Food goodness

For me, the search is over. I have been using this recipe consistently for the past year. It's adapted from Mark Bittman's great food processor APF dough recipe in How to Ck Ev'rything. He also just did a little demo video and a chat on for the NYT, both of which are hilarious. I love how his instructions in the video are so throw-away. "Just put some olive oil in there. Just, you know, like, some. Glug, glug, glug. And then, whatever. It's pizza. Eat it." 2 t instant or rapid rise yeast 1 1/2 C APF 1 1/2 C whole wheat, spelt or rye flour 2 t kosher or sea salt, plus more for sprinkling 1 to 1 1/4 C water 2 T olive oil, plus a 1 t to brush crust if desired 1) Combine the yeast, flour, and 2 t salt in the container of a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 C water and 2 T of oil through the feed tube. 2) Process for about 30 seconds, adding more water, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticy to the touch. ...

So, my kiddo might complain that she can't eat meat one day a week, but she only complains a little when this is for dinner. Also, she very much likes cooking, and this is exactly the sort of recipe where I can put all the ingredients on the counter and say "go to it." Winning for everyone. Adapted from here 2 jars alfredo sauce (I used the kind with mushrooms in them) 1 large (20 oz, I think) package tortellini, the cheese/spinach kind a bunch of broccoli (I had some leftover broccoli and cauliflower, plus some raw broccoli. I didn't bother to measure) 1 1/2 c. water 1/2 c. bread crumbs (homemade, in my case) 2 tsp. olive oil Mix the alfredo and water in a large bowl. In a baking dish, combine broccoli and tortellini. Pour alfredo on top, stir to coat. Bake in 375 oven for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, combine bread crumbs and oil and stir to combine. Sprinkle on top of casserole (at the end of 45 minutes). Pop back under broiler for 2-3 minutes (watch close...

I promised Heather I'd post this a long time ago and then everything went nutso. Here you go!  4 c. liquid (I use half water, half milk) 1 2/3 c. steel cut oats cinnamon or vanilla extract (or both) pinch of salt Bring it all to a boil in a pot, then turn it off. Portion into containers. I used half-pint canning jars (6 of them) but you could easily use tupperware if you like. The canning jars are cuter, though. Stick those containers in the fridge. In the morning, add your toppings and shove in your lunch bag. Heat when you get to work. So much better than those packets of instant oatmeal.

I love everything about this recipe. I love it at breakfast, I love it at lunch, I love it at dinner. Mostly I've eaten it for the first two meals of the day, but it'd make a great Meatless Monday dinner, too. Adapted very little from Skinny Taste 2 tsp olive oil 1/4 cup diced shallots 1 1/2 lb baby spinach 4 large eggs salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 4 tbsp shredded Asagio or Parm cheese Preheat an oven to 400°F. Lightly spray four oven-safe dishes or ramekins with cooking spray. Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat, add oil, shallots and cook 2-3 minutes. Add spinach, salt and pepper and cook until the spinach wilts, about 2-3 minutes. Divide the wilted spinach among the oven-safe dishes, making a well in the center of each. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Break an egg into each dish and season with salt and pepper. Place the ramekins on one or two rimmed baking sheets and bake until the whites are set and the yolks are firm around the edges but still so...

We eat meatless on Monday, which is a great source of grumbling in my house from the carnivore older child who just likes to complain. (they do that when they're 9) This was last week's Meatless Monday recipe, along with a tossed salad. Gaby ate hers with ketchup. Katie picked all the broccoli out and just ate that and the cheesy top. Baby steps. Adapted from Epicurious 10 ounces (1-inch-wide) broccoli florets (with 1 to 2 inches of stem attached) 2 large garlic cloves 6 large eggs 1 1/2 cups half-and-half 2 cups Gruyere and Swiss cheese, coarsely grated 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano  pie crust of your choosing (I had a pre-made one, so that's what I used) Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Bake pie crust until it's lightly golden. While shell bakes, cook broccoli in a 3-quart pot of boiling salted water 4 minutes. Drain broccoli and rinse under cold water to stop cooking, then pat dry. Mince and mash garlic to a paste with a generous pinch o...

I know I'm in the minority when I say that I love cabbage. That's ok, I love it anyway. I made this a few weeks ago, adapted from a recipe I found here . I'd probably have stuck closer to the original, but I didn't feel like measuring anything. 1/2 package of bacon, chopped 1 small onion, chopped fine 1 cabbage\, trimmed, outer leaves and core removed, sliced thin 1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds In a large skillet or Dutch oven (you'll need a cover), cook the bacon crisp. Add the onion as it's prepped, let cook 2 - 3 minutes. Add the caraway and let cook, 1 - 2 minutes. Add the cabbage, stirring well to coat with fat and caraway. Cover and let cook for about 30 minutes, stirring often.

