Monday, January 31, 2011
Busy Mom Tip #4: Fun and Healthy Condiments
It's the most basic thing, but we and our two and a half year old have gotten a lot of mileage from it: cinnamon easy at hand. We have some cute little salt and pepper shakers filled with cocoa and cinnamon. The cinnamon shaker is almost a permanent fixture on the table, and I add it to my own coffee or hot chocolate or fruit and yogurt, and D asks for it to add to his 'foam' (steamed milk foam which I make for him when I'm having a cappuccino) or to porridge or applesauce. That salt-turned-cinnamon shaker gets a lot of action.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Meal Plan #5
This week's meal planning began while traveling home in the car after a weekend visit with my brother and sister-in-law. What does one make for supper when one has no microwave (and therefore can not thaw frozen things on a whim), has not gone grocery shopping, won't arrive home until 4:30 PM and has a toddler who appears to be coming down with yet another virus?
My husband had the answer. "What about that garlic soup?" he said. That just might be something we have all the ingredients for, since during my annual Christmas grocery hoarding, which involves picking up extra of everything just in case I run out, I had overstocked in the garlic department...and the perfect winter sicky option. Garlic soup and cheese toast, it is.
The garlic soup recipe comes from Dan Jason, owner of Salt Spring Seeds, a heritage and heirloom organic seed grower on Salt Spring Island in B.C. My husband once spent a weekend on the island and spent a lot of time at Dan's farm, learning about his business. He came home with a cookbook, The Really Whole Food Cookbook, and has since picked up a newer one, The Whole Organic Food Book, which is more about growing food as well as cooking it, and more or less contains recipes from the original book. Garlic soup is in both books.
The original recipe is vegan, but we had chicken broth in the fridge, and some drippings in the freezer from last week's roast chicken, so ours was not. You may worry that this will be overwhelmingly garlicky, but I don't find it to be. It's more tangy and richly flavourful than noticeably garlicky.
Garlic Soup
2 garlic bulbs (you read that right--BULBS, not cloves), peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 T. olive oil
2 t. minced fresh basil (I used some from my garden that I blended with olive oil and froze in tablespoon-sized portions)
1/2 t. minced fresh tarragon
4 c. chopped tomatoes (the original recipe calls for them to be peeled as well, but I didn't do that. It would make for a smoother soup)
4 c. broth or water
salt and pepper to taste
Sauté garlic and onion in oil over medium heat, being careful not to brown them. Add tomato and herbs and stir for two more minutes. Add broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes. Season to taste.
My husband and I have decided that this should be the base for any soup we make. It is beautifully flavoured on its own, but would be even more delicious turned into a minestrone, with beans and pasta added to it. I especially enjoyed it with some cheese toast made from day-old Christie's Bakery pagnotta and Balderson double-smoked cheddar. I laid the toast in the bottom of my bowl and ladled the soup over top. Yummy. As for the sicky two-year old, he spent more time on the cheese toast, but once he was cajoled into trying a spoonful of soup, he picked up his bowl and took a healthy drink and said he liked it, before losing interest in it and tearing his toast to pieces.
And now for the rest of the week:
Monday
By hubbie's request: beef and bean burritos
Avocado and cucumber dressed with lime and sea salt
Tuesday
Broccoli and toasted garlic pasta (that's right—I STILL have garlic to use up!)
Wednesday
Asian-style roast chicken
Napa cabbage with dried shrimp and straw mushrooms (I have some Napa cabbage that really needs using, and I discovered a stir-fry recipe that has some obscure ingredients that I actually have on hand. It's not every day I find an excuse to pull out my bag of dried shrimp and open a can of straw mushrooms. I'm looking forward to trying this and exploring the website that it was posted on.)
Steamed brown rice
Thursday
I won't have time to cook Thursday, because we have a 4:30 appointment to meet with a kitchen designer about renovating our kitchen. This is so exciting!! Food-wise, we'll likely go out somewhere. We may also track down some friends who might want to meet us for dinner, to turn our family night on the town into a socializing opportunity.
Friday
Leaning towards a pizza night, which may also be a socializing opportunity; more on that later.
My husband had the answer. "What about that garlic soup?" he said. That just might be something we have all the ingredients for, since during my annual Christmas grocery hoarding, which involves picking up extra of everything just in case I run out, I had overstocked in the garlic department...and the perfect winter sicky option. Garlic soup and cheese toast, it is.
