White Bean Sautee with Roasted Veggies

We don't eat out all that much, maybe because I don't mind cooking, but I do find eating in restaurants to be a good source of inspiration for recipe ideas. I was reminded of this over the past couple of weeks. First, when we stopped at The Friendly Toast in Portsmouth en route to Maine and I ate a veggie barbecue bowl. If you haven't been to The Friendly Toast, it's fun and funky, and they often add creative twists to casual type food. The barbecue veggie bowl was a perfect example of this. It was basically an unbaked, updated vegetarian version of Shepherds Pie. Our other recent meal out was at Flora, our neighborhood fine dining venue, where we visited for a belated Valentine's Day meal. It's only our third visit there, but we've had an excellent experience each time. There I had a white bean cassoulet with roasted root veggies, wild mushrooms and greens. I have since made versions of both of these.
At the risk of being boring, I will post the white bean dish even though my last post featured the same main ingredient. But, I am loving cannelini beans these days and I want everyone else to feel the love! Perhaps it's because I eat so many black beans and chickpeas (of course), that they are a nice change. But they really do have a nice texture and lend themselves well to fragrant herbs. When I researched cassoulet recipes I found they were more like soups and included sausage as well as beans. The dish at Flora was definitely not soupy. I also wanted to include some Israeli couscous since I thought that would add some nice texture and make a heartier meal. I'm not totally sure what they had for roasted veggies, but I'm pretty sure they had some butternut squash and turnip in there. I used white and sweet potato and a delicata squash. If you've never had this kind of squash, you MUST try it. It's nutty and light, not as sweet as butternut, and you don't have to peel it. (And you may already know how I feel about peeling butternut squash. Just for the record, I would still adore delicata squash, even if it needed to be peeled.)
I originally thought I would assemble all the three pieces after each had been cooked, then bake it for a bit. But in the end, I decided not to. Instead I just layered them in a bowl and served. It's still not quite what I want, but it was tasty enough that I would make it again. I will still go back to the drawing board though and see what I can come up with.

White Bean Sautee with Roasted Veggies

Bean sautee:
1 tblsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 large or 3 small ribs celery, diced
4 cloves garlic
2 14 oz cans cannelini/ white kidney beans
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 cup veggie broth
a few leaves of kale, de-stemmed and chopped
2 tblspns dried herb de provencal or a mixture of thyme, sage, oregano and a bay leaf

Israeli couscous:
1 cup Israeli couscous
1 1/4 cup veggie broth

Roasted Veggies:
2 tblspns oil
4ish cups of a mixture of good roasting veggies diced (I used white potato, sweet potato delicata squash and crimini mushrooms
1 tspn sage
salt and pepper

1. Toss the veggies to be roasted with the oil, sage, salt and pepper to taste. Place in a baking pan and roast at 425 for 40 minutes or more til tender, tossing every 10 minutes or so.

2. Heat oil for bean sautee in a large sautee pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and garic. Cook five minutes until soft. Add beans and herbs, toss for a couple of minutes then add broth and tomatoes and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. At the end, you just want a little liquid left in the pan, so you may find you'll need to add more broth. You all may want it more tomatoey, but I wanted the tomato to be subtle.

3. Bring the couscous and broth to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer covered for 10-12 minutes, until broth is absorbed.

