Meal plan

This afternoon I spent a few hours making some lunch/dinner options for myself. The H has a short business trip this week, so I made this curried cauliflower soup (spicy!) and a double batch of my beloved kale-quinoa to get me through most of the week without having to think too much about food prep. We had "House Chipotle"** for dinner, one of the little guy's favorites, which means 2) HE ATE SOMETHING and 2) I now have four more 2-cup portions of black beans in my basement freezer.

The dinner parts of our week will look like this:

Sunday - House Chipotle (**seasoned black beans, cilantro-lime rice, and shredded cheese...with diced tomatoes, salsa verde, and soft corn shells for The H and me)

Monday - tortellini in red sauce for the little guy, one of my soup portions for me with a hunk of naan

Tuesday - eggs on toast, fresh fruit, decaf coffee (after running group)

Wednesday - split pea soup with diced lean ham in the slow cooker

Thursday - GF pancakes for my men, one of my kale-quinoa bowls and an ahi tuna steak for me after running and yoga

Friday - GF pizza (excellent pre-long-run fuel!)

I've been enjoying real oatmeal with nuts, a fruit, chia seeds, and pure maple syrup for breakfast, but also bought a bag of spinach and some bananas so I can make a green shake to mix things up once in awhile. Happy eating!

If we are what we eat...

then I'm a big bowl of kale-quinoa-chickpeas with steel-cut oats for legs. Seriously, can NOT get enough of those two things. Last night I mixed up a batch of kale-quinoa for lunches, using leftover quinoa, the last of my kale, and the last lemon in the house. I felt very resourceful. Then I thought, "Why not mix up some awesome breakfasts while I'm standing here at the stove?" So I did.

Fifteen minutes later, a quadruple batch of Trader Joe's quick-cooking steel-cut oats was ready to be portioned and refrigerated. To each bowl, I added chopped pecans, ground flax seed, chia seeds, a drizzle of real maple syrup, 12 chocolate chips, a few frozen wild blueberries, and a dollop of natural peanut butter. And then I almost couldn't resist eating a portion for dessert. LOVE that stuff! It's almost like a no-bake oatmeal cookie when it gets reheated, all gooey with peanut butter and a touch of chocolate (minus the guilt of nomming a pile of white sugar and butter).

My morning routine was delightfully streamlined having these two options in the fridge. After my run, I heated up some oatmeal while I packed my lunch, then it was off to shower and work. Great start to my Monday!

Happy new year-and-a-week!

Let's not even pretend that I'm resolving to be one of those bloggers who delivers a post a day with thirty six photos and a printable recipe or three. Some days I think I'd like to be, or at least be able to promise a few posts on a regular basis, but realistically, it's not going to happen. My new job, while never demanding more than 10 on-site hours of my week, is more time consuming than it appeared at first, partly due to the fact that it's not very close to home. My meal planning has fallen severely behind, and while we haven't resorted to fast food every other night with takeout pizza in between, I know I can do better. Here's what's on our plates this week:

Saturday - beef with broccoli. We bought another half-of-a-half of cow this winter. Moo.
Sunday - homemade-ish GF pizza with olives, mushrooms, and local beef pepperoni
Monday - possibly dinner with my parents
Tuesday - quinoa-and-bean stuffed bell peppers
Wednesday -  chicken and artichoke pasta, I think...
Thursday - pancake night for The H and the little guy while I'm at running/yoga
Friday - TBD

This week, if I can find a store selling kale, I plan to buy a bunch or two and make some of my beloved kale-quinoa for my lunches. Leftovers have gone over surprisingly well lately, which leaves space in the fridge for marinating meat and a container of cooked grains (brown rice or quinoa, most likely) to help pull together a quick meal. In my spare time (can I get an LOL?) I intend to browse through old posts to see just what in the world we did with all this beef last time.

Happy new year! Thanks for reading.

Veggies galore

Seems like that's been the theme in my kitchen for the last two months. Yay, right? A friend of mine got me hooked on bruised kale salads, which has only increased my adoration of the leafy green. Preparation of this salad is literally more hands on than other salads we make, but it's so worth it.

