More adventures in food

I had a good weekend, but it wasn't filled with the long list of everything I got to do and photos that usually come on Mondays. I think I was just burned out and needed some down time this weekend. I still had plenty going on, but I also turned some stuff down to get things done and go to bed early. 


I would like to report on two things I ate this weekend. I was at lunch with two of my friends, and they told me I needed to document my lunch. We were at a local restaurant where they supposedly have the best pizza crust. They had limited choices for lunch, but I was really brave and ordered a pizza with artichoke pesto, roasted red peppers and goat cheese.

I'll say the goat cheese was what swayed me, but the artichoke pesto was pretty amazing and I didn't even pick off the peppers. I was pretty proud of myself.


The other thing I ate this weekend was chili. That may seem like a normal and safe choice to you, but it's something I've always been. If I'm in a situation where I have no choice, I can usually eat enough to be polite. And I remember a time when I was on a mission trip and chili was all there was for dinner. The beans are usually what get me, and I remember this one having a lot of those big, mushy beans. I hated it and didn't want to eat any of it. But that was all there was, and my youth leader literally sat with me and told me to smile after every bite. It was like I was 5, and I was probably acting that age.


Anyway, on Sunday I voluntarily went to a chili cook-off with church. I did not try the 10 different chilis, and the one I did eat was called "Traditional." So I wasn't so far out of the box, but I did eat and enjoy an entire bowl of chili. 


I didn't compete in the chili cook-off, but I didn't go empty-handed either. I found a recipe for a green bean dish that didn't have to be hot, and I was able to use the last of my green beans. I liked it, and it was all gone after the party. Here's the recipe:


Green Bean Salad from The Food Network

• 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed
• 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped red onion
• 2 teaspoons walnut oil or olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water with a steamer basket to a boil, add green beans and steam for about 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Toast the walnuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat until they become fragrant, about 2 minutes, and then transfer them to a small bowl to cool. Add the parsley and onion to the walnuts and stir to combine.

In another small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard. Toss the dressing with the green beans, top with the walnut mixture and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Still surprising myself

My pick-up this week had some of the same but also some new things. Green beans returned, and I realized I had actually missed them, despite this post. Plus they were the thin, round ones, which I prefer to the flat ones. Cantaloupes were repeated, and lettuce really is sticking around.

But I got a watermelon, which is a first.

And the first of what I expect will be many shares of apples.

And then I got peppers. Somehow I have avoided peppers, even though they have been on the list before. I either trade them or they've been out of them anyway by the time I pick up. Not this week, though. I got a green pepper and these snack peppers:

Of all the things I am picky about and have actually come to like, I never expected peppers to make the list of things I would even try, much less like. Anytime peppers have been in a salad or something I wasn't expecting and I've gotten a bite of one, I would either spit it out or swallow it whole. I was not very polite about not liking peppers.

But I have eaten and even liked these snack peppers. Even though they have the pepper smell, they are actually sweet and not spicy at all. I'm not saying I'm going to like all peppers, but I might be more willing to taste them. So far I've stuffed them with goat cheese and warmed them in the toaster oven, put them on a pizza and just eaten them plain.

I'm wondering what else I will be surprised by over the next few months.

Recipes galore

I managed to find some inspiration and cooked up a few things this week. Of course the major accomplishment is that I finished the green beans!

As I said last week I was looking for a new way to make green beans and since I got tomatoes this week I did some googling for recipes. I came up with this, and though it wasn't my favorite, it made for a decent dinner and used up the green beans. Of course I only made as much I wanted to actually eat and guessed at the amounts.

Sauteed Green Beans with Tomatoes and Basil
    •    1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
    •    2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    •    1 tablespoon olive oil
    •    3 large shallots, thinly sliced (left these out)
    •    2 garlic cloves, minced
    •    1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used fresh)
    •    1/4 cup dry white wine
    •    2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
    •    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    •    Parmesan Crisps (I didn't make these, it's basically cooking a clump of parmesan cheese, but I do wish I had added parmesan cheese at the end.)

Cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling water until just crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Drain well; set aside.
Melt the butter and oil in a heavy, large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Add the beans and cook until the juices evaporate and the beans are almost tender, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Stir in the wine and basil. Simmer 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl, and serve.

Then I took the advice of the commenters on my last post about the plums. I found this recipe for a peach and plum jam/spread that was surprisingly easy, and it tastes pretty good too!

Microwave Peach Plum Butter Recipe
    •    1 cup finely chopped, peeled peaches
    •    1 cup pitted, chopped plums
    •    1 tablespoon water
    •    1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    •    1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I used nutmeg because I didn't
    •    1/2 cup granular no-calorie sucralose sweetener (such as Splenda®)

        Combine peaches, plums, and water in a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl. Heat in the microwave on high in 3 minute intervals, stirring between heating, until mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon, ginger, and sweetener. Pour fruit butter into a jar. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Then last night I halved the three plums I had left and cooked them on my grill pan and added them to a salad. (I have to add that my grill pan is one of the best purchases I've made for my kitchen. This week alone I've grilled corn, plums and cooked pancakes on the griddle side.)

A few weeks ago, I found this recipe for cornbread that calls for fresh corn and basil, but I was out of corn and my basil was dead (some rain and me actually watering the plant have brought it back to life, though I can't say the same for my thyme). Anyway, I decided to make it last night to have with my salad. It is good cornbread, but the basil that gives it an interesting flavor.


