Why'd You Have to Go and Make Things So Complicated?

Things I'm happy to have done in the last couple days include
1) Spending hours upon hours outside in the gorgeous spring-like weather.
2) Purging my google reader of blogs I feel guilty for not reading.
3) Making classic dishes I often forget are in my arsenal.

The last of these means I have a recipe to share! (um, it's been forever since I've posted a recipe.) One today and another later, perhaps. Whenever I make these two dishes I forget to take pictures, so I put off blogging about them, and then I realized today it was silly to wait any longer. A) these foods do not photograph well, and B) I may never remember. So because it's still winter (despite what the DC forecast may say), here is a soup for you. A hearty, vegan soup you will adore. I mean this earnestly because everyone in our family goes wild for this soup, including Sam, which is a tall order when it comes to vegan recipes. And as most soups do, it only gets better over time, so you can look forward to the leftovers this ginormous batch will yield.

Curried Lentil Sweet Potato* Soup
Adapted from Kayla Jones

1 large onion, diced
7 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup ginger, freshly grated
2 T curry powder
1 c carrots, diced
1 c red bell pepper, diced
5 c sweet potato, diced
2 cans coconut milk
2 c brown lentils, rinsed
6 c vegetable stock
1 t salt
1 lime, juiced

Saute onion, garlic, and ginger until onion starts to become translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, except lime juice, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes, or up to a few hours, until the soup has become very thick and stew like. Add lime juice right before serving. Garnish with cilantro, if desired. 

(*also, you may note this recipe seems to go against what I said in my previous post about sweet potatoes. I guess they aren't really spotlight-hoggers in this soup, so I can get on board with it. What can I say? I'm a complicated woman.)

Try This Tuesday, Or: To Thine Own Self Be True

I habitually hit a kitchen rut every January, this year being no exception. Once Sam went back to work after the holidays, the only kitchen motivation I had was buttering toast, but I soldiered through! I tried five new recipes in the last two weeks, and there were a lot of busts, actually. Here is a weird truth, no matter how much I try (and try!), I just can't get on board with butternut squash. It's related to the whole not-liking-cooked-fruit thing. I suppose I don't like sweet things to be warm, and butternut squash is too sweet. This also goes for sweet potatoes. So the new recipes included a vegan mac 'n' cheese (butternut squash based), and a sweet potato chili. Entire dinners in the trash (wah wah). So the lesson learned is that if you don't like something, don't make it for dinner. Know yourself, know your tastes, and to thine own self be true. Amidst the gross stuff I also found some goodies! Here's a list of things to try.

Quinoa "meat"balls. My dear friend's sister-in-law runs this vegan and allergy-friendly blog, and I thought this dinner was amazing. I often crave spaghetti and meatballs, but just cannot stomach red meat anymore. Problem solved! I ate these meatballs for days on end. Perfect texture (crisp on the outside!) and a great depth of flavor. (Though Sam wasn't as wild about them as I was and kept telling me I shouldn't call them meatballs, because it was deceiving.) The kale featured in this post was pretty cool. I think I just don't like kale though (too bitter), but the coconut/maple/orange flavor was awesome.

Apparently I'm on a quinoa kick, but I fell head over heels for this Thai Fried Quinoa. I tried both of these recipes because it seems all the popular quinoa recipes are for mexican style dishes (tossed with onion, bell peppers, cilantro, and lime), which gets boring. But this Thai fried quinoa was so good, I could have eaten the entire pan in one sitting, no joke. All that coconut milk probably means it isn't the world's healthiest recipe, but it's so good you won't even care. Seriously, make this today.

Of course winter means I want to eat soup every day, and this carrot ginger miso soup really hit the spot. Unfortunately not even Bria liked this soup, which is suspicious, but I loved it. Miso makes my heart sing. (And, just so you don't have to make multiple trips to Whole Foods like I did, I'll tell you that miso is located in the refrigerated section, near all the other vegan stuff.)

