Recipes

Monday, February 28, 2011

I Name the Blog


For a while, the name of my blog has been "Still thinking of a name." Unfortunately, I was not trying to be cute, like when someone names a movie rental place "The Video Store" or a bookstore "That Bookstore in Insert Town Name Here." I really have been devoting a lot of thought to what I'd like to call this place. 

So much of life is a search for truth. Let me digress a moment to make clear I don't mean Truth, with a capital "T," as in the meaning of life kind of Truth. I have long been--and will ever remain--convinced that Jesus is the light, the truth, and the way; however, it seems like after my acceptance of THAT Truth, the real work has begun. What exactly does a life transformed by Christ look like, anyway?

Sometimes it can seem overwhelming, all the work that is to be done. All too often I get caught up in endeavoring to change myself in large measures, but what I'm finding is that is not really how God works. He--graciously--offers truth in small doses. It reminds me of that old saying: "Truth is hard medicine."

As my thoughts led me to that quote, that silly old Mary Poppins song starting playing in my head like a soundtrack, and I realized: This blog is my spoonful of sugar. It's a (relatively) safe place for me to get my thoughts out so that I can consume life in more manageable, easily-digestable parts. A few awesome biproducts are 1) it gives me the opportunity to write, which is something I have sorely missed since college; and 2) some of you actually read this mess and find it interesting! ;) In all honesty, it's been really fun to get a conversation started on my blog that I continue throughout the week with my friends. Thanks for reading!

Recipe Recommendations
Yesterday I made Chickpeas with Chard and Pan-Roasted Tomatoes, a recipe I found in this month's edition of Real Simple magazine (a Christmas gift from Michael--thanks babe!). We both thought it was delicious--though the jury is still out on Laila's opinion, as she was already Sunday-afternoon-napping when I finished cooking it. A few tips:
  • Don't be afraid of chard, as I was before trying this recipe. It naturally has a very distinct, tangy taste, almost like the leaves have been marinated. In fact, it kind of reminded me of the dolmades (marinated stuffed grape leaves) they make at Taziki's Greek Restaurant (PS - I highly recommend Taziki's for delicious Greek cuisine). The chard added so much to this recipe; I wish I had grabbed a larger bunch!
  • Season your rice! I just followed the package directions and added 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt and 2 tablespoons EVOO. It was a nice touch.




This morning I snuck some vegetables into muffins I made for Laila, which she then devoured (recipe below).
  
Apple & Carrot Muffins

Ingredients
  • 1 cup white all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 apple, cored and grated
  • 1/2 carrot, grated
  • 4 tablespoons honey
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 4 tablespoons brown sugar
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with muffin paper cases.
  2. Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg together in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix the apple and carrot together. Stir in the honey and egg, then the buttermilk and sugar. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir briefly to combine. Don't overmix--the batter should still be a little lumpy.
  4. Spoon the batter into the paper cases and bake in the preheated oven. *The recipe says 12 standard size muffins bake for 20 minutes. I made mini-muffins, which made about 30 and baked for 18 minutes.
  5. Remove from the oven and let cool in pan.
  6. Consume. :)

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Food Righteousness

Food is not my religion.
Though that may seem like a really obvious statement to make since food is not seen by most Americans as a means by which one may become holy, I have found that it is a definite means by which one--namely, I--can become holier than thou.

Because I feel good about the decisions our family is making in regards to the food we put in our bodies, I have found myself being occasionally judgmental of the food others are putting in their bodies. I'll catch myself peaking with narrow eyes into other people's grocery carts and calculating how clotted their arteries must be or approximately how many years they have left to live. Okay, so they've got Velveeta cheese, microwave burritos, and SPAM? I'll give 'em fifteen years tops before they develop some type of chronic debilitating illness, and a total of twenty-five years before they croak. While I don't think it is wrong for me to desire others to eat healthily so that they may live better lives and make less of a negative impact on the environment, it's amazing how quickly "feeling sorry" for my fellow humans turns into looking down upon them. I have been ashamed of myself.
 
Some friends of mine and I are reading through the Bible in a year, and right now we're right smack in the middle of Levitical law. Nothing gets the day started like a bit of instruction on the finer points of sacrificial offerings! As irrelevant as I have felt some of it is to me in the twenty-first century, I have been surprised at how interesting it's been to read and how direct its application often has been to my life. This morning as Michael and I discussed why on Earth the loving God of the universe would require a blood offering from His people, I remembered a scripture I've heard the "grown-ups" say all my life: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Sin is so offensive to God that He cannot coexist with it. Death is not punishment for sin; it's what sin deserves--it's what sin earns. As an expression of His mercy towards His people, God allowed the ancient Hebrews to symbolically place all their sin upon an animal and offer it as compensation for their sins. Thinking of it from that perspective made the practice of sacrificial offerings seem much less gruesome--and even loving--especially when you consider the fact that that same Holy God eventually came to Earth as a man and endured death on the cross to become THE sacrificial offering for all of mankind, forever. The same scripture that reminds us "the wages of sin is death" goes on to say "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Talk about incredible. (If you have not read Romans 6 recently, stop here and re-read it. If you've never read it, you must hear the Good News! Pause for a moment and hit this link.)


