Early Summer Pasta

This was quite possibly the best thing I ate in the last month!  

The kale salad was made with fresh corn, thin sliced red onion and avocado; it was dressed in a lemon vinaigrette made with coconut oil.   The balancing of flavor s was exquisite and the acidity was a bit high whit I really loved when it mixed with the creamy mellow of the avocado or the sweet crisp of the corn.  

The broccoli was a simple light steam dressed with olive oil,salt and pepper.  It was left simple and a bit firm.  The natural flavor was the key component but if a bit of that lemon vinaigrette splashed on it it added a bit of a lip smacking zing to it that I really enjoyed

The main was an angle hair pasta dressed in a garlic butter dressing.  The 'butter' in this case was the earth balance coconut spread (making the whole meal soy free) blended with minced fresh garlic a pinch of salt and a dash of olive oil.  For flavor and color there is also diced parsley, chopped green onions and chunks of heirloom tomatoes.  

What surprised me about this meal, what I wish I planned, is how the flavors all blended so well.  Each item could be mixed with one of the others to make a new flavor combination (though mixing all three was just too much flavor). the kale added some awesome body to the pasta.  The pasta with the broccoli gave a tootyness and a freshness that was like spring time!  Some day I hope I am better at planning flavor combinations like this.. . for now I am happy with the coincidental discoveries! 

Not quite Summer Pasta

It is late enough in the year that we are out of preserved tomatoes and not yet time for tomatoes from the garden!  Of course I could pop over to the store and get a can of sauce but sometimes food is enough work that going to the store makes it too much work!  It is also fun to be creative with food. . . to explore within the restrictions of the kitchen.  So I present to you a lovely pasta dish sans tomato.  This is essentially an garlic butter sauce on fusilli pasta (spirals).  Ironically we were also out of olive oil (my first choice in making a garlic sauce) and earth balance (my second choice though i usually like to cut it with other oils).  I 'resorted' to coconut oil.  since cocnut oil has a distinct flavor I dont like to use it when making sauces unless I am looking for a coconut flavor but it is still a perfect choice for this pasta.  Just having a bowl of pasta with garlic and oil is great but I like to toss in some color and flavor.  If you did want to go for the basic start with pressing or finely dicing garlic into a dish and mixing it with the oil so the flavor can diffuse. Cook and drain your pasta, lightly salt and pepper then toss with your garlic oil.  Different people have different enjoyments of oil so the amount can really vary but if this is your principle sauce you want a little less than a table spoon of garlic oil for every cup of pasta. I encourage you to start with less and slowly add.  Remember adding oil to pasta is easy taking it back out. . . .well.

To add some oomph I tossed in some diced broccoli, sliced kalmata olives, some kale stems I had been saving and then a handful of beans left over from making chili.   Adding these accoutrements doesnt just give you a bit of green and protein for your diet, it also adds color and texture and flavor.  I know it is important to keep things like calories, fat and protein in mind when you eat but damn it eating should be fun your food should be pretty and taste great!  The fact that this dish has a good mix of nutrients is just a bonus.

(and again I wish I had an avocado handy)

Davey's Macaroni

About a month ago I tried a relatively new restaurant in Oakland called Home Room.  This hip place features a menu of many macaroni and cheeses with ad ins that make the combinations nearly endless!  To my enjoyment they even have a vegan option!  The service is wonderful the ambiance is just to die for and the food is decent.  The brussel sprout appetizer was by far my favorite, but the fresh green salad had a simplicity that was refreshing without being boring.  The mac and cheese was unfortunately not that great.  It was good, with a  soft cheesy flavor but the sauce was watery and the extra cost for mushrooms was way too much for the quality. Unfortunately the sauce was too thin and I am used to a more bold flavor for my not-cheese sauces.  Still I would recommend it for an quick bit in Oakland.

Homeroom mac 'n cheese with peas and muchrooms

At this point I have to admit that I am biased against most mac 'n cheeses because I have had what is arguably the best mac 'n cheese.  It was introduced to me by my friend Davey.  Brussel sprouts still being too expensive I made a side of collard greens and a kale salad.  

Lets get down to it and turn this:

into this!

