Thursday dinner:
On Thursday I made another Ital stew, and realized I'd left the salt out of the original recipe. It doesn't need much, just a generous pinch that goes in with the spices. Adding salt is not strictly ital and is completely optional, but the salt does complement the heat nicely. In making this, I used up a few more small squashes and the rest of our kale.
Friday dinner:
Matt made a miso soup, based on the Autumn miso soup in Peter Berley's Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. Used another little squash! I made a small pot of short grain rice because I like a bit of chewy rice in my miso soup sometimes.
Friday afternoon I made a big batch of arugula pesto and divided it into two containers: one for a wheat berry salad, and the other to have for other uses. As dinner was cooking, I made a large pot of wheat berries and composed the salad on Saturday morning.
Saturday lunch:
Arugula Pesto Wheat Berries, based on the 101cookbooks recipe. It's good! Arugula: done.
Saturday dinner:
We took the night off, and let the kids eat Trader Joe's frozen pizza and masala veggie burgers.
Sunday lunch:
Leftover miso soup and rice.
We had our lovely friends and neighbors over for dinner on Sunday, and they kindly brought a green salad, some watermelon, and wine.
Sunday dinner:
Salads: Beet (all of our farm beets) and Fennel salad with Pecorino (from A16 Food and Wine cookbook), green salad with balsamic vinaigrette (the tomato in this salad was unbelievably good), leftover wheat berry salad.
Soup: Butternut squash soup (it is better the next day).
Bread: Rustic sourdough from Witherspoon Bread.
Dessert: Watermelon, Peppermint Tea, and Conscious Kitchen Guajillo Chile-Chocolate Cupcakes.
Monday lunch:
Leftover butternut squash soup and bread.
Whenever I take stock of what is left from our farm share, I always think we are doing better than we actually are. The refrigerator isn't bursting anymore, but there are a lot of things in it. Especially hot peppers. And bell peppers. And watermelon. And lettuce. And sweet potatoes in the pantry.
Showing posts with label Peter Berley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Berley. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Stecca, Sandwiches, Soup
Sunday was quite warm, so my stecca dough got off to a good start and had a noticeably improved rise. I baked it off on Monday morning, using a bit less oil and much less salt for the top. I felt, the last time, that some bites were much too salty and wondered if so much oil was affecting my results, yielding the flatter loaves. The answer is no (wait, were those questions?). No the bread was not too salty, even if I thought it was (in fact, it was perfect for sandwiches, where the salt has room to spread out), and No the oil did not hinder the oven rise. So my result on Monday: fuller loaves, adequate oil, not enough salt. I failed to notice that, unlike the standard bread recipes in my new Jim Lahey book, the stecca dough contains very little salt on its own, and thus relies on those generous sprinklings for flavor. Lessons learned: warmer environment helps a lot; don't skimp on the salt. I am still working on my shaping technique as well.
Monday lunch:
Matt had another beet-arugula-goat cheese sandwich on stecca (it needed a bit of salt). The rest of us had leftover stew.
After lunch I roasted a few eggplants, red peppers and poblanos to save for later. I meant to marinate the eggplant with some garlic, cilantro, vinegar, and oil (Lahey recipe), but we were out of garlic so I will try to marinate today.
Monday dinner:
Matt made a double batch of one of our favorite, easy cold-weather soups: Coconut Milk Soup with Sweet Potato and Collard Greens, from Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley. We used sweet potatoes and jalapenos from Cherry Grove for this. Note: Sometimes you get a jalapeno that is just not that spicy, but it is crucial to get this soup spicy enough because the coconut milk and sweet potato can make it too sweet. And then it becomes a huge disappointment. But the Cherry Grove jalapenos did not disappoint. The cilantro and drizzle of lime juice take it over the top. And we have leftovers!
Taking stock:
We did pretty well this week. We do still have 2 small watermelons hanging around the fridge, though. And a couple of tiny winter squashes, 2 scallions, and quite a few hot peppers.
