When in graduate school a couple years ago, I spent most of my paid time crushing undergraduate dreams and my free time cooking\baking everything from fried twinkies to fresh eclairs to homemade pizzas. Upon returning to the real world and discovering that outside the hallowed halls of academia — with working almost 9-10 hours a day, sleeping for barely 8, and spending 3 getting ready for work, contemplating exercising, and not finishing the dissertation, allotting my remaining three hours of free time to daily cooking did not seem wise. However, since returning to the East Coast, I finally decided to return to the world of human food consumption. Surprisingly, my local Chinatown helped. Why?

Three reasons:

Reason 1: Fresh, cheap produce. For $4.92 two weeks ago, I purchased cilantro, bok choy, spinach, tomatoes, and scallions.

Reason 2: This relates to reason 1. You can easily use the fresh vegetables to spice up a pre-made dish. I tend to purchase Udon noodle packages for a buck from the grocery store. In the morning, I chop enough vegetables for a small Tupperware container. When I arrive at work, I combine the udon and vegetables together in the same bowl, microwave them with water for about two-three minutes, and then add the broth’s seasoning package. If I have extra time, I’ll add chili sauce, lemon juice, cilantro, minced garlic, and/or scallions to create a flavorful broth. You can use ramen noodles. However, Udon noodles only contain 1-3 grams of fat per serving and typically cost only $1-1.72. If you want to feel uber-healthy, certain companies make buckwheat noodles, but those are typically dried and do not come with seasoning. If I’m in a fancy mood I’ll add a store bought package of Pad Thai to the vegetables and serve inside a porcelain bowl.

Reason 3: Food whimsy, experimentation, and remembrance. During my pre-adolescent summer years, my mother typically purchased a dozen seasoned pre-cooked crabs from the local seafood market. Upon discovering Chinatown distributors actually sold bushels of live crabs, I purchased 6 for $3.50. Admittedly, upon returning home and watching their snappish sauciness, I felt guilty using them for consumptive purposes. But, since I had had two different conversations with acquaintances from different perspectives (one, a vegetarian and another, a carnivore) who both believed carnivores should experience um, ‘preparing’ their own food at least once in their lives, I bucked up and contemplated the most humane possibility. After placing them in the refrigerator for half an hour and then in the freezer for another hour (or two) to instate dormancy, I slowly dropped them in (while trying to avoid analogizing myself with Jack the Ripper). With the deed done, but the guilt remaining, I tried to re-invoke my childhood by serving them with a seafood spice packet (received free from a local grocery store).

So, if you haven’t had time yet, do explore the ethnic food markets in your area. I not only found apple soda for my friend’s wife, but actually tried dried sweet potato as another dried fruit alternative. Even if your store’s pricing does not mimic the Chinatown in my area, they can offer a bit of whimsy, experimentation, and remembrance.

There’s a great article in the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Scott Peacock and Kim Severson discuss the return to the kitchen movement, that all across America home chefs are embracing their kitchen time and using fresh, wholesome ingredients that taste good and are good for you. And they’re enjoying it. Because of this, classic American cooking looks a bit different these days.

It was a really inspiring read and I couldn’t wait to try Peacock’s recipe for slow baked tomatoes with garlic and mint. It’s so simple (really only four main ingredients) that I almost didn’t believe it would turn out to be so spectacular, but it’s truly amazing. Tons of roasted garlic and mint infused into the olive oil that the tomatoes baked in for an hour. In the recipe online, they suggest serving on bread with goat cheese, but in the magazine they also mentioned over pasta would work.

I cooked up some penne and prepared Peacock’s recipe as-is — I know, it’s like I was possessed or something, but I swear I didn’t change a thing. Until I served it.

Keith grilled up some eggplant because I thought it would go wonderfully with the tomatoes and mint and we tossed that into the pasta, along with giant globs of goat cheese and Kalamata olives (well, none for Keith). I also made some turkey meatballs, which I’ll write about in another post, because vegetarian dishes aren’t really a meal for the carnivores I cook for.

We all yummed throughout the whole meal and I’d cook this up again in a heartbeat. The next time, I think I would try it on the bread as suggested, simply because there’s a lovely amount of infused olive oil left and some thick, crusty bread would soak it up to perfection. Although now I’m thinking this would be divine served over polenta….

UPDATE: My new favorite way to eat this recipe is as Kona suggested — over quinoa, with some chick peas added for extra protein. Yes, I got my boys to eat a vegetarian meal … alert the press. I save the polenta for the roasted green tomatoes, which is a perfect match.

Back in the day when I ate more carbs and less protein for breakfast, one of my favorites was a simple toast with butter and apricot jam (all-fruit, of course). Something about the combination was comforting and made the perfect way to start the day.

Even though I’ve moved on to sprouted 11-grain English muffins and sunflower seed butter with a soft-boiled egg, every once in a while I still crave some apricot jam, even though I no longer keep any in the house. Weirdly enough, an article crossed my path recently that solved this problem. We almost always have dried apricots, and if you’ve got those in the house, and some apple juice and a bit of arrowroot, you can make apricot jam in 20 minutes.

This intrigued me on so may levels. First, if I had a craving and didn’t feel like running to the store, I could have my apricot jam. The fact that there’s no added sugar pretty much rocks my world and I could have my treat in 20 minutes — bonus! You can simmer the few ingredients while making your homemade waffles and over-easy eggs so that your whole breakfast is ready at the same time.

I’m thinking this jam is a pretty good idea … what about you?

