Turmeric!
Posted: October 25, 2012 Filed under: dinner | Tags: curry, delicata squash, dinner, kale, lacinato, nutritional yeast, pasta, turmeric Leave a comment »Tonight was my first experience with fresh turmeric!
It is similar looking to ginger and packs a punch of flavor as well. Turmeric is used from a dye to a super food in fighting cancer. It is also the principal ingredient in curry powders. I thought I would roll with the curry theme for my dinner tonight.
Curry with Fresh Turmeric
- 1 yellow onion
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 delicata squash
- 1 bunch lacinato kale
- 1 bell pepper
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 tsp fresh or dried turmeric
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 cup water
- pasta serving of choice
- Pre-heat oven to 350 and de-seed the squash then cut into small pieces.
- Rub with olive oil and place in over for 30min
- chop onion and add it to the olive oil heating on the stove in a large wok or pan
- add crushed garlic to the onions once they are translucent
- cut bell pepper into small pieces and add it to the onion
- once the pepper is soft add the yeast – water and let simmer
- cook pasta to taste
- add the kale when there is 5min left on the squash
- add the squash hot out of the oven and cover everything with the sauce.
- Serve the pasta and top with the curry veggie mix
I’m not sure if I could taste the added turmeric over the curry, but whatever the case this dish was delicious! Curry and squash is a very nice combo. Let me know if you find turmeric near you!
p.s. I am trying to get back to blogging recipes – mainly dinners. Sorry for the lighting, I am just trying to get these amazing flavors out there! Thanks for still reading!
Weeknight Meal
Posted: August 28, 2012 Filed under: dinner | Tags: amaranth, dinner, millet, recipe, weeknight meal Leave a comment »I have gotten back into meal planning. Working for an organic food market can make you go a little crazy with shopping, and I wasn’t really saving any money compared to my pre-discount days.
Tonight I created a millet and amaranth bake with hummus, veggies and chickpeas.
Weeknight Bake
- 1.5 cups cooked millet and amaranth combo – I cooked 1/2 cup amaranth and 1/4 millet in 2 cups of veggie broth
- 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas – canned or home cooked
- 1/2 cup hummus – flavor of choice. I used roasted red pepper
- 1.5 cups diced and cooked veggies that you have on hand – I used red pepper, garlic, zucchini and some frozen spinach
- sprinkle of herbs on hand – I just used an Italian blend
- S&P to taste
Once all of the elements are cooked mixed everything in a large bowl and place them in an olive oil sprayed pie dish and bake for 20min. Total time is about 50min, which is kind of long for a weeknight, but you could always cook the grains before to cut out some time.
The reason I like this meal during the weak so much is you can mixed and match grain, protein and veggies with whatever you have on hand.
What is your favorite weeknight meal? I think ours is actually enchiladas.
Dry Rub Catfish
Posted: April 10, 2012 Filed under: dinner | Tags: catfish, kale, recipe, wheat berries 4 Comments »There was a new fish on the dinner plate tonight! I have always known catfish to be southern and fried, but I also know there are a ton of them swimming in the rivers of North America. I consulted with my fish expert Jess, and she said that catfish was a good choice when looking for a fish species to feel good about eating in terms of sustainability.
My former fish market boss said the best way to cook catfish is blackened. I just made Emily’s blackened tofu last week so I thought I would go with about the same spice mix but bake it on high heat until it started to crisp.
I mixed together garlic powder, cayenne, celery seed, paprika, salt, pepper, coriander, and oregano, then coated my fish before baking it at 425 for 17min.
It was good but I think I like trout better. Something about it was just off. I’m not really sure what? Maybe it does need a good sear in some oil.
Along with the catfish I cooked up a wheat berry salad with baby kale, onion, garlic, beets and smoked paprika.
The sweet onions were a good compliment to the slightly bitter kale.
I will give catfish one more try, but given a choice I would pick another sustainable fish. Next up, mussels!
Have you eaten catfish? How was it prepared? Did you like it?
Weeknight Meal
Posted: March 9, 2012 Filed under: dinner | Tags: eggs, huevos ranchero 3 Comments »Usually huevos rancheros are made for breakfast. In fact I had them for breakfast when we were in Costa Rica!
I am STILL trying to figure out exactly how to make those beans!
Last night we re-visited these flavors for dinner. Super simple and quick, perfect for a weeknight meal.
Huevos Ranchero – Serves 2
- 4 tortillas
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup uncooked beans cooked with 1 jalapeño, 1/2 onion, and 1 clove garlic (or 1 cup cooked)
- cilantro
- scallions
- avocado
- salsa of choice
Jess, please forgive me for using split pitas, the store was out of tortillas! I made the beans in the slow cooker with onion, garlic, and jalapeño while I was at work (you could totally used canned but I am trying to never use them again). Once I got home from yoga, I slapped the pita (tortilla) with some beans and cheese and threw it under the broiler. I cooked our eggs to order, pulled out the beans, topped with egg, avocado, cilantro, scallions, and salsa.
