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By Emily, July 29, 2010 2:53 pm

I sometimes decide to make random things I’ve never made (or had) before and can’t stop thinking about it until I do so.  This week, it was stuffed peppers.  Tuesday’s trip to the CSA yielded 6 green bell peppers, among other things and last night I put my (rather spontaneous, recipe-less) plan into action.

For a meal created without a recipe, these peppers came out pretty good.  We ended up adding a bit of salt and they could’ve used more herbs, but they definitely weren’t bad.  An even better, and unintended, result was that my husband felt completely full afterwards, which is apparently a rarity.  I guess I need to work on making more filling meals for the poor guy.

There are a million stuffed pepper variations, this is mine.  They’re sort of Italian-style…with black beans.  Stuffed peppers are a fabulous way to use up bits of ingredients in your pantry.  The half an onion, leftover beans, half box of pasta and that bit of cheese you don’t know what to do with?  This is it.  If you’ve got rice or quinoa or other vegetables, use those.  I didn’t buy anything specifically for this recipe besides the peppers and they turned out really well.

Also, I would like it apologize in advance for our harsh kitchen lighting.  It is very non-conductive to food photography.

“Whatever’s In The Pantry” Stuffed Peppers

Serves 4

You’ll need:

• 6 bell peppers
• 4 oz uncooked orzo pasta
• 1 tomato
• 1 cup black beans (or whatever beans you have on hand)
• 1/2 of an onion
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• salt
• fresh basil
• fresh oregano
• mozzarella cheeese

1.  Cook the orzo according to package directions.

2.  While the orzo cooks, cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds.

3. Dice the tomato and onion.  Finely chop the basil and oregano.

4.  Drain the orzo and transfer it to a mixing bowl.  Add the tomato, onion, ricotta, black beans, salt and herbs to the bowl.  Mix well.

5. Stuff each of the peppers full of the orzo filling.

6.  Top each pepper with a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil and  cook at 350° for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese has browned a bit (or, in our case, until you can’t wait any more)

7.  Serve and enjoy!

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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.

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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 8, 2010 5:20 pm

I love the blogosphere.

Caitlin, over at her blog Healthy Tipping Point posted great answer to the question What Does “Ethical Eating” Mean? yesterday

I’ll get to Caitlin’s thoughts, and my own in a minute.  But you need to know, this post pretty much made my day.  It’s basically the post I’ve been trying to write on this blog for weeks.  Over the past few weeks (possibly the past few months), I’ve been going through another phase of debate over what I should (or shouldn’t) be eating.  There’s so much information out there and so many opinions.  It seems as though the more informed you are, the harder it is to make the right decision.  Should you buy all organic, or is organic an irrelevant label?  Is sugar, stevia or agave healthier?  Is some meat okay?  Just humanely raised meat?  Should I go vegan?  (I have articles to support all of the above opinions, and more, if you want them).  It’s easy to feel confused and its even easier to feel guilty.

I love Caitlin’s definition of an ethical eater:

“ethical eating” means you strive to make educated decisions about your food choices and the impact such choices have on our community, animals, and our environment, and then you strive to reach the best conclusion for YOU…Because I believe that every positive effort you make is important and worthwhile.

At this point, I’m still a flexitarian (in other words, still eating meat).  We just used up the last of our supermarket purchased ground turkey (which had been in our freezer for some time because I just don’t think to use meat anymore) and the plan is if we want to cook meat in the future, we’ll buy it from one of the local farms so we know where its coming from and how the animals were treated.  But I don’t think that ethical eating is only about meat.  There are so many other types of food that impact our health and our environment.  We’ve stopped buying products with High Fructose Corn Syrup.  I make things from scratch as much as possible and read ingredient labels.  We rarely eat out, which helps us know as much as possible where our food is coming from.  I try to make it to the CSA, farms and farmers markets regularly.  Those are our choices, based on the conclusions we’ve made.

Caitlin goes on to say,

When I say that I am an “ethical eater,” I mean that I strive to understand WHERE my food comes from and the IMPACT that my choices have.  That does NOT mean that I am perfect.

Well said.  I too want to share what I’ve learned (hence the blog) and show other people that eating ethically isn’t as hard as they imagine, but (another Caitlin quote),  “Mama Pea said it best when she said, “I think being militant about any lifestyle choice is one of the biggest deterrents to invoking change in others.””

