Mmm Soup

I definitely found a new favorite soup recipe. It's a recipe I've been want to try for a while and now I'm really glad I did! Everything is really simple but the flavors come together perfectly. The lentils make it smooth and creamy while the quinoa lends its light nutty taste. The dark leafy greens (kale...but I used chard) provide a yummy taste and some of the most readily absorbed calcium, iron, and protein available. To serve, a spoonful of tahini in the bottom of the bowl (the swirl you see in the photo) adds another layer of flavor and texture. This is perfect for spring and is just one of those feel good soups. A nice piece of bread, or indian flatbread as in the photo, make a very satisfying meal.

Another exciting note...my friend Joe is teaching me to brew beer. We make a batch just the other day and it's happily fermenting in my pantry as I write this. It'll be bottled in another week and then sit for a month to carbonate.

Joe did an apprenticeship at a brewery in New Mexico last semester-so, I'm hoping to learn his ways. I'll take some photos when we bottle and follow up with a little critique when it's finished. It's an IPA so here's Joe with his little ball of hops.

Spring Cleanse

So...this post is not going to be very exciting, which means there will be no pictures. I promise to make up for it in the next one though. I was gone last week, visiting family in California, and while I did do some cooking I, naturally, forgot to take pictures of any of it. Such is life. Quick descriptions of what I made: seared scallops with sauteed asparagus and saffron couscous one night and macaroni and cheese with wilted rainbow chard another. I was able to go to a nice farmer's market with my mom (I'm jealous of all those people who have farmer's markets year-round or at least this early in the season). We stocked up on organic cheeses, radishes, chard, basil, tomatoes, eggs, rhubarb pie, and strawberries that make my mouth water just thinking about them. After doing some other shopping in downtown Ventura we came home and I made some mayonnaise (with one of the beautiful eggs) for my mom to use in some amazing tomato basil sandwiches. The simplest meals are often my favorite.
Now that I'm back and the spring equinox has past, it's time for a spring cleanse. Basically, I'm eating really simple foods for the next week. Oat, corn, or rice porridge for breakfast with a green smoothie ( I may get addicted to these!) and soup and a light salad or Kitcheri for dinner. Kitcheri is an Indian dish of basmati rice and some variety or lentil (red, yellow, or mung beans) cooked into a porridge with a combination of spices. In Ayurvedic medicine it's traditionally used for the very young or old and for those that are sick. It's very easy to digest, which is why it is a perfect meal when doing a cleanse. I can eat as many vegetables and fruits as I want to fill my belly. No dairy, little to no wheat, nothing processed, and lots and lots of water. For everyone that knows my sweet tooth...this isn't so easy for me. I'm craving more pizza and Thai food than anything though. Ah, well it's just a week. If anyone has any questions or advice to offer on cleansing please share.
I will return with my next post refreshed and anew; ready to celebrate the new season with flavor.

Leek and Mushroom Quiche

There are some things that really just make food better. For example, a sandwich jumps a few points by simply toasting the bread. Sun dried tomatoes are another element that make foods like pizza or pasta go from good to great. Pastry, I think, is the ultimate. A meal is so much more enjoyable set in a crust or wrapped in a hearty layer of flaky pastry. With this simple addition, stew (delicious in its own right) becomes the comforting satisfaction that is pot pie. Custards and fruit, also quite nice on their own, are raised to pie and tart status with just a little flour and butter. Last night, with the same ingredients, I could have made a lovely omelette. Instead, I decided not to settle and went for the all out quiche. A spinach salad on the side, complete with vinegrette a la Maman, provided a crisp balance to the richness of the quiche.

Here's how I did it:

I began with a simple Pate Brisee made in the food processor.

Pate Brisee

1 c all-purpose flour

1/4 c whole-wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/2 c unsalted butter
ice cold water

Add the flours, salt, and sugar to the food processor and pulse until combine. Cut the butter into chunks and add to them to the bowl. Pulse until the texture is of a coarse meal. Add about

3 tbsp water and pulse, adding just enough water to hold the dough together. Don't overmix or the dough will become tough. Wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Meanwhile...start on the filling. I didn't follow a recipe so I'll just explain. Wash and slice one leek-then, sautee in olive oil until tender. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Wipe two handfuls of mushrooms with a damp paper towel and slice-sauteeing in the same pan with a little more oil and some Herbes de Provence. Remove to a separte bowl. Whisk 5 eggs with just under a cup of cream or half-and-half, salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Now for the layering...roll out the dough and lay into a greased and floured pie pan. Evenly disperse the leek in the bottom of the crust.

