Sweet Sassy Molassy

Greens, glorious greens!

Beet Greens

Greens are amazing, arent they? They are beautiful, flavorful and so versatile! We've had a pretty damp and chilly spring and summer here in Seattle, so we have had the opportunity to experiment with an abundance of various types of greens in our cooking. Beet greens are especially nice, because they become tender and almost buttery in texture when you cook them. Whenever we buy beets with their greens still attached, I usually trim the greens right away (leaving about an inch on the beets), cut off off the tough stalks (and save them for making veggie stock), then wash and dry them and store them in a large ziploc in the fridge. They last for upwards of a week that way and you can use them the same way you'd use kale or chard.

Kale chips

We eat a lot of kale. Lacinato, aka "Dinosaur Kale" is our favorite for cooking, but lately we have been getting bunches of mixed kale at the farmer's market that includes several varieties that have curly leaves. These are perfect for kale chips, which are extremely easy to make and end up with a crispy, crunchy texture like potato chips!

To make kale chips: Tear off the leaves from the tough stalks and make them into whatever size pieces you like. Toss with just a little olive oil (1 tablespoon is plenty) and some salt, lay flat in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes (or until crispy) at 300 F. I used some parchment paper for ease of cleanup and got four large baking sheets-worth of kale chips from a single large bunch of about 10 stalks.

Chicken soup with greens

You can easily add many kinds of greens to soups or stews. This chicken soup was very simple, with just potatoes, carrots and onions, but the addition of some chopped beet greens at the end added some great color and flavor. You could also use swiss chard, kale, napa cabbage, bok choy, spinach or some "braising mix", which usually consists of a mix of greens that are slightly tough when raw but become tender when cooked in some liquid for a bit.

Lime and cilantro chickpea salad with spinach

I'm always on the lookout for interesting recipes that use beans or legumes, because we're tring to eat healthier, which includes less pasta/rice/bread and more beans and legumes. We always have cans of chickpeas in the pantry for adding to dishes or making some quick hummus, so I was happy when I ran across this recipe for a tangy chickpea salad with lime, cilantro and spinach. We've made it twice so far, once with mixed baby greens and once with spinach. Both times it was amazing and the leftovers were extra tasty as well.  I suggest serving it over some fresh spinach to catch some of the dressing!

Orange and beet salad

When summer gives you bolted greens, you can always make salads! It's been pretty cold here, so most of our mixed salad greens, bok choys and arugula bolted pretty early and we were left to compete with the slugs for baby greens. We got a few heads of flashy trout's back lettuce to mature, and I picked a mixture of baby greens and some tart sorrel leaves to mix in with the larger lettuce in a salad. We also had some beets from the farmer's market, an orange and some feta cheese, so into the salad they went as well! I made a light vinagrette with the orange juice after cutting the orange into supremes. I wasn't entirely sure if it would be too weird of a combination of ingredients, but the slight saltiness of the feta really complimented the sweetness of the beets and orange, so I consider it a success!

Sauteed cabbage with red onions

Last, but certainly not least, comes our old friend the cabbage. There are many ways to use cabbage (I personally love a good tangy slaw), but sometimes simple is best. I was home alone, tired from work, hadn't gone shopping and didn't feel like going to the store. I opened the fridge and found a couple of chicken breasts, half a head of napa cabbage and 2 small salad-sized red onions. Napa cabbage is already sweet and tender when raw, so a quick braise would just enhance it a bit. So, I seasoned and browned the chicken breasts, thinly sliced the cabbage and onions, did a quick sautee on those with some garlic, salt and pepper and then added 1/4 cup of veggie stock and braised everything together for about 15 minutes. The cabbage and onions become meltingly soft and sweet together and the meal seemed hearty and satisfying, with the added bonus that I had enough to take to work for lunch the next day.

If you have any great recipes or ideas for incorporating greens into your diet, I'd love to hear them! We stock up every week at the farmer's market and we're always trying to come up with creative ways to use them up!

 

Superbowl beer tasting!

