Cabernet Mushrooms w/ Greens & Sweet Potatoes

Oh brother, here I go again with a tremendously long break in between postings. I was afraid of this. But I am going to keep trying. The more I do, the easier it will get- right? Right. Right. I have been cooking and eating, but a lot of that cooking and eating has been on the fly with no real thought. Or it has been for more than just me, in a hurry, and without writing it all down. Like for Thanksgiving. Which by the way, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday and are enjoying leftovers! Maybe you're not, though, and maybe you're looking for something filling but responsibly light (because of the guilty indulgences this weekend perhaps?) for dinner. Well, I think this may be an option for you then. Let me know if you like it.

The other night, I ran out of MRE's (meals-ready-to-eat, no not the Military issue but of my own making) and so it was time to cook it up. I also needed lunch for a few days. But I had a craving for mushrooms for dinner and thought soup for lunches would be nice. And, no I didn't want mushroom soup three times in a row. So I conceded to again make more than one meal at once and be prepared for the next few days.
Of course, I didn't get home until almost 8 o'clock since I went to the gym before leaving work, then stopped for dog treats. My dinner and lunch-soup had to be quick meals so I could get on with the other things needing my attention.
Quick was the intent anyway. And for some, this may be quick compared to past kitchen adventures. For me, it was too long given looming homework as one example of something needing my attention. Regardless, both were damn tasty so I am really not complaining.

Ok, I wanted mushrooms and I wanted a hearty dinner. What should it be then? Well, how about a substantially mushroom based meal accompanied by lush greens and braised sweet potatoes? Yup! That'll do. So yummy, so filling.

Ingredients:

7-8 medium mushrooms halved or quartered

1 C Collards, chopped

1 C Mustard Greens, chopped

1/2 C Onions, raw, sliced in half rings

~ 1/4 C Red (Cab Sauv) Wine 

1 C Sweet potato, cubed/diced large

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

All natural, real olive oil cooking spray (not Pam or some weird, can't pronounce it, ingredient list of a "food-like-product")

Make It:

1. Spray a small skillet or pan with the olive oil spray and heat to med-hi heat. Add the cubed sweet potato in one layer and "fry" to brown and soften the potatoes. This might take as long as 20 minutes, but should take less than that. Make sure to turn them over for even cooking. When finished keep on warm. 
2. Meanwhile, but pay attention to the sweet potatoes so they don't burn!, prepare the rest of the vegetables as described in the ingredient list and get the seasonings together as well. This will all come together pretty quickly. 
3. Heat a large skillet with olive oil spray. add onions to saute. Stir for a few minutes, then add spices and mushrooms, stir for 2-3 more minutes. Finally, add the greens and stir only 1 minute. Add the red wine (watch it, it will steam and pop!) and cover the pan while reducing the heat to simmer, very low. Steam for 3 minutes or so. Check greens for wilt but not mush. Remove the mix from the pan to a serving dish and cover to keep warm; reserve the liquid in the pan and reheat to medium. Quickly, add a few dashes of cornstarch to the liquid to thicken it like a gravy. 
4. Place sweet potatoes on the plate, uncover the mushroom mix and pour the gravy over the mix.
5. Enjoy!

This ridiculously filling meal is packed with nutrients, including a healthy portion of protein, and is very low in fat and calories. Hoorah!

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 265.6

Total Fat: 1.3 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 108.7 mg

Total Carbs: 55.6 g

Dietary Fiber: 13.2 g

Protein: 12.7 g

Mustard Caraway Lentils & Stuffed Squash

I mentioned in my last post that I had a friend stay with the Critters this last week and that I cooked up a feast for his stay. I shared with you the Spicy & Sweet-Potato Soup recipe in that last post and I am happy to report- he loved it. But the thing he loved more and has repeatedly said so since his stay was the Stuffed Carnival Squash, which was stuffed with a fancy new twist on lentil stew that I am calling, Mustard Caraway Lentils. I made a large batch of lentils and had plenty to eat for dinner the night I was cooking all of this... I put my lentils over spaghetti squash (see pictures and nutritional info below). I also have enough lentils now for a few lunches the rest of this week. Perfect!

