A couple of coleslaws

I'm not sure what the rules are for considering something coleslaw.  When I was a kid it came from KFC and was ignored in its sad little Styrofoam cup.  Now, I think of it as a salad that it is featured in many magazines and episodes of Chopped often atop sandwiches.

To me... coleslaw consists of crunchy veggies mixed with just the right amount of sauce (the veggies must be recognizable in taste and texture and covered but not dripping in sauce).  I think it's delicious!

The following slaw recipe is pretty versatile depending on what kind of sauce you put on it.  You could use mayo, sugar and vinegar to get a more traditional slaw but I prefer something a little more sweet and sour (not to be confused with the bright red sauce that accompanies crab rangoons).

sweet, sour coleslaw

4 small carrots
1/4 purple cabbage

1/4 Cup peanut butter
2 T rice wine vinegar
2 T water
a handful of sesame seeds
a handful of peanuts

Shred carrots and cabbage with the food processor's shredding disc ... ( or use a vegetable peeler to create more ribbon-like pieces of carrot and chop your cabbage finely) and set aside in a bowl.
In another bowl mix peanut butter, vinegar and water until it turns liquid-y and has the desired balance of sweet and sour (you may need to add more of one of the 3 ingredients to get to this point).
Combine veggies and sauce.
Garnish with peanuts and sesame seeds!

I had extra carrots so I also made this other, sweeter salad with raisins.

carrot raisin slaw/salad

3 small carrots
1/4 C raisins
2 or 3 T mayo
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. sugar

Shred carrots.
Mix with raisins in a bowl.
In another bowl, mix up mayo, sugar and vinegar.
Combine then enjoy!


In preparation for days where I will need to pack my lunch, I now have some tasty food waiting for me!

Another Quinoa Bowl Idea

Happy New Year!!

This week I finally feel like I'm getting back on track after the weird schedules of Christmas and New Years plus winter blizzard/snow day craziness!  Was it just me or did it seem like there were more Christmas cookies around than usual? It was wonderful to be able to spend time with family and friends, but I'm also grateful to be getting back to a normal schedule, though I'm still on semester break from school.  On Sunday I planned, shopped and have been cooking again!!

I haven't been using a lot of recipes lately.  Either out of just convenience or instinct, I'm not sure which it is yet, I've been doing more ingredient combining rather than following others written recipes.  A couple recipes I know quite well by now as they've been popping up at the table many times this season (for instance: butternut squash soup, roasted Brussels sprouts, and black bean soup).

Here's a dish I made last night.... a tasty quinoa bowl that comes together quickly.  I like to use quinoa in a dish where I might use rice and vice versa.  Lately I have been just throwing things together that sound good.

On Winter evenings  I find myself just wanting to eat something steaming hot that comes in a big bowl and can be eaten with a fork or spoon rather than the sandwiches, salads and grilled items that are so good in the warmer months.

What ingredients would you put in a quinoa or rice bowl?  

ingredients:
1 c quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 C vegetable broth or water

1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 C frozen corn
a handfull or two of raw spinach
1/4 lb. pork sausage
1 C black beans, drained and rinsed

salt, pepper, olive oil

condiments:  hot sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream (salsa might also be good!)

Set the water/broth on the stove on high heat, then rinse the quinoa.
Add quinoa and heat to boiling.  Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low.

Prep other ingredients.

Heat olive oil in large skillet and add onions, salt and pepper.  Cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add sausage breaking it up into small pieces.  When sausage begins to brown, Add corn and beans.  Stir and cook on medium heat.  Add spinach last right before plating.  Cook until lightly wilted. Season with salt and pepper and add hot sauce if desired.

Check on the quinoa.  It should be done and the water should almost be gone.  Keep covered and if it's done turn off the heat, if not quite done, keep it on low for a few minutes more.

Mix quinoa and other ingredients in a large bowl.

Serve with toppings such as cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, or salsa... perhaps avocado!

Enjoy!

Seasonal Summer Cooking: Sweet Corn!

It's finally here.  Iowa Sweet Corn!  A few ears may be found early in the summer, but a sure sign that sweet corn is in its prime are the appearance of roadside stands and mountains of the beautiful ears in supermarkets.  Sweet corn is an Iowa icon... and from now until the end of sweet corn season, it will be eaten several times a week.  You better believe that when I get a good chunk of time, I'll buy an embarrassingly large quantity of corn to stash in the freezer!

A delicious, local summer traditional treat!! 

But what will I do with this mountain of corn?

