Sweet and Simple

I’ve been keeping it simple this week…really simple. After all that eating I did in Louisville last week, it was kind of nice to exist mainly on salads and sandwiches. This was yet another busy, busy week for me, but I did still want to cook something  so that I would have leftovers for the rest of the week. So I fell to one of my favorite easy combos: black beans and rice.

Apologies for the crappy iPhone pic.

I’ve been making this for a while, and I like to work off of these recipes from allrecipes.com: lime cilantro rice and corn and black bean salad. I don’t change anything for the rice, but I really like to add red onions to the corn/bean salad, as well as a dash of chili powder for a kick. It’s an easy (and super cheap!) meal and it’s perfect for leftovers- just remember to make the corn and black bean salad the day before you want to eat it. It’s much better when it’s had time to marinate.

I did face a bit of a pickle while doing my weekly shopping. For some reason, the grocery store was out of fresh cilantro! I was flummoxed for a minute- dried herbs are great, but fresh cilantro has such a bright flavor, and I don’t think dried cilantro really measures up. This dish’s success really counts on the cilantro. So I stood there in the produce section, pondering my options, when this tubed cilantro herb blend caught my eye. It was more expensive than fresh cilantro would have been, but I

Go for the real stuff instead.

thought it might be worth giving it a shot, since it was more likely to have that crisp flavor I was after. The final verdict: not really worth it. It was better than the dried herbs, but still didn’t taste as good as the fresh. It was too expensive for what I got out of it. Pass.

What’s ahead for next week? Probably another challenging round of “use up all the fresh food in my fridge before I leave town.” Again. I know. I’ve been traveling a lot this semester, and this looks like my last trip until May. I’m going to visit one more graduate program in Ohio before I make up my mind. So hopefully I’ll have some fun stuff to share with you as I rush to use up all my veggies.

Enjoy your weekend!

Leigh

Hits, Misses, and Challenges: Louisville Edition

You may be asking yourself where the hell I’ve been. Fair question. I guess I should have given you some warning that I’d be out of town…for a week. I went up to Louisville (yes, again! I was there just 3 weeks ago!), this time for a conference. Trying to eat well while traveling is always a challenge for me (see this post), and this trip was no different. There were some definite hits, some egregious misses, and some challenging situations. But I did my best to make the best of it!

Omelette 101

Most of my posts around here are lunch and dinner types. That’s not because I don’t adore breakfast, but usually I don’t have the time or desire to make anything other than a bagel or cereal in the morning. But this morning was different- a rainy day meant that I slept in, and when I got up, I decided I wanted an omelette.

I post my omelette method not because I think it’s the best (I’m sure it’s not) or because I want to brag, but because it seems to me like I’ve had a few different discussions with people who are just intimidated by omelettes. They aren’t that hard, I promise! And, I figure, if you mess up and everything falls out, then you end up with big scramble that will still be tasty (trust me, I’ve ended up eating a failed omelette a few times!).

First, a note about eggs: I am a vegetarian, but when I made the switch (almost three years ago now! Yikes!) I thought long and hard about dairy products. In the end, I felt ok with eating animal by-products like milk and eggs, although I made the choice to be more responsible with those choices. I buy both organic milk and eggs (those are the two things in my shopping cart that are ALWAYS, ALWAYS organic). Not only do they taste better, but I feel better about buying them. I like Eggland’s Best Cage Free Eggs (vegetarian fed, too!). They are a little pricey (ok, a lot- they’re nearly $4 a dozen!), but I don’t eat eggs too often so I don’t mind spending it. Since the eggs really are the star of the omelette show, I like to begin with good ones.

Onward to the omelette!

Julie and Julia and Leigh

What a bad food blogger I am.

