Yummy things

The Great Pumpkin

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:07:00 -0400

With Halloween just around the corner, those gigantic pumpkins, which are grown just to be carved up, are the focus of everyone’s attention. I love a good carved pumpkin as much as the next person, but it’s a really a shame that more people don’t pick up pumpkins that are good to cook up. A few years ago, I realized how easy it was to work with fresh pumpkin, and it was a revelation. I was immediately smitten with putting fresh pumpkin puree into a variety of sweet treats, and I fell in love with sweet and spicy roasted pumpkin seeds. But this fall, I’ve branched out even further to include pumpkin in a variety of savory dishes.

So, before you get worried about whipping up the perfect pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, grab a baking pumpkin and try one of these. They’ll be a nice break from all that leftover candy you end up with, after you buy some extra “just in case” you get an extra couple dozen kids trick of treating at your place tomorrow night. And, if you’re not sure you like pumpkin in savory dishes, try a familiar dish, and use the pumpkin to vary up your standard ingredients.

Quesadilla with spinach, roasted pumpkin and feta cheese

I think quesadillas are a great standby - they’re an easy, but consistently good way to mix things up foods that you have around in a new way. And cheese makes everything better. For this one, I chopped the pumpkin up into small bite sized pieces and then roasted it at 450 degrees with some olive oil for about 35-40 minutes. Then I layered it was fresh spinach and feta cheese. The saltiness of the feta works great with the sweetness of the roasted pumpkin. It’s a great starter dish to try out with pumpkin.

Caribbean Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup

I would have never come up with this combination on my own, but I was glad to find it. I like the combination of the creaminess of the coconut milk, the zing of the lime, the flavoring of the cilantro, the heartiness of the black beans, and the sweetness of the pumpkin. It’s a quick, easy, tasty soup that gives you a good dose of Vitamin A, fiber and iron while using familiar tastes, with cumin and cilantro balancing the black beans and pumpkin.

Finally, if you really want to embrace pumpkin as a dinner ingredient, try out this pork stew. As with the other dishes I’ve offered up, it balances the pumpkin with a variety of other flavors - pork, red bell peppers, tomatoes, corn, and parsley. I was surprised to find that sage and orange zest complimented all of these flavors nicely, but I think it really does. And, with the noodles mixed in, it’s a great one dish meal.

Pork stew with pumpkin, peppers, and corn

Happy Halloween! Just don’t let pumpkin scare you as a fresh, fall ingredient!

Beans and greens

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:08:00 -0400

This week marks the third week of our winter CSA share. I haven’t been posting photos of our full box of goodies for two reasons. First, it’s harder to take photos interesting photos of the variety of greens we get all together. Also, Coon Rock Farm doesn’t clean all the produce before we get it, so it looks a little shabby until I spend some time prepping it, and that’s not always right after we get it. However, we have been getting a lot of good greens that encourage me to be a little more experimental with my cooking. So I’m thinking I’ll highlight new produce as it comes along, and I thought I’d kick off the series with this lovely purple mizuna.

Mizuna is a Japanese green, and it seems that most recipes that call for it are stir-fries and soups. But when I saw this a simple NY Times recipe for a Mexican bean dish with greens, I thought it’d be a good one to try out with the mizuna. Indeed it was!

I got a little nervous about whether I’d find the beans bland, since I’ve found that’s my complaint that’s biased me against black beans in the past. So I halfed the beans but maintained the seasoning quantities. It worked. The beans have a nice round flavor from the combination of garlic, cilantro and salt, and the greens just sit nicely with that. In fact, I tried this with rice and without, and I actually enjoyed the beans by themselves, because they kind of loose their gentle flavor when combined with rice.

Also, I think the blanching is probably a great idea for greens that can seem a little too bitter with other short cooking methods. It’s a great standby process - if you can’t find amaranth or mizuna, I’m sure you could do this with a variety of other greens.

The recipe takes some time - between soaking the beans and then cooking them over low heat. But I think it’s a great one for a dreary weekend afternoon, like the ones we’ve been having recently, or for a long night, when you’re getting ready for a busy day the next morning. It’s a healthy, one-dish meal that’s easy to reheat, cheap but filling. I’m a fan.

