Tag: Super Simple

Posted on

Garlic Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 T red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp coarse honey mustard
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • Oregano or basil or both (dried, pinch)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Posted on

Chicken Thigh Week (vegans/vegetarians avert your eyes)

The Truth Machine read 169.8 up from 167.4 in just 24 hours. It still amazes me how sensitive I am to what I eat. Yesterday we tried a new breakfast place and I probably ate 3x what I normally eat at the midday break. The uptick in weight was expected given the quantity and salty/fattiness of my bowl which consisted of three eggs, fried potatoes, cheese, and veggies. There was a giant biscuit with butter on the side. I also finished The Boss’ giant biscuit, potatoes and one slice of her bacon. There you go. Do I know how to gain weight or what?

Welcome to Chicken Thigh Week. The local store advertised boneless chicken thighs for $2.99/lb which translated (for me) into time to stock up. But when I got to the store there were no boneless thighs. They sold out. Bone-in chicken thighs were $1.49/lb so I picked up a package with the full intent to de-bone them at home. When I got home I discovered a package of bone-in thighs in the freezer. Now I have over five pounds of chicken thighs. Now we have Chicken Thigh Week!

Tonight a simple roast chicken.

I defrosted what I found in the freezer to use the older package first. Smple oven roasted honey soy chicken. My second surprise was discovering my Honey Soy and/or Maple Marinade recipe is ancient and needs updating. So here’s my latest greatest version of Honey Soy Marinade using pantry and and spice rack items.

Marinate the chicken thighs for two hours minimum. Roast on a rack at 400 degrees F for 35-45 minutes. Don’t worry about overcooking, especially the large pieces. They are chicken thighs.

Nutrition info here https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172388/nutrients

Posted on

Simple Cornbread Dressing (or Stuffing if you stuff your bird)

One of the pleasures of writing this blog is documenting how recipes change over time. I’ve already gotten a Cracker Correction for Squash Casserole – The Final Update 2022. Here are links to ALL of the family’s Thanksgiving Dressing recipes claimed as “we’ve always made it this way”. Comments and corrections as always are welcome.

Your Grandmother’s Dressing (this is the real deal)

Aunt Charlene’s Cornbread Dressing

(Not) Your Grandmother’s Thanksgiving Dressing

(Not) Your Grandmother’s Dressing – the day after at 10pm

Note the recipe that everyone has eaten when I make dressing is made with Texas Corn Bread.

I win.

Posted on

Hummus – The Updated Update

2 garlic cloves
1 15 oz can organic chickpeas, drained, rinsed
Salt to taste
1/2 cup organic tahini (sesame paste)
Freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
 
 
Directions
 
  1. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, drop the garlic cloves and process until minced.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until the hummus is smoothly pureed. 
  3. Serve with fresh whole wheat pita bread wedges or pita chips.
 
2018 Update
 
Two cloves of garlic and the juice from 1.5 lemons.
 
2022 Update
 
The original post for my Hummus was in 2013.  Five years after that I updated the recipe.  Well, time for another five year update.  The changes?  More tahini and more lemon juice.
 
That’s it.
 
9780394719481_l

I’ve checked the original cookbook version.

I’m gradually moving into the three lemon version.

Posted on

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew – the 2022 Revision

Yes, I’m messing with the spice mix. So far I like the changes. Changes from the first version Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew are in bold. In this revision I used dried chickpeas instead of canned. The night before rinse one cup of dried chickpeas with 2-3 changes of water. Then add enough fresh water to cover the beans and soak overnight. (These little guys will approximately double in size so make sure you add enough soaking water). Before cooking, drain well, rinse and toss into a pot. Add enough water to cover, bring to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer. Add some garlic and onion powders and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours.

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp minced fresh ginger (or 1 tsp ginger powder)
  • 1/2 sweet onion, diced
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ginger powder
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • crushed red or cayenne pepper to taste
  • 3 cups cooked chickpea
  • 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 15oz. can no salt diced tomatoes
  • 4 cups MOL vegetable broth (MOL= more or less)
  • salt and pepper, to taste

  • Add the onion, garlic, and ginger (fresh if you have some, powder if not) to a soup pot with the olive oil and sauté over medium heat Add the green pepper and saute for another few minutes.
  • After a few minutes toss in the chili powder, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, cumin, cinnamon, thyme, and red pepper flakes or cayenne. Keep sautéing for another few minutes.
  • Add the potatoes, tomatoes, carrots and chickpeas to the pot. Pour enough vegetable broth into the pot to cover the ingredients by an inch.
  • Turn the heat up and bring to a boil.
    After boiling, turn the heat down to low and simmer for about an hour, lid on partially covered. Stir occasionally. Add more broth/cooking liquid as the stew thickens.
  • After an hour taste and adjust your seasonings. The amounts of seasonings I used results in a very mild stew.
  • Serve over rice (or not).

Confessions

This revision has been sitting in my unpublished drafts for a long time. It was time to revisit, cook and taste again to see if it was worth keeping around. I had a half bag of frozen carrots and a third bag of frozen corn. They got tossed into the pool. The corn is a nice addition, bringing in a little sweetness.

