Spiced Lentils with collards over rice

This is a budget friendly meal that is healthy and has a good dose of flavor.  This is a homely little dish but what it lacks in visual pleasure it will make up for on your taste buds and in your body.  This is roughly what I did (I don't really follow recipes so writing what I do out on the blog feels a little weird for me most of the time.  It's good for me so I can go back and see what I did.  What follows is much more accurate to my method than typing out actual measurements).

Spice Lentils with Collard Greens over Rice

Soak lentils over night

Pressure cook in chicken broth til tender (about 7-8 min for me)

Boil a large bunch of collard greens in salted water for 7 minutes.  Drain into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking (basically you're blanching them).  You could use spinach instead of collards and skip this step and just at the spinach near the end of cooking (I liked the stronger taste of the collards though).

Caramelize 2 onions.  Add the following spices to taste: Cumin, Coriander, Fennel seed (so Jeremy can try to imagine there is some sausage in there somewhere), Arabic 7 Spice (recipe below), cardamom, salt and pepper.  Let it get frangrant.  Add 4 cloves garlic.  

Add the drained lentils (I used half of the 1 lb bag after it was cooked- saving the other half for something else).  Add the collards.  Splash of white wine.  A little chicken bouillon (I dissolved mine in about 1/4 cup warm water).  A squirt of Sriracha. Simmer.  Adjust to taste.

We served it over seasoned rice (you could do brown rice or quinoa or a nice flatbread).  It was very thick, not soupy.  And it was pretty tasty!

I used this recipe as my jumping off point: http://food52.com/recipes/8552-spiced-lentil-sambusas

  I would love to fill some wonton wrappers with the filling and bake it up for some snacks (I'm always so hungry around 4pm)- of course then it's no longer gluten-free but I'm pretty sure Jeremy will forgive me for eating most of the lentils as he is not over the moon about them in general).

Arabic 7 Spice:

I mixed up a bunch of Arabic 7 Spice a while ago and like to throw it things that I want to give a middle Eastern flair to.  (you could mix up a bunch too or just adjust the recipe above to reflect these flavors). The recipe is:

1/2 tsp Cumin

 "       Black pepper

 "       Cardamon

1 tsp.   Nutmeg

2 tsp.   Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cloves

3/4 tsp.  allspice

Thai Beef Salad

I got the inspiration for this yummy salad from Iowa Girl Eats and then made it my own.  When you're married to a meat-loving man (even one who is starting to reform) sometimes when you say salad is for dinner you get that look.  You know, THAT look.  The one that says do we have any chicken breasts in the fridge?  Maybe I'll just pour myself a bowl of cereal after dinner.  Not so with this salad.  You see this salad is topped with meat, red meat.  I always underestimate the amount of time required to make a dinner salad because I think with no cooking involved it'll whip of in no time.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of cutting and chopping action so planning accordingly.  This salad was a hit and I would definitely make it again if the stars I mean ingredients align.

Thai Beef Salad

Ingredients:
For the dressing:

• Juice from one lemon (or two limes)
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon roasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger (I keep mine in the freezer and find it grates very easily after about a minute on the counter
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (or other hot sauce)

For the Salad

• 1/2-1 cup of thinly sliced beef (I used left over roast beef from earlier in the week)
• Several handfuls of assorted spring lettuce greens
• 1 cup of cabbage, sliced thinly
• 1 mango, diced
• green onions, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• 1 shallot, sliced thinly and sauteed in 1 tablespoon of butter til browned and crispy, drained on a paper towel.
• salted peanuts

Mix the dressing together with a whisk and pour about 1/3 of it over your beef to soak up the flavors.  Premix your salad ingredients or arrange salad bar style.  Top with dressing.

Our favorite way to eat broccoli

Broccoli.  Big Whoop.  I know, I know, but around here we love broccoli.  Even my two year old eats it and she hasn't been eating much of anything these days.  I doesn't hurt to have an AMAZING sauce to drizzle over the broccoli.  Jeremy has loved broccoli since he was a kid and he says this is his favorite way to have it prepared EVER.  It's not fancy but it tastes completely awesome.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Optional add ons: sesame seeds, salted peanuts or cashews, sprinkle of lemon zest...