This is an old post from 2008. It lost some formatting during an import and when I edited it to fix that, it updates the date (which I can't figure out how to reset).

lineup

(Scroll down for results)

12. Budweiser 11. Pabst Blue Ribbon 10. Tecate 9. Miller Genuine Draft 8. Modello Especial 7. Budweiser Chelada

6. Miller High Life 5. Mickey's 4. Busch 3. Miller Lite 2. Old English 800 1. Rainier

beer samples

Here's what I wrote down for the different beers. We tasted in order of 1-12, but we didn't know which was which hen we were tasting them.
(Rainier)            1.  ok - pretty good
(Old E)              2.  smells like puffed wheat, tastes the same, strong
(Miller Light)       3. light w/ nutty aftertaste
(Busch)              4. almost same as 3
(Mickey's)           5. bleh, alcohol-y + bland
(Miller High Life)   6. darker version of 3, more bubbles
(Bud Chelada)        7. tomato juice w/ seltzer + salt
(Modello)            8. alcoholy and dark - don't like
(MGD)                9. like 8 and 5
(Tecate)             10. not bad, similar to 12
(PBR)                11. little fruity/perfumey - pretty ok
(Budweiser)          12. weak but slight nutty aftertaste

My final rankings:
Best - I couldn't tell much difference between 3 and 4, but those were my favorites of all, followed by 11, 10/12, 1 and 6. Very hard to rank after the first few, they were so similar.
Worst - 7 was pretty gross, I really disliked 5, 8 and 9 and only slightly liked 2, which was pretty strong, but not terrible

Surprise winner: Busch and Miller Lite! I guess I really am a sucker for packaging, since I enjoy drinking Miller High Life from a bottle more than anything from a can, even though in a blind taste test, I only placed High Life in the middle. Granted, all of these were from tallboy cans, except Old E, and were semi-warm by the time we tried them. There was surprisingly little difference between most of the samples in the "best" category. We decided that next time, we'll narrow it down to the 6 best that we all agreed on and make sure they are COLD!

aftermath

Spicy pickled asparagus

Spicy pickled asparagus

For this recipe, you'll need about 2 lbs asparagus, sliced onions and garlic, and some fresh
dill fronds. It makes approximately 2 quarts of pickles. You can easily double or triple this recipe as well!

Brine:
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups vinegar
- 3 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp dill seed
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp chile flakes
- 1 tsp coriander (optional)
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds (optional)


1. Sterilize 2 quart canning jars,lids & rings. Keep warm & clean.

2. Rinse asparagus and cut to fit jars. (Save ends for soup!)

3. Blanch the asparagus for 10 seconds in boiling water and place into ice water immediately to stop the cooking, then drain.

4. Into a pan place vinegar, water and spices. Place on high heat and bring to a boil for 5 minutes.

5. Place asparagus, a couple of dill fronds, a couple of onion slices, and a few pieces of garlic into each jar. The asparagus shrinks a bit when you cook it, so you'll be able to fit more into a jar than you originally think. I used a butter knife to squeeze the aspargus in the jar to make room for more pieces.

6. Pour some of the vinegar solution into each jar. Slide a knife carefully around the filled jar to
release any air bubbles. Wipe rims and jar sides clean and place lid and ring on and hand tighten.

7. Let cool for a few hours, then store in the refrigerator. Ready to eat in 2 days!

 

Preserved lemons

A few months ago, I saw an article about how to preserve lemons and was instantly intrigued. It looked so easy! There are only 2 ingredients (salt and lemons), a simple process and some patience required.  Well, a few weeks later, there was a sale on lemons at the grocery store, so I got 8 extra to try preserving. The initial process is easy and takes about 15-20 minutes to cut and salt and stuff the lemons into a jar. The hard part is the waiting! It takes about 30 days for the lemons to become fully preserved.

So, I had this jar of lemons sitting on the counter for about a month, and I would turn it and give it a shake every couple of days or so and think "I can't wait til these are ready." But then I lost track of time and forgot how long it had been! Last week I checked my Flickr for the date I took the picture of the lemons just after putting them into the jar and it had been about 5 weeks already! So, we decided it was the perfect time to try making some Moroccan-inspired chicken with olives and preserved lemons.

Chicken breast, sliced onions, diced tomatoes, potato wedges, kalamata olives and preserved lemons.

I didn't really follow any recipe for this dish. Instead,  I cobbled together a meal with things that I felt would compliment each other nicely from what I had read about cooking with preserved lemons and the sort of  ingredients that are traditional in a chicken tagine.

I seasoned two boneless,  skinless chicken breasts and let them marinate for about 30 minutes.  In the meantime, I sliced an onion, cut 2 yukon gold potatoes into wedges and prepared the lemon. I used the rind of 1 whole preserved lemon, which I  rinsed under cold running water (to remove some of the salt) and sliced into strips.

I seared the chicken breasts on each side in a heavy skillet, then removed them before adding the onions so they could caramelize a bit. I added a can of diced tomatoes, then placed the chicken back into the middle of the pan and nestled the potato wedges around the chicken. I spooned a bit of the onions and tomatoes over the chicken and potatoes before throwing in a handful of kalamata olives and placing the slices of preserved lemon all over the top. Then I coverd the skillet and baked it at 400F for about 30 minutes, until the potato wedges were cooked through.