The garlic soup recipe comes from Dan Jason, owner of Salt Spring Seeds, a heritage and heirloom organic seed grower on Salt Spring Island in B.C. My husband once spent a weekend on the island and spent a lot of time at Dan's farm, learning about his business. He came home with a cookbook, The Really Whole Food Cookbook, and has since picked up a newer one, The Whole Organic Food Book, which is more about growing food as well as cooking it, and more or less contains recipes from the original book. Garlic soup is in both books.
The original recipe is vegan, but we had chicken broth in the fridge, and some drippings in the freezer from last week's roast chicken, so ours was not. You may worry that this will be overwhelmingly garlicky, but I don't find it to be. It's more tangy and richly flavourful than noticeably garlicky.
Garlic Soup
2 garlic bulbs (you read that right--BULBS, not cloves), peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 T. olive oil
2 t. minced fresh basil (I used some from my garden that I blended with olive oil and froze in tablespoon-sized portions)
1/2 t. minced fresh tarragon
4 c. chopped tomatoes (the original recipe calls for them to be peeled as well, but I didn't do that. It would make for a smoother soup)
4 c. broth or water
salt and pepper to taste
Sauté garlic and onion in oil over medium heat, being careful not to brown them. Add tomato and herbs and stir for two more minutes. Add broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes. Season to taste.
My husband and I have decided that this should be the base for any soup we make. It is beautifully flavoured on its own, but would be even more delicious turned into a minestrone, with beans and pasta added to it. I especially enjoyed it with some cheese toast made from day-old Christie's Bakery pagnotta and Balderson double-smoked cheddar. I laid the toast in the bottom of my bowl and ladled the soup over top. Yummy. As for the sicky two-year old, he spent more time on the cheese toast, but once he was cajoled into trying a spoonful of soup, he picked up his bowl and took a healthy drink and said he liked it, before losing interest in it and tearing his toast to pieces.
And now for the rest of the week:
Monday
By hubbie's request: beef and bean burritos
Avocado and cucumber dressed with lime and sea salt
Tuesday
Broccoli and toasted garlic pasta (that's right—I STILL have garlic to use up!)
Wednesday
Asian-style roast chicken
Napa cabbage with dried shrimp and straw mushrooms (I have some Napa cabbage that really needs using, and I discovered a stir-fry recipe that has some obscure ingredients that I actually have on hand. It's not every day I find an excuse to pull out my bag of dried shrimp and open a can of straw mushrooms. I'm looking forward to trying this and exploring the website that it was posted on.)
Steamed brown rice
Thursday
I won't have time to cook Thursday, because we have a 4:30 appointment to meet with a kitchen designer about renovating our kitchen. This is so exciting!! Food-wise, we'll likely go out somewhere. We may also track down some friends who might want to meet us for dinner, to turn our family night on the town into a socializing opportunity.
Friday
Leaning towards a pizza night, which may also be a socializing opportunity; more on that later.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Quick Bread Week
Not that it takes much effort or skill, but I have mastered quick breads. I can whip together muffins, scones, or a loaf in no time at all, and so I do quite often. I haven't yet mastered yeast breads or pastries, so those are far less likely to come out of my oven. My mother, who makes beautiful buns and gorgeous pie pastry, would tell me that's because I only do things that I can do better than everyone else. I don't think I'm quite THAT competitive, although some friends and family might beg to differ. I do hope to eventually make time to master those as well, but in my present situation, there are no materials available for the making of time.
Like bar cookies instead of drop cookies, I am learning the benefits of loaves over muffins, for both the simplicity of just dumping the batter into one pan as well as the longevity factor. Recently, I made a batch of golden raisin oat bran muffins. They were good, but after we enjoyed them warm and for breakfast the next morning, they languished on the counter until I had to throw them out. I don't really like day-old muffins, whereas somehow loaves seem to improve over a couple of days. Probably has to do with less overall surface area.
Besides the oatmeal peach bread (which was posted on line at Slow Like Honey) that I made earlier in the week, I also made a buttermilk-rye loaf, also from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking cookbook, in an effort to use up local farm buttermilk and butter (that I get delivered to my door!) that I had in my fridge. I was disappointed in the peach oatmeal bread at first, because it seemed quite dry and crumbly (and was listed as 'low fat', with only 1/4 cup of oil). It actually cured and improved over a couple of days, so I would make it again—probably with extra peaches.
