green beans with caramelized onions and almonds

This past weekend I took the Trainer home to Michigan for a quick visit. We got to watch Mom perform in the local ice show. I enjoyed showing the Trainer around the town I grew up in. Dad and I took him to Meijer's and almost lost him in the huge store. We drove him past my huge high school and my elementary school.

We walked around my neighborhood and I showed him where my grandmother lived and the 'closest' grocery store to our house. We toodled around downtown with my friend B and his fiancee J, stopping for coffee at the original Borders. The Trainer was amazed at how quite Ann Arbor is; he decided that he liked downtown but would have trouble adjusting to my quite and relative (compared to New York) isolation of my neighborhood.

Saturday night I pulled out several photo albums, showing the Trainer pictures of same of the litters of gerbil pups I raised in high school. Of course I also showed him pictures of myself when I was a babe. Our photo albums run out shortly after I turn 2, I must have kept Mom pretty busy. As I was looking through a book of all my awards and certificates I found what might have been my first two recipes.

Since Mom was so busy with the figure skating club and ice show I knew that Dad had been alone for dinner most nights for almost two weeks. Friday night we had some great post roast that Mom cooked in her clay pot and left for us but Saturday I fixed a special dinner for my two best guys.

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almonds

1 lb green beans, cut into inch long pieces
1 small white onion, coarsely chopped
3 gloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup slivered almonds

In heavy pan or skillet pour in olive oil, garlic and onion. Turn heat on to medium and saute until onions are translucent. Add greens beans and raise temperature to high. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add almonds and stir briefly. Turn off heat and serve.

This was big hit, especially with Dad, since he loves caramelized onions and Mom rarely uses any extra oil in her cooking.

honey mustard roasted brussels sprouts

After last weekend's beautiful sunny days March has returned to remind us that it's not quite spring yet. The nights are still cold, but the clear days are bright, chilly in a way that allows the sun to kiss your face with the promise of warmth to come. Two days of dreary weather prepared me for today's clear briskness.

Having been shuffled around by the boss, I found myself with Thursday off rather than Tuesday. This left me with a fair number of things that needed to be done today. The Trainer and I had an appointment to have our taxes prepared, only to find that both of us likely owe money. The tax preparer was generous enough to advise us to file ourselves and didn't charge us. I suppose he makes plenty of money this season, but it was still kind of him.

After that disappointment, and smoothing the Trainer's ruffled feather's, I walk home under the clear blue sky. For lunch I wanted something warm and comforting, but with a a bright little zing, just like the day. After roasting my brussels sprouts I settled in to finish a few other projects and to plan my attack of our taxes.

Honey Roasted Brussels Sprouts

serves 2

1 10 pkg of brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3 teaspoons ground yellow mustard (I use Coleman's)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 cup water
salt
freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 450°F and line a loaf pan with aluminum foil. Wash the brussels sprouts and trim stems, removing any outer leaves that look damaged, and cut in half. In a large bowl whisk oil, vinegar, honey, mustard, ginger, turmeric and a few grinds of fresh black pepper until combined. Add brussels sprouts to bowl and stir until covered in mustard mixture. Transfer to prepared pan and scrape all mustard out of bowl, lightly salt sprouts and out in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes stirring once halfway through. Remove from oven and places brussels sprouts in a bowl. While pan is still warm, use water to deglaze pan, scraping everything from the bottom of the pan, to use as extra sauce.

garlicky greens

People often say that food is the stuff of which memories are made. Many, many gatherings, both of family and friends revolve around food or involve food in some way. Folks reminisce about family Thanksgiving feasts, Christmas suppers or Easter dinners. But it's funny what can trigger your memory.

As long as I've been living on my own I've been cooking my greens, especially spinach with lots of garlic. That's how Mom used to cook spinach, and after the atrocious cafeteria food I wanted foods that were familiar. When I was little, fixing spinach with Mom, she used to tell me how her mother used to cook the spinach with a few whole cloves of garlic in an attempt to get Mom and my uncle to eat the spinach, but Mom and Ken used to fight over who would get the garlic, and still avoid eating the spinach. After that, for the sake of familial consistency, I cooked my spinach with garlic.

Now, I fix greens every week to carry to work with me. Spinach, swiss or red chard and collards. Lots of vitamins and fiber. As I was rolling and cutting my collards into ribbons to saute I remembered, as I often do, my late uncle Ken who taught me to cut leafy vegetables this way. I remember standing with him in out kitchen on one of his rare visits and learning to chop basil for pasta sauce. He lined all the leaves up and rolled them into a tight tube, this way he was able to easily hold the roll while slicing ribbons. More importantly, it was much easier me, with my small hands, to hold the vegetables and help in the kitchen.

After thinking of my uncle, who passed away in 2003, I knew exactly how I had to cook my collards. Chopped to ribbons and with lots of garlic. This makes a great side for any dish, a bed for fish or chicken, as well as great mix-in for soup.