After removing the skillet from the oven, I first picked out all the pieces of preserved lemon. They had done their job of infusing the dish with a salty, citrusy essence, but they were still way too salty to eat. I also removed the chicken and potatoes and returned the skillet to the stovetop, where I reduced the sauce until it was thick. The onions had almost mleted into the sauce at this point and provided a sweetness to balance the salty bite of the lemons, while the olives absorbed some of the liquid from the sauce, which added an extra burst of flavor.

One pot wonder: sausage, beans, tomatoes and greens

Sausage links, great northern beans, cherry tomatoes and kale

It's hard to believe that only 5 ingredients can be turned into an amzing meal in only 20 minutes. We make a version of this dish at least once a week, because it's tasty, fast and healthy. Each serving has only about 300 calories and 6 g of fat. We have used both link sausages and bulk sausage, canned tomatoes and fresh tomatoes, cannellini beans, great northern beans and garbanzo beans, and a variety of greens: kale, swiss chard, napa cabbage and mustard greens.  You can pretty much mix and match what you have in your fridge and pantry. You can use any kind of greens, or you could use pasta instead of beans. Whatever you choose, you can be sure that even though the ingredients are simple, the flavors are complex.

This recipe makes 4 servings and has 270 calories per serving (23% fat, 34% protein, 43% carbs). You'll need a large skillet with a lid so you can braise the greens.

Ingredients

• 12 oz. or 4 links hot italian chicken sausage (I use Isernio's brand)
• 14.5 oz can of cannellini beans (aka white beans or white kidney beans), rinsed and drained (or 1.5-2 cups of cooked beans)
• 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (or 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or 2-3 medium tomatoes, diced)
• 4 cups chopped or shredded greens like kale, swiss chard, cabbage or mustard greens (make sure to remove any tough stems)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (if you are not using a non-stick pan)

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Chicken sausage has very little fat, so this just helps it to not stick to the pan. Feel free to leave out the oil if you use a nonstick pan.
2. Brown the sausage on all sides and remove from the pan.
3. Add the tomatoes, beans, and garlic and sautee for a few minutes.
4. Add the chopped greens and stir together with the tomatoes and beans. The greens will be super fluffy at this point, but they will wilt down and reduce in size quickly.
5. Add the sausage back to the pan, add salt and pepper to taste, and stir. If you used fresh tomatoes, you may need to add 1/4 cup of stock or water for braising. .
6. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the greens are tender.

  Sausage, cannellini beans, canned San Marzano tomatoes and napa cabbage

 

Couscous, three ways

I love tiny pasta. Orzo and couscous are my favorites; they are easy to make and extremely versatile. I recently bought some Israeli couscous (the kind that look like little pearls) in the bulk foods section at Central market, but I'd never made it before. Last weekend, I needed a quick side dish to go with our grilled porkchops and decided that a couscous salad would be perfect. A quick online search revealed that Israeli couscous can be cooked just like orzo and either absorb all the liquid or be cooked in liquid and then drained. I chose the absorb method, as it seems less wasteful.

First, I toasted about a cup of couscous and a handful of chopped onion  in a little olive oil, until the couscous was a little brown and the onions were a little soft. Then I added enough vegetable stock (the homemade stuff we made from veggie scraps) to just cover the couscous and added the same amount of stock as dry couscous, so another 1 cup of stock, and let it simmer until the broth was absorbed (about 10-15 minutes). 

When the couscous was done cooking, I spread it out on a foil-lined sheet pan to cool and chopped some veggies to add to the salad: cucumber, tomato and red pepper. When it was cooled, I threw the couscous and veggies into a bowl, added some salt and pepper, the juice from half a lemon and a splash of olive oil and stirred them all together, then let it chill in the fridge for a bit. This made a great, fresh-tasting side dish with dinner that night.

Two days later, I was home alone and didn't feel like cooking and hadn't set anything out from the freezer to make for dinner. But I had a lot of the couscous salad leftover, so I added a can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed) and some crumbled feta cheese and voila, instant dinner! The following, day I was still home alone, but willing to cook.  I sauteed a chicken sausage, sliced it up, and added it to the remaining couscous salad, which I had warmed up for this meal. It made a very quick, easy and tasty lunch.

The addition of chickpeas and cheese bulked up the salad, which made it stretch farther, and added some protein, extra flavor and texture.  Even though I didn't plan for more than a side dish, I was able to create three healthy and delicious meals from this simple salad. As a result, I saved both time and money! My laziness does occasionally pay off...

