Food goodness

I have so much leftover protein from before/Christmas/after that it's not even funny. Not even a little bit. In a quest to do something with it other than just eat it over and over for dinner (don't worry, we froze it -- no food poisoning going on here, I hope), I've been looking for ways to "repurpose" our leftovers. With the leftover standing rib roast, I made vegetable beef barley soup. And after we ate that for dinner, I froze the leftover soup for lunches. With some of the leftover ham, I made this stew. I froze it all, because no one wants to eat bean soup in the house but me. (they're no fun) And it made a mighty fine lunch today, if I do say so myself. adapted slightly from Serious Eats 1 pound dried beans such as Great Northern, Cannellini, or Tarbais, soaked in water at room temperature overnight. (I used Navy beans, actually) 1 pound leftover smoked ham bones, scraps, and/or meat 3 quarts low-sodium chicken stock or water (I used a combo of the two)

It would have helped if I'd posted this recipe before Christmas, right? When you still had holiday baking to do and needed a quick, good sugar cookie recipe. Consider this a jump start on next year's planning. These are good cookies, the dough is easy to work with, and they made the kids happy. All I need for a winning recipe. from The Kitchn 1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature 1 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 2 ounces cream cheese (1/4 of a standard cream cheese package) 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 1 teaspoon lemon zest 3 cups flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and add the sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Add the egg, and beat until golden. Add the cream cheese and again beat until well incorporated. Add the flavorings and lemon zest. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl then add, bit by bit, to the butter/sugar mixture until fully incorporated.

I need a break from Christmas, but give me a couple days and I'll need one last go 'round. SAK and I were hoping to bake cookies but we didn't fit it in yet, so we're going to make these. I hope she'll want to eat them, considering how spicy Smitten says they are...more for me with my daily pot of tea! (One cup of molasses people! It's winter and we need our iron!) From Smitten Kitchen who says... Barely adapted from Martha Stewart, who knows a thing or two about gingerbread This gingerbread is spicy and dark, chewy but sturdy and only a little sweet. If you’re used to more tepid gingerbread men, it will surprise you. If you always found gingerbread a little boring, it will delight you. 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 4 teaspoons ground ginger 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves 1 teaspoon finely ground pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt 1 cup (2 sticks or 1/2 pound) uns

We had these with our Christmas dinner, and they were fantastic. I didn't change a thing, other than to omit the salt, because my mom is on a low sodium diet. So here, go to Smitten Kitchen and make these mushrooms.

Ok, this recipe was originally from my mom's employee, Doneen. I've made it many times as is, but this morning I doctored it up a bit. I'll put my additions in italics. 1/4 C. oil or applesauce ( I used homemade applesauce I had canned ) 1/2 C. sugar ( I used half white sugar and half brown sugar ) 1 egg 1.5 C. quick oats ( I used old fashioned oats ) 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 C. milk 1/2 C. raisins, soaked first in hot water, then drained dash of nutmeg dash of allspice dash of cinnamon 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced Preheat oven to 350. Cream oil (or applesauce), sugar and egg. Add oats, baking powder, salt, milk, raisins, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon; mix well. Spray an 8" baking dish with non-stick spray, or grease with butter. Place diced apples in the baking dish. Pour oatmeal mixture over apples in the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with milk.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Foods . I happened to catch an episode of Everyday Foods on PBS about a week ago and this was one of the dishes featured. Michael and I really liked it and very happily ate the leftovers for lunch for the next 2 days. Serves 6. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced Coarse salt and ground pepper 2 shallots or half of a small onion 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup cup shredded gouda cheese (4 ounces) (Martha used Fontina but I used what I had on hand) 1 slice day-old bread, cubed -or- 2 handfuls of panko 1 handful of rolled oats 1 large egg 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves (I used dried sage) 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (93 percent lean) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook mushrooms, stirring once or twice, until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside. Return skillet to medium and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add shal

