Getting Back in the Kitchen

I love to cook...
I was enrolled in Culinary school, I work in the Restaurant Industry, I love food! 
Lately, though, I haven't really been feeling it in the kitchen. 
I used to get in the kitchen to relieve stress but lately I have just been so busy with work and so tired. By the time I get home in the evening, I just want to pour a glass (errr....bottle?!) of wine and sit on my butt and just throw something together for dinner. 
Besides being tired, busy, and stressed, I have just felt so blah lately. I'm not sure if its the winter blues or what...
So, I sat down a few weeks ago and started to really analyze what was making me feel like this. And the results were an obvious domino effect! 
1. Winter Blues--I get lazy, like really lazy, in the winter! All I want to do when its cold and dreary is cuddle up and keep warm. 
Like I've told many people I only like cold and snow in two situations: Christmas Day (only!) and if I'm on a mountain, knowing at the bottom of the hill is a nice toasty lodge, with a Hot Toddy waiting on me! 
2. Tired--Being lazy, just makes me more tired. Work has been exhausting too...I'm talking so busy that I can't be productive because I don't even know where to begin! Of course, I have taken control of this by making sure I make my to-do list everyday and really focusing on completing the tasks that have priority. 
3. Not cooking--As I mentioned, I love to cook to relieve stress, and that obviously has not been happening. So not only I am not doing something I love but I'm not getting the nutrients I need to get out of this funk! 
4. Workouts are Slack--Are you starting to see the domino effect here? Since I'm so tired, being lazy, not eating right, I'm missing out on the activity that helps the most! The best way to get those endorphins flowing, relieve stress and push that funk right back where it came from is to GET MOVING! 

Just because I love a big fluffy waffle and Texas is on my mind!

What I am doing about it you ask? 
In an effort to get back on my A-game, I'm taking small steps to get back to where I need to be. 
1. Get Back in the Kitchen: The past few weeks, I have dedicated Sunday afternoon to grocery shopping and meal planning. Meal planning has always been a great way for me to make sure I'm eating right and spending plenty of time in the kitchen. 
2. Exercising: I started a new workout plan last week and so far its working out nicely! Its a program I can actually complete at the gym in my apartment complex. (I haven't joined a gym because I travel so much for work, it would be a major waste of money!) I am setting a personal goal to hit the at least 3 mornings each week. Hopefully, this will help with the whole not wanting to do when I get home from work and also give me more time in the kitchen after work. And now with the time change the sun is still up when I get home, so I can go on a nice walk with Gary after dinner. 
3. Getting Sleep: I'm cutting back on the booze**, and working on unplugging earlier. I also write my to-do list for the next day, right before I fall asleep. 
**No, I'm not an alcoholic but I do love me some wine! 


Tonight, I whipped up an easy, healthy dinner in less than 30 minutes!




Backed Salmon Packets
1 3oz. Salmon filet
1 cup Broccoli
1 small Shallot (sliced thin)
1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Garlic (minced)
Sprinkle of Oregano, Thyme and fresh Cracked Black Pepper
2 Lemon wedges
Foil

Preheat the oven to 350. 
Place the salmon and broccoli in foil. Spread sliced shallot over top. Sprinkle your olive oil, herbs and garlic evenly. Squeeze lemon juice over salmon and broccoli. 
Fold the foil to form a packet and pop in the oven for about 20 minutes.

A Recipe Sure to Clear your Sinus'

A and I don't really experiment very often with "meat alternatives"...don't get me wrong, I love a good veggie burger or some Boca crumbles but other than that we don't really venture out. Well, I decided this week to break out of that box, one can not live off beans and salad alone! A is a spicy food fanatic and when I saw the recipe for Buffalo Tempeh in Appetite for Reduction, I knew we had a winner. What could satisfy a hungry-mans craving for Buffalo Chicken Wings better?
The tempeh filled me up for hours without weighing me down. It was full of flavor and A even asked if there was going to be leftovers for his lunch the next day. I love when that happens!

If anyone has had any reservations about tempeh or any other meat alternatives, I highly recommend you try this recipe. Its simple, quick and delicious! 

Buffalo Tempeh

8 ounces tempeh, cut into wedges

Marinade: 

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup Cayenne hot sauce

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons dried oregano

To create tempeh wedges: Slice the tmpheh in half across the waist. Slice the rectangles in half. You'll have four rectangles. Slice each rectangle corner to corner. The resulting triangular wedges are great for baking, grilling or sauteing. 

Steam the tempeh for 5 minutes, this will loosen the tempeh up and get it ready to absorb the marinade flavors.

Mix together the marinade ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl. When the tempeh is done steaming, immediately transfer it to the marinade. Let it marinate for at least 10 minutes, up to an hour. 

Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray the pan with a bit of nonstick cooking spray. Add the tempeh slices and reserve the marinade. Cook the tempeh for 10 minutes, flipping it often, until it has browned a bit. Add the remaining sauce and turn up the heat to high. Let the liquid boil and cook down for about 5 minutes. That's all!! 

While the tempeh was marinading I also whipped up a batch of Cool Slaw. The creamy cashews made this dish the perfect companion to Buffalo Tempeh.

Being from the Georgia-Carolina area I love a nice vinegar-mustard flavor with my BBQ...the Cool Slaw had just the right amount of each and a touch of agave nectar really enhanced the flavor. 

The best part of this meal are the nutritional facts:

Cool Slaw Buffalo Tempeh Calories 60 130 Calories from Fat 25 20 Total Fat 2.5 g 2.5 g Total Carb 7 g 18 g Fiber 2 g 5 g Sugars 3 g 1 g Protein 2 g 9 g

Veganomicon Review

Layout

• Is the layout clear? I found the layout in Veganomicon to be very clear. Each recipe was introduced with an authors note that included serving suggestions or a special tip.
• Are you able to easily tell the ingredients apart for the instructions and the notes? The ingredients are in a bold print, which makes them stand out from the actual recipe and notes. 
• Are the instructions easy to follow? The instructions are easy to follow for the most part. Many recipes had the "tip" box with with special instructions.
• Are the recipes numbered or is the section labeled? The recipes are divided up by category. There is even a section at the end of the book called Menus for the Masses. Easy menu planning for dinner categories like, Mediterranean Comfort Menu or a Smash Your TV Dinner Menu. 

Aesthetics

• Does the cookbook feature photos? There is a section that features photos for about 23 of the recipes.
• If yes, is there a photo for every recipe? Nope
• Do the photos of the recipes look like the actual results? I made two of the recipes that were photographed, Pineapple Cashew Quinoa and Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing, both turned out looking very similar to the pictures. 
• What kind of paper is the book printed on? The book is printed on standard book paper...not really sure what you would call it. It is a good quality paper and really takes in a splashes and splatters without seeping through and ruining page. 
• How is the quality of the photos? I thought the photos were of good quality. The lighting was just right and the background colors and dishes complimented each dish. 

Recipes

• How many recipes are in the cookbook? A lot, to many count! There are about 263 pages of recipes. 
• What kinds of recipes will you find in this cookbook? Veganomicon has a very nice variety of recipes. From soups, to sides, main dishes and desserts. There is even a section for Brunch recipes!! You will find Indian inspired, Jamaican inspired and Good old home cooking inspired recipes in Veganomicon. 
• Is there a theme to the recipes? No real theme, just Vegan! and Delicious! A wide variety of recipes sure to cure any craving. 
• Are the recipes complex or simple? Would they be good for seasoned cooks and/or beginners? I think Veganonmicon has a diverse selection of recipes suitable for seasoned cooks and beginners. I know that I will reference this cookbook for years to come! 

Ingredients and supplies

• Are the recipe ingredients easy to find?A For the most part all of the ingredients are very easy to find. I think I even bought the majority what I used in each recipe at Trader Joes. (Gotta love that TJ!)
• Are there any items that stand out as being expensive or specialty? Nope, maybe just some specialty spices in a few of the Indian dishes. But you can find most of these at markets these days and they store well. 
• Are there particular appliances that will be required such as blenders, juicers, dehydrators, ect? The only "major" applicance I notices was an Immersion blender for some soup and perhaps a KitchenAid for baking, but you get by without them! 
• Does this cookbook provide additional useful information? Yes, this book provides a lot of additional information. Each recipe is labeled with Icons to let you know if the recipe is Soy Free, Low/Reduced Fat, Gluten Free, or can be ready in less than 45 minutes. Pretty good info, if you ask me! Also you will find additional tips among the recipes, like how to roast garlic and how long it will keep. Time saving tips and tips on what you can use in place of some items you might not have on hand. 
• What additional information beyond recipes does this cookbook include? Is it easy to follow? Veganomicon also has a great introductory sections like: Stocking the Veganomicon Pantry, Kitchen Equipment, & Cooking and Prepping Terminology. You will also find tons of helpful and important tips in the How to Cook a Vegetable and How to Cook a Grain section. I love reading my cookbooks, as if they are a novel, so I truly appreciate when authors go to the extra trouble of including these special notes in Cookbooks. You are bound to learn something and it always leaves me itching to get in the kitchen. 

Cookbook Club: Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans

Garlic is good for more than just keeping the Vampires away...

