Vegetarian Curry with Brown Rice

Hey everyone! 


It's been a while since we've posted but Kels and I survived our last semesters of college and now actually have time to cook and write about it! It's hard to write about food you cook when you don't have time to cook. I had kinda forgotten about this blog, to be honest! Kels and I agreed this blog needs a revamping and we want to really get it going.We don't know what we're going to do with it exactly but get ready for some good changes and updates! This is what I made for dinner tonight and is really hearty so Ben said he didn't even mind that there was no meat in it. It's also very good with cubed chicken if you are a meat lover. =)

Vegetarian Curry with Brown Rice

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1 batch of curry sauce (~2 cups), canned or made from scratch

4c Vegetables (less if using canned curry with veg already in it)

Brown rice (I ended up with about 5 cups cooked)

Notes on the curry: 

So I don't know how familiar you are with curry sauce but you can either make the curry sauce from scratch from curry paste, coconut milk, and tamarind extract as I did (directions are on the curry paste and it was extremely easy) because they were out of the canned stuff, or buy cans of curry - most of them have some vegetables in them already. You'll probably have to go to an asian food market to find this. There's green, red, and massaman curry. I like all of them, personally I prefer red or massaman curry - the green one is also good but I suspect your kids might not like it unless they would like the flavor of lemongrass I believe it is. If I remember correctly one of those is very high calorie and I'm not sure which one so look at the label if you're feeling health conscious.

Notes on Vegetables:

Tonight I used 2 med cubed potatoes, 1/2 a coarsely chopped onion, 2 carrots, 1 can water chestnuts chopped, 5 thinly sliced mushrooms, 1 small head of broccoli, 1c bean sprouts. This was a great mix but ended up being too much veg for the amount of sauce I made, I almost should have doubled the sauce for as many veg as I added. I'd say I added ~6 cups of veg. I think 4c would be about the right proportion if making sauce from scratch.

Notes on the Rice:

I used a mix of brown rice that also had stuff like wild rice and random other grains, I'm not even sure what was in it but it's nice to have a texture variety (I think it came from the WinCo bulk bins). I bet this would also be really good served over quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah), a tiny round grain that's extremely nutritious - it provides all essential amino acids so is an excellent meat substitute protein-wise. Don't be intimidated by quinoa's weird name - it's very easy to cook, basically the same as rice except you have to rinse it first.

Butternut Squash Lasagna (Heaven)

Alyssa here. If you are like me, you look forward to squash season all year. I get my fix here and there by things like Costco's butternut squash ravioli which I was introduced to this year with brown butter, walnut, and cranberries... I'm drooling just thinking about it. Anyway, so I was looking for some new recipes for butternut squash and there were so many amazing possibilities that it took me 3 days to pick a recipe. I decided on the butternut squash lasagna with a creamy basil sauce and I must say it was out of this world delicious. You can be either a squash lover, or an on-the-fence occasional squash eater. You can even be a marginally squash-tolerant person and like this. I got my husband Ben to eat approximately two bites of this and considered that a success as he hates squash. Quite vehemently. I must reiterate how delicious this recipe was and everyone should try it while butternut squash is in season. I did have a few things that I think could make this recipe better. This was originally from the Food Network website and got five stars - and they were well-deserved stars.

My comments on the recipe: I don't think there would have been anywhere near enough squash if I had followed this recipe exactly. I used a large 5lb squash and I thought it was perfect. Keep in mind that I LOVE squash and if you're one of those on-the-fence, tolerant types, maybe you should use the original amount. It could have used more sauce and the squash was also impossible to blend/spread without adding some liquid, so I added some of the milk from the milk sauce, resulting in a less-saucy lasagna. Easy fix... add more milk.This is my version of the recipe:

Original recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/butternut-squash-lasagna-recipe/index.html

Butternut Squash Lasagna
Cook time: 1:25 (2 hours if you roast your squash instead of steaming)
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 8-10

1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash, halved and seeded

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 amaretti cookies, crumbled**

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 1/2 cups whole milk

Pinch nutmeg

3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves (I only had dried basil and didn’t feel particularly cheated)

1 pkg lasagna noodles, cooked al dente

2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese (I used skim)

1 cup shredded parmesan

** Amaretti cookies: I am told these are easy to find at a specialty food store, world market, or a similar type of store, but I didn't have any and although I know it's not even close to the same things I happened to bake a batch of large sugar cookies so I crumbled 2 of those and added somewhere around 1/4 to 1/2tsp almond extract (go by taste). The subtle sweet almondy flavor makes this dish.