So, I rarely run out and see movies the minute they are released (in fact, I never do, unless we’re talking about Harry Potter). I usually wait until they make it to the dollar theater or the top of my Netflix queue. I just think it’s more prudent to spend my $8 on a good glass of wine or a really fantastic cheese. But, as one of the hordes of food bloggers now clogging the internet, I am remiss for not having seen Julie and Julia, a whole movie based around the idea of sharing your passion for cooking with the world around you. That is, until tonight. Thanks to a Redbox coupon, I had a free rental tonight, and I finally decided to catch up to my peers and watch Julie and Julia (BTW, if you haven’t heard of/tried Redbox, it’s awesome! $1/night movie rentals!).

I must say, I enjoyed it. This being the day after the Oscars, I thought Meryl Streep was fantastic (but then again, when isn’t Meryl Streep just phenomenal?).  I wish I could say I really felt inspired or moved, but I didn’t. Perhaps it’s because I don’t make recipes like beef bourguignon or lobster thermidor. I don’t know how to debone a duck or make an aspic (eeewww). Julia Child was a wonderful woman, teaching herself how to cook and sharing her genuine love for it with the world – I mean, she basically single-handedly brought French cooking to American kitchens- but I just don’t think I have any inspirational cooking figures like her in my life. Sure, Rachael Ray is super famous, and everyone loves Paula Deen and Bobby Flay and their Food Network cohorts- but aren’t we a little overwhelmed with TV chefs? For me, I cook not because Giada or Rocco tells me to, but because I like it. I like making a meal out disparate ingredients. I like the process of looking in my pantry and figuring out how I can make dinner. And of course, I like eating. Maybe it’s because I’m a writer (and a writing teacher). But my motivation for cooking isn’t external.

So why the hell am I writing a food blog? Well, you can’t expect me to have the answers to everything.

Sorry about the weirdly contemplative/introspective post. There’ll be food next time- promise!

Leigh

PS: Want to catch up on some vintage Julia Child? PBS has tons of episodes online! Enjoy!

Faux Junk Food

For some reason, writing always makes me crave junk food. And as this is a working spring break, the urge for something cheesy and greasy hit me right around lunchtime. So, in the spirit of continuing my pantry/fridge raid, I made an old standby: baked potato skins.

Now, I now what you’re thinking: potato skins are terribly unhealthy! That’s why they are served at bars, after all. But I learned this method of preparing them from an ex-boyfriend’s mom, and after some modification, they’ve become one of my favorite go-to faux junk foods. Best of all, in addition to being supremely tasty, they’re also very cheap!

Recycled Dinner

I’m going out of town next week, and I want to make sure I use up all my perishables before I leave for a whole week. Which means my dinner tonight consisted of one of my favorite activities: fridge raid!

I went ahead with Sarah’s idea to make risotto cakes out of the leftovers from lunch. That, my friends, was a damn good call. It took a little extra time and energy- but it was so worth it make a leftover item just as delicious as it was the first time around.

Here’s what I did:

Ready, set, leftovers!

I made patties with the leftover risotto (this was fairly easy because it was in the fridge for a few hours). Then I coated them,  assembly-line style, in flour, egg, and plain breadcrumbs.

Next, I put them into a skillet with about 2 tbsp of oil heated over medium.

While those were frying (and they didn’t take long- 2 minutes or so on each side), I made a sandwich. Sandwiches are great for when you have a bunch of random things but aren’t sure how to use them all together- hence, my recent sandwich kick. I spread my artichoke pesto (seriously, making this stuff in bulk is a GREAT idea- there are so many uses for it) on sourdough bread, then loaded it up with spinach, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, cucumbers, artichokes, and feta cheese. Talk about a vegetarian delight. But I’m a fan of toasty, crunchy bread, so I used my no-fail sandwich press:

The poor girl's sandwich press.

Ok, so it’s totally lame, but it works perfectly every time and it’s a LOT cheaper than a panini press.

The final product: a tasty, super filling meal made with scraps from the fridge. Even a non-meal fridge raid can still end up as a really tasty evening.

Leigh

All together now: YUM!

