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recovering

recovering

The title of this post is a bit misleading — I’m pretty sure that I am not yet in the recovering phase of this illness (it appears that I might have the actual flu, not just a cold). But, I did go outside today because it was wonderfully and unseasonably warm and I couldn’t resist, and I felt a little bit better afterwards. I also made myself some lentil soup and I figured I’d share the recipe with you, because ’tis the season. It was comforting and wholesome, and my three-year-old gobbled it right up, too. I also think it tasted pretty good, though my tasting abilities are quite diminished due to a stuffy nose, so don’t take my word for it!

Adapted from Easy Lentil Soup (using the ingredients I had on hand)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and small dice
1 medium yellow onion, small dice
2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
1 quart vegetable broth
(or 1 vegetable bouillion cube dissolved in 4 cups of water)
1 1/4 cups lentils (any color except red), rinsed
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering, about 3 minutes. Add the carrot and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the broth, lentils, and Italian seasoning and stir to combine. Cover and bring to a simmer, about 15 minutes. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low and continue simmering, covered, until the lentils and vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes more.
Taste and season with salt or pepper as needed. If you prefer a creamier texture, purée half of the soup in a blender and add it back to the pot (I did this, and it was yummy).

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st. nicholas day

Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas, or St. Nicholas Day as it is commonly called. In the United States we don’t really celebrate St. Nicholas Day, but in some European countries it is just as big a deal as Christmas is here. St. Nicholas was a Bishop in Lycia (modern-day Turkey) during the 4th Century A.D. One legend regarding his works and character is as follows: St. Nicholas heard that children in a neighboring village were impoverished and starving because of a famine. So, he instructed his own servants to harvest everything on his estate and they all traveled to the village and distributed the food to the starving children. No matter how much he gave away, there always seemed to be more in his sack. There are other versions of this story, but the common theme is that they all involve miraculous quantities of food provided by St. Nicholas. Because he was willing to give it away, God helped him to provide it. The St. Nicholas Center has an enormous amount of information about St. Nicholas’s life, his works, and ways that his feast day can be celebrated — it is worth a visit. You might be surprised by how much our modern-day Christmas resembles this ancient feast day! And, beyond the fun, St. Nicholas is a wonderful model for how to be a good human being; the embodiment of love, kindness, and generosity.

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For our little celebration at home we had each of the kids fill a bag for each other and hang it on the doorknob to be opened in the morning. Europeans typically use shoes but I made bags because they are cleaner, and can be reused year after year. In this year’s bag each of my children received candycanes, a chocolate orange, two gold dollar coins, a St. Nicholas peg doll, and a book. We also read The Baker’s Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale , written by Aaron Shepherd with pictures by Wendy Edelson. This beautifully illustrated children’s book tells the story of a baker, Van Amsterdam, who always gives his customers exactly what they pay for; no more, no less. That is, until he receives a special visitor who teaches him that sometimes by giving more, we get more in return. This afternoon we’ll be baking and decorating Speculatius, or German spice cookies, for ourselves and for others. You can find the recipe below. Happy St. Nicholas Day!

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Speculatius (German Spice Cookies), from St. Nicholas Center

Mix in order:

1 cup shortening
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs whole
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cloves

Turn out onto a floured board. Knead in about one cup additional flour or as much as you need until dough is no longer sticky and is easy to handle.

Put into a plastic bag and refrigerate until chilled and stiff. Then you are ready to roll out and cut the cookies. Cut off a manageable piece and keep the rest cool until you are ready for more.

For many little cut-out shapes, roll out the dough thinly. Thin cookies are tastiest.

For the larger, decorated St. Nicholas cookies, roll the dough to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut out cookie around paper pattern. Place on greased baking sheet.Then get inspired. Use scrappy bits of dough to decorate your Nicholas. For a beard press a little dough through a sieve or a garlic press. Use little balls of dough for eyes or buttons.

Bake at 350º F. until golden-brown. These keep forever in tins in the freezer or for two–three weeks on the shelf.