After the kale has been torn, washed, and spun dry, I drizzle some olive oil on it and start mooshing and smooshing it around in a large bowl (wedding ring off for this step!). Once the leaves are softer and starting to wilt down, I add some salt and pepper, then shake on some vinegar or lemon juice and a drizzle of agave. These are all to taste, so of course I don't have any measurements. When I get the flavor I want, I start adding the goodies: cheese, fruit, nut, seed. One day it might be grapes, gorgonzola, pinenuts, and chia; the next time might be goat cheese, dried cherries, sliced almonds, and hemp. Whatever the combination, it's always delicious as long as the oil/vinegar/agave was right to begin with.

It's no surprise, then, that this is on my meal plan this week. Since The H will be on a business trip, I'm trying to cook as little as possible but still feed the little guy and myself without resorting to fast food. Here's what we'll have:

Chorizo-apple stuffed acorn squash (my lunches--I made four halves last night and froze them)
Homemade (and frozen) tomato soup and grilled cheese
Leftover pasta with meat and hidden veggie sauce/roasted brussels sprouts with walnuts and bacon
Leftover GF pizza/seared ahi and kale salad
Homemade (and frozen) chicken nuggets, corn on the cob, roasted broccoli
Butternut squash ravioli (thank you, Costco), fresh green beans/spinach salad
...and if we need one more meal before The H gets home, black beans with cilantro rice

Food prep day

I didn't really plan it, but this afternoon I did a giant amount of food prep while the little guy napped. It started with a trip to the farmer's market this morning, where I got some beautiful rainbow-colored Swiss chard. I was inspired by the cold salad a friend made for our post-run meal last night. When I got home to put away my colorful produce (also including peaches, corn, cucumbers, and salsa), I remembered the beets I'd bought last week. They were quickly prepped for roasting, though sadly I waited too long and the greens weren't good to use like I have before:

On to the chard...

Ten stalks of chard got washed, trimmed, and sauteed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then mixed with sauteed mushrooms, a chopped carrot, a green onion, freshly minced garlic, dried thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes. All of this was mixed with precooked quinoa, and stashed back in the fridge. Dinner side dish/lunch-to-go done.

As the chard-quinoa was mingling flavors and warming through, I started a batch of adzuki beans. They don't require presoaking like many dried beans, and they cook in just about an hour. Great to have available for any number of midweek meals! I'm looking forward to making these burgers, since I also have a few partially-used bell peppers in the crisper.

While the adzukis simmered away, the beets finished roasting. They were gorgeous! Each one just bigger than a golfball, and such a beautiful shade of magenta. I've been craving one of my summer favorites, this beet salad, for a few weeks. For the first time since I started making it, today I toasted the walnuts in a dry skillet before I added them. What a great difference! I used crumbled bleu cheese instead of feta, tossed in some organic celery, dressed it all with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, pink sea salt, and fresh black pepper, and returned it to the refrigerator. Lunches/snack for me done.

While I was poking around in the fridge, I realized we were out of rice. Thanks to the rice cooker, another batch (plain, white--to feed the gastrointestinally-challenged dog) was ready in a half an hour. Right around this time, two hours after he'd gone down, the little guy woke up. While the rice cooked, I prepped some steaks for The H to grill and stirred up another summer favorite, cucumber-sweet-onion salad. Those two things just get thinly sliced and simply dressed with a mixture of plain yogurt, white balsamic (or red wine) vinegar, evaporated cane juice, sea salt, and pepper. The H and I enjoyed this with dinner, and I was a little bummed I didn't think to make leftovers. Tangy, cool, and refreshing-- the candy onion I used isn't halitosis-inducing at all. Definitely buying more of those at the market! Another dinner side dish done, dog supplement done.

Once the rice was ready, I piled some into the dog's bowl with a scoop of pumpkin and some plain yogurt so he could go to town. The H brought in the steaks, and we sat down to eat. Just then I realized it was the first time I'd sat down since the little guy and I got home from our morning/afternon errands, and my feet were pretty darn tired. But I felt so accomplished! It's a great feeling to have these goodies and makings of meals, along with a stash of my beloved kale-quinoa-chickpeas, in the fridge heading into the weekend. Happy Friday!