And lastly, we met up with Hannah and Rob on Saturday night for sandwiches at Brabo's the butcher block. Not a great place to stay and eat (we brought the sandwiches back to our place), but the sandwiches were fantastic. Right near the king street metro, I definitely recommend it for a quality, gourmet sandwich (and I really want to go back for a cheese plate). (also note they stop making sandwiches at 7pm.)

try this tuesday: the passing of time edition

Ready to hear something everyone else is saying today?

I can't believe it's November.

Like, wasn't it just July? or March, for that matter? Ah, the passing of time. I remember being in Kindergarten and thinking (very distinctly): "I have been in Kindergarten for.ev.er." And when I was a Sophomore in high school realizing I was not yet half way through high school, and it really bummed me out (I didn't enjoy high school). Two+ years seemed like eternity to me at age 15, and now it's practically the blink of an eye. (We've now been in Virginia for two years.) And now here I am wondering what the next two years will bring, and . . . I've come full circle to my last post. I spend a lot of mental energy on the passing of time. Can you tell?
Um. Anyway. I've been out of town a lot lately, which is making me feel slightly disconnected from the real world, but it's also really fun. Sam and I are headed to NYC this weekend, and a handful of weeks later, Bria and I are headed to Utah for a week. This year is practically over, and it's freaking me out. In the meantime, I have food to keep me grounded. or something. This is the food I'm obsessed with lately:

This salad will knock your socks off. I keep making it expecting the novelty to wear off, and it has yet to do anything but please me to no end.

Whole Foods brand crumbled blue cheese. In a salad, on slices of fresh pear, or just snitched from the fridge-- I just can't get enough.

This bbq sauce is . . . interesting. Sam and Bria l.o.v.e. it, but I am not wild about the Asian undertones (perhaps I'll omit or reduce the hoisin sauce next time?). It does however, make dinner a cinch. My freezer is packed full of small portions of the sauce, and my favorite quick dinner lately is a slew of oven roasted veggies, black beans, brown rice, and a scoop of this sauce all mixed together.

And because I know you just want more sugary things the day after Halloween on the brink of the holiday season: I dare you to make this carmel sauce and not attempt to drink it straight.

Try This Tuesday/ Back from the Dead

I promise to return shortly with so many posts about all the crazy indulgent foods I've been eating this summer, which is why I have one very key recipe to share with you. For dinner last night (ok, and leftovers for dinner tonight, too), we ate vegan stuffed shells. It's all been a little much-- the burgers, the pies, the hot dogs, the cheesesteaks, the ice cream-- and a wholesome, vegan meal was so incredibly necessary. If anyone else can relate to my summertime gluttony then please let me know-- the buddy system may be in order to finding equilibrium again. The No Red Meat policy is back in full effect, and for the first time, I'm thinking of taking a break from dairy. I would cry if it weren't for those shells that tasted really cheesy. Actually, no. I will probably still cry.

Capellini Pomodoro

If I can admit something, it's that I'm superstitious (against my better judgment). On Monday I said to Sam, "this weather has just been so amazing. I love it!" And BAM. Yesterday was a hot, humid sweat fest. I jinxed the weather, and I'm sorry! And now when dinner time rolls around, I don't want to turn on the oven. Actually, I don't want to move at all. I just want to sit on the couch, sip diet coke, eat watermelon, and watch Downton Abbey. Is that so much to ask? But I have this charming three year-old who requires three meals a day, plus snacks. Enter capellini pomodoro. I have a feeling this will be our go-to dinner all summer (because, it was actually already our go-to dinner all spring).


