Comments (3)

By Emily, August 25, 2010 2:00 pm

Last week I came upon this recipe for this potato and kale frittata.  I love making frittatas (is that the correct plural?) and since we had a bunch of potatoes from the farmer’s market that needed to be used, it was a perfect dinner.

But the problem with buying kale is that then you have a ton of kale.  But it wasn’t really a problem, I had the perfect soup recipe to use it up (I’m so glad it’s been cool enough to make soup again).  But in order to be perfect, the recipe needed hot Italian sausage.   Just a few weeks ago, I wrote that, if and when we purchased meat again, we’d  ”buy it from one of the local farms so we know where its coming from and how the animals were treated.”  Of course, at that time I hadn’t actually bought meat for months.  It’s funny how “normal” being meat-free has become.  And so, last Thursday, I bought my first locally, humanely raised meat.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it wasn’t much more expensive than the natural (but probably not humane) sausage at the supermarket.  In addition to being really, really delicious, the soup didn’t seem to be as greasy as it’s sometimes been in the past when I’ve used supermarket sausage.

Obviously, you can make this soup with any kind of hot Italian sausage.  In fact, sweet sausage would probably work fine too.   The original recipe claims to model Olive Garden’s Zuppa Tuscana, but I don’t think it does.  You can find more accurate ones online.  Nevertheless, it’s really good.

Spicy Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup

5.5 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 medium potatoes, cubed (or the equivilent…I used six red potatoes because we had them)

4 cups chopped kale

1 lb. Italian sausage

1. Cut the sausage into 1″ pieces and cook them in a skillet until cooked through.  Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, combine the stock and cream in a saucepan and cook over medium heat.
3. Add the potatoes and kale to the soup.
4. When the sausage has cooled, cut the slices into “soup sized” pieces.  It’s really all a matter of preference, but the smaller you cut them, the more sausage it seems like there is.  Add the sausage to the soup.
5. Let the soup simmer until the potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.

Serves 4 as a main dish.

…and we still had kale left over to freeze.

Comments (3)

By Emily, August 7, 2010 8:53 pm

4 days from now, I will be boarding a plane and heading to Chicago to catch up with a good friend and attend the Healthy Living Summit.  I am so freakin’ excited.  The Twitter chatter has really picked up and there’s so many people I’m looking forward to meeting.  I’m still not sure how I’m going to spend my free time in the city, but I don’t really care either.  I know its going to be a good time, no matter what I end up doing.

The Summit organizers have set up a contest to see who can come up with a delicious smoothie using Stonyfield yogurt.  Since Brian is the smoothie making expert in our home, he and I developed a delicious creation this evening that I’m entering into the contest.  I’m a sucker for anything coconut (if you’re feeling friendly and want to send me bags and bags of the new coconut m&ms, I’ll love you forever), so this seemed appropriate.

Tropical Fruit Smoothie

1 banana

1 cup plain Stonyfield Organic Lowfat Yogurt

1 1/2 cups pinapple chunks

1 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup flaked coconut

Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth.  Enjoy!  (I love how easy smoothies are!)

Makes about 4 cups

Disclosure: This entry is for the Healthy Living Summit Stonyfield Smoothie Contest.  Stonyfield is a sponsor of the Summit, but not this contest.

Comments (0)

By Emily, July 19, 2010 2:23 pm

My cooking has been frustratingly dull lately.  I know it’s summer, but somehow I still don’t put the time or energy into cooking and meal planning that I want to (the heat hasn’t helped either).  Things are looking up though because there’s still 6 weeks of summer left, which means it’s not even half over, and I’m feeling newly motivated.  Plus it hasn’t been as hot.  My motivation partially stems from the realization that I need to be more deliberate about trying new, creative recipes and the success that I found when I did.

Brian and I ended up with a lot of summer squash and zucchini this week, since we picked it up at the farm two weeks in a row and didn’t use it up the first week.  We need clear crisper drawers in our fridge, because I am definitely an “out of sight, out of mind” person when it comes to food.  Luckily, in my collection of recipes, I stumbled on one for Summer Squash Ribbons.  And, in a stroke of luck, Brian and I headed out to Trader Joe’s and discovered that they have really affordable goat cheese (now if only TJ’s wasn’t so far away!!)  We had every other ingredient already in our pantry.

The recipe is insanely simple and fast: use a peeler (or mandoline, if you’re lucky enough to have one) to create thin strips of zucchini and summer squash; marinate in oil and vinegar for 10 minutes; top with salt and pepper; serve, topped with goat cheese and basil.  If you want more specific instructions than that, check out the recipe that inspired me:  Summer Squash Ribbons on the Kitchn.