Hopefully I’ll discover plenty of other fun recipes as the days get shorter and shorter and we get more greens to try. For now, let me know how this one works out for you, and also, let me know what other ways I should explore our winter CSA goodies!

Black beans and winter greens
Adapted from Martha Rose Shulman

Pick through 1/2 lb. of black beans to remove any dirt or pebbles. Wash beans. Place beans in a four cup measuring cup and fill measuring cup with water. Let sit overnight.

The next day, heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Spray pan with cooking spray. Add 1 small onion, chopped, and 4 cloves of garlic, minced. Saute for 5 minutes. Add beans and their soaking water to the pan. If necessary, add water to cover by two inches. Bring to a boil and skim off foam. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour.

Add 3/4 teaspoon of salt, cover and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Add 1/3 cup chopped cilantro and simmer for an additional 30 minutes, covered.

While the beans are in their final simmer, wash the 1/2 lb. of greens (mizuna, amaranth, or other winter greens) in two changes of water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and fill a bowl with ice water. When the water comes to a boil, salt generously and add the greens. Blanch for two minutes, and transfer to the ice water. Drain, squeeze out excess water and chop coarsely.

About five minutes before serving, taste the beans and adjust seasoning, with salt and pepper. Then, stir in the blanched greens, simmer very gently for five minutes, and serve.

Serves 4

Celebrating with friends

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:31:00 -0400

Over the past week, we’ve had lots of chances to celebrate fun things with friends, including a 30th birthday, a new baby and an unusal dinner party!

A week ago, we helped conspire with our neighbor, Chris, to put together a surprise birthday for his wife, Angela. We had fun “breaking into” the house to decorate and then keep look-out until they arrived home from dinner out. Despite the fact that she ended up seeing the party guests before we managed to yell “Surprise!” it was a definite success, because she had thought that her birthday had come and gone in the middle of her comprehensive exams for her PhD program and never expected all the plotting we were doing behind her back. Though it took more lying than your spouse probably ought to be doing, it was certainly a much more fun way to ring in the big 3-0!

Then the next day, we had the pleasure of meeting our new friend, Atticus. Amazingly, he’s already a month old, but already, so cute!

Squirming around already!

We enjoyed a nice meal of one of my fall favorites - butternut beef chili, which was yummy with cheddar-jalapeno scones from Smitten Kitchen, and topped off with an awesome, improvised chai pudding. It was a great casual meal for a autumn evening catching up with the new family.

I was inspired to try a new take on pudding after seeing my cousin post some on her blog, The Sweet Life. Her post was a good reminder of how much I enjoy homemade pudding, but I was thinking I needed something a little more fall-like. I think it was quite a success. I think I’ll definitely make it again, and whether you’re a fan of warm or cold pudding, I think you’ll find this is a great one to try this autumn.

Chai pudding
A Yummy Things original

Combine in a small saucepan:
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of cinnamon
a pinch of allspice
Stir with a whisk until well combined.

Add:
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups of skim milk
Heat over medium heat. Whisk frequently, until mixture begins to boil slowly. Continue to cook 2-3 minutes as pudding thickens.

Pour pudding into four custard cups. Enjoy warm, or place plastic wrap over top of pudding to prevent a skin from forming and allow to cool in the fridge.

Guests, chefs and the wait staff from the unusual dinner party

The last outing was the most unusual - a dinner party where our hosts actually served as the chef and waiter at “Chez Davis,” but we didn’t actually know what we were ordering. We got a menu and the opportunity to select what we got for each of four courses, but the menu selections were all mysterious dictionary words and unknown to us when we were ordering, they included our utensils! Luckily, none of us got so lucky to get a course that was only utensils, but Dan did get dessert (“waddie”) first, whereas I got mine along with a side of potatoes and carrots. I was the lucky one who got a spoon with my soup though!

Dan enjoys his dessert first, cutting small pieces with his knife, since he was sans fork

Amusingly, our group of graduate degrees kept thinking there was going to be a test on the names of each dish, or that there was some code to what was what that we might have been able to figure out if we were better ciphers when ordering, but it wasn’t that complicated. It was just an unusually fun night out!

Kathryn took a try at eating her soup with a fork, while Paul and Brennan were forced to drink theirs! As it turns out, butternut squash soup is thick enough that both actually work pretty well. Compliments to the chefs!

