Red Lentil Dhal, for All

Rachel here.

A while ago I posted about "Toddler Meals" and it's glorious effort to beat back the dinner blues. When I wrote about it, though, the idea of making a meal for M that involved much more than breast milk was just that--an idea--and nothing more. My first kid, I had no idea what was in store for us as the year progressed.

"Toddler Meals" has become our kitchen bff. Not only does it offer up tons and tons of simple combinations that are baby-kid friendly (because M is definitely a baby-kid right now...), but it also includes recipes for the whole stinking family to enjoy. Be still my beating heart. The recipes are definitely on the bland side (we are feeding an eleven month old after all...and the book is divided into age categories), but John and I are both more than capable of adding salt and whatnot to our plates once M has noticed that we are, in fact, all eating the same thing.

And so, last week I made the Red Lentil Dhal recipe. It's super easy, which is super wonderful and totally what I'm looking for come 6 o'clock. I doubled the recipe because I wasn't sure if the serving suggestion of 3 meant kids or adults. Doubling it made a ton and enough for leftovers (always welcome), but if you're interested in not stocking your fridge with dahl then just follow the recipe and enjoy a warm, hearty and healthy meal.

Red Lentil Dhal, for All

ingredients
1/2 cup split red lentils
2 cups chicken stock (or water)
1/2 tspn. cumin
1/4 small onion, diced
1/4 mild green chili, diced
1/4 tspn. ginger
1/4 tspn. garlic

method
Peel garlic and ginger. Chop finely. Bring stock/water to a rapid boil in a medium sauce pan. Add lentils, onion, ginger, garlic, chili, and cumin, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 45 minutes, or until the lentils are completely soft. Serve with couscous or, you know, in a pile on a place mat depending on the age of the eater.

Purgatory Is Lovely

Rachel here.

Ok, so first off, pardon the photos. I accidentally spilled a giant glass of water all over my camera in an effort not to spill coffee all over my computer (ok, probably too many beverages around valuable and expensive pieces of equipment...lesson learned). While my computer was spared (::phew::), my camera has decided to open but nothing else. Awesome. So these photos were taken on my cell phone. Better than no photos? Probably, but definitely not ideal.



What I made the other night was Eggs in Purgatory. What I will now be making probably once a week is Eggs in Purgatory. You know those bits in your fridge that are still good but instead of trying to navigate the tedium of figuring out a delicious way to use them all you close the fridge door, hoping that by the next time you open it they'll have turned and you can legitimately throw them away? Here is your solution.



Click here for the original recipe that I found on the Food Network. The version I made followed the general form but I had substitutions for most of the ingredients (pepperoni instead of salami, different peppers, no parsley, etc.). Therein lies the brilliance of this dish. I could see it working well with mushrooms or potato, some spinach...really, just about anything.

OH! And it's easy. Really easy. And quick, too. It's like, the perfect recipe for weeknight cooking.



Have you ever made this dish before? A variation on this theme? What do you do with the incredible edible egg?

I Guess You Could Call This Meal Fajitas...

Hey Ma-

I've been craving Mexican food for a while now. There's this restaurant that John and I really love called Juan's Place in Berkeley that's a staple in the area. We used to go with our friends Mona and Martin pretty regularly a few years back. Anyway, with M around and school and work and all that that entails we haven't been in a while. They make reaaaaaally good fajitas, though, and this is what I've been particularly craving as of late.

Anyway, the other night with Juan's on the brain I threw together this dinner. It was totally edible and fine, but it was so decidedly not Juan's fajitas that I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Also, I forgot beans. Not cool.

To make this, I sliced up a bell pepper and an onion and set them aside. Then I sliced up one chicken breast and one chicken thigh. I've been really into the dark meat on chicken lately and thought the light and dark combo would be good. It was. I tossed the chicken in a little olive oil, salt, cayenne, dried orange peel and cumin and threw it in a hot skillet to brown before adding in the veggies. I made some rice and heated up a few tortillas and voila--a totally edible if less than exciting dinner.



So it goes. I was pretty pleased with the way the chicken tasted, just for the record.

Off to school. Tonight it's leftover thai take-out (yum).

XXOO
-R

Sick? Soup!

Hey Ma-

So, I had plans. Not big plans, but fresh vegetable plans. I was going to make egg noodles with green beans, mushrooms, those little grape tomatoes (I could eat these by the cup) and fresh grated parmesan cheese. It wasn't going to be fancy, but it was definitely going to be good and I was really looking forward to it.



And then the plague happened.

Not the real plague, but our first full-on, everybody's-down-for-the-count family-wide illness. I thought I had been sick before, but I now know that you have NEVER been sick until you've had a baby (ok, not really...I'm only talking about illnesses that come and go within a week's time). I did not know what it was like not to be able to sleep all day and all night, waking only to blow your nose or pull the tissue out from your sweatpants that somehow weaseled its way in there while you were snoring (blissfully!) through two nostrils with--yup, you guessed it--tissues stuck in them. I did not know. But I digress...

