Cheap, Lazy, Picky Cooks

This salad got eaten so fast, I didn’t even have time to take a picture! We were looking for something easy and cold for the sweltering end of summer, and this concoction fit the bill.

Quinoa Bean Salad

1 can chick peas, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 large cucumber, chopped
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup low fat feta cheese
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
3ish cups cooked quinoa
Italian or Balsamic dressing

Combine all ingredients and chill for 15 minutes before serving. That’s it!

(To cook quinoa, follow package directions. It’s very similar to preparing rice, and can be done in a rice cooker. If you don’t have either the cucumber or bell pepper, a couple stalks of diced celery substitutes nicely.)

Hi all! I’ve got two food successes to share with you.

First, my honey and I are closing in on a green bean casserole recipe that we can both make and eat — which means, of course, that it’s as simple as possible for our schedule-addled brains, and that it contains no cream of mushroom soup and no french fried onions. We have a starter recipe that we adapted from the recipes we found, and we found out Saturday night that it’s not a bad start at all… but we’ll be tinkering a bit with the spices and other ingredients before we give it our seal of approval.

Secondly, for said casserole, I found a way to make some great gluten-free breadcrumbs at no extra cost. For a while now, I’ve used Glutino’s sandwich-cut breads, found in the freezer section. I enjoy their cinnamon raisin in the morning and their flax seed for sandwiches; their fiber bread’s not bad either. I’ve gone through bags and bags of the flax seed bread, and have kept all the tiniest heels and broken slices waiting in the back of freezer, in the hopes that I could make this work. I toasted all those in the oven, chopped them up fine with a big knife, and now I’ve got a big pile of bread crumbs for assorted uses!

Coming soon: I don’t believe we’ve shared our enchilada recipe, or our jambalaya, or the fabulous new risotto we’re playing with. Also, I’m collecting reviews of gluten-free patties — anybody have an opinion to share?

Wow!  What a holiday season, and first month of the year!  It’s been flying by at light speed over here.

Let’s see, I took Gabe home for our first together-Christmas with my family. For the most part, it was wonderful. We decided to rely on wealthy family members taking us out to eat instead of managing all those dietary restrictions in one place.

Oh, and then there’s me starting up evening classes again. It doesn’t leave as much time for me to contribute to cooking, so Gabe ends up taking the bulk of that duty.

And then there’s those beginning-of-year goals related to health and food. I prefer to avoid the term ‘resolutions’, which are fraught with peril in my psyche… but I have a much better track record with goals, and there’s always room for a diet and exercise tune-up.

-=-=-=-=-=-

So, here’s a couple food-related outcomes from all that. First, here’s an easy and nutritious dish. I am THRILLED to say that Gabe and I now have our first sandwich spread entry in our personal cookbook!!  It’s so exciting!!!  Having sandwich bread that doesn’t try to kill me opens up all kinds of new meals.

I’d been craving what I missed about tuna salad for a while, though actually making it and eating it was never as satisfying.  And straightforward egg salad gets so heavy so quickly. So Gabe and I pondered some of the usual similar combos – chickpeas, tofu – and finally settled on this tofu-egg combo recipe that sounded quite yummy.  Turns out, it really is!

(The photo shows our first try at it, when it turned out we were out of green onions. I really look forward to adding those in next time.)

Curried Tofu-Egg Salad
1 12.5 oz package firm silken tofu, pressed* and chopped/mashed**
5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped/mashed**
3 tbsp chopped green onions
4 tbsp light mayo
4 tbsp plain fat-free yogurt
Cayenne pepper to taste
1.5 tsp curry powder
4 pinches dried cilantro
Salt and pepper

Mix ingredients and enjoy on slices of toast.

*To press tofu, slice about 1/4 inch thick and place between two layers of sturdy paper towels, in between two dinner plates. Place a small weight on top (cookbook or bottle of juice) and let sit for 10-20 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
**The chopping vs. mashing issue is one of texture. Chop if you like chunky. Mash if you like squishing the eggs and tofu between your fingers while doing a Hulk impersonation.

(Recipe adapted from myrecipes.com, originally from Cooking Light magazine, March 1998)

Also, here’s a link for a yummy-looking, homemade and rather simple veggie broth.  My DIY spirit was invoked with this recipe that Paige sent along.  You might not know it from the number of canned ingredients we use, but we do occasionally consider our salt intake, and broth cubes can be insanely high in sodium. This is next on our list of things to try.

Gabe has a special trick he incorporated into this dish. His former brother-in-law had a friend who owned a Chinese restaurant. He told Gabe how they cooked the egg in their fried rice. So, Gabe turned it into this recipe. Enjoy!