Pretty pepers

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:54:23 -0400

All the food blogs I’m reading are flush with delicious recipes using pumpkin, squash, and apples. Yum! However, since I got a flash of winter in Chicago, I’m loving the sunny, warm weather that we’ve been blessed with this week in NC. Thus, while I settle into our fall CSA share (photos soon!), I’m also grabbing at my last summer flavors, before they disappear completely. So, if you can still find some colorful bell peppers that aren’t flown in from another continent for $5 a piece, try one of these great dishes. If you’re somewhere that it’s snowed already(!), sorry. I’ll get you some warm, autumn flavors soon.

Tuna with black bean salsa

For some reason, I thought that I didn’t like black bean salsa for a long time. But this recipe changed my mind. I think I tended to believe black bean salsa was a little too bland, but here, it’s the perfect foil for a well seasoned tuna steak. Chop all the peppers and tomatoes, and toss the salsa before cooking the tuna, because it’ll be done before you know it. It’s an impressive looking, delicious tasting, easy weeknight meal!

Head on over to Cooking Light for the recipe - I just made it exactly as directed, and it was great!

Stuffed peppers with quinoa, beef, and corn

This meal is a nice one to transition from warm days to cool nights. It’s got the fresh flavors of bright peppers and corn, but also has the nice warm, smoky flavors roasted in. It’s an original recipe, and it’s a keeper!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Boil 2 cups of water. Add 1 cup of quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until water is absorbed and germ ring is visible.

Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium heat. Saute 1/2 medium onion, chopped, until they begin to sweat.
Add:
1/2 pound of ground beef
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
Cook until beef is browned.
Add kernels from 1 ear of corn (or 1/2 cup of frozen corn kernels). Saute for 2 minutes.
Stir cooked quinoa into the beef mixture.

Cut 2 red bell peppers in half vertically, and remove seeds. Place peppers into a ceramic baking dish, cut side down. Place 1/4 cup of water into the baking dish and cover dish with plastic wrap. Microwave dish for 4-5 minutes, until peppers become soft.

Fill peppers with quinoa-beef mixture. Top peppers with 1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Bake stuffed peppers for 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and browned.

Other Chicago fun

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:00:00 -0400

In addition to all the running, we also enjoyed some other fun while we were in the Windy City. Some of my favorites included:

Impressive dinosaur bones at the Field Museum
Lunch at the Chicago Green City Market

A crepe with Swiss chard, tomato and delicious local cheese

Apple cider donuts!
The pre-race pasta party

My Eastern North Carolina Team in Training buds!
An evening walk along the river with Dan the night before the race
Deep dish pizza the day after the marathon, with absolutely no concern about the calories! (Sadly, I was too busy eating, and didn’t take any photos.)

I’m already pondering my next running trek. Right now, I’m feeling the pull of the Austin Half Marathon on Valentine’s Day. Any sweethearts out there want to run 13.1 on 2.14 in the lovely, weird city of Austin?

26.2 miles...done!

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:28:06 -0400

My name, printed in the Chicago Tribune, along with 30,000+ other finishers

Just one week after the fact, it’s almost hard to believe I did it, but on October 11, I became a Chicago marathon finisher! It was cold, but it was great.

About 40,000 people ran through the streets of Chicago for the marathon!

At the start, it was a blustery 31 degrees! In the first mile or two of the race, people were abandoning layers all over the ground. Luckily, I got some visitors at the start, so I was able wear warm stuff up until about 20 minutes to go, and then throughout the run, an old piece of athletic long underwear from my days of rowing in Rochester kept me comfortable.

Waiting in line for the bathroom, before the race starts, with all old long sleeve t-shirt, a poncho to block the wind, and gloves to stay warm

Here’s everyone all bundled up to spectate, to give you a sense of how chilly it was!

The run itself was awesome. I definitely felt well prepared, and Dan mapped out an amazing spectating plan. After meeting me at the start, he trekked the whole gang all over the city, on foot, by train and by bus, to see me 8 different times on the course! Getting their support along the miles was fantastic.

My cheering squad in action!

