A little spice goes a long way

It’s no secret that I love spicy food. However, I have my limits, and they were met this weekend. On Saturday after a failed attempt at taking my mom out for her birthday dinner, we wound up getting take-out Thai food. When I had mentioned getting dinner on Saturday, February 12th, no one thought to mention to me that it was the Saturday before Valentine’s Day, and every restaurant would likely be crowded. After calling ahead, and still being told we’d wait for at least an additional 30 minutes, my parents decided they would much rather have food before their bedtime, in the comfort of their own home. Not being one to argue, I ordered my usual – Pad Kee Mao, and my fiancé ordered his usual – Pad Thai.

The restaurant we order from, Thailand Restaurant, makes their food hot. They let you know when you order, making sure you know it’s spicy when you ask for it “medium.” My fiancé decided to order it hot. I myself have never ordered hot, only medium. Well, let me tell you, my medium was hot. So before my fiancé even started eating the noodles I could smell the heat, and see the spice all over it. Needless to say he wasn’t able to finish the meal, and spent a portion of the evening downing sugar and drinking milk.

On Sunday, the fiancé decided to make me dinner, and we had a stir-fry. It was really good, except he decided to put two large drops of Blair’s Mega Death hot sauce in it. Big mistake. After mixing in some plain Chobani, it was still just too hot to eat. It was disappointing because it was really good. After fiancé’s bout with his extremely spicy food on Saturday, his concoction on Sunday was no problem for him.

So when I found this Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas recipe from Real Simple, a littles spice was more than welcomed. This is a perfect weeknight recipe, since it only takes as long to prepare as it does to cook the pasta. Of course I doubled the red pepper amount, but it was still plenty cool in comparison to my other meals from the week.

ZCP — There are noodles under there, I swear!

Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas via Real Simple
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
12 ounces linguine (3/4 box)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 small zucchini, cut into thin half-moons
kosher salt
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water, drain, and return the pasta to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini and ½ teaspoon salt.
3. Cook the zucchini, tossing often, until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
4. Add the chickpeas, garlic, and red pepper and cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Toss the pasta with the reserved pasta water and ¼ cup of the Parmesan.
6. Divide the pasta among bowls and top with the zucchini mixture and the remaining ¼ cup of Parmesan.

Quick Curry

Both my fiancé and I really enjoy Thai food, and as you know, like our food spicy. So, when I saw a recipe for Green Curry on YumSugar, I made sure to bookmark it. However, I really used the recipe more as a suggestion, since I don’t have green curry (but I do have red), and didn’t feel like buying any. So, by choosing to go with red curry instead of green, I think it altered the recipe a lot. I still used the coconut milk, though, even though with most red curries I’ve had, there really isn’t a coconut flavor. So I guess you could say it isn’t really a traditional red curry. That’s okay, though, because it’s quick, and yummy!

Quick Curry
– Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup canola oil
2-3 cups frozen veggies
1 8oz. package of extra firm tofu, cut into squares
2 Tbsp red curry
2 Tbsp Sambal Olek
1 clove of garlic, pressed/chopped
A pinch of Chinese Five Spice (literally just a pinch!)
1 cup brown rice

Directions:
1. Prepare brown rice according to package. You should probably start this first, because rice takes some time, and the rest of this recipe doesn’t.
2. Heat skillet with canola oil. When beginning to bubble, gently place the tofu into the oil. Cook on first side for 4 minutes, then turn, and cook on other side for additional 2 minutes. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel.
3. In a wok, heat coconut milk and vegetable broth, whisking in the curry and Sambal Olek.
4. Once combined, add veggies. Lightly boil ingredients together for about 5 minutes.
5. Serve over cooked rice

Easy Chocolate Truffles

On Saturday, after doing homework and some yoga, I decided to get myself in the kitchen. We were planning to go out to dinner for my mom’s birthday that was on Tuesday, so in addition to the gifts I bought her, I wanted to make her a treat. I attempted a giant cupcake for my fiancé for Valentine’s Day, but it wound up being a disaster. So, with that ego bruiser fresh in my mind, I decided to make some chocolate truffles for my mom.