The buttermilk-rye loaf, with its hints of orange and caraway, was absolutely delicious with cream cheese. Once again, I thought I might be able to freeze some of what I'd made, but no such luck. It's pretty much all gone. I will certainly place another order for buttermilk in the future—and the fresh farm butter is gorgeous spread over all kinds of breads and muffins.
Like bar cookies instead of drop cookies, I am learning the benefits of loaves over muffins, for both the simplicity of just dumping the batter into one pan as well as the longevity factor. Recently, I made a batch of golden raisin oat bran muffins. They were good, but after we enjoyed them warm and for breakfast the next morning, they languished on the counter until I had to throw them out. I don't really like day-old muffins, whereas somehow loaves seem to improve over a couple of days. Probably has to do with less overall surface area.
Besides the oatmeal peach bread (which was posted on line at Slow Like Honey) that I made earlier in the week, I also made a buttermilk-rye loaf, also from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking cookbook, in an effort to use up local farm buttermilk and butter (that I get delivered to my door!) that I had in my fridge. I was disappointed in the peach oatmeal bread at first, because it seemed quite dry and crumbly (and was listed as 'low fat', with only 1/4 cup of oil). It actually cured and improved over a couple of days, so I would make it again—probably with extra peaches.
The buttermilk-rye loaf, with its hints of orange and caraway, was absolutely delicious with cream cheese. Once again, I thought I might be able to freeze some of what I'd made, but no such luck. It's pretty much all gone. I will certainly place another order for buttermilk in the future—and the fresh farm butter is gorgeous spread over all kinds of breads and muffins.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Roasted Veggies Rock
I am continually surprised by the delicious-factor of roasted vegetables. I came home from yoga tonight to sample the roasted vegetable ratatouille and fell in love. In fact it was more than love—occasionally I discover a dish that makes my body go, "YES!!" Even more occasionally, that dish is actually good for me, and not a dish full of salt and fat. There was no guilt at all in tonight's dinner.
There are several recipes on line for roasted vegetable ratatouille. Mine came from the Moosewood Collective's Simple Suppers (one of my go-to cookbooks for simple and healthy meals). I had to modify it a bit, because it calls for fresh basil and there was none to be found at the grocery store when I was there on Saturday. My schedule didn't allow for a return trip, so I decided to rely on what I had in stock at home, which was some homemade pesto from last year's basil crop, in my freezer.
So in a nutshell, here's all you need to do for a fabulous meal:
Chop a collection of vegetables into 1-inch pieces to total 12 to 14 cups. The original recipe called for peeled eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and multi-coloured peppers. I added mushrooms as well. Place in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. I used a little over 1/3 cup of olive oil, and a generous sprinkling of S&P. Roast in a 450F oven for 40 minutes or so, stirring halfway through.
When everything is nicely softened with little caramelized bits around the edges, place in a serving bowl and toss with 1/4 to 1/2 cup pesto and serve.
The recipe suggested serving it over polenta or pasta. I would have liked to try the polenta, but I didn't have any on hand. Instead, while searching for polenta in my pantry I found quinoa, which I cooked in some purchased vegetable broth that I had in my fridge. The combination was absolutely delicious. As I mentioned, my body said "YES!" Then it said, "You should add some crumbled feta to this." So I did. My yoga teacher is always telling me to listen to my body, and in this case, my body proved to be very wise.
I confess to not being a huge fan of eggplant, but I have to admit that it made the dish, as it went all creamy and soft in among the firmer zucchini and onions. Oh yummy. I foresee more eggplant in my future.
I wish I could say this was a kid favourite, but not today. I'll blame it on his cold.
P.S. lennisdottir just posted a comment noting that roasted broccoli is also fabulous. That should also go on the roastables list!
There are several recipes on line for roasted vegetable ratatouille. Mine came from the Moosewood Collective's Simple Suppers (one of my go-to cookbooks for simple and healthy meals). I had to modify it a bit, because it calls for fresh basil and there was none to be found at the grocery store when I was there on Saturday. My schedule didn't allow for a return trip, so I decided to rely on what I had in stock at home, which was some homemade pesto from last year's basil crop, in my freezer.
So in a nutshell, here's all you need to do for a fabulous meal:
Chop a collection of vegetables into 1-inch pieces to total 12 to 14 cups. The original recipe called for peeled eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and multi-coloured peppers. I added mushrooms as well. Place in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. I used a little over 1/3 cup of olive oil, and a generous sprinkling of S&P. Roast in a 450F oven for 40 minutes or so, stirring halfway through.
