Alex's Chili

It would have been nice if my school had cancelled classes before I woke up for lab, but oh well. At least now I can get some backlogged work done and maybe take a nap later. This week has been a little too busy, and I used up all my cooking-as-procrastination points yesterday, so I have no excuse not to cross a few things off the to-do list. Oh well, at least I have some kick-ass chili and cornbread to look forward to.

After receiving an email from my friend Alex about this amazing-sounding chili the other night, I just had to try making some myself. It sounded much livelier than the sweet potato and black bean chili I'd been planning on making. Unfortunately, my beloved sketchy markets were out of a lot of things, so I had to make a few adjustments.

Alex’s recipe:

First I braised a lb of chicken and set that aside and put in 2 3/4 cups of onions with chili powder, garlic and then added a red and yellow pepper, a full jalapeno, and then tomatoes, blackstrap molasses, tyme, basil, cumin, chicken stock, masa harina, and then garbanzo, adzuki, black and kidney beans… it was good with or without the chicken. Very satisfying. I placed it over brown rice and a small amount of jalapeno cheese.

My make-do interpretation:

¼ cup olive oil

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

2 jalepeno peppers

1 red pepper and 1 orange pepper

1 can each black beans, kidney beans, pink beans (low sodium)

1 32-oz can crushed tomatoes

2 tbsp blackstrap molasses

¾ boullion cube dissolved in ¾ cup boiling water

1 cup leftover tomato sauce

a few sprigs of thyme

cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop the onion, garlic and peppers (including jalepeno) either by hand or in a food processor. Sautee for a few minutes.

Add the beans, tomatoes, boullion, crushed tomato, tomato sauce, molasses, and spices. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down and cover.

Simmer for an hour or so.

Chris got in on the act and whipped up some cornbread, which we threw in the bowl and poured the chili over. There was also some cheddar cheese involved. It was the perfect thing on a miserable day...

Garlic Soup Part 2

Here I go again with the garlic soup. Maybe it's the snow day and the illusion of more time to get my work done, but I've been cooking all kinds of things today: roasted peppers, marinara sauce, and now I've got some garlic soup simmering on the stove. Chris is on hummus duty later on, he says.

This time, I'm attempting to make a more brothy garlic soup than last time, so I omitted the cubed potato I added last time as a thickener. I'm also taking pictures this time!

Here's the revised recipe:

Ingredients:

* 1- 2 tbsp of olive oil
* 2 heads garlic
* 1 small shallot
* 1 small sweet onion
* 1 can white cannelinni beans
* salt and white pepper to taste
* fresh thyme and/or a sprinkle of dried rosemary
* 3 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

* Peel the garlic and place the cloves in a roasting pan or dish. Coat with a tsp or so of olive oil and cover. Roast for about 40 minutes at 350.
* Add remaining olive oil to soup pan and heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the onion and shallot. Cook for about a minute.
* Add the beans and then the vegetable broth. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook about 20-30 minutes.
* When the garlic cloves are done, add them to the soup. Stir.
* Blend thoroughly with a hand mixer or blender. I used an immersion blender.
* Return to stove. Season with salt if desired, and pepper. Throw in some fresh thyme.
* Cover and cook over low for another 20 minutes or so.

Serves 2-3

Cooking Ahead and Homemade Oatmeal Energy Bars!

I have a weakness for energy bars. I know they're overpriced and that many are basically glorified candy bars and provide far more vitamins and minerals than I probably need from a snack, but when in unfamiliar territory (like a road trip) with no snacks in my purse, I'm very apt to reach for a Clif Bar when my stomach starts growling. I actually don't buy them that often, but that's because I try to always have something to eat with me.

Now that classes have started again, I have to get back in the habit of carrying around food to get me through eight-and-ten-hour stretches. For better or worse, this requires some planning—and cooking!—ahead. Yesterday I had a few free hours, so I decided to make my own damn energy bars.

Here is the recipe I came up with, based on various other recipes I saw online. They're pretty moist, and intentionally so. If that's not your thing, you can cook them a little longer or use a tiny bit less milk. Enjoy!