We didn’t have any heavy cream in the house, and I had no desire to go to the store to get some. So, I got creative. I had caramel macchiato coffee creamer, and coconut milk. After taking a poll via Twitter and thinking about it some more, I decided to go with the creamer. I thought the caramel would be a nice addition to the chocolate. It’s a pretty easy process, and they’re really delicious. Since this is just the base and I coated mine in just some cocoa powder, you can really get creative with what you want to cover it in… yum!

Easy Chocolate Truffles
– makes about 12 truffles –

Ingredients:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup coffee creamer (flavor of your choice)
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Directions:
1. In a double boiler (I just used a glass bowl atop a pot of boiling water), heat and melt chocolate, combined with coffee creamer.
2. Once fully melted and combined, chill for about 2 hours, until semi-hard.
3. Once chilled, use a small spoon to scoop out chocolate and roll into a ball.
4. In a separate bowl, roll the truffle in the chocolate powder

Save the Date

While this isn’t necessarily food or running related, I just had to share that we finally mailed out our Save the Dates!

We were lucky enough to have talented friends to help – our friend Danielle took our picture while we were in Disney, and then our friend Nikki was able to take that picture and make it into our awesome card.

I’m not going to show you exactly what our Save the Date is, in case some people haven’t received theirs yet, but I’ll leave you with a picture we didn’t select. September 10th can’t come soon enough!

A Casserole Twist

I subscribe to Vegetarian Times’ online newsletter, and a few times a week they e-mail out some pretty awesome recipes. I find myself stock-piling them, trying to get through each one as frequently as a I can. A few weeks ago I received a recipe for an Indian Samosa Casserole, and immediately saved it. Samosa’s are newer to me, as I had my first this past fall when a co-worker brought in a bunch to celebrate Diwali (the festival of lights). The first thing that comes to mind when trying to relate them would be to empanadas, pierogies, etc. They’re usually fried, and absolutely delicious. So when I found a recipe for a giant one that didn’t require a pot of hot oil flying throughout my kitchen, I was game.

Having spent the past few days watching countless hours of TV on the couch trying to recover as quickly as possible, I was excited to get back into the kitchen to make something that required some attention. Saving it for a Saturday evening was perfect, since with prep and cook time, this is easily an hour and a half ordeal. It probably would have taken even longer if I decided to make my own pie crust. But I thought it might be best to err on the side of sanity and buy a pre-made crust. I wasn’t opposed to the idea of spending some time in the kitchen, but I didn’t want it to be my entire Saturday, especially since I was finally starting to feel better.

Aside from using my own pie crust, I omitted the mustard seed (fiancé doesn’t like mustard), and used canned peas instead of frozen, and regular sugar instead of agave nectar. Other than that, I stuck to the recipe, and it was really good! We have three quarters of the pie left, so I’m looking forward to having it for lunch/dinner at least one more time.

And in other news, I think I’m finally healed up and ready to get back to running! Unfortunately with the weather lately my first run will likely be on the treadmill. That’s okay, thought, because I’m going to take it slow and make sure there isn’t any pain. Fiancé still has one more week of required couch potato-ness before his ankle is looked at again. So, the Pittsburgh Marathon is out, but I’m 99.9% sure we’ll be signing up for the Philly Marathon that’s in November, followed by going Goofy in January! Fingers crossed 🙂

Indian Samosa Casserole via Vegetarian Times
– Serves 6 –

Ingredients:
Crust:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. vegetable oil

Filling:
1 Tbs. black or yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes, optional
5 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (1 1/4 lb.)
1 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced (1 cup)
1 medium carrot, diced (1/2 cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
2 tsp. agave nectar or sugar
2 Tbs. soymilk

Directions:
To make Crust:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk together flours and salt in bowl. Stir in oil until clumps form. Add 6 to 10 Tbs. cold water, 1 Tbs. at a time, until dough holds together. Shape into ball, cover with damp towel, and set aside.