Some of my other favorite moments included:

seeing SO many spectators out to cheer the crowds on as we ran under an overpass in the first mile;
running past pretty much every place Dan and I went on vacation in 2007, including the lovely Lincoln Park;
cheering in my head when I saw the first green weather alert flag, meaning the temperature had warmed up enough to cause the race organizers to upgrade the weather alert from “less than ideal conditions”to “good conditions”;
enjoying the great music, festivities, and Spanish signs in Pilsen and the energy of the crowds in Chinatown;
hitting the south end of the course, looking north to see the full Chicago skyline on a beatiful clear day, and knowing the finish line was just 3 miles ahead, straight north;
passing the 40k marker - this was a real mental milestone - after this, I knew I had the rest of the race in the bag;
smiling and singing to the music all along the course, even at the 25 mile marker;
and realizing that the “hill” at mile 26 wasn’t anything more than the slight inclines that creep up on the American Tobacco Trail and that I was ready to sprint to the finish!

You can see all of Dan’s photos from along the course are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2042085&id=1192743350&l=91275dfffd.

Equally awesome is the fact I raised $4282 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in the process of training for the marathon with LLS’s Team in Training, and I got to run in honor and in memory of so many amazing people. Even though the race has already passed, you can still see all those that I ran for and even provide you own donation on my fundraising webpage.

THANKS to everyone who supported me along the journey! My next race is the much shorter, but equally fun Girls on the Run Reindeer Romp 5K on December 5, for any Triangle folks who might want to join us, and then after, that I’m up for suggestions. Let me know if you’re someone out there looking for a race buddy!

Carb loading!

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:16:00 -0400

Sorry for being MIA for October. I’ve been focusing on getting myself prepped to run the Chicago Marathon this weekend!!! It’s hard to believe, but after 5 months of training, I’m totally psyched for running 26.2 miles on Sunday morning. My parents, both of my sisters, Dan and his parents will all be there to cheer me on, and just today, I hit my goal of raising $4,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a part of my participation in the Team in Training program. (Of course, you can still donate if you’d like. Every dollar counts in the fight against blood cancers!) It’s been a grand adventure. You would have thought that I would have posted more of the different recipes I’ve been making, because let me tell you, marathon training makes you hungry, and I have definitely been carb loading this week! But it also makes you tired, so I haven’t managed to keep up.

So until I return from the windy city, here are some pictures of my running buddies to hold you over. I got to play photographer last weekend, because I finished earlier than everyone else since I was tapering my mileage down to get myself rested before Chicago, whereas everyone else has an additional 1 - 3 weeks until their races.

Hollie finishes with enthusiasm!

Charlie, one of our assistant coaches, runs in with Kalina, my long run buddy. Kalina was the one who helped me conquer our final 18 and 20 mile training runs! I’ll miss her this weekend, but I’m excited for her to have the chance to run the Nike Women’s Marathon, which got me hooked on this whole running thing!

Christy, the other Durham team mentor, and Debbie fly by at the end of the 12 miler - Debbie’s longest run ever!

Christy went back to run Becca and Collette in, and they looked great sprinting to the finish!

Coach Bill

Everyone stretching at the end!

I’ll save you the pictures of the post 20-miler ice bath. Even though it actually felt good after all those miles, just seeing all that ice in the tub is enough to give you chills!

The next photo update will have to be once I return to NC on Monday. Until then, send good wishes to Chicago for good weather and strong running!

The end

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:28:23 -0400

Sadly, we’ve reached the end of another CSA season. Luckily, we really finished off with a bang. In the last go around, we got a lovely bouquet of flowers that I was able to divide up four ways, and our final box was full of beautiful colors. Enjoy!

Baby boom!

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:04:42 -0400

I’ve heard that less babies are being born these days because of the recession, but you wouldn’t know it around here.

Our friends, Nate and Saralynn, were due to deliver their first baby, on 9/09/09. In the end, their little man wouldn’t arrive until three days later, for a slightly less memorable birthday, but we’re still overjoyed to welcome Atticus Sessions to the world!

“Trot” is quite a cutie, and we can’t wait to meet him. We’ll have to get good at making some food for new parents, because Atticus is just the beginning of the baby parade we’re about to get. Dan’s got two cousins due in the next two months, two of my HBHE classmates are expecting, and our neighbors are having a baby in early 2010. Looks like the next year will be filled with lots of cooing over cute babies! :-)

Finally - fresh food!