As I was thinking about the menu for my friends' stay, I thought about the blog and how I would share the menu with you. I also thought, man I make a lot of curry. I really wanted to make curry lentils for the squash, but decided to try something new. So I looked in the cupboard to see what flavors I had and happened upon this package of cracked mustard seed I picked up in Devon on my last visit there (I think I've mentioned Devon before- the neighborhood in Chicago that has all the fabulous Indian foods). Then I saw the jar of caraway seeds. I never use caraway seeds, but I love the flavor! So I decided I had to try to cook with them. I also had a ton of tomatoes from the garden which made a great base for the lentil stew. The result?  Really yummy lentils!

Do you know about the health benefits of the Caraway seed? I have recently read a bit about the seed and am intrigued! As a matter of fact, while I sit and type this post I am drinking a cup of caraway and ginger tea. Mmm. According to a few sites, Caraway seeds are a great digestive and even help babies with colic! I am constantly complaining of bloating and supposedly this tea will help that. We'll see...

Here's a blurb from one site: 

Caraway promotes gastric secretion and stimulates appetite. It breaks down spasms in the gastrointestinal tract to prevent flatulence, but it is also used to treat menstrual cramps and gallbladder spasms. The German E commission reports that caraway seeds are an antimicrobial, and can relieve the feeling of bloating or fullness associated with indigestion and stomach complaints. Caraway oil is strongly fungicidal, having a stronger anti-fungal and anti-yeast activity than the prescription medication Nystatin. Caraway seed oil is used as a flavoring agent in pharmaceuticals, a fragrance in cosmetics and body care products, and is used in all major categories of food, from meat to candy to condiments. 

I'll let you know if I feel any relief from the caraway tea. For now, the Mustard Caraway Lentil recipe...

Ingredients for Lentils:

2 C Tomatoes, chopped 

½ C Onions, chopped

3 cloves Garlic

½ C Celery

2 tsp Olive oil

1 ½ C Water 

½ T Cracked Mustard

1 tsp Caraway Seed

½ tsp salt

1 tsp coriander 

1 C lentils, dry

* Ingredients for the rest of the dish includes

Squash - 1 small carnival and 1 small spaghetti squash

Collards or some kind of greens, 1 cup chopped. 

Make It:

First prepare the squash. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the top off the carnival squash and scoop out the seeds. Place squashes flesh side down (shell up) in a shallow dish with about 1 inch of water. Bake at 375-400 until the flesh is soft.

While the squash is cooking prepare the lentils. Add the oil to a large pan that has a lid. Chop the tomatoes, onions and celery and mince the garlic and add it all to the pan. Cook on medium heat to mix the flavors and saute a little bit for 5-10 minutes. The tomatoes will start to stew which is what you want. Add the spices and water. Bring to a boil and add the lentils. Stir boiling for a few minutes, then reduce to simmer, cover and cook until lentils are soft. About 30 minutes or so. 

I wanted something green with this and had some collards and kale. For the friend, I made collards. For me, kale. I steamed them with garlic powder and pepper. 

Again, another awesome meal for less than 300 calories. So filling, so nutritious, so fabulous!

Nutritional Info (for lentils only)

Servings Per Recipe: 6

• Calories: 149.8
• Total Fat: 2.4 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 209.8 mg
• Total Carbs: 19.9 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.3 g
• Protein: 13.1 g

* One cup of spaghetti squash adds about 42 calories and the collards or kale add about 15 calories. 

Base Soup Meal 3 - Spicy Red Bean Chili

Good-bye Summer 2011, at times you were twisted and confounded, other times fun and exciting, but I loved you just the same. Now you're gone and I already can't wait to have you back again.

