Eat your veg!

So I’ve mentioned before that healthy eating is the order of the day in our house now, per my own personal orders. I keep track of everything I eat, and am trying to limit some things (hamburgers, for example) in favor of others (fruit, let’s say). Wednesday I made a substantial veggie tomato sauce and served it with a proportionally small amount of pasta. Ordinarily, this would kill me. I love pasta. I always have. But seeing as New England was a ridiculous 94 degrees today, prohibiting my usual 3 mile walk, there were no extra calories to enjoy. And besides, one should probably have more veg than pasta, anyway. So this was made in that spirit.

You’ll need:
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 small or one medium-large zucchini, sliced into half-inch thick half-moons
about a quarter-pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 T olive oil
1 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes
2 T tomato paste

Start by warming your oil in a big ol’ pan over medium heat, and then add your onion. When it’s starting to become transluscent, toss in your zucchini and a little salt. Allow to cook down a bit, so they’re less firm. Toss in mushrooms and garlic, and stir around. Allow to cook a few minutes. Add some red pepper flakes for heat, if you’d like. Add can of tomatoes and bring to a steady simmer. I think I let mine cook for about a half an hour, breaking up the tomatoes with my wooden spoon. Add paste for the last twenty minutes or so, stirring to mix it in. I got three enormous veg servings out of this, and had each over about 2 ounces of ziti. You could easily feed four, and you could always add more pasta and serve six. Top with parmesan and you’re good to go!

It’s a beautiful frittata.

When we were in Italy, my uncle and his husband repeatedly declared, about pretty much any food, that it would make a beautiful frittata. Leftover sausage? A beautiful frittata. Spaghetti? A beautiful frittata. Eggs? Well, you get the idea.

I was home Saturday night by my lonesome, Mr. Pea being out on the town, and decided that I would make myself one of these supposedly beautiful things. In the spirit of “You can add anything,” my frittata (which I made in our 10″ skillet) contained two chicken breasts, seasoned, baked and diced; a 10 ounce box of spinach, thawed and squeezed; and onions, garlic, and mushrooms, sauteed and cooled. I put a little oil in the pan, combined all of these ingredients with four beaten eggs, topped with some parmesan cheese, and popped it on a medium burner. I allowed it to cook until it appeared largely set through, and then popped it under the broiler to finish. Now when I’ve seen frittatas before, they don’t stick to the pan. Mine did a little. Oh well. From what I understand, the bottom isn’t supposed to brown. Mine did. I didn’t care. I ate a slice of it with some diced fresh local tomato, dressed with a wee pinch of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. It was healthy and tasty, part of the new way of life in these parts, and to some extent, it was even beautiful.

In other news…

I read a lot of blogs where the writers go thrifting or yard saling and they come back with the greatest finds. This rarely happens to me, however, and I often swoon with jealousy. But today! Today was a different day! As I took my walk this morning I saw lots and lots of yard sales setting up. After I was cleaned up I drove down to check them out, and at one I found this antique piano bench. At first I thought it was a metal shelf that might be useful for storing planting supplies on the back porch, but when I got up close to it I realized it was wood, and it opened. When I opened it, I realized it was very very nice dark antique wood. Be still my beating heart. The clincher? It was only $2. That’s right. $2! Crazy! I drove my car down to the house, put it in the back, and smiled all the way home.

It’s been painted this John Deere shade of yellow, but as you can see, 20 minutes of sanding took a good deal of it off. Seeing all the yellow (lead, no doubt) paint dust on the porch, though, suggests finding a better location and a face mask for the job. But it won’t take too terribly long (ha, I say that now) and then I’ll have a lovely little bench.

Where will we put it? asked Mr. Pea. Does it matter? It was $2!

The time, it passes!

Hello, fair readers! I must apologize for the lack o’ blogging in the past week; I actually had a photo ready to go for Sunday, but Mr. Pea took the camera cord away. The next time I had free time, he again had the cord, and also the camera itself. There wasn’t much a girl could do.

Things have been zany around here lately. Yours truly has decided that she has had it with herself and will be losing 25 pounds in the next several months. As such, the quantity of cheese on this site is probably going to decrease, at least a little. The things we have to do.

Anyway, here is the post I was going to write on Sunday. Last Saturday, I made a lovely autumn brunch. I cooked up some homefries (easy-peasy–nuke a big tater until it’s partly done, chop, and toss in a saute pan with butter and assorted seasonings. Leave them alone so they can brown and cook through), my own turkey breakfast sausage, and my favorite–pumpkin pancakes. I love pumpkin. I love pancakes. So there you go.