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:21:51 -0400

After working 70 hours last week, I was delighted to get into the kitchen and make some fresh food after wrapping up the Healthy Devils training on Sunday evening. Luckily, when I finally had the time to make dinner, we had all the ingredients to make a totally local dinner.

Inspired by Jennifer’s Eggplant Steaks Alla Pizziola from Last Night’s Dinner and the fact that we had a fresh bottle of olive oil delivered to us directly from Greece, by our friends Kathi and Rob, who were lucky enough to spend 10 days there just before Labor Day, I knew a good meal was in order. :-)

Eggplant steaks

Slice 1 pound eggplant into 3/4-inch thick “steaks” lengthwise.

Preheat grill pan over medium heat.

In a small, lided, plastic container, combine:
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Cover container and shake until emulsified.

Coat eggplant steaks with balsamic sauce and place on grill pan coated with cooking spray. Cook on each side for 10 minutes.

I really liked the grilled eggplant steaks. They were hearty and made this vegetarian dinner feel like a full meal. But the kick of the pizziola relish on top of the arugula was what really made this dinner.

Pizzaiola Relish

Chop 1 small tomato and quarter 1/2 pint of Sungold tomatoes.

Add:
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon olive oil

Stir to combine.

To assemble:

Place 2 cups of baby arugula on each plate.

Top each plate with 4 eggplant steaks, sprinkle with 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, and then finish with 2/3 cup of pizziola relish.

Fall is in the air

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:10:35 -0400

It’s hard to believe, but morning temps have been below 70 degrees for two weeks, we’ve just ended the third week of classes at Duke, and the Chicago Marathon is just one month away! Fall is definitely here. Sadly, this means that we’re almost at the end of our current CSA share. Luckily, we got a bounty of beautiful produce this week, since our friends that we split the box with are away on vacation.

Lots of fun stuff - Sungolds, Muscadine grapes, arugula, red potatoes, tomatoes, a bell pepper and eggplant

Unfortunately, I’ve been working late at Duke essentially every night this week, so instead of whipping up fresh dishes, we’ve been eating our way through a spaghetti pie that I made over the weekend. But today we had a great time at the first day of Healthy Devils training, so new food is in order soon!

Awesome Healthy Devils - Kathryn, Alia, Priyanka, Sam and Yaoli - who shared their experiences with new applicants during a panel on our first day of training

Also, I’m enjoying our flowers as much as possible, because next week will be our last week of our flower share. At least I’ll have my album of CSA goodies to help make it through the colder months.

Slicing tomatoes

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:09:00 -0400

Despite what national grocery stores might try to convince you, the time for a good sandwich with a tomato toping it is NOW! I know there are bright red globes stocked in the produce section year round, but the truth is, I find they really aren’t worth slicing outside of this time of year. And although sandwiches generally don’t need a recipe write up, it seems just right to post a few of my favorites for Labor Day. It’s so easy to grab a few good ingredients, slap them together and enjoy the flavors melding together, as the tomato juices drip down your arm. So whether you’ve got the day off (like Dan) or if you have to work tomorrow (me!), get some slicing tomatoes before they’re gone and make an easy meal out of one of these favorites!

Favorite #1 - Grilled pimento cheese sandwich

Alright, let’s start off clearing out an idea you might have about how to make this healthy. We’re putting some beautiful tomatoes on it, but that’s it. The rest of it is bad for you, but it’s so good, that just once while tomatoes are in season, it’s so worth it.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.

Coat one side of 2 slices of white bread (I told you, don’t attempt to make it healthy - white bread is the only way to go) with butter.

Put one slice of bread into the skillet. Meanwhile, smear 1/4 cup pimento cheese (my favorite is the Weaver Street chipotle pimento cheese, but use whatever you’ve got available to you) on the non-buttered side of the other slice of bread.

Once the first slice of bread is well toasted, put down the slice with the pimento cheese, and then top it with 2 large slices of fresh tomato and the toasted piece of bread. Grill for 2 minutes. Enjoy!