It's getting cooler. Today was the last day of Summer (9/22/2011- I know I am posting this after the fact, but it's what I can do to stay ahead). I am very, very sad about this. I really don't like Winter anymore and while Fall is beautiful, it still is colder than I like and undoubtedly means Winter is on the way. I do like Fall and Winter foods, though, so that's something to look forward to.
As the season changes it's time to make Chili-- so, I herald: Bring on the Fall and Winter Food! (Like I said, it's pretty much the best thing about the next several, long months.) Oh- back up a minute- as you might be aware, the Chili will be the result of the massive Garden Tomato Base Soup or Sauce I made several days ago now.
Ok, so I woke up this day and realized I hadn't soaked beans over night. Hence, I decided to use the crock-pot as it's meant to be used. Because I was using the crock-pot, I made way more beans than I used in this recipe, but that's okay. They will come in handy for the next meal I think. Plus, it's really silly to make 1 serving of beans from dry beans- especially in a crock-pot- given the effort involved.
Before this time, I had never left the crock-pot on all day while I was away at work. It just seemed scary to me. I know, I know, that's what they are for. But still! It's kind of weird, no?  I think I felt more comfortable this time, though, because I now have a dog walker*. He's awesome for so many reasons- for example in this instance, when he came to relieve the Girls mid-day, he could tell me if the place was burned down or burning down or if he believed it would burn down if he didn't unplug the scary-left-alone-crock-pot. Perfect.
And so with total (shaky) confidence at 630 AM, into the crock-pot went 1/2 cup of beans covered with more water than usual, maybe 2 cups (again so no burning happened), plus a bay leaf or 2 for good measure, set on low and I walked out the door, hoping for the best. This worked out pretty well. Except, I got distracted on my way home from work and totally forgot I had the beans on. So, they were a little softer than usual...but that actually surprised me.  I had them in the pot, on low for about 12 hours. I thought for sure without soaking them, the beans would still be pretty firm by the time I got to them. Maybe if I had made it home in 10 hours, like normal, they'd have been just perfectly cooked, still slightly firm and completely whole. As it was, they were on the more-mushy-but-still-looks-mostly-like-a-bean side. I am thrilled with my new knowledge of crock-pot bean cookin'! I'll definitely make more beany dishes in the crock this Winter.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C base tomato soup or sauce

1/2 C cooked Red Kidney beans

1/4 C chopped onions

2 T chili powder

1/2 T garlic powder

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

dash of salt to taste

Make It:

1. Cook those beans in the slow cooker (crock-pot)! You could cook them with the spices, but I wasn't sure what else I would use the beans for, so decided to cook them plain with just the bay leaves

2. Heat the base soup to a boil and stir in all the spices. Reduce to simmer, add chopped onions and cover. Simmer for at least 15 minutes. 

3. Scoop out 1/2 cup of beans, mostly beans and a little of the crock-pot cooking liquid, and add to the base mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes to heat everything through. 

4. Toast your favorite chili bread (be it garlic bread, polenta, corn muffins, texas toast, etc.).

5. Pour Chili into a big bowl, serve with your toasted chili bread. 

Oh so easy and delicious! The chili really turned out pretty yummy. I wish I had not dilly-dallied after work or I would have made polenta or corn muffins to go with it. Instead I had some garlic toast. Still not bad, but not the perfect side for chili- in my opinion anyway.

This Chili is brought you by the number 288. As in, only 288 calories make this giant bowl of yumminess and is packed with more than 12 grams of protein. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 288.2

Total Fat: 6.9 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 653.1 mg

Total Carbs: 52.5 g

Dietary Fiber: 19.1 g

Protein: 12.5 g

Base Soup Meal 1 - Basil Soup & Grilled Chevre Sandwich

I received some sage advice on keeping up with this blog from some fabulous friends (thanks Ladies- Sarah, Lauren & Melissa- you are beautiful). One thing that I will certainly consider is that I don't have to post to you everyday, so long as I am consistent. Well, I am going to do my best then to be consistent and post on Sunday and Thursday of the week. That's my intent- we'll see how well I stick to it.


Given this intent the recipes and meals I made from the big batch of GardenTomato Base Soup or Sauce will be the topic of the next several posts and weeks. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do eating them. If I get more inspiration or, really, more time then I might post more frequently. At least for this series in case you, too, are sitting on a bunch of tomatoes you're not quite sure what to do with.

As you may recall, I posted last about a Garden Tomato Base Soup or Sauce. This was the result of having a TON of tomatoes and not knowing what 1 person could do with them all. I have since managed to make use of nearly all of them. I made this giant batch of soup or sauce and stuck in the fridge, each night (well almost each) making something new with it.
I mentioned in that first base post that I was so tired after cooking all the tomatoes, I opted for something extremely simple. So I made a tomato basil soup and grilled a sandwich with fresh basil and goat cheese. Nothing too fancy, but really, really satisfying!