I am a big fan of breakfast sausage, but it’s so heavy and greasy that it and I aren’t always good friends. So I tried this lightened version, from RecipeZzar. I can take no credit; in fact, I overcooked mine, and when I make them again will only leave them on the giant skillet I have for ten minutes or so. I think they cooked for twenty, which, while giving them a lovely caremelized exterior, dried the devil out of them. Here’s the recipe, cut and pasted. Click here for the original .
1 lb ground turkey
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sage
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice

1. Combine all ingredients (use less pepper if you don’t want a slightly spicy taste) and blend well.
2. If time permits, refrigerate overnight to let the meat absorb the flavor of the spices.
3. Form into patties and cook as needed, freezing leftovers.
4. The smaller and thinner the patties, the shorter the cooking time.

And the pancakes. I love these pancakes. I started making them last year from a recipe on allrecipes. I like them because they contain very little added sugar or fat, and take most of their deliciousness from the spices. Again with the cutting and pasting. Original can be found here.

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1 cup pumpkin puree
* 1 egg
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons vinegar

DIRECTIONS
1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

This breakfast/brunch is lovely on the cool mornings we’ve been having lately. The other day when I got up, it was only 42 outside. It’s only the beginning, so we might as well enjoy it now!

It’s getting a little chili around here.

Oh, how I love a good pun. Or a bad pun. Any old pun will do, really.

I am not quite as fond of chili as I am of puns. I think chili’s ok, but I’ll take an Italian-style tomato sauce OR a bean burrito any day over chili. I think I’m in the minority on this. Anyway, there is one chili recipe I am fond of. I made it last night, only I was missing a bunch of ingredients. So it was not as good as it might have been, but Mr. Pea was happy.

This chili recipe is actually a Racheal Ray recipe. I know people either love her or hate her; I find her ok. I think she’s too quirky for her own good, but if her shows/books/empire means that people actually cook their own meals, realizing how easy it can be, instead of eating out or having frozen pizza, then I think she’s doing a good job.

I’m going to just paste the link to this recipe. Racheal’s serving sizes always seem a little insane to me; we get four servings out of a half-batch of chili, and because the chili contains a bottle of beer, making a half-batch means there’s the additional bonus of getting to drink half the bottle during the cooking process. I made this at about 7:30 Thursday night so there wasn’t any time to dress it up, but normally I make some cornbread or biscuits to go along. We also use just portabella mushrooms in this recipe; Racheal’s got some combination of mushrooms, but our grocery store charges an arm and a leg for shitakes, so we just buy big ol’ portabella caps and chop ‘em up.

Anyway, it’s good for football season and chilly nights. From what I heard on last night’s news, next week’s overnight temps might plummet into the 30s. This will mean our neighbor might finally shut off their AC (we’re sleeping with the window mostly closed and under a blanket, he runs his AC. I don’t get it) and it’ll be quiet, but it also means that summer is really and truly over.

Here’s the recipe!

Why you shouldn’t leave your grocery lists, you know, anywhere.

I’m supposed to be writing an encyclopedia article. Four, actually. Instead, I’m reading these:
http://www.grocerylists.org/

This might be my favorite. It’s in one of the compiler’s top ten lists:
http://www.grocerylists.org/lists/700/Pages/0605.shtml

I think a person could read these all day just to see the weird stuff people buy, particularly when grouped together. Enjoy!

Philosophical struggles

I’ve read a lot lately about eating locally, shrinking one’s ecological footprint, and knowing that much more clearly where your food comes from. I’ve been trying to buy a lot more natural foods–natural meats, for instance–lately, but I’m having a hard time with the idea of eating locally. Not the idea of it, per se, as I think it would be fantastic if I lived in a warm climate. But I don’t. I live in New England, and while I can attend the farmer’s markets from May through October or so, once that first frost hits, markets become a distant memory pretty quickly. So short of canning oodles of tomatoes in August and opening a storage area for things like potatoes so you can buy in bulk in season and save them, how can a person in a cold climate possibly eat locally all year? It’s made that much more difficult, too, being someone who rarely drives and thus can’t patronize farms and CSAs all summer long. Do any of you have suggestions? I’m interested in hearing them, though a diet of carrots and squash until spring is really unappetizing

Spinach Pie

I made this poor pie on Sunday night and am only now showing it to you in this not-so-fabulous photo. That’s kind of how things have been around here lately! Sunday was fine, and then Monday was craaaazy busy followed by Mr. Pea making a delicious chowder that neither of us photographed, and Tuesday made Monday look like a tea party, and here we are. It’s Wednesday. C’est la vie.

I do want it on the record, though, that I made not one but TWO whole meals on Sunday, and they were both tasty and healthy, PLUS I made dessert. It’s how I make up for ordering Mexican food for dinner last night. Clearly, going back to work and teaching all week has knocked me off my healthy eating bandwagon, at least partway.

So, spinach pie. It’s easy to make, full of nutrients and goodness, and goes a long way. I basically cheat my way around a Joy of Cooking recipe for spanokopita appetizers.