4. After the bean sautee has been simmering for about 15 minutes, add the kale and put the lid on the pan.

5. On serving dishes, ladel a layer of beans, then a layer of couscous. Top with roasted veggies.

Pasta with Cannelini Beans and Spinach

While my lack of blogging might indicate a lack of cooking, that's not necessarily so. I have recently purchased a couple of new cookbooks after not having bought any for quite some time. I am finding them inspirational. It's time to take my cooking up a notch and I'm confident these books can help me. I got another Moosewood: Cooking for Health. I've made several dishes from that so far. I also just received Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. I spent some time reading it yesterday, but haven't cooked anything from it yet. The author gives a lot of great tips and explanations and so far, I like what I see.
I've also had a fairly busy schedule. On Mondays I am taking a class in Harvard Square on writing and publishing childrens' books. On Tuesdays I do a cycling/ core strengthening class at the Training Room in Somerville. Wednesday nights is group trainer workout in Cathy and Mike's basement with potluck dinner after. Thursdays I usually work late and do a run. Then, we're back to the weekend. There hasn't been much time for experimenting in the kitchen, so I've been falling back on many of the usual suspects.
I'm pretty sure this dish could become a regular. It's one of those things you can make even if you haven't made it to the grocery store in a bit, because you'll have everything on hand in the pantry or freezer. You'll note that the recipe calls for a 1/4 tspn of salt. Due to a little mishap, I put about 6,ooo times that amount into the pan. As I was shaking a "bit" of salt in right at the end of cooking, the lid came flying off, dumping the entire contents of the container onto the pasta. After hearing some expletives emerge from the kitchen, Todd came running in thinking I had perhaps caught my hair on fire. When he saw what actually happened, he said, "I know you're upset, but you have to admit, it's pretty funny. We should take a picture of it." So we did and then we salvaged a portion of it. I guess if you spend enough time in the kitchen, you're going to have days like these. And, I now understand why on cooking shows the chefs pick the salt from a little bowl and sprinkle it on with their fingers. Lesson learned.

Pasta with Cannelini Beans and Spinach
10 oz frozen chopped spinach
8 oz of fusilli or rotini pasta
1 tblsp olive oil
1 small onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
pinch red chile pepper flakes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can cannelini beans
1 tspn dried oregano
1 tspn dried basil
1/4 tspn salt
1/4 tspn ground pepper
a few tblspns feta, parmesan or asiago cheese

1. Cook the spinach. Heat it according to package directions, drain it and press out the excess water. (If using fresh, wilt in some boiling water, drain press excess water from it and chop it coarsely.)
2. Cook pasta according to package directions.
3. Heat oil in a sautee pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and chili pepper flakes. Cook for a few minutes until the onions are soft. Add tomatoes, beans, and spices. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, uncovered, until liquid is reduced. Add spinach and pasta. Let simmer for a couple more minutes. Serve in bowls and top with cheese.

Cheesy Penguins

My effort to incorporate pictures on my blog isn't going very well. It's not just food I'm neglecting to photograph, but pretty much everything else too. Todd and I got this great new camera, a Canon PowerShot SD970 IS Elph which makes picture taking a much better experience than with our old cameras. I think I just got so out of the habit of taking pictures that I'm having a hard time getting back into it. Also, when I look at other cooking blogs, they seem to have really nice kitchens and cookware which makes a pleasant backdrop for the food. Our ghetto kitchen and boring dish set, not so much. However, I am inspired by some of the fantastic photography on these blogs and that of some of my photographer friends, so I will continue to make an effort. This website was the inspiration for the cocktail penguins we brought to a Three Kings party last night.
http://arecipeforaperture.blogspot.com/
These little penguin guys were kind of fun to make. It was like being veterinary chef, operating on these little food animals. They rated pretty high on the cute factor, and in that sense were a hit at the party. They taste o.k., but were mostly just a fun food item.
Earlier in the day we had some fun photographing our city pet filling himself up on the various snacks we left out for him. I think his favorite were the almond crescent cookies I put out, but he had eaten the whole thing before I could get it on film. I was hoping he'd have some confectionery sugar dotting his face for a photo.
If anyone has anymore ideas for animal foods, pass them along. I'm thinking there's got to be something you could do with cherry tomatoes.

Cheesy Penguins
Cream cheese
Goat cheese (one with garlic and herbs is good)
1 can of black olives (I think canned works best since they are firmer)
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
cocktail toothpicks

1. Mix up some cream cheese and goat cheese to taste. You don't have to use goat cheese, but it gives a better flavor.
2. Slice the carrots, not to thin and not too fat. Cut a triangle out of each one. The triangle will be used for the beak.
3. Slice open an olive and stuff it with the cheese mixture. This is the hardest part. It's difficult to do without getting the cheese everywhere. I tried several different gadgets to perform this surgical procedure.
4. Assemble the head, body and feet with a toothpick and insert the beak.