Monday lunch:
Matt had another beet-arugula-goat cheese sandwich on stecca (it needed a bit of salt). The rest of us had leftover stew.
After lunch I roasted a few eggplants, red peppers and poblanos to save for later. I meant to marinate the eggplant with some garlic, cilantro, vinegar, and oil (Lahey recipe), but we were out of garlic so I will try to marinate today.
Monday dinner:
Matt made a double batch of one of our favorite, easy cold-weather soups: Coconut Milk Soup with Sweet Potato and Collard Greens, from Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley. We used sweet potatoes and jalapenos from Cherry Grove for this. Note: Sometimes you get a jalapeno that is just not that spicy, but it is crucial to get this soup spicy enough because the coconut milk and sweet potato can make it too sweet. And then it becomes a huge disappointment. But the Cherry Grove jalapenos did not disappoint. The cilantro and drizzle of lime juice take it over the top. And we have leftovers!
Taking stock:
We did pretty well this week. We do still have 2 small watermelons hanging around the fridge, though. And a couple of tiny winter squashes, 2 scallions, and quite a few hot peppers.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Weekly roundup
We have been doing a lot of cooking. One of the many pleasurable things about the arrival of fall is that it is a lot more comfortable -- cozy, even -- to stand in front of the stove. And because the start of school and fall activities and birthdays mean, inevitably, that we need to spend a significant amount of money, the economy of home cooking doesn't hurt.
Thursday dinner:
Matt and I collaborated on a quick pasta meal. I made basil-parsley-walnut pesto and boiled the pasta, while Matt sauteed a whole bunch of eggplant, summer squash, and bell peppers. Then we tossed it all together and called it dinner. If we were feeling less tired, we would have made a salad, too.
Friday dinner:
A standby of Seitan and Greens with coconut green curry sauce. We did not have enough of any one grain, so I made a quick pilaf of millet and rice with scallion. Each dish was good on its own, but they didn't go together that well.
Friday night snack:
Lavender shortbread, cut into heart shapes. I made these to save for teatime at the birthday party (see below), but Matt and I enjoyed a few with our Friday night tea. I make my shortbread vegan, and I know there are many who would say that it isn't real shortbread without real butter or consider my occasional use of non-hydrogenated vegetable oil spread disgraceful, but I like it and I don't feel nauseous after.
On Saturday, we had a sleepover party for D. Six 12 year old girls, 2 younger siblings, and us. It went off pretty well. I was very pleased with my craft project -- I made a giant fabric dahlia and attached it to a ponytail holder for K -- but only a few of the girls finished theirs. I had convinced D to rent "Better Off Dead" for one of her movie showings. I remember watching this movie repeatedly with Anouck when we were young, but these girls are too young get the Howard Cosell references, which may be my favorite part of this weird, funny 80's teen movie.
Afternoon snack:
Watermelon from the farm and pretzels from a huge container that D won in a contest.
Dinner:
Burrito bar consisting of warm tortillas, rice cooked with a bit of oil and cinnamon, Rancho Gordo Santa Maria Pinquito beans, sauteed veggies with a bit of jalepeno, monterey jack cheese, and mango salsa. It was quite good, and well-received by the party-goers.
Dessert:
Chocolate mousse cake with cashew crust (from Millenium Cookbook recipe for Chocolate Almond Midnight, but without the almonds and raspberry sauce and some other minor variations). Scattered with fresh raspberries and served with raspberry sorbet. Vegan.
After-movie teatime:
Peppermint tea, organic (and local, from PA) apples, lavender shortbread.
Sunday breakfast:
All store-bought: bagels, regular and tofu cream cheese, orange juice. More farm watermelon.
Sunday dinner:
Matt made stew with leftover Pinquito beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and the leftover vegetables we bought for the burrito saute. Seasoned with 2 habeneros and served over rice. I thought it was delicious, but he was not thrilled.
Mad Men snack:
I made a quick vanilla cake (vegan, Peter Berley) even though I knew I shouldn't. We ate way too much.