The dried cup of chickpeas makes approximately 3 cups cooked. I used the cooking liquid and less vegetable broth.

I’m flying solo this week. At least I have breakfasts and lunches ready to go.

Posted on

Bechamel Sauce

I took the time to write this down because I know someone will ask for the recipe.

  • 6 tablespoons salted butter
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 2 cups 2% milk
  1. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir frequently, breaking up any tiny lumps.
  2. Add the milk and half and half one cup at a time. Keep whisking or stirring until smooth.
  3. Add the cheese and cook, stirring constantly until you start to see bubbles on the sides of the pan. When you see bubbles, turn the heat to low.
  4. Simmer stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Turn the heat off and allow to sit until needed.

What You’ll Use This Sauce For

  • It’s what will make your Baked Penne with Two Sauces pink, half Bechamel and half red sauce.
  • Instead of a layer of ragu or cheese, use as a layer in your lasagna. Don’t tell anyone you did this. Keep your guests guessing on why YOUR lasagna tastes so good.
  • A great start for mac and cheese. Add a lot more cheese please.
  • A pizza or bread-stick dipping sauce.

I guess I should update my Baked Penne recipe.

Posted on

Make Homemade Veggie Burgers

Krista Navin has been a vegetarian since she was a teen, and says these imitation meats have been creeping onto more menus. It really hit home when Burger King replaced its veggie patty — made by vegetarian stalwart brand Morningstar Farms — with the Impossible Whopper. “I find those types of burgers uniquely off-putting,” Navin says. “I think they have actually done a really good job making them like the real thing and that is exactly the thing I don’t want.”

It’s Time to Put Actual Veggies Back Into Veggie Burgers — https://www.eater.com/23274496/veggie-burger-vegetarian-should-be-made-from-vegetables

Results from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), which included participants aged 35 and older, showed that higher intake of UPF was significantly associated with a faster rate of decline in both executive and global cognitive function.”Based on these findings, doctors might counsel patients to prefer cooking at home [and] choosing fresher ingredients instead of buying ready-made meals and snacks,” co-investigator Natalia Goncalves, PhD, University of São Paulo Medical School, Brazil, told Medscape Medical News.“Participants who reported consumption of more than 20% of daily calories from ultraprocessed foods had a 28% faster rate of global cognitive decline and a 25% faster decrease of the executive function compared to those who reported eating less than 20% of daily calories from ultraprocessed foods,

More Evidence Ultraprocessed Foods Detrimental for the Brain – Medscape – Aug 01, 2022. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/978365?src=rss

UPF consumption was associated with worse performance in Animal Fluency among older people without pre-existing diseases. Decreasing UPF consumption may be a way to improve impaired cognition among older adults.

Association between ultra-processed food consumption and cognitive performance in US older adults: a cross-sectional analysis of the NHANES 2011–2014 — https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-022-02911-1

“You used to eat those commercially prepared veggie burgers.”

“I don’t eat them anymore. It’s better to make your own.”

Faithful followers know what happened during the inferno summer of 2022 because of my earlier post on Spinach, Mushrooms and Onion. I’m still working feverishly to reduce the number of packages of frozen vegetables to make room for other items. The other day I used up a package of frozen spinach and about a cup and a half of cooked chickpeas to make Chickpea and Spinach Burgers.

Yup, that’s right. No recipe. The Boss said,

“Go ahead and toss all of the spinach in the mix.”

So I did. Instead of Chickpea and Spinach Burgers I ended up making Spinach Burgers with a Small Spattering of Chickpeas Somewhere in the Mix.

I promise to post if and when I’m totally happy with the results.

Posted on

Spinach, Mushrooms and Onion

OOPS

The past week has been one of those terrible horrible no-good weeks that hit the checking account hard. I won’t list all of the things that stopped working but one thing hurt the most.

The side by side refrigerator/freezer died. I think this appliance was over 30 years old. it functioned as our second unit, a place to keep drinks cold and to stock up on frozen foods to prepare for the future food shortages and higher costs. Buying mass quantities of frozen vegetables as a hedging strategy against higher prices works well until your freezer dies.

I managed to STUFF a large number of frozen bags into our primary freezer. But I have to cook and eat a large number of these frozen bags of goodness to make room. So I started with a bag of spinach.

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 large sweet onions sliced thin
  • 8 oz white button mushrooms sliced thick
  • 2-3 garlic cloves minced
  • 12 oz frozen cut leaf spinach
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  1. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium high heat.
  2. Add mushrooms and saute for five minutes. When browned…
  3. Add onions. Reduce heat to medium. Saute for five minutes. When browned…
  4. Add garlic. Saute for one minute.
  5. Add frozen spinach (no need to defrost). Saute for 15-20 minutes. You want the spinach to be drier but not too dry.
  6. Add butter, salt and pepper to taste.
  7. You are done. Now decide what you’re going to do with this stuff.

What to do?

  • Quesadillas
  • Omelette
  • side dish
  • mix with ricotta and Parmesan cheeses for stuffed shells
  • or lasagna
  • melt some cheddar for a quick sandwich/tortilla filling
  • toss with pasta for a quick meal
  • open a can of white beans, drain/rinse and mix with broth for a quick soup

Welcome to my world.