A Slight Difference

I love making basic curry dishes. Well, I like the idea of making the one curry dish that I make all the time because it's so fast and so good for a weeknight-I'm tired-need food quick but don't want chicken again-dinner. I'm not fancy about it at all: I pretty much just add curry powder to lentils and call it good. Since curry powder is just a bunch of different spices mixed in one, you even get to cheat a little bit there. Yay.

But this week, I thought I'd try a new dish that I've been saving in my web-files for a while, but I hadn't gotten around to making because the other one is just so gosh darn simple. Not that this one is complicated...or is it?

Husband and I went to the bulk spice section, bought four things, and forgot to label them. (One of them contributed to my second least favourite dish I've ever made - nothing personal, tarragon.) But the other three, oregano, chili powder and coriander, I've had and thought I could distinguish. 

But that was Sunday. Now it's Thursday and I forgot what the little bag of reddish-orange powder is. So I was going on with my cooking, happily adding cayenne, cumin, coriander, paprika to my onions, garlic and ginger and making a wonderful, deep brownish mixture, filling my nose and kitchen, tempting my stomach. Some of these ingredients are commonly found in curry powder. Also in curry powder: turmeric. 

Internal monologue: What is this? *sniff* I must have bought turmeric since that's what the recipe calls for and I'm so good at prepping and meal planning. It must be turmeric even though it doesn't really look at all like the pictures on the internet. Oh well, what does it call for? Two teaspoons? Great. Done. 

Husband: That's chili powder, dear. 

And that is how you turn Indian food into Mexican food.

Actually, it was really good. 

My Favorite Recipes of 2013

I got a lot better at cooking in 2013. But only because I started from square one, so leaps and bounds were totally possible. (Baking is still not happening very well, though.) I'm also much better at meal planning, and can actually recall things to make without looking at the computer, and I can usually recall their ingredients (or at least the way I've come to make them).

From the recipes I tried in 2013, the following have become my weeknight go-to's:

Italian sausage and bulgur stuffed acorn squash, based on this recipe.
Red lentil curry (so easy and delicious!) from here. I actually DO follow this recipe.
Enchiladas and homemade enchilada sauce. I use the sauce from Forks Over Knives, but I pretty much put whatever I want into the enchiladas themselves.
Quinoa stir fry. Your favourite stir fry and sauce and just add quinoa instead of rice!
Shepherd's pie, classic or lentil based. (I never tried to do the parsnip crust on the lentil version.)
Homemade pizza with whatever on top. We also like using basil pesto instead of tomato sauce. (Maybe 2014 is my year for homemade crust!)

Twice in the past couple of months, I've made my mother-in-law's split pea soup. It's really, really good and only takes all day to make. It's been a weekend dish, but my husband asks for it constantly. That's how he helps with meal planning. I also made my sister's famous bean recipe, which takes almost two days to make, so it's quite the commitment, but you get tons of re-fried-style beans that will freeze really well. Recipes like these, though, are a lot easier than French onion soup, because you don't have to constantly tend to them. They just need to be on the stove forever and you stir them when you walk by.

I also started making granola. I know this is basic, but I am SO glad I learned how to do this. A bag of granola is like $4.00 at the store and lasts us about two days. No more. Guess how much a pound of granola costs? $1.29 organic or $.89 not organic. A pound will last us about a week. I also buy nuts, flax seed, craisins, pumpkin seeds, etc., so this does bump the cost up a bit. (I haven't done the math, but the math of my feelings - which is the only way I do math - tells me that this way is better.)  I cook 2-3 cups at a time, every couple of days. It takes 15 minutes, so I can do it in the morning while husband is getting ready for work. Here's how I do it:

2 C thick rolled oats
1/2 cup of each mix-in
2 T melted butter
Maple syrup
brown sugar (optional, but I mix this into the maple syrup and butter until it gets pasty)
vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325.
Mix dry ingredients. Mix butter, syrup, sugar and vanilla. Pour wet mixture over oat mixture. Mix around so that oats and mix-ins have some flavour on them. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until desired crispiness, stirring once. Let cool. (I transfer my granola to another baking pan so it doesn't continue to cook.) Enjoy!

Stay tuned for 2014 cooking shenanigans!

Life changes and French Onion Soup

I promise that I have been cooking. I haven't just stopped eating for the past three months. But we moved, and if you've ever moved, you know that it takes a long time to feel settled. First, there's the thinking and planning about moving, which includes planning out meals for a couple weeks so that you use what you have and don't have much left in your fridge the day before you ship out. Then there's the three day drive with the poor cat, who doesn't figure out until part way through day two that she's not going to die and meowing doesn't actually help very much. Then you move in, and you give away your empty moving boxes for free on Craigslist.

But even after your first trip to the grocery store to pick up dinner because you're starving and you need some of those new home essentials, it takes a little while to really get settled, physically and emotionally. I'm just now getting used to the idea that this is home, as we put in all the effort it takes to find our way around town and make new friends. And still do the meal planning and cooking. 

I've been experimenting in the last month or so with buying and eating less meat, for a variety of reasons: meat can be pricey, environmental impacts, health impacts, etc. We still buy and eat meat, because it's delicious, but what about all the other food out there that is amazing that I skipped over before just because meat is quick, easy and familiar? 