It’s fair to be apprehensive about eating raw zucchini and summer squash; we were.  But this salad is so so good.  As in, that goat cheese may not last long, because I want to make it again and again until squash season is over.  We’re pretty sure it’d be just as good with mozzerella or feta, too.

Make this salad.  Today.  And suddenly, you won’t be so depressed about making use of all that summer squash.

Comments (1)

By Emily, July 18, 2010 8:34 am

Brian and I are still doing the CSA thing, though clearly it hasn’t been blogworthy as of late.  Still, there’s nothing more awesome than local, fresh, organic food (I swear it tastes better).  Our town’s farmer’s market just started up this weekend (I have no idea why it begins so late) and so I bought some potatoes and cherry tomatoes, in addition to all the stuff we grabbed at the CSA on Tuesday.

But sometimes all these fresh veggies are overwhelming.  I want to use as much of them as possible while they’re in season, but what do you do with so much food?  Luckily, the internet is here to help with that issue.  Confession: I haven’t made any of these recipes yet, but they all look good to me and we’ve still go time for trying them out.

A reader on The Kitchn asked for “quick, easy ways to get more vegetables into her diet” and the answer features several recipe round ups, plus a bunch of helpful reader comments.

Apparently, colored cauliflower is all over the place.  I didn’t realize this, but perhaps I just haven’t been looking.  Will people eat more vegetables if they look really cool? (Hint: My post for tomorrow says “yes”)

The Marinated Mushroom Salad on Serious Eats looks like a yummy side dish…I may have to try it this week.  Brian has recently realized that he doesn’t hate mushrooms, so now I don’t have to think twice about using them.

I made this recipe for “movie style” ratatouille a couple weeks ago, but there’s a more traditional ratatouille recipe from the Boston Globe that I wouldn’t mind trying out (especially since I’ve got a whole bunch of eggplant in my freezer).

I eat way fewer sandwiches than I used to, but these White Bean and Roasted Red Pepper Vegetable Wraps with Spinach featured on Cheap Healthy Good might change that.

Summer Vegetable Salad is this week’s “What’s On Your Plate?” recipe on Good Cheap Eats.  It’s like pasta salad…only more veggie-y.

I don’t have a grill or a grill pan, but this Layered Vegetable Tort in the NY Times looks so appetizing I may have to get one–or find another way to cook the vegetables.

We’ve recently picked up some carrots at the CSA…green tops and all.  Luckily, the internet also has recipes for carrot tops.  Maybe this week they’ll get used instead of tossed.  (via The Kitchn)

And, last but not least, recipes for everyone’s favorite summer bumper crop, zucchini:

Zucchini pilaf with almonds (Diner’s Journal)

Herbivoracious’ zucchini stuffed zucchini blossoms

12 recipes to help eat  up all your zucchini, from the Kitchn.

I’ve recently discovered 2 more ways to use up our CSA vegetables which are delicious–but that’s getting its own post, tomorrow.

(Almost) Every Saturday, I choose a theme and highlight blog posts, websites and news articles from my Google Reader which I found interesting (and hope you do too!) If you want more reading, check out “What I’m Reading” on my sidebar.  And don’t forget to add Relishments to your reader or “like” Relishments on Facebook!

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By Emily, July 3, 2010 9:16 pm

Its possible that I have an unhealthy obsession with recipes.  It’s an excellent example of the way in which the internet enables my bad habits.  Granted, I’d have plenty of recipes to choose from if I only had my cookbooks and magazine subscriptions, but the web brings recipe collecting to a whole new level.  Today I thought I’d share some of the recipe sites I’ve recently discovered and some of my personal favorites.  Feel free to leave a comment and add your favorite site to the list!

I recently discovered (and fell in love with) recipe search engine  Supercook.  Supercook is similar to the recipe site CookThink in that it allows you to select ingredients that you crave or have on hand and helps you find recipes that use that ingredient.  Supercook has a few additional bonuses, however.  The site encourages you to add as many ingredients as you have on hand, suggests additional ingredients which you might forget you had, and pulls your results from across the web, including Real Simple, Epicurious, Recipe Zaar, Martha Stewart, All Recipes, VegWeb and more.   And Supercook lets you exclude ingredient categories such as meat, dairy, gluten, nuts or fish.  I’ve already used the site to find a couple good recipes (including this one for awesome Key Lime Bars)  and I think its going to be a go-to in the future, especially with our random CSA produce.

