A Hard Day's Work

Well, let me start off by saying I had a somewhat poignantly written post that I spent an hour on, but I just deleted it. Somehow. So this post might not be as good as intended, but I promise it's due to sheer frustration with what this dreary Wednesday keeps throwing at me rather a wavering love with food. (Note: I don't know if it is still dreary in State College since I work in a basement with no windows, but considering State College's overall tendencies to be grey, I'll assume it's still gross out.)

Prompting this post was a request from Liron post a family-Style Sunday dinner that I whipped up for friends. Specifically, I had made some pretty healthy and tasty asparagus with cannellini beans that she would like to get her hands on, so here goes!

Asparagus with Cannellini Beans

Ingredients

• 1 bunch (bushel? what are they called?!) of asparagus
• 1 15 oz can of cannellini beans, drained
• 3-4 cups of water
• 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
• Minced garlic or garlic powder
• Red chili pepper flakes
• Basil (I usually use dried basil flakes, since I always have it on hand)
• Salt
• Pepper

"Equipment"

• 1 small (2-4 quart) saucepan
• 1 small sauté pan
• Colander
• Cutting board
• Knife

Instructions

1. Put saucepan with water onto high heat.
2. Clean the asparagus with running water. After, hold the bottom quarter of the asparagus spears in your two hands and allow it to snap at its natural breaking point. This point will vary moderately throughout bunch of asparagus. Discard broken off ends.
3. Cut remaining asparagus into 2-3" pieces.
4. When water is boiling, add asparagus pieces. Allow pieces to cook for 3-4 minutes or until they just turn bright green.
5. While asparagus is being cooked, heat olive oil and chili flakes on medium high in sauté pan. If using minced garlic, add it now. Otherwise, add the garlic powder after the asparagus and beans have entered the mix. With respect to amount of seasoning, this is a personal preference, where I usually use a dash or two of pepper flakes and a heaping tablespoon or two of minced garlic.
6. Once asparagus is bright green, drain it from the boiling water and add to the olive oil mixture. Add drained cannellini beans at this point, as well, until they are warm (roughly 2-3 minutes).
7. Season entire mixture with basil, salt, and pepper to your liking.

That's it! Another simple and healthy, but really flavorful recipe! I personally eat this by itself all the time, but it's also delicious on top of some hearty whole wheat pasta. Since it is such a simple recipe, I encourage you to experiment with it! In the past I've added mozzarella and parmesan cheese to it (separately) and been very pleased with the results. I'd bet that fontina in here would work beautifully, too. I also have wilted baby spinach and added halved cherry tomatoes to the recipe. Also, can someone do this with toasted pine nuts and tell me how delicious it is? My budget doesn't exactly afford me pine nuts, but I'm sure it's an amazing add!

So while I have not posted nearly as much as I had intended to this month (seriously, where did March go?), let this stand as proof that I have been spending time in the kitchen. I also have done some serious food blog checking and discovering in the past month, which I highly recommend you all do. A recipe I just found today which I'm sure will be of great use in the coming days, if not for the future to come, is www.foodblogsearch.com. This website allows you to search for a recipe by title, as well as ingredient, and then further restrict the results by browsing only through vegetarian or gluten-free blogs.

Black Beans with Tofu

Every Monday, without fail, I leave work ready to indulge in black bean and tofu burritos at a local restaurant that starts off the week with $5 all you can eat mini-burritos. Doesn't matter who I'm with or how long I have to wait for whatever friend(s) that can join me that week, Monday is black bean and tofu day. Now why it took until today for me to attempt making my own version, I do not know, but it certainly will not be the last. Mad Mex, I'm sorry, but you've met your match!

Black Beans with Tofu

15 oz can of black blacks, drained and rinsed

1/3 of a block of extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2" cubes

1/3 cup of diced onion

2 cups of baby spinach

2-3 tbs of plain fat free greek yogurt

1 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil

1 (okay, I used 2) tbs of minced garlic

cayenne pepper

cumin

salt

pepper

1. Heat pan with oil at medium high heat for 5 minutes.
2. Toss in cubed tofu. A good shake of the pan and flick of the rest should keep them hopping around without sticking until at least 3 of the 6 sides are golden brown.
3. Add black beans, onion and garlic, and stir ingredients around.
4. Flavor black bean and tofu mix to your liking. (I added about 1/2 tsp of cumin, a couple of hearty shakes of cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.) After, stir in greek yogurt to give mixture some creaminess.
5. Wilt baby spinach on top and then stir into the mixture.