For me, this issue of ethical eating also involves the purpose of eating.  Food should be more than just about nutrients and health (though those are really important), it should be enjoyed and it should be a social event whenever possible (I’ve been reading Michael Pollan lately, maybe you can tell?).  Therefore, I don’t want my eating decisions to make me unhappy or cause others to not want to spend time with me.  Now, when I say I don’t want my decisions to make me unhappy, I don’t mean I’m going to eat whatever makes me feel good.  Being overweight would not make me feel good.  Knowing that the meat I’m consuming was mistreated does not make me feel good.  Not knowing what’s in my food does not make me feel good.  Taking on the  vegetarian label (which I almost did a month or so ago) is taking on a lot of negative connotations and a lot of expectations.  I’m not sure I want to do that.  I’d rather just be that girl who loves to cook yummy food, and most of its pretty healthy too.

As Caitlin makes clear, eating ethically is a tricky thing, especially when everyone’s got their own definitions.  I’m far from perfect, but as Food, Inc and many other sources note, we vote for what we want our food system to be like 3 times a day, but there are a lot of gray areas.  I try to make the best decisions I can, but I’m a newlywed (or not…) on a budget, still learning to cook, just starting my teaching career (which is more work than you can imagine) and I’m not going to make myself insane trying to do all the “right things” at once.  Change doesn’t have to happen over night and I’m making the best decisions I can for myself based on what I’ve learned so far.

I’ll echo Caitlin’s question here: What do you think of the ethical eating debate?

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By Emily, May 17, 2010 8:14 pm

Several articles I’ve read about being a “good blogger” suggest that bloggers shouldn’t apologize for not posting, because it draws attention to the fact that they haven’t posted when, actually, no one had noticed in the first place.  But its been 17 days since I’ve written a “real” post, and even that was just Highlights, so it’s really been 18 days and that really annoys me.  So, this is not an apology, its an explanation.  Because I suspect some people noticed that I went from several posts a week to no posts for several weeks.  And I’m not happy about it.

Between April 29 and now, I’ve been sick, gone to my sister’s senior art exhibit, gotten almost healthy, studied my butt off for a teacher licensure test, taken the test, done a ton of lesson planning, grading and trying to figure out this summer, gone to my sister’s graduation from college and gotten sicker than I was the first time (visiting the doctor tomorrow).

You may notice that neither cooking nor blogging is in the above list.  Luckily for you, I’m in quarantine tonight instead of at bible study, so I have the time to share what I finally made when I got myself into the kitchen last night.

Last spring, before I got married, my mother gave me a bunch of recipes that my family eats regularly to get my started in my new life.  One of them, Farfalle with Gorgonzola and Walnuts, is a family favorite that’s simple and delicious.   I made a few adjustments to make it more vegetarian-friendly and balanced.  Enjoy!

Pasta and Broccoli in Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

Adapted from Good Housekeeping, serves about 6

• 13.25 oz (1 box) whole wheat pasta, any shape.  (I used rotini this time around)
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• 4 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola (Adjust to taste)
• 3/4 lb. broccoli
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1.  Cook  and drain the pasta according to the directions on the package.  Return the drained pasta to the pot.

2.  While the pasta is cooking, dice the broccoli, stem and all.  It’s all edible–don’t just use the florets!

3.  In a small saucepan, combine the half and half with the vegetable broth and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.  After boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.

4.  Add the Gorgonzola and salt and pepper to taste.  Whisk until melted and smooth.

5.  Add the broccoli and cook it until it’s as tender as you want it.  If you want it really tender, you may want to steam it separately.  I like my vegetables pretty raw, so I just added the broccoli to the sauce, mixed it in, and moved on.

6.  Pour the sauce and broccoli mixture over the pasta and stir to combine evenly.  Top with chopped walnuts before serving.

7.  Enjoy!

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By Emily, March 31, 2010 5:56 am

I know it’s officially spring, but I’m continuing to make soup until it’s too hot to eat it.  Plus it’s been disgustingly cold and rainy all week, which is definitely soup weather.

Sunday night’s creation was an incredibly simple Tuscan White Bean Soup, the recipe for which was featured in The Atlantic about a month ago.  It couldn’t have taken me more than half an hour to prepare, it’s vegetarian (if you substitute veggie broth for the chicken) and I’m a sucker for anything with cannellini beans.  Or garlic.

I exchanged the cream for half and half, because sometimes I don’t see the point in buying cream for just one recipe (but sometimes I do). And, because I almost never have fresh herbs, I used dried thyme.

