big mess in my kitchen

Things I have accomplished since dinner:

• Cleared the table
• ate some Halloween candy from my parents (my mom put a note in the bag that says "Better your home than ours," but I see there are only a few surviving Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bars and I don't think the kids took them - I'm on to your tricks, lady!)
• engaged in a fun Facebook message session
• trolled YouTube for a clip from the movie, "Anastasia," then posted said clip on Facebook (go, social media!)
• pestered Mister

Things I haven't accomplished since dinner: cleaning up.  In fact, my kitchen is such a phenomenal mess right now that I think I might actually bake cookies or cupcakes or something, just to see if I actually can dirty every dish in the house.

It's probably not as bad as I think, but compared to the super-simple clean-up from last night's dinner, a stove and counter and sink covered in dishes is a little daunting.  This is what happens when I make blender sauces.  More accurately, this is what happens when I make a blended sauce that could totally fit in my smaller food processor attachment to my immersion blender, so I start piling everything in there only to remember that I have to blend for 5 minutes and realizing that I have no desire to push the button that makes the blades spin for 5 minutes.  So, having dirtied the little food processor, I dump everything into the grown-up food processor and proceed with the excessive blending.  Which makes a huge mess.

Meanwhile, I'm chopping and roasting cauliflower while rinsing the chickpeas (and contemplating the effort required to pinch them out of their little skins) and cooking the bulgur, then scraping the sides of the food processor (with yet another spatula) and trying not to drip the sauce that collected on the lid onto the counter (and failing).  Nevertheless, it all came together beautifully for our Mediterranean Bowls from Appetite for Reduction.

By way of a short aside, last week I did a favor for a colleague who then did her best to show her appreciation by gushing all over me and then buying me Starbucks.  She asked what I wanted when she was going out to get it and I told her, "A hazelnut americano would make my heart sing," which she thought was very funny.  I tell you this because roasted cauliflower makes Mister's heart sing.

I cut it into small florets, then doused it with olive oil and tossed it with some kosher salt and the Mediterranean herb blend I picked up in California:

No joke, the cauliflower had been roasting about 15 minutes and I was getting ready to add the chickpeas while gathering all of the ingredients for Isa's Caesar Chavez dressing, also from Appetite for Reduction, when Mister followed his nose into the kitchen and asked what he smelled.  I told him it was roasted cauliflower (even though it was still in the act of roasting) and he asked when he could eat it and if now would be a good time.  I explained he would have to wait 5-10 more minutes and after one more try, he went back to his computer to wait like a good boy.

After all my kitchen gymnastics, here was the result: Caesar Chavez dressing, clearly meant to replace fattening, anchovyful Caesar dressing.  While I don't think you could mistake this for "the real thing," it has a delightful tang and very strong flavor, most likely attributed to the shallots that haunt my breath even now.  In fact, I'm going to blame my inexcusably excessive candy consumption on that - I'm just trying to get rid of the taste and my breath mints are allllll the way over there in my purse.

The finished product went over much better than the last time Mister had something specifically titled Bowl, and merely mentioning "that outdoor restaurant" threw Mister into a memorymare and he proceeded to once again voice his complete displeasure with the Gyro Bowl he got.  I think he's being a little over-dramatic, but then again, I loved my Hollywood Bowl.

But again, how could I not?  I'm a rockstar ;)

When I'm not being a rockstar, though, I'm the kitchen help... better get on that pile of mess...

makes mouths happy

Mister loves mashed potatoes (well, potatoes in general, but he definitely loves mashed potatoes as a top three pick).  Actually, let me try that again:

Mister looooooooooves mashed potatoes.

He also loves broccoli and chickpeas and garlic.  It stands to reason, then, that Mister loved tonight's dinner: Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli from Appetite for Reduction.  Angst kind of liked it, too - he liked the little balls of "raw hummus" Mister kept giving him.

There's Mister's lunch tomorrow - one of the few times he will happily eat leftovers.  As he got up from the dinner table tonight, he proclaimed it one of the best dinners ever because it was made up of "so many favorite things!"  I must agree.  Also, in my own mindful eating of dinner, I made two discoveries - one sweet...the other less so.