Delicious drippy farm yoke flavors the beans and cool avocado with the fresh herbs!
Amazing and easy any day of the week!
Have a great weekend!
Eggplant Bake
Posted: February 29, 2012 Filed under: dinner | Tags: dinner, eggplant, mozzarella, recipe 1 Comment »The original plan for tonight’s dinner was eggplant parm, but I forgot the parm! I did however pick up some delicious fresh mozzarella cheese so I went with it. I started by doing the normal egg, breadcrumb and bake portion of eggplant parm.
Eggplant Bake
- 1 large eggplant sliced into rounds
- 1 egg
- 1 cup breadcrumbs of choice
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Italian spices
- 1 cup favorite pasta sauce
- 2 cups frozen greens
- 1/2 onion
- 1 clove garlic, pressed
- 1 ball mozzarella, sliced
- Preheat oven to 375
- Slice eggplant into rounds and dip in egg then mix of breadcrumbs, spices, and garlic powder before placing it on a baking sheet and baking for 30min
- 15min into cooking sauté the onion and garlic clove in EVOO until clear then add frozen greens and pasta sauce
- Pull the slices out of the oven and begin to layer – sauce – eggplant – sauce – mozzarella – eggplant – sauce
5. Put her back in the oven for 20min more, slice and serve!
Super cheesy and delicious! A fortunate accident of forgetting a key ingredient.
Nick approved, and Sissy begged for a taste.
Not really, she was staring at the light fixture, but we have been missing Sissy pictures on the blog lately.
Quinoa Pizza Casserole
Posted: February 23, 2012 Filed under: dinner | Tags: dinner, garlic knots, greens, quinoa Leave a comment »In line with my meal planning I have been scanning Pinterest for some good recipes. I came across this one for quinoa pizza bites and added it to the to make list!
I adjusted the original recipe to go with what I had and not use too many of my precious farm fresh eggs. This is what I came up with and it was pretty darn delicious!
Quinoa Pizza Casserole – serves 4-6
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped fine
- 1 clove garlic, pressed
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp italian herbs or your own blend of oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary and marjoram
- 1 tsp dried basil – fresh would be better but we had none on hand
- 1/3 cup hummus – I used a “pizza” hummus that a tried to make earlier in the week, basically just tastes like oregano so I think any hummus would work – I used it as a binder more than a flavoring
- 1 egg
- 1 cup grated cheddar/mozzarella/whatever mild cheese ya got
- 1 small can of diced tomatoes – I used more tomatoes from NC
- couple grinds of S&P
- Cook quinoa in 2 cups of water until all of the water is dissolved
- Coat 9×9 baking dish with olive oil and pre-heat oven to 350
- mix all ingredients while the quinoa is cooking
- mix in the quinoa and spot check to make sure everything is evenly mixed
- spread evenly in your dish and bake for 40-45min
- let cool for 5min and then scoop it out to enjoy!
This was super simple because quinoa is such a fast cooking grain! AND it tasted like…wait for it…pizza! Obviously not exactly but the flavors were there.
Along with the casserole I made some garlic knots with leftover empanada/pizza dough and cooked down some mixed dark greens with smoked paprika.
Love garlic knots!
What have you found on Pinterest lately that has inspired you? Do you pin?
Bison Empanadas!
Posted: February 15, 2012 Filed under: dinner | Tags: bison, dinner, empanadas, goat cheese, Gunpowder Bison, spinach 2 Comments »Ole! The shape of tonight’s dinner is basically the only thing that resembles your regular deep fried empanada.
I saw a chicken, fig, spinach, and goat cheese hand pie on the interwebs and I wanted to make my own!
These are what I came up with!
Bison, Spinach and Goat Cheese Empanadas – makes 5-6
- 1/2 batch of Jenna’s whole wheat pizza dough (seriously the easies and most delicious pizza dough – can make ahead of time and freeze)
- 1/2 onion chopped fine
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- 4 cups raw spinach chopped fine
- 2 hot italian bison sausages, casing removed
- 10 tsp goat cheese
- tomato sauce of choice for topping (optional)
- roll out pizza dough as thin as you can get it – I like thin crusts, but you could always keep thing thick and fluffy with a lower yield (you can also use store bought dough)
- use a cereal bowl to cut out 5-6 circles for filling – you may need to ball up and re-roll your dough
- pre-heat oven to 425
- sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent
- add sausage and cook through – could also use chicken, turkey, steak, beans, whatever!
- add the spinach until all wilted and mixed in
- spoon about 2 tsp +/- goat cheese onto dough then spinach and sausage mix
- fold dough over and make sure not to tear, pinching the edges
- place on cooking sheet or parchment paper – cook 7min, flip, cook 8min more or until golden brown
- Take out, top with tomato sauce, and enjoy! Make sure you don’t burn your tongue!
