Veggie Stir Fry

My mom is currently on a low-gluten diet and I'm not eating a lot of meat, which eliminates two of my family's standby meals--pasta and meat+potatoes. We decided to make this delicious veggie stirfry instead.

A few stirfry tips:
- Cut the veggies small--you want them to cook quickly and evenly.
- Put in the hardest vegetables first (like broccoli or carrots) and save the softest veggies for last (like bean sprouts or bok choy). This way they will all be fully cooked.
- Use a really, really hot pan, and stir often. Adding veggies in stages will help keep the pan hot.
- Good seasonings include: ginger, garlic, soy (or tamari to keep it gluten free), sesame oil and sesame seeds. We also used garlic chives for added flavor and vegetable.
- If you want a sauce, add a lot of wilty vegetables (like bok choy) to get extra water and thicken it with cornstarch.

Our stirfry included: green beans, carrots, garlic chives, celery, bok choy, cabbage and bean sprouts.

This are garlic chives. We cut them into 1-2 inch pieces
and added them with the bean sprouts.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Finding Umami

For much of my life, meat was a central part of every meal. I grew up eating a lot of beef and pork, including cold cuts for breakfast. And for much of my life I couldn't really imagine a meal without meat.

Let me rephrase that, I could imagine a meal without meat or a meat substitute. I have never minded tofu, and I learned to like beans a long time ago. But I could never have imagined a meal that didn't involved some sort of concentrated protein source or meaty flavor.

Not eating meat 6 days a week for 6 weeks changed that.

I'm not a vegetarian--I love bacon and sausage and marshmallows way too much. But while most Americans go meatless once a week, I probably only eat meat once a week. I eat meat substitutes maybe once a month. Here are some things I've learned:

1. Soy sauce! Mushrooms! Parmesan cheese! One of the things I've missed most is that really savory flavor. I've learned to add a dash of soy sauce, mushrooms or a bit of parmesan to meals to help bring that to plant-based dishes.

2. You probably get enough protein. (Yes, even if you're an athlete.)

3. Sometimes, you have to be a little bit more flexible. Generally, I'm a very stubborn person--I like things my way. Not eating much meat, I've found that I don't always get what I want for dinner. I went to a barbecue during graduation where more than half of the dishes served were meat dishes, and the remaining options were pretty uninspiring. This happens often.

4. Veggies are cheap. Even fresh ones. When I'm buying things at the grocery store, I find myself wondering whether spending $2 for a big bunch of kale is really a good deal, but jumping at only have to spend $3 for a small block of cheese. And the frozen ones are even cheaper--$1 for a pound of spinach. Sure $2/pound for green beans isn't a great price, but have you ever eaten a pound of green beans? That's a $2 meal right there.

5. It doesn't have to be fussy. Ok, maybe this follows from (3), but sometimes it's okay to have a salad and ice cream for dinner. Or buttered toast and baby carrots for lunch.

Do you eat meat? Do you eat meat substitutes? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com. 

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To Shuck or Not To Shuck

We had a cookout after practice last night with grilled chicken, veggies and s'mores to round out the evening. We also had some of the first corn of the season! Yum!

I grilled corn quite a bit last summer, and tried it both ways--husk on and husk off.

Husk on, the corn seems a lot more moist, but it also takes a bit longer to cook and doesn't get those yummy char marks on the corn. (Yes, the same yummy char marks that also cause cancer.)

Husk off, the corn is incredibly delicious, but it cooks a bit less evenly and can dry out in the heat.

Today, we grilled the corn husk on, opened it, realized it wasn't all the way cooked, and put it back on husked to get char marks as it finished cooking. I think this is probably the ideal cooking method, but it's kind of a pain (literally--you'll probably burn your fingers).

How do you cook your summer corn? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com. 

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Fast Food can be Good Food

"I don't like waiting in line to get my food," one of my dining companions explained to the group, as he complained about the uninspired food quality in the dining hall. Others picked at their poorly dressed salads and shoddily constructed wrap sandwiches.

Meanwhile, I sat there, quietly contemplating my sliced strawberries and banana, covered in honey, granola, yogurt and flaxseeds. This was the third course in an otherwise delicious meal, all procured from that same dining hall.

