I Love Curry!

Really, anything curried is fine by me. Well I mean given it's not animal. But give me any vegetable, bean, rice, bread, etc. with curry and I'm all over that! A few weeks ago, August 4th to be exact, I found myself wandering the streets of the Devon neighborhood on the far north side of Chicago. Devon is known for its diverse restaurants and shops.

"Here, one traveling eastward will encounter, in succession, an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, a Russian American neighborhood, an Indian American neighborhood, aPakistani American neighborhood, and a Bangladeshi American neighborhood." 

"Devon's Desi corridor is one of the best-known and largest communities of its kind in North America. It exists mainly on Devon between Ravenswood Ave. and California Ave. South Asian shops, restaurants and grocery stores abound along this strip, and it has become a popular tourist destination." 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devon_Avenue_(Chicago)  

When you're in that stretch of Desi, you can smell curry and cardamon for what seems like miles! It's a wonderfully delicious place to wander about. I had no particular place to be or go. I took a 1/2 sick day and was playing hooky (for a damn good reason, so don't judge me) from work. I aimlessly popped in and out of a few stores. I love little neighborhood shops where I know my hard earned dollars will go towards supporting the folks that are also working hard to earn their own dollars. (Stop me here- but I think it's possible that supporting local economy actually might help the larger economy grow *gasp*).
With each pop in and out, I ended up loading my backpack with tons of spices, including Hot Curry Powder, a bunch of lentils and- Bonus!- I found a birthday present for my little sister, Nikki. I can't tell you what it is, since her birthday isn't until October, but it will involve her making food. Should I ever get to sample said food or at least get a picture of it, I'll post it. Fingers crossed I get a sample, since now I know the suspense is painful!

Fast forward 3 weeks: I am searching my cabinets for inspiration and put my fingers on the giant bag of red lentils and the Hot Curry- immediately, I could taste that day I wandered Devon.
Self to Self: "Man, I haven't had lentils in a while... I think that'll do it! Ooo, do I still have Na'an? Freezer, freezer in my kitchen, please tell me I have Na'an...I do- bitchin! (I know, cheese-y, but if you know me then you know that's what I am.) That's it then, Hot Red Lentil Stew with Warm, buttery Na'an. Mmm..."

Hot Red Lentil Stew
(I call it 'stew' because of the tomatoes. I don't know if that's really correct, but it works for me.)

Ingredients

• 1/4 C Red lentils (dry) 
• 1 C Water 
• 1/4 C Onions, chopped
• 2 Italian Red Ripe Tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tsp Ginger Root minced
• 2 tsp Garlic minced
• 3 tsp Hot Curry Powder  
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Grapeseed Oil 
• 1/2 C Swiss Chard chopped

Make It

Prepare the ingredients. Chop the onions, tomatoes and chard. Mince the garlic and ginger. Mix the dry spices in a separate dish and pour the water into a measuring cup. This will all come together very quickly.

Saute onions in oil for 2 minutes. Add garlic, stir 2 minutes (over med-hi heat) add spices, stir, add tomatoes + 1 T water, cover 3 minutes to cook down the tomatoes. 

Then add the rest of the water, bring to a boil, add the lentils. Return to a boil, reduce to rolling simmer and cook until lentils are soft. About 15-20 minutes. You may need to add water to get the lentils soft enough for you. When the lentils are soft to liking remove from the heat and stir in the chopped, fresh Swiss Chard. It will wilt in the stew but not cook down to mush. 

Serve with warm Na'an bread and a little butter. According to the package of Na'an I bought from Trader Joe's, 1 piece is 190 calories. It's really large, so I split it in half. The nutritional info below includes the Na'an. So the lentil stew itself is about 270-280 calories*.

