Split Pea Soup

There’s really not much to split pea soup.  Especially when you cook it in the crock pot.  In the past I have always made a vegetarian version but figured I’d go for a meat one this round.  I used 4 slices of hickory smoked bacon from Whole Foods.  Not sure why I went for a meat version other than to try something new.  Plus bacon really does make split pea soup taste pretty delicious.  And this is coming from me, a person who is not a bacon lover.  I like to buy my beans from the bulk department so I can get just what I need but unfortunately the store was pretty much out of green split peas so I bought half green and half yellow.  In terms of flavor this is no issue but I wanted a nice bright green soup instead of a murky pond water color.  No worries though.  I served this soup with some fresh avocado and a pressed grilled cheese slider.  We ate half the batch and I froze the other half.

Ready to cook

Ready to eat

Split Pea Soup

Split Pea Soup

• 1 lb split peas
• onion, chopped
• garlic, chopped
• s&p
• smoked paprika
• 4 slices hickory smoked bacon (these slices were thick)
• 3 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon vegetable base
• 6 cups water

1. Rinse split peas.
2. Chop bacon into thin strips.
3. Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours until beans are tender and soup has thickened.

Baked Ziti

In sticking with my theme of making meals that can also be frozen I opted to cook up a batch of baked ziti with turkey Italian sausage.  Lasagna is known to freeze well but I figured why go through all the effort of putting together a lasagna when baked ziti is practically the same thing.  This meal was super super simple to throw together and extremely delicious to both Josh and I.  I love gluten free pasta but feared a rice pasta would get soggy when defrosted so I used a whole wheat rigatoni instead.  And since I’m still in love with Cucina Antica’s La Vodka Sauce I decided not to make a sauce from scratch.  Plus the cream in the sauce takes just enough of the acidity out to prevent any heartburn from coming on.  I have found I absolutely love cooking with Italian sausage.  Since I can remember it has always been a favorite of mine.  The seasonings add much flavor to any dish doing most of the seasoning work for you.  This is something Josh has definitely opened up to.  He’s more of a bolognese sauce kind of guy but I stick with the sausage.

Browning sausage with onion, garlic, dried oregano, and fresh parsley

Sauce added

Pasta placed in casserole dish topped with ricotta cheese

Topped with Italian sausage/sauce and mozzarella cheese

Baked!

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti (enough for two 9×9 casserole dishes)

• 24 oz whole wheat rigatoni
• onion, chopped
• garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• chopped fresh parsley (as much as you’d like)
• 2 links turkey Italian sausage, sliced into 1/4″ rounds (good luck with this)
• 25 oz jar Cucina Antica la vodka sauce
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• pecorino romano
• mozzarella cheese
• olive oil

1. Cook pasta until just al dente.  If the box says cook for 11 minutes cook for 8-9.  They should still be chewy.
2. Heat up some olive oil over medium heat.  Once warm add the onion and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes until fragrant.  Add the Italian sausage and brown.  I ended up cutting mine in half since they were a little thicker than I wanted.  Once they are about cooked through add the oregano and fresh parsley.  Mix well and add the jar of sauce.  Turn off heat.
3. In your casserole dish place a small amount of the sauce just to coat the bottom.  Place the noodles in and top with the ricotta cheese.  Grate a bit of fresh pecorino romano on top.  Layer in the Italian sausage/sauce.  I added a splash or two of water to the sauce jar and poured this on top of the sauce for a little extra moisture.  Lastly top with mozzarella cheese.  The kind I bought was a really soft brick so I sliced thin layers rather than grate.
4. Bake covered in a 350° oven for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake another 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and brown.

** To freeze: Place assembled dish without baking in fridge to chill.  Once cold wrap well in foil and plastic wrap.  Place in freezer.  Defrost in fridge for 24 hours before baking.

Quinoa Muffins

If you remember a few days ago, I mentioned I’d had my last hoorah in the kitchen.  Well after yesterday I realize I definitely spoke to soon.  My inspiration to cook came on pretty strong with a crock pot soup, dinner, and 3 batches of muffins.  Did you get all of that?  And I must say I enjoyed every minute of it.  It was really just another reminder of how much I love spending time in the kitchen.  I guess I’m making the most of it before the baby comes.  There are some sort of zen like feelings that come over me while cooking.  I tend to tune out most of my usual thoughts and end up with a clear mind.  Especially when I’m pleased with my results : ).