Applesauce

In Led Zeppelin's song Over the Hills and Far Away, Robert Plant muses, "Many times I've wondered how much there is to know." I can relate to this. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by how much there is to know, and just how little of it I do know. Further, I get frustrated by my limited capacity, time-wise, resource-wise and ability-wise to learn (and do) more. For instance, tonight on Fresh Air, George Lucas was being interviewed and he was asked about the mythology behind his films. He explained how he was an anthropology major in college and became interested in the psychology supporting the myths and when creating films he was exploring whether that psychology still resonates in current culture. He was also discussing that mythology is really storytelling. I'm probably misrepresenting precisely what he was saying, but the point is that while listening, what was going through my head was: I would love to be able to study anthropology and know more about various cultures; I would like to read mythology and be familiar with more of the classic myths. I remember being really interested in the little mythology I studied in grade school; I would like to pursue storytelling as an art form. I took a workshop a few years ago, but never did anything with it. Then, in this typical line of my thinking comes the part where I get frustrated thinking that at my job, while I learn knew information, it's nothing terribly interesting and I feel like I'm getting dumber by the day, rather than smarter and wiser.
The next step in this thought progression is usually my getting down on myself for not being disciplined in using my free time more productively - studying and researching (formally or informally) the litany of topics I'd like to explore. On the contrary, I end up being less scheduled than I could be and just falling back on the usual suspects to fill my time: biking, running, cooking and reading fiction (with the smattering of non-fiction mixed in). It's not like I'm spending hours wasting time in front of the t.v. or anything, so I suppose I could be far less productive,but I have do my time wasters: flitting about the Internet and playing my favorite iPhone app of the day (i.e. Boggle). I guess I long to possess a little more Type A personality, and be a morning person, as I've mentioned before (I think they probably go hand in hand), but I'll have to work with what I've got and make the best of it.
When I do make a meal that is spontaneous, creative, tasty and efficient all at the same time, I must admit, I do feel a good sense of accomplishment. This very thing happened the other day when I made potato pancakes from leftover mashed potatoes, applesauce from the softening apples that were no longer good to eat on their own, and a tasty side salad to use up the greens in the fridge. I was just about to throw away half a bag of McIntosh apples when it dawned on me that applesauce would be a good accompaniment to the pancakes. It cooked so quickly and did work well with the meal.

Applesauce
3 to 4 lbs peeled, cored and quartered apples (not all apples are good for cooking, but McIntosh, Fuji, Granny Smith and some others work well.)
4 strips of lemon peel
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
up to 1/4 cup white sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
1 cup of water
1/2 tspn salt

1. Put all ingredients into a large pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, take out lemon peel, and mash with a potato masher or a couple of whirls of an immersion blender.

Would be good warm over vanilla ice cream or put it in fridge for a snack all on its own!

Winter Squash Soup

Butter totally rocks.

I'm finally figuring out that this is one of the reasons why everything in nice restaurants taste so much better than my own cooking. They put butter and cream in pretty much everything. While I don't choose to cook like this all the time, it's a nice treat once in a while. On Christmas day, we chose to stay home and have a quiet day by ourselves. We also defied tradition in a few other ways. I didn't put up a single Christmas decoration (cutting back from the few I scattered about last year), and we didn't partake in much gift giving. I exchanged gifts with a few friends and Todd's parents gave us gifts, but other than that, we abstained. I must admit, I really enjoyed it. I had more appreciation for the few gifts I did get and it made the holidays a little less frenetic. I plan to do the same next year. We also went to the movies on Christmas evening at the Boston Common theatre to see Sherlock Holmes with my friend, Sallie, and her three boys. It was a nice way to end our non-traditional Christmas.
For our quiet dinner at home I had planned to have a romantic candlelit atmosphere, and make something decadent, outside of my usual simple repertoire. I searched around trying to find something French and vegetarian, but couldn't find anything to get terribly excited about. As the day drew closer, I had settled on a menu that was far less intriguing than I had intended and then the day of, that got scaled back even more since we ended up in a bit of a time crunch due to unexpected activity. So, no candlelight, and we rushed through our rather standard type meal.
The only thing I did do a bit differently was to use butter and cream in both the mashed potatoes and the soup I made. The soup was from the Pickety Place cookbook, a cute, homey type restaurant in NH with lots of savory dishes that Todd took me to when we were first dating.
Normally, I would make the same type of recipe without the butter and cream, but I went for it and the results were good. It reminds me, I would like to go visit Pickity Place again (hint, hint Todd).

