As summer wanes –– it was 50 degrees F this morning when I got up — the vegetables come in huge, lovely fragrant warm piles and a fresh, toothsome pasta salad feels perfect for supper in the lingering heat. No muss, no fuss, with fresh pasta that cooks in just two minutes; dinner is on the table faster than you can make the basil vinaigrette (thanks to David Lebovitz–scroll down for more) that simply makes this meal. Continue reading
NOTE TO READERS: THE BLOG AND I ARE NOW ON VACATION UNTIL YOU HEAR FROM US AGAIN. Enjoy your summer. Eat all the tomatoes you can. Drink all the ice-cold margaritas someone else will make you. Garden as possible, hike, or walk in the park. Get to water while the sun shines and simply look at it if you’re not climbing into a kayak.
Party leftovers engender their very own meals and why not? This morning there were 10 leftover egg whites (from lots of ice cream making), a tray a veggies, pulled pork, tortillas, and salsa. A few minutes later there were breakfast tacos. I did find a little bacon to start that whole thing off. I now love pulled pork breakfast tacos.
A scant cupful of sautéed or grilled vegetables from last night’s dinner–-or even the night before’s. Eggs. Fresh tomatoes and basil. Or not. Maybe a little grating of cheese or a little chopped cheese that’s about to mold. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner is then served in under 5 minutes if you make your very own little vegetable frittata, which is just an Italian word for open-faced omelet. Have a little meat, too? Throw it in. Freshly cooked vegetables are good 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Cooked chicken, by the way, is ok for 3-4 days, too–as is cooked bacon. Using up your leftovers will make you feel better about living a green life and will make your wallet happy, as well. Continue reading
It’s just beginning to warm up in Colorado Springs, but I’m already balking at long-cooking times and big plates of hot food.
Blooming milkweed with swallowtail in my yard. Read about it here.
Or maybe it’s time for Dave, my trusty sous and husband, to cook on the grill and give me a break.
To cook for friends is fun. I adore it. To cook for family is something more. Enjoying my extended brood, even for breakfast, is a highlight in my week. Last Thursday, my eldest son Sean and his wife Jami, along with grandchildren Rhyan and Piper, had a few appointments in our city and I said, “Why don’t you come beforehand and have breakfast with us?” It mean they got up at odarkearly, but there weren’t too many complaints and Grandma was happy to have the challenge of a wheat, egg, dairy, peanut, and pineapple-free meal to cook. Continue reading
Yesterday as I thought about what dinner might bring, I kept going back to some salmon fillets I had squirreled away in the freezer. The weather had warmed up — no snow except on the Peak — and grilling was back online. Note sun on the lentils….
There was also a pound of fat asparagus waiting for its dip in the olive oil bath before grilling (contrary to popular opinion thicker asparagus has more taste than the skinny variety), but as good as all that sounded, I thought there was something missing. A bed for the protein to rest in, so to speak. We were hungry, for goodness sake. We needed something that would make for another night’s meal all by itself or for a couple of lunches, but that would cushion the blow of the salmon on the plate. Continue reading
There’s little better pot of gold in the fridge than a lentil salad. Make that curried lentil salad and we’re nudging platinum; you’re rich! Full of protein (add rice for a complete protein), fiber, color, texture, and nutrients, it’s a hefty and quick supper that translates into a week’s lunches at home or work as it travels so perfectly well. Tuck it into a pita or a tortilla. Warm a big spoonful and eat with scrambled eggs; it will love you all the more. See below.
Lentils are that perfect landscape upon which almost anything can be planted, grown, and harvested. They’re a warming winter soup or a trusty spring salad. They’re a platter for big hunks of protein when need be.
If I had to come up with a cooking mantra from friends, family, students, and neighbors, it could very well be,
I just don’t have time to cook.
Sometimes that makes sense to me. Like I’m in the middle of cleaning out closets, in a frenzied rush to pack and leave for a trip, or between a deadline, picking someone up from the airport, and a trip to the movies. Ok, I’ll have some cheese and crackers. Tuna out of a can. Slice an apple.
But when I take this little meme and run with it, I come away with the knowledge that includes visions of lives running and running on empty or on the fast track without a centered vision of what it means to live in a home. Kind of like we run around a lot because we can. We watch cooking on tv, talk “Chopped” with our spouses, and then refuse to grocery shop because it takes too much time. Don’t set the table and, instead, eat standing up dropping cracker crumbs in the sink.
Do we really have so much to do that we don’t want to feed ourselves well and healthily? It’s a question for which there’s no answer. Work triumphs. Health and emotional well-being suffers. Soccer, tv, and the computer win. Laughter, easy talk, difficult conversations, and connections around the table are lessened. Rather sad. Continue reading
One pan. A bit of olive oil. Cauliflower florets. Salt and pepper. A few shards of Parmesan. Maybe a dusting of ground cayenne. Dinner is done. For nights when a little is better. Or for when you need a little extra-special side that’s ultra-easy.
I occasionally buy too many vegetables because I’m crazy about them. That’s pretty close to how it is. While I like fruit, I love vegetables. I really like meat; I adore fish. But vegetables just do something for me. It has often occurred to me that I’m so attracted to them because they exist in infinite variety, colors, shapes, tastes, textures, sizes, and even styles–think Thai or Japanese eggplant and see below…
Meat comes in brown.
Mid-winter, the perverse cook in me always has a hankering for a grilled burger and potato salad. Mid-summer, I crave chili. Given the weather in Colorado, I often am able to fulfill my deepest wishes right down to the sun or cold wind to go along with the meal. It isn’t a real oddity to see 65 degrees in January or 45 in July. It happens. Somehow out-of-season dishes occasionally rear their pesky heads.
The other day wasn’t so terribly warm, but it wasn’t cold either. In fact, I was making tomato soup and just wanted something real to go with it. A couple leeks languished in the fridge next to some waning baby zucchini; a big paper box of mushrooms nearly cried foul from the crisper.
What was a girl to do?
A quick bang of the cupboards–a favorite occupation– showed up a few packages of Minnesota wild rice* and, while wild rice has a truly indefinite shelf life (no joke), it sounded fine, just fine. While I wasn’t quite sure how the meal would come together, I trusted in the spirit of the rice* and began to cook. I was sure that by the time it was done — it takes nearly an hour–I would have figured out dinner. I was right. Try this luscious bowlful, which just happens to be both vegetarian and gluten-free, and is also simply altered for a vegan version. (See bold green notes for vegan version.) Continue reading