You’ll need:
Phyllo dough–about, oh, 14 slices. Thaw it out (or not, if you’re me, and curse it as it breaks), take it out of the package, and keep it covered with a damp towel. Phyllo dough is unforgiving, breaks easily, and dries out in seconds. I, however, was not striving for prettiness in my pie. I know better.
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
Couple of garlic cloves, chopped
2 boxes frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry with a towel
Feta cheese–we had a container with .41 of a pound, but by the time I made this, there was likely .38. The original recipe calls for half a pound, but .38 seemed like plenty to me.
Salt
2 T parmesan
2 eggs
dash of nutmeg

I think that’s everything. Oh, and butter for your pan.

So, the first thing is to put a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and saute that onion, adding garlic near the end, 5-7 minutes or until transluscent. When that’s done, add your spinach, breaking it up with your hands, and dry like the devil to combine the two. This is sometimes easier said than done, and later on it won’t matter so much. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, beat your eggs. Crumble in your cheeses, and beat in. Add your (cooled!) spinach mixture, and use your hands to mix well. Add a little salt, and a little nutmeg. Set aside.

Take a deep breath, unroll that phyllo, and put it under the towel. Grease your pan. This dish, from the aforementioned Crate and Barrel spree, is about a 9″ or so square at the bottom.

Take a sheet of phyllo. Place in pan, tucking into corners. Fold in sides, so you’ve essentially created two layers. This is what I mean by cheating. Joy of Cooking had you cutting and trimming the sheets. Meh. Using a pastry brush, paint each layer with olive oil. Traditionally you’d use butter, but we’re doing some healthy cooking here. And I’m lazy by Sunday night, knowing I have class to teach the next morning.

Do it again. And again. And again, Until you’ve got 7 sheets of phyllo down for 14 layers. My middle wasn’t entirely covered with the folded layers, so I scrunched up a piece and stuck it in that area. Then spread your cheesy spinach mixture all over the dough. When that’s done, repeat the phyllo process. I tried to have a nice sheet to put on top of it, so it looked a bit fancier. Paint with olive oil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or so, until heated through and golden brown.

Like a pie, only without so much pie in it.

So, in classic New England style, yesterday was 98 degrees. It was miserable. It was humid. It was exceedingly unpleasant.

Today? It was about 72, and averaged even lower. I kid you not.

The abrupt change to fall made me want fall things, and rather than going through all the nightmare effort of making pie crust and then consuming each and every delicious calorie, I decided to make a pumpkin custard. It’s quick, easy, and very tasty. Like Thanksgiving, but without relatives. Haha. I’m kidding, Mom.

You’ll need:
3 eggs
1 can pumpkin (15 ounces)
2/3 c white sugar
1/3 c brown
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/8 t allspice
pinch salt
2 T flour
1/2 c milk
1/2 c water

Beat all these things together, and pour into a buttered pie dish. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45-55 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. If I were to make this again, I’d likely cut down on the sugar a bit, as it was a tad too sweet. But as you can see from the photo, the three of us eating it had no complaints!

Curried Veggies

Between the purple veggies (eggplant and pepper) I bought last weekend at the market and the enormous zucchini I got from my mom’s friend’s garden, it was time to make a super veggie dish. People always say that most Americans don’t eat enough veg, but I think I got my fair share last night. I feel as though if I ate all the recommended daily allowances of fruits, veg, grains, and meats I’d be eating all day, anyway. Tempting though it may sound, I just don’t have the time for that.

I began making this dish thinking I’d add basil and some tomato, but at the last minute veered in a different direction by adding curry powder. I like curry dishes to be pretty mild, so you could certainly add a lot more seasoning to reflect your own tastes. You can also vary the veggies to suit, as well. Oh, and in case you were wondering, a purple pepper is green on the inside and tastes a good deal like a green bell pepper. So there you go.

Cut up:
One onion
Two cloves of garlic
One enormous zucchini, or a couple of smaller ones
2 tiny baby eggplant, or a medium-sized one
One purple pepper, or some other pepper

Start by sauteeing the onion in a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Cook over med-high heat for seven or so minutes, then add garlic. As you start to smell the garlic, toss in the pepper. After three or four minutes, add zucchini. After a minute or two, add eggplant. Allow to cook, stirring occasionally, about 10-15 minutes, depending on what kind of texture you want your veggies to have. I covered mine for part of the time, too, to move things along. In the last five or so minutes, I sprinkled the veggies with, oh, about a teaspoon of curry powder–you could definitely get away with more. Stir, stir, stir, toss in a handful of frozen peas, and allow to finish cooking. I served this over couscous cooked in chicken broth with a handful of currants and a handful of pinenuts tossed in. The whole thing was quick and easy and actually had a lot more flavor than I initially expected. And when one has been on the go since 7 am and doesn’t get home until 7 pm, a quick, easy, and still healthy dinner is just what a girl needs.