When everything is nicely softened with little caramelized bits around the edges, place in a serving bowl and toss with 1/4 to 1/2 cup pesto and serve.
The recipe suggested serving it over polenta or pasta. I would have liked to try the polenta, but I didn't have any on hand. Instead, while searching for polenta in my pantry I found quinoa, which I cooked in some purchased vegetable broth that I had in my fridge. The combination was absolutely delicious. As I mentioned, my body said "YES!" Then it said, "You should add some crumbled feta to this." So I did. My yoga teacher is always telling me to listen to my body, and in this case, my body proved to be very wise.
I confess to not being a huge fan of eggplant, but I have to admit that it made the dish, as it went all creamy and soft in among the firmer zucchini and onions. Oh yummy. I foresee more eggplant in my future.
I wish I could say this was a kid favourite, but not today. I'll blame it on his cold.
P.S. lennisdottir just posted a comment noting that roasted broccoli is also fabulous. That should also go on the roastables list!
Zen and the Art of Following a Recipe
Last night I made Epicurious' version of chop suey, as per my meal plan. It seems a bit finicky, as it calls for a long list of vegetables, and instructs you to cook each one separately, one at a time, in your wok. I have made the recipe before when I was feeling more pressed for time and made an executive decision to combine the veggies into three groups--the ones that take a little longer to cook, like celery, onions and the bok choy ribs, and the ones that cook faster, i.e., green peppers, bok choy leaves and snow peas, and then the instant cook ones at the last minute—bean sprouts, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots.
Made that way, it was good enough to make again, I certainly wouldn't advise against going that route if you're feeling rushed. But this time I had more physical space and the time available, thanks to the boys both having a long nap at the same time. I decided to follow the recipe exactly, to see if it made a difference.
What I discovered is that the real difference between the two preparation methods lay in the cooking experience, rather than the eating experience. Standing over a hot wok and cooking one vegetable at a time felt somewhat meditative. Each vegetable has its own way of cooking (becoming translucent for onions, for example, or turning bright green in the case of the snow peas and green peppers), and spending time on each one gave me an opportunity to observe and think about the properties of each—the colour, the shape, how it cooked, and how it smelled. Each vegetable released its own particular aroma as it cooked. I finished the dish feeling more reflective about my meal—and the art of cooking it—than when I'd started.
Did it make a difference to the flavour of the dish? Probably not a noticeable one. My family enjoyed it as much this time as they did the last time. But having undergone the cooking process, it felt more meaningful to me when I sat down to it. A luxurious experience to have in an otherwise hectic and distracting life.
Made that way, it was good enough to make again, I certainly wouldn't advise against going that route if you're feeling rushed. But this time I had more physical space and the time available, thanks to the boys both having a long nap at the same time. I decided to follow the recipe exactly, to see if it made a difference.
What I discovered is that the real difference between the two preparation methods lay in the cooking experience, rather than the eating experience. Standing over a hot wok and cooking one vegetable at a time felt somewhat meditative. Each vegetable has its own way of cooking (becoming translucent for onions, for example, or turning bright green in the case of the snow peas and green peppers), and spending time on each one gave me an opportunity to observe and think about the properties of each—the colour, the shape, how it cooked, and how it smelled. Each vegetable released its own particular aroma as it cooked. I finished the dish feeling more reflective about my meal—and the art of cooking it—than when I'd started.
Did it make a difference to the flavour of the dish? Probably not a noticeable one. My family enjoyed it as much this time as they did the last time. But having undergone the cooking process, it felt more meaningful to me when I sat down to it. A luxurious experience to have in an otherwise hectic and distracting life.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Brunches on the Town
I was just thinking back over a lovely and relaxing weekend, and thought I should share that we had two food-oriented outings this weekend:
Saturday—we met Grandma and Grandpa at the Farmers' Market, and bought them breakfast. Beautiful quiche for Giuseppi's. It is truly the best quiche I have ever tasted. D enjoyed bites of our quiche (he ate most of Grandma's breakfast quiche) as well as most of a morning glory muffin from the Prairie Pie Company, where we also buy our lattes. Another quick stop for a scone from Wild Serendipity, and we were replete.
Sunday—met another young family for dim sum at the Mandarin Chinese Restaurant. We got there at 10AM, right when they opened, which guaranteed us a table, since we were the first to arrive. However, the steamed items, which are our favourite, are apparently the last to come out, so we were full by the time they made their rounds with them at 11AM. Note to self...