If Supercook doesn’t do it for you, Chow posted about another recipe aggregator, Yummly.  Yummly doesn’t seem quite as simple to use as Supercook, but it does let you customize the taste of your food (salty, sweet, savory, sour, bitter), among other things.  Also, there’s a social networking aspect to the site which could be fun if Facebook, Twitter and Foodbuzz weren’t already taking over my life.

On the rare occasion when I know what I want to cook, but don’t have a recipe for it, I consult All Recipes.  The best part about the user-submitted recipes?  Reviews from the people who actually cooked them, often including helpful substitutions or suggestions.  So much better than attempting something blind from a cookbook.   I made Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta based on the 4.5 star recommendation it’d earned and the rating definitely didn’t lie.

Really fun to look at, They Draw and Cook is a site which features simple recipes illustrated by various artists.  They’re super cute and some of the recipes seem worth trying out.  The site is taking submissions if you like creating art as well as food!

CNN’s new food blog, Eatocracy, is collecting heirloom recipes from readers.  There haven’t been a ton of submissions yet, but seems to me there’s a lot of potential.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating:  Evernote has completely saved my life in terms of organizing the recipes I come across on the web.  I started using it over a year ago and I’ve got 613 recipes saved currently (I told you I was obsessed!) Many of my recipes don’t come from the sites above, but from the blogs I read every day (check out the blog roll in the sidebar!)  I copy and paste anything that looks good into Evernote and then search them later when its time to cook.

I know there are a million recipe sites out there; these are just my favorites.   Anyone have any sites to add to the list?

(Almost) Every Saturday, I choose a theme and highlight blog posts, websites and news articles from my Google Reader which I found interesting (and hope you do too!) If you want more reading, check out “What I’m Reading” on my sidebar.  And don’t forget to add Relishments to your reader!

Comments (2)

By Emily, June 16, 2010 3:51 pm

It’s the last week of school for Brian and I.  6 months ago, I thought this day would never come, but suddenly it’s the middle of June.  Anyway,  after the students left at 11 on Monday, the faculty had a potluck lunch.  I like going to potlucks, but I never know what to bring.  There are just too many options and I’m really bad at being decisive.  Brian suggested that I made a couple loaves of bread and bring those.  So I did.

I’m in love with the No-Time Bread recipe featured on The Kitchn a while back.  I’ve made it several times, it’s always turned out great and everyone I’ve made it for has been impressed.  If you need bread for something, or you want to impress your friends (parents, future significant other, boss, etc) you should make this bread, even if you’ve never made bread before (I never had).   This time around, I decided (at Brian’s encouragement) to mix things up a bit by adding whole wheat flour, sun-dried tomatoes and Italian seasoning.  I was really pleased with the result.  Having made the original recipe several times, it was much easier for me to change it.  Usually I don’t experiment with recipes too much, but this was definitely worthwhile…more experiments to come?

Wheat Sun-dried Tomato No-Time Bread

Adapted from The Kitchn

1 loaf

Two packets active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 3/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning

1. Put the yeast, sugar and water in the bowl of your stand mixer.
2. While the yeast does its thing, heat the oven to 450°F. Put a Dutch oven (or an alternative, listed on the Kitchn) in the oven to warm. Get out the rest of your ingredients.  Mix together the whole wheat and all purpose flour.
3. Once the yeast has bubbled up, add 3 cups of the flour, plus the salt and vinegar and beat for several minutes with the paddle attachment.
4. Switch to the dough hook attachment, add the last 1/2 cup of flour and beat for 4 minutes.   After the 4 minutes are up, add the sun-dried tomatoes and Italian seasoning, and beat the dough for another 3. The dough for this bread is wet, it should clear the sides of the bowl but still stick to the bottom.  This recipe seemed much less goopy than the regular recipe, but either way the end result was awesome.
   
5. Oil a microwave safe bowl with vegetable oil.  Add the dough to the bowl and roll it lightly in the oil.  Cover the bowl with a wet towel. Cover the whole thing with a dry towel and put in the microwave. Microwave on HIGH for 25 seconds.
6. Let rest in the microwave for about five minutes.
7. Microwave on HIGH for another 25 seconds, then remove.
8. Let rest and rise for another 15 minutes.
9. Shape into a ball and plop into the preheated pan. Quickly slash the top with a knife. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the internal temperature hits 210.

Olive Bread

For the second loaf, Brian wanted me to make “the really good olive bread”.  I had to remind him that I’ve never made olive bread.  The bread he recalls was served to us by the mother of one of our friends during our vacation in February.  Of course, the bread was so good, I copied the recipe out of the cookbook (warning to friends: if you have me over, I will steal your recipes, apparently).  I can’t remember what the title of the cookbook was, it was about Greek cooking, but here’s the recipe nevertheless.