Winter Squash Soup
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 large Spanish onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups veggie broth (non-tomato based)
3 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
3 cups acorn squash, peeled and diced
1 tspn fresh thyme (remove leaves from stem and mince)
1 tspn fresh sage, minced
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tspns brown sugar
Salt and white pepper to taste

1. Melt butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Add broth, herbs and squash. Cook on medium heat until squash is tender, about 20-30 minutes.
3. Remove from heat. Let cool a bit and puree until smooth. Whisk in cream and brown sugar. Reheat on low, being careful not to scorch cream.

Black Bean Butternut Squash Chili

Happy twenty ten! I am writing this entry as a means of avoiding the cleanup from yesterday's Chili New Years Day Ride/Party. Our day started with about 30 more degrees than it did last year. Despite that, we actually had fewer people join us for the ride. There were 10 serious competitive cyclists and me, for a total of 11. Last year we had at least 13. While last year's ride was frigid and in the snow, it sort of evened out the playing field a little better. Yesterday's ride was mostly spent with me falling off the back and the rest of the group waiting up for me at the tops of hills. After about 90 minutes of this, I begged the group to go on without me while I toodled back on my own. Pathetically, I was actually lost for a while in the sense that I had no idea where I was even though I was about 5 miles from my house. In the end, it was good because I found a new way home from Lexington and I realized I get stuck in the same routes and need to venture out. I will look forward to some new roads in 2010.

Another 20 or so people eventually joined us back at the house for some food, hot cider, conversation and Rock Band. Typically, Todd has made two versions of the same chili (see last year's post), one with meat and one without. This year I decided to venture out and make a vegetarian chili that was distinct from the other. I chose this recipe because it was a bit sweeter, and doesn't have as much heat, to have an offering for people who want something a bit more mild. Apparently it was good. I never actually got around to trying it, but several people commented on it. The basic recipe has very few ingredients and you can use this as a base to play around with. I added corn, carrots and some cider vinegar. You could sub sweet potatoes for the sqaush and kale or spinach for the chard. Add more spices if you like. Topping this with fresh cilantro would probably taste great.

Black Bean Butternut Squash Chili
2 tblspns olive oil
2 1/2 cups chopped onion
3 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and chopped into half inch pieces
2 tblspns chili powder
2 tspns ground cumin
1/8 tspn cayenne (more if you want heat)
3 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 1/2 cups veggie broth
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
3 cups packed of roughly chopped swiss chard

Other stuff I added:
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 carrot, sliced
1 tblspn cider vinegar

1. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic (and carrot if using). Saute until tender and golden, but be careful not to burn - about 7-9 minutes.
2. Add squash, stir. Cook about 2 more minutes.
3. Add chili powder, cayenne and cumin, and mix.
4. Add tomatoes, broth and beans. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat, and simmer until squash is tender about 15 minutes.
5. Add chard or kale and corn (if using). Cook about 5 more minutes until greens are tender.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste and cider vinegar. Blend and serve.

Pear Salad with Walnuts and Greens

Last night, we went to see our friend Tom in his latest stage performance: Osacar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband". Prior to the movie, we had our friend Steve over for a casual dinner. I told him to keep his expectations low, since I was just serving the Minestrone and some salad. When Todd and I took a walk in the late morning to get our daily weekend infusion of coffee (hers) and mini blueberry scones (his), we stopped at the corner grocery. It's a little market with a Greek influence and I occasionally go there when in need of a head of lettuce. I noticed yesterday that the pears looked nice, so I picked out one of those as well. Later, when trying to decide on a salad for dinner and wanting to incorporate the pear, I realized I needed some cheese and a few other things. I was about to hop in the car and head over to Whole Paycheck when I decided it was both more efficient and socially responsible to instead walk back to Christo's, the corner store. Here, I picked up some Feta, a French baguette (apparently imported daily from the North End), seltzer, and a custom cut piece of Parmesan wrapped in a piece of wax paper, the price written on it with a Sharpie. I was enamored by the cheese in the wax paper. It seemed so Old World to not have something wrapped up air tight.
In addition to the salad lending itself well to the sustainability of my community, it was also a nice accompaniment to the soup. I think gorgonzola may have been a better choice than the feta since it would pack a little more punch. For the record, I only had a tiny bit of cheese on mine as part of my detox (see last post).