To make Filling:
2. Stir together mustard seeds, curry, ginger, cumin, and red pepper flakes, if using, in bowl; set aside.
3. Cook potatoes in boiling salted water 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain, return to pot, and mash, leaving small chunks.
4. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and garlic, and sauté 5 minutes, or until carrot is tender. Move onion mixture to side of pan, and add mustard seed mixture in center. Toast 30 seconds. Stir in peas and broth. Fold onion mixture into potato mixture; stir in agave nectar. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Spread Filling in 9-inch pie pan. Set aside.
5. Roll out Crust dough to 11-inch circle on floured work surface. Cover Filling with dough, pressing down to make sure no air pockets remain. Trim away excess dough, and crimp edges with fingers. Cut X in center to vent steam; brush with soymilk just before baking. Place pie on baking sheet, and bake 40 to 50 minutes, or until crust is golden. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
6. Frozen cooking instructions: Preheat oven to 375°F. Place casserole on baking sheet, and bake 75 to 90 minutes, or until Filling bubbles and Crust is golden. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Peanut Butter Chili

Who doesn’t love chili? It’s seriously everything I could want in a bowl… sauteed onions, beans, spice… yum. The different combinations that can be thrown into a big simmering bowl makes chili even more appealing to me. When it comes to spices, there are a ton of directions you can go in too. Only recently did I discover the wonders of adding a dash of cinnamon. I found this recipe on Serious Eats, back on National Peanut Butter Day. So, as you can imagine, there’s peanut butter in it. That’s right, peanut butter in chili!

I wasn’t too sure how this was going to come out – I mean, peanut butter in chili? It smelled amazing, and even though there was a solid amount of peanut butter used in the recipe, the taste was really just a compliment to the other flavors in the dish. I didn’t have tomato paste, and I also didn’t have two cans of kidney beans, so there were some modifications. I used a little less vegetable broth so as to not make it too watery since the tomato paste wasn’t there to thicken it up. Also, I threw in a can of pinto beans to keep the bean numbers the same, and it added a nice variety as well.

This is a pretty quick cooking chili, too. A lot require a solid 45+ minute simmering time, but this one, once all combined, takes 20 minutes with 15 minutes of sautéing required beforehand. So, it’s definitely a chili you can make on a weeknight, which I always appreciate. I decided to make the entire recipe (except I only made enough rice for what I thought we’d eat), and we had five very large servings over the course of three days!

Peanut Butter Chili via Serious Eats
– Serves 6-8 –

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Two (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
One (12-ounce) can tomato paste *I omitted
2 cups vegetable stock *Only used 1 1/2
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (preferably unsweetened) *I used chunky
Two (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained *I did 1 kidney, 1 pinto
One (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
One (15-ounce) can white beans, rinsed and drained
One (15-ounce) can whole sweet corn, rinsed and drained
4 cups cooked white or brown rice (for serving)
1 cup coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese (for serving)

Directions:
1. In large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and garlic and sauté until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.
2. Add diced tomatoes and their liquid, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, and red pepper flakes to pot. Let simmer for 5 minutes and then add tomato paste, vegetable stock, and peanut butter. Stir until tomato paste and peanut butter are well incorporated. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to low and add all beans and corn. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
4. To serve, place a half cup of rice in large bowl and add two ladles of chili. Top with cheddar cheese and chopped scallions.

A Stewy Kind of Day

Since we’ve been getting at least one snow storm a week, I’ve been on a stew kick. The definition of stew is “To cook (food) by simmering or boiling slowly,” which is exactly what these recipes have been. I live in New Jersey, and the past year of weather has been outrageous. Last winter wasn’t SO bad, but I do remember a few pretty solid snow storms. This past summer was unbearable with its sticky, humid days, and the only solace I found was in the fall. Enter winter 2010 – 2011, where as soon as we hit the end of December, the skies have been pouring snow and other wintery precipitation on us like no other. My mom, a school nurse, has already used all of her snow days. And we’re barely into February!