Favorite #2 - Arugula cheese grinders

This sandwich is also guilty of being heavy on the cheese, but I just love the interplay of the strong flavors and textures. And if you’re a little scared of the spiciness of arugula, this is a great way to try it. It’s a nice substitute for peppery meats, and much fresher tasting.

To make one grinder, slice one club roll in half lengthwise. Turn on your broiler and toast for four minutes. As soon as the roll comes out of the oven, place one slice of Swiss cheese on one side of it, so the cheese melts slightly. Set aside for 3 minutes. Once the roll has cooled slightly, top it with:
3 tablespoons light Alouette garlic & herb spreadable cheese
1/2 cup of arugula (smooshing it into the spreadable cheese helps to keep your sandwich from slip, sliding around)
3 slices of tomato

Favorite #3 - Open faced roasted red pepper spread sandwich

I already wrote about the roasted red pepper spread once when I was talking about how to use up all the cucumbers we got in our CSA. But it doesn’t really get it’s full due until you can use it on an open faced sandwich with a juicy summer tomato. And when it got a shout out on my cousin’s blog, The Sweet Life, I knew it was time to revisit this summer favorite.

For each sandwich, top one slice of toasted hearty wheat bread with 1/4 cup roasted red pepper spread (recipe below) and one large tomato slice.

Roasted red pepper sandwich spread
Adapted from Cooking Light

In a food processor, combine:
1 small cucumber, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 7-oz. jar of roasted red peppers, drained and dried (or 2 large red bell peppers, roasted and peeled)
6 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
3 oz. fat-free cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons red onion
1 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pulse until ingredients are all combined in an even texture (I like mine a little chunky still). Store in a well sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 month.

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Busy, busy

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:20:43 -0400

I think when I wrote to say I was back in business, I misspoke a bit. It seems instead I was just headed to work, and lots of it. I’ve been crazy busy with recruiting new peer educators, enrolling students in a new research study on health coaching, getting set up with a team of UNC students that I’m working with on their Capstone project, and everything else that comes with going back to school. So although I have some things I want to write to tell you about, I haven’t had the time to write them up. So for now, I’m just glad to have pretty flowers to look at and cheer me up after being away from home for 14 hours working. I hope you enjoy them too.

The green beans in our CSA share were an exciting new addition, but they are also reminding me that autumn is creeping up on us. Although I can’t complain on bit about the drop in temperatures that arrived nicely on the first of September (it’s SO much nicer to run when you aren’t dripping wet from the moment you walk out the door), it does remind me that I better hop to it if I’m going to share some of my recent favorites using the tomatoes and peppers that are so prominent at the markets now. I suppose I can’t really wish it both ways - for it still to be summer produce season and for the back to school rush to be over. I guess that means Labor Day weekend is calling for some good blog postings of end of summer fixings. Stay tuned!

Back in business

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:25:45 -0400

Sorry for my recent absence! It’s been a little crazy recently, but since I last wrote, I’ve made it through orientation, the first week of classes, and my first ever 16 mile run! I love the energy of all the students returning to campus, but whew, it’s a lot of work! Adding marathon training on top of that is no small matter, and then to top things off, our dishwasher broke, and Lowe’s brought us one with a big dent in it before successfully installing a new one on Friday. All together, this has meant that I haven’t been doing much original cooking, and even when I did, I didn’t have time to take photos or post details. But hopefully this week, I’ll get back into gear and give you some ideas for the bounty of produce that’s available here at the end of the summer. In the mean time, I hope the rest of you are enjoying lives that are a little calmer!

Delicious!

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:38:00 -0400

Do you know about Delicious? I don’t just mean food that tastes delicious, rather the awesome social bookmarking website Delicious. I discovered Delicious a few weeks ago when I was trying to find a way to organize a list of web resources that I keep for work, but use infrequently. They seemed to clutter up my bookmarks list, and I thought for sure there must be an online way to keep a list of different URLs and tag them with the appropriate topics so you can search for them when you need them. Of course, before I came to this conclusion, lots of smart, web savy people figured this out a long time ago, and that’s exactly what Delicious is about. It solved my work problem, but then I realized how great it would be for keeping track of all those recipes you see, and think “That would be great to try,” but aren’t able to put on your meal plan for the week.