Muffins!

So why 3 batches of muffins?  I wanted to make something to share with my chiropractor.  For the month of January I went twice weekly and it was a wonderful experience.  My body feels great.  The method of chiropractic is non-force, known as network chiropractic, and it’s truly incredible.  Not only does my body feel balanced but my mind does as well.  I truly feel it’s a full body healing experience reaching your emotions, spirituality, and physical body.  What more could I ask for as I am on my way to delivering my first child?

Quinoa

I wanted to make healthy muffins so I decided to use a blend of red and white quinoa.  I made two batches with cooked quinoa and one with raw just to see the difference.  Honestly I didn’t notice much at all.  I cooked my quinoa with a 1:1 ratio as to not end up with a soggy pot so they were soft but still firm.  One batch was quinoa almond, the next banana quinoa, and the last an oat bran recipe using what was left of the quinoa and I added in some fresh chopped pear.  Josh and I did a taste test and we couldn’t come up with a favorite.  Taste and texture were spot on in all three.

Left: Quinoa Almond, Middle: Banana Quinoa, Right: Oat Bran Pear Quinoa

Back Left: Quinoa Almond, Back Right: Oat Bran Pear Quinoa, Front: Banana Quinoa

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Quinoa Almond Muffins (makes 12)

• 2 cups cooked quinoa, cook 1 cup quinoa with 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup oil (not olive)
• 2 cups spelt flour
• 3/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4-1/2 cup slivered almonds

1. Brush muffin tin with oil and dust with flour.  Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, slivered almonds, and cooked quinoa.
4. In a small bowl whisk together oil, milk, egg, and almond extract.
5. Add wet to dry ingredients just mixing until incorporated.
6. Pour batter into muffin tin and bake 25-30 minutes.  Allow to cool 5 minutes in pan before transferring muffins to a cooling rack.

Banana Quinoa Muffins (makes 12 normal or 24 minis)

• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked (or you can use 1 cup cooked quinoa)
• 2 bananas, mashed

1. Brush muffin tin with oil and dust with flour.  Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and quinoa in a medium sized bowl.
4. In another bowl whisk eggs, syrup, and oil.  Mix in mashed bananas.
5. Add wet to dry ingredients mixing until just incorporated.
6. Pour batter into muffin tin and bake 13-15 minutes for mini’s and 20-25 minutes for normals.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from tin and cooling on a rack.

Oat Bran Muffins with Pear and Quinoa (makes 12)

• 1 cup mother’s oat bran
• 3/4 cup spelt flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup oil (not olive)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (it was what I had leftover from the quinoa almond muffins)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh pear (skin removed)

1. Brush muffin tin with oil and dust with flour.  Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together oat bran, flour, sugar, baking soda, and quinoa.
4. In another bowl whisk oil, egg, and milk.
5. Add wet to dry ingredients along with pear mixing until just incorporated.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes removing from tin to finish cooling.
6. Poor batter into muffin tin and bake 15-20 minutes.

Golden Lentil Dal

If you haven’t noticed by how many times I have posted this meal it is truly one of my favorites!!!  And it freezes incredibly well, which is my goal with cooking right now.  Plus it’s done in the crock pot so it’s super easy to prepare.  So once again here’s the recipe:

Golden Lentil Dal

• 2 cups yellow lentils (I like the yellow for some reason better than the red, but they are pretty much the same)
• medium butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, and chopped
• onion, chopped
• garlic, minced
• can coconut milk
• 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon vegetable base
• 1 inch knob ginger, grated
• 2 tsp red curry paste
• s&p
• water to cover all ingredients, for me this was 2 cans of water (I used the coconut milk can)

1. Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours.

Roasted Fennel & Pear, Potato Salad, and Collards

Sometimes it’s fun to make a smorgasbord meal.  Each component stands out on its own and there’s really no theme of flavors connecting them together.  I figure since I have the time right now I should enjoy a little bit of kitchen fun.  I took my time with this meal cooking throughout the afternoon doing a little here and there.  I fully enjoyed myself and I kind of saw it at my last hoorah in the kitchen.  I’ll still be cooking up until the baby comes but I’m going to stick with meals that can be frozen to keep stocking the freezer.