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 365.4*

Total Fat: 7.1 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 446.0 mg

Total Carbs: 61.1 g

Dietary Fiber: 12.5 g

Protein: 19.9 g

Garden Fresh Portobello Tacos

I made these a while ago, but knew I'd want to share them once I got the blog back up and running. I didn't do much "cooking for one" this weekend. One of my best friends, the lovely Sarah came into town with her super cute baby Claudia. We had a BBQ with the beautiful Melissa and Joe- also my best, awesome friends who live here in Chicago with their two amazing little boys, Liam and Evan plus Joe's little brother Nicholas. It was great time with tons of cute baby action and fabulous adult conversations.
Yes, I cooked some things for it but they were meals for many. And I wasn't really pleased with one of the dishes- it needs work before I'd post it here. I might post the marinade, which was really good, I made for the kabobs, but I forgot to take pictures. So that might have to wait until I make them again. But first, I need a grill. Anyone getting rid of a table top gas grill? I really need one for myself, but don't like buying new things if I can find it gently loved by someone else that doesn't need it anymore.

Sarah and I had lunch before she left today. Sarah ordered Chicken Tacos and I had Gazpacho (I just can't get enough!) and we split an order of delicious fried cheese curds. I was admiring her tacos and kind of wished I had ordered some myself (not chicken, of course) so tonight I was thinking about these tacos I made a few weeks ago. I don't have the ingredients tonight, so I'm just eating leftovers from the BBQ. But I really want these instead.

They are called Garden Fresh not because I grew the mushrooms, but the pico de gallo that goes with it is from the garden- well, at least 1 tomato, the cilantro and the jalapenos.

Garden Fresh Portobello Tacos
Ingredients

• 2 caps Portobello Mushrooms 
• 2 Corn Tortillas (approx 6" dia) 
• 1 1/2 ounces Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese
• 1/4 of Avocados, California (Haas)
• 3 T Pico de Gallo*
*Pico de Gallo

• 1 medium tomato, diced
• a bunch of cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 medium onion (spanish or red), diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• salt to taste

Make it

1. Slice the mushroom caps strips. 

2. Heat a skillet with cooking spray and add shrooms. 

3. Add 1/3 the amount of pico de gallo you have (really you can't have too much!) to the mushrooms, stir. Reduce heat to low. 

4. Shred the cheese (if using), chunk the avocado, and heat the tortillas. Getting them slightly damp before adding to a dry hot pan will help loosen up the tortillas for folding. 

5. Fill the heated tortillas with the mushrooms, avocado, remaining pico de gallo and top with cheese. 

These are really delicious and versatile. Try fresh cilantro and chopped onion. Or add cumin to the mushrooms while they cook. Don't use cheese and it's vegan. Oh the possibilities!! Of course, if you leave the cheese off you have a lesser calorie and fat dinner, but even still this one is just over 300 calories. Amazingly yummy, too! As you can see in the image, the mushrooms and pico mixes make much more than can fit in the tortillas, but makes a lovely salad-like dish to put on the side of this. Oh so satisfying. 

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Serving Size: 2 awesome tacos with extra Pico de Gallo & 'Shroom mixture salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 307.4

Total Fat: 14.7 g

Cholesterol: 15.0 mg

Sodium: 437.8 mg

Total Carbs: 36.7 g

Dietary Fiber: 8.8 g

Protein: 14.8 g

Super Fast, Spicy Tom Yum-Inspired Soup

Tonight I was feeling a little snotty again. I don't know if it's a cold trying to step in or just some kind of allergy thing. I never really had sinus allergies, but I suppose that could have changed. Anyway, I was also craving spicy. So I made this soup that I have made many times before. It's really not a Tom Yum soup, since I rarely have lemon grass, but I don't know what else to call it. I started making it after eating many bowls of Tom Yum at my favorite Chicago Thai restaurant- Butterfly Sushi. 

It always varies based on what's in the fridge veggie drawer. Tonight it was pretty simple. But in the past, I've added shrooms, cilantro, radishes, spinach, tomatoes... it's a pretty open platform as far as soup goes.  This soup also cooks fast, so if you're starving it will sate you quickly.

As implied by the title, this soup is spicy! If you're not into that, probably cut out or reduce the amount of garlic and Sriracha.