This is not the most exciting post I'll share, however, it is the first of the dishes I've made with the Base Soup/Sauce and as promised I am telling you about it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C Base Soup or Sauce
1-2 T fresh chopped and torn basil
1/4 T garlic powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup onion rings
2 slices of low-calorie, whole wheat, no crap added bread (45 calories a slice in this recipe and still NO crap added!)
1/2 oz soft goat cheese
Olive Oil Spray

Make It:

1. Bring the base tomato soup to a boil, add spices and reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for several minutes while you slice the onions and prepare the bread.
2. Prepare the bread by smearing the goat cheese on both pieces, but only 1 side of each. Then place largely torn pieces of basil on the cheese. Set aside.
3. Heat a small frying pan with some olive oil or olive oil spray and stir-fry or 'grill' the onions until browned. Remove from pan.
4. Add the remaining basil to the soup and stir. Cover and keep on simmer.
5. Return frying pan to heat, coat with olive oil spray, place 1 piece of bread (cheese side up!) in the pan, add the onions to the cheese side and then place the other piece of bread (cheese side down!) on top of it. Cook on med-hi heat to brown and then flip to grill the other side. Slice in half.
6. Pour the hot soup into a soup bowl and serve with the grilled sandwich.

Again, not too involved but a really tasty meal! And it's really low in calories but high in nutrients! Under 300 calories and over 16 grams of protein- not to mention all that C and A from the tomatoes and everything else in there. You really can't go wrong with this simple little dish.

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 263.0

Total Fat: 7.9 g

Cholesterol: 6.5 mg

Sodium: 908.9 mg

Total Carbs: 37.0 g

Dietary Fiber: 13.7 g

Protein: 16.8 g

Garden Tomato Base Soup or Sauce

I am having a hard time keeping up with the garden this season. With work, school and all the other committees or groups I work with, it's just been a lot. I knew I had to get in there and do some watering, weeding and picking of fresh food. So, one night last week, I came home from work and took the Girls over thinking I'd work into the night, sweating, pulling weeds, trimming vines, and really get the garden back in shape. Well, I didn't get much maintenance completed because most of my time was spent harvesting a ton of tomatoes, and other vegetables and herbs!
What the heck was I going to do, for a party of 1, with all these tomatoes? I am not ready to bust out the canning gear. I already have some delicious sauce saved in the freezer. I don't have dinner or lunch really planned for this work week, so I should do something with it that will be eaten this week. But that's a lot of tomatoes! So I decided I would make a giant batch of "base soup or sauce" and use it to make 5 different meals this week. I thought it might be fun to see what different things I can create with the same base ingredients.
So far, so good. I'll post them as I get time. But one night was tomato basil soup with grilled chevre sandwich and the other night was creamy, spicy curry soup with grilled Na'an. Next, I think I'll make a sauce and smother grilled eggplant (see those lovely fairytale eggplants above? mmm...) and polenta or maybe make a minestrone...oh, there's a dish I remember making that involves doughy biscuits and tomato soup, that might be nice...
But for now, I am going to share the method and ingredients for the Base Soup or Sauce. I used what I had in the cupboard and fridge. If I were planning this ahead of time I probably would have used more carrots and less celery. As it was I had a little over 1 C of chopped onion, and a little less than 1 C of each celery and carrots. I also had about 40-45 romas and 3 medium sized beef-steaky types  (both are  called some other names as heirloom tomatoes, but I can't remember them).

Ingredients:
27, Italian (Roma) Tomatoes, blanched and peeled - I weighed them, but I don't know if my scale is that accurate and the calorie tool I use didn't want weight, it asked for #. The weight was 40oz.
3, medium tomatoes, peeled - again I weighed these and they were about 10 ounces
1+ C Onions, chopped
-1 C Carrots, chopped
-1 C Celery, diced
1 T Olive Oil
4 tsp Garlic, minced
1 tsp white pepper powder
1 C cup water





Make it

1. Wash, blanch in hot water then a cool water bath, and peel the tomatoes. I didn't bother seeding them, but you can if you want to work that much harder. 
2. Chop celery, carrots, onions and mince (or use jarred garlic) garlic.
3. Add everything to a giant stock pot.
4. Add white pepper and water. Boil on high for 15 minutes, reduce to simmer. Blend with hand held blender.
5. Cover and cook down for 45 minutes or longer if you have time. 

This makes a chuncky-ish type base. By the time this base was finished, I was really hungary. My first meal with it then is not my most creative work. I just made a really simple soup without blending or processing further and dressed it up with a grilled sandwich. It was really great. But I sat and thought of other, creamier ve chevre rsions. Stay tuned...

Serving Size: 5, 1.5 cup servings

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 5
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 140.5

• Total Fat: 4.2 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 73.9 mg
• Total Carbs: 26.0 g
• Dietary Fiber: 6.2 g
• Protein: 4.4 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)