Kale chips.

In our CSA this week, we got 3 bags of fruit & veg. First thoughts? What are we going to do with all of this kale that we're not going to do with all this Swiss chard??

My sister once recommended making kale chips. So, I gave that a try. They were delicious & crunchy & a little salty! All things that I like. The only drawback is that the stalk is still a little chewy after drying.

Here's what I did:

Lay kale on a sheet pan & spray with olive oil/Pam. Sprinkle a little salt over the kale. Bake in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes.

& voila! You have kale chips. Yummy, nutritious, & good for hand-to-mouth repetitions while watching TV/baseball.

Edit: I was just advised to try Indian spices with these. My friend Jaime makes them all of the time!!

Peanut Butter Bisque

My friend Stacey & I made a peanut butter soup from EatingWell.com. This is probably the most hearty vegetarian soup that I've ever had. It's creamy, spicy, and delicious. Lots of delicious North African flavors... YUM!

I can't give it enough accolades. Also, I can never make it with the man. He HATES peanut butter.

But please, make it! Make it! I plan on eating it when he travels for work.

Eating Well's Sweet Potato Peanut Bisque.

Dessert.

Since the man & I have been together, I've gained 7 pounds of "happy" fat. While I'm still happy, I had decided to make smarter choices for our meals & portion things more realistically.

However, this doesn't mean that we've stopped having dessert. Oh, no. That wouldn't do. There are definitely fewer desserts in a week, though.

Last night, the man & I had a little date night. We opened a bottle of wine (courtesy of Food & Wine's wine club), I made strip steak with garlicky olivada, & then we had poached pears for dessert.

It was a caloric splurge night for sure.

The pears? They were magnificent. We couldn't find star anise, & I didn't want to use my vanilla beans for this. So, we used extracts without any real hit to taste. Also, I used about 1/2 cup agave nectar in lieu of the 1 & 1/4 cup sugar. (That's a LOT of sugar!!)


I ate my half pear plain with a little of the syrup on top. The man had his with a little vanilla bean ice cream. Divine!!!

We gave this 5/5 stars. Make it!!

P.S. We used the small bottles of Robert Mondavi cab sav for this. The bottles come in a 4-pack & are super convenient for cooking.

Dinner a Child Can Love

Tofu with Stir Fried Vegetables (Homemade 'Chinese' Food)

Organic tofu - a 'deck of cards' size per person
Frozen organic stir fry vegetable mix
Organic wild rice and brown rice
Assortment of fresh vegetables - onion, leek, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, etc.
Soy Sauce
Mirin
Olive oil
Sesame seeds

Put rice mixture into pot with water, at the ratio of 1 cup rice to 2 cups of water. I put 1/4 cup wild rice mix per 3/4 cup regular brown rice. It lasts longer this way). Add in some salt, half teaspoon for a cup of dried rice. This feeds our family of 4 once. If you wish to have leftovers, double the rice, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes. When done, just turn off the heat and let it sit until you're ready to serve it. Don't uncover it.

Prepare the ingredients for the stir fry first. Slice and cube the tofu, then press between paper towels. Start to heat two pans on medium. One for the fried tofu, one (maybe a wok?) for the stir fry. Mince the garlic. Chop the onion, leek, ginger, mushrooms, leftover baked squash, etc.

When pans are hot, add enough oil to the tofu pan to make it rise above the edges of the tofu. As if the pieces are taking a sitz bath in hot oil. You'll know the oil is hot enough if a piece of food sizzles immediately, or the end of a wooden spoon sizzles. Carefully put in the tofu. (Don't stuff them into the pan, you can do this in batches if you need to). Then ignore it. I mean it. Pretend it's not there.

Put enough oil in your wok or larger pan to coat the bottom of it. Add in the onion or leek or shallot. When fragrant, add the garlic. When you start smelling cooked garlic, add the mushrooms, then any other fresh vegetable you have. Sprinkle in soy sauce. When these look like they are starting to warm up, add the frozen veggies. Add more soy sauce. Cover and let steam.