Sometimes recipes come from weird places. I had some leftover baby spinach to use up, which is kind of normal, but how many of you happen to have chopped strawberries waiting for a home? If you overestimated when you made strawberry pancakes for breakfast, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

The flavors of all the ingredients in my salad were so lovely and distinctive that I didn’t want to overdress, so I chose to lightly sprinkle only three ingredients on my salad to finish it off.

Easy Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Ingredients:

• baby spinach
• chopped strawberries
• slivered almonds
• hearts of palm, sliced
• feta cheese (or goat cheese if it doesn’t cause your five-year-old to break out in hives)
• finely chopped shallots
• rice vinegar
• raspberry vinegar
• lemon juice

Toss all ingredients together in the ratio you prefer and serve. It really is that simple. I probably used about three times as much rice vinegar as I did raspberry vinegar and lemon juice, and of those two I used equal amounts. You might like a different ratio. There’s really no right or wrong here, and there’s really no recipe at all — just some distinctive flavors that come together to please your taste buds.

You could easily make this a dinner salad by tossing in some grilled chicken  or salmon. We served it alongside grilled game hens and some sweet potato / potato hash with shallots and thyme. The only thing we wished was that we had more baby spinach to use!

I know it’s crazy but I did it anyway: I searched the internet for homemade chicken stock recipes. I don’t know why I did this, because I really am quite capable of covering a carcass with some water and simmering for a lengthy period of time. Heck, I even knew that tossing in some veggies and herbs would be a good idea.

But I wanted to get an idea of ratio and technique, so I searched to find the perfect homemade chicken stock recipe. Why? I’ve been roasting a lot of chickens lately and it seemed a good idea to save money by making my own healthy organic chicken stock, to freeze for future use.

First I tried Alton Brown’s recipe for chicken stock. I was immediately surprised by the length of time he recommended — simmering uncovered for 6-8 hours, adding more water as needed. My stock was good, but definitely didn’t have the flavor I was hoping for, which I think was due to not covering and adding more, unflavored water to the mix.

In my internet travels, I stumbled upon a recipe for homemade chicken stock in the slow cooker. Now why didn’t I think of that? It would seemingly solve the two problems I hypothesized were wrong with my first batch — the covering and the adding more water — so I went for it. Perfect!

Usually Alton Brown’s got the science of a recipe down-pat, but in this case he missed the mark. My slow cooker broth turned out rich and flavorful and a much darker color than his recipe yielded. I still think you can make great chicken stock on the stovetop, but if I tried it again, I’d put the cover on my pot and not add any water.

But really — why would I? The slow cooker is so low-maintenance. No watching is necessary, and when the timer goes off, you’ve got homemade chicken stock. It couldn’t be easier and I ended up with 3-4 quarts … I just saved myself eight bucks, baby — a perfectly good head of lettuce.

What’s on the menu tonight? It’s a healthy selection that’s easy to prepare, of course. And it will taste fantastic because if it doesn’t, it’s not worth doing. I’ve recently been reminded just how easy and delicious pork tenderloin can be. I’m not sure why we went through a phase where we didn’t eat much of it, but it was sure fun to discover it again.

I started off by rubbing my pork tenderloin with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, onion and garlic powders, ground coriander, ground cumin and chili powder.  I baked it at 400 degrees until it reached an internal temperature of 140 degrees, about 35 minutes. I chose a higher temperature so the outside would get a bit crusty, since I was far too lazy to sear it before baking.

Then I dug into my freezer and unearthed the rhubarb chipotle sauce I froze when I made an uber-batch this summer. The recipe was designed for ribs, but it’s perfect on pork tenderloin.

When I think pork, I think cabbage. It must be that little bit of German heritage I have, influencing my culinary decisions. Keith adores this recipe for sweet and sour cabbage wedges, so they went along with the pork tonight.

Finally, I roasted root vegetables: sweet potato, carrot, parsnip and onion. I put them on a tray and coated them with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and popped the tray in the oven next to the pork. I tossed the veggies halfway through the cooking time and my dinner was ready.

Pork tenderloin — yes or no in your house?

With the cost of everything shooting up I have been looking a lot closer at what I am spending and trying to find ways to cut the costs. As I sat thinking about this while the TV droned in the background, a commercial for a national chain of sandwich shops came on. they were touting their $5.00 dollar foot long sandwiches and I decided to see what I could come up with for $5.00 dollars. I went shopping at the local grocery store in town and went to Wal-mart as well. I came up with a couple of different simple dishes that I think are more satisfying than a foot long sandwich and will feed 2 to 4 people.

First up is my Sausage and sour kraut dinner. I picked up the ingredients for this meal at my local grocery store.

• smoked sausage ring $2.79
• can of whole kernel corn $0.59
• can of sauerkraut $1.09

Total $4.47 and with frequent shopper card discount the cost was $4.21, a savings of $0.26.

This is pretty simple. Heat up the sausage, sauerkraut, and corn. You can do this in the microwave or on the stove. Serve and eat. This will easily serve 2 people. The sausage can be grilled, or fried instead of just heated in the microwave if you like. After cooking this meal I decided that this really was not much different than opening a can of soup or chili and not really a good home cooked meal. I need to try a bit harder to offer up a good filling meal that is simple, has a fairly short list of ingredients, and will stick with you for a while.

So here is my weenie mac and cheese.

• 16 oz. Elbow macaroni $0.97
• 16 oz. Velveeta cheese $2.76
• Hot dogs $0.77

Total $4.50

I am a big fan of the Velveeta shells and cheese box mixes. I am not, however, a big fan of the cost. This is my version of that for a lot less money. this makes a meal that is more than enough for at least 2 meals for 2 people or to feed a family of 4.

Cook the macaroni until tender.