Kale with quinoa and chickpeas

Oh, kale, you dark dusky-leafed green, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee blended into a cool, verdant smoothie as a refreshing post-run pick-me-up. I love thee sprinkled with kosher salt and toasted to a light crispiness. I love thee wilted into a rich red wine-saturated spaghetti sauce, or stirred into a hearty potato-sausage soup when the winter winds wail at my windows. 

(source)
But most of all, oh dear kale, I adore thee to the utmost heights when prepared the following way (super giant pink puffy-heart thanks to my friends, H&N, for this inspiration, and for continuing to acknowledge me in public):

1. Precook some quinoa and chickpeas (or use a can of garbanzos, rinsed well).
2. Sauté a bunch of washed, torn kale in a giant skillet. Set aside in a large bowl.
3. In the skillet, sauté two minced cloves of garlic in a swirl of olive oil, along with some paprika and cumin.
4. Stir chickpeas into garlic & spice mixture and mix well. (This gets 'em really nutty tasting...yum.)
5. Add 1-2 cups of the quinoa to skillet and toss it all together. Add the juice from two lemons.
6. Stir in kale until well combined; add more quinoa if you want.
7. Sprinkle with a decent amount of salt to taste and serve in the large bowl the kale was in.

It's actually far simpler than I've made it sound: stir together kale, quinoa, and chickpeas with seasonings; add salt and lemon juice, enjoy. 

The second time I made this within a week, I also bought a 2lb bag of dried garbanzos so I can do it again. You'd better believe I stopped halfway through writing this to reheat a little--and take a typical subpar picture. :)

You can serve this hot, warm, or cold... or while you stand over the stove before dinner... as you're boxing it up for lunches the next day... if you are scavenging for a midnight snack... at a picnic with your friends (genius, it doesn't require intense refrigeration)... pretty much anytime you want a hearty, flavorful, delicious, tangy, filling, vegetarian (vegan? I think so) meal. I'm already wondering how many times I can incorporate it into family picnics and parties this summer.

Check out this link to read a little more about the goodness of kale.

A happy little lunch

Wine and cheese. Love and marriage. Grilled cheese and tomato soup. A match made in heaven.



The soup was leftover (which I think makes tomato-based dishes that much more flavorful), the sandwich was gooey, the kale crisps salty, and the weather dreary. What's not to love?

Soup's on!

The other night I finally got to make the kale and sausage soup I've had my eye on for days. I used this recipe as my inspiration, which is a copycat recipe from the Olive Garden restaurant. It was a perfect soup for a snowy winter day. Leftovers turned out well; I liked that it thickened a bit when it was reheated. The original recipe is as follows, with my version below.

Toscana Soup

• 12 links spicy pork sausage, sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 1/4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chicken soup base
• 4 cups water
• 2 potatoes, halved and sliced
• 2 cups sliced kale
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

• 
  
• Directions for original version:
• 1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• 2. Place sausage links on a baking sheet and bake 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Slice into 1/2 inch slices.
• 3. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until translucent; add garlic and cook 1 minute.
• 4. Stir in broth, water and potatoes; simmer 15 minutes.
• 5. Reduce heat to low and add sausage, kale and cream; simmer until heated through and serve.

My cleaned-up version:

• One package Jennie-O spicy Italian turkey sausage, removed from casings and browned/drained (minus 4oz once it was cooked, for another recipe)
• About 1 tablespoon olive oil
• One diced yellow onion (co-op)
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 packets low-sodium chicken broth packets from Trader Joe's
• 4 cups water
• 2 potatoes, halved and sliced (co-op)
• 2 cups sliced kale, cram-packed full!
• 3 small carrots, washed and sliced (co-op)
• Half package sliced baby portobello mushrooms
• 1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• Splash of half-and-half (if I had more time or energy, I would've pureed some of the soup after adding the beans and before adding the kale and sausage with the hope that I could cut out the cream altogether. Maybe next time!)

1. Remove sausage from casings and brown in large skillet. Drain well and set aside.

2. In large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, saute onion in oil until translucent. Stir in garlic, cook about 1 minute.

3. Stir in broth, water, mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes; cover and cook until potatoes are nearly fork-tender, about 20 minutes.