Mac ' Yeast

What I love about this recipe is how surprisingly simple it is to make with amazing flavor! This is one of those dishes that really proves anything can be transformed by a good sauce.  As the name may suggest the basis of this 'cheese' sauce is nutritional yeast.  In a blender place:




1 C soy milk
1 C water
1/3 C Soy sauce
1/2 C firm tofu
1 1/2 C nutritional yeast
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs powdered garlic
1 Tbs salt (or powdered vegetable bouillon)
1/2 C safflower oil (or your oil of preference)

This all get blended together until it is smooth and creamy.  As with most sauces the importance is the balance between fat and flavor (where flavor is usually water based).  The tofu in this acts as a great source of protein and more importantly as an emulsifier to keep the water and oil mixed.  The proportions above are good for about 1 lb of pasta and you can adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding more or less water (though I tend to go for a thicker sauce).  This sauce is going to be baked so don't make it to thick or you will burn! 

I used 2 lbs of pasta and doubled the above proportions with one bag of frozen peas (aprox. 12 oz).  It is ok to under cook the pasta a little, even preferred, because we are going to bake this whole mess at 350 F for 15-25 minutes.  if you made your sauce to thin you can bake it longer to thicken it up but really this step is for mixing the flavors and giving a nice crust to the top layer of macaroni. 

before oven                                  .  

after oven                                         .

The extra sprinkle of paprika and nutritional yeast is just for effect and hardly effects the flavor.  

Kale Salad

I did some pretty simple side dishes with steamed broccoli and a kale salad. This kale salad was a mix of karinata kale and red Russian kale with shreds of carrots and golden beats.  The dressing was an orange ginger vinaigrette and the sesame seeds were added in excess (just the way I like it).  I have done kale salad a few times so feel free to look at old recipes.  Again the secret is in the sauce, balancing acid with fat and flavor.  Sometimes Kale makes this extra tricky because you want the acid to sit on the kale for 20- 30 minutes before you add the fat and flavor.

Steamed Broccoli

The broccoli was simply cut up and steamed but the secret to delicious broccoli is getting ti fresh as possible.  the less time ti sits off the plant the sweeter it will be.  If you can get a young broccoli and get ti picked fresh that day you probably dont need to steam it and could serve it raw with a  spicy or savory dipping sauce where the natural sweetness of the broccoli balances out the flavors.  I know you probably dont think of broccoli as being sweet but man it can be surprising! 

Collard Greens

If you are trying to eat local and winter comes rolling round you best make friends with collard greens.  The nice thing is that they are such a common treat for some sub cultures in the USA that figuring out how to cook them is not that hard.  As you might suspect it is high heat with a  good oil and some onions and garlic for the yum factor.  Collards come in big broad leaves (we are talking a foot wide) that are easy to wash and prepare.  Just cut out the stem (save them) and then slice the leaves into manageable strips.  make sure you use 'too many' leaves as this is much like spinach and other dark greens you cook, they loose a lot of volume when you apply heat.  It is common to blanch the leaves before cooking (dip them into boiling water fr a minute) as this cuts down on the bitterness and makes a more manageable volume.  I prefer to use an acidic cooking stock to cut down the bitterness, typically lemon juice.  By avoiding the water you get to hit the leaves with full heat of the skillet and it gives them a nice sauteed flavor that I always have trouble getting if I blanch first.  

Eat it up!

Comfort in Quinoa

I didnt intend this blog to keep track of my mood but it turns out it does without my intention.   When life gets crazy I tend not to post.  Only when my mind settles again do I think 'ok food yeah i should talk about food'.  The moral is if I dont post for 2-3 weeks I am either out of town or my life is going nuts!

only thing to do when life gets nuts?  eat quinoa!  This is one of those modern day 'super foods ( a term I really dont like) because it is a plant based complete protein, yeah they exist.  NASA started using it on flights because of the way it balances fiber and protein without fat or cholesterol (though I like fat).  It is also my go to grain when I need something to eat and my mind is blank.  The great thign about quinoa is it cooks just like rice in a quarter of the time!  1 cup Quinoa 1 1/2 C broth (though just water is fine too) bring ti to a boil then let it simmer for 15-20 min.  The quinoa in this lunch was slightly toasted before I cooked it and had sauteed onions and garlic added.  I balanced the meal with a broccoli carrot teriyaki and boy did the sweet/savory hit the spot!