Pear Salad on greens
1 head of butter, red or green lettuce, torn into small pieces
2 handfuls of walnuts, toasted
1-2 pears, sliced
1/8 cup red onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup crumbled feta, gorgonzola or bleu cheese

Dressing
1/2 cup salad oil (canola)
3 tblspns apple cider
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tspn celery seed
1/2 tspn salt
dash pepper

1. Divide the salad ingredients amongst 4 -6 plates
2. Put the dressing ingredients in a jar with lid and shake till well blended. Pour over salads.

Minestrone Soup

My original plan was to come home from England on Friday, and do the last 'cross race of the season on Saturday. I knew I wouldn't be in the best of shape, after switching time zones and not having had much time to run or ride while there, but figured I'd just go out and have fun with it. Unfortunately, I was in much worse shape than I even anticipated. After having almost no sleep for 6 out of the 8 nights there, getting sick partway in as a result, not being able to exercise, and having a not so great diet, I was totally wrecked by the end. I spent most of yesterday, my first day home, walking around in slow motion, trying to accomplish little things, but too foggy to do so. Probably adding to this, it's the first time it's been really cold this year. When I left, we were embarking on unseasonally high temps at almost 70 and when I got home it was in the 20s. I think this blast of cold added to my body's need to bring things down a notch, so there was no racing for me. Instead, I am going to slowly ramp back up into running and riding, and spend this week having a "casual" detox. My diet last week consisted mostly of dairy, pasta and bread. This week I will focus on vegetables and grains and try to eat as little of the aforementioned as possible.

The second I stepped out of the airport Friday evening and felt the cold wind, I knew I wanted some soup to soothe my soul. I stopped at Whole Foods on my way home to get a few veggies to make some minestrone. I got a mix of things, versus sticking to one season. Upon consulting my Moosewood Daily Specials cookbook and seeing they had a minestrone recipe for summer, autumn, winter and spring, I realized that I would like to stick to seasonal veggies and spices next time. But, for now my standard mix n' match minestrone would do. The trick is to not put too much of any one thing, especially something with a stronger flavor, like broccoli. There are many variations to the veggies I will add (often using green beans which I did not for this one). I could've sworn I had blogged this before, but couldn't find it, so here it is.



Minestrone
1 tblsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced or sliced, however you like it
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 small russet potato, diced
2 cups water
4 cups veggie broth
1 tspn oregano
1 small zucchini, sliced and cut in half moons
1/2 cup small pasta, such as orzo or elbows
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 14 oz. can kidney beans
4 or 5 leaves of kale or swiss chard, chopped
1 tblsp red wine vinegar (or red wine)
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1. In soup pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add onion, carrots and garlic. Sautee for 5 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, broth, water, oregano and potato. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
3. Add zucchini and pasta. (I sometimes cook the pasta separately, especially if I'm using elbows, and then add it when I'm serving at the end. Otherwise, it gets really soggy in the leftovers.) Simmer for 10 more minutes.
4. Add peas, kale or chard, vinegar, kidney beans, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 10 more minutes. Serve.

