Simple things

Sometimes, I just like the simple things. Especially when my schedule has been so hectic lately!  Juggling a lot of different responsibilities in school, work, and home sometimes doesn't leave a lot of time to cook up amazing new foods. So, sometimes, all I want is a day of simplicity, like yesterday.

Brian and I were in desperate need of sunshine, so we hopped on our bikes and went on a nice ride in Chico's beautful Bidwell Park.

(Anthony Dunn Photography)

I'd never been bike riding in the park, despite the fact that I have now lived in Chico for four years... and riding bikes in Bidwell Park is a fairly common weekend activity. Well- since I'd never been.... and I have a certifiably awful sense of direction... we got lost.... and our short, 15-minute bike ride turned into a six mile trek. Hah! No biggie, I needed the exercise. And something lovely awaited us at the end!

Earlier that day, we'd stopped by the grocery store and spotted those little mini seedless watermelons on sale. So, before we got on our bikes, I used a small knife to cut into the top of the watermelon, similar to how you'd remove the top of a pumpkin. We packed a spoon and ta-da! Perfect mini-watermelon-snack for two. People at the park gave our little watermelon so many why-haven't-I-thought-of-eating-it-like-that-looks that I felt quite proud of myself....
I know. I'm a dork. But sometimes it is all about the simple things!
What's left of our mini watermelon is chilling in our fridge.... and once we finish it up, I'll most likely make a watermelon-o-lantern with it. :)

foodie foodie!

Pretty Ratatouille

Last night, I went to the CSU, Chico AIGA unofficial potluck (wow, that's a mouthful). Up until yesterday morning I had no clue what I was going to bring. If you are one of my long-standing readers, then you'll remember the Rosemary Couscous I made for the last potluck. That went well, but I wanted something different.. and something healthy. The more I scoured the web for healthy potluck recipes, the more I realized- there aren't many. Most potluck recipes have some kind of starchy carb like rice or noodles, or are a meat dish... which I really wasn't up to making. SO, as I was searching the internet I decided to watch a movie. I looked over at my shelf of DVDs and what stared back at me? Pixar's Ratatoullie. Horray! I'd found my inspiration.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this film (or the dish), Ratatoullie (the food) is a French stewed vegetable dish. I've seen many recipes for it, all normally including some form of tomato, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, and sometimes bell peppers. For the majority of the recipes, the veggies are chopped in rustic chunks... which is delicious, but in my opinion, not always very pretty.  I wanted to make something visually striking, so I decided to make Ratatoullie dish like I'd seen in the film.

Pretty Ratatoullie
You'll need
1/2 c tomato sauce
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
dried rosemary
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 small eggplant
2 tomatoes (or 1 red bell pepper)
1 tsp olive oil
2 1/2 tsp fresh thyme 
garlic salt
pepper

Preheat the oven to 375º.
Add the chopped onion and garlic to the tomato sauce. Stir it up and pour into the bottom on an oval baking dish (mine was about 91/2" long). [Garlic] salt and pepper liberally, and add a bit of the fresh thyme.

Now, cut the zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, and bell pepper (or tomato) into very very thin pieces.

Then, arrange the vegetables in the baking dish all stacked up against each other, starting on the outside and working around.... until it looks like this:

Drizzle the olive oil on top of your masterpiece, and then [garlic]salt and pepper liberally. Toss on the remaining thyme and cover with a piece of parchment paper that is approximately the size of the baking sheet. Put it in the oven for 40-45 minutes until the tomato sauce is bubbling up and the vegetables are tender and lovely. It should end up looking like this little beauty:

It was eaten up by my lovely designer friends at our potluck. I thought it was quite yummy, and will definitely make it again soon!

foodie foodie!

bad day BBQ

What's the perfect end to a horrid day?
Well... good food can't hurt, can it?
So, to cheer me up, Brian surprised me by firing up our charcoal grill,
here's what we made:

For me, nothing beats grilled veggies, pinapple, grilled Teriyaki chicken and Brian's burgers. 
It ended up being some killer grub despite the lack of planning.

