red cabbage and quinoa salad

 I saw this video with purple cabbage and quinoa salad which looks good and I want to try it.  She was pretty short on details but I will try to figure it out. NOte: this was pretty bland the first day, but the next day it was really good, ate two bowls of it for lunch and it was satisfying.  Worth making again. 

Ingredients:

• red cabbage
• red onion
• salt
• olive oil
• dates 
• sumac
• garlic (2 cloves minced)
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• (1 tsp honey, date syrup, etc.) 
• nuts (she seemed to have a mix; pistachios or cashews or almonds or anything seems fine)
• fresh herbs: chives, mint, parsley 
• quinoa 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice cabbage and slice red onion and put onto baking sheet.  Add olive oil, salt, and massage.  Roast, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes (?).

Chop herbs, put into a bowl.  Add some dates (she just pulled them apart).  

Cook quinoa (she said a cup - raw or cooked, unclear), add to bowl.  Add roasted cabbage and onion, then season with lemon juice, sumac, salt, pepper, garlic, mustard, date syrup/honey, roasted nuts

baking salmon

 Every time I cook salmon, I have to look it up again.  So, putting it here. 

Frankly, I really like pan fried fish - I like that crispiness.  But, I hate the smell of fish cooking which is worth in a skillet.  Oven, less smell.

So:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. 

 

Lightly grease baking dish.  

 

Season salmon.  (I'm using lemon no-salt Dash now and I like it!)   

Bake in the oven for about 12 to 15 minutes. (No need to flip the fish.)

Flakiness indicates doneness.  It will cook more when out of the oven. 

 

chocolate cherry cake

 this was tasty, from here.

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml) hot water or coffee
• ⅓ cup (30g) cocoa powder
• 1 ¼ cup (150g) all-purpose flour, sifted will try with whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar  recipe called for 1 cup but just 1/3 was fine. 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup vegetable/canola oil**
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups (230g/8 oz) fresh cherries, pitted and halved (for other options, see notes)***
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup  chocolate chips or chunks 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C and grease an 8×8-inch square pan or 9-inch round.  I used parchment paper. 

2. In a small bowl, whisk together hot water (or coffee) and cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside to let cool slightly until warm.

3. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

4. In another medium bowl, mix together eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and liquid-cocoa mixture. Add egg mixture into flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula just until combined. Do not overmix—the less you mix, the lighter the cake will be. It will be a slightly runny batter.

5. In a small bowl, toss cherries with 2 teaspoons flour in order to prevent cherries from sinking during baking. Add cherries and chocolate chips to cake batter and stir just until combined.

6. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (repeat testing if your toothpick runs into a cherry). The internal temperature of the cake should be 205℉ / 96℃ if using an internal thermometer. Allow cake to cool completely on a wire rack.

7. Dust the top with powdered sugar or top with chocolate ganache.

8. Serve at room temperature. Cake can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Recipe Notes

*To make a bigger cake, multiply the recipe by 1.5 and use a 13×9-inch pan. You may need to bake the cake a few minutes longer.

**I used oil to keep the cake moist for longer, but you can replace half of it with 50g melted butter for flavor if you prefer. This would no longer make it a dairy-free cake. However, this cake is already so flavorful that I don’t find it necessary.

***Fresh sour cherries are my favorite option, but you can use any type of fresh cherries you like as well as frozen or canned. If using frozen, use them straight from the freezer, without thawing, mixing them with some flour and then immediately folding them into the batter. Canned cherries can also be used as long as you make sure to drain them well and dry them with paper towels, or else the juices will seep into the cake and affect its texture and taste.

 

leftover cornbread casserole

 I seem to often have a lot of leftover sourdough cornbread, which I freeze.  So in interests of emptying the freezer, I decided to make something with it.  Got a few ideas from online, but I wanted it more about vegetables and less about eggs/breakfast.  I"ll edit depending on how it turns out. 

Ingredients:

• about 4 cups of cornbread, preferably day old and dried up, cut into about 1" cubes/crumbled
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2# hot Italian sausage
• peppers (i used jalapeno peppers and a can of green chiles)  
• 4 eggs
• 2 cup milk
• salt & pepper
• garlic powder
• vegetables (I used green beans today but other things would be good)
• 1 cup shredded cheese 

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  If cornbread isn't dried up, but it in the oven for about 10 minutes to try to dry it more.  

Heat skillet and saute onions and sausage until done.  Add vegetables including peppers and stir up.   

Whisk together eggs, milk, and spices.  Set aside.  Shred cheese, set aside.