So, I'll admit I like my coffee with a lot of sweetener and flavoring. What I don't like is that the stuff you buy in the store with the flavors also has a lot of oil, preservatives, and HFCS. I try to have as little HFCS as possible. So, the first day I was on Pinterest I found this recipe, and I'm now on my second batch of homemade creamer. 14oz sweetened condensed milk 14oz milk (whole, lowfat, or skim - doesn't matter) 2 teaspoons extract of choice or coffee syrup (I've made hazlenut and vanilla) a mason jar (quart is perfect)  Pour all of the ingredients into your mason jar. Screw the lid on tightly and shake vigorously for a few minutes until well combined. I think this probably has a pretty short shelf life, but I used one batch in a week, and it seemed fine to me. You could use half and half if you wanted -- if your half and half is like mine, it's got a really long shelf life, so it'd probably make your creamer last longer.

Man oh man. I go away for a while and Blogger changes everything. I'm back, by the way, with tons of new recipes. One of the perks of not working is that I've got lots of time for cooking. Lots and lots of time. And lately, I'm obsessed with Pinterest, where I can pin all of the recipes I see that look interesting. Like this one. I adapted this from a recipe found here , to match our tastes and feed three grown men, two growing girls, and me. It was fantastic. 6 tablespoons olive oil 3 lemons, 1 1/2 thinly sliced, 1 1/2 juiced 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 pound trimmed green beans 1 pound red potatoes, quartered (if they are small enough, you don't have to quarter them) 5 chicken quarters (you know, the thigh and leg still together) Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a large baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. In a large bowl, combine the remaining oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pep...

This is a Bittman recipe and it was great. I served it over pasta. My husband asked me if that's how ratatouille is traditionally served. I had to admit I did not know.Wikipedia tells me it can be served however the heck you want to eat it. The vegetables make a perfect “steamer” and create a built-in side dish. Makes: 4 servings 1 large or 2 medium zucchini 1 medium or 2 small eggplants 1 medium red bell pepper, cored 2 medium or 3 small tomatoes, cored (Can of fired roasted. Canned tomatoes are aparently my BPA Waterloo.) 3 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed (2 T total) 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 large onion, chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves ½ cup Niçoise or kalamata olives, pitted, optional (delicious!) 4 thick fish fillets or steaks (about 1½ pounds) (thawed cod filets from the Joe who is a Trader) ½ cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves (3 cubes from those genius frozen packs from TJ's) 1. Trim and cut ...

This wekeend we visited friends from college. They were in the Peace Corps the first two years of their marriage. Wow, right? She made these pancakes for all of us for breakfast using a recipe she had written down in Spanish in the margin of her Peace Corps cookbook. Between the oatmeal, eggs, milk and sweet potato/banana, the protein and complex carbs will keep you going for a while. Also, I love the word "panqueque." mezclar juntos y dejar por 5 minutos : (mix together and leave for 5 minutes) - 2 C leche (milk) - 2 huevos (eggs) - 1 T azucar (sugar) - 1 T aciete (oil) - 1 T vainilla (vanilla) - 1 1/2 C avena (oatmeal) mezclar juntos : - 1 1/2 C harina (flour) - 1 t polvo de horno (baking powder) - 1/2 t sal (salt) - 4 minimos, puré (bananas, mashed) (NOTE: my friend used cooked sweet potato pureed with a stick blender so I did this too because family loved them.) combinar todos y cocinar (NOTE: The batter is fairly thick, almost like muffin batter. My fri...

I know this food blog gang loves our spinach so I bring you Heidi's take on spinach deliciousness. I used Alissa's method to bake tofu because I knew I wasn't going to get my hands on paneer the week I made this. I also used Sun Brand Madras Curry from my grocery store. The cute little tin leapt into my cart and I've been shaking it into all kinds of things since that day. The vegetarian potluck group all really enjoyed it (one friend, a humanitarian aid worker and longtime world traveler, claimed it was her favorite dish of this year's Lenten gatherings. The credit is all Heidi's but I thought that was a good testamonial.) I served it over rice to make sure it would stretch to feed the group. The sauce filtered down into the rice and made it a beautiful color. >>>> A bunch of head notes here, apologies. This recipe calls for an incredible amount of spinach. Just know, it cooks down dramatically. I call for baby spinach, because it saves me h...