Monday lunch:
Whole wheat elbows with greens and lemon zest, lots of pepper, and shaved pecorino. Quick and easy. K loved this. It had been a while since I made this type of preparation for her. There is never any picking at the greens in this dish, no matter what kind or how much, and we have an absolutely clean plate at the end.
Monday dinner:
Courtesy of mom.
What's left:
Thursday dinner:
Matt and I collaborated on a quick pasta meal. I made basil-parsley-walnut pesto and boiled the pasta, while Matt sauteed a whole bunch of eggplant, summer squash, and bell peppers. Then we tossed it all together and called it dinner. If we were feeling less tired, we would have made a salad, too.
Friday dinner:
A standby of Seitan and Greens with coconut green curry sauce. We did not have enough of any one grain, so I made a quick pilaf of millet and rice with scallion. Each dish was good on its own, but they didn't go together that well.
Friday night snack:
Lavender shortbread, cut into heart shapes. I made these to save for teatime at the birthday party (see below), but Matt and I enjoyed a few with our Friday night tea. I make my shortbread vegan, and I know there are many who would say that it isn't real shortbread without real butter or consider my occasional use of non-hydrogenated vegetable oil spread disgraceful, but I like it and I don't feel nauseous after.
On Saturday, we had a sleepover party for D. Six 12 year old girls, 2 younger siblings, and us. It went off pretty well. I was very pleased with my craft project -- I made a giant fabric dahlia and attached it to a ponytail holder for K -- but only a few of the girls finished theirs. I had convinced D to rent "Better Off Dead" for one of her movie showings. I remember watching this movie repeatedly with Anouck when we were young, but these girls are too young get the Howard Cosell references, which may be my favorite part of this weird, funny 80's teen movie.
Afternoon snack:
Watermelon from the farm and pretzels from a huge container that D won in a contest.
Dinner:
Burrito bar consisting of warm tortillas, rice cooked with a bit of oil and cinnamon, Rancho Gordo Santa Maria Pinquito beans, sauteed veggies with a bit of jalepeno, monterey jack cheese, and mango salsa. It was quite good, and well-received by the party-goers.
Dessert:
Chocolate mousse cake with cashew crust (from Millenium Cookbook recipe for Chocolate Almond Midnight, but without the almonds and raspberry sauce and some other minor variations). Scattered with fresh raspberries and served with raspberry sorbet. Vegan.
After-movie teatime:
Peppermint tea, organic (and local, from PA) apples, lavender shortbread.
Sunday breakfast:
All store-bought: bagels, regular and tofu cream cheese, orange juice. More farm watermelon.
Sunday dinner:
Matt made stew with leftover Pinquito beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and the leftover vegetables we bought for the burrito saute. Seasoned with 2 habeneros and served over rice. I thought it was delicious, but he was not thrilled.
Mad Men snack:
I made a quick vanilla cake (vegan, Peter Berley) even though I knew I shouldn't. We ate way too much.
Monday lunch:
Whole wheat elbows with greens and lemon zest, lots of pepper, and shaved pecorino. Quick and easy. K loved this. It had been a while since I made this type of preparation for her. There is never any picking at the greens in this dish, no matter what kind or how much, and we have an absolutely clean plate at the end.
Monday dinner:
Courtesy of mom.
What's left:
- A very small watermelon, meant to be made into watermelon-feta salad. Did I mention how I tried to make this salad and went to the cheese shop and bought Bulgarian feta because one of the recipes I looked at specifically called for this. I usually buy French. The Bulgarian feta is much stinkier and affected my enjoyment of this salad. And I still have 1/2 pound left. Argh.
- Some arugula, meant to be made into pesto and eaten with mashed potatoes.
- Potatoes.
- A number of hot peppers, including those poblanos, which were meant to be made into chiles rellenos.
- Varied and sundry fresh herbs.
- Quite a few beets. Please, Matt, no more of that pasta sauce. It wasn't bad, but I don't want to eat it again for ... a pretty long time.
- A tiny amount of salad mix. No salad was prepared this week, but small amounts of lettuce were consumed nonetheless.