 In the middle ages Monks used Garlic as protection against the plague, Hippocrates used garlic vapors to treat cervical cancer, and during WWII (when antibiotics were scarce) Garlic poultices were placed on wounds.
I have been using Garlic, along with groves of Oranges, to fight away a nasty cold! Now I don't know if the whole "Garlic helps prevent..."line is just an old wives' tale but at this point I am willing to try anything!

 Last week I lived off Veganomicon's Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans. And it was Dee-lish! Another recipe A had no problem helping with, which always means a success.

2 bulbs roasted garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, dices as small as possible
1 cup long-grain brown rice*
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 teaspoons salt
Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can navy beans, drained and rinsed
56 ounces of water (Use the tomato can and fill twice!) 




Preheat soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onions in the olive oil for 5-7 minutes, until translucent.
Add the rice, bay leaves, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, then add the water.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. 
Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin and into a small bowl. Use a fork to mash the garlic into a relatively smooth consistency, then add to the soup once the rice is nearly tender.  
When the rice is completely cooked, add the beans and heat through. 
Serve and enjoy (oh and don't forget to remove the bay leaves!)

*A note from the author said to make sure you use long-grain rice because short-grain rice does not cook in tomato broth. 
I still had a problem with the long-grain rice not cooking completely. I ended up adding another can of water and letting the soup simmer for an extra 20-30 minutes.

                                  

Cookbook Club: Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stir-Fry

The evening I had originally planned to make Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stir-fry, we came home from the grocery store to find our apartment flooded! Lovely...so we went to spend the night and A's parents house and the following day I came home to disinfect *read: Bleach* everything! Once I finally had the kitchen up to inspection I kicked on some tunes and got to chopping! (I must be very excited about this recipe...I have used 3 exclamation's in 3 sentences!

OK, 4.) 

Thankfully, I had read the entire recipe before attempting to prepare because you are supposed to cook the quinoa the day before and let chill in the fridge. And thankfully quinoa keeps in the fridge for more than one night because it had already be prepared, before the Flood of 2011. I actually used Red Quinoa--the "Tip box" above the recipe recommends a blend of white and red, but red is all I had. I used my steamer to cook 

the quinoa, I find it to be more dependable when it comes to cooking time, and I prepared the quinoa with pineapple juice, cold water 

and soy sauce. Isa and 

Terry were right....try it just once! Yumm! 

I made a few other adaptations to the original recipe: 

-My store was out of Raw and Unsalted Cashews--I used Roasted Salted Cashews, skipped the step where you roast the cashews, and they tasted great! (Also, made for a nice munchie while preparing!) 

-My store was also out of Red Chile, or I might not have looked hard enough. I used a fresh jalapeno instead. Still added a nice kick to the dish but I do love Red Chile... next time I will be sure to pay more attention to my peppers! 

-The recipe calls for frozen green peas or cooked edamame. Well, I used frozen edamame, no problem! I am not a huge fan of green peas anyway, but I think the flavors of this dish are best paired with edamame...it just makes sense! 

-I decided to 86 the Lime wedges (for no real reason) 

The recipe is very easy to follow...chop, sizzle, stir-fry. The only problem...the recipe does not tell you when to add the cashews to the dish. I just ended up tossing them in when I added the quinoa and wet ingredients. 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this dish! The sweet of the pineapple and the spicy of the pepper blend wonderfully. You get just the right amount of ginger, garlic, mint and basil in each bite. AND it made a ton* of (healthy, satisfying) food! Seriously, we both ate a huge helping for dinner, and I ate it for lunch the next two days! 

*I might have doubled the amount of quinoa--I don't like to measure ;) 

Don't forget to check out what other are saying about Veganomicon!!

Game Day 2011

Good Morning Friends! 

And Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Image from here

My "gameplan" for the day: 

-Laundry/cleaning house

-A little bit of work

-Taking Gary on a run and to the playing fields AKA the Dog park

-Hitting up TJ's and Smiths for weekly goods

-Preparing a batch of Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans (from Veganomicon)--Cookbook Club Review to follow

-Football!! (Mostly just to watch commercials and the Black Eyed Peas!!) 

What is your plan for the big game day? Going to any parties? Making any yummy treats? Who will you be cheering for? 

Me? Here's a hint... 

Cookbook Club: Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing

I told you it was coming...just a little slower than expected! It's not that I haven't been spending time with my nose in Veganomicon scouring for the winning recipes or even in the kitchen actually preparing said recipes. I have just been busy...with life, career transitions, apartment floods (!),  a certain boxer who demands serious "me" time, traveling, etc... Thank your for your patience and without further ado my first review! (haha as my Papaw would say, "You're a poet and didn't know it! Making a rhyme every time!" cheeezzeeee)

The first dish to review came after doing a quick inventory of my fridge and pantry. I wanted to use up produce and such that was getting close to end of life. I always buy a large tub of Baby Spinach, or what ever kind of greens I am feeling, this way I can quickly throw together a salad for lunch or toss some in the blender for a delicious green lemonade and I can even mix into whatever I plan to prepare for dinner...like pasta and marinara with wilted spinach, spinach and black bean quesadilla or... a Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing! I also had an open can of Chickpeas with only about a spoonful or two missing (topping for a lunch salad!) I was also not wanting to spend a ton of $$ on different ingredients for a fancy smancy dinner, that I would be eating alone...A had a man-date! So there it was, a recipe with the majority of ingredients already on hand, a dinner of something tasty that I wouldn't normally prepare for family dinners (A hates shrooms!) and I would have plenty of left-overs for lunch the next day!