Last week, I went with an Indian stew, Dal. I think I used about 75% of my curry powder stock in one week, but it was well worth it. Since I had made some curry earlier in the week, I had left over sweet potato and cauliflower to add to the mix. I debated adding some chickpeas as well, but decided to save them for another rainy, or in this case snowy, day. The Dal recipe I went off of is from the Student’s Vegetarian Cookbook by Carole Raymond that I got for Christmas. Everything is quick, easy, and affordable. Aside from taking a few minutes to chop up the ingredients, sauté them, and cook the lentils, it’s a pretty no-fuss meal. It’s also really hearty. Just what you need on these cold winter nights!

Veggie Dal
-Serves 4-

Ingredients:
1 cup dried lentils
3 cups water
2 Tbsp oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 cups onion, chopped
1/2 cup cauliflower
1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp garam masala

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, water, and 1 cup of chopped onion. Bring the ingredients to a boil; reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.
2. While the lentils are cooking, heat the oil in a medium skillet; add the remaining 1 cup onion, garlic, sweet potato, cauliflower, curry and garam masala. Sauté the vegetables on medium or medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the onions are golden, and the veggies are soft, and just beginning to brown, 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the vegetable mixture to the cooked lentils, stirring to combine. Heat the lentil mixture for a few minutes longer. Salt to taste.

Chunky Eggplant Quinoa

I love eggplant. It’s one of those vegetables that’s so versatile, and really hearty. Growing up, aside from having eggplant parmigana, I didn’t realize how many possibilities there are. So, I decided to just throw a few things in a pan and hope for the best. Instead of having it over pasta, I thought using quinoa instead would be a nice change of pace. We have tortellini at least once a week, and I don’t want to over do it with the pasta.

This recipe definitely has a slow cooking, involved taste. But it’s actually quite easy! We actually had a little leftover and added it to our typical tortellini dinner later in the week, and it was great. I could definitely see some additions to the stew such as mushrooms, peas, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Chunky Eggplant Quinoa
– Serves 3 –

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced into large chunks
1 can (15.5 oz) diced tomatoes (preferably with herb seasoning)
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup quinoa
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
*red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese for serving

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine vinegars in medium bowl, add diced eggplant and make sure they’re fully coated. Place on greased baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes.
3. While the eggplant is cooking, heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion and garlic, sauté about 5 minutes, until onion is translucent and garlic is starting to brown.
4. Add tomatoes, and simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat.
5. Cook quinoa according to package
6. Add the cooked eggplant to the tomato, onion, and garlic, and cook for an additional 5 minutes, making sure everything is combined.
7. Serve the eggplant mixture over the quinoa, and top with some red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese.

Sick Day Comforts

Late last week, I boasted to my fiancé how it was so impressive I hadn’t yet gotten sick this winter. Throughout high school and college, I could count on a nasty cold, usually turning into a sinus infection and one of those never ending tickling coughs to rear it’s ugly head at least once a winter. It really put a cramp in my training for swimming, but I somehow always managed to work with it. I got sick last year after catching a cold from my fiancé, but this year, I thought I was in the clear. Oh I was wrong.

This past weekend I headed to Scranton to attend the Alumni Swim Meet, where the seniors on the team are celebrated, and parents and alumni attend as well. It’s the last duel meet before their championship weekend, so it’s a nice close to the season. Of course, since it’s Scranton, there was snow falling the entire day, and it was quite chilly. Unlike in my college days, I made sure to dress appropriately for the weather, and headed out for a fun night to celebrate the graduating seniors, all of my alumni friends, and a recent engagement between two alumni swimmers! Unfortunately in Scranton, you are allowed to smoke in bars if you are under a certain percentage of revenue related to food. I woke up Sunday morning with a scratchy, sore throat which I attributed to screaming over the music, and a smoky bar.