Friday, September 11, 2009
A New Zeal
The work-filled summer was followed by a relaxing couple of weeks in the country, and then by frenetic preparations for the start of the new school year.
Among the culinary highlights of late summer was my first attempt at chiles rellenos, which was quite acceptable. I've got about 6 more poblanos in the fridge that are waiting to be smothered in cheese.
In the country we did a lot of cooking, but kept it simple. I loved Jhumpa Lahiri's piece in The New York Times about packing for and cooking in a summer rental. It was so timely. At the time that I read it, I had a constantly churning list working itself out in my head, even though we hadn't even settled on our summer vacation plans. I suppose I knew that in the end, my house rental scheme would prevail over the camping trip that Matt was talking about but not actually planning. Her essay on the subject spawned a Bitten blog post and drew a long list of commenters that spend as much time thinking about things like this as I do!
Our week in the country was split between 2 places. One was the home of a close family friend, and had a large, beautiful, well-equipped kitchen. We didn't need to bring any equipment, but we packed up some of our CSA produce. The second was a rental with a perfectly good kitchen setup, but no oven. For this, we packed a number of things, including a cast-iron skillet, a 3.5 quart pot, 2 knives, and a microplane grater. We also brought staples like olive oil, sea salt, pepper, grains, pasta, dried porcini, good parmesan, and a fair amount of produce, which we supplemented with trips to the local farm stands.
Among the memorable things we made:
A gorgeous Tomato Salad with Crispy Shallots from a Fanny Singer recipe that appeared in an old Food+Wine (September 2003). My friend Lauren turned me onto this. I took this recipe home, and made it at least 3 times since. Lauren also made a phenomenal escarole salad based on the one served at Frankie's Spuntino. The dressing was simply oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper. She added thinly sliced red onion, shaved pecorino, and a handful of walnuts. I love it when unbelievably simple preparations like this make your jaw drop in appreciation. It was incredible. We made another family favorite, Orechiette with Pistachio Pesto, also from a Frankie's recipe.
When we got to the house that week, there was a blueberry tart sitting on the table; Lauren had baked it from her mother's recipe. I wrote that one down and brought it home. We also had fun trying out new recipes based on what needed to be eaten quickly. I made a vegan banana bread from memory and enjoyed the first warm slice on the way to the Innisfree gardens. Another day, Matt and I collaborated on a peach crisp. I had never made a crisp before, but it made a great breakfast, so on our return home, I experimented with several recipes and whatever I had on hand. In the end I decided that I like to cook mine uncovered and for less time, about 20-25 minutes, and I could do without nuts in the topping.
At the other house, we made the Tomato Salad again (twice). A huge batch of porcini risotto, which didn't come out great, partly because I didn't have the right-sized pan and also did not salt it enough. The leftovers were salted and fried up for breakfast as little croquettes. Pasta with browned seitan and shallot bits, basil pesto, and more beautiful Hudson Valley tomatoes. Spicy mango salsa, eaten with chips! We ate out a few times, too. Our favorite spot was the burrito truck that sets up at the Montgomery Place farm stand. Excellent and affordable. And the little bakery in Tivoli made an extraordinary multigrain roll. Unfortunately, we weren't in the area for the weekend farmer's markets, which is usually a vacation highlight for us.
It was great to be able to cook in the relaxed, easygoing way that a week off allows. I returned home energized. The weather had turned cool, so right away I started baking. I made several more peach crisps, using a different recipe each time. The worst was when I experimented with a longer cooking time. I ended up with a hard, granola-like crust. I innocently brought it to a meeting to share, and I thought it was awful, but it was politely received. I made Patricia Wells' Spicy Polenta-Cheese Crackers one night. They were good, just the right amount of spicy. From her book, Vegetable Harvest, I also made some outrageously good roasted potatoes with lemon. You slice rounds of lemon and roast them with the potatoes. It is one of those easy recipes that seems kind of obvious, but it is perfect. I could eat that every day. I've had that book for a while, and now I am ready to really use it.