Geoff and I made this for Thanksgiving, and it was a hit. Bonus #1: it's done in the crock pot, which frees up your oven. Bonus #2: it makes the house smell really good. Source: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker: Recipes for Entertaining, by Beth Hensperger Serves 6-8 Size of slow cooker: medium or large round or oval (Hensperger defines medium as 3-4.5 quarts and large as 5-7 quarts). Setting and cook time: Low for 6-7 hours * 2 pounds yams, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick * 2 medium-size tart cooking apples, such as Fuji or pippin, peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced 1/2 inch thick * one 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over for stems * 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar * 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon * 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg * 1/2 cup unfiltered apple or pear juice (see note below) * 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits 1. Coat the inside of the crock with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Alternate slices of the yams and apples in the crock,

We had so much kale and other miscellaneous dark leafy greens from our CSA, and this used them up delightfully. The taste certainly comes through, but it's tempered by the creamy goat cheese and the sharp lemon. Originally from 101 Cookbooks . (Kelly, I was wrong -- not Simply Recipes after all!) Her notes: I used penne here, but you can substitute whatever pasta you like. Spinach can be substituted for the kale if you like as well. My notes: I used some fancypants spinach egg noodles that I got for Chanukah. And I definitely will be using other random leafy greens the CSA chooses to throw at us. 4 cloves of garlic, peeled 4 small shallots, peeled [I used a regular white onion) 1 small bunch of kale - 1/2 lb / 8 oz, stalks removed, washed well [mine was two ziplocs full of curly and straight and who knows what kinds of kale] 1/3 cup / 80 ml extra virgin olive oil [I just used a glug or so] 1/3 cup / 2 oz goat cheese, plus more for topping 2 tablespoons + hot

Adapted from the Lake Austin Spa Resort recipe from Shape Magazine. Serves approx. 6 12 oz. buckwheat noodles 1 C shelled edamame 2 cloves garlic 1 inch piece ginger, peeled 1/3 C hoisin sauce (I omitted b/c I was out and just added more of the other ingredients) 1/3 C mirin 1 T + 1 t brown sugar 2 t sesame oil 1-2 t chili sauce (I use Sambal Olek) 2 t fish sauce 2 T soy sauce or tamari 1 C grated carrot 1 C red and yellow peppers, julienned 1 C sliced water chestnuts 3 scallions, thinly sliced 1/4 C fresh cilantro (omitted) 2 T black and white sesame seeds, lightly toasted 1.25 lbs center-cut salmon fillet* Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add noodles and edamame. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until soba is al dente. Drain noodles and edamame and rinse under cool water; set aside. In a food processor, add garlic thru soy sauce/tamari and whiz until blended. Pour noodles and edamame in a large bowl and add veg. Pour over sauce and sesame seeds and toss to combine. Chill i

Adapted from: Allrecipes.com I adapted this to make it healthier, and it still tasted great. I used Kelly's go-to substitute for heavy cream: a can of evaporated skim milk. It was still rich and creamy, minus all the fat. I also scooped out and baked the seeds from the squash, just like pumpkin seeds! 3 delicata squash, halved lengthwise and seeded 2 medium onions, chopped 2-3 cups vegetable broth, depending on how thick you want it 12 oz can of evaporated skim milk 1 tablespoon butter salt to taste ground black pepper to taste Directions Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place the squash, cut sides down, in a baking dish. Bake 35-40 minutes or until tender. Cool. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until onion is softened but not brown. Scrape the squash out of the flesh and add to onions. Add the stock and heavy evaporated milk. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Puree the soup in

This is in the slow cooker right now. You can eat it over rice with some veggies (like we plan to do) or make some sort of lettuce wraps. Get some fresh rice paper at the Asian store and wrap it in that! I bet it's even good in a whole wheat tortilla. 1 giant pork roast -- mine was about 8 pounds, I think ginger -- a lot. I used the stuff in the squeezy tube, because I had it and it was easy. If not, just get a huge piece and grate it up. 6-8 cloves garlic, smashed 1 bottle hoisin sauce, 12-15 ounces -- again, get thee to an Asian market. Hoisin sauce is cheap there, and you can buy it in big bottles. Plop that pork roast in the slow cooker. Put the grated ginger (or the squeezy ginger) on top. Throw in the garlic cloves. Pour the hoisin on top. Cook for 10 hours, or until the pork is able to be shredded with 2 forks. (Freeze all the extras, and you've got a couple meals!)