Take a look at the tofu. If the bottom edges look brown, turn to fry the other side.

Check on the vegetables, add some more soy sauce if the vegetables taste bland. Mistake the mirin bottle for the soy sauce and dump a bunch of mirin into the wok, instead of drizzling it down the sides at the end. Stir. Cover if the vegetables aren't fully cooked. Keep an eye on these. Don't overcook them. Once they are done, remove them from the wok with a slotted spoon and place into a bowl.

Remove the tofu to paper towels to dry. They should be tough on the outside, chewy on the inside. If you cook them long enough, they will be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. After the vegetables are in a bowl, put the tofu into the wok to coat with the delicious soy sauce, mirin and vegetable juices. Quickly remove to a serving bowl. Continue working in batches with the tofu if need be.

After the tofu is finished, add a bit of cornstarch to the wok. Sprinkle a bit at a time, while stirring furiously. Let simmer while you plate the food.

Put the rice, vegetables and tofu onto each plate. Spoon the thickened sauce from the wok onto dinner. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. If you have another dry clean pan, you could have toasted them first.

Serve to the kids by saying, "Woops! I put too much sweet stuff in the Chinese food! You're gonna love it." Even the three year old will eat a bunch before realizing it's just like regular Chinese take out, only a bit healthier.

Stuffed Squash - A Party in a Bowl

There were two little confetti squash sitting on my counter saying "Eat me, you know you want to." But what to do with them? After a very short search, this recipe jumped off the screen.

http://www.epicurean.com/featured/pecan-and-wild-rice-stuffed-squash-recipe.html

Oh how exciting! Instead of my usual vegan dinner of brown rice and stir fry vegetables, I was making a party in a bowl! No hum drum boring routine dinner here! Where's the confetti?! (I SEE you two, I meant the paper confetti).

Using what was available without a trip to the store, here's the new version:

2 small organic confetti squash
1/2 cup wild rice (I used the organic Harvest Medley mix from Costco)
1 1/4 cups water
3-4 tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 stalks organic celery, minced
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 large button mushrooms, chopped
a few sprigs fresh thyme, taken off the stem
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 toasted sunflower seeds
handful of toasted walnuts
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup leftover cooked quinoa and lentils

The leftover quinoa and lentils was cooked together with a clove of garlic and some thyme sprigs in water - ratio of 1:2.

Simmer the rice in the water for 25 minutes. Cut squash in half and bake at 350 in a bit of water with the cut side down. Do some web surfing.

Turn all the heat off, take the squash out of the oven. Toast the sunflower seeds, then the walnuts, dump into a big bowl with the rice. Break up any big pieces of walnut with your fingers, or mortar and pestle. Saute onion and celery. While cooking, dump in the mushrooms, some raisins, hemp seeds, all the herbs and spices into the bowl while talking on the phone. This will ensure some mistaken spice gets added. Mine was ginger. Try to take as much out as you can. Dump in the onion and celery when done. Scrape some of the squash flesh out, add to the bowl and mix well. If the squash is still a bit hard, chop it a bit, or smush it up with your fingers. Add in the leftover quinoa and lentil mixture to make sure you have leftovers for lunch. Stuff the squash and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Put the extra rice mix into an ovenproof bowl.

When cool, put the leftover rice mixture into a lunch box for work the next day.

So yummy and exciting!! With fanfare I presented it to the children, much to their dismay. The ginger and nutmeg were too warm in their mouths to enjoy it. They loved poking at the squash though!

Both my husband and I loved the dinner. Next time, I think I'll skip the phone conversation and put in a pinch of nutmeg with a half teaspoon of cinnamon, and no ginger. There will definitely be a next time. This dinner was EASY to make, and could be made in advance too. Just make the rice, quinoa and lentils, and bake the squash in advance. Then saute the onions and celery and add the remaining ingredients before you stuff and bake for 45 minutes.