We have September birthdays at our house, so in the last 2 weeks, I have made a couple of batches of brownies (Peter Berley), some plain vanilla cake (Peter Berley), and some Taza Guajillo Chile Chocolate Mexicano Cupcakes with ganache frosting (Emilie at The Conscious Kitchen). All vegan, all amazingly good.
Among the culinary highlights of late summer was my first attempt at chiles rellenos, which was quite acceptable. I've got about 6 more poblanos in the fridge that are waiting to be smothered in cheese.
In the country we did a lot of cooking, but kept it simple. I loved Jhumpa Lahiri's piece in The New York Times about packing for and cooking in a summer rental. It was so timely. At the time that I read it, I had a constantly churning list working itself out in my head, even though we hadn't even settled on our summer vacation plans. I suppose I knew that in the end, my house rental scheme would prevail over the camping trip that Matt was talking about but not actually planning. Her essay on the subject spawned a Bitten blog post and drew a long list of commenters that spend as much time thinking about things like this as I do!
Our week in the country was split between 2 places. One was the home of a close family friend, and had a large, beautiful, well-equipped kitchen. We didn't need to bring any equipment, but we packed up some of our CSA produce. The second was a rental with a perfectly good kitchen setup, but no oven. For this, we packed a number of things, including a cast-iron skillet, a 3.5 quart pot, 2 knives, and a microplane grater. We also brought staples like olive oil, sea salt, pepper, grains, pasta, dried porcini, good parmesan, and a fair amount of produce, which we supplemented with trips to the local farm stands.
Among the memorable things we made:
A gorgeous Tomato Salad with Crispy Shallots from a Fanny Singer recipe that appeared in an old Food+Wine (September 2003). My friend Lauren turned me onto this. I took this recipe home, and made it at least 3 times since. Lauren also made a phenomenal escarole salad based on the one served at Frankie's Spuntino. The dressing was simply oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper. She added thinly sliced red onion, shaved pecorino, and a handful of walnuts. I love it when unbelievably simple preparations like this make your jaw drop in appreciation. It was incredible. We made another family favorite, Orechiette with Pistachio Pesto, also from a Frankie's recipe.
When we got to the house that week, there was a blueberry tart sitting on the table; Lauren had baked it from her mother's recipe. I wrote that one down and brought it home. We also had fun trying out new recipes based on what needed to be eaten quickly. I made a vegan banana bread from memory and enjoyed the first warm slice on the way to the Innisfree gardens. Another day, Matt and I collaborated on a peach crisp. I had never made a crisp before, but it made a great breakfast, so on our return home, I experimented with several recipes and whatever I had on hand. In the end I decided that I like to cook mine uncovered and for less time, about 20-25 minutes, and I could do without nuts in the topping.
At the other house, we made the Tomato Salad again (twice). A huge batch of porcini risotto, which didn't come out great, partly because I didn't have the right-sized pan and also did not salt it enough. The leftovers were salted and fried up for breakfast as little croquettes. Pasta with browned seitan and shallot bits, basil pesto, and more beautiful Hudson Valley tomatoes. Spicy mango salsa, eaten with chips! We ate out a few times, too. Our favorite spot was the burrito truck that sets up at the Montgomery Place farm stand. Excellent and affordable. And the little bakery in Tivoli made an extraordinary multigrain roll. Unfortunately, we weren't in the area for the weekend farmer's markets, which is usually a vacation highlight for us.
It was great to be able to cook in the relaxed, easygoing way that a week off allows. I returned home energized. The weather had turned cool, so right away I started baking. I made several more peach crisps, using a different recipe each time. The worst was when I experimented with a longer cooking time. I ended up with a hard, granola-like crust. I innocently brought it to a meeting to share, and I thought it was awful, but it was politely received. I made Patricia Wells' Spicy Polenta-Cheese Crackers one night. They were good, just the right amount of spicy. From her book, Vegetable Harvest, I also made some outrageously good roasted potatoes with lemon. You slice rounds of lemon and roast them with the potatoes. It is one of those easy recipes that seems kind of obvious, but it is perfect. I could eat that every day. I've had that book for a while, and now I am ready to really use it.
