Kale-O-Rama

Casserole of Late Fall Greens

from 100 Mile Diet: Local Eating for Global Change

Ingredients:

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used gluten free)

kosher salt and black pepper

1 cup heavy cream

2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

2.5 ounces of bacon (about 3 strips)

2 cups winter greens (I used kale but you could also try spinach, swiss chard, etc)

1/3 cup freshly grated hard cheese

1. To prepare and cook greens, remove any tough stems and roughly chop. Bring pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook until greens are tender (spinach: 30 seconds, chard: 1 minute, kale: 8 mins). Drain and squeeze to remove excess water.

2. Preheat oven to 400. Butter a 4 cup shallow gratin dish. Toss together breadcrumbs and 1 tbsp of melted butter with salt and ground pepper, set aside.

3. In medium saucepan, bring cream and garlic to a boil over medium-high heat and then turn down heat and stir vigorously until cream is reduced to about 3/4 cup. Take pan off heat, remove garlic and discard. Let cream cook slightly. Season with 1/4 tsp salt and few grinds of black pepper.

4. In large skillet, cook bacon until crisp and brown. Drain on paper towel. Remove most of fat from pan, add remaining butter and return pan to heat. Add cooked greens with 1/4 tsp salt and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Evenly spread warmed greens to gratin pan.

5. Crumble bacon over greens. Sprinkle on cheese. Pour seasoned cream over everything and top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 400 until brown and bubble, about 25 minutes. Let rest 10 mins before serving.

Baked Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal

from the www.thekitchn.com
serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 cups steel cut oats
1 cup pumpkin or squash puree
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 375°F. In a 3-quart (or larger) saucepan or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. (Your burner shouldn't be on at full blast, but the butter should melt quickly.) When the butter foams up, stir in the oats and fry them, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes or until they smell toasted.

Push the oats up against the side of the pan, and drop the second tablespoon of butter in the now clear center of the pan. Dump in the pumpkin puree. Fry it in the butter, only stirring after about a minute. Stir in the sugar and spices and continue frying the puree for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until the color darkens slightly and the raw smell disappears. It's OK if a few dark brown spots appear as the puree sticks to the pan.

Pour in the milk and whisk everything to combine. Whisk in the water, vanilla and salt. Put a lid on the pan and put it in the oven. Bake for 35 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, and carefully lift the lid (be cautious as steam will billow out). Stir the oatmeal. It will look quite loose still, but the oats should be al dente and tender. The oatmeal will thicken rapidly as it cools.

Eat immediately with a drizzle of cream or milk and maple syrup, or let cool and then refrigerate. Heat up bowls in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Bento This!

Salmon Salad Bento Box

from Eating Well

1/2 cup boneless, skinless canned salmon, flaked (2 1/2 ounces)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 kalamata olives, pitted and diced

1 teaspoon minced red onion, or to taste

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

1 teaspoon rinsed and chopped capers

1/2 cup watercress, tough stems removed

1 ounce small gluten free or whole-grain crackers, (about 16)

1 cup mixed vegetables, such as bell peppers and carrots, cut into sticks

1 cup mixed grapes

1. Combine salmon, oil, lemon juice, olives, red onion, parsley and capers in a small bowl.

2. Pack the salmon salad, watercress and crackers in one medium container.

3. Fill another medium container with vegetables and grapes.

Just another quinoa recipe

Quinoa Patties

from Eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com

2 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup uncooked)

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese

1 medium carrot, finely grated (OR 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed)

3 eggs

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 green onions, including white parts

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Olive oil for frying

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, green onions, Splenda, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.

Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat. Mixture will be slightly sticky, so using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop mixture into pan and lightly flatten to 1/2 inch thick. Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Makes approx. 10 burgers

We All Scream for Spice Cream!

I bought an ice cream maker from a friend who was moving out of town, and man am I glad I did. I decided to skip the standard chocolate and vanilla flavors and go right for something special. The plan was for an Almond Joy ice cream (coconut ice cream with chocolate covered almonds and toasted coconut--yum) but I misread my thermometer and the custard curdled. (Make sure you look at Fahrenheit, not Celsius!) That batch ended up being dumped down the toilet. After some trouble shooting, I decided to go for something sweet, spicy and rich. I found a few different recipes that I pulled from to make exactly what I was looking for. It came out amazing--smooth, creamy, almost like a gelato. This recipe was definitely a keeper.

Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Almonds

modified from David Lebovitz chocolate ice cream recipe

Makes about 1 quart

2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

1 cup whole milk

¾ cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

5 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 cup roasted almonds

4 oz dark/bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon almond extract

1. Melt chopped chocolate over double boiler. Add roasted almonds; move around until all the nuts are coated in chocolate. Pull them out with a fork, place them on piece of wax paper on top of a plate or tray. Put in fridge to harden chocolate.

2. Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

3. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

4. Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (170°F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla, almond extract, cinnamon, cayenne. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

5. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.)

6. During last 5 minutes of the freezing process, pull out nuts and chop them into small pieces. Add them into the ice cream. You may have to fold them in with a spoon when its done mixing.

7. Put into another container with air tight lid. Freeze for about 2 hours.

Green sauce and Yams

Grilled Yams with Spicy Cilantro Sauce

by Jenn

For yams/sweet potatoes:

6 sweet potatoes/yams, skins left on, cut into wedges

olive/grapeseed oil

1. Heat grill on medium. Meanwhile, get a pot of salted water boiling. Add your yam wedges for about 6 minutes. This will help it cook through on the grill. Strain, let sit aside for a minute so the water steams off and they are relatively dry.

2. Put on a cookie tray and brush with the oil on all sides.

For dressing:

1 lime, juice and zest

3/4 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp brown sugar

pinch salt and pepper

few splashes of olive oil

1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

1. Put juice and zest of 1 lime in a pyrex glass. Add chili through pepper. Whisk in olive oil. Add chopped cilantro.

Drizzle dressing on yam wedges before serving.

Eggy-Nest Syndrome

Eggs in A Nest

from Barbara Kingsolver's Book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

serves 2

1 cups uncooked brown rice

Olive oil – a few tbsp

1/2 medium onion, chopped, and

2 cloves garlic

2 thin carrots, chopped

4 cup dried tomatoes, chopped

1 really large bunch of chard, coarsely chopped

smoked paprika

red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

4 eggs

1. Cook rice with 2 cups water in a covered pot while other ingredients are being prepared.

2. Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil in a wide skillet until lightly golden.

3. Add and sauté for a few more minutes, adding just enough water to rehydrate the tomatoes.

4. Add chopped chard, mix with other vegetables and cover pan for a few minutes. Spice it up with red pepper flakes, a dash of smoked paprika, salt and pepper.

5. Uncover, stir well, then use the back of a spoon to make depressions in the cooked leaves, circling the pan like numbers on a clock.

6. Break an egg into each depression, being careful to keep yolks whole. Cover pan again and allow eggs to poach for 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the eggs. Remove from heat and serve over rice.