The byproduct of the arrival of the plague was a complete and utter lack of desire to make the aforementioned dinner. In fact, I can't even remember what we ate during those days of disease. What I was left with, then, was a bunch of vegetables on the brink of turning.





As I know I've mentioned before, we often have portions of homemade chicken stock in our freezer. As of late, I've been saving our vegetable bits in a bag in the freezer to, all in the name of letting them accumulate and turning them into soup one of these days. Yesterday was just the day.

M and I thawed the stock, chopped the veggies, sauteed them and combined everything. A sprinkle of that parmesan from the dinner-that-never-was on top, a piece of toast, and I am one happy eater.



(Ok, maybe M was more into her new dinosaur booties than our kitchen project, but I can dream...)

XXOO
-R

Meatless Mondays: Stuffed Peppers

Rachel here: I made stuffed peppers for the first time last night and I will definitely be making them again. While I know they often have rice or bread crumbs, I went a lighter route and just stuffed mine with veggies, tofu and cheese. It made for a nice light summer dinner, though I can imagine making a different stuffing that feels cozy once the cold weather comes.

On a different note, I've been thinking a lot about what I put in my body since M is exclusively breastfed. Avoiding anything and everything with hormones/antibiotics/words-I-can't-pronounce feels essential in terms of giving M a healthy start (ok, I just reread that and it sounds a little ummm...zealous...*sigh*) and the easiest and most affordable way to do this seems to be to eat vegetarian and vegan meals. While we can definitely get good quality reliable meat around here, it doesn't come cheap. So anyway, while my focus on meatless cooking started with this column, I guess I'm here today to say it's grown and now dominates our weekly eating. I made this entire dinner using exclusively organic and local ingredients and spent less than ten dollars to do so. Now that's a meal that's good for the planet, the body and the wallet...pretty awesome.


ingredients
3 red bell peppers, tops and seeds removed (*pick peppers that stand up!*)
1 portabello mushroom, diced
1/2 white onion, diced
2 sm. heirloom tomatoes, deseeded and diced
1 crookneck squash, diced
6 oz. extra-firm tofu, broken up
1 sprig rosemary, destemmed
salt and pepper
juice from half a lemon
1/3 c. feta cheese
mozzarella to top peppers


method
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Sautee mushroom, onion, tomato, squash and tofu with rosemary, salt and pepper and lemon juice. Mix in feta cheese and stuff peppers with this mixture. Top with mozzarella and bake until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. Enjoy!

Meatless Mondays: Summer Soup

Rachel here: As we mentioned this past Thursday, Mondays are now going to feature a vegetarian and/or vegan recipe in an effort to do our small part to enact and encourage environmentally-responsible eating. I am delighted to kick this posting trend off today with a delicious, hearty and summery recipe. Since it first crossed my mind to make gazpacho a few summers ago, it has been a staple in our house in the hotter months. I think my favorite part about it is that I'm never quite sure what all will end up in the bowl, making my ingredient decisions instead at the grocery store or farmers' market as I encounter the produce. I accompanied the meal this time with garlic bread, although I've been known to forgo the oven completely (even greener!) and just put out some cheese and crackers. Either way, every time I serve it there are happy faces and full bellies around the table come dinner's end.

Gazpacho
serves 8

Ingredients
1 large lemon
1 1/2 c. cannelini beans
5 small tomatoes (or equivalent)
1 medium cucumber
1 medium white onion
1 medium green bell pepper
1 ear fresh corn
salt and pepper
tomato juice
fresh mint leaves

Method
Dice your tomatoes, cucumber, onion, bell pepper and corn. Put in a large bowl, reserving 1 1/2 cups. Puree the reserved vegetables and add to bowl. Add the beans and juice from the lemon. Season with salt and pepper and tear up just a few mint leaves. The idea with the mint at this point is to just add the subtlest hint of mint. The leaves don't hold up so well, though, so I get the bulk of my minty flavor when I garnish the soup right before serving it. Add tomato juice as needed to get a good amount of liquid. Make sure the soup is well mixed before placing in the refrigerator to chill for a few hours. During this time, the flavors will come out a bit more. Taste before serving and adjust seasoning if needed. Garnish with a few mint leaves in each bowl and enjoy.

Janet here: The best gazpacho, to my mind, has a bit of zing to it so when I make it, I add things like Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. (This would not go with mint FYI so I would leave that out of Rachel's recipe.) I also like to leave mine a little crunchy so I don't puree it all the way. Just some other thoughts to consider as you're experimenting with this wonderful summer day staple. Enjoy!