Ingredients


1 tsp Grapeseed Oil
1 small Carrots shredded
1/5 block of firm tofu, chopped
2 ½ - 3 tsp Ginger, chopped
3 tsp minced Garlic
1/3 C shredded Red Cabbage
2 medium Scallions, chopped
¼ C Chard leaf, torn
1 ½ tsp Sriracha sauce
1 T soy sauce, light
1 1/2 C tap water



Directions

Prepare and sauté veggies, except chard, ginger and garlic in oil 3-5 minutes, add soy sauce, add tofu, stir 3 minutes more, add water, cover to boil then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chard. Serve hot.

Nutritional Information
Servings Per Recipe: 1 big bowl

• Calories: 191.0 
• Total Fat: 9.5 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 863.5 mg
• Total Carbs: 17.7 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4.2 g
• Protein: 11.7 g

Another tasty, filling meal with tons of nutritional value and low calories. Hooray! I had some rice crackers on the side, too. 

Curried Chickpea Hash

The other day I rehydrated chickpeas thinking I would make a larger batch of something curry related- it is Ramadan after all (no, I am not Muslim nor do I practice Islam- I just like an excuse to make different culturally unique foods, and holidays). Alas, I did not get around to it. Today, while I sat at my regular, real-job desk and thought of things to help me procrastinate from doing real work, I thought about what to make for dinner. I remembered the chickpeas, sitting in water in my fridge. I remembered a big hunk of ginger root and my (I know it's cheating) incredibly convenient jar of crushed garlic. I thought of these really cute onions I picked up from a local farmer (through a great store-front, Green Grocer Chicago) and the sweet pepper that was ripening (on one of my very own garden peppers plant!) as I continued to think. What else can I add? What can I do with all this?

Hash.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking...well, either two things where one involves hog, which given I don't eat that this does not relate, and the other- well, lets just say it's unfortunate that's not legal in this country. What I am talking about is the general idea of foods called hash- a bunch of stuff, usually chopped or shredded, fried in a light oil to browning.

That's exactly what I did. And the recipe follows. Also, I was feeling a little like a cold might be coming on, so I used a lot of ginger and garlic- probably more than I normally would in a dish like this. I also choose to use the Hot Curry Powder vs normal curry, since spicy foods help cleanse as well as ginger and garlic.

With all of that heat and flavor, I wanted something to go along with it to temper it. I made a goat cheese sandwich with fresh from the garden chives, dill and cucumber slices (about 130 calories). It really was a lovely pairing. Thought next time and if calories that day are not an issue for me, I think I'll try it on Na'an or Tandoori bread to go with the rich ginger and curry flavors of the hash.

This hash turned out pretty ok. Something else I might try different is a way to make it stick together more for the browning to work well. See below for complete nutritional info, again brought to us by the resourceful SparkPeople Recipe Calculator. With the sandwich and hash, I had yet another completely filling, satisfying less than 300 calorie dinner! (Sorry the pictures aren't the best. When I make this again, I'll update with prettier images)

Curried Ginger Chickpea Hash Ingredients
Broccoli, fresh, 1 C chopped
Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), 1/3 C pre-soaked
Onions, raw, .25 cup, sliced (1 really small, like a shallot)
Carrots, raw, 0.25 cup, grated in strips (1 small carrot)
Celery, 1/4 C chopped (1 stalk of celery)
Curry (hot or not, up to you) powder, 1 tsp
Garlic, 2 tsp
Ginger Root, 3 tsp

Get Cookin'

1. Boil beans with water, 1/2 ginger, 1/2 garlic and frozen broccoli for about 10-15 minutes, until beans are softer and broccoli is soft as well. 
2. Reserve some of the stock in a small skillet. Drain the rest. Coarsely process the chickpea/broccoli mixture and set aside.
3. While the beans are cooking, prepare the onions and carrots to be slices or shredded and the celery chopped small. Add the vegetables to the water in the skillet, heat and stir to soften the veggies and add the remaining ginger and garlic at this time as well.
4. Drain and remove from pan. Wipe the pan clean, spray with olive oil and heat. Mix both mixtures together and put in the pan making one flat layer covering the whole pan. Fry for a few minutes to brown that side. Then stir and fry more to brown more. 
5. Serve with a tasty sandwich or eggs for a complete meal. 