While the noodles are cooking, dice up the Velveeta cheese and hot dogs to make it easier to melt into the noodles. You could melt the cheese in the microwave or in a pan if you like.

Drain the macaroni.

Put the noodles back in the pan. Add a little milk, the cheese and hot dogs. Mix well. Continue stirring until all of the cheese cubes are melted and mixed in with the noodles. Serve and enjoy.

So there you have it. A decent meal for about the same price as a double mocha flappa whatsit from the coffee drive through.

In the event that I came off as a total food snob when I referred to baked ziti as plebian (even though I think it’s completely delicious!), here’s one of our favorite recipes that most food snobs wouldn’t even consider making (because there’s canned tuna in it). We did, however, serve it to a food snob far more snobby than the likes of me, and it was a well-loved meal.

About 7000 years ago, or something closer to fifteen years, I acquired a fun little cookbook by Barbara Russo called Quick and Easy Elegant Pasta (long since out of print, unfortunately for you!). It’s all true. The recipes are so simple to make, with few ingredients yet lots of flavor, and there really is something distinctly elegant about each recipe. Whether an ingredient or a combination of ingredients, an interesting method or presentation, there’s something special about each of these recipes.

Over the years, her recipe for linguine with tuna and red wine has morphed into something revered in our household, both for the amazing base recipe Ms. Russo created, but also because we have altered it to suit our ever-changing culinary sensibilities.

Pasta with Tuna, Red Wine and Capers

Ingredients:

• 2 cans tuna in water (we use tongol)
• about 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano (or to taste)
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons capers
• crushed red pepper to taste
• grated pecorino romano
• 8 ounces pasta (we like brown rice spaghetti with this dish)

Cook pasta according to directions.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, place the tuna, onion, garlic and oregano in enough olive oil to coat everything and keep it moist. You may add more olive oil at any time, or you can try using tuna packed in oil. Cover and cook over low to medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring every so often.

Add the red wine to the pan and reduce for about 5-10 minutes. Add the capers, crushed red pepper and any other seasonings you might like (always sea salt and freshly ground black pepper).

Toss sauce with pasta and grate fresh pecorino romano over the whole deal before serving.

Variations:

• Add sun dried tomatoes.
• Add roasted red peppers.
• Add some fresh chopped herbs — basil, parsley, oregano, thyme would all work well in this dish.
• Switch out the capers for anchovies or olives.
• You could probably even add some diced tomatoes if you wanted a heavier, more Italian-style sauce.

What do you think — are you too snobby to try it?

It’s embarrassing, it really is. I call myself a cook, yet I made this ridiculously easy meal for dinner tonight and we all fell over ourselves loving it. It feels a little wrong, like I cheated on cooking a dinner. There’s something not quite right about a meal with essentially four ingredients, but somehow it worked for us tonight.

John’s burritos consisted of the tortilla, ground meat (we used grass fed beef), a can of re-fried beans and cheese. I know, I could hardly believe it either, but nothing in it sounded gross, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.

I browned the ground beef, stirred in the re-fried beans, put the filling in the tortillas, sprinkled cheese on and baked them for 10 minutes.

Then, I added my own special touches (I use the term loosely). Instead of making the suggested green chile sauce (which sounds delicious and I’ll probably make it someday), I served the burritos with shredded lettuce, fresh tomato salsa, chopped avocado, fresh cilantro and a dollup of plain yogurt (our version of sour cream, but you can see Cate’s version here).

Unfortunately, I also substituted the flour tortillas for corn ones, which are less sturdy but more delicious (and won’t make Owen and I wig out on wheat). Who cares if they weren’t pretty burritos? They still tasted great.

I think we may have found a new go-to recipe tonight. It’s so easy, versatile and customizable that you can’t lose with this meal.

As I sit down to my laptop, I am unconvinced as to whether I will even be able to write this post. As soon as I start describing the homemade ice cream we made tonight, I’m sure I’ll be running to the freezer — multiple times — to snitch from the double-batch I made. Yeah, this post will never get done unless I exercise extreme self control.

You really, really cannot imagine how good this chocolate coconut milk ice cream is. Sure, you’re probably out there crying me a river because Owen and I can’t eat a lot of dairy without getting sick, sick, sick. I surely don’t feel bad for us — we’re in frozen dessert heaven.

Besides the coconut milk base, a couple of other things attracted me to this recipe. It is sweetened only with agave syrup, so no unrefined sugar. It’s chocolate, and not only have I been craving chocolate ice cream, but I’ve been so unsatisfied with all of our attempts at vanilla ice cream (because chocolate and the kid don’t mix) that I was left with no alternative. Finally, this recipe is sinfully easy to make. Some ice cream recipes you have to — gasp! — cook, but this one is four ingredients and a stick blender (or a whisk if you don’t do high-tech).

One minor disappointment, as I have with all of my homemade ice creams: they are best when right out of the machine. As mentioned in the original post, it comes out like the most perfect soft-serve ice cream you can possibly imagine. Several hours later, it’s still good, but starting to get hard. The next morning — yeah, I went there — it’s rock-hard and needs to sit out a bit just to be scooped. I’ve been looking into this phenomenon and there are lots of ideas on how to cure it, and I’ll be testing some of them soon. Of course I’ll report back to you. Regardless, this ice cream recipe is completely divine.

So I ask — Kimi Harris, who the hell are you and what have you done to me? And I mean this in only all the best ways, because inventing this recipe was a stroke of genius that I wish I had … struck? Anyway, I’m glad to have found you and this recipe, and since my kid fell asleep tonight, I’m thinking the green light for chocolate is ON.

Join Debbie as she raves about whole foods, rants about chemicals and generally celebrates cooking and eating with fresh, local, nutritious foods. And sometimes she might get a little feisty….

