Food Is Good: Fall Things (aka, Adult Baby Food)

Don’t judge the title until I tell you about what I made.

Cauliflower Puree, Acorn Squash, and Homemade Apple Sauce

My friend, Jen, came over for dinner and I promised her a roasted chicken. 2 hours before she was supposed to arrive, my chicken was still frozen in the center– so I devised a back up plan from things I had left over from the CSA and my trip to the apple orchard.

Adult baby food is:

• Cauliflower Mash/Puree with butter
• Acorn Squash with butter and brown sugar
• Homemade Apple Sauce made with green apples and sweetened with sugar

I promise I will stop referring to this dish as “Adult Baby Food” because the concept is unappetizing– but it’s a term of endearment. These comfort foods are super yummy recommendations from friends that I modified to suit how I eat.

Cauliflower Mash

1.  Heat and salt a big pot of water
2. Cut the head of cauliflower into smaller pieces (whatever size you like)
3. Put the cauliflower into the boiling water and cook until soft but not mushy
4. Drain cauliflower
5. Mash cauliflower with a fork or a potato masher. If you like yours chunky, skip to step #7
6. Put cauliflower into a food processor with butter and milk, like you’re making mashed potatoes (I use rice milk). Remember, you can always add more liquid– so start with a little bit. You may have to do this in shifts depending on how much mash you’re making
7. Put in a bowl and mix together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. *Bonus Step* Some people might put it through a shinwa (small, mesh) strainer to get a smooth, cauliflower puree.

Acorn Squash

There a many methods to making this, I recommend you look some methods up online and decide what you like best. I’m still testing which way I prefer, but this is how I made it last time. Modified from this recipe.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds (be careful!)
3. Score the squash by cutting lines in about 1/3 to 1/2 way deep in the flesh. Do not cut through the back skin.
4. Put both halves in a casserole dish, flesh-side up. Fill the dish 1/4 of the way with water. If you like your squash really steamy, you can put aluminum foil over the dish to keep extra steam in. Make sure you leave some space for air and steam to escape.
5. Cook for 45 minutes – 1 hour. Test and see if it needs more time. The squash should be soft but not mushy.
6. Pull out and put brown sugar and butter in (to your taste). Put back in the oven for a few minutes if you want to. I put it in for maybe 10 minutes.

Homemade Apple Sauce

1. Find as many apples as possible
2. Wash, peel and cut them into 1-inch cubes. You don’t have to peel the apples if you don’t want to– the skins add flavor but I have a problem eating them. You can also make the cubes bigger if you want to.
3. Put the apples in a big pot. Pour water over the apples, up to 1/4 or 2/3 the height of the apple pile.
4. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the apples. You will have to re-add this to taste as you go. I eyeball it and sprinkle a thin layer over the apples.
5. Cook on medium heat. You will need to stir this periodically and make sure it does not burn. Many of the apple pieces will break down on their own and some will stay chunky.
6. Add small amounts of water as it cooks, to make sure it doesn’t dry out. You don’t have to go overboard with this.
7. The best way to determine when it’s done is to test the remaining chunks until they are slightly more than fork-tender.  My batch took around 1/2 an hour on the stove.
8. Remember to season it with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, whatever you like. You’ll probably use more sugar than you expect.
9. If you like your apple sauce chunky, stop here. If you like yours really smooth, let it cool a bit and then throw it through the food processor.

To plate

1. Cauliflower Mash on the bottom of a bowl, with more butter
2. 1/2 an acorn squash, flesh side up (with all of the butter and sugar juice pooled in it)
3. Fill the squash with apple sauce
4. Enjoy

Food is Good: End-of-Summer Salmon

I’ve been sharing a Kretschmann’s CSA with a few of my friends this season, which has forced me to try some new recipes. The CSA has challenged my culinary daring with items I don’t normally buy such as beets, rhubarb, and  collard greens. This part of Summer is the best because our share, split 4 ways, still yields about 2 grocery bags for each “unit.” I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with (not even counting the small bounty that is fighting it’s way through my neglect in my backyard).

I’ve been craving fish like crazy. It’s basically all I want to eat. I keep telling myself that it’s because my body needs those nutrients to heal– but really I just want it because it tastes like the sea.

I used this recipe for Paprika Seared Salmon and this recipe for red cabbage slaw and added a little brown rice with zucchini.  Mmmm. The salmon recipe taught me how to cook a fish filet to an almost-perfect medium.

 

Food Is Good: Pasta Aglio e Olio

It's peasant food. It's fancy food. It's pasta!

Do you know what’s awesome? Pasta. Pasta is awesome.  It’s delicious. It’s basically carbs. It’s kinda bad for you…it has all the hallmarks of an A+ comfort food. MMMMMMM.

But you don’t need me to tell you that. Pasta is one of those universal “I love this food” -foods. Like sandwiches. Who doesn’t love a good sandwich? As a category of eats, or “food genre” as I like to call it, pasta is tops in my book.

I’m pretty indiscriminant with my love for noodles, but there’s one dish that I always, ALWAYS run back to with open arms: Pasta Aglio e Olio. I didn’t know this dish had a specific name, despite making it for years, until I ate it at Fuel and Fuddle when I was in college (their version is “meh” at best– go for the pizzas instead). I re-discovered my love for this preparation when I thoroughly enjoyed PAeO, for my dessert course, at E-Squared. Holy crap is their version delicious. I was literally wiping my dish with the leftover bread crusts just to ensure I got all of the garlicky oil on my plate. Yum yum yum.