Yum! Yuuuuuuummmmmmmmm! These were really super awesome good. Very easy, take no time at all to make, and your house will smell amazing. Adapted from: Culinary in the Desert 1 cup granulated sugar (a little less would probably be fine, too) 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 large egg white 4 tablespoons Kahlua 4 cups pecan halves Preheat oven to 325 In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together egg white and Kahlua. Add pecans and stir well to combine. Sprinkle half the sugar mixture on top - mix well. Pour the rest of the sugar on top and stir until completely combined. Scoop the mixture onto a large baking sheet lined with foil and coated with nonstick spray. Spread the pecans to an even single layer. Bake until pecans are lightly toasted and browned, stirring every 10 minutes - about 20 to 25 minutes total. Remove from the oven and scoop the hot pecans onto wax or parchment paper to cool completely.

From: 101 Cookbooks These cookies are like chocolate meringues full of walnuts. I made them to put into the holiday goodie box for my intern, who is gluten-intolerant. These aren't my favorite cookie overall, but they were a pretty good gluten-free choice. 3 cups / 11 oz / 310 g walnut halves, toasted & cooled 4 cups / 1 lb / 453 g confectioner's (powdered) sugar 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons / 2 oz / 60 g unsweetened cocoa powder scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt 4 large egg whites, room temperature 1 tablespoon real, good-quality vanilla extract Preheat oven to 320F / 160C degrees and position racks in the top and bottom third. Line three (preferably rimmed) baking sheets with parchment paper. Or you can bake in batches with fewer pans. Make sure your walnuts have cooled a bit, then chop coarsely and set aside. Sift together the confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, and sea salt. Stir in the walnuts, then add the egg whites and vanilla. Stir until well combined. Sp

From: Taste of Home I made this as one of the dishes for our Christmas party last night and it went over well. In the past I used to use a cranberry-apple chutney topping from TJ's, but they discontinued it this year, so I found this recipe to try instead. Everyone liked it, even though most people couldn't figure out what was in it. :) 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons water 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar Dash salt 1/2 to 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed 1 round Brie cheese (8 ounces) In a small saucepan, combine the apricots, brown sugar, water, vinegar and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook and stir until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in rosemary. Remove rind from top of cheese. Place in an ungreased ovenproof serving dish. Spread apricot mixture over cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is softened. Serve with crackers. Yield: 6-8 servi

This is a Weight Watchers recipe, which I modified slightly from Veggie Venture . She says it's either one point or zero points, depending on how you choose to identify it. I tasted it after it finished cooking, and it's really, really good. I'm going to stick it in the freezer for easy lunches for the next two weeks, when I'll need a break from all the holiday overindulgence. (Plus, I'm going to be counting points for real in just a few weeks, so I'm going to need recipes like this in my back pocket!) 6 cups vegetable broth (I used 6 cups water and vegetable Better than Bouillon) 2 cups bok choy, chopped 2 cups Chinese/Napa cabbage, chopped 1/4 cup fresh ginger, thinly sliced and julienned (they somehow didn't have ginger in the store when I went last week, so I bought this ginger puree in a tube. I just squirted some in) 4 oyster mushrooms, sliced thin (they didn't have any oyster mushrooms either. I threw in a whole container of white button mushrooms

Based on this recipe for winter squash, red lentil and chickpea stew, but with fewer ingredients. It comes out very orange. Serves 4-6 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 medium carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick 1 cup chopped onion (1 large) 1 pound pumpkin or winter squash, roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes 1 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro plain nonfat yogurt Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Halve squash and scoop out the seeds. Sprinkle with cayenne, salt and black pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 30-45 minutes, or until squash is squashy. Scoop out squash and cut into chunks. Set aside. In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, heat oil and add onions and carrots and cook until beginning to soften. Stir in br