I know it was 80 degrees today... whatevs. Sit in front of a fan and eat soup! We came home from a weekend family road trip to a fridge full of multiple teeny portions of leftovers. They made magic in my soup pot and I want to put the list here as reminder to my feeble brain of a fun thing to do with the rotating cast of containers in the fridge. Feel free to chime in with your fave leftover soup combos or ingredients.      base flavor: olive oil sauteed minced garlic body: 2 C chicken broth 1 C roasted potato wedges, chunked 1/4 C saag tofu (only rice left) 1/4 C homemade shells and cheese 1/2 C scalloped potatoes 1/2 C snobby joe fresh veggie flourish: baby spinach 5 cremini mushrooms, chunked 10 stalks asparagus, chopped final touch: 1 T miso, (tip: 1. remove pot from heat to retain nutritional integrity of miso 2. ladle a bit of broth into a container and dissolve miso in this before returning mixture to the...

Adapted from: Fit Pregnancy Also going into the freezer.  I had to add a little bit more WW flour because my batter was really loose.  I skipped the food processor and just used a whisk and bowl. Wet ingredients: 3 eggs ¼ cup vegetable oil or melted butter, plus additional for brushing ¼ cup soy nut butter (or peanut butter) ¼ cup honey (I used sorghum - still out of honey around here) ¼ cup plain yogurt ½ teaspoon vanilla 2 cups milk   Dry ingredients: ½ cup whole-wheat flour (I probably used closer to 1 cup in the end) ½ cup all-purpose flour ¼ cup oat flour (or oats ground finely in a food processor) 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1.  Preheat a waffle iron. 2.  In a food processor, pulse together the wet ingredients except milk (or, just whisk together in a bowl). 3.  In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. 4.  Add the dry ingredients and milk to the fo...

From: Simply Recipes Another recipe I made today to store in the freezer in preparation for Baby Arrival next week.  I actually had some shredded zucchini in the freezer from last summer's garden haul, so I used that, and added some shredded carrots to fill out the 3 cups of veg needed.  I added chopped almonds, raisins, and some flax seeds.  I also used some applesauce in place of a bit of the butter, and used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 all-purpose.  I wanted to try to make these a little more nutritious but not go overboard and end up with dry, dense muffins like you sometimes get when you sub out all the good stuff for more virtuous ingredients.  Ingredients 3 cups grated fresh zucchini (I used a mix of zucchini and shredded carrots) 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter (I used one stick of butter, melted, plus some applesauce) 1 1/3 cup sugar 2 eggs, beaten 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 teaspoons baking soda Pinch salt 3 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1/2...

From Brown Eyed Baker I have never made homemade granola bars before, but now that I know how easy it is, and have this handy formula, I see a lot of homemade granola bars in my future.  I mostly followed the recipe for Fig, Date and Almond Bars , but I subbed out the dates for dried apricots because I didn't have any dates in the house. I also used a little sorghum instead of all the honey, because I didn't have quite enough honey and I did have a jar of sorghum from our trip to Tennessee last year.   But - look at all the possible combinations! I think you could also use different kind of jams, too, but I'm not sure if that would count as a sticky sweetener or a binder....hm.  Will have to keep trying different combinations.  I'm thinking of a dark chocolate, coconut and pecan version..... yum! Basic Granola Bar Formula: 1. Rolled Grains (2½ cups) Suggestions: Oats, Rye flakes, Barley flakes, etc. 2. Nuts, Seeds & Spices (1 cup) Suggestions: Almon...

My friend Cindy made this for a vegetarian potluck dinner. We all went nuts for it. It's basically a very thick, nicely spiced tomato-based lentil stew that makes a delicious sandwich filling. I made it tonight and it was easy and tasty. 1c uncooked lentils  4c of water  1 tbs extra virgin olive oil  1 medium onion, diced  1 green pepper, diced  2 carrots, diced  2 gloves garlic  1 tbs chili powder  (Cindy: "I used an Indian spice called Sambar instead of chili powder - it's a mixture of spices that includes chili powder. You can get it at the Pakistani store on Greenmount and 33rd -- or I can send you all home with some the next time I see you." Heather used madras curry. )  1.5 tsp oregano  1 tsp salt  8 oz tomato sauce  1/4 c tomato paste  3 tbs maple syrup  2 tbs yellow mustard  4-6 kaiser rolls (or whatever rolls you have)  1. Put lentils and water in a pot. Cover and...