Directions

Two options for cooking the squash:

1. Peel the squash and chop into 1” cubes. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour 1/2c water into the skillet and then cover and simmer over medium heat until the squash is fork-tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.

2. Way tastier but more time consuming:  Preheat oven to 400F. Place halves flesh side up on a baking sheet. Dot with butter and sea salt and roast 25 minutes or until fork-tender. (My squash was big so the roasting took almost an hour). I also put sliced clove garlic on mine… couldn’t help myself. It was delicious.

Cool the cooked squash slightly and then transfer the squash to a food processor, adding a proportional amount of milk for blending (~1/4c per pound).  Add the amaretti cookies and blend until smooth. Season the squash puree, to taste, with more salt and pepper. (Seriously, taste it - it should taste good)

Melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the nutmeg. Cool slightly. Transfer half of the sauce to a blender*. Add the basil and blend until smooth. Return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan and stir to blend. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the squash puree over the noodles. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and some parmesan (reserve ½  the parmesan for the top layer). Drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the noodles. Repeat layering 3 more times.

Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheeses over the lasagna. Continue baking uncovered until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 minutes longer. Let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

Fall is HERE!!!

Okay so its fall. You know I actually don't like seeing the leaves turn colors? Its pretty awful. Its just the first sign of death. sigh. oh well.

This first recipe is a staple of mine. It is so delicious and easy I would eat it every day. I think I actually did sophomore year.

Potatoes sliced and baked and stuff

-slice up potatoes, as many as you want,
-drizzle olive oil over them,
-toss with salt and pepper and
-chopped onions,

bake at 450 for 15 min, flip/stir around, bake another 10. PRESTO BAKED YUMMINESS!!

the pictures are kind of weird. Its hard to take pictures of food. Has anyone else noticed that? it either looks cold, dry, greasy, or flat out nasty. Whatever. I didn't have time to be a photo editing pro at my potatoes.

seriously I've never had anyone turn these down. cept jake one time. cuz i made him eat them for like 3 days straight. if you want to get really crazy in the kitchen, add some cheese during the last 10 min baking.

Oh hey guess what I did? I got a settee on craigslist and recovered it. check it out

I didn't realize the last photo was out of focus when I uploaded it. work with me here, I'm a busy college kid who just so happens to have an extra 30 min to fill the internet with more mindless propaganda that blogging perpetuates. But its kind of fun. knowing your fam fam can look at pictures and fluff about your mindless propaganda.

like this

Okay thats basically my living room and apartment. Almost all of that you see it mine. Kate brought the little table in the dining room and the two chairs. but everything else you see is what I did or brought. I painted that picture on friday last week lol.

I have to put this recipe on. It is literally the best bread Kate and I have ever made. I am making it for the 3rd time tonight. It has a crusty crust (ha) and soft interior. I have never made a batter bread before. This has an extra long rise time because it time  develops the gluten instead of kneading. anyway, its the best.

 I don't know how well you people know me (Who are you people?? aunt pam? alyssa? momma? lol) but I have made a lot of bread in my (short) time. I started making bread in 9th grade, and it seems as though all of that practice was wasted once I found the perfect recipe that requires nothing from me but like 5 ingredients and time.


Crusty (delicious, gourmet, artisan etc) Bread

 If you can't read it, thats too bad. i'm too lazy to type it out. Plus the way this blogger thing is formatted its hard to see my image and type at the same time. But anyway, I also made this fantastic buttermilk poundcake that I just have to put on this post because I loved it so much. I have never loved batter, but I couldn't stop eating the batter for this poundcake. It also was the most heavenly scent wafting from the oven. I just like my pictures of my recipes scrawled on loose papers or in my tattered lime green moleskin notebook.

Apparently I have a lot of words tonight. lots of typey-type. Too much. Gotta stop. Loves.