Baked Oatmeal Energy Bars

Ingredients
• 1.5 cups rolled oats (I used 1 cup rolled oats and 1/2 cup steel-cut oats)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nut)
• 3/4 cup dried fruit (I used 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots, ¼ cup chopped dried dates, and ¼ cup raisins)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cups skim or soy milk
• 1 egg or egg substitute (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Mix wet ingredients.
4. Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.
5. Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.
6. Bake for 40 minutes.
7. Cut into 9 squares.

Makes 9 servings . Each bar is about 125 calories with 3 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein.

Notes:
• If you want it sweeter, you can add ¼ cup brown sugar, maple syrup, honey or molasses, but I thought the mellow sweetness from the fruit was plenty.
• You also might want to add a scoop or two of protein powder to the mix for extra energy!


I also made a big pot of zucchini, eggplant and chickpeas in tomato sauce last night along with some whole wheat couscous. It travels well and tastes good and provides a lot of protein, fiber, and some veggies, among other necessities. Good stuff.

It Begins Again

Today was my first day back to class after a month-long break. I know I don't post much about my classes—I don't want to sound like a high schooler talking about her day on Live Journal 'cause I've, uh, been there, done that—but I wanted to share this really cool assignment we have in my Food Science and Technology lab.

Each of four groups had to choose a "theme" for a product to develop in class: reduced sodium, reduced fat, reduced sugar, or the inclusion of a functional ingredient. We have to identify current products on the market and create a version that tastes, looks, and feels as close as possible while staying within the constraints of our requirements.

My group was assigned to work with a functional ingredient. While I have mixed feelings about fortified snack foods, my interest was piqued when our professor shared a story about a doctor at another university who's been researching the effects of omega-3-fortified cookies on colitis patients. Only problem is, the cookies don't taste so great. My professor is encouraging us to make a product that tastes good but also delivers a good dose of the desired nutrient.

So we're thinking ginger snaps. Now we just have to locate several commercially-available brands to taste test and mimic. At first, I was really against making sweet stuff because I hate to bake (so f-ing tedious!), but I'm really curious to see how this is going to go. I love playing around with recipe modification.

Garlic Soup

Cooking has become my favorite procrastination tool. Instead of working on an article I need to turn in tomorrow, I decided to make garlic soup. Garlic is great this time of year when we need a little immune boost. And I don't know about you, but I can always use help keeping the vampires away!

This particular recipe is also a great source of protein and fiber.

Ingredients:

* 1- 2 tbsp of olive oil
* 2 heads garlic
* 1 small shallot
* 1 small sweet onion
* 1 can white cannelinni beans
* 1 potato
* salt and white pepper to taste
* fresh thyme
* 2 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

* Peel the garlic and place the cloves in a roasting pan or dish. Coat with a tsp or so of olive oil and cover. Roast for about 40 minutes at 350.
* Peel and cube the potatoes.
* Add remaining olive oil to soup pan and heat. the oil starts to shimmer, add the onion and shallot. Cook for about a minute.
* Add the potatoes and then the beans.
* Add the vegetable broth. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until potatoes are soft—about 20 minutes.
* When the garlic cloves are done, add them to the soup. Stir.
* Blend thoroughly with a hand mixer or blender. I used an immersion blender.
* Return to stove. Season with salt if desired, and pepper. Throw in some fresh thyme.
* Cover and cook over low for another 20 minutes or so.

Serves 2-3

Enjoy. I'm serving this with sauteed zucchini, roasted asparagus, and either whole wheat fusilli with spinach, broccoli and parmesan or whole wheat pita and red-pepper hummus. It's probably great with salad too!

Joy Bauer's 1-Minute Pumpkin Pudding

I'm a little bit obsessed with pumpkin. I eat it all year round—pumpkin oatmeal and pumpkin risotto are a few favorites. I also have some pumpkin ravioli in my freezer right now (thanks, mom!). I saw this video posted on Self Magazine's Healthy Bites blog and wanted to share it with you. I haven't tried it yet, but it's definitely on the to-do list!

Green Smoothie=Success!

So I finally gave in to my green smoothie craving today and made one! OMG this thing is good: frozen banana + 1/4 chopped apple + a little chopped pear + a big handful of spinach + 1/3 c kefir + 1/3 scoop vanilla protein powder = awesome!

What do you think of green smoothies?

I'm not really sure why, but lately I've been curious about green smoothies. Not only is it a convenient way to get in some of your daily vegetables, but I imagine they'd be a nice break from your typical strawberry-banana variety or whatever your personal standby is. I think I'll have to make one in the near future to see if I like them.