I didn’t really have any inspiration for this meal but to make a few things that taste delicious.  Cheesy I know.  I haven’t made collards for quite some time and they have been looking pretty great at the store.  Plus Joshua loves collard greens and he was quite thrilled when he saw me grab them off the produce shelf.  I used a recipe I have in the past that includes fresh grated ginger and a bit of cardamom powder.  The flavor is mellow but unique.  Definitely worth a try.

I did have other plans for the fennel but had a little bit of an issue with the pressure cooker so I cancelled that meal.  Long story short my fava beans were too much for it to handle.  I still have no idea what went wrong.  There was enough water but not too much, a dash of oil, and the heat was on the right temperature.  The little swisher top was doing it’s thing and all of the sudden it stopped and then shot off into the ceiling.  Both Josh and I were in the kitchen for this and ran for cover.  I’m very thankful the lid didn’t blow off.  We did have a nice mess of bean residue to clean off the stove and near surroundings.  But it could have been much worse so no complaining.  Definitely a scary moment though.  In the end it all worked out for the best as I roasted the fennel with my delicious olive oil and blueberry balsamic vinegar.  I also decided to lightly roast a d’anjou pear with the oil and vinegar too.  Together they were SO YUMMY!

And lastly, at this point you know I’m not super into potatoes but fingerling potato salad sounded good.  I like to make mine with ricotta cheese and olive oil;  plenty of creaminess.  For the seasoning I keep it simple using fresh parsley, red onion, Garlic Gold nuggest (fresh garlic would do fine too), celery, and some pecorino romano.  Definitely my kind of potato salad!  I made this early afternoon so I could eat it cold.  To me potato salad is the best cold rather than warm or room temperature.

In the end this was a great vegetarian plate of food, plenty to satisfy my stomach.  I know Josh could have used a little extra to fill him up but overall he said he was pretty full himself.  If I didn’t make the potato salad I would have made a brown rice couscous salad including the roasted fennel and pears, along with some of the fennel fronds and pecorino romano.  Just another ideal to throw out there.  Happy Friday everyone!

Potato Salad Prep

Potato Salad

Collard Greens

Roasted Fennel

Dinner

: )

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Potato Salad

• 2 lbs fingerling potatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4-1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• fresh parsley, chopped (as much as you’d like)
• 1-2 tablespoons Garlic Gold nuggets (or 2 cloves fresh minced garlic)
• red onion, sliced super thin (as much as you’d like)
• 1 stalk celery diced
• s&p

1. Boil fingerling potatoes whole until fork tender.
2.  Meanwhile mix all remaining ingredients.
3. Once potatoes are done, drain and chop.  Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until chilled.

Collar Greens

• 1 batch collard greens, washed and stems removed
• olive oil
• red onion, chopped
• garlic, minced
• 1 inch knob ginger, grated
• 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon vegetable base
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• s&p

1. Boil collard greens for 15 minutes.  Drain, cool, and chop thinly.
2. Heat up a splash of olive oil and fry the garlic and ginger a few minutes.  Do not burn.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until the liquid is gone.  I like to enjoy these at room temperature.

Roasted Fennel & Pear

• 2 fennel bulbs
• 1 d’anjou pear
• olive oil
• blueberry balsamic vinegar

1. Slice both fennel and pear into wedges.  Keep them separate.
2. Just coat each with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
3. Roast the fennel in a 400° oven for 30 minutes.  Next roast the pear at the same temperature for 10 minutes.

White Chili

The day is quickly approaching when we will get to meet our new addition!  We are both very excited for this.  Could be any day but most likely won’t be for another 2 weeks or so.  Luckily the days seem to be going by pretty fast and I’ve been keeping myself busy.  This being said I’ve started to make meals in large batches where half can be frozen for those nights when we have no energy to cook.  Here I made a white chili.  I’ve never ventured down this road before and it’s an easy yet delicious meal to make.  I did use chicken base for the broth but you could easily substitute veggie base for a vegetarian version.  You could also add some shredded chicken, which I think Josh would have really liked, but unfortunately for him this idea did not appeal to me.  I used 1 lb of dry northern beans, soaking them overnight and cooking them in the pressure cooker, before adding them to the crock pot.  Since I wanted a lot of beans in the soup this proved to be a good idea as I’m not sure the beans would have cooked fully otherwise.