Sometimes you’ve got to make a basic dish, one that celebrates all there is to love about freshly harvested food. Can I just brag about our cucumbers for a moment? Or should I say cucumber, because it’s the only one we’ve gotten off of our pathetic plant this year, but I do believe it was the best cucumber I’ve ever tasted in my life — no, not just because we grew it. It was superiorly crunchy (even compared with two local farms’ cucumbers) and juicy and had a distinctive “snap” when you bit into it. Perfect.

Something special had to come of the magical cucumber. We tend to just eat what we pick as close to immediately as humanly possible, though cucumbers thwart us with their thick, tough skin. Which was a good thing, in this case, because it was still around to make a simple side dish that was so fresh and yummy and actually highlighted the perfect texture of my prized cucumber.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Fresh Basil
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Ingredients:

• 1 cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 heirloom tomato, cut into chunks
• fresh basil, chopped chiffonade style, to taste (I used about 1/2 cup)
• a pinch of sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• feta cheese crumbles (optional)

Don’t measure — you’ll just make yourself look foolish. There is no right or wrong here; put the freshest ingredients you can find into a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and enjoy. You can sprinkle on feta if you wish, but tonight, I didn’t wish —  I just wanted my harvest salad to be as it was.

I’m sure you’ve fallen into the same trap with your kids. No matter how healthy you try to be, as soon as they’re old enough to start ordering their own food at restaurants, they discover the kids’ meals… and the French fries. I really have a bone to pick with pretty much every restaurant in the northern hemisphere, because if they didn’t celebrate the French fry as a vegetable, then perhaps children across America would be eating more broccoli.

Nevertheless, the four-year-old loves French fries, so we give him French fries, often and in great, heaping quantities. But stop! Before you report me to the Department of Social Services, we make him oven-roasted potatoes cut in the shape of French fries, and he doesn’t know the difference. And yes, mine are as crunchy — sometimes crunchier — than the deep-fried versions at your local watering hole… uh, I mean restaurant where you’d appropriately take your kid. Yep, that’s what I mean.

Oven-Roasted French Fries

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Ingredients:

• 3 very large and very fresh potatoes (I used Yukon Gold tonight)
• olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

I know, the list of ingredients is freakishly small, but go with it. They’re perfect.

Now here’s the trick: the technique, or should I say the process. Start by cutting your potatoes to a uniform size, using a mandoline if you have one. You can toss the cut potatoes in olive oil and spread them evenly on a roasting sheet, or you can spray the pan with olive oi, spread out the potatoes and spray again.

Then, season with salt and pepper.

Cook at 400 degrees convection roast if you have it, or 425 degrees bake, flipping potatoes halfway through cooking time. Cook for approximately 30 minutes or when potatoes are a deep, golden brown. Then shut off your oven and leave them in for 5 more minutes. You can also put the potatoes in the oven before it reaches the desired temperature. This is they key to getting them crunchy, so don’t leave out the low temperature cooking part.

Well, it’s also important to use potatoes as fresh as you can get and as starchy as you can get, because they will definitely turn out crunchier.

So go — make your kids happy and feed them healthy potatoes… they’ll never know.

Gourmet cooking doesn’t have to entail hours of cooking with a list of ingredients longer than your normal grocery list. Create meals bursting with complex flavors that will please every food snob in your life, easily.

I am a huge fan of the side dish. It doesn’t take much to give a side dish a little something special, and it makes the whole meal better when your sides have their own flavors. I could have just steamed my broccoli tonight, but instead I added just a few ingredients and gave it a personality all its own.

Broccoli with leeks and manchego

Ingredients:

• 2 heads broccoli, chopped
• 1 large leek, sliced
• 1/2 cup basil (about 2 sprigs) chopped chiffonade style
• about 1 ounce of manchego cheese, grated
• pinch sea salt
• lots of freshly ground black pepper
• aged balsamic vinegar

Saute broccoli and leeks in a bit of olive oil over medium high heat. When cooked to desired doneness (cook it enough for the picky husband… ahem), season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and add basil. Sprinkle with cheese and drizzle with balsamic and toss. Serve and enjoy.

You could alter this dish easily:

• enhance with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts
• try a different herb
• try a different cheese (but why would you?)
• use a different member of the onion family
• add some currants and slivered almonds

Gourmet cooking doesn’t have to entail hours of cooking with a list of ingredients longer than your normal grocery list. Create meals bursting with complex flavors that will please every food snob in your life, easily.

And less is definitely what I had. No one had been to the grocery store since we got back from vacation, and it was the lunchtime before our weekly trip to the CSA farm. All I had was pretty much a can of tuna and my creativity.

I remembered reading a recipe a couple of months back for a tuna salad that used tahini instead of mayonnaise (that’s right, fellow mayonnaise-haters: put your gag reflex in check because this one’s mayo-free), but since I was far too lazy — and hungry — to look it up, I improvised.

I’m not professing this to be a gourmet meal, as the intro might imply, but it was a delicious, nutritious lunch that we can tweak to be servable as a luncheon or even a light dinner.

Tuna Salad with Tahini and Chives

Ingredients:

• 1 can tuna
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons (very approximate) chopped fresh chives
• freshly ground black pepper

Mix in a bowl and serve, as I did, on a really stale rice cake. Or, try something more scrumptious:

• Serve over a bed of mixed greens.
• Melt onto your favorite bread (I’m thinking flatbread or focaccia) with a smooth cheese (Manchego? Gouda?).
• Serve it like a dip and scoop it onto your favorite crackers.
• Arrange a small scoop inside each carefully prepared lettuce cup… awwww.