It’s a super way to take a recipe you find on someone’s blog, or in the NY Times, or anywhere else you happen upon yummy things just waiting to be made, and save it for later. I’m tagging recipes with what season they’re good for and what the main produce used in them is, and I’m hoping to develop a whole online archive of recipes that I can just search when we get a particular fruit or vegetable in our CSA that I can’t seem to figure out how to use. But you can use any system that works for you. You can also see what other people are tagging those same articles/recipes/websites, and then you can follow their tagging to see what else other people tagged the same way. It’s pretty fantastic and allows for making some delicious food!

This week, I went back to my growing archives and was pleased to discover two excellent dishes: grilled eggplant salad and spiced peach oatmeal muffins. Amazingly, it seems that I haven’t posted any recipes here for about a month, so I figure I’ll finally redeem myself with two!

The grilled eggplant salad is from the NY Times, which recently had a feature on rice. After I started cooking, I discovered I didn’t actually have jasmine rice like I thought I did, so I just used plain white rice steamed in the standard way. But in the end, it’s the eggplant salad with it’s fresh herbs that’s the star of the show. So I’d definitely do this one again, but I think it’d be just fine to serve it with the standard white or brown rice. I also thought the salad dressing had a little too much lime tang, so I’d suggest trying it as directed in the recipe below, but it’s definitely one to try, here as eggplant and tomatoes are coming in fresh from the garden.

Grilled eggplant salad
Inspired by Martha Rose Shulman’s Steamed Jasmine Rice with Grilled Eggplant Salad, which was inspired by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s “Seductions of Rice”

Heat a grill pan over high heat, or prepare a hot grill.
Slice 1 large globe eggplant in half lengthwise. Slice each half into 1/4 inch slices. Spray both sides of eggplant slices with cooking spray.
Grill eggplant for 6 minutes on each side, until the slices are slightly browned and tender all the way through.
As each batch is done, remove to a bowl. When all of the eggplant has been grilled, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside the bowl for 10 minutes to allow the eggplant to steam as it cools.

Meanwhile, mix together in a small bowl:
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1 jalapeno pepper, ribbed, seeded, and diced
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon sugar

Then in a large bowl, combine:
grilled eggplant, coarsely chopped
1 small tomato, diced
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh mint, finely chopped

Toss dressing with eggplant mixture. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, add 2 cups of water and 1 cup of white rice to a small saucepan. Turn heat to high, and bring water to boil. Allow the water to boil hard for about 15 seconds, then reduce the heat, cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid during this time.

Plate hot rice and top with eggplant salad. Serves 4.

I initially found the oatmeal peach muffin recipe through one of the AllRecipes.com weekly e-mails highlighting summer produce, but I hadn’t had any luck getting peaches at the farmers’ market. So I tucked it aside in Delicious, and pulled it out when I had the luck of getting “cosmetically challenged” peaches from Lyons Farm on the cheap. Although they weren’t perfectly pretty, they were deliciously ripe. The addition of some whole wheat flour and cardamom to the original recipe made them a lovely summer snack.

Spiced oatmeal peach muffins
Adapted from Sal’s recipe on AllRecipes.com

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, add 1 teaspoon lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Let sit 2 minutes.
Add:
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs

In a separate bowl, combine:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Stir flour mix into wet ingredients.
Stir in 1 1/2 cups of diced peaches.

Spoon batter into 12-16 greased muffin cups. Bake muffins at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Let cool for 15 minutes before attempting to remove from muffin cups.

Refrigerate leftover muffins for up to one week.

Pretty pictures

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:06:00 -0400

So this week has kicked my butt a little bit. A week ago, at 4 PM on a Friday afternoon, the powers that be decided it would be a good idea to move my office a just three days before students arrive on campus for orientation. To make it more “fun”, moving my office also includes moving to a new computer, a new e-mail, and a new calendaring system. Okay, I’ll admit, getting a MacBook is a little fun, but transferring all your appointments to a new system and being unable to access 4 years worth of e-mail from the new e-mail system is just a pain in the tail, especially when I already had LOTS of other things to do before the new school year starts. And no one ever enjoys packing moving boxes. So despite the fact that we got our usual CSA share earlier in the week, I’m just now getting around to posting some photos. TGIF!