You kind of can't go wrong here. It's simple, and I think it's best to not follow a strict recipe. But to make things easier, this is how we do it 'round these parts.
1 package capellini (or angel hair)
1 box small tomatoes (cherry, grape, plum, or even roma all diced up will do)
8 cloves garlic (or more! don't hold back!)
1/2 cup olive oil
a handful of fresh basil, torn or cut chiffonade
kosher or sea salt, pepper, and freshly-grated parmesan to taste

Put on a big pot of salted water to boil, and while you wait, begin quartering your tomatoes and mincing your garlic. Before you put the pasta in, tomatoes and garlic should be ready. Put the olive oil in a small sauce pan on medium heat and toss the garlic in to loosen up a bit. Toss the pasta into the water (it only takes about 2-3 minutes). Once it's done, drain it, and immediately toss it into a big bowl with the tomatoes, garlic, and oil. Using tongs or two spoons, gently toss everything together to combine, adding the basil as you go. Season with salt, pepper, and top with parmesan. You can also toss the tomatoes in with the garlic to cook a bit, but I just warn you to not let them cook much. You want the tomatoes to be firm and fresh. Also be sure to cook the pasta al dente. This provides our small family with plenty of leftovers that get better after a night in the fridge and are stealthily eaten by the forkful throughout the day.

Try This Tuesday

And we're back! I've overcome the intimidation of photo file organization on our computer. I uploaded 200 photos today, and I'm ready to start sharing some incredible things we've eaten in the last two weeks. So, in the sometimes-recurring series, Try This Tuesday is here to save the day.

I think I've perfected the Hawaiian pizza. This crust (add 1T olive oil to the dough); Trader Joe's pizza sauce, canned pineapple chunks, and canadian bacon; and Safeway mozzarella cheese (Lucerne brand, the mozzarella log that is not water packed).

My friend Erica has some great recipes, and this Mexican Tortilla Bake is one of them. It's easy to freeze ahead of time, and adding some homemade pico de gallo on top turns it into a fresh, filling meal. Funny enough, I made this meal during National Vegetarian Week-- along with four other meat-centered dishes that week. We usually average less than one meat dish a week, so the strange carnivorous menu was delightfully ironic.

I just discovered the dreamy 101 cookbooks blog. Do you know it? The photography is delightful, and most of the recipes have me reaching for a pen and my shopping list. This Pappardelle with Spiced Butter was delicious. Warm, earthy, and complex. It was fun to make, though I think I need to steer clear of recipes that require to me to buy ingredients I'll never use again (I'm looking at you, wilting and dead mint plant sitting on my counter). I'm all for branching out and trying new things, but sometimes it's not very economical. It's a delicate balance though, because I'd love to make a permanent leap into new food territories-- one where scary new ingredients become familiar friends-- but it's a long process to create familiarity.

Do you read Cup of Jo? Because you really should. Last week she posted about Greek Yogurt and Berry popsicles and Avocado popsicles. I know, right? So we made them this weekend. They were just as she described them-- the avocado were surprisingly sweet and the yogurt were tart and creamy (we used raspberries). I will be making both again and again (especially the avocado!).

It's no surprise my favorite food blogger continues to be Molly Wizenberg. I can never get enough of Orangette. We tried her Baked Pasta with Homemade Tomato Sauce and Fresh Mozzarella for dinner on Sunday and were absolutely smitten. If I had to commit to one cheese and forsake all others, might I choose fresh mozzarella? I can't say for certain, but it's a definite possibility.

More on this later, but I made a batch of granola for my dear sister Lindsay, who just had a baby (darling, precious Chloe Eve!). Smitten Kitchen's is my favorite granola because it results in a crunchy, clustery granola. Also, pepitas? Yowza. Those things are TASTY when they are all baked up in sugar and honey.

Are you still reading? Wow. You're a trooper. Well, I appreciate it. I also promise more (and shorter!) posts to come in the following days. Now I'm off to frolic in the gorgeous weather (not quite 80 and no humidity!)-- a rare, but greatly appreciated late-spring gift from Mother Nature.