Inspired

Things are looking up this week- I finally have my own computer back! It’s been a long four months, and luckily, the computer repair people didn’t have to erase my hard drive- which means I didn’t lose any of my recipes or bookmarks- it’s a miracle of sorts. I’ve also heard back from the PhD programs I applied to, and I got lots of good news. As if that wasn’t enough to put a big ol’ spring in my step, it’s spring break and there’s perfect weather to match.

Hallelujah!

To celebrate, I made a bad-ass tomato sandwich yesterday. Sometimes you can’t overlook the simple things in life.

Long time, no see!

Well, hello. I know it been a while (ahem, since NOVEMBER!), but I’m back. You’ll have to excuse my absence, but it really has been a crazy few months. Fair warning, this is going to be a long post, since there’s so much to catch you up on. Here’s some highlights:

This monstrous thing is a turducken. Thanks to Ryan for the picture.

• Thanksgiving was another all-out crazy potluck extravaganza. Thank God my friends love food as much as I do. I made what’s become my go-to stuffing since I went veggie: an apple-walnut-cranberry deliciousness. There was, however, a meat monster that I refrained from eating: the turducken (a turkey stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a duck). This particular one was layered with sausage cornbread stuffing. Really.

The Thanksgiving spread (minus the desserts). Thanks to Kim for the picture.

• I went to Alaska and back over Christmas and New Year’s and had a fantastically chilly time! I snowshoed
  

  Best. Meal. EVER!

  (which was probably pretty fun to watch, quite honestly) and had what was quite possibly one of the best meals of the year at Jack Sprat in Girdwood, AK. It began with water flavored with basil and cucumber and a nice bottle of red wine (how can you NOT order wine called “Goats do Roam”?). Then we had some fantastic sweet potato fries with a surprising pairing- a wasabi mayo dip that complimented it really well. I ordered what is hands-down the best butternut squash soup I’ve ever had (so creamy, so rich!) and a salad topped with halibut and a raspberry vinaigrette. Simply amazing.

The Florida girl snowshoes up a mountain.

• My computer crapped out on me! Luckily, I’ve been able to borrow a friend’s old laptop in the meantime, but after a battle over the warranty and some serious repairs, I still haven’t gotten my computer back.

• I finished applying to PhD programs and (as of now) have heard good news from 3 of the 6 schools I’ve applied to! Go me!

• Speaking of PhD programs, I recently went to Louisville to visit UofL‘s campus and program. They put me up in a gorgeous bed and breakfast, and fed us pretty well too (thankfully, their program director is also a vegetarian, so there were plenty of non-meaty options).

I’ve still been cooking, and don’t worry- there are plenty of pics, and I’ll get around to putting them up sooner or later. Last night, I tried a really good new recipe- I wanted something different, and I found it when I made mushroom stroganoff! It had a great beefy flavor without the beef. Of course, I modified it a bit- I added wine to the veggie broth, as well as some Worcestershire sauce and garlic, and cut the sour cream down. It could easily be modified into a vegan recipe, too: cut out the butter and sour cream, and just reduce the sauce longer to make it thicken up. Try it!

That’s all for me now- even though I found time to post, I’ve still got a ton of work waiting for me.

Leigh

The Intellectual Chef

Man, I’ve been bad about posting lately. I’m trying, I really am! My life is really chaotic right now, though, and it’s hard enough to find time to cook new things, let alone write about cooking new things. That being said, though, I wanted to pose a question to everyone: Why do you cook? (Or maybe it should be why don’t you cook?)