We have September birthdays at our house, so in the last 2 weeks, I have made a couple of batches of brownies (Peter Berley), some plain vanilla cake (Peter Berley), and some Taza Guajillo Chile Chocolate Mexicano Cupcakes with ganache frosting (Emilie at The Conscious Kitchen). All vegan, all amazingly good.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday and Thursday
Wednesday dinner (Matt):
Green salad with dill and light dressing. I believe he said this was from the Angelica Kitchen cookbook.
Chickpea and seitan stew over brown basmati rice. This came from a cookbook, too, but I'm not sure which one. Matt is pretty jazzed about the idea of grinding up the seitan in the food processor; he had never done this before, and new worlds are opening up.
Thursday dinner:
Chard, carrot, pattypan squash curry with seitan, served over brown bamati rice. I considered using quinoa, but I really wanted rice. The sauce was coconut-based, and had a tiny bit of turmeric, but was mostly seasoned with fresh shallot, garlic, ginger, jalepeno, then rounded out with torn basil leaves (from the porch) and scallion. Based on a Peter Berley recipe.
I was pleased that I put a dent in our share.
After dinner, we went out to hear some music and have a free salsa lesson. A bit out of character for us, but it was fun. The kids found friends and danced for a couple of hours. We all collapsed on our return home.
Green salad with dill and light dressing. I believe he said this was from the Angelica Kitchen cookbook.
Chickpea and seitan stew over brown basmati rice. This came from a cookbook, too, but I'm not sure which one. Matt is pretty jazzed about the idea of grinding up the seitan in the food processor; he had never done this before, and new worlds are opening up.
Thursday dinner:
Chard, carrot, pattypan squash curry with seitan, served over brown bamati rice. I considered using quinoa, but I really wanted rice. The sauce was coconut-based, and had a tiny bit of turmeric, but was mostly seasoned with fresh shallot, garlic, ginger, jalepeno, then rounded out with torn basil leaves (from the porch) and scallion. Based on a Peter Berley recipe.
I was pleased that I put a dent in our share.
After dinner, we went out to hear some music and have a free salsa lesson. A bit out of character for us, but it was fun. The kids found friends and danced for a couple of hours. We all collapsed on our return home.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Plum picklings!
I cannot remember what we cooked on Saturday. I will skip to Sunday. We were busy, busy.
Sunday lunch:
In the afternoon, for a late lunch, Matt made a sort of tofu-vegetable-leftover-grain hash. It was hearty and satisfying.
Sunday pickle project:
I made some quick-pickled vegetables. The recipe was supposed to make 3 quarts, and I did use 3 quart-sized canning jars, but none were filled to the top. For the basis of my recipe, I turned to The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley. My modifications were relatively minor. I chose to use coriander and fennel seeds, instead of mustard seed and turmeric. And I replaced the dill with rosemary from my porch herbs. For the vegetables, I used the rest of my string beans and carrots, some zucchini and pattypan squash, and the lonely kohlrabi. The jars were not "processed" in hot water, so they must be refrigerated and consumed within 3 months or so. It seemed like a lot of pickles to me -- I'm not accustomed to consuming a lot of pickled and vinegary things -- but after a couple of samplings (24 hours later), one jar is nearly done. The vegetables are crisp and fresh, with an appropriate amount of salt/vinegar flavor, and mild garlic/spice notes. They are not excessively pickly-tasting. I am very pleased with how this has turned out. I can see that we can easily consume all of these vegetables, and I am thinking forward to when school starts again. These will make a nice addition to school lunches, particularly the bento box that I pack for our oldest.
Sunday dinner:
One of our standby easy dinners: Harissa spaghettini recipe, made with our homemade harissa. From this recipe on 101 cookbooks. We used all of our leftover kale and collard greens, so it was heavy on the greens, which is just the way I like it.
Sunday treat:
Vegan chocolate-chip cookie bars.