So I stocked my kitchen with lentils, beans, quinoa and other dried and canned goods. I've made a lot of soup and soupy things, with some seriously epic failures (one that I couldn't even eat, but my sweet (hungry) husband got it down AND ate the leftovers for lunch the next day). I'm enjoying the exploration, my new crock pot and food processor, and have had a lot of fun buying from the dry goods bulk section at the store. I've gotten most of my recipes from Forks Over Knives. 

My favourite thing that I've made in the past few weeks is French onion soup. I pulled from two different recipes and filled my ramekins and was thrilled with the result. I didn't even get weepy from cutting up six onions! And all the cheese? Amazing. So amazing, that the only photo I have to offer is an after photo. 

                                                 

Saturday night pizza

After returning from a short but satisfying backpacking trip, we were completely out of food at home. I had planned Monday through Wednesday so well that we didn't leave any perishables to - ahem - perish, while we were away. I realize now that even better planning would have included some sort of freezer item for dinner when we got back, but the lack of food forced me to go to the grocery store, which I would have hated to do tomorrow. Anyway.

I found and modified* a pizza recipe from Real Simple that I never tried when I was going through their month of recipes earlier in the year because I skip over pretty much anything that calls for mushrooms and am intimidated by the thought of working pizza dough. But beer and pizza sounded too good to pass up for a relaxing Saturday evening. I got one of those premade pizza dough thingies, added zucchini, bell pepper, marinara sauce, plenty of fresh grated mozzarella, avocado and egg. I added the egg a bit too late so it was still a little jiggly, but didn't taste terrible. Next time I'd just add it at the beginning, since it only takes about 12 minutes for the crust to bake and the cheese to melt, and I think the egg would be just about done by then. I liked that the pizza was meatless, but still really filling.

Pretty, pretty pizza!

*modified, v: 1) didn't follow the recipe; 2) messed up; 3) made it my own. 

I made pretty things!

Summer is still my favourite time of year: the epic thunder storms, the warm, long evenings, the summer brews. I have been cooking, but have been spending more time enjoying the evenings with my husband and friends. Tonight I'm making grilled flank steak with a honey dijon glaze, found here. 

Last night, I made a beautiful salad, that was filling, sweet, savory and full of colour! I loved every bite.

In this salad: baby greens, white beans, corn, strawberries, red bell pepper, carrots, avocado, feta cheese, topped with a balsamic dressing! Yum!

 And this afternoon I tried my hand at zucchini, banana, chocolate chip bread. I haven't tasted it yet, but I have to tell you, it's my first loaf that has successfully made it out of the baking pan in one piece!!! I am so excited about this that I don't even want to cut it. Okay, that's a blatant lie. I took the photo, time to eat!
Recipe status: Followed! Oh wait...I added chocolate chips instead of the called-for pecans. See the full recipe here!

Cooling on my porch railing, since I don't have an adorable cottage kitchen window to place it in.

One more thing, if you're interested in beer, even a little, check out and follow my friend Steph's budding blog at Small Pour Steph!

Summer!

Admittedly, I haven't been cooking anything very extravagant and I haven't been writing about it. I cooked something semi-exciting recently and then forgot to blog. Oops.

But it's summer! Schedules are wonky, cookouts start happening, and food has to be easy. For me, summer means salads. Vegetables are way more fun to buy in the summer, and it's avocado season, so what could be better?

If you have any favourite salad recipes or additions or dressings or must-try's, leave me a link or comment!

Looks like Southern Living has some great ideas.

Goat cheese

Goat cheese is amazing. I want it on everything.

Back up.

.......................

When I was 15, during my second year of high school, I was The Queen of the House of Norway in Balboa Park, San Diego. I don't think I ever completely understood the purpose of this, but I was asked so I did it. There are these cute cultural houses on the Prado in Balboa Park, near the San Diego Zoo and the Organ Pavillion, and my Norwegian grandmother got me involved in this girl's fraternal organization where "queens" and "princesses" would represent the houses from all the different countries and do service projects. I went to meetings early on Sunday mornings a couple times a month, and listened to the minutes and plans for the group. Yea, it was weird and confusing and sometimes the mom's who were there would argue loudly. But I wore a purple dress to the "coronation" (and a sweet crown that was real Norwegian silver) and never did much else except learn traditional dances and show up for some events in the park. Once I showed up to the big Norwegian Independence Day parade without the right shoes and got in trouble and had to wear my mom's shoes. I wore a bunad and waved a flag. I hope my parents didn't lose any money on this experience.

Anyway, the House of Norway itself is kinda cool. There's a picture of the King of Norway and he sends them letters sometimes. Every Sunday when the House is open, volunteers come in and host for a couple hours and make Norwegian waffles with jam and it's delicious and delightful.

But sometimes, they serve brunost.

Brunost is brown goat cheese. I haven't had it since I was young, but I remember it being awful and tasting like barf. Sorry, my Norwegian genes didn't overcome this one. Wikipedia says "It is often sold in the USA under the name Gjetost, which means goat cheese." So don't be fooled. It's a caramelized whey cheese, and it's brown. And old Norwegian ladies eat it on crackers that taste like cardboard. 

........................

This week, I made delicious chèvre and scrambled egg breakfast burritos. Oh my. I used the French goat cheese which is white, soft and crumbly, and sometimes has spices already mixed in it. I made this for breakfast two mornings in a row because it was so delicious. The cheese smeared on a warm tortilla and then loaded with soft eggs is a great way to start my day. I don't have any photos because there just wasn't time. 

So what I should have said at the beginning, I guess, is that I want chèvre on everything.