One-Pot Fried Rice
prep time: 20 minutes to cook rice; cook time: 15 minutes

4-6 cups cooked rice
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 onion (or frozen onion equivalent)
2-3 eggs
1 can mixed veggies (corn, peas, etc), drained
1/4 cup (1/2 jar) sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 can chickpeas, drained
soy sauce (wheat-free, if necessary)
curry powder to taste
crushed red pepper

1. In a tall pot, saute garlic and onion with oil over medium heat, until onion is translucent (or unfrozen).
2. Add eggs and cook until nearly done.
3. Add rice, veggies and beans. Reduce heat a bit. Mix thoroughly and cook more.
4. Add soy sauce, curry and red pepper to taste.

Our curried chickpea recipe has gone off to inspire others to culinary greatness.  Nebet sent in this grand accomplishment that falls under the “no kitchenette” set of dietary restrictions.  Read, enjoy, and consider offering up a name for this great feast!

Nebet’s description below:

Your chickpeas curry inspired me. The result is not, I don’t think, anything like it.

So I am a college student living in an on-campus “apartment.” I use the quotation marks because my quarters consists of one room and a shared bathroom, and because I have no kitchen. (If I wanted to pay an extra $600 a semester, I might be able to procure a room with a tiny all-in-one kitchenette unit, but that will not happen.) So in the meanwhile, I am making do, hiding a two-burner hot plate and a crock pot in my clothes closet and bringing them out only when the microwaveables/raw foods get too depressing. Add to this the fact that my minifridge is incapable of keeping frozen foods quite frozen or fresh vegetables quite UN-frozen, and what results is my own brand of diet restrictions.

The other day I had a good friend coming over, and had promised him dinner, only to realize that I didn’t have a car to quick run out and do some grocery shopping for fresh food. So I dug around in the pantry, dragged out my crock pot, and put my can opener and collection of spices to work. The following is the result:

1 can whole potatoes, drained, cubed if you like; I kind of like the whole potatoes in there for texture, like dumplings.
1 can “mixed vegetables” (mine had peas, carrots, potatoes, celery, Lima beans, green beans, and corn in it)
1 can whole corn
1 can pinto beans, drained
3 small (8-oz.) cans Hunt’s tomato sauce
OPTIONAL: About two cups of sliced, pre-cooked “fajita seasoning” sliced chicken thigh meat (I used the HEB brand, since it’s what I had in my unfreezer.)

You can either drain all of the cans and add back a little water, or just do what I did and don’t drain the veggies or the corn. The beans and the potatoes probably should be drained, though, since the water they sit in tends to get kind of sludgy/starchy.

1/2 cup dehydrated onion (OR one smallish onion, diced)
2 tsp garlic powder, plus more to taste as required
3 TBS parsley flakes
1 TBS dried cilantro
1 TBS cumin
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
A few shakes Tony Chachere’s Seasoning
1 tsp ground black pepper, or more, to taste.
1/2 cup olive oil (approximately. Really I just poured in a circle around the top of the pot and called it good.)

(Note that all of the spice measurements are ENTIRELY approximate. I don’t actually bust out any of my measuring spoons for this, just sort of pour things into my palm or sprinkle them on top of the pot until it looks like “enough” for the bulk of the vegetables. Feel free to do the same! But don’t forget the ginger. It’s not a lot, but the piquancy really helps the other flavors bloom and keeps them from being too heavy, at least in my opinion.)

Okay, now throw everything in a crockpot and heat on high, stirring occasionally, until it smells like all those spices have gotten nice and integrated and the dehydrated onion has rehydrated (or, if you’re using real onions, until the onion has cooked.)

I don’t really know what to call it. “Crockpot Curry” is the best thing I can come up with, but I don’t think it’s quite accurate. Suggestions welcome!

Enjoy your day after a big binge!

I’ve just become aware of the very enjoyable foodie community, BakeSpace.com. It has blogs, forums, mentors and – of course – recipes, with some wicked good search features. I’ve spent several hours today getting to know the site.

At BakeSpace and at her own blog, Babette’s Feast, founder and CEO Babette has given us tons of resources for connecting to other cooks at a grassroots level.

Fellow foodies should definitely check out these sites.

We’ve made our meal for tomorrow, to take over to Gabe’s family gathering. I’m excited! I look forward to sharing our food, and to hunting for something of theirs I can eat. Amidst the turkey and ham and stuffing and rolls, I’m not expecting to find much to forage… except maybe some cranberry sauce. I hope it still has the can ridges in it. I like that.

Here are the fruits of our evening, two of my family’s recipes — Potato Salad and Fantasy Fudge — and one yummy new one that’s going in our permanent cookbook — Mushroom and Lentil Stew.

Adapted from this recipe.

Mushroom and Lentil Stew
prep time: 35 minutes; cook time: 30-40 minutes

2-3 teaspoons olive oil
2-2.5 cups diced cremini mushrooms
1 cup diced onion
1 cup chopped celery
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1-1.5 cup chopped carrots
2.5 cups peeled, chopped potato
1/2 teaspoon dried savory
3/4 cup brown lentils, sorted and washed
4 cups vegetable broth

1. In a large pot, use oil to saute mushrooms, onion, celery and garlic until softened.

2. Add all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until lentils are tender and stew has thickened.

The original recipe called for adding 2 cups chard at the end, and letting it wilt. We couldn’t find chard and bought spinach to add… and then forgot. It’s still absolutely yummy.