Brian made his recent favorite: a bagel burger. Two hamburger patties between a Parmesan bagel (that we toasted on the grill) with grilled pinapple slices and ketchup, mustard, and relish. I always oggle at how he can put away a double burger made with a bagel... whenever I eat a bagel, I feel as though I've eaten a brick-not to mention with two beef patties between it- but Brian loves it! hah! He sure can gobble up some carbs (lucky duck)

I made a Teriyaki sandwich with some sliced chicken, grilled pinapple slices, red onion, cilantro, and a bit of lime juice. Along with the grilled red bell pepper and zucchini it was pure bliss and a perfect remedy for a crappy day. Yum!



Foodie foodie!

Oven "fried" chicken

My friend, Ashley, came over to make dinner last night! Once in a while we get together, pitch in for ingredients, and cook something delicious... and make lady drinks. Lady Drink ["lay-dee dree-nk"] -noun- a girly cocktail, typically including a clear liquor, a very fruity component, and fizzy finish. Of course, also includes a ridiculous garnish such as a twist of orange zest.
Last night it was lemon drops and white wine spritzers. :)

Anyways, Ashley brought over chicken drumsticks, and the only application I could really think of was fried chicken. Well, if you guys have caught on.. I don't do fried. It's not that I don't enjoy eating crispy, amazing, nom nom delicious fried food- it's that I prefer to remain pleasantly curvy rather than unfortunately spherical.

I remembered hearing about a baked fried chicken recipe, so I turned to one of my favorite food blogs, Simply Recipes, to find a baked fried chicken recipe.  
For a sidedish, I remembered my rockstar designer friend, Tory, telling me about her discovery of fennel. I'd never made fennel before, so I decided to give it a whirl. Here it goes! 

Baked "fried" Chicken
(modified from Simply Recipes)
You'll need:
1/4 c Mayo
1/4 c dijon mustard
1 tsp Siracha
1/2 tsp dried dill
3/4 C dried breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic finely chopped
3 tbs finely chopped green onion
6 chicken drumbsticks

Sauteed Fennel
You'll need
1 large bulb of fennel (about 1-2 cups, chopped)
olive oil
1 tsp butter
1/2 tsp dried dill

For the chicken, preheat the oven to 450º mix the mayo, mustard, siracha, and dried dill together. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, green onion, garlic, salt, and pepper together. Take each drumstick,  dip it into the mustard mixture, and then roll it in the bread crumbs.  Place the drumsticks onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake them for 20-25 minutes, until they are delicious and amazing!

Next, for the fennel, simply chop, and sautee in a pan (I used my enameled cast iron pot) with olive oil, butter, dill, salt and pepper. Simple enough, right?

Ashley brought a cucumber salad that was amazing (I promise to tell you the recipe as soon as I get it!) Dinner was delicious... and as I sit her sincerely regretting the lady drinks, I wish you a happy Saturday!



Foodie foodie!

Bánh mì inspired Tacos/Lettuce Wraps

A while back the Food Network had this show called The Great Foodtruck Race. Different food trucks (think taco truck, but these trucks served gourmet food like crepes and Vietnamese fusion) competed against each other to become the best foodtruck in America. One of the competitors was called The Nom Nom truck and they served fusion Vietnamese food. One dish that I saw them make was a sandwich called Bánh mì.