Here's a recipe I found online that might be good:

Ingredients

* 1/2 banana, cut in chunks
* 1/2 (6 ounce) tub vanilla yogurt
* 1/4 apple, cored and chopped
* 3/4 cup fresh spinach leaves

Directions

Place the banana, grapes, yogurt, apple and spinach into a blender. Cover, and blend until smooth, stopping frequently to push down anything stuck to the sides. Pour into glasses and serve.

I think it might be good to use frozen bananas to give it a thicker texture, but I guess it depends what you're in the mood for. Adding pear might be great too. I think I'd also use plain yogurt, since most of the pre-sweetened varieties out there tend to be a little too sweet, but either way, it sounds good to me.

Eating Like the Obamas

Okay, the two Obama posts in a row is a sort-of coincidence. I just wanted to share this recipe that someone had re-posted from People magazine, of all places. I haven't read People in years (though I did have to skim through it when I was working in PR to look for clips), and I guess it occasionally runs articles that apply to nutrition.

I tried this out last night on Chris, and he actually liked it! I served it as a side dish to homemade soup, but it might be really great with pork chops or even something like grilled salmon. I'm looking forward to having the leftovers with lunch. I might try it over quinoa and add some tofu or some of the pink beans leftover from yesterday's lunch. We'll see. Cleaning the fridge sometimes helps you flex your creativity muscles.


Obama-Style Sauteed Greens and Sweet Potatoes
Recipe adapted from Chef Sam Kass

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes
2 bunches of greens (chard, kale or collards) (I used one bunch of collards)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 ground cloves, minced
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil (for sauteing the sweet potatoes—I didn't need quite this much)

Preparation:

1. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into bite size pieces.

2. Heat half the oil in pan over medium heat and add potatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until just brown on all sides and soft (about 12-15 minutes, depending on size). When they are ready, add spices and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

3. While the potatoes are cooking, wash the greens (do not dry), remove stems and cut leaves into small pieces. Heat remaining oil over medium heat, add the garlic and cook for a minute before adding greens. Stir often and cook until tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Combine potatoes, honey and lemon juice with the greens, stir and serve.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes?

Last night, I set out to make sweet potato pie. As I was gathering ingredients, I realized I was short on a few things, so I ended up adapting the recipe to make a vegan version. It came out tasty, but the texture is fluffy—like vaguely sweet whipped sweet potato something-or-other. It's totally its own thing.

I used up most of the flour we had left while making the crust, and am thinking that maybe next time, I'll just buy whole wheat flour, since I'm usually cooking for myself and Chris and he doesn't mind whole wheat products. Of course, we'll make our Christmas cookies family-friendly (read: traditional) with regular flour, but for everyday stuff, it's, like, why not get the extra nutrients in whole grain products?

While procrastinating on a piece I'm writing for work, I came across this recipe for Cottage Cheese Pancakes. I'm not really into pancakes because they make me sleepy, but these sound really good. Plus, the combo of protein and complex carbs is a great way to ward off the yawns...

Ingredients

• 1 pound low-fat cottage cheese
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup oatmeal
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 6 egg whites
• 
  
• (brush nonstick pan lightly with vegetable oil)

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Preparation

Mix cottage cheese, flour, oatmeal, egg yolks, honey, milk, vanilla and cardamom in large bowl. Beat whites in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into cottage cheese mixture in 2 additions.

Preheat oven to 200°F. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush with oil. Spoon batter onto skillet by 1/3 cupfuls, forming 4-inch-diameter pancakes. Cook pancakes until bottoms are brown and bubbles form on top, about 3 minutes. Turn; cook until bottoms are brown and pancakes are cooked through, about 4 minutes.

Transfer to plate and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.

Soufflé for One

When Chris is out and I'm on my own for dinner, I often take the opportunity to cook something he'd never eat. Tonight was just such a night—I made a soufflé. It sounds really fancy, but it's actually quite simple.