Fundamentally, Pasta Aglio e Olio is long, skinny noodles, olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper, and salt. It’s very basic (read: peasant food), and it’s beauty lies in its simplicity. You can add other treats to heft up the nutritional value  like chicken, veggies, cheese, herbs…more crushed red pepper…MMMM. I like it spicy.

Here’s my version, which I’m quite smitten with lately:

Pasta Aglio e Olio

• 1/3 box Protein enriched pasta
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 a lemon, zest and juice
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 bunch of parsley, cleaned with the leaves picked and rough chopped
• Kosher Salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Nutritional yeast (I can’t eat dairy with my allergies, so this is an “okay” replacement
• Roasted pepitas or pine nuts

Cook the pasta according to the directions in a pot. Drain but don’t rinse. Conserve some of the water in case you want to use less oil. Leave the noodles in a collander.

Make sure the same pot is dry. If that pot has been hot, the water that’s left should evaporate– but if not, carefully wipe out the pot. Turn the burner back on to med-high. Pour in olive oil so it lightly covers 1/3 of the bottom of the pot space. Eyeball this measurement and feel free to go lighter as you can always add more. Throw in the garlic and a dash of red pepper flakes when the oil is heated. Don’t heat the oil too high because it will either burn the garlic or start spitting when you add anything else.

Reduce the heat to med-low. Slowly add in the pasta, a little at a time. You want to ensure all of the pasta is coated with the garlic and oil. Once all of the pasta is in and coated, add the lemon juice and zest and 1/2 the parsley. Mix.

Add salt, pepper, red pepper and the rest of the parsley to taste. I recommend using tongs when doing all of this mixing around because you will have more control.

Heap yourself a generous helping of pasta in a bowl. Add nutritional yeast or cheese. I don’t recommend adding it to the hot food in the pot as it can clump or melt into the oil. Try not to eat all of the pasta you’ve just made in one sitting (if you have that kind of self-control). PAeO is pretty good cold for lunch the next day, if your co-workers don’t mind your garlic-death-breath.

Food is Good: Fake Pho Soup Cure All

My Fake Pho Soup with Egg!

Food is healing. My newfound well-bring is proof of this!

When I’m sick, all I want to eat is Pho soup from Trams (so does Caralyn!) It has magical powers that make you feel better almost instantly. I’m pretty obsessed with noodley, vegetabley soups right now and I can’t stop making my own version of Faux Pho Soup.

Traditional Vietnamese Pho soup usually includes beef broth and other meaty things, though when I order it, I like to get the veg broth with other goodies. I’m including my haphazard recipe suggestions below, but feel free to make up your own concoction!

Quick Faux Pho Soup

• Skinny rice noodles- prepared and softened according to package instructions (preferably Pho noodles but I use whatever’s handy)
• Cabbage 1/4 head sliced thin(Nappa, Savoy, green, whatever is handy and fairly mild)
• Mushrooms- sliced or quartered
• Bell Pepper – 1/2, depending on the size, sliced thin and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Garlic- 1-2 cloves, minced
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes- to taste
• Soy Sauce- optional
• Oil- 1 teaspoon or so (olive, vegetable, or sesame)
• Broth- 1 big carton (vegetable, chicken, beef, etc)
• Fresh herbs- springs to throw on top (cilantro, basil, or mint)
• Fresh lime- cut into wedges
• Bean Spouts- garnish (mung are great for this!)

1) Heat oil and lightly saute garlic

2) Quick saute mushrooms and peppers for 30 seconds-1 minute(only to start them,–you do not want them to get soft and mushy)

3) Pour in just enough broth to barely cover the food in the pot. Let cook for 1-2 minutes.

4) Put cabbage in and pour in the rest of the broth. Make sure you can cover the cabbage. If you’re unsure of your cabbage to broth ratio, add a little of each to get the ratio right.

5) Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil

6) Season with soy sauce and red pepper flakes to taste. If you’re using a beef or salty broth, you do no have to add the soy sauce.

7) Put a small handful of noodles in a bowl. Use tongs or a fork to dish veggies on top. Pour broth over food.

8 ) Throw herbs, bean sprouts and squeeze some lime in, according to your preferences.

9) Enjoy!

Some Tips

• If you don’t have rice noodles, I’ve used rice as a substitution. Just make sure it is cooked and warm.
• I find that boiling water and letting it cool just a few minutes makes for the best soaking water for rice noodles.
• I like my soup SPICY so I use jalapeno or serano peppers with bell peppers.
• You can add other veggies to the pot if you want (carrots, onions, etc).
• You can add other garnish to your bowl (scallions, raw veggies)
• Cooked protein like tofu, chicken, beef or sliced pork makes a nice addition to your dish (I like frozen shrimp. Just rinse it and throw it in with the cabbage so the broth will defrost it).
• If you’re vegetarian and want a more rich, mushroomy broth– you can flavor your store-bought broth ahead of time by separately by cooking garlic, onions, and mushrooms into your stock. Add soy sauce or vegetarian wostershire sauce to taste.  Just strain it before it goes into your Pho pot.