Another thing they serve from the Nom Nom truck are Vietnamese tacos yummmm yumm. They looked so good that I had to try and make my own version! A Bánh mì has multiple parts including marinated pork, veggies, special bread and a diakon and carrot pickle. So, though I spent a good amount of time prepping, it ended up being totally worth it! I decided to make a chicken Vietnamese tacos for Brian, instead of pork (I happened to have chicken on hand) and lettuce wraps for me! Cutting carbs is a good way to get back on track after those.... heavy holidays. :]

Bánh mì inspired Tacos

You'll need:
Daikon/carrot pickles (Do Chua)
Recipe from Viet World Kitchen
2 medium carrots
1 diakon (about 1 pound)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp and 1/2c sugar
1 1/4 c distilled white vinegar
1 c warm water

Marinated Chicken
roughly 2 boneless chicken breasts (I used chicken tenders) 
3 tbs hoisen sauce
2 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs honey
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice

Tacos/lettuce wraps
flour tortillas (Brian ate three!)
Large lettuce leaves
1 cucumber
1/2 red onion
one small bunch cilantro
1/4 c sour cream
1/2 tsp siracha
1/2 tsp hoisen sauce
1/2 tsp lemon juice


I strongly recommend making the daikon/carrot pickles the night before, or at least one hour before serving this fabulous meal. The longer the daikon and carrots sit in the brine, the yummier they become. First, peel the carrots and daikon so that there is no skin left. Rinse, and chop into small matchsticks.

Next, place the matchsticks into a bowl and sprinkle the salt and 2 tsp of sugar. "Knead" (stir and squish around with your hands) them until they loose a good amount of water, for about three minutes. I know, I know... three minutes!?! Get over it- SO worth it.  After that, stick everything into a colander and let the excess liquid drain out. You can even press it down a little to get the excess out. Set this aside, and grab another bowl. Mix together the remaining 1/2 c sugar, vinegar, and warm water.

Put the drained matchsticks into a jar, and fill it to the top with the brine. The brine should cover the veggies all the way. Stick it into the fridge for at least one hour. The recipe I used said that these will keep for up to four weeks, but I seriously doubt that they'll last that long.

Now, let's move on to the chicken. Combine the hoisen sauce, oyster sauce, honey, vinegar, and lemon juice into a large ziptop bag. Place the chicken into the bag, seal it, and squish it around until all of the chicken is thoroughly covered. Place this in the fridge and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.

While the chicken was marinating, I took the opportunity to do the rest of the prep work. First, I made the sauce for the tacos. Take the sour cream and put it into a bowl with the siracha, hoisen sauce, and lemon juice. Mix it all together and set aside.


Next, prep the rest of the veggies. Chop the cucumbers into small slices, chop the red onion paper thin, roll about three lettuce leaves together and chop into thin strips, and wash off the cilantro.



Ultimately, the spread should end up looking something like this:

Okay, now: once the chicken is done marinating, put a nonstick pan onto medium heat. Add a little vegetable oil, and add the chicken. Cook over medium heat and make sure to turn the chicken over to get the yummy crusty effect on both sides. Cook them until totally cooked through. Then, transfer to a cutting board and cut the chicken into thin slices.

Get ready for a bunch of pics!!!
Now, all you have to do is assemble the tacos. Spread some of the sour cream sauce onto a warmed tortilla. Then, add the chicken, lettuce, cucumber, onion, and pickles. Finally, add the cilantro and fold the tacos over- like so:

ohmygosh yuuuuuuuum!!!

For the lettuce wraps, follow a similar approach. I spread a little hoisen sauce onto the lettuce leaf along with the chicken, cucumber, onion, pickles, and cilantro. Fold it over and enjoooooy!!!!!!!

Daaannnngg. This is by far one of my favorite recipes thusfar. I am a huge fan of cilantro.... so adding this at the end was amaaazzing! Yes, it took a good amount of time to prep for this recipe, but I thought it was MORE than worth the time I spent. SO GOOOOD! I actually ended up serving this two nights in a row I liked it so much! Noomm nooomm!

Try it for yourself, and let me know how it went!

Soon to come: I'm brainstorming for a pizza request I received a little while ago, as well as thinking up new and healthy snacks! Stay tuned foodies!!!

Foodie foodie!