Simple, and yet surprisingly good.  I don’t think Brian was quite as enamored as I was, but I really, really loved the taste of this soup (It’s adapted from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe–what’s not to love?).  The only thing that I would’ve changed was that the soup could’ve used a little more bulk…which got me thinking about potatoes…which got me thinking about a soup I made months ago and never posted about…

Every issue of Food Network Magazine comes with a little booklet of 50 recipes. One month it was mashed potatoes, another it was cookies. In one issue (October 2009) it was “50 Easy Soups”. Clearly, I wasn’t complaining.  I tried out  #16: Potato Chowder.

Almost to my surprise, this basic chowder from Food Network of all places,  did not disappoint.  I cut down on the fat a bit by using turkey bacon (which was a new experience in and of itself) and the chowder was still awesome.  The recipe also serves as a base for  Potato Cheese Soup (#17), Clam Chowder (#18), Corn Chowder (#19), and Fish Chowder (#20).

So…2 similar soups.  Granted, its been a while since I made the chowder, but I think if I had to pick one to add to my regular repertoire it would be the Tuscan White Bean Soup, though I’d probably add potatoes.  It’s vegetarian, there are beans, and you don’t have to deal with the chore of washing leeks.  I’m still not even sure I like leeks, though I’ve used them several times now.  I’d just as soon have onions.  The White Bean Soup is lighter, but there’s nothing wrong with that.

Enjoy–not too many days of soup eating remain! (Who am I kidding?  I’ll probably eat soup all summer!)

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By Emily, March 21, 2010 7:11 pm

As I mentioned this morning, yesterday was just an awesome day.  The awesomeness culminating in a meal so good I could barely believe I’d cooked it.  I make a lot of so-so recipes, but last night’s broccoli lasagna was perfect.

I used Real Simple’s recipe for Three Cheese Broccoli Lasagna.  Often Real Simple recipes (at least the ones in their emails) don’t really appeal to me, but since lasagna is one of Brian’s favorite foods, I grabbed the recipe and added it to my Evernote account.  Yesterday I decided to try it (it helped that mozzarella and ricotta were on sale).  It was the first time I’d made lasagna and I realized I cheated a little by using no-boil noodles (in my defense: the recipe says to!) but it’s really not that hard, and this recipe’s definitely worth it.

I’m sure that the recipe would be great as written, but I decided to make one change and take it a step further by making my own marinara sauce.  Slashfood posted a recipe for All-Purpose Marinara back in September and this seemed a good opportunity to try it out.  I halved the recipe because I knew it was going to make way too much sauce, substituted petite diced tomatoes for whole and used less chili flakes than suggested (I didn’t measure).  I only simmered it for an hour or so.  The sauce has nice spice to it and halving the recipe provided us with about 6 cups of deliciousness.  I froze the sauce we didn’t use for the lasagna and look forward to defrosting it for pasta or some other creation.

In short: Delicious vegetarian lasagna, made even better by homemade sauce.

That, and the fact that it was such a beautiful day out that Brian and I enjoyed our supper outside on our balcony.  Hopefully that’ll happen a frequently over the next 6 months or so.

Enjoy!

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By Emily, February 23, 2010 7:14 pm

Fresh on the heels of my super-yummy polenta casserole (which was less mushy after a couple nights in the fridge), I tried out another never before made (by me) recipe.  Yes, I tried 2 new recipes in one week!  I told you I was returning to the kitchen!  It’s about freakin’ time.

The recipe for Tortilla and Black Bean Torte from Planet Green appeared in my reader last week and sounded like a neat way to make vegetarian Mexican food that isn’t tacos or burritos.  You sandwich a cheese and bean/spice/corn/onion filling between tortillas and bake it in the oven.

Okay, so, this looks kind of like mush too.  But, remember, I specialize in delicious mush.  My tortillas were a little small for the pan so I didn’t fill them to the edge so that contributes to the whole creation being a little sad looking.  Still, the taste was pretty awesome and surprisingly rich and filling.  I adjusted the recipe and only used 1/3 or so of a chipotle pepper–those things are hot!  And I left out the scallions, cilantro, and sour cream because I’m realizing sometimes it’s not worth tracking down ingredients you don’t already have in your cupboard.

Would I make it again?  Absolutely.  I might even tweak it a bit more and see what I can come up with.

When all was said and done, I was left with just 2 questions:

1) Anyone have a fool-proof method for resurrecting dried beans? I soaked mine overnight and then cooked them for a little bit and they came out pretty well, but I still feel like I’m missing something that’s making the whole process more difficult than it’s supposed to be.

2) What should I do with the rest of my chipotle peppers? I’ve still got a half dozen or so in my freezer and they’re so spicy I can’t figure out how to use them up!