I discovered the unbridled bliss of biting into a forkful of mashed potatoes to find a perfect chunk of roasted garlic inside.  Such a powerful flavor, especially because this particular chunk had a whole side that had been browned by the roasting, so it added a kind of darker, smoky aspect.

The second thing I discovered is actually more of a slow-dawning realization.  I do not have a "go to" mashed potatoes recipe.  I have recipes, and occasionally, I follow one - most of the time that is because it is directly linked to the other recipe I'm making and I feel bad making one without the other.  That was not the case tonight - tonight, I simply decided to serve the pile of roasted perfection on top of what I had hoped would be light, creamy mashed potatoes.

I have actually accomplished that, by the way - just wanted to clear that up.  I didn't quite get there tonight, though, which I'm choosing to blame on the lack of Earth Balance and soymilk for blending.  In their place, I added a fair sprinkling of kosher salt, a generous dab of olive oil, and a very rounded spoonful of hummus.  The hummus definitely helped and I can see myself using it again in that capacity, but what I'm getting to is this: I shop for my recipes, so if I have a recipe for something, I know exactly what to buy.  If I had made mashed potatoes from a recipe, I would have purchased soymilk and replenished the Earth Balance before it got down to the miserable little teaspoon currently hogging the whole tub.

Summer isn't a big time for mashed potatoes (or roasted things, for that matter), so I'm issuing myself a challenge this fall (which is creeping closer, believe it or not!).  This fall, I want to perfect my own awesome "go to" recipe for mashed potatoes so flavorful and creamy we'll forget any allegiance we ever paid to those [delightfully convenient] Country Crock mashed potatoes in a microwaveable tub.

I'm also hoping this will ward off the Baking Bug just long enough for me to protect my waistline through the winter months.  Except for two things that will probably interfere....

Celebrate Vegan, the new cookbook by Dynise Balcavage (The Urban Vegan), which I had the extraordinary fortune to be involved in through recipe-testing, will finally be released on October 18!

One short week later, Isa and Terry's new book, Vegan Pie in the Sky, will also be released on the unsuspecting public.

Stay tuned!  Every menu from now until Christmas will be made exclusively from Appetite for Reduction!


(j/k)

how low can you go?

[note: Blogger crapped out on me mid-post last night, so "Part I" will be last night's post, leading to "Part II" which is tonight's dinner adventures.  Look it as a bonus post!]

I have pretty low blood pressure.  I have since I was a young teenager.  The same way that some people (ahem, Mister) need to eat a certain way to manage their blood sugar levels, I sometimes have to eat to manage my blood pressure.  It's actually a fairly enviable position in which to find oneself - I fear, though, for the day Mister's family history of heart disease threatens our little family because we love salt.  Although I am good at enhancing the flavor of foods without adding salt, I would not be as happy a little chef if I couldn't add my precious Mediterranean Sea Salt to roasted vegetables.  In fact, my world might stop turning if I couldn't sprinkle roasting broccoli or asparagus or potatoes with this magical mixture.

I don't have any pictures because Mister and I were in quite a rush to eat (hungry, hungry hippos), but dinner really wasn't anything especially attractive tonight anyway.  I made Pasta Puttanesca from Vegan Express and roasted some broccoli with olive oil and the sea salt blend as a side dish (gotta get some green in there, right?).  For you to truly understand why I love this blend so much, I want to clarify that there are plenty of other flavor elements besides just the incredible chunks of sea salt that catch themselves in a floret to deliver a satisfying crunch when you bite down.  The ingredients on my blend are: sea salt (really?), garlic, basil, oregano, lemon peel, red bell pepper, and the ever ubiquitous "natural flavor."

Speaking of red bell peppers, I don't know what happened to the one I was supposed to slice for tonight's dinner!  I know I got one, but I'm wondering if I accidentally used it for a different recipe.  In any case, I ended up substituting my orange bell pepper for it and I don't think it mucked up the flavor too much.  The pasta was good, but not as good as I wanted it to be and not as incredibly tasty as the roasted broccoli.