I adapted a recipe for making 1 serving. That way, I don't have to do math every time I want to make this dish. Here is my recipe below:

Soufflé for One

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 teaspoons butter or margarine
• 2-1/4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar or Swiss cheese (I actually used parmesan tonight)
• 1 egg, separated
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, mustard and cayenne until smooth; gradually add the milk. bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in cheese until melted. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Pour into four greased 10-oz. souffle dishes or custard cups. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve immediately.

repost of a reposted reposted recipe

I'm not a huge fan of the whole raw food thing, but I saw this recipe posted on a friend's blog and decided that I have to try it!

Basically, what you do is freeze cut-up bananas (2-3) and then put them in a food processor until they've turned into a frozen treat that resembles soft-serve ice cream.

Um, sign me up. That sounds amazing. I do have to give these raw food folks credit for their creativity—I never would have thought to try this.

Greek-Style Nachos

I'm about twenty-five percent Greek but unfortunately don't know many of my relatives on that side of the family—go figure I try to connect to my heritage through Greek food. I never seem to get sick of it.

I just saw this recipe in the New York Times Dining section and decided I have to try it out in the near future. Maybe whenever we have our housewarming party? Yeah, we're moving on Friday (just a couple blocks), so it's packing week over here—and finals for me. I think a celebration is definitely in order once the boxes have been unpacked and the grades have been posted...

Greek-Style Nachos

4 pita pockets, white or whole wheat, cut into wedges

About 1/2 cup olive oil

Salt

4 ounces feta cheese

1/2 cup yogurt, preferably whole-milk

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

1 lemon

Freshly ground black pepper

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 pound ground lamb*

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 or 3 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 medium cucumber, peeled and seeded if necessary, and chopped

1/2 cup calamata olives, pitted and halved (optional).

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Arrange pita wedges in one layer on baking sheets and brush or drizzle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Bake until they begin to color, turning once or twice, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, turn off oven and put chips back in to keep warm.

2. In a blender or food processor, combine feta, yogurt, 1/4 cup olive oil, mint and zest and juice of lemon; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Blend or process until smooth. (You can also mash mixture by hand, with a fork.)

3. Put two tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add lamb and cumin and sprinkle with salt and pepper; continue cooking until meat is cooked through, about 5 to 10 minutes more. Put chips on a serving plate and top with lamb, sauce, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives if you’re using them.

Yield: 4 servings.

*I wouldn't use lamb since Chris and most of are friends are vegetarians, but if you could find texturized soy protein lamb (weird that I haven't seen it before), you could try that.

Gazpacho

Sunday night, Chris and I had dinner with my parents. My mom sent us home with some homemade treats, including this gazpacho. Below is the recipe she sent me from the Barefoot Contessa* Cookbook:
Ingredients

* 1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
* 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
* 4 plum tomatoes
* 1 red onion
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)
* 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
* 1/4 cup good olive oil
* 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!

After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

*I don't have a TV, but I love watching cooking shows with my mom. Might I add how amusing the Barefoot Contessa is? It seems like she's always picking herbs and cooking delicious things for the quirky gardeners hanging around the house. And talking about her husband, Jeffrey. Hilarious.

Experimentation

Chris works a lot of nights, so it's not unusual for me to end up on my own for dinner a couple times a week. Though cooking for one can be a wee bit lonely sometimes, it does give me a chance to experiment and try out new recipe ideas. 

The other night, I added pumpkin ravioli with pumpkin curry sauce to my list of weird-but-good. 

I'd bought a can of pumpkin earlier in the day because I'd had a craving for pumpkin oatmeal (you just mix a half-cup of pumpkin in with the water and oats then cook and add cinnamon—amazing) and figured I should use some of the extra pumpkin. I also happened to be in the mood for curry but didn't feel like having rice or potatoes or tofu or any of the usual curry accoutrements. 

And then I remembered the pumpkin ravioli in the freezer...

It was just crazy enough to work—masaman curry paste with a little light coconut milk, sauteed onion, and pureed pumpkin all cooked together with some steamed broccoli. I poured the sauce over the cooked ravioli and added a little grated parmesan. 

I'd been worried the curry would overpower the vaguely sweet mellowness of the ravioli, but they actually blended pretty nicely. The one thing I'd change would be the broccoli—squash would probably work a little better. Still, I'd make this again if I happened to have all those ingredients just lying around.

Note to self: Must get better at taking food photos. I definitely don't do that dish justice there...

What kinds of things do you like to make when you're just playing around or testing new stuff?