17 Bean and Barley Soup

While I was restocking my kitchen to start out the new semester (& btw, MY LAST SEMESTER of college!!! eeek!!!), I stumbled across this package of 17 bean and barley soup at Trader Joes. A friend of mine had made soup from a similar product in the past, so I thought I'd give it a try. I very loosely followed the recipe on the back of the package (I added and substituted a few things), and here's how it turned out!

Trader Joes's 17 Bean and Barley Soup

This product is great because it is inexpensive, (if I recall correctly, the package of beans/barley costs less than $2) healthy, and can very easily be converted to a vegetarian/vegan recipe if the chicken broth is taken out. For the record, the recipe on the package does not feature chicken broth, but I added it because I think the flavor is stronger than vegetable broth.

You'll need:
2 Cups of bean/barley mix
1 medium onion (I used a yellow onion)
4 stalks of celery
2 large carrots
1 red bell pepper
32 oz chicken broth
32 oz vegetable broth
2 cloves of garlic
1 large bay leaf (or two small)
1 can of diced tomatoes
garlic salt
pepper
olive oil

The first thing you need to do is soak the beans/barley mix. Measure out two cups, put it into the pot you'll be cooking it in, and cover with water. I soaked them overnight, but there is a quick-soak method outlined on the back of the package if you don't have the time. 

Next, you drain and rinse out the beans and pour the entire 32 oz of chicken broth on top. Set this aside, mince the garlic, and chop the onion, celery, carrots, and pepper. I chopped my veggies into fairly small pieces.. for some reason I wanted them to be "bean-sized" to match the beans in the mix (hah!)

remind me to thank my brother for the AMAZING knife he gave me for xmas

Put some olive oil into a large pan and set it over medium/high heat. When the oil is hot, drop the veggies into the pan and cook them until the onions are translucent and the carrots are softened. Now is a great time to garlic-salt and pepper liberally. When the veggies are about halfway done, add the minced garlic.

When the veggies are soft, scoop them out of the pan and put them into the bean/broth pot and add the canned tomatoes. My pot ended up being too small so I had to split the soup between two pots!


Top the soup with the remaining 32 oz of veggie broth, drop in the bay leaf, and bring to a boil. When the soup comes to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and let it simmer for at least an hour. I let mine simmer for one hour covered, and another 30 minutes uncovered.  

Salt and pepper the soup to taste, and when the beans are tender and the flavor is strong, serve it up!

I loved this recipe because it was hearty and satisfying, but healthy! It also made a lot of soup... I had enough to send some home with a friend and save some for during the week! Horrah!

  

My rating out of 10?

9

Why?
Because it takes a pretty long time to make, but it tastes SSOOOO good, it deserves a 9! I would recommend you make it on a weekend... if you've got a busy schedule during the week, this might be hard to manage.

try it for yourself- let me know how it goes!

foodie foodie!

Rosemary Food-Coma

This Thanksgiving break, while I was home visiting my family, they told me (to my GREAT joy) that I could borrow their little dutch oven. Granted, it isn't technically dutch oven, as in... you can't stick it on top of a camp fire and it doesn't have a lip on the lid, but it is an enameled cast iron pot. Horray! Why horray? Well, you can stick it in the oven. Something I certainly cannot do with my other cookware, and the thought of simply putting raw materials into a pot and having it emerge from the oven all amazing and yummy was quite exhilarating.. I had to try it. Plus I really wanted to make something soothing and comforting to combat the cold weather. On top of it all, it ended up being a wonderful source of leftovers. Hello lunch for the studio!