Garlicky Greens

1 bunch collard greens (or any other type of greens)
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
salt

Wash and drip-dry the collards. Peel and mince the garlic. Place a large skillet on the stove and add olive oil and garlic. Turn on heat as low as possible. While oil and garlic are heating cut the greens in ribbons: taking 3 or 4 leaves at a time, cut off the bare length of stem, laying the leaves on top of each other, fold and roll the leaves, parallel to the stem. Holding the roll of leaves cut thin ribbons from the roll, either in a straight line of on an angle, in relation to the stem. As the leaves are cut, add them to the skillet, stirring each time. When all the greens have been added to the skillet, mix everything well and turn the heat up. Continue stirring until the greens are all bright green.

breakfast of champions, crispy-spicy kale

Happy New Year to all!

I must apologize for my extended hiatus. I only intended to be quite for a few days while my parents were in town. However, while the Trainer was hurriedly cleaning our room for a quick visit with my parents he dropped the computer with the power cord still plugged in. This necessitated a trip to the Apple store, and a I had to pay bail to get the computer back yesterday. And now we're back.

Now, I realize that this may not be every big city girl's dreams of a big bowl of greens for breakfast, but this kale is so good, I can't get enough of it. And along with a little bit of protein it's the perfect way to start the day. Simple, fast, filling and nutritious I've been having this for breakfast every morning.

Crispy-Spicy Kale

3-4 leaves kale
salt
turmeric
garam masala
olive oil

Pour about 1 tsp of olive oil into a heavy frying pan or cast iron skillet. Tear kale from the main stem and into bite size pieces, placing them in the skillet. Sprinkle with salt, a few shakes of garam masala and a generous amount of turmeric. Turn the burner on to the highest setting and start stirring the kale so that it all gets coated in seasoning and olive oil. Cook until all the kale is bright green and some pieces are starting to blacken and char.

Serve with eggs, tofu, cheese, yogurt or whatever else strikes your fancy, for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The blackened pieces may look burnt, but they get nice and crispy before they actually char.

Saag

Before there was the Trainer there was Bob the Builder. Not a builder, as such, but with enough time, a few tokes and a lot of grunting he could fix just about anything. A comfortable guy, many years my senior, he was just not The One.

Bob the Builder was a great guy and I learned a lot from my time with him. He's a vegetarian and he introduced me to various veggie-friendly cuisines: Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and Indian.

Beside rice noodles and stir-fry tofu, one of his favorites was saag, an Indian spinach dish. Pureed and stewed beyond recognition this dish has a great flavor, every restaurant seems to have their own recipe. Saag can be a great side by itself, or add farmers cheese for saag paneer, or add chicken, tofu, or legumes to make a main course.

I remember Bob the Builder fondly, even if I did break up with him, and I had a craving for this warm, comforting dish that I first made for him.

Saag

2lb spinach and other greens, such as collard greens, mustard green, etc
2 small yellow onions
4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 inch fresh ginger
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp tumeric
1tbsp garam masala

Wash and chop spinach. Fill a medium sauce pan about 1/4 full with water, add vegetables and simmer for 45 minutes

In a blender puree the spinach in batches and return to pot

Chop the onions finely and mince the garlic and ginger as fine as possible. Saute the onions until they are translucent. Add the garlic and ginger, cook until soft. Add sallt, turmeric and garam masala and stir until everything is well mixed.

Add onion mixture to spinach and simmer until it is the desired consistancy. At this point it will more closely resemble a science project and will glorp and burbly like a volcano. I assure you, it tastes great too.

fennel leek soup for a fall day

Today was a perfect fall day. Not a Perfect Day, per say, but a perfect FALL day. My all-knowing iPhone told me that it was mid-fifties with a chance of rain. I threw on my long sweater, left the Trainer in bed and left to meet a friend in Manhattan.

As I stepped out the front door onto the front stoop I was greated by a grey sky and blowing mizzle. As my father and Mel Gibson would say "good Scottish Weather".

The trees across the street were spectacular, some like the Ginko, already changed and dropping their fruit, smelling of butyric acid and dinosaur times. Others still green with tops afire.

I gleefully crunched through the piles of crisp brown oak leaves piled high around the playground. The frisky wind that blew wet spatterings in my face chased the fallen leaves round and round in an endless game of tag.

When I reached the train station my ears were slightly cold, my nose was slightly red, and my eyes were bright with pleasure. This is a perfect day indeed. Perfect for staying close with friends. Perfect for a mug of mulled cider after a brisk walk. Perfect for a heart pot of filling soup.

Fennel Leek Soup

1 buld fennel
3 medium leeks
3 cloves garlic
3 cups broth or stock of your choice
1 tsp dried whole thyme
olive oil
salt
fresh ground pepper

Wash the fennel and leeks. Discard the bottom of the fennel bulb and cut off any bruised or brown parts. Cut off the base of the leeks and seperate the "leaves" to clean out all the dirt. Discard any bruised or dried out sections.