Now, had I actually had anything in the house, I may have added some of these ingredients:

• chopped Kalamata olives
• fresh cilantro
• red onion
• diced cucumber

What do you think — decent lunch or embarrassing hack?

Gourmet cooking doesn’t have to entail hours of cooking with a list of ingredients longer than your normal grocery list. Create meals bursting with complex flavors that will please every food snob in your life, easily.

All my years of getting multitudes of chard from the CSA farm, I’ve experimented with at least 70,000 ways to cook it. Time after time, I always come back to this easy, versatile saute. Three little ingredients and somehow the flavors magically blend together… perfection.

You can serve it as a side dish, with your protein on a bed of it (think grilled chicken or fish, even tempeh) or add sliced sausages to your saute and create an easy, healthy main dish.

Chard with Onion and Tamari

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch chard, coarsely chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• tamari, soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid aminos

In a skillet over medium high heat, saute the onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Add chard and saute until bright green and starting to limp, about 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with tamari, heat through and serve.

I know — painfully easy, ridiculously healthy… how do you think you’ll serve it?

A few weeks ago, I was at Borders perusing the clearance section. I found this really janky set of cookbooks that I adore, but are only useful in the loosest sense. The ingredients don’t actually combine to make anything; they’re more of a guide to an idea of a dish than anything else. I’ve made several recipes and I’ve changed them all so much that they’re barely recognizable. One of the first meals that I tried was basically a heart attack on a plate: Eggs in potato shells. You guys, this thing has four ingredients: eggs, potatoes, butter and cream. I am not messing around, here.

Not only does it look completely deadly, but I was doubtful that it would even taste good. I thought it would be gross and runny and just make me feel kind of sick. However, it was so freaking good. This is basically twice-baked potatoes with eggs and is a perfect breakfast dish when you have some leftover baked potatoes from the night before.

Eggs in Potato Shells (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 large potatoes
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp cream ( You should use light, but I only had heavy, so… yeah.)
• 4 tbsp butter

Wrap the potatoes in foil and bake for an hour at 400°F, or until soft. Remove the potatoes and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out the insides of the potatoes and put in a large mixing bowl. Mash the insides of the potatoes with the cream and butter. Add salt and pepper as desired.

Put the mashed potatoes back into the shells and place into a dish that will hold them steady (I used a bread pan). Carve out a hole in the center of the potato mixture and crack and egg into the hole. Bake until the eggs are set, about 20-25 minutes.

You can of course make this less heart attack-inducing by using less butter, but really, when you’re already cracking an egg into a potato, what’s the point? I did feel guilty though, so I sauteed some asparagus to go with it. That totally makes it healthy!

I love soup. When made well, it’s probably just about as perfect of a food as you can get. There may be a couple of meals out there that I like more, but nothing that I could eat every day for a week and not either get sick of or feel guilty about eating.

This recipe for pasta e fagioli may be a little bit on the bootlegged side of things, but it is chock full of both pasta, and fagioli (that’s beans, people), so as far as I’m concerned, it’s as authentic as it needs to be. Because deliciousness and ease of preparation beat out authenticity in my book any day of the week.

It’s also easy to customize to your liking, and I’ll add a couple of variations at the end of the recipe. Because if you haven’t yet noticed my low-carb phobia, you’ll see that this recipe contains both pasta and potatoes.

Pasta e Fagioli
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Ingredients:

• 1 onion peeled and quartered
• 2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and in large chunks
• 1 15oz can chopped tomatoes
• olive oil
• salt to taste
• 2 bell peppers (a combo of red and green is pretty) diced
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced green beans
• 1/4 – 1/3 lb small pasta, I used short tri-color penne
• 2 15 oz cans beans, drained or not – I used kidney and cannellini

In a large pot add the potatoes, onion and half the tomatoes with their juice and cover with water, about three quarts to start with. You can always add more water later, but if you add too much, there’s not a lot you can do about it.

Bring to a boil, add about 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 tsp of salt to start and cook until the potatoes and onions are soft. Puree with an immersion blender or use a regular blender and add back to the pot.

Bring to a boil again and add the rest of the tomatoes, peppers and green beans and simmer for five minutes. Add the pasta and simmer until it’s done the way you like it, then add the beans just to heat through. Don’t forget to check for salt before you sit down to eat!

(Slightly) lower carb version: use an equal amount of zucchini or yellow squash instead of potatoes.

If you want thinner broth and more “chunks” (as well as a shorter cooking time), leave out the potatoes, dice the onion, and add it with the tomatoes, peppers and green beans.

If I were like Debbie and kept all sorts of nice fresh herbs around, I might’ve stirred in some chopped fresh basil and parsley to this at the end. Things like crushed red pepper and grated parmesean cheese were passed around at the table, and my four year old daughter ate an astoundingly large bowl full. If that’s not the ultimate taste test, I don’t know what is.

Shepherd’s Pie is an English meat pie made with ground beef and mashed potatoes.  My boyfriend and I lazed about on July 4th, enjoying a respite from the hustle and bustle of the week, instead of joining the hoards of people heading out for picnics and fireworks over the weekend.  The day was spent reading, napping and listening to music.

As dinner time approached,  I realized that we didn’t have much of a plan or much in the fridge for that matter.  It was likely the grocery stores were going to be barren, having been subject to the barbecuing masses.  My boyfriend was kind enough to suggest ordering Chinese, but I declined and instead welcomed the challenge of making a delicious dinner for us with whatever I could find in the fridge and pantry.