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By Emily, February 21, 2010 2:16 pm

Two weeks ago, I made meatloaf and Brian and I spent pretty much all week eating it (it didn’t occur to me until we’d finished it that I could’ve frozen some).  Last week we were on vacation and so I didn’t cook.  I felt like I hadn’t been in the kitchen in forever.  And I missed it.

I made up for my absence last night with a surprisingly delicious casserole I adapted from a recipe for Polenta and Onion Casserole with Fennel Seed and Soy Mozzarella that was in The Complete Vegan Cookbook: Over 200 Tantalizing Recipes, Plus Plenty of Kitchen Wisdom for Beginners and Experienced Cooks by Susann Geiskopf-Hadler and Mindy Toomay.

Things you should know before making this recipe:

1) It’s from a vegan cookbook, but my adaptation is not vegan.  Simple solution: substitute soy mozzarella for the regular mozzarella cheese (that’s what the original recipe called for, but I had the cheese already and I can’t bring myself to eat soy cheese yet).

2) Making this dish requires 2 burners and the oven.  But it’s worth it.  So worth it.

3) As incredibly delicious as this dish is, it’s not the prettiest thing ever once you serve it.  I served it with a spoon and ate it out of a bowl–it’s pretty much mush.  But the flavor is amazing and comforting.

Tomato, Onion and Polenta Casserole
Adapted from The Complete Vegan Cookbook

2 teaspoons fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
Olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 red onions, chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
28 oz can whole tomatoes (do not drain!)
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
black pepper
1 and 1/2 cups uncooked polenta (coarse ground cornmeal)
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese, or more to taste

1. Use a spice grinder to combine the fennel seed and chili flakes.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Add the fennel seed and chili flake mixture and minced garlic to the oil and stir to combine for about a minute.
3. Add the onions and salt to the skillet.  Cook, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft.
4. Add the capers and the tomatoes with their juice to the skillet.  After the mixture reaches a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up large pieces of tomato.
5. While that cooks, preheat the oven to 375º.  Grease a 3 quart casserole dish with olive oil.
6. In a saucepan, combine 4 cups of water, garlic powder and a sprinkle of black pepper.  Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce the temperature to medium and add the polenta in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly.  Continue to whisk until the polenta is thick (normal polenta consistency, this takes a few minutes).  Whisk in 1/2 cup of cold water and return the polenta to bubbling.
8. Stir in a 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese to the polenta.  Next, pour the polenta into the greased casserole dish.  Distribute the polenta evenly in the dish.  Pour the onion and tomato mixture on top and cover with the remaining mozzarella.
9. Bake for 20 minutes and cool before serving.

On a unrelated note for my local readers, I just found about about this cool event happening in Williamstown and North Adams, Massachusetts next month.  The Farm Film Feast is March 10-14 and will feature showings and discussion on “a dozen documentary films about our food: Who produces it, how it reaches us, and how it affects our health, our environment, and our local and global communities.”  I’m not sure which events we’ll be attending (March still seems so far away!) but I’m really excited about it.

Enjoy what remains of the weekend!

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By Emily, February 20, 2010 4:06 pm

Maybe it’s just my interest in cooking unique, healthy, fresh food.  Maybe it’s the appeal of vegetarianism.  But it seemed to me that this week there were a lot of blogs writing about vegetarianism and veganism.   I’m still neither of those, but I really admire people who are and I’ve really enjoyed exploring them recently (I just got Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals from the library and I’m so excited to start reading it!).

Highlights for February 14-20: Veganism and Vegetarianism

Sometimes I think these diets seem more popular because I’m so aware of them, but I’m clearly not the only one interested.  Alicia Silverstone’s vegan cookbook, “The Kind Diet ” was topping Amazon’s bestselling cookbooks list.

No Meat Athlete is one of my favorite blogs for vegetarian recipes, and there’s a whole category of healthy desserts, which are almost always vegan.

People often comment that vegetarian/vegan diets don’t supply enough nutrients.  Planet Green says you can get more iron than Popeye as a vegan

Endless Simmer examines the question “Can a vegetarian/vegan be a “foodie”” (The answer? A resounding “yes”.  Duh.)

Also from Planet Green, “Meat the Press: 6 Ways to Decode Media Coverage of Vegan Issues”

A spin on Bittman’s “Vegan until 6,” Graham Hill is promoting weekday vegetarianism.  I know ideas like this upset “real” vegetarians sometimes, but I think it’s really great.  In fact, in the 14 months since I cut my meat consumption by more than half, full time vegetarianism has become more and more appealing.

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.