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the broccoli into a steamer basket fitted in a large pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes, or until tender but still crisp. Drain, and arrange broccoli put broccoli into a serving bowl.
2. Wipe out the pan and melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Crush the garlic into the butter and stir it for about 30 seconds.  Add the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and pepper. Bring to a boil for a few seconds then remove from the heat. (Mix in any add on here- we rarely do but the possibilities are intriguing).  Pour the sauce over the broccoli. Serve immediately. 

Creamed Collard Greens

I pretty closely followed one of America's Test Kitchen's recipes for collards for this side dish.  It turned out deliciously.  I have to say, I was surprised by how much the collards cooked down.  I think we all would have enjoyed seconds but there were none to be had.  Hopefully we'll get more collards again in a future CSA box.

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts of water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• about 2 lbs of collard greens, stems removed and coarsely chopped

• 1-2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 medium shallot + half and onion (what I did) OR 2 medium shallots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 3/4 teaspoon of sugar
•  2 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves
• sprinkle of nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring water and salt to a boil.  Add the collards and cook for 7 minutes.  Pour into a colander and run cold water over the greens to stop the cooking.  Wipe out pan and return to the burner.
2. Add butter to the pan and when hot add the shallot and onion.  Cook til softened and starting to caramelize.  Meanwhile chop the cooled collards into smaller pieces (I just wadded up the softened greens and slashed through with my knife). Add the garlic to the shallot and cook til fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Add the collards and all remaining ingredients.  Simmer til the collards are warmed through and the cream has thickened.  Serve.

Gruber CSA Week 2

Last Thursday it was time again to pick up my box of produce from my Gruber Farms CSA.  I usually really enjoy planning my meals out more than a week ahead but not knowing what I'm going to get in my box each week makes that more difficult.  I think the trade off for fresh veggies is worth it though.  I pick up the box on Thursday and start to map out what we'll eat for the next week and what I may need to pick up at the grocery store to make it work.  I'm trying to really work with what we have and not pick too much up at the store.  I want the produce to be the main event so I find I'm mostly picking up staples as we run out of them. This is what we got last week and how we used it:

• 2 Quarts of strawberries (Again!  YAY!  This time they lasted til Sunday.  One whole day longer than last week!)
• 3 small crowns of broccoli (Rich in dietary fiber, minerals like calcium, manganese, iron, magnesium, selenium, zinc, and phosphorus, anti-oxidants, folates (good for pregnant women (yes, I did just insert a parenthetical notation inside another parenthetical notation! (twice!) My blog; I get to go crazy if I want!), and vitamins C and A.)
• Bunch of cilantro (tricky, since Jeremy is not a great lover of cilantro.  I might have to be sneaky.)
• 7 Sweet potatoes (Vitamins C and A, calcium, folate, potassium, and beta-carotene- all good for your eyes, skin, and muscles)
• 9 Sweet Onions
• 1 Large bunch of collard greens (Cholesterol lowering, cancer-preventing, Vitamin A, calcium, fiber)

Here's what we ate last week:

• Roasted bottom round roast with gravy, baked sweet potatoes, and creamed collard greens (it is worth noting that the roast has been/will be incorporated into many additional meals for the next two weeks because I meat consumption is very low now.  Jeremy says we're vegetarians not so much by choice but by budget- it's pretty true!).
• Thai Beef Salad (used some cilantro, onions, and cabbage still leftover from last week)
• Roasted Maple Butternut Squash over quinoa (mostly used up several onions)
• Jeremy made a rice and ground beef (with peppers, onions, garlic, and lots of Abrabic spices mixed in) dish and we had our favorite steamed broccoli on the side.
• Spiced Lentils with collards over rice.

Copy Cat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

I have adapted this recipe from a number of sources online to more or less replicate the Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden.  I have been making it for so long I don't even remember where I got the original inspirations. Sadly, no picture because we gobbled it up and gave the leftovers to my mother-in-law.  It's a creamy colored soup with curly green bits of chopped up kale and  flecks of brown from the potato skins.