Put half the cornbread in bottom of pan (I used a 9x13, just in case a smaller pan would be too small).  Put half the sausage/vegetable mix on top, then half the cheese.  Repeat cornbread and sausage layers, then pour egg mixture over the top, and then the cheese.  Bake about 35 minutes. 

baked tofu cubes

 I like to eat this just right hot from the oven, and to add to other dishes such as squash curry for some protein and textures.

From Budget Bytes.  (Tbh, most recipes from there fall flat for me, but this was ok.)

 Take one tub of extra firm tofu and press it for 30-60 minutes in a tofu press or in towels under heavy object.  Slice into cubes about 3/4".  Pat dry. 

Mix together a sauce of:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp approximately of black pepper 

Add tofu cubes and stir until seasoned.

Then sprinkle with 1 Tbsp corn starch and stir again until on each piece.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, flipping over halfway.   

 

kimchi burrito

 I've had some kimchi burritos that I quite liked though I always wanted more kimchi in them, so time to make my own.  Wildbrine kimchi was on sale so I got it, and ... I'll try the other jars there next time.  Or start making my own. I put cheese in it because that sounded good, and it is.  When isn't cheese good?  But it's not really necessary.  I tossed in some leftover black barley and that gives nice texture.  When I made the first burritos yesterday, I put in too much beans so there wasn't enough left really for today when I made up all the rest to eat this week and to freeze, but that's ok.  Also, I keep thinking that I need two burritos to not be hungry anymore, but one is fine.  Live and learn.  This is less a recipe than just reminding myself what I did the next time I get a kimchi craving.  

Ingredients

• whole wheat tortillas, burrito size
• 1 cup adzuki beans (dry)
• gochujang paste (or sriracha or whatever other flavoring seems good) 
• 1 jar of kimchi, chopped 
• accoutrements as found in fridge: leftover grains and/or vegetables, cheese, eggs etc. 

Soak adzuki beans overnight in plenty of water, then cook for about an hour until preferred texture. Eyeball or weigh and divide to match the amount to number of burritos.  

Heat the tortillas one by one in a pan.  As they start to puff, remove and fill with beans, kimchi, and whatever else is going in.   Roll and set aside.  If freezing, once fully cool, lay out on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen, then put into container.  I usually defrost in microwave for a couple of minutes and then heat to cook for a minute or so, but they could be thawed and baked or reheated on the stovetop.  

 

 

chickpea coconut curry

 Taken from a popular NY Times recipe.  It's very tasty and quite decadent with all that coconut milk.  I couldn't get the chickpeas to crispen up and that would have been good, will try again.  I used kale and while it took longer to cook, it was nice to have that texture.  I forgot the mint, that would have been good.  It says 4-6 servings but it cooks down to maybe three; I'll try freezing it to see how well that works.  

Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

• ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for serving
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 (2-inch) piece ginger, finely chopped
• salt and black pepper
• 1½ teaspoons ground turmeric, plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
• 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 (15-ounce) cans coconut milk (recipe says needs to be full fat but I don't know about that).  
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, kale or collard greens, stems removed, torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 cup mint leaves, for serving
• Yogurt, for serving (optional)
• Toasted pita, lavash or other flatbread, for serving (optional)

 

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Heat ¼ cup oil in a large pot over medium. Add garlic, onion and ginger. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally until onion is translucent and starts to brown a little at the edges, 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Step 2

   Add 1½ teaspoons turmeric, 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, and the chickpeas, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, so the chickpeas sizzle and fry a bit in the spices and oil, until they’ve started to break down and get a little browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove about a cup of chickpeas and set aside for garnish.

3. Step 3

   Using a wooden spoon or spatula, further crush the remaining chickpeas slightly to release their starchy insides. (This will help thicken the stew.) Add coconut milk and stock, and season with salt and pepper.

4. Step 4

   Bring to a simmer, scraping up any bits that have formed on the bottom of the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until stew has thickened, 30 to 35 minutes. (Taste a chickpea or two, not just the liquid, to make sure they have simmered long enough to be as delicious as possible.) If after 30 to 35 minutes, you want the stew a bit thicker, keep simmering until you've reached your desired consistency. Determining perfect stew thickness is a personal journey!

5. Step 5

   Add greens and stir, making sure they’re submerged in the liquid. Cook until they wilt and soften, 3 to 7 minutes, depending on what you’re using. (Swiss chard and spinach will wilt and soften much faster than kale or collard greens.) Season again with salt and pepper.

6. Step 6

   Divide among bowls and top with mint, reserved chickpeas, a sprinkle of red-pepper flakes and a good drizzle of olive oil. Serve alongside yogurt and toasted pita if using; dust the yogurt with turmeric if you'd like.