Makes 2 medium loaves

2 lb strong white bread flour  (I just used All Purpose Flour…sorry, bread making purists, but it tastes good to me!)
1 envelope dried yeast
3 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3 tBS olive oil, plus more for brushing
2.5 cups warm water
8 oz Greek olives, pitted and chopped

1.  Put the yeast, flour, 2 tsps of sesame seeds, salt and oregano in a large bowl and mix.  Add 3 TBS of olive oil and, using a wooden spoon, gradually add the water to form a firm dough
2.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth.  Put the dough in a clean bowl, cover with a clean, damp dish towel and let rise for about 1 hour, until doubled in size
3.  Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly to knock out the air then knead in the olives.  Divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape each piece into a smooth round.  Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and set in a warm place for about 30 minutes until doubled in size.
4.  Using a sharp knife, make slashes across each loaf then lightly brush with oil and sprinkle remaining sesame seeds on top.  Bake in a preheated oven 425 degrees for 10 minutes then reduce the temperature to 375 and bake for a further 25 minutes or until rise and brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.  Cool on a wire rack.

I used my Kitchenaid to knead the dough in Step 2, and when all was said and done, wished I’d used it to add the olives in Step 3.  The bread turned out fine, but the olives could’ve been more evenly distributed.  Also, you may want to pat your olives dry with a paper towel if they’re as wet as mine were.

The olive bread was the first “real” bread I’ve made (it actually needed time to rise!) and it came out great.  Hopefully this summer will allow for the opportunity to try out more bread recipes!

Comments (1)

By Emily, April 22, 2010 7:42 pm

Since I don’t cook a lot of meat, I don’t use breading too often.  Perhaps that’s why it often seems that when I do use breading, it doesn’t stick well, or brown right, or look good.  Or maybe it’s the other way around-breading doesn’t work, so I don’t use it.

Nevertheless, haddock was cheap at the supermarket last week (I refuse to buy fish when it costs more than $5/lb.  Insert commentary on sustainable fisheries and the like here).  Somehow, miraculously, I made breaded baked haddock that looked and tasted good–and the breading actually stuck!  I thought it was only fair to share my success.

You’ll need:

2 haddock fillets
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup of panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1.  Mix the panko, cheese and thyme in a bowl.  Pour the milk in a different bowl.

2. Oil the bottom of an 8×8 pan. Set aside.

3.  Dip the haddock fillets in the milk.  Coat them completely, but shake off any excess.

4.  Coat the fish in the thyme/panko mixture. Press the mixture into the fish so as much sticks as possible.

5. Place the fish into the pan, drizzle with olive oil.

6. Bake at 500º for 10 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for another 5 minutes.

7. Enjoy!

Comments (1)

By Emily, January 11, 2010 5:25 am

So…work is still kicking my butt.  I started a new (full time, rest of the year!) teaching job last  Monday and I had this fantasy that I was going to have more time for me (aka this blog, the gym, cooking cool recipes, hanging out with Brian, etc) than I did with my last position.  Keyword being fantasy.  I’m still getting my bearings and getting settled in the new job, so, posting schedule still sucks :)

Nevertheless, I’m chipping away at my New Years Resolutions.  Here I am, posting (again!).  Tuesday and Saturday we went to the gym (must be the beginning of January–that place was busy!)  And last Sunday I made soup –and biscuits, which fall under the category of “learning to make things I normally buy”.

The soup was really satisfying.  It’s really thick and using fresh produce made it even better.  Minestrone is one of those soups that’s easy to alter and update based on what you’ve got in the fridge…this is what I had or remembered to buy and it turned out great.  You know you need another soup recipe :)

Sticking with the above and previously mentioned goal of learning to make things instead of buying pre-made processed foods, I made biscuits to go with the soup.  In short: easy, fast, and really, really delicious.  We may never eat sliced bread with soup again.

Dill, Red onion and Cheese Drop Biscuits
from Everybody Likes Sandwiches
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup red onions, finely diced
1 Tablespoon dried dill
a hearty grind of black pepper
a large handful of old cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk or milk with 1 Tablespoon vinegar or yogurt with a bit of milk mixed in

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, red onions, dill, black pepper and cheese.
3. Stir in the milk and oil and mix lightly until combined.
4. Using a tablespoon, drop blobs of dough on a parchment covered or silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes or until lightly golden. Makes about 6 – 9 (really delicious) biscuits.
5. Enjoy!