What in the world does that have to do with food?
Quite simply, there is no righteousness apart from Christ. That's why, if you've spent much time with us this year, you have probably noticed that we do not dogmatically stick to our "meatless meal" rule and that we occasionally have treats like--gasp!--dip made with processed cheese. We do strive to make good choices in all situations (After all, I can't exactly justify filling my plate with fatty hors d'oevres at a wedding because it would be offensive to the bride if I didn't), but it would be extremely shortsighted to reject a meal offered by friends because it does not meet my dietary requirements. That's ridiculous.

At the same time, I do think this is a complicated issue that requires conscientiousness on the part of any Christian. In fact, honestly, sometimes I feel like we are missing an opportunity to lead in this area--but that's probably another post for another time. In the meantime, I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts, whether you post here on the blog, email me, or tell me personally.


And finally, my favorite recipes for the week

Cousous Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash - these go great with the Fruity Phyllo Packages (recipe follows), especially since they use the same oven temp! We thought the couscous dish was good hot or cold.

Ingredients
  • 1 bag chopped butternut squash (I found this in the produce section at Walmart; I estimate it's about 2 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons honey, divided
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 cup couscous
  • 1 cup broth of your choice
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or the juice of about 1/2 lemon)
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375F.
  2. Mix half the honey with 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large bowl, add the squash, and toss well to coat. Tip into a roasting pan and roast in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until soft and golden.
  3. Meanwhile, cook the couscous according to package instructions, using the broth instead of water. After it cooks, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and fork through, then stir in the diced zucchini and red bell pepper. Cover to keep warm.
  4. Whisk the remaining honey and oil together with the lemon juice; season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir the mixture through the couscous.
  5. To serve, top the couscous with the roasted squash.

Fruity Phyllo Packages - these were delicious! They're like the healthy, yummy solution to McDonald's apple pies. Good for breakfast or after dinner.

Ingredients
  • 3 apples, cored and chopped
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1-2 tablespoons honey
  • 6 sheets phyllo pastry, thawed if frozen
  • olive oil, for brushing
  • plain or vanilla yogurt, to serve
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375F.
  2. Mix first 5 ingredients in a small pan and cook over medium heat until the apples are soft. Cool completely.
  3. Fold each sheet of phyllo pastry in half. place a spoonful of apple mixture near one corner of the pastry and roll like a burrito. Brush with oil to make a good seal. Repeat for all 6 pastries.
  4. Brush the tops of each pastry with oil and place on a pan.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
  6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly (especially if you're serving this to your kids--the apples get pretty hot!). Serve with the yogurt.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Grains, Grains!

We Discover Quinoa
This week I used quinoa (pronounced KEE-nwa or KEE-no-ah) for the first time and am totally delighted with its nutritional benefits as well as its ease of use. It is a complete protein source for humans, in that it contains a balanced set of essential amino acids. In addition, it cooks up similarly to and has the same basic consistency as couscous. I don't have any particular quinoa recipes for you this week (we used it in place of rice for a few dishes, like burritos), but I'll be sure to share any particularly tasty ones I find in the future.

We found it in the dry goods section of Whole Foods Market, which was cool because we were able to get just the quantity we wanted (rather than a whole huge bag of it). It comes in several different forms, but we used the whole grain quinoa.


Bread Machine
I have been thinking lately that I might like to make my own bread, but I was not interested in going through all the trouble of actually doing it. All that kneading and rising--bleh. Enter the bread machine. My mom found some at Tuesday Morning for $40 and surprised me with one this week. What a gal!

To make your mouth water all the more, I should add that it was still warm. Oh my...
The thing is so easy! You literally just measure the ingredients, dump them in, push a few buttons on the machine, and walk away. Two or three hours later, you're enjoying delicious, warm bread that you've "made yourself" (Hey, until that little machine can acquire and add all the ingredients itself, I'm still taking the credit here!). We also discovered some jam and jelly recipes that you can make in the machine, and I'm thinking that a homemade bread and jam combo would make a delightful gift. Any takers? :)

We spent the better part of our snow day this week making two loaves: the whole wheat that you see above, as well as an Italian loaf that filled the house with the scent of warm parmesan, onion, and basil.

So far I have been a little disappointed in how dense the bread is, but I did a little research and found some bread-making tips, as well as a few highly rated recipes that I'm trying out this week. If any of them prove to be worthwhile, I will absolutely share them next week.


Recipes this Week
...were a total disappointment for the most part, but I do have one to share that Michael and I both thought was quite delicious. It's Chickpea Puttanesca, which I found on the Summer Tomato blog. I was not impressed by the other recipes I tried from Summer Tomato, but this was turned out really nice. I used 2 cans of chickpeas (rinsed) and followed the recipe as written. Yes, I even used the anchovies! Caution: If you're cooking for kiddos, the pepper flakes in the recipe do give it a bit of (delicious) heat that they may not fully appreciate. Also, I wouldn't recommend adding salt before tasting; the anchovies gave ours plenty.

Even if you don't try the recipe itself, you have to admit chickpeas as a pasta substitution is pretty stinkin' clever. Try it sometime!


A Note on Posting
I know in my last post I said I would talk about caring for the fatherless, and I will--just not today. I'm still collecting my thoughts and figuring out how to organize my blog in a way that make sense to me, and hopefully to you, too. I think what I'll do for now is post about food on Mondays and then about whatever else I is on my mind on Wednesdays. Two posts a week is about all I can keep up with at this point--and probably still more than you care to read!

:) Enjoy the day!