Speaking of broccoli....  When I was at Trader Joe's, I saw a bag of broccoli florets for what looked like a pretty decent price - probably a better deal than anything but frozen.  I looked around a bit and discovered that I would get a lot more broccoli for my buck if I bought the convenient pre-cut bag of broccoli than if I got a couple of spears and spent all that time separating the little florets from one another.  Score one for convenience!

[Part II]

Ever since our "celebrity chefs" came to visit and put on a little show a couple of weeks ago, I've been craving chickpea burgers.  Chef Michael Solomonov (Zahav, etc), made turkey burgers, served on the burger thins I love.  They looked so much like chickpea burgers, I kept hoping that if I wished hard enough, they would be.  Alas, they remained little beige patties of ground-up birds, so I had to DIMyself.

I didn't take a picture of the burgers because a) they were not even close to as attractive as Chef Solomonov's turkey burgers and b) burgers just aren't all that exciting to photograph.  Even though the turkey burgers looked very tasty, I would not have whipped out my camera if I'd had it with me.  I might have just had a small inspiration, though.  We'll get back to that later.

Along with the Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties from Vegan on the Cheap I made the Middle Eastern Chopped Salad from Vegan Express.  This was most definitely worth photographing:

Local cucumber, tomatoes, and a yellow bell pepper came together to make a colorful and festive looking salad, sprinkled with fresh parsley and lemon juice, enriched with olive oil and oil-cured black olives.  I love cucumber-tomato salads dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.  I think I would have been happy to include some garlic as well, so I'll keep that in my mind for the next time I make this salad, but I will freely admit that I am sorry I've never made this before.  It's a lot of chopping, so between that and the made-from-scratch burgers, dinner took well over an hour to prepare, but it's nearly Friday, right?  A little sleep deprivation never hurt anyone, right?

Mister picks a winner!

I'm sure I've previously mentioned my countless attempts to involve Mister in the dinner-decision-making process.  I've probably also mentioned his apathetic reticence.  On rare occasion, I have shared a fun story of changing my dinner plans due to an enthusiastic request from a Mister looking at the menu over my shoulder.  As you've probably gathered, if Mister actually participates in choosing dinner, I'm entirely too delighted to turn down whatever request he made.

This is why we did not go out to dinner tonight.

To be honest, today was a real bummer of a last day off from work.  It was grey and miserable in the morning, which I don't mind, but it certainly makes it a little harder to get moving.  I had a pleasant surprise(ish) in the form of my Cali Sister coming to visit.  We wandered over to Cups & Chairs, where I haven't been since Old Faithful died, and met up with Mister for a round of tea and brunch.  I had a blueberry bagel that could have been dessert, accompanied by a Green Tea Soy Latte that was utterly delicious.  Sister had a Caprese sandwich and a Vanilla Latte, while little Nephew pushed pieces of an omelet around a plate.  Mister had the vegetarian omelet with a Detox Tea that he really tried to drink, but didn't.  After some fun conversation, I bid Sister farewell just as a steady rain began to fall, threatening to drown my hopes of completing outdoor chores.

I stood in my kitchen with my coat buttoned up and my grocery list tucked in my purse, glancing out the window and trying to determine how much rain was actually falling.  I eventually decided that despite my disposition, I am not made of salt and ventured out into the rain.  I made it to Whole Foods, filled my bags with goodies and got about halfway home before the heavier rain started.  I opened my umbrella and hastened my steps, then took my time unloading the groceries in hope the rain would die down so I could go to Superfresh.  Eventually, that did occur.

What does any of this have to do with not going out to dinner?  Well, after traipsing through the rain for groceries and a horrendously unsuccessfully shoe-shopping attempt, I sat in my kitchen by half-light, since one of the bulbs blew out again last night, and could not muster the desire to cook.  I wanted to go to dinner just around the corner, have pasta with rich, garlicky sauce, and at least a glass or two of Montepulciano.  Mister was totally on board, by the way, until I had to go and derail the whole thing by showing him the menu...at which point he commenced to drool.

