A Breakfast Silkie

I've been trying out all kinds of smoothies lately. That's an exaggeration. I've tried just a few. I like them. They're fun. They're portable. I am allowed to drink them in my cubicle without having to go to the break room. But I am having a litte trouble with the whole hiding your greens in your smoothie thing. I know that this is because the grocery store didn't have baby spinach, so I just got regular spinach ... bad.idea. There was a definite texture difference. Boo.

So this week, I've been letting that spinach wilt in the fridge (sorry!) while I take my smoothies in another direction. Enter the medjool date. I've never had dates before. And I was seriously missing out. You guys, if you've never had eaten a date, go out right now and buy some. You won't be sorry. I bought them because I keep seeing them in smoothie recipes. Yesterday, I made a smoothie with almond milk, banana, date, honey, and flax seed. I almost put strawberries in it ... but didn't. The lack of fruit and veg (goodbye spinach) makes the texture a lot less thick ... hence the title of this post. Smoothie seemed too thick for this beverage. I have decided to name it a Silkie. Shut up.

1 - 1 1/4 cup of almond milk
1 banana, sliced
1 T ground flax seed
1/4 - 1/2 t honey
1/4 t cinnamon
a couple dashes of turmeric (you don't even notice it)

Whirl in the blender and enjoy!

Corn Bread

I was planning to have eat our chili with tortilla chips tonight, but then I decided to make a lightning fast guacamole with my one fading avocado. Good thing I did, as this poor fella would not have lasted another day. Man was that delicious and easy guac, but it left me not wanting tortilla chips with the chili. After walking the dogs, I decided I had to whip up some quick cornbread.

Turning to my ever-burgeoning collection of Moosewood cookbooks, I picked out the Basic Corn Bread recipe from The New Moosewood Cookbook and adapted it slightly to what I had in my kitchen, i.e., not buttermilk and not an easy way to melt butter. Yes, it's true, I have been living without a microwave since August 2009. You get used to it.

My verdict on the cornbread -- delicious, but it really should be eaten with chili. It's tasty, but not sweet. Great for sopping up those savory chili flavors though. In my first bowl I crumbled it on top, but in my second bowl, I spooned the chili right over top a slab of cornbread. So good!

Corn Bread
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1 egg
3 T honey
3 T olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350* and grease an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan. Combine your dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine egg, honey, milk, and oil. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into the pan and spread to edges. Bake for 20 minutes or until center is firm. Serve with chili!

Vegetarian Chili

Disclaimer: I am not a vegetarian. When it comes to chili, I feel pretty strongly that it should have delicious ground beef in it. But it is one of my 30-before-30 goals to make conscious decisions to eat less meat, so I'm giving it a shot. And I do love me some beans. I might even make some cornbread to go with it...

I rarely cook chili with a recipe, so we'll see how this goes. Normally it's a stovetop deal in a big pot, but since our stove is now a single-burner-plugged-into-the-wall, I think crock pot chili is the way to go this evening.

Vegetarian Chili
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 med onion, chopped
1 drizzle of olive oil
1 15-oz can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 28-oz can diced tomates
1 6-oz can tomato paste
chili powder
cumin
cayenne pepper
crushed red pepper
salt
black pepper
parsley
fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)

In a small skillet, heat drizzle of olive oil. Saute onions and garlic, with a pinch of salt and black pepper, for a few minutes. Add some chili pepper and cumin to the mixture and stir. Toss into the crock pot. Add all the beans and the diced tomatoes and their juice.

Spice it up! I couldn't guess too well at these spices. I like a lot of spice, so I do several healthy shakes of chili powder and cumin, maybe 1 T of each. Less of the cayenne, maybe 1/4 t. A little more salt, start with 1/4 t but probably no more than 1/2 t. Add a few turns of fresh-cracked black pepper and a few shakes of crushed red pepper.

Cook in the crock on low 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. About halfway through add the can of tomato paste, and stir to combine. My crock pot always seems to heat more quickly than expected, so know your machine. Stir it occasionally and continue to season to taste. Garnish with fresh cilantro, maybe some sour cream or shredded cheddar. This would probably be great with a minced jalapeño too.

Tonight we are serving with corn bread. Maaaybe recipe to follow.

Thai Red Curry Chicken

The first day of the spring semester starts officially tomorrow. It's a really strange feeling to know that I'm at the halfway mark of my doctoral coursework.

Anyhow, this semester my days on Wednesday and Thursday are long. 8:00 am - 7:00 pm, which means I definitely need lunch and probably an afternoon snack. Hopefully I won't resort to take out when I get home tomorrow. Must resist the temptation! I really want to lose a few more pounds before the Justice Project next month.

So ... this recipe comes from a need to provide a healthy, re-heatable lunch for tomorrow. This would also be phenomenal with shrimp instead of chicken, and I'd be willing to give this a try with tofu too.


Thai Red Curry Chicken

For the chicken:
1 T sesame oil
2 chicken breasts, s+p
4 scallions, sliced
1 can lite coconut milk
1-2 T red curry paste

black, white, or red pepper, to taste
1 scant T fish sauce (optional)
2 scant T brown sugar
3/4 c frozen peas
garam masala
fresh cilantro

For the rice:

1 cup rice (I used short-grain white, but you could whatever you have on hand)

2 cups water

curry powder

turmeric

salt

pepper

dried cilantro

garam masala

Prepare and cook the rice as directed on package. I just throw mine in the rice cooker with the spices. I never measure spices when making rice, so use your best judgment and your nose.

In large saute pan, heat the sesame oil. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. (I put them in whole, removed them from the sauce during cooking, and returned them to the pan, but you could definitely slice first.) Place chicken in the pan.

Add sliced scallions (white part). Turn chicken. Pour in coconut milk, and add curry paste. I put in about 1 T, but next time would definitely put in 2 T. Add some pepper (maybe 1/8-1/4 t). I didn't use pepper tonight because I thought the curry paste would be a little spicier. Next time, pepper. I did add a small amount of garam masala at this point, which turned out nicely ... perhaps a scant 1/4 t, I'd guess.

Let simmer for about 5 minutes or so. Add fish sauce, if using, and brown sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add the frozen peas. Stir occasionally, simmering for another 8-10 minutes. You can add some of the green parts of the scallion here too. I also chopped in some fresh cilantro in the last few minutes, as well as adding a little more on top of the bowls for garnish.

Tangent: I used to hate cilantro, but in the last year or so, I've become a major cilantro convert. I absolutely love it now. Weird. Are you a lover or a hater?

Sorry there's no pictures for this recipe. Maybe next time I make it! Because it's definitely going to make future appearances on our dinner plates.

Let the 2012 Detox Begin

Yeah, yeah, yeah, new year, 2012, detox, lose weight, blah, blah, blah.

I shouldn't make fun, because I am right there with everyone else. I am super frustrated by my holiday pounds, feeling incredibly out of sorts from the holiday travel, and I'm craving simple foods. The last few nights it's been rice & beans, lentil soup, and bread. Here's a couple of recipes that I'm looking at for the rest of the week.

Basic Green Smoothie from Brown Eyed Baker


Vegan Caesar Salad from Rosemarried


Split Pea Soup from the Moosewood Cookbook


I'm working on my own stir fry recipe to post. I've got a giant head of broccoli, a bunch of scallions, and a block of tofu all of which would be tasty in a stir fry!