Sunday lunch:
In the afternoon, for a late lunch, Matt made a sort of tofu-vegetable-leftover-grain hash. It was hearty and satisfying.
Sunday pickle project:
I made some quick-pickled vegetables. The recipe was supposed to make 3 quarts, and I did use 3 quart-sized canning jars, but none were filled to the top. For the basis of my recipe, I turned to The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley. My modifications were relatively minor. I chose to use coriander and fennel seeds, instead of mustard seed and turmeric. And I replaced the dill with rosemary from my porch herbs. For the vegetables, I used the rest of my string beans and carrots, some zucchini and pattypan squash, and the lonely kohlrabi. The jars were not "processed" in hot water, so they must be refrigerated and consumed within 3 months or so. It seemed like a lot of pickles to me -- I'm not accustomed to consuming a lot of pickled and vinegary things -- but after a couple of samplings (24 hours later), one jar is nearly done. The vegetables are crisp and fresh, with an appropriate amount of salt/vinegar flavor, and mild garlic/spice notes. They are not excessively pickly-tasting. I am very pleased with how this has turned out. I can see that we can easily consume all of these vegetables, and I am thinking forward to when school starts again. These will make a nice addition to school lunches, particularly the bento box that I pack for our oldest.
Sunday dinner:
One of our standby easy dinners: Harissa spaghettini recipe, made with our homemade harissa. From this recipe on 101 cookbooks. We used all of our leftover kale and collard greens, so it was heavy on the greens, which is just the way I like it.
Sunday treat:
Vegan chocolate-chip cookie bars.
Friday, July 24, 2009
String beans and a mixed-grain pilaf
Friday lunch bears mentioning:
It was a simple mixed lettuce-cucumber salad and then Matt made panini with his baked tofu from the other day (recipe from the Angelica Kitchen cookbook), garlicky sauteed kale, and basil-parsley pesto on ciabatta. Even the avowed carnivores in my office came over because it smelled amazing.
Friday dinner:
Pilaf with white basmati, millet, and quinoa (also from the Angelica Kitchen cookbook).
This is one of those where you start it on the stove and finish in the oven. I tended to ignore this idea in the past, partly because I am one of those people who is good with cooking grains on the stove. I never measure, and they pretty much always turn out right. Maybe it is an Indian thing. Lately I have been giving this method a try. The nice thing is that it reduces the number of things cluttering up the stovetop, and the grains do come out beautifully.
String beans and red onions in honey-mustard vinaigrette (a Peter Berley recipe). I have been wanting to make this recipe since I bought that cookbook (The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen) a long time ago, when it first came out. In the headnotes, he says that when he first developed this recipe, he left a plate of these out and when he turned around his young daughter had devoured the whole thing. We had the same experience. We inhaled these. They were so good.
I saved a couple of fistfuls of string beans for my pickle experiment, which has been put off for yet another day.
It was a simple mixed lettuce-cucumber salad and then Matt made panini with his baked tofu from the other day (recipe from the Angelica Kitchen cookbook), garlicky sauteed kale, and basil-parsley pesto on ciabatta. Even the avowed carnivores in my office came over because it smelled amazing.
Friday dinner:
Pilaf with white basmati, millet, and quinoa (also from the Angelica Kitchen cookbook).
This is one of those where you start it on the stove and finish in the oven. I tended to ignore this idea in the past, partly because I am one of those people who is good with cooking grains on the stove. I never measure, and they pretty much always turn out right. Maybe it is an Indian thing. Lately I have been giving this method a try. The nice thing is that it reduces the number of things cluttering up the stovetop, and the grains do come out beautifully.
String beans and red onions in honey-mustard vinaigrette (a Peter Berley recipe). I have been wanting to make this recipe since I bought that cookbook (The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen) a long time ago, when it first came out. In the headnotes, he says that when he first developed this recipe, he left a plate of these out and when he turned around his young daughter had devoured the whole thing. We had the same experience. We inhaled these. They were so good.
I saved a couple of fistfuls of string beans for my pickle experiment, which has been put off for yet another day.
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