What I found was the following: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

• Ground beef
• Onions
• Garlic
• Frozen corn
• Frozen peas
• A russet potato

The onions, garlic and frozen veggies are usually a staple in my kitchen, but it was quite lucky that the beef and potato were shacking up there as well.  Let me also say that I have never made Shepherd’s Pie before. But, it seemed like a fairly simple concept.  So, this is what I did:

I preheated my oven to 400 degrees.  Then I began sauteing 1/2 a small chopped onion and 2 cloves of garlic in some olive oil over medium heat for about ten minutes until soft.  Then I added about 1/4 cup each of the corn and peas, turning the heat up and adding some salt, pepper, and dash of cayenne.  Once the veggies had defrosted, I added a teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary and the ground beef.  I’d say I had about 3/4 of a pound or so.  I let the meat brown and combine with the other ingredients for about 1o minutes.  At the end, I added 2 or 3 tablespoons of beef broth (just some bouillon I had in the pantry) combined with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to create a lovely gravy.  Once the sauce thickened, I turned off the heat and set it aside.

Meanwhile, I had peeled a potato, cut it into cubes and boiled in salted water until tender.  I made a  quick potato mash with milk and butter.  The ground beef mixture went into a casserole dish, then I topped it with the mashed potatoes, making sure to cover all the meat.  Then I used a fork to create grooves and texture in the potatoes.  I dotted the top with a few pats of butter and popped into the hot oven to bake for about 30-35 minutes.  The result was a mouthwatering meal that involved very little cleanup, and a renewed faith in the creativity that blossoms as a result of  laziness.  I mean necessity.

Before I came to Portugal, I’d never even heard of Russian Salad. With that in mind, I kind of figured it was just something people here ate, and I couldn’t figure out what the hell was Russian about it. As it turns out, the Russian Salad I’ve been eating is so far removed from the original (which, to my surprise, is actually Russian!), it might as well be called Portuguese Salad, and the way I make it at home when no one’s looking, it probably doesn’t even deserve a name.

But seriously. According to Wikipedia, the first Russian Salad had both gherkins and fresh cucumbers. And caviar. And veal tongue. In other words, something a lot of people, myself included, would not eat unless there were big bucks to be made from it. And I fully admit I have eaten it with sliced hot dogs in it, which are a horror show in and of themselves, but in defense of hot dogs, if they do have tongue in them somewhere, at least I don’t see any taste buds. Blech.

Nowadays, perusing through the various recipes Google has to offer, I see that Russian Salad here and in the States are pretty much the same basic ingredients; boiled potatoes, carrots, green beans or peas, and usually hard boiled egg, and some sort of cooked meat or tuna. There is, however, one glaring difference: mayonnaise.

Now, I’m not nearly as mayo-phobic as Debbie. When I still ate them, I would put it on burgers and tuna sandwiches no problem. But to bathe my salad in? Thank you, but no. Just the thought of all those lovely veggies coated in goopy, glistening mayonnaise is enough to make me lose my appetite. Olive oil is the way to go, and if you think it needs it, some vinegar, but that’s really optional. So is meat, if you ask me.

But like I said, and as you can well see from the picture, when I make “Russian Salad” at home, I get really lazy about it.  If you couldn’t tell, that’s an over-easy egg, neither hard nor boiled. Hard boiled eggs are just a pain in the ass. You have to put it in its own little pot, wait for it to boil and make sure the egg doesn’t crack and ooze out into the water, time it just right so you don’t get that nasty green ring around the yolk, drain it, rinse it in more water to cool it off, and burn your fingers trying to peel it because you are starving and didn’t rinse it long enough so it’s not really cool yet.  For one or two eggs? Not worth it. It’s just so much easier to put some olive oil in a pan, crack an egg in it, and flip it over.

It may not be Russian, but it is delicious, simple. and as far as I’m concerned, guilt-free.

There are a lot of different ways to make fruit compote. Some recipes I’ve come across say to not add any water at all and just let the fruit stew it it’s own juices. To me, that sounds like a good way to burn perfectly good fruit. Others will tell you to add a little water and a diabetes-inducing amount of sugar. It all depends on the personal preferences of who’s going to be eating it, I guess. Personally, I like to have it on the syrupy side, with a fair amount of liquid in addition to the fruit.

What’s compote good for, you ask? Well, anything you feel like, really. But I have to say, if you put some over your pancakes, you will probably never want that HFCS-laden “pancake syrup” again. You will probably also eat enough pancakes for three people. Or maybe that’s just me. Moving on….

Another thing I love to do with fruit compote is to stir it into plain yogurt with some granola or other cereal. You could also stir some into your morning bowl of oatmeal. Or, how about over ice cream, or if you’re feeling industrious, use it to make your own fruit flavored ice cream. Spongecake, or better yet cheesecake, with some fruity, syrupy goodness spooned over top? You get the idea!

So, what I made most recently was a ridiculously simple strawberry-cherry compote. I had some strawberries I had frozen whole when they were on sale a while back, and a ton of black cherries to use up before they went to waste. But really, you can go crazy here with whatever you want. Add some spices like cinnamon, ginger, or a whole vanilla pod, citrus zest, mint, it’s all game. As for what fruits you use, it’s totally up to you. I’m particularly fond of berries and stone fruits like peaches or nectarines, but you can also use apples, pears, or just about anything else that you think is a good combination.

Simplest Fruit Compote

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups frozen or fresh fruit, peeled and sliced or chopped into bite sized pieces if necessary
• 1/4 cup sugar, any kind you like (not artificial sweeteners!)
• 1/2 cup of water, or more or less depending on how thick you want it
• Optional additions: 1 cinnamon stick, 1-2 slices fresh ginger, 1 vanilla pod, 1tsp (or more) grated lemon or orange zest, etc.
  