adapted just slightly from: Annie's Eats My first attempt at a recipe that requires a candy thermometer! These were actually very easy to make, and I am going to put them in the goody boxes that I give to my coworkers on Friday (along with a couple of kinds of cookies). I used fleur de sel from Williams-Sonoma, because I wasn't sure if the regular coarse sea salt that I already had in my cabinet would be too salty or not. I even had to substitute some of the sugar for turbinado, because I was inexplicably out of sugar. I ended up using about 1/2 regular and 1/2 turbinado, and it still turned out just fine. Yield: 64 caramels Ingredients: 1 cup heavy cream 5 tbsp. unsalted butter ½ tsp. vanilla extract 1 vanilla bean pod, split lengthwise and scraped 1¼ tsp. fleur de sel, plus more for sprinkling 1½ cups sugar ¼ cup light corn syrup ¼ cup water Directions: Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper. Lightly butter the parchment. In a sma

This is so good that I just opted to eat it for lunch AND dinner, despite the fact that there is leftover Thai food in the fridge. I don't even recognize myself right now. From a blog called An Edible Mosaic . I doubled the recipe, which made it fit in a 9x13 casserole dish, and I substituted some winter veggies from our CSA for the eggplant. (Yield: 2 servings) [I got 6 out of doubling it somehow; didn't measure any of my vegetables] Eggplant: 1 small (1/2 lb) eggplant, thinly sliced into about 1/4-inch rounds Olive oil Salt and pepper [I used two large leeks and a medium-sized acorn squash.] Quinoa/Tomato Layer: 1/4 c quinoa 2 tsp olive oil 1 small onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced 1 c tomato sauce (store-bought or homemade…if you want to make homemade, roasted tomato sauce or thick marinara sauce would be nice) 1/4 tsp dried oregano 1/4 tsp dried mint [I didn't have this and probably threw in about 2 t Italian seasoning] Pinch allspice Salt and pepper

Last week we threw a baby shower for one of our interns who is due in a couple of weeks. She has been craving Indian food throughout her pregnancy, and is also gluten-intolerant. SO....we threw a gluten-free, vegetarian, Indian-food baby shower for her on Friday. Yum! Everything was so good and the office smelled amazing all afternoon. Anyway, this was my contribution. I tripled the recipe, cooked it the night before, and then brought it to work in a crockpot and reheated it before the party. I think you could probably cook the whole thing in the crockpot if you wanted- just cook the sauce ingredients for awhile, puree, then add the chickpeas and cook longer. Served it with chopped cilantro on top. Adapted slightly from The Wednesday Chef . Serves 2-4. 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 medium onion, chopped 2 teaspoons minced garlic 1 teaspoon minced ginger 1 small Thai bird chili, chopped or 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes, with liquid 1 1/2 teaspoons papri

You'd think all I do is bake bread and cookies, wouldn't you? I swear that I cook regular food, too. I made these to serve at our holiday open house tomorrow and they are quite tasty and festive. But not so festive that you couldn't serve them at another time of year. Or leave out the peppermint extract and sub in another. Add more espresso powder, sub a smidge of coffee liqueur and make them more coffee flavored. BTW, you'll want to give these a rest in the fridge before baking--at least 2 hours or overnight. Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies Adapted from Cooking Light and Bakers Royale . 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup) 3/4 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 5 1/4 teaspoons canola oil 1 1/2 ounces dark chocolate chips (good stuff like Ghiradelli not Nestle) 1 teaspoon instant espresso granules or instant coffee granules 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 3 tablespoons light-colo

Created by my friend Ann and published by Joy the Baker . I made this last night and now I will never use another recipe. I'm sure you could do some tinkering if you wanted -- and actually, now that I think about it, I did omit the nuts and use Earth Balance instead of butter. I also have a ridiculous surplus of apples from the first delivery of our CSA, so I just filled up a 9x13 glass dish with apples and left the amount of topping the same... and it was still perfect. Crunchy topping, ridiculously gooey and caramel-y inside. Filling: 5 to 6 medium-size apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices. (About 7.5 cups) [mine was probably more like 10?] 3 tbsp granulated sugar 1.5 tsp cinnamon Topping: 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/3 cups lightly packed brown sugar 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 stick unsalted butter, well-softened [I used Earth Balance] 2/3 cup finely chopped pecans (optional) 1/3 cup quick oats [I used traditional] Preheat the oven to 350. Generously grease an