Coursely chop the fennel, leeks and garlic. You can save some of the fennel fronds for a garnish if that's your thing, or chop up all the fennel.

In a medium sauce pan with a little olive oil saute the chopped vegetables until the leeks are bright green.

Add stock and simmer until vegetables are tender.

Puree in a blender in batches until the soup reaches your desired consistency.

Return soup to the pot, add thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer to allow flavors to meld.

This soup base is perfect for any type of addition. You can add yogurt to make it creamier of for protien: chicken, turkey, suasage or tofu. And it's great hot or cold.

bison chili in a squash bowl

Oh, man! Let's chalk that one up to the folly of youth.

Yesterday the Trainer and I lounged around for most of the day. Between the cup of coffee I really shouldn't have had around 4:30 Saturday and daylight savings time i didn't get much sleep and was pretty zapped by the time we decided to go to the gym. When I shuffled out in the late afternoon to fetch some cinnamon the weather was a perfectly nice fall day.

It didn't occur to me, as I was hauling the bikes out of the basement, that the sun was going to set earlier and that the temperature would drop along with it. I was concentrating to hard on the machines, and then the warm fuzzy feeling I got when the Trainer called me his "strong woman". However, this strong woman forgot her gloves

The ride to the gym wasn't to bad, although my fingers were cold and stiff when we arrived. I prised them from the handle bars and fumblingly help the Trainer with the lock. The ride home, after the sun set, was seriously cold. Riding through Queens in the cold and dark felt like we were doing something forbidden. Besides the frigid fingers it was a great ride. I love feeling my body working, pushing toward my goal.

But, back to those frigid finger. As mush as tried to pull my sleeves down over on fingers, but it's awfully hard to shift and break with your fingers pulled up inside your fleece. I was afraid that I would lose the use of my fingers for the rest of the evening, having suffered from raynauds phenomenon before going gluten free. I was pleasantly surprised that my fingers did not turn white and I did not lose feeling in them for hours. Very exciting! Of course, this does not mean that I'll be running around without gloves all winter.

The best part of the whole ordeal was the bison chili baked in a squash that was keeping warm for me in the oven. A little grated cheese and I had the perfect dark cold night dinner.

Bison Chili in a Squash Bowl

3 smallish acorn squash or pumpkins,
1 Lb ground bison
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, mined
1 carrot, diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
2 vine ripe tomatoes, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
fresh ground pepper
sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350°F

In a skillet add the onion, garlic and spices. Saute for about 5 minutes, until onions are tender. Add the carrots, celery and tomatoes, reduce heat and simmer while you prepare the squash.

Wash the outsides and cut the tops off the squash. Try to cut on an angle so that the tops will fit back on, like a jack-o-lantern. Scoop out seeds and pulp, try to get as much pulp out as possible.

Fill each squash as full as possible with chili. Press the chili firmly into the squash and fill them completely.

Place tops back on squash and place on a sided baking sheet on pan. Pour enough water into the pan to cover the bottom.

Bake for 45 minutes

Allow to cool for several minutes and garnish with grated sharp cheddar cheese.

*Eat the squash along with the chili, the contrasts in tastes is amazing! If you aren't going to bake the chili in the squash I recommend peeling, dicing and cooking the squash along with the rest of the chili.

Jalapeno Cilantro Chicken with Spicy Sweet Potato Rounds

I might be crazy. Actually, anyone who knows me, the Trainer included, would say might skeptically and with a raised eyebrow. This evening I was working out, pumping my heart out on the elliptical trainer and reading a cookbook and thinking about the dishes I had to prepare.

But just a few days after cutting grains and sugar (and cheese) I have so much energy and I'm not pulling myself wearily along, muddy headed and exhausted to the next meal in hopes that food will revive me.

I could have gone on if I hadn't had responsibilities (read: gerbil who needs to be hand fed) and cooking. Last night I was awake until almost 2am and woke before my alarm.

Tonight I made a stab at a version of my father's favorite dish at my parents Asian haunt.

Jalapeno Cilantro Chicken for two

2 boneless skinless chicken breast, in bite size pieces
1/3 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
4 limes, juiced
2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced
1 small vidalia onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Canola oil

•The night before set chicken to marinate with cilantro and juice of 3 limes.

•Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet and cook the onions and garlic until transparent.

•Turn heat to low and add chicken and marinade. Sauté until chicken is cooked.

•Add jalapenos and a little water if necessary. Simmer for a few more minutes.

Spicy Sweet Potato Rounds

I have to give credit The Good Eatah for planting the seeds of this side dish

1 sweet potato or yam, sliced as thinly as possible
Fresh ground pepper
Sea salt
Light oil for frying

•Arrange sweet potato on a plate or tray and season both sides of slices with salt and pepper.

•Let stand for10-15 minutes

•Oil and heat a skillet until very hot

•Fry sweet potato slices until they are cooked through

•Remove to a paper towel to stand.

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