garbanzo cabbage peanut salad

This is pretty tasty!  From here.

Mix dressing in a large bowl:
2 limes, juiced (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 Tbsp sambal oelek or sriracha
1 Tbsp fish sauce (up to, optional; I couldn't find mine so used some oyster sauce)
1 tsp soy sauce (up to, optional, if it could use some more salt)
salt, pepper
honey or maple syrup to taste
water

Whisk together and add water for the right texture.  Taste and adjust.

Then add in:
a jar of chickpeas, drained
2 carrots, shredded
1/2 red cabbage, chopped finely

Top with
chopped peanuts
cilantro
green onions

white bean swiss chard pasta

I found this "recipe" here.

Greens and White Bean Pasta

 

Cook a few thinly sliced garlic cloves in olive oil in a deep skillet until fragrant.

Stir in a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, followed by thinly sliced kale or Swiss chard leaves with the ribs removed. Cook, stirring often, until wilted.

Then add rinsed canned cannellini beans and cook until heated through.

Toss with cooked farfalle (bow-tie pasta) and plenty of finely grated Parmesan. Squeeze with lemon juice over just before serving.

jam oatmeal cookies

As I look around my kitchen at things to use up, I spy ... a lot of jam.  And oats.  And brown sugar.  And so on. 

So, I will make this recipe which is taken from a book called the Treats Truck.  I'll use up bits of what's in the fridge - some strawberry, some quince, some raspberry. 

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/8 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• your favorite jams or preserves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease or line baking sheets.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until fully incorporated. Mix in oats.
4. Scoop dough onto prepared pans, placing them about 2 inches apart. Using your thumb, make a hollow in each cookie. Fill each hollow with jam (or preserves).
5. Bake each baking sheet 12-14 minutes, until cookies are fully baked and the edges are golden.

ground turkey, potatoes, and broccoli

Using up things in my freezer/fridge/cupboard, and I came upon this recipe.  I especially like how it doesn't use a ton of dishes.  And it's tasty and satisfying.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 7 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced & divided
• 4 cups broccolini or broccoli, cut into 2” long pieces
• 1/3 lemon, juice of
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 lb ground turkey, lean
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (I used Bragg liquid aminos)
• 2 lbs (4-5 cups) baby potatoes, cut into even sizes
• 1 cup water, boiling (or stock)
• 2 green onion sprigs, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat dutch oven, large deep skillet or heavy bottom stainless steel pot on medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp oil, 5 garlic cloves and broccolini. Cook for 4 – 5 minutes, stirring every 45 seconds or until garlic and broccolini get a nice char on each side. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper; stir and transfer to a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Return dutch oven to medium heat and add remaining 1 tbsp of oil. Add remaining 2 garlic cloves and onion; sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add ground turkey and cook for 5 more minutes, breaking meat into pieces with a spatula.
3. Add soy sauce, potatoes, water and stir gently to combine. Bring to a boil, cover and cook on low-medium heat for 20 minutes. Check potatoes for readiness and if necessary cook a bit longer. Then add previously cooked broccolini and green onion. Stir gently and serve hot.

moros y cristianos

Black beans and rice, so very nice!  I like the sentiment of Moors and Christians living together in harmony, and I've long liked rice and beans.  This is one of my favorite parts of Cuban meals. I rarely eat it these days because rice seems to be a food that just makes me hungry again soon, but I have a last-minute potluck and no desire to buy anything.  So, moros y cristianos it is.  This recipe looks good (with modifications):

Ingredients
-1 T olive oil
-1 small onion finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
-1/2 green bell pepper (I'll put in 1 small yellow pepper)
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 tsp Goya Adobo with pepper (I don't have, so using salt, pepper, a splash of turmeric)
-1/2 tsp sugar
-1 tsp oregano (scant)
-salt and pepper
-1 can black beans (I like the ratio better with 1.5-2 cans)
-water or broth
-1 bay leaf
-1 cup white rice (dry)
-1 tsp white vinegar

Directions
Heat oil, cook onion & bell pepper until soft.  Add garlic, sugar, Adobo, oregano, salt, pepper, and cook about another  minute, until fragrant.

Drain beans with liquid into measuring cup; add liquid to 2 cups (note: if I drain 2 jars of homecanned black beans and then add 1 jar of homecanned stock, it comes to a bit more than 2 cups, so I add a bit more rice, and that makes 2 jars of black beans work out great).  Add liquid and bay leaf to pot.  Bring to a boil.

