix the flesh in with the soup. Serve.
Quick Focaccia
- 5 C flour (I used 2 C bread, 2 C all purpose, and 1 C whole wheat)
- 2 1/2 t yeast
- 1 2/3 C warm water
- 1/4 C olive oil
- dried rosemary
- 1/3 C chopped olives
- sea salt
- Stir together 1 2/3 C lukewarm (105 to 115°F) water and yeast in bowl of mixer and let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add 5 C flour, 1/4 C oil, and 2 1/2 teaspoons table salt and beat with paddle attachment at medium speed until a dough forms. Replace paddle with dough hook and knead dough at high speed (woohoo!) until soft, smooth, and sticky, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in 1 to 2 tablespoons more flour. Knead dough 1 minute (it will still be slightly sticky), then transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and turn dough to coat with oil. Let rise, covered with plastic wrap, at warm room temperature, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
- Press dough evenly onto a spray oiled and salted (optional- but good) baking sheet. Let dough rise, covered completely with a kitchen towel, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Make shallow indentations in the dough with your fingertips. Gently brush or spray with olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary, olives, and sea salt and bake in middle of oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Although i have made other recipes that called for them, this is my first time actually using Japanese Panko breadcrumbs. They were fantastic!
The whole meal went very well together. The stir fried bok choy was soft and salty, and the panko ‘fried’ chicken was crunchy and spicy on the outside and moist and tender inside. The following recipe made enough for dinner and lunch for two of us.
Panko ‘Fried’ Chicken:
(adapted from Gourmet Magazine)
- 1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
- 1/2 t red pepper
- 1/4 t ground ginger
- 1 t salt
- 1/2 t black pepper
- 1/3 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/4 t pepper
- 1 whole chicken breast (equivalent to two conventional breasts + two tenderloins) rinsed, patted dry, and cut into 10 serving pieces
- Preheat oven to 450F.
- Meanwhile, toss breadcrumbs with red pepper, ground ginger, salt, and pepper in a shallow baking pan.
- Mix together butter, 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t pepper in a bowl. Coat chicken pieces with butter, dredge in breadcrumb mixture, then arrange on baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
Stir Fried Bok Choy
- 2 heads of regular bok choy
- 1 1/2 T vegetable oil
- 2 slices ginger, julienne cut
- 3 T soy sauce
- 1 t sugar
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/4 C water
- After thoroughly washing bok choy, separate stems from leaves. Cut the leaves across and the stems on diagonal.
- Heat oil over medium in large skillet. Add ginger slices and fry until fragrant, 30 seconds.
- Add bok choy stems, stir for a minute, then add the leaves. To save on dishes, I quickly mixed up the soy sauce, sugar, and salt while stir-frying the stalks.
- After adding the ’sauce’, turn heat up to high and cook for a minute.
- Add water, cover, and cook for 2 minutes.
Filed under: DINNER | Tags: beets, carrot, leeks, onion, potatoes, tomatoes, vegetarian
2 BEETS, 3 CARROTS, 8 GARLIC CLOVES, 1 LEEK, 1 ONION, 2 RED POTATOES, 2 SWEET POTATOES, and 6 CHERRY TOMATOES.
Did i forget anything? This was all i could find around the kitchen to roast tonight. I tossed the beets, potatoes, garlic, and carrots in a couple T evoo and some salt and pepper then popped em in the 475°F oven. After 12 minutes I added the onion and leek (and some rosemary). After 25 minutes more, i added the tomatoes and cooked 5 minutes more. I then sprinkled a little parmesan over the whole thing and gave it 3 final minutes… at that point after opening and closing my little oven door, i bet it was down around 425°F or less.
I served it over parmesan couscous with a side salad.
This should be good fuel for our long runs tomorrow!
This is the first time in a long time that Joe and i have shared a uniformly topped pizza. Typically, my half has a lot of sauteed/ semi fancy toppings, and his looks a bit like what you might find on a dominos menu. I decided to give his style of pizza a try tonight and really enjoyed the simplicity of sweet peppers (Italian and red), onions, and grape tomatoes. It was especially tasty with some red pepper flakes on top… sweet and spicy.
I used the same crust recipe as usual, but left it on the sticky side while kneading. This proved to be a good thing and made it softer than usual on the inside. After proofing for two hours, dividing into thirds, and shaping one into a disc, i drizzled it with olive oil, covered it with aluminum foil (so it wouldn’t stick) and let it sit an extra hour or so before baking (as the oven preheated).
The sauce was delicious and homemade and contained:
- 6 halved and seeded cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 t garlic powder
- 1/4 t onion powder
- 1 t dried basil
- 1/4 t salt
- 1/4 t sugar
- mix it all with an immersion blender till the tomatoes are completely crushed. Yum.
This was really easy, and nice because i had some broccoli pesto already made up to use in it, but I am not making it again. It was not that good. I was surprised. I really like broccoli, and i usually like Heidi’s recipes. This was just a little too plain. Even with the bells and whistles (avocado, feta, and slivered almonds). While mixing it all together, i taste tested and immediately tried to season it back to life. No avail.
- 4 C fresh broccoli florets
- 2/3 C broccoli rabe pesto
- 1/3 C buttermilk
- 1 C quinoa, rinsed
- 1/3 C slivered almonds
- 1 avocado, sliced
- slice of feta cheese
- Salt + Pepper to taste
- Cook quinoa: combine quinoa and 3 C water in a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer 15 min, remove from heat, drain excess water and set aside.
- Steam 4 C broccoli until just barely cooked.
- Heat pesto and stir in buttermilk to give a creamier consistency (use heavy cream if you prefer).
- Stir together quinoa, broccoli, and pesto in a large bowl/ serving dish. season with salt and pepper and serve garnished with almonds, feta, and avocado.
Cherry tomatoes were 2lbs/ $1 last week at Haymarket! I have been using them in practically everything lately. Normally we can’t afford them, and they are one of my all time favorite foods, so it has been a big treat! The other night i was loooking to make some comfort food for dinner, and this recipe really hit the spot. We had leftover tofu from out sandwiches the other night, broccoli rabe pesto frozen from a couple weeks ago, and PLENTY of tomatoes.
Here is a link to the recipe. The only difference is that tonight i roasted the tomatoes (tossed in olive oil, salt, and brown sugar) for 45 minutes at 425°F. I will definitely use this roasting technique again!
I can’t believe I’m on challenge #20! I feel like celebrating.
Yet, I could kick myself. Whenever i don’t read a recipe ahead of time (which admittedly happens often) I miss out on some long preparation that i should have started at the beginning. Par example: 3 T cooked brown rice. Ugh. I had little flashbacks to the other night when joe and i cooked brown rice in the rice cooker and it took 45 minutes. I have things to do today! I cannot cook rice right now! Well, luckily i remembered the microwave. With a little improvising, i cooked precisely 3 T of short grain brown rice pretty well in our microwave. Here’s how:
- 2 T brown rice
- 6 T water
- 1/2 t safflower oil
- combine ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high power for 5 minutes.
- Add a bit more water (2T or so) if necessary then continue cooking on medium power for 4 minutes. DONE!
I made a few small alterations to the original recipe. For the soaker, i did not have any wheat bran on hand, so i just used 3 T millet, 3 T rolled oats, and 2 T cornmeal. I have had a large flour container with 3/4 C of white wheat flour in it for some time now, so i replaced some of the bread flour with my remaining white wheat. While working, i decided to bake two little loaves. One loaf I topped with sesame seeds and flax seeds (most of which fell off while slicing), and the other with sunflower seeds.
Tonight i toasted the bread and used it for triple-decker tofu, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches. It is really wonderful toasted