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and and any spices you want to use and turn the heat up to high. When the syrup comes to a boil, add the fruit (carefully! Hot sugar syrup is painful.) and bring to a boil again. Turn the heat down to low and cook for at least 15 minutes, longer if you want a thicker, sweeter compote. Let it cool a little bit and use it right away, or store it in the fridge. It’ll last for at least a week, if not longer.

I LOVE sardines!  In fact, I’m always trying to find new ways of eating and cooking with them.   I had a hankering for these small oily fish just the other day, but I also wanted something fresh and cool to balance it out.  So, I came up with a very satisfying Sardine Salad.

I’m often inspired to work within the limits of what I have in my fridge and pantry, and this dish was no different.  I use sardines that are skinless, boneless and packed in olive oil.  You can find them at Trader Joe’s for $1.99 per tin — a real bargain as far as I’m concerned.  I usually have them on hand so they can be added to pasta or eaten simply with lemon juice, salt, pepper and a delicious crusty bread.  But, I digress.  Let’s talk salad!

Sardine Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 tin of boneless, skinless sardines packed in olive oil
• 1 cup of hothouse cucumbers, seeded and diced
• 8-10 grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/4 cup of sweet peppers (red & yellow), diced
• 1/4 cup of carrot, diced
• 2 tablespoons of red onions, finely diced
• 1/4 cup of celery, diced
• 10-12 pitted Kalamata olives, quartered
• 3/4 cup of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice, to taste
• 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

This is so easy!  Combine all the chopped veggies (which should be cut to approximately the same size) with the beans and olives into a bowl.  Remove the sardines from the tin and reserve some of the oil.  Add them to the salad and break up the sardines into chunks as you go.  You don’t want them to come completely apart.  Then add your lemon juice, olive oil (including the oil from the sardine tin), salt and pepper to the mixture.  Another toss, another taste, and you’re done!

I find this salad extremely satisfying, and had it as my dinner one evening with some wonderful rustic bread. The vegetables add a wonderful crunch, while the olives provide a briny note.  The sardines are what add real depth and round out the entire dish.  Nothing is easier, earthier or more delicious than a simple salad enhanced by a robust sardine companion!

Pork & Shrimp Fried Rice

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t LOVE fried rice — even fellow Clacker Jeff has shared his recipe for Grouse fried rice with us. My feeling is that rice is good any way you fix it. My best friend is Filipina, and when we lived together in college, she would make delicious fried rice for breakfast at least once a week. It may seem like an odd choice for breakfast, but it’s a great way to start the day. Think about it — you get eggs, meat, veggies and protein. It’s nutritious brain food, I say!

What I love about this particular dish is that you can improvise with whatever you have in the fridge and freezer. Fried rice is all about the leftovers. Trying to use up those veggies and chicken from last night’s dinner? Then, I offer you fried rice.

I’m a lover of pork, but for those who aren’t, this fried rice can be made sans piggy. Simply add to it whatever inspires you, for a tasty and satisfying meal any time. OK, it goes quickly, so pay attention:

Pork and Shrimp Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• 4 cups day old cooked rice (white or brown is fine)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup frozen corn or carrots
• 1/2 cup onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 oz Chinese barbequed pork, diced (you can find this at Trader Joe’s now)
• 6 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons sesame or vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste
• pepper to taste

Begin by cooking the pork in a tiny bit of oil in a wok or large skillet over medium high heat.  It should be cooked through in about 8 minutes or so depending how large the dice is.   Once it’s cooked, remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Leave the pork drippings in the pan and add more oil and the onions, letting them cook for about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute, making sure not to burn it.  Add the frozen peas, corn and/or carrots and sautee another few minutes until they are thawed through.

At this point, you can add the shrimp.  They will cook very quickly — in about 3-4 minutes.  Add back the pork, the rice , the soy sauce and a dash of pepper. Mix it well.  Then let it sit in the pan for a few minutes while the rice absorbs the flavors and gets a little crunchy.

Now make a well in the middle of  the mixture with your spoon.  Add the beaten eggs to the well and scramble them directly into the pan.  Once they’ve cooked through, give the entire mixture another good toss, and taste it to see if you need additional soy sauce.  You’re done.  Now it’s time to eat!

I think you’ll become addicted to this simple dish.  I look forward to hearing what unique ingredients you decided to use in your fried rice.  Until then, I wish you FOODLOVE!

It was crunch time… about 5:15 and I needed a side dish to serve with the grilled orange roughy Keith was so painstakingly cooking out on the deck. I like to think of myself as an organized, prepared person, but somehow the planning for tonight’s menu went south.

I had chick peas and several veggies. I wasn’t in the mood for my usual chick pea and carrot salad, with raisins and curry. After perusing the internet for a bit, I found several recipes that had a more Mediterranean flavor, so with that inspiration in mind, and Molly’s easy dressing philosophy, I set off for the kitchen, and this is what resulted:

Mediterranean Chick Pea Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• feta cheese crumbles
• Kalamata olives (about 1/3 cup)
• red wine vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• assorted greens

Microwave the onion for 1 minute in olive oil (I probably used 2 tablespoons), and then toss that with the chick peas, tomatoes, and olives. Sprinkle with red wine vinegar to taste; I probably uses 2-3 tablespoons.

Once you’ve gotten the perfect balance of tang for your taste buds, toss in some feta and serve on a bed of greens.

Variations

If I had roasted peppers, they would have gone into the recipe, no doubt. And if I weren’t so determined to create a chick pea salad different from the carrot one, I would probably have added dried currants as well (to close to raisins for my taste that night, I guess).