Can you blame him?  I constructed this week's menu completely from Appetite for Reduction, so his reaction should be testimony that you can eat mouth-watering things while trying to lose weight.  No, Mom, I'm not trying to lose weight.  It's good to know, though, that if I did want to lose weight, I wouldn't feel deprived! (I sound like a commercial for my company). 

Anyway, why don't I share the menu with you so you can see why Mister didn't want to go out to dinner anymore (and why I couldn't help but agree, on second glance):

1. Hottie Black-Eyed Peas and Greens - I had completely forgotten about the New Years tradition of eating black-eyed peas and collards for good luck until everyone I knew posted about it in some social media.  So, I figure, good luck is better late than never, right??

2. Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli - I'll be honest: this recipe alone was the reason I wanted this cookbook.  I was fortunate to get a sneak peek when Jess from Get Sconed! was testing for the cookbook and I was hooked from that moment.

3. Pasta Con Broccoli - hey! Broccoli finally got Not-Gross.  I'm taking advantage.  Besides, after reading the recipe through twice, I was in love.

4. Ginger Bok Choy and Soba - pushing my luck with the bok choy situation, but the adult variety is usually available, so I figured I'd take my chances.

5. Pasta e Fagioli with Spinach - because apparently, a girl can never have too many pasta fagioli recipes... it's like the Italian answer to Rice-n-Beans.

6. Braised Cabbage with Seitan accompanied (hopefully) by Jerk Asparagus.  When I got the book on Christmas, I was glancing through the food porn section in the middle of the cookbook and saw the Jerk Asparagus.  Mister and I love the jerk spices, so I wanted to make this ASAP.  Of course, there is no asparagus to be found now.  I selected the cabbage-n-seitan because I needed a recipe to help me use the rest of my New Years Seitan.

So, the recipe that got Mister over the prospect of bruschetta, pizza, and possibly tiramisu (some of his absolute favorite foods)?  Not surprisingly, Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli.  I served it on top of homemade mashed potatoes, creating another holy trinity of Mister's favorite foods: broccoli, chickpeas, (garlic) and mashed potatoes.  It was super simple to prep, and then it just sits in the oven, stinking up your kitchen in the most delightful way for about 45 minutes.  It was amazing and I'm so glad we ate at home after all (plus, I listened to my new CD while prepping) - we just about licked our bowls clean.

Go, right now, and get Appetite for Reduction.  Make this recipe.  Angst says so.

Okay, you're right.  He didn't say a thing, but he sure is a persuasive napper, isn't he?

'cuz I can

I wonder how many titles I've "stolen" from P!nk.  Despite the success that dinner was tonight, it's probably better to refrain from using one of her newest songs, "F**kin' Perfect." 

Thanks for the new CD, Mom!

Anyway...thanks once again to my opportunity to test for the Urban Vegan Part Deux (by the way, I'm just making these names up - there is no official title for the new book that I am aware of), our dinner was flavorful, time-consuming (in a good, slow-simmering kind of way), and a little off the wall.

Tonight, I made Chickpeas with Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Kale and served it on top of Rutabaga-Fennel Clapshot.

There are so many things to love about dinner tonight.  Mister and I are huge fans of mashed potatoes - we even ate a whole tub of those microwave-and-eat Country Crock mashed potatoes during our honeymoon...for dinner.  We ate a ton of junk food that week - that might have been one of our healthier indulgences.  In any case, we love mashed potatoes, so the clapshot was right up our alley.  As you can imagine, rutabaga was involved, which was primarily responsible for that lovely hue (no matter how much I want it to be from the Earth Balance).  It made for a lighter version of mashed potatoes.  I actually stole the idea of mashers as the starch base upon which dinner sat from Isa (yes, I did read Appetite for Reduction cover to cover on Sunday).

Although the fennel seeds look pretty cool, kind of like the mashed equivalent of rye bread, it was a little unsettling to bite into one in the midst of pillow-soft clapshot.  Aside from that, these are easily the creamiest Mashed Anything I've ever made.