While corn is great on its own as a side or a main dish ( and if its really good and fresh it doesn't even need butter or salt!) last night I used corn to dress up pasta dish.

1/2 box whole wheat spaghetti
2 cups corn kernels
2 or 3 strips of bacon
1-2 cloves of garlic
2 Tablespoons fresh basil pesto
parmesan cheese

bring a large pot of water to boil.
meanwhile, cut the kernels off corncobs. (2 or 3 should make 2 cups)
cook the bacon in a skillet until brown, set aside on paper towels to drain.
wipe most of the bacon grease from the skillet, saving a very small amount in the pan for cooking in the next step.
hopefully your water will be boiling at this time.  add pasta.
while pasta cooks, grate or mince the garlic.
heat the skillet to medium and add corn and garlic.
chop the bacon into small pieces.
when pasta is finished, drain and bring pack to pot.
add corn and garlic mixture, bacon and the pesto.  mix well.
serve with generous amount of grated parmesan cheeese.

if you have extra corn, throw some in your side salad with fresh summer tomatoes!

Grown Up Brunch

Do you ever have those moments when you realize, "I'm a grown up."  I had one of those over the weekend when I hosted a baby shower for a coworker of mine.  I made most of the food and cleaned my house and many people came over to enjoy a nice brunch. I was excited to provide most of the food. It was the weekend before finals began so you might be thinking, are you crazy offering to do all that cooking? Yes. And no. I made it easy for myself by prepping two dishes in about an hour and planned it so that they'd be baked the morning of the shower. 

Here's what I made...

overnight baked french toast

ingredients:

1 loaf French bread
6-8 eggs
1/2 C milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. fresh nutmeg
butter

slice bread into 1-1.5 inch wide slices.  i cut off the smaller end pieces and saved them for something else.  Ryan ate them with jam. 

next, whisk the eggs, milk and spices in a big bowl.

grease the bottom and sides of a 9x13 glass baking dish with butter.  just take the stick of butter and rub it on the pan!

using tongs, dunk each piece of bread in the egg mixture and place it in the pan.  see my photo above of how i layered them so there was enough room.  pour any remaining egg mixture evenly on top of the bread.

cover with foil and let soak in the fridge over night!

the next morning, heat oven to 375 and take the dish out of fridge to let it warm up a little before hitting that hot oven.  i put a dab of butter on each piece of bread before it went into the oven. put the foil back on.

bake for 45-60 minutes.
top with maple syrup, walnuts and raisins!


I also made this...  because, as my good friend Nichole has taught me, it isn't brunch without an egg dish AND a sweet dish.  

baked eggs with veggies

ingredients*:
10-12 eggs
1/2 C milk
zucchini, sliced in thin matchsticks
1/2 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2-3 green onions, diced
salt and pepper

*add whatever ingredients you want to this egg dish.  the vegetables that made it into mine are what I had on hand at the moment.  the possibilities are endless!

chop veggies.
whisk eggs and milk, salt and pepper.
lightly spray a 9x13 glass baking dish with oil
add eggs, add veggies.
cover with foil and store in fridge until time to bake (if you do this, remember to give it a little time to warm up from that cold night in the fridge). or cover with foil and bake right away!
bake at 375 for 45 minutes until eggs are set.

The food at this baby shower brunch didn't stop there.  Catherine contributed a fruit salad and Aimee made pumpkin waffles. That happened to be vegan.  Oh, did I mention that she trekked 1-2 miles to my house on her bike?  Toting waffle batter and her industrial strength Belgian waffle maker?  Oh yes she did.  Read about her adventure here.  Aimee is a devoted cyclist.  What will she tote on her two wheels next? 

If you have to host a brunch soon, say for Mother's day?  Or you just want to treat yourself and a loved one to a nice breakfast without a lot of hassle, make one or both of these overnight/make-ahead dishes.  You will be happy you did, come the next morning.

A Frittata Idea

I make frittatas very often and don't share my recipes often enough! Here's what I made last night...

Remember the half bunch of asparagus I put in my veggie quinoa bowl?  The rest found its way into this delicious Friday night frittata. In fact, it was the star.  Sometimes I like to load the egg dish with veggies, but not this time.  Here's the run down.

ingredients:

6 eggs
1/2 bunch of asparagus cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1-2 Tbsp goat cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper

preheat oven to 400.
whisk 6 eggs, add salt and pepper.
coat oven proof pan with olive oil, paying attention to the sides, I usually use spray oil.
heat olive oil in pan on the stove.
pour eggs into hot pan.
add asparagus, spreading it all around the pan.
add small chunks of goat cheese throughout.
by this time, the egg should begin to set. 
place the entire dish into the oven for about 20 minutes.