Todd's Sweet Tea

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It includes all the components for a perfect weekend. I get four days to cook and eat a lot, and spend time socializing with family and friends who I don't necessarily see a lot. I usually start Thanksgiving day with a running race, and the weekend typically includes some other bike riding and running activity as well. The one sketchy factor is the weather. I can remember being at running races where it was 20 degrees and snowy, and other times where it was 65 and sunny, and everything in between. But, alas, the weather is always unpredictable. This year it was gray and rainy for much of the weekend.
Not only was the weather dreary, but my food contributions for the weekend left much to be desired. We had Thanksgiving dinner up in Maine with Todd's family. I did help with some of the peeling and chopping, but my only addition to the meal was a salad, which was nothing at all exciting. Just the usual greens with cranberries, apples, walnuts and feta with a balsamic dijon vinaigrette. Yawn.
Then, on Sunday we went to the annual Turkey Hoist party started by my friend, Eugene. This year it was hosted by Keith and Michelle at their lovely refurbished home on a lake in Ayer. Lauri, who was visiting from Colorado and needed a little break from family time, accompanied us. According to my last name, I was supposed to bring an appetizer or side dish, but since I thought we'd be late, I instead brought a dessert. This was a bad decision on my part because we got there right on time for dinner, there weren't enough side dishes and my dessert was terrible. I would have totally enjoyed making some fun grain or potato dish, and instead made a slightly healthy pumpkin dessert and didn't enjoy the process, nor the outcome. I still haven't quite gotten over this, but I figure writing about it may help purge my bad feelings of missed cooking/ eating/ sharing opportunity.
Since I emerged from the weekend without a fun recipe to share, you will instead get the iced tea recipe I make for Todd. This is mainly because I am about to leave to London for 8 days, leaving Todd tea-less for much of it, and he may try to make it himself. Todd likes his tea much sweeter than I do. It took me many tries to get just the right tea/sugar/lemon combination to get it just the way he likes it. I've tried using honey and also agave nectar for sweetener, but it seems he likes the cane sugar the best. The pitcher we have makes a four day supply for him, and since I made one last night, he should be out by Saturday. You can check in with him to see if he makes more or opts for a Nantucket Nectars Half and Half from the convenient store up the street...

Sweet Todd's Sweet Tea
10 black tea teabags
2/3 cup sugar
juice from 2 lemons
24 oz boiled water
24 oz cold water

1. Boil water, then let sit in kettle for a few minutes to cool down just a bit.
2. Pour hot water into pitcher over tea bags. Let tea steep for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Add sugar slowly and stir to help dissolve.
4. Squeeze lemon juice into mixture being careful to not get any seeds (using a lemon squeezer gadget comes in handy here).
5. Add cold water and chill for 8 hours before drinking.

Tempeh and Potato Curry

I have to admit it - yesterday while I was putting together the photo slideshow for my bike club's yearly banquet, I felt some slight pangs of regret and was wishing I had raced a little more this season. As I browsed photo after photo of crazy cyclists jumping barriers, running up muddy hills with their muddy bikes hoisted over their muddy shoulders, and navigating tight corners on a wet, off-camber hill, it made me a bit sad that I didn't get to do that more. The affect cyclocross can have on you is a mix between using crack and giving birth - it's wildly addictive and you quickly forget the severe pain when it's over and want to do it again very soon. (I should probably point out that I've never done crack or given birth, so perhaps a different analogy is in order.)
There were several reasons I didn't do many races this autumn. I was intending right from the start to not let it consume the whole season. Last year, Todd and I spent nearly every Saturday and Sunday at races and we were pretty wiped out by Thanksgiving, so I didn't want to repeat that. Also, this year Todd stopped racing early on, and I must admit, it was certainly much more difficult to get out of bed really early on a weekend to drive an hour and a half to a race on a rainy day all by myself when he was all warm and snuggled under the comforter, still sleeping. At some point, I also got myself all worked up and nervous about it and was a little low on confidence, which squelched my motivation.
I could go on with reasons (a.k.a. excuses), but I won't. The upside is that I really did do some fun things in lieu of races and spent time with some folks I may not have otherwise. Susan and I had a couple of great mountain bike rides at Great Brook. Just last Sunday, Mike and I spontaneously went to a matinee after I chose at the last minute not to race that day. I can't remember the last time I went to the movies during the day. Then I came out to a cleared up sky and took my new single speed out for a spin. I had a few play dates with Sallie. I killed most of one Saturday reading a book, etc. etc.
I only have the opportunity to do 1 or maybe 2 more races, given my trip to England next week. And I'm not going to dwell in the past or let regret root itself inside of me. I am, instead, going to be appreciate the fact that I have so many options and the freedom to do all these wonderful things.
This past weekend was a great example of just that. Saturday was gorgeous and I raced at Shedd Park in Lowell. On Sunday, I had a fantastic run around Mystic Lake under grey and chilly, yet exhilarating skies. In the evening, I went to the banquet where I felt in awe of the size of our club and the great people that are part of it. Tonight, a little tired, I had a mellow evening and cooked this curry dish, perfect for a rainy, cold almost winter day.
This curry sauce comes together so quickly. I will definitely be making it again.