Pour the egg mixture over the leek. Scatter the mushrooms on top, followed by shredded Swiss Cheese and pine nuts. Instead of cutting off the excess crust (did I mention that's my favorite part?), I just folded the edges over the filling. It give it a kind of rustic look.

Bake at 375-degrees for 50-60 minutes.

I won't lie-it was pretty amazing. Leeks are a great substitute for people like me who don't like onions. Their sweetness is tasted throughout the egg filling. The mushrooms provide a nice savory balance and the pine nuts added that toasted element. This is one of those dishes that sun dried tomatoes could have really done something for-but that might just lead to overwhelming goodness. Is that so bad?

Pizza, Banana Cake, and a Concert

Sunday...it was a busy day, which made up for my hibernating the rest of the weekend. I really just didn't want to dig my truck out of the snow-so, I restricted myself to go only places that I could walk. That meant work and yoga. I did a lot of movie watching and reading in my papasan chair wrapped in a blanket. And of course...cooking.

So, back to Sunday...we had tickets for the Ingrid Michaelson and Josh Radin concert which was happily a block from my house so it, too, required no driving. Brittney's friend was going with us so she came over for dinner with a bottle of wine and I made two kinds of pizza and Mexican Monkey Cake.

The pizza was on a whole wheat crust that I made in the bread machine. On one I put homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, and sauteed baby portobello mushrooms. The other had olive oil, mozzarella, artichoke heart, roasted bell pepper, sundried tomato, and kalamata olives. The crust was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside-I was a little scared with using only whole wheat flour-but it had really good balance. I love pizza so this meal made me happy.

We've had overly ripe...I mean black....bananas around for about a week and I was just waiting to be inspired by a recipe. The Monkey Cake came out amazing-in my opinion, Ghiradelli chocolate chips alone bring any dessert up about two points. The only change I would make would be to omit the sugar in the "topping". I think the cake is plenty sweet without the added sugar. The cinnamon in the recipe is essential though. All around delicious.

The concert was great-both artists are wonderful live. If anyone has the chance to go see them it's definitely worth it. I was a little bummed that my poor planning caused me to miss the Oscars but the alternative ended up being a really good time.

I don't really ever make sandwiches anymore. They used to be a daily meal but since I don't really eat meat anymore-they take more effort to be exciting. Don't get me wrong, PB&J are always wonderful but I guess it's a lot easier to make a nutritious vegetarian burrito than a sandwich. Yesterday, however, I felt compelled to put in that extra effort and it was definitely worth it. It's a recipe I used to always make with tuna-but I'd forgotten about it until I came accross this curried egg salad recipe. I toasted some locally made wheat bread and rubbed it with garlic-then along with the egg salad, mounded avocado and sprout. After some leftover monkey cake I went to my afternoon class very satisfied.

Pink Cookies?

I'm snowed in. Class was canceled(yay!) due to the 8-14 inches of snow that fell around Flagstaff last night. I'm kind of hibernating anyway because I've been sick(I have never sneezed so much in my life!) It's been a lot of lemon, ginger, honey tea and warm, yummy foods. Yesterday, I made an Indian Biryani(pilaf) and Aloo Paratha(potato-filled whole wheat flat bread) from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian. It was spicy and delicious; but I didn't take any pictures...
This morning I woke up and made some carrot and beet juice. At Tap Root in Anchorage, I've had carrot cookies that use the left over carrot pulp from their juice bar. They are cakey and slightly sweet and totally satisfying. In an attempt to recreate these little treats I , per my norm, googled a recipe to work from. I found a carrot pulp cookie recipe and looked forward to the brilliant color the beets would add. Sure enough, these cookies carry the signature pink of fresh beets, which translates to: very good for you. I love that they're whole wheat and could be made vegan with an easy egg and honey(I used turbinado sugar) substitute. Basically, these won't last long around here.
So, for the rest of the day I will enjoy not having to take the test that was scheduled in my first class today and maybe I'll do some reading. Should be relaxing and wonderful.