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 1
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 170.7
Total Fat: 1.7 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 311.8 mg
Total Carbs: 34.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 9.1 g
Protein: 8.2 g

I pack my own lunch: part 1

I love to pack my own lunch to work. I enjoy it for several reasons- because I like what I cook; because I know where the food I am eating came from & bringing my lunch creates far less waste than eating out, i.e., I have control over the impact of my choices; bringing my lunch allows me to have more time to enjoy it vs. trying to procure it.

This summer Gazpacho is pretty much like a staple in my home. I love tomatoes!! But year-round they are nearly impossible to enjoy- especially in the Mid-West (because that's where I live- insert your location and empathize with me according to season). I know you can "get them in winter" but they are from far, far away picked while green and having to ripen on a boat, truck, plane, long before they get to the store- and they taste like yuck! Not to mention their embodied CO2...yikes!!

So this is the time of year to make 'everything tomato' your heart (stomach) desires. And by Gazpacho, clearly I don't mean store bought, of course, I mean homemade. Do I mean traditional Gazpacho? No, I don't think so. The interweb isn't really opening up to what "traditional" means anyway...so I am not really concerned. It seems as though so long as the cold summer soup is tomato based, you can call it gazpacho. And that's exactly what I am doing.

I have also been interested in the nutritional properties of nutritional yeast. I'm trying to cut down on my dairy intake, for many reasons but 2 most significant are to minimize my individual carbon footprint & because I've been hearing more about linkages to lactose and cancer growth (not in a good way). I know nutritional yeast makes a nice "cheesy" flavor for things and it's, well, nutritional! So I've experimented with it for cheese-like foods, including dusting popcorn with it for a cheesy flavor and recently, my favorite, coating raw, pressed, extra firm tofu with it and some salt and pepper.

As I mentioned, bringing my own lunch also cuts down on waste since I don't have to use styrofoam, or plastic-ware of sorts, or other "take-out trash" on a daily basis. At the office, I keep a set of cutlery, a cloth napkin and a container of salt and pepper. I carry my lunch in glass jars that once housed something like salsa, garlic, prepared chutney or some other jarred food. And I have a handy cloth sack that keeps it all together. There's a fridge in the common area near my office, so I don't have to worry about keeping things cold in a portable cooler.

There, now you have the rationale behind what I've been enjoying for the last several weeks: since about mid-June my daily work lunch has consisted of the following (with recipes):

Weekly Gazpacho:
(disclaimer: each week there's a new twist, but the following are the base ingredients- amend as you prefer)

6-7 medium tomatoes, roughly skin 3-4 of them & dice them all
3/4, roughly, C chopped of each of the following
- Red onions (or spanish or Vidalia)
- Celery- Carrots
Fresh Basil leaves, 10 or so, torn
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar

1/2-1 C water

1/2 Haas Avocado, diced

Fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste


I chop everything pretty rough, adding it to a giant bowl as I go along- all except the water and the avocado. Once it's all in the bowl, I then add the water. Using my blender, I "chop" 3/4 of the mixture until it's somewhat smooth, but not too frothy. I return that to the bowl, add the avocado, stir and refrigerate. *This should make about 8 cups, of which 1 cup is a serving.
This week, I added some rough chopped red cabbage to each serving before leaving the house in the AM. That added some nice texture and flavor.

"Cheesy" Tofu:

Tofu, extra firm, 0.2 block (1/5 block pressed)
Nutritional Yeast Flakes, 1T 
Pepper, black, 4 dash (freshly ground, several twists)
Salt, 2 dash
Chop the tofu, add yeast, salt & pepper, stir to coat. Refrigerate until lunch time.  
And I add a piece of fruit (this week, Pears!) for good measure.

(less than 300 calorie, protein & nutrient rich, & low carbon-impact lunch - oh so satisfying!) 