Tempeh and Potato Curry
1 lb small waxy potatoes, no bigger than a small lime, cut in half
2 tspns sea salt


1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
scant 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups green beans, trimmed, chopped into 1 inch pieces and blanche

8 ounces tempeh, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
a small handful of cilantro, loosely chopped

splash of coconut milk or cream (optional)
1. Using a steamer, salt the potatoes with a teaspoon of the salt and steam the potatoes until tender, 20 to 30 minutes, depending on size
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet melt the butter in the olive oil over low heat, add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until soft
3. Add the cayenne, curry powder, turmeric and cumin seeds. Stir for about 30 seconds then add tomatoes, water, and remaining salt. Let simmer for a few minutes, then remove from heat and puree. You could whirl in a little coconut milk here if you wanted.
4. Put back in the skillet, add the tempeh and let simmer on low. When the potatoes are done, add them along with the green beans. Blend and serve sprinkled with cilantro.

Risi e Bisi

Uh oh. I think I just entered a new phase of addiction. I am working from home today and took a walk up to Quebrada Bakery to get my morning coffee. I got in line, and when I was asked what I wanted, I ordered a MEDIUM coffee. This came out of nowhere. It wasn't pre-meditated. Is this how it happens for other addicts? Upon reflection, it seems my addiction phases have gone something like this:

1. "Social" coffee drinker: I'd have one here or there, if I was with a friend having a coffee or if I felt super tired at work, or I knew I needed a second wind to be up late.
2. Every day, aspiring coffee drinker: I got a coffee every day, but couldn't finish a small. There'd always be a 1/4 or 1/3 left in the cup, gone cold. This lasted a couple of years, I think.
3. Wanting to quit: I decided I didn't like to be an every day coffee drinker, and I should drink green tea instead. I tried that a few times, but never got around to really quitting.
   
4. Every day, full small: Most days, I finished my entire small. This has been going on for months.
5. Medium-sized coffee drinker: Day One. I'm not even sure I'll finish it yet. It just scares me that I even ordered it.

I still don't put sugar in my coffee, so I have that going for me, and I only have one a day. But, maybe this is a sign? If I don't stop now, will I be a three a dayer in another year? Where will it end?

On a lighter note, I bought a new cookbook: Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. It's all soups, stews and salads - my favorite things to make! This is the first recipe I've made from it. It's very simple, only a few ingredients, similar to the brown rice, greens and cannelini bean dish I make, but this is more risotto-like. It's a good option if you feel like risotto, but don't feel like all the stirring.

Risi e Bisi
1 tblspn butter
1 tblspn extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
8 cups veg broth (the tomato-less No Chicken kind)
1 tspn salt
1 cup raw arborio rice
2 cups baby peas or frozen petit pois
2 tblspns chopped fresh parsley
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and ground black pepper to taste

1. Warm butter and olive oil in a soup pot until the butter melts. Add the onions and sautee on medium heat for about 10 minutes until golden.
2. Add the stock and salt and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice, lower to a simmer, cover and cook 20 t 25 minutes until rice is tender.
3. Add the peas and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Serve immediately and top with remaining cheese.

Three Bean Chili with TVP

My hives and I just recently reached our one year anniversary. I didn't feel much like celebrating. While they are much better than they were a year ago, or even a few months ago, I'm tired of battling itchiness. I've tried many, many things. There's still a lot of evidence pointing to the culprit being something in my house since they started not too long after I've moved here. I've got a suspicion that they've got something to do with mold. So, now, I'm trying to think beyond environmental mold and pay attention to what I eat that would be considered "moldy". Well, it's pretty much everything. Since that is overwhelming, I at least decided to cut out a couple of more obvious sources. One is Quorn products. They are made out of mycoprotein which is a fungi/mushroom. We were eating Quorn about 2-3 times a week, and I read an article about how some people were having a hard time digesting it, so I figured I'd experiment with taking it out of my diet for a bit. I am now trying to find replacements. The Quorn crumbles worked well in several things I made. I'm playing around with TVP (textured vegetable protein) to see how we like it. I made a chili with it recently and thought that came out pretty good.