Why was my food so much better? so much different? Because I care. I care enough to ask for pesto on my salad, to get mushrooms and edamame from the salad bar to put into my fried rice, and to slice my own strawberries so I can have fruit in my parfait.

I don't mind waiting in line for 2 minutes if it means the difference between fresh, hot food and eating pasta that's been sitting in a steamer for an hour. I don't mind going every so slightly out of my way to make my own salad dressing if it means I know everything that goes into it.

It doesn't take a lot of time to make good, healthy food—just a good dose of care and simplicity. Dinner can be roasted broccoli and a piece of good bread. (Bonus points if you grate some parmesan on the broccoli as it comes out of the oven.) A salad can be lettuce and dressing. Breakfast? A banana with peanut butter.

I'm not perfect. There are days when I just don't feel like caring. Yesterday, I ate cake for breakfast. But most of the time, I do most things right. And in the end, I gave the rest of the cake away.

Once a week, make a 5-ingredient dinner. Not a 5-ingredient dish--a whole meal. Salt. Pepper. Oil. Vegetable. Starch.

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Simple Salad

Ingredients
1 lemon
2t mustard
4T olive oil

spring mix
cherry tomatoes

{or arugula and avocado}

Directions
1. Juice the lemon into a bowl. Whisk in the mustard, then the oil.
2. Toss the {washed} lettuce and tomatoes with the dressing.
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Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Everyday Vegetables

Since both D and I have finished our senior theses, we have a lot more time on our hands and have been cooking dinner more often. This was our simple creation for dinner last night.

This would be a great dish to serve on a Meatless Monday. Add a can of chickpeas to the roasted veggies along with the bell peppers if you're concerned about getting enough protein.

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45-Minute Dinner: Cauliflower, Green Beans and Rice
serves 3-4

Equipment:
Baking sheet
Pot
Stove
Knife
Cutting board
Tongs

Ingredients:
1.5c brown rice, uncooked
1 head cauliflower
0.5 lb green beans
0.5 red bell pepper
1 can garbanzo beans (optional)
2 cloves garlic
2t garam masala (optional)
olive oil
salt, pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. In your pot, put the 1.5c of brown rice along with 4c of cold tap water. Turn the heat to high. When it boils, turn the heat back down to as low as possible, and set a timer for 40 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, clean and chop your veggies. Toss the cauliflower with olive oil and the garam masala on the baking tray. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. At 20 minutes left in the rice cooking, put the cauliflower in the oven. Toss every 5 minutes to prevent burning and to let any steam escape from the oven.
5. At 10 minutes left in the rice timer, add the green beans and garlic to the cauliflower, tossing to mix. Turn the broiler on and place the veggies back under the broiler.
6. At 5 minutes left on the timer, toss the bell pepper and garbanzo beans with the veggies and return to the broiler.
7. When the timer is done, remove the rice from the stovetop. Check your veggies. If they are golden brown in places, they're done. Otherwise, toss them again and throw them back in for 5 minutes. (The rice will stay hot, I promise.)
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Note: If you have a separate broiler compartment or your broiler takes a while to heat up, you may want to preheat it. Mine heats in about 30 seconds and can't be used at the same time as the oven, so I just changed it over when the veggies went back in the oven at step 5.

Do you participate in Meatless Mondays? Leave a comment or email me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com. 


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Savory Oatmeal

Every time I make this, I get weird looks in the dining hall.

"Is that cheese in your oatmeal?" my companions ask me with wrinkled noses. "Gross!"

Yes, people, that is CHEESE in my oatmeal, delicious, gooey, savory cheese. And if you've never tried it, you're missing out big time!

Not eating meat, dining hall brunch options can be fairly limited. Donuts aren't exactly a great post-practice fuel and buffet style scrambled "eggs" got old about 2 years ago. Plus, I like to get at least one of my 10 daily servings of vegetables (yes, I normally eat ten, not five) before dinner time.