Our full share, before the split - red bell peppers, arugula, tomatoes, sungolds, and the first butternut squash of the season

A nice assortment of flowers, which were fun to play with for my photography assignment this week to look at texture

Photogenic produce

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:27:12 -0400

Last month I decided to embrace the extra bit of free time I have over the summer and take a photography class. I’m hoping to improve my confidence when I’m out photographing things with Dan, who was the photography editor for our college newspaper, and I’m also hoping this blog will benefit from my learnings. So while I haven’t posted here much in August, I have been working to capture some beautiful meals. If you have a favorite you want to hear more about, just drop me an e-mail, and I’ll post more. I think these photos probably do a better job capturing the beauty of summer than my writing does anyhow.

Sungold tomatoes - little bites of the sun!

Pods and their purple hull beans

Into the pit of a peach

Sicilian chicken and peppers over polenta

Afternoon delight - roasted tomato, peppers, and corn soup with grilled cheese with curried goat cheese spread

Chocolate-cherry dessert bars
Fresh cherries are hard to beat, but if you’re going to try, adding butter, sugar, chocolate, and almonds is a pretty good way to try!

It’s a little ridiculous that it’s the height of...

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:58:00 -0400

It’s a little ridiculous that it’s the height of summer and the Farmers’ Market is in full swing, and I didn’t post a thing this weekend! This weekend was the first time in a long time that Dan and I weren’t totally booked, so I just kicked back and enjoyed it. But there’s plenty to share, so I’m starting with this since it’s apparently National Watermelon Day!

This watermelon, from our CSA, is just so full of flavor, and so juicy, I’m loving every bite! Make sure to get yourself some before the summer slips away!

Summer loving

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:00:00 -0400

The peppers and tomatoes are in full swing here in North Carolina, so I think this weekend will be great for braising some chicken Sicilian style. But in the mean time, I’m just going to snack on tomato sandwiches and this lovely watermelon!

CSA - Week 14 - 2 slicing tomatoes, Sungold tomatoes, red bell pepper and watermelon!

The sunflowers also make it seem super summery! So here’s an added close-up for good measure.

I hope you’re all enjoying summer while it lasts. It’s hard to believe we’re just days away from August!

Whew!

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:29:00 -0400

We’ve had a busy summer, and I just can’t seem to keep up. This weekend we hosted Dan’s parents, his uncle Larry and aunt Sharon, his aunt Virginia and uncle Kevin, and his cousin Brian. Except for Dan’s parents, it was everyone’s first time in the Triangle, so we had to pack a lot in! In less than 36 hours, we got to:

Enjoy barbeque at the Q Shack
Tomato Day at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market (check out a copy of Totally Tomato, their booklet that includes tomato recipes, stories, and memories submitted by customers and vendors that’s available in PDF!)
Explore the UNC campus and make a (very) brief trip through Franklin Street
Lunch at Weaver Street Market
Ice cream on the front porch of Maple View

Dan had Carolina Crunch for the first time

Larry, Sharon, Virginia, and Kevin
A Durham Bulls game!

Funny how the little kid always manages to beat Wool E. Bull around the bases!
Brunch at Elmo’s
See some lovely flowers at Duke Gardens

There were some really lovely butterflies at the gardens this weekend. I don’t recall ever seeing so many before.

It was HOT, but the sun really lit up these gorgeous flowers.
Visit the highlights of Duke’s campus, including the Chapel and K-ville

Everyone enjoyed a chance to relax inside the Chapel, where it was cool.

I love all the colorful stained glass.
Have dinner at home, with a surprise birthday dessert for Larry!

Pizza #1, with a tomato sauce, pepperoni, peppers and Penzey’s pizza seasoning, which really does wonders to make homemade stuff taste like pizza shop pizza.

Pizza #2, with a basil sauce, heirloom tomatoes, peppers (can you tell these are in season at the market now?), and goat cheese.

Summer birthday dessert - with fresh blackberries from the market, blueberries and cherries. YUM!

It was a whirlwind, but it was really fun to show everyone around and enjoy the company! Now Dan and I are here for the rest of the summer, which is good, because I’ve got too much going on, and things are just going to get busier, since classes start back up at Duke in 4 weeks. I can’t hardly believe it. But hopefully I’ll be able to get some good summer recipes posted before it gets too crazy. Cross your fingers!