Gazpacho Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 71.7
Total Fat: 3.8 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 71.1 mg

Total Carbs: 9.6 g

Dietary Fiber: 2.9 g

Protein: 1.6 g

"Cheesy Tofu" Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 118.4

Total Fat: 6.1 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 321.9 mg
Total Carbs: 5.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.4 g
Protein: 13.7 g

Pear Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 1
Amount Per Serving (1 medium)
Calories: 97.9Total Fat: 0.7 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 0.0 mg
Total Carbs: 25.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.0 g
Protein: 0.6 g

Pesto Brie & Veggie Sandwich & Salad (baked)

Last night, someone asked me "what are you doing tomorrow?" I said, "I don't really know. I like to keep Sundays free and open and see what moves me or comes of it." And we left it at that. And just as I said, I woke up today with no real plans. It's kind of nice. What ended up moving me today was gardening and cooking. But the weather had other plans, so mostly cooking was accomplished. I also wanted to do some sewing, but I think I've really screwed the machine up and will need to take it to a professional before I can move on with it. I had a lot of time on my hands today, so I decided to revisit the blog world. As updated in the "about this blog and me" page, it's been a long time.
I really want to share cooking and food related information. Plus the occasional random thought, little thing that makes me happy, or thing that makes my face crinkle into "WTF?", or piece of art/sewing I'm working on... Really, I have high hopes, but I've had them before...

So for tonight's post: My Dinner, as I eat it.
In the few minutes I had in the garden, I was able to collect a lot of herbs. Many are flowering (busy life means less time to catch bolting herbs and greens). But I was able to get a ton of basil, some parsley, lots of chives, and some lettuce greens.

Hence, salad was calling my name, especially coupled with this hot-ish summer day (although really stormy!). But I wanted to try a sandwich too. One of my sisters and I have been talking about grilled cheeses for sometime now. She got one yesterday. Today is my turn!

What follows is the ingredient list and instructions for my Pesto Brie Veggie Sandwich and Salad (baked). Feel free to amend whatever, but note that the nutritional information will vary based on your amendments.

The Sandwich

Whole Wheat Bread, 2 slices (I have a great bread that is only 45 calories a slice, please check your bread for info) 

Trader Joe's Goat Brie Cheese at 90 calories per 1 oz 

Fresh chives, long sprigs several 

Zucchini, .5 cup- sliced lengthwise 

Carrots, raw, .5 cup, sliced lengthwise 

Basil leaves torn 

The Salad 

Leaf lettuce, 1.5 cup, chopped 

Red Onions, .25 cup, sliced 

Basil, 5 leaves torn 

Parsley 10 sprigs chopped 

Fresh chives, chopped 

Mushrooms, fresh, .25 cup slices 

(some kind, your preference) Vinegar

Check out my sweet $1 toaster oven!
I <3 thrift/second(3rd, 4th???)-hand treasures.

Instructions:

Cut the zucchini & carrots thick enough to grill (or roast or or bake saute). For tonight, I am going to bake them: I have 3 large slices of each. Spray with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. I used the toaster oven because it's too hot to use the big oven. Plus, it requires less energy, which is a bonus when you're trying to have less impact on the planet and your wallet. On average a toaster oven uses 1/2 the amount of energy as a full size oven. Not less than a microwave, but "microwave" does not compute in my kitchen, so it's a non-argument. Bake on 400 until tender (15 minutes).

Spread 1 tablespoon, between the two pieces bread, of my almond pesto recipe (to be posted soon). Bake for 4 minutes to toast. Add brie to toast and bake 3 more minutes to soften/melt. Remove from oven, layer veggies, add the fresh chives and torn basil leaves and close the sandwich.

Toss lettuce with onions, shrooms, basil, parsley and vinegar (of your choice, I choose red wine). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Another filling, satisfying, lovely meal just under 300 calories but full of nutrients!

I think next time I will have 4 slices of each vegetable and maybe add a leaf of lettuce to the sandwich, or put the mushrooms on the sandwich instead of the salad. Overall this was a tasty dinner!

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 1
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 294.7

• Total Fat: 13.9 g
• Cholesterol: 10.0 mg
• Sodium: 502.1 mg
• Total Carbs: 25.9 g
• Dietary Fiber: 12.2 g
• Protein: 18.7 g
• retrieved from: (http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1758274)