Comments (2)

By Emily, November 14, 2009 11:35 am

Brian and I have been eating homemade pizza every couple weeks or so, but I wanted to mix it up a little.  I decided to try making a calzone.  Granted, that isn’t really much of a feat, but I get a little scared whenever I’m not working with a recipe.  Well, miracles do happen, because the calzone turned out great (better, Brian says, than the calzones at one of my favorite restaurants…but that’s another story).  Anyway, one of the great things about pizza and calzones is that they’re so easy to make healthy (or healthier, depending on how you want to look at it.  I could never give up cheese and choose to ignore it’s flaws) and/or vegetarian.

So, without further ado…

Broccoli and Mushroom Calzone

You’ll need:

For the dough:

1 envelope active dry yeast
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 and 1/8 cups warm water (105 to 115°)
2 and 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
cornmeal

For the filling (all measurements are estimates…it’s your calzone, do what will taste good to you!):

1 medium head of broccoli
2 button mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
1.5 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup ricotta cheese

1.  Prep the dough:

• Combine the yeast, honey and water in a 2 cup measuring cup.  Let stand for 5 minutes while the yeast does its thing.
• When the 5 minutes are over, combine the yeast mixture, flours, salt and oil in a mixing bowl (or the bowl of your standing mixer).  Beat at low speed until the dough forms a ball.
• Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place (our apartment is cold, so I turn the oven on “warm” and set the bowl of dough on top of it).  Let rise for 1 and a 1/2 hours, or until the ball of dough has about doubled in size.

2.  Prep the filling:

• When the dough has about a half hour left to rise, begin prepping fillings.  Cut the florets off the broccoli and slice the mushrooms.  Mince or press the garlic cloves.
• Also, this is a good time to preheat the pizza stone, with a sprinkling of corn meal on top, in the oven at 450°.
• In a large skillet, combine the vegetables and garlic, along with a drizzle of olive oil.  Cook until the vegetables are soft.

• Combine the cheeses and vegetable fillings in a bowl.  Mix to combine evenly.

3.  Finish the dough:

• Use your hands and a rolling pin to make the dough as round and thin as possible.  When you’re satisfied (it’s dinner–it just has to taste good, not look perfect!), pierce the dough with a fork.   Otherwise, the dough gets big bubbles in it when it cooks.  Trust me.

• Move the dough to the preheated pizza stone.  Neat trick: fold the dough into quarters for easier transportation–also works for pie crusts (thanks mom!)

4.  Make the calzone:

• Cover half the dough with the cheese and vegetable filling.
• Fold over the rest of the dough and pinch closed.  Brush the top with olive oil so it will brown nicely.

• Return the pizza stone and calzone to the oven and Bake at 450° for about 15 minutes.

5.  Enjoy!

Notes:

*If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can cook your calzone on a baking sheet. You don’t even have to preheat it!

*The dough recipe is what Brian and I always use for pizza.  Try it, it’s yummy!

Comments (5)

By Emily, November 11, 2009 7:54 pm

So…theoretically, this is a blog about eating well, cooking things instead of buying them, avoiding preservatives and packaged foods and the like.  I appreciate all of those ideas and adhere to them whenever possible.

However, anyone who knows me knows that, in addition to good nutrition, I’m a stickler for making my sister happy.  Birthday presents, visits, random gifts.  If I can do it and my sister wants it, chances are she’s gonna get it from me.  Perhaps I spoil her.  But she’s my baby sister…my only baby sister.

So when I asked “the baby” what she wanted for her 22nd birthday, she requested her “favorite” cake.  Who am I to say no?  I made cupcakes instead of the recipe-suggested Bundt cake, because everyone knows cupcakes are more fun (and easier for my sister to eat and share at college).  However, Brian also needed something to bring to an event, so I made a cake for that too.  This was the beautiful result:

Tell me that doesn’t look good.

So, why is this cake my sister’s favorite?  Because it tastes amazing.  Several college students say so.  And even though it breaks a lot of my “rules” about what I should be eating, its nice to have the occasional treat (and I only had a couple cupcakes)  Why is it now my go-to chocolate cake recipe?  Because it’s amazingly easy to make, despite using packaged cake and pudding mix, plus 4 eggs and alcohol.

Need I say more?

Triple Chocolate Cake

1 package devil’s food cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
½ cup brewed coffee
½ cup dark rum
½ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Beat all ingredients except chocolate chips together 2 minutes.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour into greased and floured 12 cup Bundt pan.  (I told you it was easy!!!!)

Bake at 350° for 55-60 mins for bundt cake.
18-22 minutes for cupcakes.

Cool 10 mins. Remove from pan, cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!