It might seem like a lot of steps but it is basically, roll out dough, cook innards, stuff dough, close up, bake, eat!
The best part about this meal, everything besides the dough was grown in MD, NC, or PA! Sausage from Gunpowder Bison in Monkton, MD, spinach from Spiral Path Farm in PA, goat cheese from Firefly in MD, canned tomatoes from N’s aunt’s garden in NC. I am loving the winter Farmer’s Market Silver Spring!
Meatless Monday
Posted: February 13, 2012 Filed under: dinner | Tags: cauliflower. pasta bake, dinner, kale, Meatless Monday 1 Comment »Now that Nick and I have finally settled into our life in Silver Spring, I can recommit myself to the blog. Truth is for the past 1.5 years of feeding just me and Sissy Cat, my creativity has basically gone to one pot wonders, eggs, and bread as my “whole grain" of choice. With someone else to feed I actually need to meal plan again and get creative!
Last night I made an awesome enchiladas pie with winter veggies instead of the usual corn and tomatoes (think acorn squash and kale), layered with fresh pinto beans and drenched in a real ingredient sauce from Whole Foods. Wish I had taken some pictures…
Tonight I found my camera, and the meal was delicious, but just not as amazing as the enchiladas. Still post worthy.
Spicy Lime Pasta with Kale and Cauliflower
- 1 cup uncooked whole wheat pasta
- 3 cups shredded kale
- 1 head baked cauliflower (30min at 350)
- 1 onion diced
- 1 clove garlic, pressed
- 1 TBSP “Arizona Dreaming” penzey spices – a blend of chili’s and peppers from the southwest
- 2 TBSP tomato paste
- zest of 1 lime
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 2 TSP whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup veggie broth
- 1 TSP salt
- Cook pasta and cauliflower
- Keep the oven pre-heated once the cauliflower is done
- Sauté onion in olive oil and add garlic once onions are translucent
- Add remaining ingredients (minus pasta, cauliflower, and kale) to pan and mix
- Now that you have your sauce add the kale, cauliflower, and pasta and stir it all up (you may need to add a little more broth, flour, or paste depending on how well your goods are coated)
- Throw it all in a baking dish and coat with a thin layer of grated cheddar
- Bake at 350 for 20min so the pasta gets crispy on top
- Serve and squirt with lime!
Not your average tomato sauce!
Springfield Farm Dinner
Posted: December 12, 2011 Filed under: dinner | Tags: chicken sausage, dinner, Springfield Farm 1 Comment »Sometimes I still eat meat. Sometimes I still make a delicious well balanced meal off the top of my head. Most of these times N is in town. This past weekend all three stars aligned!
N and I took a trip up to Springfield Farm to visit the geese, get some eggs and pick up some meats to freeze and have for dinner.
The white wine, garlic and herb chicken sausage made it into Saturday night’s dinner.
I cooked up some millet (long lost seed) to add to a sautéed onion, garlic and 1 giant sausage mix. To finish I mixed in some fresh chopped parsley and put the entire mixed onto of a baked portabella mushroom top.
This sausage was amazing! SO much flavor to it and given their size we can probably get about 8 (4-6oz) servings out of a pack of 4. Along with our bangin’ sausage I made salad of spinach topped with crispy parsnips and a balsamic mustard dressing.
This was a awesome meal. Hands down best Saturday night meal in a long time!
Side note: When I cut back on my meat intake to maybe once a week, I was worried that my system would react poorly to meat occasionally making an appearance. I had heard stories about people’s bodies freaking going in both directions (veg->meat, meat->veg). I am happy to say so far, so good! Knock on wood.
Give Them A Chance!
Posted: November 15, 2011 Filed under: dinner | Tags: bike trainer, farmers market, turnip 2 Comments »It is the second to last Farmer’s Market Tuesday 
It was dark when I was at the market today, but thankfully the weather was seasonally warm and the rain was just spitting.
As the choices become fewer and fewer I have to get creative. One item at the market that I like to get are small turnips.
They usually come with greens which give me a second meal out of the plant! At the grocery store you can’t really find them together and if you do the greens are usually pretty wilted and gross.
Tonight I just sautéed the greens in some olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme.
I had them alongside two duck eggs on toast with goat cheese.
I eat eggs probably once a week – they are easy, full of protein and if they weren’t duck they would be pretty cheap!
I am really sad for the markets to end and to have to say goodbye until next spring.
*What do you miss most about summer produce?
Outtake from photographing dinner…
Sissy attacking my dishtowel!
And lastly…a PSA about bike trainers…
They will wear your tire much faster than the road, fling rubber and will be hot after use. I asked the people at REI and they said it was normal and suggest getting a cheap tire for indoor use. Learn something new every day!