Ingredients

• 1 large diced white onion
• 1/2 lb ground mild or sweet Italian sausage
• ½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 4 cloves garlic
• A good bit of Oregano, Basil, and Rosemary (or a very nice Italian seasoning blend- I like Penzey's)
• 4-6 cups good chicken broth/ or use chicken bouillon (I mentioned before, I usually have homemade chicken stock boiling on the back burner and I love to use it for this kind of thing)
• 1 cup half and half
• 2-3 large Russet potatoes, sliced
• A bunch of kale, chopped- as much as you want to throw in (You can also use spinach or Swiss chard- these take only seconds to wilt so throw them in at the very last second)

Directions

1. Saute the onion until it softens and add the Italian sausage and red pepper flakes.  Cook til the sausage is cooked through and the onion is carmelized.  Drain excess fat if necessary.
2. Add the garlic and cook til fragrant.
3. Add chicken brothto the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
4. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until softened but not cooked all the way through.  Add the kale (if your kale is more tender you can wait til the potatoes are cooked through but if it is tough add it a bit earlier).  Boil a few more minutes til kale is soft and potatoes can be pierced with a fork
5. Add the half and half cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.

Okonomiyaki or Japanese "Pizza"

First of all, I should say I have never eaten authentic okonomiyaki so I cannot attest to the authenticity of this recipe (I'm guessing it's not very accurate).  I still had lots of cabbage left over from Week 1 of my Gruber CSA so my mom suggested I check out 101 Cookbooks' Japanese Pizza.  This sent me on a recipe hunt for more variations of this traditional Japanese street food and I found out the recipe is surprisingly unspecific.  In fact, "okonomi" means "as you like it" (and "yaki" means "fried up").  So this dish is infinitely customizable.  Apparently, different regions of Japan have different traditional ingredients the like to add.  This is really more of a frittata or a pancake than a pizza.

Okonomiyaki- As I like It...

Ingredients:

The Veggies:

• 3-3 ½ cups cabbage
• 2 shredded carrots
• 3 med spring onions (green and white part thinly sliced)
• 1 cup chopped/shredded Chicken (optional, could also use slivers of beef or pork or tiny salad sized shrimp...)
• Approx ¼ c Cilantro (you could go heavier but my hubby isn't a great lover of cilantro)
• 3 very small sweet red Peppers

The Batter:

• 5 pastured eggs
• 2 ½  cups gf flour
• ¾ c chicken broth
• 1 T soy sauce (gf)
• 2 t toasted sesame oil
• Good pinch of salt

The Sauces:

• 3 T mayo
• 1 t sriracha
• 1 t soy sauce
• Squeeze of lemon juice

• ¼ c Ketchup
• 1 t mirin
• 2 t Worcestershire
• 2 t mustard 

Directions:

1.  Finely slice and chop all the veggies and chicken and toss together.

2.  Whisk together the batter ingredients and pour them over the veggies/chicken.  Mix til batter coats the veggies.

3.  In a non-stick skillet pour some oil and add about 1/3 of the mixture in a pancake-like layer over the bottom.  (I used a 10 inch skillet and this recipe yielded 3 pancakes- we had almost 1 and half pancakes left over to use for another meal/lunches).

4.  Cook for about 4 minutes on the first side, then slide the pancake out of the skillet onto a large plate.  Place another plate upsidedown on top of the pancake and flip both plates over.  Slide the pancake off the second plate and back into the skillet uncooked side down (it sounds complicated but is much easier than trying to flip a huge pancake with a spatula).

5.  Cook for an additional 4 minutes and remove to a serving plate.  Cook remaining batter in the same manner until non remains.  

6.  To serve, mix up sauces.  Smear the ketchup based sauce all over the pancake then drizzle with the mayonaise based sauce.  Garnish with additional green onions and cilantro if desired.

Jeremy said he thought it tasted like a doughier version of a spring roll or egg roll.  And gave it his approval.  I also liked it but would be interested it adding more pizzazz.  Abby like the ketchup sauce, didn't like the mayo sauce ("spicy mouth!") and barely nibbled at the pancake.  This was my own fault since I'd accidently left her unfinished peanut butter sandwich from lunch on the table and she ate that instead.  grrr.