It's Grill Time

Rachel here: The sudden arrival of warm weather this past weekend in the Bay Area left me seriously jonesing for summertime food. The other night we ate hotdogs and corn and, though the corn really isn't all that great yet, it still felt good to eat classic summer cook-out fare. There's something about these first warm weather meals that conjures so many summers passed. Every sense is stimulated by the sweet and slightly sticky air and I am both sitting in my backyard in Oakland and on my parents' back porch in Connecticut. Everything smells so good and I effortlessly relax in the warm twilight. But anyway, there's a recipe in here somewhere, I swear.

One of the meals we ate often in summer when I was growing up was chicken kebabs with couscous. For this reason, when the thermometer struck 80 yesterday, this was what I knew we had to have for dinner. We neglected to move our grill from our old apartment (oops!), but we have a stovetop grill pan that works just fine (although doesn't get you the same smokey awesomeness that a real grill will) in a pinch. In the early afternoon I whipped up a marinade and let the chicken soak for several hours before skewering it along with bell pepper and onion. I threw these on the stovetop grill pan, made a little couscous and--voila!--an easy, delicious, and totally summery dinner. A little later in the season I'll be adding peaches to these skewers (SO good), but they're not ready yet. What does the warm weather make you want to eat?



Smokey and Citrusy Marinade
enough for two large chicken breasts, chopped

Ingredients
1-2 large chicken breasts, chopped (or another meat of your choice)
1/3 c. worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. sesame oil
juice from one clementine
salt and pepper
chili powder, to taste (the more you use, the smokier your marinade will be)
1/4 c. brown sugar

Method
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients several hours (or the day) before you want to cook your meat. Stir every hour or so to make sure meat is absorbing all of the different flavors. Skewer with veggies and enjoy.

Janet here: Rather than add another recipe to this post as I had planned to do, I'm just going to add this little tip: I put my marinade in a large zip-top baggie and throw the chicken/fish/veggies/whatever in there to marinate. It ensures that everything gets covered, makes it easy to periodically mush stuff around in the fridge to make sure everything is equally marinated and means you can slip it into whatever little cubicle you have available in your fridge (mine is often stuffed to the gills because it is A) too small, B) I overcook and C) I don't organize it particularly well.)

Eating outside with friends and family as dusk falls is one of my favorite ways to spend a summer evening. I hope you enjoy lots of cookouts with the ones you love this summer.

Pulling Our Weight: Pork and Chicken

Rachel here: Had John and I not already decided to make this little union of ours official under the eyes of the law before I first developed this recipe, I would be completely convinced that he married me for this meal. I imagine that when I am having one of my more, shall we say, difficult days that John thinks of this meal and it helps him get through my raging, take-no-prisoners, psychotic pregnant hormones. I was proud of it the first time I made it because I developed the whole thing myself (a personal first, I think). Then, when I put it on the dinner table and John began to dig in, I became exceedingly proud as he looked up at me between mouthfuls and said, "You really do love me, after all. This is the first time you've really fed me right." Of course, this is an exaggerated statement (John is nothing if not an appreciative partner); however, the sentiment that I had really hit the nail on the head made me beam. Like, my face hurt. It was awesome.

Anyway, since that fateful evening when I finally did right by my man I haven't made this recipe a second time (the accompanying sides, which I will post about later in the week, feature a lot of bacon...enough that neither of us would feel good eating this with regularity and enough that eating it is incredibly satisfying). This go around I did a few things differently (I made more pork for one thing since we were supposed to have company for dinner, though illness intervened in that plan, and I also used ham hock instead of bacon for the sides) and I feel like the recipe worked just as well. Anyway, give it a try and let me know what you think.

Falling Off the Bone Pork
feeds 2 to 4 depending on how many chops you use

Ingredients
2-5 pork chops (depending on size and how many people you're looking to feed)
1-2 large white or yellow onions, sliced (more onion for more pork)
1+ cup of apricot jam (to your taste)
3 c. dark and hoppy beer (I used Rogue's Mocha Porter)
2 T. white wine vinegar
garlic powder
chili powder
salt and pepper
olive oil

Method
Season your pork chops in olive oil, garlic powder, chili powder and salt and pepper. Place them in the biggest pan you have over medium-high heat, browning both sides (approximately 4 minutes per side). Place the sliced onion on top of the chops. Combine 3 cups of beer with your cup of apricot jam to taste and pour into pan. Add white wine vinegar (if your beer doesn't have much bite to it, you might want to add more vinegar). Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for at least 2 hours, until the meat falls off the bone (if you're not sure if the meat is falling off the bone, it isn't...this is one of those awesomely obvious moments in cooking).

Tune in Wednesday and Friday to learn about the rest of what I do for this meal (including cornbread, which isn't pictured below)...