Kelsi FINALLY posts :-) Israeli Couscous and Maple Dijon Chicken

Okay so this was so delicious I HAD to post it because it was so easy. This meal literally took me 30 minutes start to finish. Fast.

Israeli Couscous is bigger, fatter than regular couscous. Its like pasta and rice combined. Oh but it says on the box that "Israeli couscous is sometimes called pearl couscous or maftoul. Larger than traditional couscous, but smaller than its closest pasta relative, Israeli couscous is round and cooks up in minutes to a wonderfully chewy consistency."  I'm sure some of you know what im talking about. or what the back of the box is talking about. Also, you can buy it in the bins at Winco. maybe not Israeli, I bought a box of it at Trader Joe's, but I'm sure bulk is just as good and a whole lot cheaper.

Israeli Coucous

1 1/2 C Couscous
1 3/4 C chicken broth (conveniently equal to one can of chicken broth)
1/2 medium onion, diced
some chopped green onions for fun
1 stalk of celery, chopped. for fun.
sun dried tomatoes, for some extra color. I didn't notice a taste difference. but they were pretty lol.
1 tbs butter
dry white wine if you want
fresh ground pepper


Sautee onions and celery in butter until translucent, add couscous and turn up heat, stirring constantly until some of the couscous is lightly browned, toasty. add white wine and reduce, then chicken stock, green onions, and pepper. simmer on med/low heat until all liquid is absorbed, add sundried tomatoes. and GORGE YOURSELVES!!!

but while you're waiting for the couscous to absorb and whatnot, make some chicken.

Maple Dijon Chicken

You know I made all these up right? I definitely just looked around in my kitchen and found stuff that sounded like they remotely went together.

back to the chicken.

4 chicken breasts or so. I used 7 breast tenders.
2-3 TBS Dijon Mustard, the kind with the whole mustard seeds in it. yum.
1 TBS maple syrup
a dash of garlic powder
GENEROUS amounts of fresh ground pepper. love it.
Olive oil for pan


put the chicken in with the oil, pepper the chicken, slather the frozen or not-so-frozen raw chicken with mustard, as much as you want, splash some maple syrup on it, and cover. I prefer my chicken a little crispy and brown on the outside, so I turned up the heat, covered it, and flipped it a couple times. The mustard seeds are tasty when browned with the chicken.

Then we ate it all. Actually not all of it, just enough was left for me to pack a lunch for work on Monday. But guess what? I'm eating the leftovers right now as I write. And its delicious, I don't regret it at all.

I think my new obsession is couscous. I saved the box because It has 2 more recipes on it. One for lemon/cinnamon/pine nut couscous, and another with wilted greens, red onion, and butternut squash (and in my mind it has feta in it too). ummm delicous. Lets all eat couscous together some time.

omnomnomery. deliciouslyfresh. healthyton.

I just added those for fun. cuz i'm avoiding writing a paper. kthankxbai.

S'mores bars

This a yummy recipe for those days when you are craving summer campfires or when you just need a dessert in a hurry.

Original recipe here:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/warm-toasted-marshmallow-smores-bars/902bb288-e52b-4aba-a264-925d20f37d98

It's basically butter. sugar, and chocolate so there's not a whole lot you can do by way of making it healthy, but I tweaked it a bit and they turned out quite delicious. I have made S'mores Bars before with another recipe involving marshmallow creme (impossible to cut and very messy). These are SO much better than the last recipe I tried.


S'MORES BARS

Preheat: 375F

1 pouch sugar cookie mix (I used Krusteaz - whatever you get should make 3 dozen, 2-inch cookies)
3/4c (1 1/2 sticks) butter / margarine, melted
1 sleeve graham crackers, crushed into crumbs (I used lowfat)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (orig. recipe called for THREE cups.. I used a scant 1 1/2 cups and was more than enough)
4 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Mix together cookie mix, butter, and crumbs into a dough and press into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until slightly golden brown around the edges. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on top and let stand for a few minutes then use a spatula to spread the chocolate chips into an even layer. Top with marshmallows and broil 5-6" away from the broiler for about 30 seconds or until marshmallows are golden brown. YUM!