Fresh Corn and Basil Cornbread

    •    1 1/2 cups buttermilk (One of the greatest tricks I learned from Pioneer Woman is that you can make buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of lowfat milk, adjust based on how much you need.)
    •    3 large eggs
    •    1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
    •    2 cups yellow cornmeal
    •    1 cup all purpose flour
    •    1/2 cup sugar
    •    4 teaspoons baking powder
    •    1 teaspoon salt
    •    1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced (I only had salted butter and had already mixed in the salt. I didn't think it came out too salty though.)
    •    1 1/2 cups fresh cornkernels (from 3 ears)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 9x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, and basil in large bowl. Blend cornmeal and next 4 ingredients in food processor for 5 seconds. Add 1/2 cup butter; blend until coarse meal forms. Add corn kernels. Using 8 on/off turns, blend until kernels are coarsely chopped. Stir dry ingredients into buttermilk mixture; transfer to pan.
Bake cornbread until golden on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

And then because apparently cooking has become my latest hobby (and I worked an earlier shift), I decided to make blueberry muffins. Not that I need anymore muffins, but this is the last batch of blueberries until I get frozen ones in November and I had been wanting to try this recipe (plus this is probably the only time I'll have plain yogurt). Pioneer Woman calls these the Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins, and I have to agree. They are by far the best muffins I've made.

The Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins

• 3 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• Heavy pinch of salt

• Dash of Nutmeg

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 1 egg

• 1 generous cup plain, unflavored yogurt (throw in extra if you want)
• 
2 cups fresh blueberries

• Vanilla Extract

• Softened Butter, for muffin tins

• Turbinado sugar (optional)

 Preheat oven to 385 degrees.

In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In another large bowl whisk together sugar, oil, capful of vanilla, egg, and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients and stir to a count of 10.
Add blueberries, reserving 1/2 cup, to mixture and stir 3 times.
Add mixture to well-buttered muffin pans. Sprinkle remaining berries on top and press down lightly. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over top. (Brown sugar can be used instead.)
Bake 20 to 25 minutes and allow to cool completely.

There's also a recipe for a yogurt blueberry sauce, but I didn't think it was necessary.

I've still got a few things left, but I think I'm going to have to pull out a chicken soon!

The never ending green beans

A few weeks ago I discovered that I did like fresh green beans and found some good ways to prepare them. Then I got another pound of green beans at my next pick-up, and I'm starting to think they are multiplying in my fridge. I swear I've been eating them, but there's always more that need to be eaten.

When I went out to eat last weekend, the waitress said they didn't have green beans as the menu said but had asparagus instead. I was ready to make a trade to get some asparagus for my green beans. Something tells me they would not have gone for it.

Anyway, I was starting to feel like I had no other way to cook them until I did some searching on allrecipes. I found this recipe for pasta with green beans, new potatoes, pesto and yogurt, which shockingly I had all of the ingredients. (I bought the yogurt for peach smoothies.) While I would have left out the potatoes, this was actually a good way to eat my green beans, in fact I considered them the key ingredient, although I'll eat just about anything with some pesto on it.

I woke up with a cold Wednesday morning (still not sure why since it's July!), and I decided to eat more green beans for dinner last night since I couldn't taste anything anyway. I was talking with someone about preparing the green beans the same way I cooked asparagus (i.e. with olive salt in the toaster oven). I also cooked some thinly sliced new potatoes, and it actually made for a decent meal considering I wasn't that hungry to begin with.

But even after all of that, I still have green beans left, but it doesn't look like I will be getting more with my share this week, which is a relief!

Always go for the bacon

I've had some recipes to share, but I got distracted by the World Cup and my power was out for the second time in three weeks due to a storm.

But anyway, green beans were my challenge this week. I went immediately to Pioneer Woman because if there's a way to make them taste good, she knows it. The only problem I had was that the recipe called for bacon grease.

Here's my issue with bacon. Don't get me wrong, I love bacon. But I don't cook it at my house because it makes my whole apartment (and probably my neighbors') smell like bacon and I hate the way it lingers for the rest of the day and possibly longer. And don't tell me to get the microwave bacon because I only like my bacon crunchy. (This also makes me appreciate a $7 sandwich that has bacon on it.)

Anyway, I skipped the bacon grease and cooked the green beans in olive oil and butter with the onion, garlic, chicken broth, salt and pepper. I also skipped the red pepper because I didn't have one and I don't like peppers (so far).

But the next night in my googling for recipes I came across another green bean recipe that utilized my new potatoes and it also called for bacon. I broke down and bought bacon. And I have to say, it was totally worth it even though I went to bed with the bacon scent lingering. 

Anyway here's the recipe:

Southern Green Beans
    •    6 slices bacon, chopped
    •    3 tablespoons butter
    •    1 red onion, chopped
    •    2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped
    •    8 small new potatoes, diced
    •    1 large clove garlic, minced
    •    1/4 cup chicken broth
    •    1 1/2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar
    •    salt and pepper to taste

Place the chopped bacon in a skillet, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the bacon pieces on a paper towel-lined plate.
Melt the butter in a skillet with a lid over medium-low heat, and cook and stir the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked bacon, green beans, potatoes, garlic, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat until the green beans are tender, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with vinegar, salt, and pepper, and serve.

In addition to the green beans, I also made use of my tomatoes and cucumbers. One night I chopped them up, added some lemon juice and even a little goat cheese, an excellent side to my green beans and bacon.

But my favorite recipe for the tomatoes was in my Every Day Food magazine. Here's the recipe, basically make as many tomatoes as you want and adjust everything else accordingly:

Heat broiler. Place cherry tomatoes stem side up on a rimmed baking sheet (mine were more like grape tomatoes and I just threw them on the sheet). Brush with olive oil. Broil just until skins blister. In a small bowl mash goat cheese and stir in oregano. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. With a small paring knife, cut a small opening in the top of each tomato. Stuff with goat cheese mixture.

Next up: Peaches and cherries.