This recipe was so easy and amazingly delicious. I was glad to have chosen the flavors I did — this chick pea salad hit the spot. One little tip — it was even tastier the next day as leftovers, because it got warmed with the fish. A little heat brought out the flavors and melded them to perfection.

Jeff’s back Guest-clacking for us again, after sharing his Ultimate Burger recipe with us last week….

How many times have you gotten home after a long hard day of work, exhausted and to tired to cook? I have here some of my favorite and fast dinner recipes that are guaranteed to fill you up and stick to your ribs.
Manwich Spaghetti

Prep time: About 20 minutes
Servings: How many of you are there, and how hungry are you? This makes enough for me and Bo for dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 13.5 ounce can Hunt’s Manwich sauce
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 medium size onion
• 1 pound spaghetti noodles
• Johnny’s seasoning salt
• garlic powder
• salt and pepper

Start a large pan of water boiling for the noodles.  Now, I was raised to add a little vegetable oil to the water to keep the noodles from sticking together during cooking, so I put just a splash of oil in the water and a dash of salt. I have seen some chefs say not to add oil because it prevents the noodles from absorbing the flavor of the sauce.  You decide which way is best for you.

In a medium frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, whichever you prefer, and dice up the onion. When the butter is melted, add the diced onion and saute the onion until it start to turn translucent. Add the ground beef to the onions, and season to taste with the Johnny’s seasoning salt.

When the water in the large pan for the noodles is at a good rolling boil, add in the noodles and let them boil for 10 minutes. Stir the noodles occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the pan. Depending on how firm you like your noodles cooked you may want to boil them for more or less time.

Stir the ground beef frequently while it is browning. Once the beef is completely browned add the can of Hunt’s Manwich sauce and 1/3 can of water to the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the noodles are done.

When the noodles are done, drain them and return them to the pan. Add the sauce and mix. let the noodles and sauce simmer for a few minutes and it will be ready to eat. Serve with a sprinkling of your favorite grated cheese and some French or garlic bread and you have a good meal that is filling and tasty.

Chili rice

How many of you read Ms. Molly’s post about brown rice in the oven?  I did. It sounded good so on my last trip to the Walmart I picked up some brown rice and tried it. I never tried making brown rice on the stove so I don’t know if this is easier or not, but it worked pretty good and the rice was good too.  Now, with the leftover rice in the fridge what do you do with it?

Bo was in favor of just setting the pan on the floor where he could clean it up for me, but I don’t think that crazy dog needed that much brown rice.  I decided to add the rice to a can of chili. Later I will give you my chili recipe that will make your mouth water like a baby cutting teeth, but for now any can of store-bought chili you have will do. Heat up the chili, mix in the rice and simmer it until it is hot and you have dinner.  Add some seasoned fries, grated cheese, and it’s a gourmet meal.

Refrigerator Goulash

This is really one of my favorites.  Get out a large pan, throw in a can of baked beans, and whatever leftovers  are in the refrigerator. Slice up some hot dogs, or that can of Spam you have been saving for a special occasion, some onion, a few slices of sandwich cheese and you are set.  The leftover brown rice would be good for this one too.

All three of these are tasty and easy to make, and they do not take much longer than heating up a can of Spaghetti O’s, but they sure taste a lot better.

Your pantry is uber-stocked like mine, right? Dig out that tube of polenta and those frozen sausages for Sausage Polenta Bake, crack open that can of garbanzo beans and break open the frozen spinach for Middle East Vegetarian Delight, or defrost that pound of ground beef or turkey for a Shortcut Pasta Bolognese.

Even if you don’t have all those ingredients handy, these are quick and easy recipes with few ingredients, so you’ll want to add them to your repertoire. These dishes would all work beautifully with a side salad.

Shortcut Pasta Bolognese

Ingredients:

• 1 jar pasta sauce
• 1 pound ground beef, ground turkey or meat substitute
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup red wine
• optional if you’ve got them: fresh, sliced mushrooms, fresh chopped basil, toasted pine nuts, feta orparmesan cheese
• 1 pound pasta

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until fragrant and tender, about three minutes. Add meat (and mushrooms if using) and brown well. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and scrape the brown bits off the pan. Stir in the pasta sauce, heat through, and toss with the pasta in a pretty pasta bowl. Sprinkle with basil, pine nuts and cheese. Serve.

If you use brown rice pasta and leave off the cheese, this meal is gluten-free and dairy-free.

Middle East Vegetarian Delight

Ingredients:

• 1 jar pasta sauce
• 1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
• 1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 10-oz package of frozen spinach
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/3 cup raisins, golden raisins or currants
• cooked brown rice, quinoa or couscous, about 1 cup per person
• optional if you’ve got them: pine nuts or cashews, fresh cilantro or parsley

Saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until fragrant and tender, about three minutes.Add the spices and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add all other ingredients (not rice or optional) and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over rice, quinoa or couscous, sprinkled with the nuts and fresh herbs.

If you use rice or quinoa, this dish is gluten-free and dairy-free.

Sausage Polenta Bake

Ingredients:

• 1 package precooked sausage, about 4 sausages, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 tube polenta, cut into 3/4-inch slices
• 1 jar pasta sauce
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• optional if you’ve got them: feta cheese crumbles, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, fresh parsley

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange sausage chunks and polenta slices in a greased casserole dish. Pour pasta sauce over them and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15-30 minutes or until heated through. Arrance 2-3 slices of polenta and about 4 chunks of sausage on a plate, spoon some sauce over them and sprinkle with optional ingredients.

If you leave out the optional cheese, this dish is gluten-free and dairy-free.