Viola! A delicious and hearty dinner will have been created in about 15 minutes! I happened to serve it on a bed of the red curry quinoa I made last week and topped with a little extra sharp cheddar cheese, but it could be served as a side or all by itself, too!

Reinventing Vegetables

So for the entirety of January and a good part of February I ate salads practically every day. Now, however, I fear that I am reaching my breaking point with salads. I keep trying new dressings, but to no avail. I am no longer craving the crunch of a fresh salad and it is definitely not satiating me the way it used to.

This startling revelation is giving my little vegetarian soul heart palpitations. I think I have some solutions to this dilemma, though. First, I'm going to try creating my own dressings that based on flavors I know I like, such as peanut and (Italian) basil. Secondly, I'm going to give frozen veggies more attention. Steamed, sauteed, or roasted, they really deserve more credit since they are both an affordable and nutritious way to go! Lastly, I'm going to take my current aversion to most salads as an opportunity to focus on creating recipes for healthy spreads and dips that are packed with flavor for fresh veggies. Wish me luck!

Weekday Cooking

First, let me just get out there that I hate doing the dishes. There is almost always a pile in my sink no matter how much I try to avoid leaving cleaning for another day, so I understand that my sudden surge of cooking and baking may tire you just thinking about it, but hear me out! The dinner I made yesterday took no time at all (maybe 20 minutes?) and now not only do I have leftovers, but I can avoid making more dishes for a few days!

My red curry quinoa from yesterday turned out well. I simply boiled one cup of quinoa with a 15 oz. can of lite coconut milk and a tablespoon of red curry paste. The paste was one of those pre-made Thai Kitchen concoctions and overall had great flavor. In the future I hope to experiment with some fresh flavors in the rice, like with Thai basil and lemongrass, to get more control. I also want to try using whole coconut milk, but in smaller quantity, with fat free Greek yogurt for creaminess.

While the quinoa was cooking (it's ready when it has opened up from its initial seed-like form and its little curly-Qs have been released), I made sure to have some protein and veggies alongside the quinoa. I fried some extra-firm Organic tofu that had been drained and cubed. Out of the entire package of tofu, I used probably a third of it for dinner, and so "frying it" only required a good non-stick pan and maybe half of a tablespoon of veggie oil. While it was browning, I tossed on a fair amount of ginger and garlic powder, as well as salt. I found that to be enough, but I like tofu plain, so I would say that play around with spices here. On the greener side of things, I steamed a medley of frozen veggies and then tossed in a tablespoon of peanut satay sauce I had in the fridge. I also have full intentions of experimenting with recipes until I get my own Thai-inspired peanut sauce down pat. Can't wait for that taste-testing extravaganza!

Today, since dinner was leftovers and I still had the itch to create some new yummies, I went ahead and made both pumpkin and banana bread. Both recipes were heavily modified from their original recipes, which I found on www.allrecipes.com, to be healthier. Some of the changes I made included Eggbeaters, whole wheat flour, applesauce for oil, and reducing the amount of sugar called and adding a little more vanilla extract, since it's so flavorful, yet potent. I hope to have some feedback on how the two turned out shortly and if it's positive then expect the recipes to be posted soon after!

While making the quick breads, I was struck by the notion of how much our society allows us to indulge our cravings to the extreme, whether it be salty, sweet, or spicy. Personally, I have a huge sweet tooth and so this is something that will be hard to overcome, but I'm hoping to try other more condensed and natural forms of sugar in the future in order to overall cut back on the amount of sugar in a recipe. One idea I have is adding some dried, not candied, fruits to breads for some sweetness, but not sure how versatile that option is. Maybe some day I'll even find dark chocolate to be just as satisfying as milk chocolate, but I'll be okay with leaving that as my vice, too.

And with another successful night in the kitchen and on the blog, I'm off to deliver the breads to Liron who is slaving away at lab. Oh, and Mike? Pumpkin bread is coming your way! You aren't just "the boyfriend'!

Substitutions in Recipes

A new year, a new me? Maybe! Like I said, I'm going to try harder this year at making healthy substitutions when possible. Egg whites or Egg Beaters for eggs, apple sauce or yogurt for oil, etc., but also I think that I will try employing Greek yogurt as a substitution shortly, because of its versatility affords it to be used in both sweet and savory dishes. It's difficult, though, especially life gets busy and the kitchen is neglected. How long do these ingredients keep for? Are there better ways to extend their shelf life?

A trip to the grocery store should happen within the next few days, so I hope to report back shortly detailing my adventures with these items and more. For now I will tackle throwing together some red curry quinoa with steamed veggies!