Try This Tuesday

Quick! Before it's too hot to use your stove for dinner, make this soup. Even though we're more than half way through May, I promise it won't taste too heavy. Plus, it's beautiful (red lentils!):
It should be noted that I had no Aleppo pepper, so I just skipped it. And I only had plain old paprika, so I used that. And the whole thing was very reminiscent of this soup, but infinitely more simple, which, if you're going to make soup in late May, is kind of a requisite.

Link Love

My own creativity remains in hibernation. So, try these two borrowed lovelies, which constituted our dinner tonight (it is Meatless Monday, after all):

Bran muffins. I promise they are divine.

Soup. Hearty, tasty, filling soup.

So Not Posh

I think this happened around the same time last year, but I hit a culinary wall. I don't feel like cooking or baking anything. We've been eating a lot of quesadillas and pasta with marinara. One of our go-to easy meals lately has been an amazingly simple burrito.

Is it sad that this is what my food blogging has been reduced to? Meh. Whatever.

If you have only five minutes to feed the hungry people surrounding you, here is the solution:
A bunch of leftover brown rice (found languishing in your fridge)
A heap of cheese
1 can black beans
1 minced garlic clove (or a small spoon of garlic paste, for increased simplicity)
Chili powder
Cumin
Salt
Pepper

Mix it all together and toss it in a tortilla. Roll it up and heat each side in the pan on medium heat until it's hot, gooey, and crispy. Adding some avocado on top makes it even more heavenly.

peter, peter, pumpkin eater

Yesterday I went to a church activity, and, long story short, I ended up with a gallon-sized ziploc bag of raw, cubed pumpkin in my fridge. I was originally going to just bake it, puree it, and freeze it, but then I remembered a curry recipe my sister sent me in January that would be easily adapted* to accommodate the pumpkin.

So, let's not dilly-dally, shall we?


Pumpkin Curry

1/2 yellow onion, sliced
1 small chunk fresh ginger, grated
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 t red curry paste
1 t yellow curry powder
1 t cinnamon
2 cans coconut milk
3 T fish sauce
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c water
1 c cubed pumpkin
1/2 c cubed potato
2 carrots, cut into small pieces

Microwave the potato and pumpkin for 4-5 minutes, until it's about half-way cooked, then set aside.
First saute the onion until it just starts to soften. Then, add the ginger, garlic, curry paste, curry powder, and cinnamon. Cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, and water.
Simmer for about 10 minutes or so, then check the seasonings and add more, as needed.
Add the potato, pumpkin, and carrots and simmer until the veggies are cooked through.
If it's too thick, add more water, just make sure it doesn't dilute the spices too much. If you do need to add more spices, make sure to simmer for a couple minutes to give them time to infuse their flavor into the liquid.
Serve over jasmine rice.

*The recipe my sister sent uses kabocha squash, chicken, red bell pepper, and peas instead of the veggies I used, but that is the beauty of curry: you can really adapt it according to whatever you have in your fridge.

Gazpacho!

My mom called me a couple weeks ago and asked if I had a recipe for gazpacho, and I did not! Truth be told, I didn't even know what gazpacho was (but I didn't tell my mom that). I promised to find and send her a recipe. First, I turned to my homegirl Ina, and her recipe looked fantastic. And to give my mom some more options, I also sent along PW's recipe.