After work I stopped by Trader Joes to pick up two large Portobello caps, a bottle of vino (hey, the recipe called for it!) and Grapeseed Oil. From what I understand Grapeseed Oil can be on the more expensive side, but I always depend on TJ's for oils, condiments and spices at a reasonable price!

Once home, I gathered all ingredients only to realize I had no garlic...So I made due and diced up some onions to the Portobello marinade. I also added about a 1/2 cup more wine to the marinade than the recipe actually called for. I guess I had some big shrooms because they were just screaming for more juice! While the Portobellos roasted in the oven, I prepared the Spicy Mustard Dressing.

The recipe says, "Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Done." Then to toss the salad with ALL of the dressing (in my opinion that's A LOT of dressing for one salad!). I decided to prepare the dressing in a jar, then I could use a tablespoon (or two) for the salad and have dressing for the rest of the weeks lunches.

Next I prepped the salad... Spinach, Red Onion, Avocado, Chickpeas. Tossed with Spicy Mustard dressing and ready to be topped with slices of roasted Portobello!

The Portobellos smelled delicious while in the oven and 

tasted just as great once they were out!

I really enjoyed this salad but next time I will leave the Chickpeas out...or maybe warm them up a bit first. Not that I 

don't love Chickpeas but something about the flavor just 

didn't mesh well to me.

FYI that second Portobello cap that I saved for lunch the 
following day.... Made my day! I enjoyed it with spinach and red quinoa and a drizzle of the Spicy Mustard dressing....YUM!

Sneak Peek

Well friends, I have been cooking up a storm for the Cookbook Club! Lots of yummy dishes that even A loves! 

Reviews coming starting next week, so stay tuned....

Currently Craving: Bubbles

Champagne is one of my favorite drinks! I love the *POP* when you open the bottle, the effervescence in the first pour and that giddy feeling from your first glass! The Holiday's always promise the consumption of bubbly but for me I love to celebrate with sparkling beverages year round! Why not right?

For those who do not have as much...lets say...experience with champagne or sparkling wine, (It's only truly champagne if it comes from the region of Champagne, France!) it can be a bit intimidating. Here is a simple guide for choosing your bubbly:

{image from}

Cava: "The Spanish Champagne" Serve with hors d'oeuvres, particularity cheese and crackers.


Cuvée de Prestige: a proprietary blended wine (usually a Champagne) that is considered to be the top of a producer's range. Serve with Asian cuisine, sushi, etc. 


Rosé: Bubbly with the addition of small amounts of Red wine during blending. Serve with shellfish. 


Prosecco: A dry Italian sparkling wine. Serve with chocolate and strawberries. 

The sweetness of a sparkling wine or Champagne ranges from:

• Extra Brut (Brut Sauvage) - Totally dry
• Brut - Dry
• Extra Dry - Medium dry
• Sec - Slightly sweet
• Demi - Sec: Fairly sweet
• Doux - Sweet
  
  

  

  Illustration by Julia Rothman

  **There is a great post about the Past and Present of Champagne over on Design*Sponge. I saw this illustration by Julia Rothman there and just fell in love with it!**
  
  
  
  
  Another festive way to enjoy your bubbly is a Champagne Cocktail! Here are three of my all time favorites:
  
  

  

  {from here}

  
  
  Black Velvet
  4 parts Champagne or sparkling wine to 1 part Guinness beer... Heavenly!!
  
  
  
  
  
  Cattivo
  (This cocktail comes from one of my favorite water holes in PDX, North 45. I want to incorporate this into my wedding and they were kind enough to send me the recipe!)
  1.0 oz Lemoncello (depending on how sweet the cello you may have to adjust)
  0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
  7.0 oz Prosecco (or bubbles of any sort would probably work)
  Garnish with lemon twist or lemon wheel.
  
  
  
  
  
  The Pink Fizzy
  
  
  (From Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook)
  Handful of Pomegranate seeds
  1.0 oz Pomegranate Juice
  1.0 oz Pink Grapefruit Juice
  2.0 oz Champagne or Sparkling Wine

  
  

  Happy New Year!

  Cheers!