Ready to cook

Cooked

Time to eat

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White Chili

• 1 lb nothern beans, soaked over night and cooked in a pressure cooker
• onion, chopped
• garlic, minced
• 2 14 oz cans diced green chilis
• 29 oz can hominy
• 4-5 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon chicken base
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• water to fill crock pot
• s&p
• 1 cup frozen white corn

1. In a crock pot add the cooked northern beans, onion, garlic, green chilis, hominy, chicken base, cumin, oregano, cloves and s&p.  Mix well and fill crockpot with water.  Cook on low 7 hours or so.
2. 30 minutes before serving add the frozen corn.
3. Serve with fresh chopped avocado, tortilla crisps, and grated cheese.

Tortilla Crisps

• tortillas, chopped into thin strips
• olive oil
• salt

1. Toss tortilla strips with olive oil and salt.
2. Bake in a 350° oven checking every 10 minutes until crisp.  I used sprouted tortillas (not wheat free) which only took 15 minutes, if you use corn tortillas they will take closer to 30 minutes (from my experience anyway).

Prosciutto & Broccoli Quiche

Let me just start off by saying this quiche was incredible!  I achieved the custard like texture you look for in a quiche while having the perfect balance of veggies with the saltiness of the prosciutto.  I was in the mood to make one, which does not happen often, and I let Josh choose the ingredients for the filling.  His suggestions were both the prosciutto and broccoli.  Good choice!  Of course I could have gone one step further in making my own crust but I chose not to and bought a frozen spelt crust from Whole Foods.  I’ve used them in the past and always have great success.  Along with the quiche we had a simple salad dressed with blueberry balsamic and olive oil.

Broccoli, Onion, & Garlic

Ready to bake

Baked

Perfect!

See the light custard texture of the eggs..

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Prosciutto & Broccoli Quiche

• 1 pie crust
• broccoli, chopped down into florets
• onion, sliced into thin half moons
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• s&p
• olive oil
• 6 slices prosciutto
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 6 eggs
• cheese, I used Dubliner

1. In a blender mix the cream and eggs.  Set aside.
2. Heat up some olive oil and sauté the onion until softened.  Add the garlic and broccoli.  Season with s&p and continue to sauté until just tender.
3. In the pie shell place the broccoli mixture in a smooth layer.  Next add in the prosciutto again in a smooth layer.  Pour the egg mixture slowly in the pie shell until full.  Grate a light layer of cheese on the top.
4. Bake in a 375° oven for ten minutes.  Turn down the heat to 325° and continue to bake for another 30 minutes or so until the quiche is set.  If you can’t tell when it’s set you can use a cake tester.
5. Allow to set for 10 minutes before serving.

GF Banana Pancakes

I woke up this morning knowing it was a pancake day.  I have been lucky enough to have Josh make me pancakes just about every time I want them but for some reason he hasn’t been into making them the last few months.  So this means I get to.  Not that it’s a problem as they are super easy to throw together, I just like having them made for me.  Who wouldn’t?  So today I didn’t follow a recipe or anything but rather threw a bunch on ingredients together that sounded good.  I blended some old fashioned oats into oat flour for the base and added a mashed banana, almond slivers, and coconut flakes.  I did add an egg for some protein but you could easily omit it for a vegan version.  They turned out fluffy and weren’t dense at all.  Oat flour is a great substitute for recipes like pancakes.  Just be sure to adjust your liquid as the oat flour is definitely more absorbent and don’t want thick dry pancakes.