And then, all I could think of was gazpacho, which, it turns out, is a cold, tomato-based soup. (But I'm sure everyone else in the world already knew that.) I decided to make it the night Matt and Elisa arrived.
This is the perfect summer meal because it's light but totally satisfying, and (here's the kicker) you don't have to cook anything. It's been like a billion degrees here lately, so when you turn on the stove or the oven, a little part of your soul dies.
So, the thing about gazpacho is that it's made up of tons of finely diced veggies, and if you're not really into chopping veggies, maybe you should use a food processor. I was seriously thinking about this until I realized three things: 1) I was going to make it during Bria's nap. 2) I like chopping vegetables. 3) I don't have a big enough food processor.
So I hand-chopped everything, and it was so delightful to just stand up to my counter and chop, chop, chop while Bria napped the afternoon away. Then, you just combine everything in a big beautiful bowl, and you're done. Seriously. Chop, chop, chop, combine, done.
I served it up with some Trader Joe's cornbread, which resulted in a small part of my soul dying while it baked, but it was soooo worth it. That stuff is good. As was the gazpacho. It tasted exactly how the last days of spring should taste-- vibrant, alive, and fresh. We all gobbled it down, including Bria. She ate two bowls of her own, then she climbed up onto Elisa's lap and demanded Elisa's bowl. And also? I'm going to stop pretending I have any idea whatsoever of how to take pictures of my food. But here's what it all looked like:

And now for the recipe:

Gazpacho
(adapted from Ina Garten and Pioneer Woman)

1 hothouse cucumber, not peeled, seeds removed
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 orange bell pepper
4-5 roma tomatoes, seeds removed
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves
1 zucchini
1 stalk celery
32 ounces tomato juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
dash kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely dice all vegetables and toss them into a bowl with remaining ingredients. Stir thoroughly and refrigerate until cold. Serve chilled with avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and a splash of lime.

Feliz Cinco De Mayo! (whatever you need to tell yourself to justify eating what you want)

Just over a week ago, this girl turned two:
On Saturday we threw her a party, and, as a result, I went on a serious guacamole binge.
I have to credit Sam for the guacamole, because he came up with a combination I really love. Now, I will eat (and love!) nearly any avocado concoction called guacamole, but I am really loving Sam's simple combination of avocados, garlic, lime, and kosher salt.

For the batch I am currently devouring--
I used two avocados, one finely-minced garlic clove, one who lime, and one pinch of kosher salt. Mashed roughly with a fork (I like some chunks of avocado), I am inhaling it like oxygen on some Costco organic tortilla chips. A delightful snack, if you ask me. Incredibly tasty, and I'll call it healthy too, since it is natural, has protein, and lots of those good kinds of fat or whatever to feed my growing brain. Right? Plus, it's festive. For Cinco de Mayo. I'm cultural like that.

In Which I Wax Philosophical and Also Have a Lunch Idea

I've said it before, but I hate lunch. I never know what to eat, and I am known to complain about it. I end up eating leftovers more often than not, but if we've gone out the night before, or if I'm just not feeling it, I end up whining a lot and eating mac and cheese or something very unfulfilling, which then results in heavy snacking and sadness later. It's all very dramatic.

But when I went to Costco the other day, I decided to buy some falafel. (Speaking of Costco-- it is one of the only things that ever makes me want to have a big family. then I would have an excuse to buy so many of the delicious things that feed far more people then I ever have the occasion to feed. Yes, buying in bulk makes me want to have more kids.) So, yeah, I bought some falafel. I thought it could help my lunch predicament. I also bought some flat bread from trader joe's with a bunch of crunchy vegetables-- green peppers, lettuce, and cucumbers. I tossed them all together with some of this divine lemon yogurt sauce, and it made a fantastically satisfying lunch-- which is good, because I have oodles and scads more falafel, since it came from Costco.
The other thing I want to say is that I am really, really happy. When we first moved to Virginia, I started thinking what did we do?! I realized that the boredom I often experience as a stay-at-home mom is the same wherever I live, and I was also incredibly (painfully, achingly) lonely. But in the last month or so, I have started to feel so at home here. I am really starting to feel like I have a life here. And the other thing is that, for so long, I have had this image in my head of The Person I Want To Be, and it's been so drastically different from The Person I Actually Am. But I feel like I'm finally taking charge and making changes in my life. I feel more at peace with the things I know I can't change, and I feel so excited about the things I am doing to make my life the one I want it to be. In short, I am happy-- and I haven't felt like this in a long, long time. Life is good.