For me, that question has a few answers. I’ll start first with a confession: I haven’t been cooking for that long. I was proud of myself if I could manage brownies from a box or make a grilled cheese on a Foreman grill. Seriously. But once I had been in a college a few years, I got sick of eating pre-packed, crappy food from a can or a freezer. So I started experimenting, and slowly began to realize that cooking wasn’t a chore. Around that time, I stopped eating meat (I now eat fish, but for the first two years of being a vegetarian, I cut out all seafood too). That really forced me into the kitchen. I couldn’t just stop by McDonald’s on the way home and pick something up- I had to take responsibility for feeding myself right. Now that I have a few years of cooking under my belt, I think I’m really starting  to get a good cooking intuition. I don’t need a recipe, I can sense what flavors might work well together, I can pull together a meal on the fly with random ingredients. Cooking is now a creative outlet for me, and it’s tremendously relaxing. I can turn my brain off for a little while, and focus on the physical task of cooking, a job that really requires all of my senses.

That being said, when I get stressed, I don’t always cook as often. But it always makes me feel better (not to mention I get to enjoy a tasty meal afterwards). On Sunday, I updated one of the very first truly delicious vegetarian meals that I made up on my own: eggplant casserole.

An updated favorite

You’ll need:

1 eggplant

3 or 4 tomatoes

1 small white onion

About 3/4 c each of parmesan and feta cheese

About 1 c breadcrumbs

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

First, I sliced the eggplant, salted the slices, and cooked them in a frying pan with a bit of oil. Then I layered the cooked eggplant, sliced tomatoes, and sliced onions, which I topped with cheese. I then repeated the layering, and drizzled it all with a bit of balsamic vinegar for flavor. I topped it all with breadcrumbs that I tossed with a little olive oil. I threw it in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, and had myself a tasty dinner (and a few tasty left over lunches).

I used to coat the eggplant slices in breadcrumbs, and then fry the slices, but that got time consuming and the end product, while delicious, was really greasy. I think next time I make this, I’ll coat the slices in breadcrumbs and then bake them instead of frying. That’s what cooking is all about- experimenting.

A standby favorite

Since the end of the semester is approaching almost as quickly as Thanksgiving, I thought I might leave you with some easy, tasty brain food snacks:

1. Apples with almond butter, sprinkled with cinnamon- really tasty, and really filling.

Perfect mid-morning snack

2. Sorbet smoothie: There a ton of ways to make smoothies, but I threw this together one day with a few scoops of raspberry sorbet, a few ice cubes, orange/pineapple juice, and a splash of milk. Yum!

Ok, I guess I should get back to PhD applications…grrr.

Leigh

Cooking for One

….that sounds like a really sad singles’ cookbook. But it’s sometimes hard to cook for yourself without eating the same thing every day for a week. That’s why a lot of times I’ll buy enough to make several sides, and then just mix and match throughout the week. For example,  this week I tried a new dish that was as delicious as it was cheap: cauliflower and cheese.

Yes, please!

All I did was cut up a head of cauliflower and boil to cook. Then I made a quick roux and added equal parts cheddar and parmesan cheese, and some milk to make the sauce a little thinner. I put the cauliflower in a pan, covered it with the cheese sauce, and then topped it all with some extra cheddar and breadcrumbs. Then I broiled it for a few minutes to make the top all bubbly and crunchy. And can I just say…wow. I’ve always been a fan of broccoli, but I’ve kind of forgotten about cauliflower as of recently. No more will it be forgotten! I see a lot of cauliflower experiments in my future!

Dinner all by my lonesome

Anyway, my dinner last night was simple: I paired a good portion of the cauliflower and cheese with a simple spinach salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, parmesan, and vinaigrette). And of course, a nice glass of red wine to wash it all down.

I don’t think that dish of  cauliflower is going to last much longer, but I’m wondering if I could make some soup out of to give myself some more variety. But of course I can always pair it with a range of other dishes to make a different meal entirely. Any other suggestions?

How do you all cope with cooking for yourself? I know a lot of people say it’s not worth the effort, but I’m a firm believer that cooking something delicious is always worth the effort. How do you balance between cooking way too much food and eating Lean Cuisines for dinner every night? Let me know!

I’m going to go think about this over some cauliflower and cheese.

Leigh