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garden 2014 // week 6

I mis-labeled last week’s garden update, which should have been weeks 4 & 5, so now we’re on the sixth week! The garden is still blooming at full capacity, but there have also been a few setbacks. I will chalk this up to my being a total newbie at gardening. The first problem I’m having is something called blossom end rot , and it is just a horrid as it sounds. Zane first noticed it when he picked one of our butternut squashes prematurely. It looked really shriveled and gross, and the end was all rotten. I thought, oh, well, it was dead anyway. But, after a closer inspection of the other baby squashes, I noticed that several of them had the same problem! I Googled “end of butternut squash rotten” and found out that this is actually a common problem, and is caused by a lack of calcium. The roots could have trouble uptaking the calcium in the soil if there is a dramatic change in watering patterns (which could definitely have happened while we were on vacation and it was SO hot here in New Hampshire), or if the soil was not enriched enough to begin with (which could definitely have happened when I had to move my garden beds, thus disturbing my soil layers). Regardless of the cause of the problem, the solution seems to be a foliar spray, which I purchased from Amazon and had overnighted. I removed all the rotten fruits and bathed the heck out of the roots in a foul-smelling mixture of liquid seaweed and water. The good news is that the rest of the new fruits actually look fine. In fact, we have a fully ripe zucchini that we are going to eat tonight in one of my favorite dishes (see recipe at the end of the post). The second problem I’m having is also quite common, and that is sunburned leaves. I think I did a little too much watering of the leaves during the middle of the day (should have just concentrated on the soil) and now some of my leaves have little burn marks. Well, live and learn! The third problem is that two of my pepper plants are not doing well at all (read: practically dead). I think my aggressive removal of the blossoms, in the hopes that I could get the plants to grow larger, was a big mistake. I gave the peppers the seaweed treatment, too, in the hopes it might bring them back to life.

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garden 2014 // week six 4
garden 2014 // week six 6
bean collage
garden 2014 // week six 7
garden 2014 // week six 8

Our dinner tonight, based on the recipe
“Tuscan Style Pasta with Chickpeas, Zucchini and Rosemary”
from Vegan Planet , by Robin Robertson

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small or 1 large zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch thick half-moons
2 garlic cloves, minced, or about a tablespoon of jarred, minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
One 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
One 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste
1 pound of rotini, or similar

Directions:
Cook the pasta, drain, and set aside. While the pasta is cooking, sauté the zucchini in the olive oil until slightly softened. Add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, then stir in the rosemary, tomatoes, chickpeas, and seasoning and cook for about 10 minutes to blend the flavors . Combine with pasta, and enjoy!

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in the kitchen // kale

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This is not so much a recipe as a revelation. Did you know that kale is delicious? Apparently I missed the memo but recently discovered this fact for myself. Well, to be honest, I had a little help from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I started with her recipe “Garlicky Kale with Tahini Dressing” (from Vegan With A Vengeance), and then I adapted it to be easier to prepare…because I am too busy and/or lazy to bother with all the chopping and mincing and whatnot. So, here’s my version, which makes a perfect side dish for two hungry, veggie-loving adults, plus one smallish person:

Ingredients:
olive oil
3 heaping teaspoons minced garlic from a jar*
8 oz. pre-chopped kale (about 1/2 of one of those giant bags)

*If you absolutely must use fresh garlic, I recommend 3-4 cloves, minced.

Instructions:
Heat some olive oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and sauté on medium heat for about a minute or just until fragrant. Add the kale and turn with tongs until bright green and slightly wilted. You don’t want it to get really wilted like spinach; it should stay a little bit springy. Devour.

This kale is so good that even toddlers will love it!
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in the kitchen // secret pasta sauce

Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good. — Alice May Brock

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Okay, so this recipe is not really a secret, but I’m giving it that title in the tradition of pasta sauces as the culinary equivalent of precious family heirlooms. Because I find that we eat pasta a little more often than we should, I sometimes offset my laziness by making homemade pasta sauce. I started out using a recipe from The Complete Tassajara Cookbook, but I’ve made several adjustments that bypass some of the more laborious steps (such as dicing whole canned tomatoes — why not just buy ones that are already diced?). I’ve also tweaked the seasoning to suit my family’s taste, and you should feel free to do the same with my recipe. The beauty of this type of recipe is that it is so flexible. You could make it with 100% organic ingredients, you could use fresh herbs, you could blend only some of it for a chunkier style sauce. Be creative! Someday I’d love to develop a recipe for a vodka/cream sauce (my husband’s favorite). If I’m successful, I will be sure to post the results.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced
Two 15 oz. or one 28 oz. jar of diced tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning (I use McCormick)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
red pepper, salt, black pepper to taste

Instructions:

You can make this sauce in either a large pot or in a large skillet, it’s up to you. Saute the onion in some olive oil until soft (usually about 5-7 minutes). Add the garlic and saute for an additional minute. Try not to burn the garlic (I always do). Add the tomatoes and their juice, along with all of the spices. Heat for about 10 minutes (covered, so it doesn’t splatter). Let it cool for a minute or two and then blend it. I use an immersion blender because immersion blenders are probably the greatest kitchen appliance of all time. I don’t know how or why anyone would cook without one. However, if you don’t have one, you can certainly blend your sauce in a regular blender.

I like to put my pasta directly into the sauce and stir it all up so that every piece is deliciously coated with tomato-ey goodness. Penne works great for this. You could also just pour it on top. You know what you like best. Mangia mangia!

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