Catch up

So, it's been a while since I've posted anything. It's been busy getting back into school and balancing my schedule-plus, I haven't been feeling very expressive lately. I am finally ready, however, to share some of the things I've been making lately. Nothing too exciting...and a few that I didn't photograph.
It's been chilly here lately so breakfast has been steel cut oats just about every day. I LOVE oatmeal...but get bored with it some days. So while it cooks I look through every food containing cabinet or shelf that I have in order to spice up my bowl of warmth. On most days I chop up some apple and add it in as soon as the pot starts to boil. On one particularly inspired morning, I found a can of pumpkin and some unsweetened shredded coconut. I toasted up the coconut and stirred in the pumpkin and some cinnamon when I added the milk towards the end of the cooking process. I topped it with banana and the coconut; transforming a bland bowl of oatmeal to a super-nutritious, extra-flavorful breakfast treat.
Brittney had a project in her aromatherapy class that required her to research an essential oil of her choice. She chose vanilla and asked me if I would make vanilla cupcakes for her to bring to class as part of her presentation. The first batch was a failure-I still haven't perfect high altitude baking and I think there was too much batter for the 12 cupcakes that the recipe was supposed to make...they came out tasting delicious but pretty ugly. So, I tried another recipe from the Joy of Baking. They came out perfect and I whipped up some vanilla frosting and drew a vanilla flower on all of them. I was told they were a hit.
Tonight I made a Spicy Winter Squash Galette from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I've had a small pumpkin, two actually, since Halloween and it's taken me this long to do anything with them. I originally saw this recipe on The Today Show and then I bought the cookbook...which is my favorite cookbook at the moment. The galette has a very deep savory flavor and a perfectly flaky crust. In the future I would probably use a little less squash...or perhaps more liquid-the pumpkin cubes at the top didn't stay as moist as the ones closer to the crust. A drizzle of olive oil over the top before putting it in the oven would probably correct this, also. Sweet potatoes would be great for a substitution. Some whole milk yogurt and cilantro on top rounded out the flavors quite well.
Here are some pictures of my apartment since we've added some decorations...
Other than that...I'm totally excited about my new job at a cafe a block from my house. School is going to keep my VERY busy for the next few months-so, I'll be trying to cook and do as much yoga as I can to keep my sane. Wish me luck.

Back in Flag...

Well, I'm finally back in Flagstaff and until now I haven't been cooking anything exciting. Mostly, I've been eating very simple foods in an attempt to recover from the food-centered agenda that was my winter break. It's been plain steel-cut oats for breakfast and red lentils and rice for dinner-all of which I love...but nothing to really photograph or write about. I haven't baked any sweets-I don't even have butter in my house at the moment. The last few days I was home I ended up eating out twice a day in an effort to spend time with everyone before heading back to school. It was a whirlwind.
Now I am back and settled. School has started and I am excited for this semester-all of my classes seem like they will be very interesting. It's pretty cold and windy here though...but the crystal clear skies everyday more than make up for the temperatures. In response to the weather I made a BIG pot of black bean soup with a modified recipe from Simply Recipes. I also made some corn bread on the side. Topped with avocado, yogurt, and some cayenne pepper it was a delicious and comforting meal. There is not much that beats hot soup on a cold winter day. Plus, there is enough to feed me for the rest of the week-not bad at all.
I didn't take any pictures but tonight I made salmon that Brittney brought home from Alaska. I just seasoned the skinless fillet with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Then, I spread Dijon mustard over the top and sprinkled a ground spice mixture (1 tbsp. coriander seed, 1 tsp. mustard seed, and a pinch of red pepper flake) on top. I heated olive oil in a skillet and pan fried the fish, spice side down, for 2-3 minutes, until brown and crusted. Flipped the fillet over and put it in a preheated (425-degree) oven for 6 minutes. The top was crunchy with just a little heat and the flavor was amazing. I served basmati rice with peas and turmeric and a green salad on the side. Pretty easy and very yummy.