The Chickpea dish was a decent bit of work, which I enjoyed since I got so many neat culinary toys for Christmas.  I'll tell you, I was holding my own alright before with my play knives, but with only a couple of days under my belt with my shiny, new knives, I am stunned by how much easier it is to prep.  I feel like a pro now and I didn't even realize I was struggling before.  I knew I needed to get better knives, but I had no idea what a huge difference they would make in the time it takes me to prep.

It was time-consuming, between the decent amount of chopping and the luxurious length of time it simmered in my brand new Le Creuset stockpot (LOVE!).  In retrospect, my saute pan would have been of adequate size to contain the ingredients, but I really wanted to use my new pot.

I hemmed and hawed a little bit before selecting this recipe for two reasons.  The first hesitation on my part is that I really don't like onions and Dynise, apparently, really does, since it seems this is the third recipe I've made by her that involved me confronting a member of the onion family I had previously avoided.  Today's sibling was Sweet Onion.  I got over my initial reticence by thoroughly pureeing the onion with a healthy amount of garlic until I could not distinguish one from the other.  It actually set up a sweet-n-savory scented base for the other components I would soon add.

If you even remember the title of this post, you're probably wondering by now just what the heck it has to do with anything.  Here comes your answer: the other ingredient I was a little worried about was the eggplant.  Mister really doesn't like eggplant.  I've fooled him into eating it and liking it before, but it would be a lot easier to work with "secret ingredients" if my kitchen had walls to block his curious glances.  Nevertheless, I did manage to sneak this:

into our dinner and into his belly without complaints.  I had to be sure it was undetectable, so I read the recipe at least three times to ensure that unless he saw it whole, he would never know it was in there.  Once I was assured of its roasted-pulpness, I went for it.  I've never roasted eggplant before, but I was amused by how the insides shrivel away from the skin (which is normally what gives it away).

So, why did I feed Mister eggplant, knowing that he doesn't like it?

'Cuz I can.

wednesday is my favorite holiday

Well, okay, Wednesdays aren't actually holidays in the traditional sense of the word. I am just thoroughly enjoying my reconstructed One-Serving Wednesdays. I kind of messed up tonight and made two servings, but it will be a nice addition to the leftover Tomato-Spelt soup for lunch tomorrow.
Due to an amazing line of cars passing through a 5-mile-long construction zone on my drive home tonight, I actually only got home shortly before Mister. I scrubbed the two veggies that would become my dinner and set about chopping them and Mister walked in during the transition from jewel yam to brussels sprouts and asked cautiously (and little incredulously), "What are you doing?" To which I replied "Roasting some vegetables." That was pretty much the end of the conversation.

I knew Mister doesn't like yams/sweet potatoes, but apparently he hates brussels sprouts "more than anything else in the world," to use his words. I feel a little guilty that our home reeks of them right now, but it's way too cold to open a window. I had never had them before - I think my mother knew better than to try to convince my sister and I that they were worth eating. Or perhaps she joins my husband in anti-fandom, but either way, tonight was my first experience with them. I decided to try to appreciate them in their purest form (short of being raw) so I just tossed them and the yam bits with some olive oil and kosher salt and roasted them for about 20 minutes at 425 F.

I'll admit that when they were sizzling away in the oven, I was growing a little concerned about the less-than-appetizing smell emanating from the kitchen. It was with more than just a touch of trepidation that I bit into my first little sprout. Fortunately, from my reading about these tiny little cabbages, I was fully expecting the green, cabbagey taste that quickly filled my mouth. I think that because I was prepared, so to speak, my experience was better than it might have been otherwise. I like them! Especially the crispy bits where they tried to forge a forever-friendship with the roasting pan.
To my surprise and delight, I discovered that I am not the only person celebrating these little fellas this week! Jess, of Get Sconed! devoted her blog to raving about them and bragging about her $2.49 stalk from the farmers market. Her preferred cooking method is also roasting, but she prefers to squeeze citrus over the sprouts... I think I'm a more savory gal and will stick to my simple but perfect adornment of salt. Next time, though, I think I will add a clove or two of garlic for fun.