Roasted Yukon gold potatoes and a simple spinach salad made this a nice Friday night meal after a long week.

To make the side dish: Cut 8-10 Yukon golds into bite sized pieces.  Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika.  Put in the oven, 10 minutes before you begin prepping the frittata.  Stir a few times. They should be done by the time the frittata is brown around the edges.

Veggie Quinoa Bowl in 30 Minutes or Less

Here is a very quick, delicious dinner you can prep after a long day of work!  Here's what I did.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/2 can chickpeas, drained
1 red bell pepper, sliced lengthwise
1/4-1/2 red onion, sliced
1/2 bunch of asparagus, stalks broken into thirds
3 handfuls washed spinach
olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions: 
Bring veggie broth to a boil.  Add quinoa and set stove to medium-low heat.  Cover. 

Wash and prep veggies. Wait until quinoa has about 5-7 minutes left to cook (quinoa usually takes about 15-20 minutes, and at the 5 minute mark most of the liquid should be gone, if you still have a lot of liquid remaining, turn up the heat, just be careful not to burn it.).

Heat olive oil in a sautee pan on high, add peppers, onions and asparagus.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Add spinach in the last minute and cook until wilted.  Add chickpeas.  Turn heat off.
By this time, the quinoa should be done.  If all the liquid is not yet gone, drain the quinoa if you don't like it brothy.  Transfer your vegetables to a bowl and mix in the quinoa.

I Made Your Dinner!

I made the sweet potato black bean burritos tonight.  I will admit that at first I was a bit leery of the sweet potato and black bean combo for what reason I cannot understand since I LOVE both ingredients.  The aversion was 100% foolish.  What a terrifically tasty combination.  This is a delicious and easy dinner.  Just be careful not to burn the cumin seeds or the potatoes (I almost did!) the outer edges of those potatoes will brown before the rest is tender.  Watch the heat carefully and you'll be all right. 

sweet potatoes with cumin seeds

sweet potatoes combined with corn, beans and diced tomatoes

A couple things I did differently...  I made about a half recipe (our fridge is full of leftovers!).  Ryan had 2 small burritos, I had one and there was a little left over.  Also, I had some leftover diced tomatoes with green chiles from the last time I made black bean soup so threw those in.  I also didn't have any cilantro or fresh limes wedges so I omitted them.

I paired the burritos with a side of quiona with golden raisins and chopped almonds.

Bring 1 Cup water + 1 tsp veggie bouillon to a boil.  Add 1/2 Cup quinoa.  Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.

Toast a teaspoon of ground cumin and a some red pepper flakes in a hot skillet.  Add about a handful each of chopped almonds and golden raisins to the skillet and heat until raisins begin to puff up (don't walk away it doesn't take long).  Add to quinoa.  The quinoa is done when most of the liquid is gone and the quinoa has grown larger and formed little rings around the outside.

This quinoa dish is a perfect example of my "well-stocked pantry" mentality. I hadn't really planned a side for this dinner and threw this together by taking a quick peek in the pantry while thinking about the spices included in the main dish.  I usually stock up on walnuts (I put them in so many dishes), almonds and other dried fruits for snacking, to toss in with my hot cereal, baking whims, etc.  I like to keep a variety of versatile grains on hand: several kinds of rice, lentils, quinoa, bulgur, barley, etc. to mix with veggies or other ingredients as I have done here. 


I highly recommend this dish to everyone!

Your Kitchen Table Friend,
Allison 

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos

Here's an easy meal we put together last weekend. In the winter I'm always looking for delicious ways to get more veggies in while I wait for those farmer's markets to open up again late spring! Sweet potato sauteed in spices make this burrito a very satisfying lunch or light dinner. Prep time is only about 15 minutes. That's pretty quick in my opinion!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp veg oil
2 tsp paprika
salt & pepper
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 can chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup corn
a handful of chopped fresh cilantro
some sour cream or whole fat yogurt
lime wedges, to garnish

Toss the sweet potato with the paprika, salt & pepper and the oil. Dry roast the cumin in a hot pan until fragrant. Add the sweet potato mixture and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the edges are golden brown and the insides are tender (about 10 minutes.) Meanwhile, combine the black beans, chopped tomatoes and corn in a small saucepan and heat through. Add the cilantro.

Spoon bean and sweet potato mixtures into warm flour tortillas. Add a dollop of sour cream or yogurt and a squeeze of fresh lime, roll up and enjoy.