4. Reduce heat to low and add sausage, kale, beans, and half-and-half. Simmer until heated through. Serve hot.

Turkey Sausage Ragu

Tonight marks the second time I've made this recipe from the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Clean Eating Magazine, and when I looked back at the page for the recipe, I noticed that I first made it exactly one month ago, on 10-30-09. Tasty tradition! My substitutions are in parentheses.

Turkey Sausage Ragu

Serves 4 (generously!)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme (1 tsp dried)

8oz spicy Italian turkey sausage, casings discarded (I used 3 links, Jennie-O brand)

1/4 tsp chile flakes (I omitted this)

3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1/2 cup red wine (Pinot Noir leftover from the weekend)

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, torn (1 tsp dried)

1 large bunch kale, cleaned and trimmed, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

8oz whole wheat pappardelle, fettucine, or tagliatelle pasta (9oz Trader Joe's brown rice fusilli)

1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, for garnish (omitted)

Parmigiano Reggiano, for garnish (Parmesan)

Instructions:

1. (Set a pot of salted water over medium heat to begin boiling for the pasta while you prep the rest) Add 1Tbsp oil, onion, and thyme to a separate large pot over medium heat. Stir well, cover, and cook until onion is softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching. Uncover pot, add sausage, chile flakes, and garlic. Continue cooking 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Off the heat, deglaze the pan by adding the wine. Return to heat and allow to reduce for 1 minute. Add diced tomatoes, oregano, and kale. Stir well (this was difficult for me at this point, so I didn't really bother), cover, and cook 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue cooking 10 minutes, or until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened. Stir in additional 2Tbsp oil and the balsamic vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. When the sauce is almost finished (when 10min remain), add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions. Drain well and toss with sausage mixture. Serve topped with a drizzle of olive oil (I omitted), a sprinkling of parslely, and freshly grated cheese.

I love this meal. It's very hearty and has an awesome, well-rounded flavor, even without adding salt, pepper, parsley, or the additional oil at the end. Using kale gives it a nice crunch, though you could substitute spinach if kale is not your thing. When I made this last month, my son couldn't get enough--he actually licked the plate--but tonight he didn't want anything to do with it. I think he liked the sauce better last time; I added 1/2 cup leftover tomato puree so it coated the pasta with more of a thick sauce than the recipe made tonight. Either way, The H and I were very happy with how it turned out.

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

Tonight's dinner was inspired by posts like this from Cara's Cravings and this from Proceed With Caution. I made a few substitutions based on what I had in the fridge; my version follows below. While it could have been lower in fat (check the links for how!), I doubt it could have been tastier. The H said it smelled like pumpkin pie, which you may know by now I don't care for. This dish was well-received by nearly* the entire household, however. It was creamy, warm, and very filling, not to mention festively colored. The kale lends a good bite to an otherwise-soft meal. Adding a good dose of fresh ground black pepper at the end helped keep it from being too pie-like.

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

Makes 4 servings

8 oz short pasta shape (Trader Joe's brown rice fusilli)

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp dried rubbed sage

3 links chicken sausage (Trader Joe's sweet apple chicken sausage)

1/2 cup plain yogurt (Stoneyfield Farm organic whole-milk)

1 cup pumpkin puree (Trader Joe's organic)

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp low-fat Neufchatel cheese (like I said--what I had in the fridge!)

Sea salt

Black pepper

Dash of nutmeg

1 medium bunch kale, tough stalks removed

1. Salt a large pot of water for the pasta and turn it on med-high heat.

2. Lightly steam the kale (I did this in a covered skillet) for several minutes until wilted but not discolored. Meanwhile...

3. Heat olive oil in large skillet over med-low heat. Add the sliced onions and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until softened and lightly browned. Stir in the minced garlic, rubbed sage, and sliced chicken sausage.

4. Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions (be careful not to overcook or the whole thing will turn out too mushy).

5. In a blender, combine pumpkin, yogurt, cream cheese, and milk. Blend until smooth. Pour into pan with sausage-onion mixture and continue cooking over low heat. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg.

6. Drain the pasta and return it to the cooking pot. Gently stir in the sausage-onion-sauce mixture and the steamed kale; mix well.

We paired this with a semi-dry local(ish) white wine. A drier choice would have been better. As always, I do not claim to be a food photographer. Consider yourself lucky that I chose to post this picture rather than the ones that showed up Crayola-orange.