Rosemary Food Coma
You'll need:
2-4 carrots
1 red bell pepper
3 stalks of celery
1-2 yellow Italian squashes (or you can use zucchini)
4-6 sprigs of Rosemary
1 C. whole mushrooms
about 1 lb of potatoes (I used fingerling heirlooms)
1 small yellow onion
1 clove garlic
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (it depends on how many you're serving)
Garlic Salt/Pepper
Olive oil
1/2 C white wine 

Preheat the oven to 450° and put the dutch oven into the oven to preheat. 
Chop the carrots, pepper, celery, squashes, mushrooms, onion and potatoes. Cut them into fairly uniform sizes so that they'll cook evenly. I ended up leaving the mushrooms whole and just cutting the rest of the veggies to be about the same size. Finely chop the garlic, put them all into a bowl, and toss them with a liberal amount of olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper. Next, remove the dutch oven from the oven (use oven mitts! It sounds like common sense, but for some reason, my little dutch oven looked so innocent sitting there waiting for vegetables... but really it was searing hot!)

Put the veggies into the dutch oven and pause to enjoy the satisfying sizzling noise that it should make :) Lay half of the rosemary on top of the layer of veggies.  Then, salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts and lay them on top of the rosemary. Then, you'll lay the other half of the rosemary on top of the chicken. Now, place the lid on top of the dutch oven, and put it into the oven for 35-45 minutes (depending on how hot your oven actually runs) 15 minutes into the cooking time, add the white wine. When it emerges from the oven, it will fill your teensy apartment (or at least your kitchen) with the lovely scent of rosemary magic. The veggies should be fork-tender, the chick should be cooked through, and there should be a fair amount of delicious broth lingering in the bottom of the dutch oven. Remove the rosemary, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, plate it with some veggies, and add a few spoonfulls of the yum yum broth on top. Then, succumb to the following rosemary food coma glory. 

Yum Foodie Foodie!

 

Oh the weekend...

Hey there yum-seekers

Saturday morning farmers market

One of the wonderful things about living in Chico are the farmers markets. For roughly half of the year (during the warmer months) there is a farmers market every Thursday night. They close down some of the streets of downtown, and people come to buy and sell fresh fruits, hand-made crafts, yummy food, and so on. We also have a Saturday morning farmers market that is year-round (yay!) and happens to be a short walk from my apartment (double yay!)
Needless to say, I go almost every week so see what the local farmers have brought by.

Brian buys me flowers almost every time we go! I'm so spoiled :)

This week I brought home a bag of goodies that looked like this:

A few bell peppers, a couple of organic fuji apples, a recipe for lavender coffee cake with the lavender buds, and a bag of samosas (Indian pastries.)
So I decided that I should make something yummy that included at least one of the things I bought at the farmers market... so here it is:
A VERY simple but yummy breakfast recipe.


Simple Scramble
4-5 large eggs (depending on how many people you are feeding)
Splash of milk
One bell pepper (mine's from the farmers market)
1/2 onion (or 1 medium/small onion) I used a yellow onion but feel free to use whatever type you like
2-3 Tbs cream cheese
1 pad of butter for the pan
salt and pepper
A few little bunches of fresh basil (if you've got it)

Chop up the bell pepper (farmers market item!) and onion into small pieces. Put a nonstick pan on the stove over medium/high heat and melt the butter on it. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Then, add the bell peppers. Cook until just before fork-tender. Be sure to salt and pepper at this point.

Then, crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them with the milk. Pour the eggs on top of the onion/bell pepper party in the pan and scramble it up! Again, be sure to add salt and pepper at this point... don't want bland eggs! Blegh! Take the basil and either rip it into little pieces of chop them into fine strips.

Now, take some of the cream cheese and pinch into little pieces. Drop them into the pan when its just about finished and scramble it up a little more. "Cream cheese?" you ask? Yes. Cream cheese. Very yum foodie foodie, trust me.


Add some of the basil when just finishing up cooking the eggs. Ta-da!
Add a little basil for garnish.

And there you have it :)

Brian's portion w/ a little ryebread toast

mine :D

Like I said, VERY simple, but that's normally my goal when cooking: not to go too crazy. Who has time for extravagance?  I would love to make crazy complicated meals more often, buuuuut I'm in college. Who has the time? I hope you enjoyed this post :)

Foodie Foodie