Monday rolled around, and my throat still didn’t feel right, but it wasn’t too bad. I motored through the day, and when I woke up on Tuesday I felt like I had been hit with a ton of bricks. Super tired, lethargic, a raging headache, a tickle/scratch cough, and a sore throat. I knew it was game over – I had gotten sick this winter. I struggled through the work day, and resolved myself to the couch for the rest of Tuesday evening. I knew I’d be spending Wednesday at home, laying on the couch watching TV and catching up on homework.

Even though my appetite isn’t itself, I knew I needed to eat something for breakfast. Enter the peanut butter and Nutella grilled sandwich! Until recently, I never thought of grilling some things between two slices of bread. Then I saw Shelby’s Grilled PB&J, and Caitlin’s Grilled Banana sandwich. I thought to myself that peanut butter and Nutella would work well together… and oh it does!

So whether you’re feeling under the weather or just want a treat, make this! It’s so quick and easy. I feel silly writing out the directions to make a grilled sandwich, and it’s so simple I actually had trouble writing it out. So forgive me!

Peanut Butter & Nutella Grilled Sandwich
– Serves 1 –

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp chunky peanut butter
2 Tbsp Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread
2 slices sandwich bread (any kind will do)
Cooking Spray
1 Tbsp butter

Directions:
1. Spread peanut butter on one side of a piece of bread
2. Spread Nutella on one side of the other piece of bread
3. Put two pieces of bread together, peanut butter & Nutella facing one another
4. Butter one side of the bread, leave the other side un-buttered
5. Spray skillet, and heat to medium-high heat, place sandwich non-buttered side down first
6. Check every few minutes, and once one side is golden brown, flip, cooking other side until similarly golden brown

Ladies Who Lunch

Lunch has always been my favorite meal of the day. Growing up, I was never a big breakfast person, and dinner was just an afterthought. But lunch, oh the possibilities! Lunch is smack dab in the middle of your day, perfect for you to incorporate almost anything you want – a late breakfast, or even an early dinner. You can get away with pretty much anything you feel like for lunch. I however, like to stick to typical lunch foods. You know, your sandwich, soup, salad, etc.

Since I work full time, lunch isn’t nearly as glamorous as I wish it could be. By glamorous, I mean all of the different and delicious creations that lend themselves to the mid day meal. If I had it my way, I’d be in the kitchen creating an interesting sandwich, wrap, salad, or other oddball creation daily, with of course leaving room to sample the yummy lunchtime menus from surrounding eateries. Alas, I live a far from glamorous life.

I’ll be honest, a lot of the time I’m just too lazy to think up creative lunches, so I settle for frozen meals. I try my hardest to have them no more than 2 times a week, but sometimes my schedule just doesn’t allow time for me to make my lunch ahead of time. If I have leftovers from dinner, I gladly bring those to work as well. Since my fiancé and I are currently saving for a wedding, we rarely go out for lunch during the work week – I’d say no more than once or twice a month.

After a week of boring frozen meals (the semester just started, so I was swamped with start-up work), I resolved to try something new last week. Enter my veggie wrap! I had it twice for lunch this past week, since the ingredients lent themselves to three full wraps – hello money saver! It’s nothing fancy, but it’s delicious.

Random Veggie Wrap
– Serves 1 –

Ingredients:
1/2 Hass Avocado, sliced
1/4 Cucumber, peeled and sliced
Handful Soybean Sprouts
3 Tbsp Hummus (I used roasted garlic, but any will work)
1 Tbsp Feta (crumbled)
1 Wrap (I used tortilla – but a flavored wrap would be great, too)

Directions:
1. Spread hummus in middle of tortilla
2. Place all other ingredients on top of tortilla
3. Wrap, first by folding over slightly, then turning in the sides, and continuing until all ingredients are covered