Janet here: Or if pork isn't your fancy (it may be "the other white meat" but it isn't according to my food lexicon so I don't "do" pork) instead try this barbecue pulled chicken.



I had never made this before and, frankly, I think I missed out on a couple of decades of serving dinner to some picky kids who would have loved this. Oh well, maybe I can win points with grandchildren or lure my nearly-adult children back for a dinner if this is on the menu.

I got this recipe from my new favorite chef, Ellie Krieger (I'll be back, Ina!) whose recipes I clearly will be copying for quite a while since I have two of her cookbooks (see post on her muffins from So Easy, which are great!) and have yet to make a bad recipe. This recipe is perfect when you have had a rough day at work or with the kids and want something really easy. Unlike Rachel's pulled pork, which seems pretty labor intensive to me, this recipe relies on picking up a rotisserie chicken! Love that! The sauce is made from scratch, though, so this completely counts as a home-cooked meal, again referring to that personal food lexicon. Click here and enjoy!

Squash This

Rachel here: We decided to feature squash for this post because it's a vegetable (ok, actually it's technically a fruit) that neither one of us is particularly used to working with. In my cooking, before this meal, I had only used it cubed in stir-fries and soups. Anyway, I was delighted to discover the recipe that I am sharing below. It is completely delicious, absurdly easy and really rather quick, in addition to being a phenomenally cheap meal to prepare. An added bonus was that it gives a nod to Thanksgiving dinner in its flavors, one of my all-time favorite meals. I found the recipe while trolling through epicurious (a wonderful way to spend a morning, in my opinion) and modified it ever so slightly from its original posting in Bon Appétit in October 1995.

Acorn Squash with Wild Mushroom Cranberry Stuffing

feeds 2

Ingredients

1 1/2-1 3/4 lb. acorn squash, halved and with seeds removed

1/2 c. dried cranberries or currants (I used a mixture)

1/4 c. hot water

3 T. butter

4 oz. fresh wild mushrooms (I used shiitake), de-stemmed and chopped

1/4 c. chopped onion (I chopped on the bigger side)

1 tspn. dried sage

1 c. fresh whole wheat breadcrumbs

1/4-1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan arregiano

few ounces of goat cheese (to taste)

Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place squash cut side down on a glass baking dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap (I just used a pyrex pie plate). Microwave on high for 10 minutes (or a bit longer if your microwave cooks on its own terms like mine does...I only added 2 extra minutes and it was perfect). Pierce plastic to let some steam escape and then remove plastic completely. Season squash with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine your cranberries and/or currants with the hot water and let sit. Melt the butter over medium-high heat in skillet. Add mushrooms, onion and sage and saute until vegetables begin to soften. Add breadcrumbs and stir until they begin to brown (roughly 3 minutes). Now add the cranberries and/or currants along with all of their soaking liquid. Season this with salt and pepper and then add the bulk of your grated parmesan, reserving a little to sprinkle over the top of the squash halves once they are stuffed.

Mound the stuffing into the squash halves, pressing down to get them good and full before creating the mounded tops. Sprinkle remaining parmesan over the top and place in oven for approximately 10 minutes, until heated through and crisp on top. I served the squash halves with a bit of goat cheese and John and I both felt that the tartness of the goat cheese was a nice complement to the dish. When we were eating, we were daydreaming about other things to stuff squash with (walnuts? sausage? the possibilities seem endless!)...what have you tried?


Janet here: The other point Rachel left out in our decision to make a squash dish is that neither of us is that fond of it so it doesn't make it to the menu that often in either of our households. There was a time, though, BK (that would be Before Kids) when I would make stuffed squash from my then-favorite vegetarian cookbook, The Moosewood Cookbook, and it was, as Rachel noted, an easy, tasty, cheap dinner. But then whining children came along and it became a harder sell (in fact I don't even think I tried).

I had been thinking about making a stuffed squash too but then found this recipe for a squash flatbread in Real Simple and thought it looked so beautiful, that I made this instead. I'm here to tell you that with the exception of it being a little squash-heavy (I personally think 1/2 a pound or maybe 3/4 of a pound tops would have improved this), it was delicious. The thyme added a lovely subtlety and the cheddar just the right bit of sharpness.

Butternut Squash Flatbread with Cheddar and Pine Nuts
serves 3

Ingredients
1 pound store-bought pizza dough (if you make your own, go for it; this recipe was filed under easy weeknight meals so the assumption was you didn't have time)
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, sliced 1/4 inch thick (see above comment re. amount)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (I used dried and saw no difference)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 grated extra-sharp Cheddar (6 ounces)

Method
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Shape the dough into a large oval and place on cornmeal-dusted baking sheet. (I used a pizza stone and that worked fine as well.)

In a large bowl, toss the swuash, onion, pine nuts, thyme, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Scatter over the dough and sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake until golden brown and crisp, 25-30 minutes