FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

The Not-So-Easy Way

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You know how most of the time people are on a mission to make things easier?  At work, at home, everywhere in life, the easier route is typically the preferred route.  Well lately always, I’m fairly certain that I subconsciously choose the more difficult route.  Tonight was no exception.

I’m going on my third weekend in a row of out of town guests and I have a chore list a million items long.  I should have stopped at Whole Foods on my way home from work and picked up something from the salad bar.  If I felt like cooking, I should have reached in my bag of quick recipe tricks and whipped up something that would make a minimal mess in my kitchen.  I should not have wandered the aisles day dreaming and recipe creating.  I absolutely should not have settled on a recipe that would destroy my kitchen and double my chore list.  But I did.

I took a meal that could have easily been thrown together with spaghetti squash, jarred sauce, and frozen meatless balls and turned it into something uber homemade.  Like uber, uber.  For the record, if you want to make this meal in a hurry you can do just that.

If you want to take your time, listen to sweet tunes, and get your hands dirty, then make your own sauce and meatless balls.  For the sauce, barely brown a few cloves of crushed garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil, add 6-ish chopped vine tomatoes and some salt, and boil on high heat until some of the moisture is gone (10 to 15 minutes?).  For the meatless balls, check back tomorrow for the step-by-step!

Potato, Turnip & Chive Pancakes

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Would you consider someone to have a baking problem if they ninja’d their way out of going out on a Friday night so they could dream up recipes and head to the market first thing on a Saturday morning?  My 22-year old self would cringe at the thought.  My 29-year old self has mixed feelings.

I called my mom when I left the house this morning, knowing she’d be the only person awake that I could share my grand ideas with.  So excited, I asked “turnip and chive pancakes, mom, what do you think?”.  Little did I know that she was scarred from a childhood of thinking turnips were potatoes in stew and she did not share my excitement.  Bummer.

Only some of my excitement was lost as I wandered through a very empty Central Market.  I tossed turnips and chives in my basket and, reluctantly, tossed a white baking potato in there as well.  As much as I despise white potatoes, I knew they were necessary today.

FoodFash Potato, Turnip & Chive Pancakes (yields 3, 1/4 cup pancakes)

1 large white baking potato, shredded

1 turnip, shredded

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of fresh chopped chives

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil

After shredding the potato and turnip, squeeze moisture out of them with your hands and then wring with a paper town to remove excess moisture.  In a small bowl, mix the potato and turnip with eggs, chives, salt, and pepper.  In a heavy bottomed pan, heat grapeseed oil over high heat.  Test oil hotness by tossing in a small piece of potato to see if it sizzles.  When the oil is hot enough, use a 1/4 cup measure to pour three pancakes into the pan.  Gently flatten the pancakes with a spatula.  Watch closely and when the edges are browned, flip pancakes.  When the other side is browned and crispy, remove pancakes from pan and place on paper towels to remove excess grease.  Serve right away.

So turnips vs. potatoes…  They are so darn similar.  I ate a raw shred of each before I started mixing and yeah, I could tell the difference, but not by much.  Turnips have a crispness to them, like they contain more water, whereas potatoes are as starchy as starch could be.  Turnips have a bit of bite, so I understand my mom’s hesitation for them making up the entire pancake, but they also have a flavor to them unlike potatoes.

Cooked and seasoned, there was no telling which was which in the pancake.  Perhaps it’s because chives are amazeballs and transformed two very boring veggies into something so delish.  For the record, potato turnip and chive pancakes are worthy of serving to your favorite breakfast guest.

And as far as nutrition is concerned, turnips have about 60% less calories and carbs than a potato and contain much more calcium.  So verdict?  Mixing turnips and potatoes is the perfect way to add a little flavor and reduce a lot of calories in a traditional potato dish.  I’m thinking this could work with mashed and scalloped dishes too.  What do you think?

Summer Soup

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When people say that summertime is too hot for eating soup, I think what they really mean is summertime is too hot for eating soup in public.  I’m perfectly fine with wearing PJs, eating soup, and sweating it out in the comfort of my own home.  Twice.

I’ve been on a central market kick lately because I’m crushing hardcore on their produce department.  It lures you in with sheer beauty and then, once you realize how cheap everything is, you’re a total sucker, totally willing to sit in rush hour traffic to get your produce fix.  Two dollar-ish shitake mushrooms.  Dollar-ish bok choy, green onions, and cilantro.  Four cent serrano pepper.  Umm yeah, this gigantic boat of soup hovered around the ten dollar mark.

FoodFash Summer Soup (yields 4 servings)

12 cups of water

4 Not-Chick’n Bouillon Cubes

2 heads of baby bok choy, chopped

1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, stems removed

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1/4 lb of shitake mushrooms, sliced

1 serrano pepper, sliced (remove seeds if you’re sensitive to spice)

juice of 4 limes

8 oz of udon noodles

Bring water to a boil and add everything but the udon noodles.  Let boil for 5 minutes and then add the noodles.  Let boil for an additional 10 minutes and then remove from heat.  Let cool for a couple minutes and then serve.

I LOVED this soup.  Spicy cilantro lime should be the basis of every soup that even thinks about getting in my belly.  It’s tangy and spicy and, even though it’s temperature hot, still maintains that freshness vibe.  The moral of this story – embrace a good summer soup and sweat it out.  It’s totally worth it.

Mexican Polenta Casserole

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Weekends are for baking, Mondays are for veggies.  I had to remind myself of this constantly tonight to resist the urge to reclaim the pie I left with the boys on Saturday.

I distracted myself by heading to the market and loading up on lots of produce to vegify an already vegiful dish.

FoodFash Mexican Polenta Casserole (yields 8 servings)

Adapted from this Eating Well recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 poblano peppers, chopped

1 zucchini, shredded

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups of frozen chopped spinach

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound ready made polenta

1-1/2  cups enchilada sauce

top with Greek yogurt, sour cream, or non-dairy sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and poblano peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add shredded zucchini, tomatoes, beans, spinach, cumin, and salt.  Let cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes.  Slice polenta into 1/4″ thick slices (you’ll need about 24 slices).  Layer the bottom of 8×11-ish pan with 1/3 of the polenta slices.  Top with half of the veggies and 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce and repeat.  Top the casserole with the last 1/2 of the polenta slices and 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

I’d be lying if I said it didn’t take me a second to adjust my palate to eating a mostly dairy free meal again.  But by the time I was a few bites in (and I forgot about this weekend’s peanut butter pie and cheesy Mexican feasts) I began to appreciate my meal.  It reminded me of a hearty, polenta topped, stew – a perfect dinner for a thunderstormy eve!