* My son actually refused to swallow a bite until we let him dip each piece of pasta into his blueberry applesauce first. After dinner he looked like this (and then promptly got a bath):

Dear Kale Chips...

Where have you BEEN all my life? Why has nobody taken the time to introduce me to your crispy, salty, green and wholesome goodness? You are truly one of the most delightful dark leafy greens I've ever had the privilege of consuming, and that is something coming from a person who puts spinach in a breakfast shake and craves roasted Brussels sprouts. My only regret in lunching with you today is that I didn't have the foresight to use a larger cookie sheet when experimenting with your wonderful self. I've learned my lesson. Never again will I think of you, kale, as an awkward cold restaurant-plate garnish.

With adoration,

Kate

Baked Kale Chips - inspired by Allrecipes

Curly kale leaves, washed and de-stemmed

Olive oil (in a misting spritzer works best)

Sea salt

Preheat oven to 350*. Lay washed leaves on a sprayed (or foil-lined) cookie sheet. Spritz with oil. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste (don't over do it--they are very thin and the salt isn't going anywhere during cooking, so take it easy). Bake 9-12 minutes or until just beginning to brown at the edges. What worked best for me was baking 9 minutes, then turning the oven off for the next two. EAT and ENJOY.

These chips are everything I love about roasted Brussels sprouts--the crispy, browned, salty outer leaves--without the jaw-popping chewy middles. I made these to go with my lunch today (at home, as these are fragile and not suitable for transporting to work) and ate every single piece before I even took a single bite of anything else. They almost made me not want my Honeycrisp apple... I will try these again when my son is around. Given his love of pretzels and corn chips (the latter of which always seem to get stuck in his throat) I can see these being a big hit with the under-3-foot-tall crowd as well.

Poached eggs = fail

Tonight's dinner was going to be toast topped with roasted kale and a poached egg, with a side of sweet potato fries, thanks to inspiration from fellow bloggers CrumblyCookie and SimplyMe (this is my first attempt at linking on my Mac!) Alas, I apparently did not pay close enough attention all those nights during my childhood when my mom would make us poached eggs on toast. I got the boiling water part down, and knew to cook the eggs for as long as it cook the bread to toast, but beyond that, I was winging it. Nobody told me there had to be a certain amount of water in the pan, nor did anyone explain how to get the whites from shredding like cheap toilet paper mid-flush. My two beautiful farm-fresh eggs stuck to the bottom of my pan, and their golden moon yolks were left high and dry (or actually, rather slimy) due to my inexperience. One was salvageable, but the other served as a reminder to the dog that, although he gets reprimanded an awful lot, I do still like him. He was quite the attentive dinner companion after that.

As for the rest of the meal, it was divine. My sauteed kale was cooked in olive oil with garlic, orange bell pepper, and corn. This was my first experience with kale. The texture is "meatier" than spinach or chard, taking longer to chew, and the flavor was an excellent complement to the surviving egg. I liked that it kept its ruffle and did not wilt down to a pile of mush as spinach is wont to do. I used Tosca Reno's sweet potato oven fry recipe from The Eat-Clean Diet book, which is a spicier version of the Sweet Potato Oven Fries in The Eat-Clean Diet for Family & Kids book. The H and baby had a dinner date with H's parents, so I was free to cook for my own tastebuds. And my 'buds like spice.

So even though the eggs didn't go as planned, don't think I forgot about my toast! Ohhh no. I could never forget my toast... it was just a plain ol' piece of sprouted grain bread, until I smeared it with a hearty helping of artisanal cream cheese--one of my co-op selections from last night--that probably supplied my daily value of fat in one fell swoop. The texture was closer to goat cheese than the brick of Philadelphia you may be used to, but once it came to room temperature it was delightfully spreadable. Best.cream.cheese.ever. Thanks, Dancing Goat Creamery!

In case you've fallen asleep reading the previous three paragraphs, here's a recap: Dinner was garlic-sauteed kale with bell pepper and corn, topped with a messily-poached egg and served with spicy sweet potato oven fries and sprouted grain toast with locally-made fresh cream cheese. And it was very good.