Pancakes

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes (made ~15 pancakes)

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour (food process or blend old fashioned oats)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 banana, mashed
• 2 cups almond milk, maybe more
• 1 egg
• cinnamon
• vanilla extract
• coconut flakes
• slivered almonds
• butter
• maple syrup

1. In a medium bowl mix together oat flour and baking powder.
2. In another bowl mash banana with a fork.  Add the milk, egg, cinnamon, vanilla extract, coconut, and almonds.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixing until just incorporated.  If the batter is looking thick add some more milk to thin it out.
4. Heat a large pan over medium low heat.  Once fully heated add a pat of butter and place a bit of batter around pan making 4 or 5 pancakes.  Cook 3-4 minutes until bubbles form on top, flip and continue to cook another 3-4 minutes on the other side.  Remove from pan and repeat until all the batter is used.
5. Serve with maple syrup.

Salad

Every now and then I’m inspired to eat salad.  I guess last night was one of those nights.  I saw a beautiful head of red butter leaf lettuce at the store the other day and it was calling my name.  It’s my favorite lettuce by far especially when fresh.  Delicate but crispy.  So I quickly tossed together a salad containing the head of lettuce, a red d’anjou pear, avocado, and the rest of the garlic dill goat cheese from the previous post.  For the dressing I used olive oil and vinegar.  But not just any olive oil and vinegar.  Both came from Oliverde, the olive oil hojiblanca (previous post) and the balsamic was blueberry flavored.  The store has a huge selection of flavored balsamic vinegars and we tried a bunch of them.  Most were good but nothing you’d actually want to buy.  But the blueberry, WOW, it was incredible.  Seriously tasted like wild blueberries.  So needless to say this salad was right up my alley.

Pesto Pasta

For the pasta I kept it simple, remember I’m trying to make meals with minimal prep.  I rehydrated some sundried tomatoes in a bit of olive oil over super low heat and added some frozen peas.  I tossed this mixture with some store bought pesto and  a box of cooked quinoa shells.  Tasty, easy, and satisfying.  I love pasta.  I know it’s not the best food to eat but it is definitely one of my favorite foods.  If only it were as good for you as grains.

Asparagus Pasta

As I noted in my last post it’s about time I started doing less prep work in the kitchen.  I love a variety of vegetables in my food but this is what accounts for the back pain I have just started to experience.  Take a look at my tom kha recipe a few posts down.  That recipe I truly enjoyed but entirely too many veggies to dice up!  So this recipe is the start to my easier cooking.

Here in Boulder we have an olive oil store called Oliverde.  I recently ventured in and while my parents were in town we made a stop.  It’s amazing the different kinds of olive oils out there.  After trying an assortment they bought me a bottle of hojiblanca.  A spanish oil, very silky in texture and grassy in flavor.  It’s pretty wonderful.  I have chosen to use this oil only where the flavor won’t get lost in a dish so this was the perfect meal to try it out.  I cooked a bunch of asparagus with some tarragon ice cubes (I never use a whole thing of tarragon when I buy it so I freeze what I don’t use in ice cubes for future use) and added lemon zest, fusilli pasta, and goat cheese.  I bought a local goat cheese from Haystack Mountain seasoned with dill and garlic.  It is DELICIOUS!  I used to hate goat cheese.  I know hate is a strong word but that was my true opinion of the cheese.  Now I love it!  It is definitely one of my top cheeses to date.  And this flavor did not disappoint.  It added the perfect spice and plenty of creaminess to tie the dish together.

Olive Oil

Ready to serve!

Good Eats!

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Asparagus & Goat Cheese Pasta

• bunch of asparagus, chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon, I used 2 frozen ice cubes containing 1 tbsp in each
• zest of 1 lemon
• goat cheese, I used dill and garlic flavored from Haystack Mountain
• olive oil, I used Hojiblanca
• s&p
• rice fusilli, cooked according to package

1. In a nonstick sauce pan heat up a little olive oil over medium high heat.  Once warm add the asparagus.  Cook until just tender and add tarragon and s&p.  Because I used ice cube tarragon I added them in right along with the asparagus and allowed the liquid to cook off.
2. Season with lemon zest, toss in cooked pasta, a bit more olive oil, and goat cheese.  Heat through and mix well.
3. Serve topped with a little goat cheese and lemon zest.

I truly loved this dish.  So much I ate two bowls.  The olive oil was incredible especially with a little salt to bring out the flavor.  And as I mentioned the goat cheese was yummy too.  The tarragon and lemon zest kept the dish vibrant with their cooling flavors.  I wish I had more to eat right now!