 

Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking BarGhirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Bar

Diet progress: 25 lbs in 3 months

It's been 3 months since we started "dieting" and I have lost 25 lbs, while Leah has lost about 30 lbs. I put dieting in quotes because, as the old cliche goes, it's really more of a lifestyle change. It's not something we're planning to change once we get to our goal weight. We're trying to eat healthier in general, cut down on refined sugars, eat more whole grains and include lots of fruit and vegetables in our diet. I'm documenting our process because a few people have asked how we are doing it, plus it's nice to see all the things you do right every once in a while.

One of the most important things we did to start was to track our calories every day, for everything we ate and drank. This allowed us to really see how much we were eating and get used to what realistic portions should be. Also, it made it a lot easier to aim for a balance of 50% or less carbs, 20-30% protein and 20-30% fat, and at least 20g fiber. If we were too high or low in a category, we could adjust our later meals to compensate. We used the website Fatsecret.com to track our calories, exercise and weight. They have a great android app that can also scan barcodes to automatically import into your calorie tracker.

Healthy Pastitsio?

When I was (much) younger, I did a lot of online chatting and met some really amazing people who all shared a love of the same band. We spend countless hours talking to each other on IRC and some of these relationships eventually culminated in meeting "IRL" (In Real Life). One of the first things I did when I got my job at ESPN was to plan my first ever 2-week vacation, to NY and Philadelphia to finally meet some of these online friends. I planned everything and tried to stay on a budget, so my choice of hotels in NYC was pretty limited. Also, I hadn't really travelled much and was shocked to find out that $85/night only got me a closet sized room with a SHARED bathroom! It was smaller than any dorm room I'd had in college! I was pretty disappointed and called my friend in New Jersey and told her all about it. She basically said "Oh hell no! You're going to come stay with me!" and drove into the city to pick me up and take me back home with her to the house she shared with her brother.

It was more than I expected, but the very best part was to come later that week. Her family was Greek and her mom came over to visit and made a casserole for us called pastitsio. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever had... ground lamb and beef with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, layered with smooth hollow pasta and tomato sauce, topped by an amazing creamy bechamel sauce. I couldn't get enough of it! We ate it the rest of the week for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, until it was all gone (it was quite a giant-sized casserole) and ever since then, it's been my go-to order at Greek restaurants.

Unfortunately, it's very high in calories and fat and so over the years I have tried to come up with a version that would be more healthy. I had a disasterous experience with a recipe from Cooking Light that nearly turned me off pastitsio for good. However, a few years ago when we experimented with a low GI diet, we bought The Good Carbs Cookbook and were surpised to find a recipe for "Greek Macaroni Casserole" that was basically a version of pastitsio! After trying it and realizing it was not only healthy, but also easy to make and tasty, I was hooked! I make this version, with slight variations (sometimes I use beef, sometimes turkey or chicken, different types of pasta, adding veggies, etc),  and it satisfies my cravings. It's not the same as the original, but it has all the same flavors and it makes a hearty meal.

This recipe makes 6 servings and has 300 calories per serving (20% fat, 47% carbs, 33% protein). It makes a great meal when paired with a big salad.

Ingredients

• 6 oz macaroni, penne or ziti pasta
• 12 oz lean ground meat
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon or allpsice
• 3/4 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 15 oz can stewed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp parmesan cheese

For the sauce:

• 3 tbsp unbleached flour
• 2 cups lowfat milk
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp egg substitute or egg whites
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions, drain and set aside
3. Saute the meat in 1 tbsp oil. Add cinnamon or allspice, oregano and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add chopped onions, garlic (if desired), stewed tomatoes and tomato paste to the meat, cover and simmer over low heat until the onions become soft and the flavors develop, about 10-15 minutes.
5. In a microwave-safe bowl, add the flour and 1/4 cup of the milk and whisk until smooth. Continue whisking and slowly add the rest of the milk, egg susbstitute (or egg whites), nutmeg and a pinch of salt.
6. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, then whisk and heat again for 3-4 more minutes, whisking after each minute, until the sauce is thick and creamy.
7. Mix the pasta and meat mixture together. Mix in 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and spread evenly in an 8x8 (2 quart) pan. Slowly pour the white sauce over the top and sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp of cheese on top.
8. Spray the top with cooking spray and bake for 35 minutes. Let cool and set for 20 minutes before cutting and serving.