Potato Salad
(Special note: This is a longtime family recipe, so all concrete information is entirely made of approximation. The actual answers are along the lines of “cook until done”, “enough to fill the pot”, etc.)
prep time: 20 minutes; cook time: 30 minutes; assembly time: 10 minutes

8-10 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
6 eggs
4 heaping tbsp dill pickle relish
8 green onions, chopped
2 cups mayonnaise to taste
3 heaping tbsp prepared mustard
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil potatoes until tender; time will vary depending on their size. Drain.

2. Boil eggs. When done, squish or dice or otherwise make small (make sure they’re cool first if you squish them).

3. Mix all ingredients in clean, dry bowl.

Eat hot or cold. Also good with barbecue sauce on it.

Fantasy Fudge
(This is a recipe we’ve been making in my family since I was a kid. The fact that it’s EXACTLY like the recipe that’s been on the back of Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme that long is a complete and total coincidence. Oh yes.)
prep/cook time: 25 minutes

3 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 tiny can (9 oz) evaporated milk
1 bag (12 oz) chocolate chips of your choice
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup nuts (optional)
*Special item required: candy thermometer

1. Spray 9″x9″ pan with cooking spray.

2. In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter and milk. Bring to full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly (and I do mean constantly — but don’t be tempted to cook at too low a temp, as that will make the final product grainy. Better to have a smidge of a scorch or two.)

3. Keep stirring! Continue boiling until temp reaches 234 degrees F. Remove from heat.

4. Quickly add remaining ingredients and mix completely.

5. Quickly pour into pan, smooth, and let cool thoroughly before cutting.

(The vanilla frequently gets left out of this recipe, to no ill effect.)

First off, happy holidays to you all. May you find peace and joy and warmth and nourishment in this season where it’s all too easy to get stressed and worn.

Holiday cooking is thorny for many of us. It has been for me ever since I went veggie. Holiday rituals are some of the only ones my family has, and I don’t want to feel outside that ritual. Hurrying to finish my special dish on time with everything else in a bustling kitchen can be frustrating. Now that I’m gluten-free as well, many of the simplest option for a veggie holiday are not available to me. Tofurky and other meat substitutes contain mostly gluten.

Chandra at Post Punk Kitchen mentions some friends visiting that can’t have gluten or soy! I look forward to seeing her amazing concoctions, which she’ll post after Thursday’s fete. In that same post, she gives other amazing spreads and dishes, many of which are gluten-free or can be made so. WARNING: there is little room for laziness in this sort of cooking. This is in the vein of kickass foodgeek chefery. Come on, you know you’ve got a streak of that somewhere. Pwn that millet, baby.

Here’s an entire gluten-free holiday meal! (Except for gingerbread cupcakes, which could be adapted!): Pear and Endive Salad with Maple Candied Pecans, Porcini Wild Rice Soup, Fresh Autumn Rice Paper Rolls with Butternut Squash, and Pumpkin Seed-Crusted Tofu with Baked Pumpkin and Cranberry Relish. Prep guide included as well.

Here’s some Cornbread Stuffing With Pears and Pecans.

You can have Roasted Butternut Squash and Roasted Brussels Sprouts, which both sound delicious.

The Chili Pumpkin Cranberry Risotto with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds sounds om nom.

And the one that sounds like the most fun to me: Latkes for Hannukah!

Elsewhere, the Gluten-Free Blog has this post about the holidays, which includes a slew of bread and baking recipes, and the most scrumptious looking Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms. I’m dying to try that, just as soon as I figure out with to do with the prosciutto. Just drop it? Or substitute something? What do you think?

To be posted later: our actual, much lazier yet still perky menu for Gabe’s grandma’s house, which includes mushroom and lentil stew, potato salad, and fudge. First, there is much cooking to do.

This favorite recipe of ours also predates our romance. It’s in the “long recipes” section of our personal cookbook. It doesn’t take much prep time but, like any good chili, it needs to simmer slowly. Gabe found a similar recipe online ages ago and adapted it to his personal taste.

I think you’ll like it.

Gabe’s Chili
prep time: 30 minutes; cooking time: 2 hours

1 cup TVP, reconstituted (see below)
2 cans red beans, drained
2 cans black beans, drained
4 stalks chopped celery
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chopped parsley
1 tsp oregano
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 LARGE can tomato sauce (28-30 oz, depending on brand)
8 oz water

To reconstitute TVP – Combine 1 cup dry TVP and 1 cup hot water in a bowl. Let sit 5 minutes or so.

1. In a large pot, saute everything except the beans, tomato sauce and water over medium heat, until onions are translucent.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly.
3. Simmer 2-3 hours, stirring every 15-20 minutes.

Good by itself, or: with cheese on top, with cornbread, over a baked potato, over tortilla chips.