Stir in black beans and rice, bring to boil.  Simmer, covered, about 25 minutes until rice absorbs water.  Stir in vinegar.  Remove rice from heat and let it sit about 5 minutes.

apple goat cheese crisp

There is a bakery in New Orleans that makes apple-goat cheese king cake, which I love.  I was speaking of this and a coworker brought me an apple-goat cheese croissant, which was such a lovely gesture.  And then Braeburns were on sale for a good price and I grabbed a backpack full (only slight exaggeration), and I have Costco goat cheese as I wanted it for a recipe and now I have approximately 26 pounds left.

And so I contemplated how I wanted to eat this apple-goat cheese dish, and I read approximately 8,000 recipes.  Nothing clicked.  Truth is, I don't much care for flaky doughs, so filo isn't really for me.  What I really wanted was a kuchen, but I needed something strong to make sure the goat cheese wasn't too overwhelming.  I looked up and thought of a lot of doughs, but nothing was really striking me.  The kuchen problem is that I lived in Germany for a couple of years and ate SUCH great desserts that inspire me but I remember them through 30 years of distortion. 

And then yesterday I went to a talk and the artist served a kuchen with rhubarb and gooseberries, and that sort of satisfied the kuchen, so I realized I wanted something else strong ... like pecans. 

So I came to this recipe, and it's very nice.  The only bummer is that I wish I'd had maple syrup (how do I not?!) and used less sugar (I already cut it, but I think it should be cut more).  Because it is between the apples and the pecan-oat layer, the goat cheese works really well. 

Ingredients

TOPPING

• 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (recipe calls for 1/2 c)
• 3/4+ cup coarsely chopped pecans (recipe calls for 1/2 c)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted

FILLING

• 5 baking apples such as Granny Smith or Braeburns; I chopped into chunks
• 1/4 or less cup packed light brown sugar (recipe calls for 1/3 c)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or some honey)
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces goat cheese cut into small pieces
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 6-8 slices

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Position a rack in the middle of the oven.

TOPPING

• In a small bowl, stir together the oats, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and salt until completely combined.
• Drizzle the melted butter over the mixture and stir until butter is evenly dispersed and all of the oats are moist. Set aside.

FILLING

• In a large bowl, combine the apples, brown sugar, maple syrup, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir together until everything is evenly dispersed. There will be a lot of liquid at the bottom-- this is ok. Set aside.
• Heat a 9" cast iron dutch oven over medium-high heat. When skillet is adequately heated, pour apple mixture evenly into it. When apples begin to steam, begin stirring to evenly distribute the brown sugar sauce. It will start to thicken. Cook while stirring until sauce is thick and evenly coats all of the apples, approximately 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, but leave the skillet on the burner.
• Place the butter and goat cheese pieces over the top of the cooked apples, trying your best to evenly distribute them. Top everything with the oat topping
• Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until crisp and brown on top, an additional 20-25 minutes. After that time, turn off the oven and allow crisp to sit in the oven with the door cracked until the sugar stops bubbling and you can safely handle it.

sauerkraut rye bread

Too much sauerkraut in fridge, rye berries in cupboard.  This is being made.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tsp Yeast
• 3/4 cup Water (I substituted 1/2 c. yogurt for water) 
• 1 cup sauerkraut drained and chopped 
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Molasses
• 2 cups Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour (I used 1 c. whole wheat freshly ground) - 120 grams
• 1 cup Organic Dark Rye Flour (freshly ground rye berries) - 102 grams 
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt (adjust based on salinity of sauerkraut)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Butter
• 1 Tbsp Caraway Seeds

Instructions

1. Over 1/4 c. warm water, sprinkle yeast.  Let it "bloom" (about 5 minutes).  Add molasses and brown sugar.
2. Add melted butter and rest of liquid to yeast water.
3. Combine in separate bowl all other ingredients.  Add in yeast mixture and mix well.
4. Knead 8-10 minutes.
5. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (approx. 1 hour). 
6. Punch down, cover and let rise until doubled again (approx. 30 - 40 min). Form loaf and place in a greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch bread pan. Lightly grease top of loaf. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (approx. 45 minutes). 
7. Bake at 375°F for about 45-55 minutes. Thump top of loaf. A hollow sound indicates a properly baked loaf. Turn out of pan, cover with a towel and cool before slicing.