Three Bean Chili

1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tblspns red wine
water
2 cups dry TVP
1 tspn oregano
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chili powder
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 10.75 oz can tomato puree (I think I may have used a 14 oz can)
1 14.5 oz can kidney beans (drained)
1 14.5 oz can pinto beans (drained)
1 14. 5 oz can black beans (drained)
1/4 tspn crushed red pepper
1-2 tspns salt
3 tblsns cider vinegar

1. Sautee onions and garlic in a little red wine and water (use canola oil in place of wine and water if you'd rather)
2. While onions are cooking, reconstitute TVP according to package directions (usually 1:1 ratio TVP to boiling water)
3. After onions are soft, mix in oregano, bay leaves, TVP, chili powder, tomatoes, tomato puree and beans.
4. Simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally
5. Add red pepper flakes, salt and vinegar to taste. Cook 15 more minutes.
6. Serve over rice, or on it's own.

Quinoa Spinach Cakes

As if making up for the dreary Saturday we had yesterday, Mother Nature bestowed upon us a most spectacular autumn day today. It was one of those days where the light was amazing and everything looked like it should be on a New England postcard. I spent the day at Harold Parker State Forest in Andover for the Wicked Ride of the East, a mountain bike ride organized by NEMBA. There were so many "postcards" all around us. The light was shimmering on the many ponds we passed. The vibrant colors from the trees reflected off the water. There were carpets of bright yellow from the fallen leaves. I was thankful for this, not only because I appreciate the beauty we can see right outside our doors, but because it offered me moments of respite from the CRAPTASTIC ride I was having. It was one of the worst days I've had on a bike in recent memory. Actually, I should be correct in saying that it was one of the worst days "not on a bike" because I was rarely on my bike. I was mostly pushing it over slippery things, and riding a few feet every so often.
I had very little idea what I was getting myself into when we started out on the pink trail (advanced) vs. the white trail (beginner). It was only after riding the first 3 miles (which felt like 23 miles) that I asked, "How long is this route anyway?" The answer: 20 miles. Now, in general terms, this really isn't very long. But when the gazzilion little rocks and roots covering the trail have been rained on the day before, this lovely little scenic trail felt more like an obstacle course covered in ice. The more I slipped on things, the more I lost my confidence, the more I got off my bike, and couldn't get into a rhythm, and I continued to lose confidence leaving me unable to ride things that would normally be easy. I should add that in all this, there were a lot of people sharing this trail with me, meaning as I was trying my best to navigate, a group of faster riding guys would come up behind me, so I'd have to pull over and let them pass. It was frustrating and not very fun. I tried my hardest to focus on the positive (the scenery, and sharing the day with Todd). I was ready to sell my bike by the end of the ride. I've since decided against that, but I'm still very discouraged and thinking about ways to improve my technical skills on a mountain bike, so I can enjoy tough conditions.
We ended the afternoon by hanging out with some friends, and I tried something new for dinner. Nobody got physically hurt, and all is well here in Arlington. These are a good basic recipe, but I feel it needs a little something to give it some zing. I had a salad with lots of goat cheese that was a nice accompaniment, but I'm wondering about adding goat cheese right into the patties. The recipe had it served with a yogurt sauce (plain yogurt, lemon juice and dill) but I don't think that added much to the flavor.

Quinoa Spinach Cakes

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 1/2 tblspns red onion, minced
1 tspn garlic, minced
2/3 carrot, grated
2/3 summer squash, grated
1/2 10 oz bag frozen spinach, defrosted, water squeezed out
zest of one large lemon
4 tblspns unbleached flour
1 tspn baking powder
1 egg
2 tspns salt
1/2 tspn freshly ground pepper

1. Cook quinoa (rinse quinoa, then add water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until water is absorbed.) Let cool.
2. Preheat oven to 425. In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Oil a baking sheet. Divide the mixture into 8 balls and flatten into patties (about 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch thick) onto the baking sheet. Cook for about 20 minutes, flipping after 10 minutes, until light brown and crispy.