Aloo Gobi

So about a year ago a friend hosted "White Indian Night," where us white (and other non-Indian ethnicity) folk learn to cook yummy Indian dishes. I learned that our teacher, Komal, has a similar style to mine in the kitchen, and probably even more experimental that I am. One of the dishes we made is aloo (potatoes) gobi (cauliflower).

I am still working on getting the flavor right, and it will depend on the relative ratio of all ingredients.

Ingredients
1 small head cauliflower (or 1/2 large head), cut into small florets with roughly chopped stems and leaves
2 medium potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 white onion, chopped
cumin seeds to taste
About 1-2 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
olive oil

Preparation
Heat oil in a large skillet. When warm, add onion and cumin seeds. When onion is translucent, add potatoes and fill the bottom of the pan in a small layer of water. Add salt and additional cumin seeds as needed. When potatoes are starting to get tender, add cauliflower and turmeric. Add water as needed to cook potatoes and cauliflower. The potatoes should be tender but not mushy and the cauliflower cooked through but not soggy. The water should cook out before eating.

Kale and Tuscan Bean Stir-Fry

It's been a slow ramp-up getting back to cooking at home. But yesterday I made a tasty kale and white bean stir-fry. It was a hybrid between a Farm Fresh recipe and the stuffed kale recipe from How to Cook Every Vegetarian. It was pretty good, and a great way to use up all that Farm Fresh kale!

I decided to chop the kale rather wrap the beans in the leaf halves, because it's hard to keep them rolled! It's also easier to eat with the leaves chopped.

Ingredients
1 bunch kale, de-stemmed, with stems roughly chopped and leaves chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
1 (14 oz.) can cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
1 (14 oz.) can chopped tomatoes, drained and rinsed
1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Preparation
Heat oil in a 10" skillet. Add kale stems and onion, stirring every minute or so. Cook until tender, about 5 min. Add beans and kale leaves, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes and keep stirring until everything is heated.

December Hiatus/Roasted Vegetable Medley

I've mostly taken a cooking hiatus during the month of December because the first half of the month I was focused on finishing up the semester and then the next 10 days I was busy getting ready for Christmas.

Christmas is my favorite holiday, and, for the first time in three years, Ted and I got to host. It's the first time in four years (and only second Christmas ever) that we've had both sides of the family over. Prime rib was requested after the success of the first prime rib I made, and, being a perfectionist, the stakes were high for a repeat performance, at least to me. And we were hosting 12 or 16 to boot!

Since this blog is supposed to be about home cooking, healthy cooking, I wanted to prepare something healthy that I could also blog about, and I knew that wouldn't be the prime rib (but I used a Bobby Flay recipe). I wasn't too excited over how the green beans I made for Thanksgiving turned out, so I thought I'd try something new - an assorted root vegetable medley. I tested it out on Monday night and it seemed pretty simple. On Christmas, I ended up simplifying the recipe for time's sake and I had already cut too many veggies!

Roasted (Root) Vegetable Medley
Ingredients
3 carrots, peeled and cut into approximately 1" pieces
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into approximately 1" pieces
1 sweet potato, scrubbed and cut into chunky slices, a little larger than the carrots and parsnips
About 15 fingerling potatoes, cut into about 3/4" pieces

Olive oil

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Sprigs of fresh thyme, torn into small pieces, to taste
Sprigs of fresh rosemary, torn into small pieces, to taste
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2" thick slices (optional)

1/2 yellow squash, cut int' 1/2" thick slices (optional)

1/2 bell pepper (any color), cut into 1" pieces (optional)

Preparation
Prepare first four ingredients (root vegetables) as indicated. Place in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Add fresh ground pepper, thyme and rosemary. Toss well, adding more olive oil, pepper, thyme, and rosemary if needed.

Cover and roast at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. After about 25 minutes, add zucchini, squash, and bell pepper if desired. (Root veggies should be just starting to get tender.) Cook for an additional 10 minutes or until veggies are tender but not mushy. Remove from the oven immediately.

What's Ahead
I got Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian as a Christmas present, so hopefully I'll have lots of content to add in the coming year. I read the first three or so chapters this morning and I'm really excited about trying the recipes out, especially the cream-free soups and cheese-free gratins!

Spiced Cauliflower Soup

I found this spiced cauliflower soup from Prevention magazine a few years ago and started making it the first fall Ted and I were married. It's quick and easy when you've got frozen ingredients on hand.

I made this on another Meatless Monday. I was very tired from working more than a full day after staying up until 12:30 working on my final internship report. It's a great recipe for days when you just don't have much energy at the end of the day.

This time around I used fresh spinach from a recent Farm Fresh delivery instead of collard greens and I threw in some frozen corn for good measure. I forgot the garlic, so it balances. For the 2 tsp "mild curry" that the recipe calls for, I use this combination from another recipe for curried eggplant:

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Chevy's-style Chicken Soft Tacos

It was my great pleasure to learn earlier this week that Chevy's salsa is now available in a quart-sized two-pack at Costco. I had been thinking about trying to replicate their chicken soft tacos at home, but I haven't had the time and patience to make an extra trip to pick up a pint & a lb. (Chevy's-speak for a pint of salsa and a pound of chips.) So I grabbed the Chevy's salsa two-pack and planned a winning post-run meal for Thursday. (Our family celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday this year, leaving Thursday as a good day for a long run.)

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts
1 pint Chevy's fire roasted salsa, plus more for serving
1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
8" tortillas

Preparation
Place chicken breasts in a single layer on the bottom of a slow cooker. Cover liberally with about 1 pint salsa, letting salsa run between chicken pieces. Cook on low for 6 to 6.5 hours.

Warm tortillas. Serve chicken and lettuce in a tortilla with additional salsa to taste. Double tortillas if using corn.

We've gotten three meals for two people (about 6-8 tacos) so far, with about one meal left. One thing I'll try differently next time is to let the chicken marinate in the salsa for a few hours or even overnight.

Double Cranberry Sauce

This is a nice Thanksgiving cranberry sauce recipe. Warning! It takes a while to hand-peel the apples and a while to cook. You need to have time to make this recipe, and it yields a lot!

It's also not a good idea to try to make this recipe shortly after running 12 miles. It took me a long time to (hand) peel the apples - I could only do two at a time before needing to sit down to rest.

Before

After

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Last night I made one of my favorite desserts: This is a super-easy, yummy chocolate chip pumpkin bread. It's easy to make ahead and freeze, and equally easy to eat warm, topped with leftover pudding from the ingredients. It's great for a Thanksgiving dessert, potlucks, gifts, or just because you have a hankerin'.

I use wheat flour and sometimes make it in four small (4") loaf pans instead of two 8" loaf pans.

So what's so yummy about this bread? Is it the pumpkin, the chocolate chips, the pudding and wheat flour giving it moistness? I say it's all of these factors. Yum yum.

P.S. Pictures to come soon. Mom requested it for Thanksgiving.