Here's the solution:
1. Pile spinach high in a bowl (I'm talking as much as you can possibly fit) and microwave it for a minute and a half. If there's no microwave, use a little bit less spinach and the oatmeal will be hot enough to get it mostly cooked.
2. Put a big scoop of oatmeal on top of the spinach. Microwave for another 60 seconds if you like your food mouth-burning hot like I do.
3. Add cheese, pumpkins seeds, and whatever else looks good from the salad bar. (If you're a meat eater, bacons bits are particularly delicious!!!)
4. Stir thoroughly and chow down (carefully--it's hot!!!)

Don't eat in the dining halls? Make it at home with your slow cooker!

Roasted Root Veggies

While D and I were picking up ingredients for our energy bars, we also thought we'd grab some veggies for dinner. I contemplated swiss chard, because I was craving it a little bit, but realized I didn't really know how to cook it or what else I'd need to cook it. D also seemed unenthusiastic.

Instead, we picked up a collection of root veggies and stems, and roasted them in the oven. We also added some chicken breast to make it a meal, although to keep it vegetarian, I'd just eat it with a liberal helping of parmesan cheese grated on top, and maybe some shitake mushrooms sauteed in butter. Yum!

The sweetness of the parsnips and the sweet potatoes works really well with the starchy potatoes. We watched an episode of House while dinner was cooking. This is pretty much the easiest dinner ever.. you don't even have to preheat the oven!!! It comes up to temperature while the food is cooking.

Ready for the oven.

Delicious and roasty.

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Roasted Root Veggies

Ingredients:
1 red potato
3 Yukon Gold potatoes
1 purple potato
1 "Japanese" sweet potato (or some other kind)
1 Garnet yam
3 carrots
3 parsnips
0.25c olive oil
1 large clove garlic
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Cut all the ingredients into 0.5 inch cubes and place them on a baking tray. Mince garlic and add it to the mixture.
2. Pour olive oil over them, grind pepper on top, sprinkle with salt, and toss to mix.
3. Put the veggies in the oven and turn it to 475°F. Bake for about 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. The veggies will be soft, fragrant and starting to brown when they're done.
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thirty minute dinner and dessert

We prepped a bit beforehand because we had to travel to the kitchen with all of our stuff, but I got home from practice at 6:15 and we had dinner on the table by 6:45. Dinner was pasta with chicken and veggies plus chocolate chip cranberry nut scones for dessert. If you spend 10 minutes (or less) prepping in the morning before you head out for the day, you could have dinner + dessert ready in thirty minutes or less.

The leftover scones make great breakfast/snack the next day, too!!!

The recipe looks complicated, but it's pretty simple. Basically, mix the scone batter while you're waiting for the water to boil, and bake them while the pasta is cooking. (You can also bake them while you're eating, if it's too hectic to try to bake them while cooking.) Then once the pasta is in the water, cook green beans, and heat pre-cooked chicken, canned corn and tomato sauce; combine with pasta and you have dinner. Yum!

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Thirty Minute Meal
serves four

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

We made this for dinner last night. They took a bit of time to prep, but once they went into the oven they were super easy. They're also really pretty and delicious. The sweet potato goes really well with the garlic, since the roasted garlic is a little bit sweeter than raw garlic.

Unfortunately, once again, there was no time to get pictures before they disappeared into our hungry bellies. If you've never heard of hasselback potatoes before, I suggest looking at a recipe like this one, with pictures, so it makes more sense.

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Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients
sweet potatoes or yams (I used garnet yams)
garlic, thinly sliced (you'll need about one cloves for every potato)
olive oil (you'll need about a tablespoon per potato)
salt
pepper

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Wash the potatoes and cut off the ends. Slice the potatoes almost all the way through every quarter inch.
3. Place a slice of garlic in each slit of the potato. (These should help hold the potato slices apart.) This is easiest to do if you hold the potato up off the cutting board--the potato opens up like a fan.
4. Rub each potato with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Grind a some fresh pepper on top.
5. Bake for 40-60 minutes, until a knife slides through the potato easily. These are really good when they get really soft.
6. Eat fresh or as leftovers. Yum!!!
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Awesome green beans

I've had green beans before. I've had good green beans before. These are awesome green beans.

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Awesome Green Beans
serves 2-4


Ingredients
1/2 T butter
1 shallot, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, thinly sliced into strips
1 lb. green beans
1/2 T butter
1.5 cups white wine