Notes: These are very good either warm and gooey or completely cooled. Anywhere in between the marshmallow layer tends to pull off from the chocolate and crust. These are amazing - highly recommend!

Happy Baking!
Alyssa

Creamy Spaghetti Sauce!

This is a recipe I made up last night inspired by a creamy spaghetti sauce I had at a restaurant a few weeks ago. It turned out delicious and I will make this again and probably tweak it next time. Be sure to read my comments at the end about what I might do differently next time. This makes a big batch! Enough for 6 people with healthy appetites and some leftovers. Here is what I did:

1 box of angel hair pasta, prepared as directed + tossed in olive oil (just enough to coat)

Sauce:
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T oil
3 T brown sugar (to taste)
4 cans tomato sauce
1 lg onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef
2 cans mushrooms or 1/2 lb fresh
1/2 tsp each: oregano, basil, thyme, black pepper (to taste - this is conservative)
2 cubes chicken boullion
1/2 c whipping cream (more or less to taste)
Optional: Red pepper flakes and/or cayenne pepper - about 1/4tsp or to taste

Directions:
1. Sautee garlic in oil on med heat.
2. Add the meat and brown on high and try to separate it into tiny pieces.
3. Add chopped onion and mushrooms and sautee til onions are translucent.
4. In a large pot, combine all ingredients except cream and simmer for 45 min to 1 hour until sauce is as thick as you want it.
5. Stir in cream.

My comments:

** I would use 2 cans sauce / 2 cans of diced italian tomatoes lightly blended up for more texture. Just the tomato sauce by itself (before I added the cream) reminded me of the texture of ketchup, just too smooth for a sauce. Was great after adding the cream but I think diced tomatoes would be better. I used all tomato sauce because one of Ben's previous roommates left a whole case of tomato sauce here and I've been trying to dream up ways to use tomato sauce before it expires.
** Because the canned tomato sauce already has salt in it, you don't really need to add much extra. If you're sensitive to salt, get reduced sodium tomatoes or put 1 cube of boullion in and taste test it before adding the 2nd one.

Let me know if you try it and what you think would make this better!

Spinach Lasagna (Meatless)

I've been on the hunt for a yummy meatless lasagna and I think I definitely found a winner here! I'm not a huge meat lover, although I'm not sure I could ever be a vegetarian because of my love for extra crispy bacon and my mom's pork chops with raspberry vinegar sauce....yummmm..... Anyway, I usually end up picking most of the meat out of spaghetti and lasagnas, but on the other hand, am also usually dissatisfied by the way most meatless sauces seem incomplete. With a few small changes, this recipe is delicious and satisfying. Both Ben (husband) and Caleb (brother) approved of this amazing meatless dinner and I might never go back to meat lasagna.

Started with this recipe:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/simple-spinach-lasagna/Detail.aspx

Changed it slightly, adding mushrooms, more onion, slightly less spinach (I added the other half of the package to a batch of spinach dip I was making). Note that you do not cook the noodles before adding them! You can either add water to the sauce and use your traditional lasagna noodles, or leave the water out and use "Oven Ready" noodles. I haven't made it with the water and regular noodles yet - only used Oven Ready and was very happy with the result - my lasagna held together very well.


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed
• 1 med onion, chopped
• 1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped (optional, but very very good)
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
• 1/2 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese, divided in half
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (or ~1T dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2c water
• 1 pkg lasagna noodles, uncooked (or omit the water and use the Oven-Ready kind)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Set aside 1/4c parmesan and 1 cup mozzarella for the topping.

3. In a large pot over medium heat saute spinach, onion, mushrooms, oregano, basil and garlic
 in the olive oil. Pour in spaghetti sauce and water (add water only if you're using regular noodles); simmer 20 minutes or until your other stuff is ready.

4. In a large bowl mix cottage cheese, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and egg.

5. Place a small amount of sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Place 4 uncooked noodles on top of sauce and top with layer of sauce. Add 4 more noodles and layer with 1/2 sauce and 1/2 cheese mixture, noodles and repeat until all is layered, finishing with sauce.

6. Cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven for 55 minutes. Remove foil, add reserved mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and bake another 15 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.