Winter squash soup with garlic and balsamic onion toast

This past week, on a particularly rainy and miserable Labor Day, we ventured out to do some shopping, partially to get supplies to make kimchi, and partially for retail therapy. First stop was to get some pho from Than Brothers on 99 in Edmonds, which is a cash-only joint, so we decided to see if the Boo Han korean grocery next door would have some of the kimchi supplies we needed and get some cash out at the same time. We ran across some really beautiful, perfectly Cinderella-like pumpkins, labelled simply "Old Squash" (with some Korean characters that we couldn't read that probably had a much better description), that we ultimately passed on buying. It's hard to figure out what to do with a whole big squash! Like the whole kabocha squash that's been on the kitchen table for about a month...

So, after stops at Toys-R-Us and Target, we headed to H-Mart to get the rest of the kimchi ingredients and saw the same kind of squash from Boo Han, only these were already cut and labelled as "Castilla Squash". We picked out the smallest piece, which looked to be a little less than 1/4 of a whole squash. We cut and roasted it in olive oil and salt and pepper with 1/4 of the kabocha squash at the same time we were making the short ribs. Friday night, after spending most of the day cleaning, it was nice to be able to have a quick and easy dinner by turning the roasted squash into a savory, creamy soup.

I sauteed some onions and garlic in a little olive oil until they were soft, then added about 2 cups of chicken stock and the roasted squash, along with some salt and pepper. While the soup was simmering, I sliced some rustic bread and drizzled a little olive oil on each slice and stuck them under the broiler until they were just toasted and brown on the edges, then rubbed each one with a clove of fresh garlic. I warmed up the last of our balsamic onions to use as a topping for the toast.

After blending the soup with the immersion blender and stirring in a couple tablespoons of butter, I put a slice of toast into each of the soup bowls to act as a big crouton, and ladeled some soup over the top. The hot soup made the bread nice and soft and the garlic and onions complimented the creamy sweetness of the squash. The pepper in the soup gave it a spicy kick, so it was a little more savory than sweet. Served with a green salad, it was a great simple dinner for a busy day.

 

Braised short ribs with soft polenta

We got some really nice short ribs at H-Mart when we were there to get stuff for making kimchi.  I finally decided to make them on Thursday, after days of rain and gloom and disappointment for not being able to go camping this week. It really is a pretty easy recipe, it just takes patience to wait for the braising and not bust into the oven to have a taste after hours of smelling the delicious aromas the various herbs are giving off. This recipe/method also works great for oxtail, beef stew and boeuf bourguignon. For beef stew or boeuf bourguignon, you'd just want to add the extra step of adding some flour to the meat for thickener and maybe add some potatoes, carrots  or other root vegetables during the last hour of cooking. The veggies in this recipe are mainly to flavor the sauce and get cooked into oblivion.

Start by seasoning the short ribs with salt and pepper, then make sure to brown all the sides in some vegetable oil (I used olive oil this time) in a dutch oven. This part takes about 10-15 minutes in total. In between turning the meat, I chopped up all my veggies: carrots, onions, leeks and mushrooms. You can use whatever veggies you like, I just happened to have those in my fridge already. After the short ribs are all nice and browned, remove them from the pot and set aside.

Next, add the chopped veggies and some whole garlic cloves to the pot and sautee them until they are soft. Sprinkle a little more salt and pepper in as well. I also added a pinch of celery seeds, because I was out of fresh celery. You can use this time to make a bouquet garni with some fresh herbs. I used sprigs of rosemary, thyme, parsley, a few whole cloves of garlic and some black peppercorns and tied them up in some cheesecloth.

When the veggies were done, I added a few big glugs of red wine (probably a cup or so) to the pot and deglazed it a bit, then added the meat back to the pot and poured in enough beef stock to just cover the meat, which ended up being a 32 oz container. How convenient! Put the bouquet garni in the pot and make sure it's nestled down in with the meat, then cover and put it in a low-ish temp oven, around 300 F, for 4 hours or so.

After about 2.5 hours, I had a taste and added a little more salt and pepper. After 3.5 hours, I removed the lid and let it cook uncovered for about another hour. We did double-duty with the oven by roasting some winter squashes at the same time, for a soup we'll make this weekend. When the meat is tender and falling off the bone, it's done! I made some creamy polenta (recipe here) and strained out most of the veggies and poured off most of the fat so I could reduce the sauce a bit, but you can serve it however you like: over noodles or potatoes or rice, with or without veggies. I saved the veggies for adding to my dogs' dry food, which they love, of course. Serve a few of the short ribs on the polenta and spoon some of the sauce over them.

If you really want to kick it up a notch, make a gremolata from chopped garlic, parsely, lemon zest and coarse salt, and sprinkle it on top. It really helps to cut the richness and gives it just that extra zing of flavor.

I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch today!

Bouquet garni