Saturday—we met Grandma and Grandpa at the Farmers' Market, and bought them breakfast. Beautiful quiche for Giuseppi's. It is truly the best quiche I have ever tasted. D enjoyed bites of our quiche (he ate most of Grandma's breakfast quiche) as well as most of a morning glory muffin from the Prairie Pie Company, where we also buy our lattes. Another quick stop for a scone from Wild Serendipity, and we were replete.
Sunday—met another young family for dim sum at the Mandarin Chinese Restaurant. We got there at 10AM, right when they opened, which guaranteed us a table, since we were the first to arrive. However, the steamed items, which are our favourite, are apparently the last to come out, so we were full by the time they made their rounds with them at 11AM. Note to self...
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Meal Plan #4
We're around most evenings this week, so no need to work around anything except a yoga class—our challenge this week is to have everything wrapped up with no leftovers in the fridge by Friday, since we're heading to Prince Albert for a weekend of winter fun with my brother and sister in law. I have a floating 'optional' meal scheduled for Thursday which requires no perishable food items, and can be popped in the freezer in the event of leftovers.
Ingredients to use up this week: Napa cabbage, fresh zucchini, ricotta cheese, fresh tomatoes
Sunday
Did I just say we're around in the evenings? Well, except for tonight, when I play volleyball from 6-9. That means our meal has to be portable or else edible when it's cold, at 9:30 when we get home, while at the same time being ready for D to eat before he heads out for an evening with his Uncle. We have a collection of leftovers in the fridge, and I decided to roast a chicken so that we have food today if we need it, and leftovers ready for lunches tomorrow. Side dishes and veggies will be scavenged from the fridge.
Monday
Chop suey with rice or noodles (I'll use the Napa cabbage in place of bok choy)
Tuesday (Yoga night)
Roasted ratatouille (Moosewood Collective's Simple Suppers) and couscous (to use up the zucchini and tomatoes)
Wednesday (Play group night)
Cannelloni with ricotta and spinach (from Rose Reisman Brings Home Light Cooking). This will also help to use up the purchased jar of pasta sauce I used for last week's rice-nut loaf.
Thursday
Lamb stew with kidney beans (if needed—this is the freezable one)
Friday, we're hoping to leave the city soon enough to descend on my brother in time for dinner.
Since dinner tonight is a big of a hodgepodge and doesn't require much effort from me, I have thawed some of the peach slices I froze at the height of peach season and turned them into peach oatmeal bread from King Arthur Flour Wholegrain Baking. I opted to use less sugar than the original recipe--3/4 c. brown sugar instead of 1/2 c. each of white sugar and brown sugar. I find the recipes in that cookbook to be a bit on the sweet side. It's fresh from the oven and looks beautiful. Hopefully it will taste that way, too.
Ingredients to use up this week: Napa cabbage, fresh zucchini, ricotta cheese, fresh tomatoes
Sunday
Did I just say we're around in the evenings? Well, except for tonight, when I play volleyball from 6-9. That means our meal has to be portable or else edible when it's cold, at 9:30 when we get home, while at the same time being ready for D to eat before he heads out for an evening with his Uncle. We have a collection of leftovers in the fridge, and I decided to roast a chicken so that we have food today if we need it, and leftovers ready for lunches tomorrow. Side dishes and veggies will be scavenged from the fridge.
Monday
Chop suey with rice or noodles (I'll use the Napa cabbage in place of bok choy)
Tuesday (Yoga night)
Roasted ratatouille (Moosewood Collective's Simple Suppers) and couscous (to use up the zucchini and tomatoes)
Wednesday (Play group night)
Cannelloni with ricotta and spinach (from Rose Reisman Brings Home Light Cooking). This will also help to use up the purchased jar of pasta sauce I used for last week's rice-nut loaf.
Thursday
Lamb stew with kidney beans (if needed—this is the freezable one)
Friday, we're hoping to leave the city soon enough to descend on my brother in time for dinner.
Since dinner tonight is a big of a hodgepodge and doesn't require much effort from me, I have thawed some of the peach slices I froze at the height of peach season and turned them into peach oatmeal bread from King Arthur Flour Wholegrain Baking. I opted to use less sugar than the original recipe--3/4 c. brown sugar instead of 1/2 c. each of white sugar and brown sugar. I find the recipes in that cookbook to be a bit on the sweet side. It's fresh from the oven and looks beautiful. Hopefully it will taste that way, too.
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