An Oven: A Love Story

This is the kind of meal you should make when you have lots of time to spend in the kitchen, which is exactly what I have been graced with for the past seven days.  As many of you know, I am about to haul all of my belongings up the coast from California to Seattle for the second time (the first having occurred 5 years ago-- I’m looking at you Elaine and Brenna!), so I have been spending the last few days visiting with family and soaking in the sunshine as much as possible.  Farewell to wearing tank tops and shorts in the shade...in January.

Now, I love my family and I am so grateful that the timing worked out for me to spend my last week with them, but I need to be frank about something: I also love their oven.  I love that it takes five minutes to preheat, that food cooks evenly, that the oven temperature does not jump from 350 to 550 F with no warning.  It’s pretty magical.

So, needless to say, for me coming home means it’s time to bake.  Most trips I only have time to make a quick batch of granola, but since this time I found myself at home for one week with no agenda, I have been keeping pretty busy.  

 This was my second time making these empanadas, and I’d say this round was considerably more successful than the first.  I switched the flour used as the base for the dough, and I think this change, coupled with being baked in better oven, made all the difference.

 Try not to be intimidated by the length of the recipe, as the individual steps are really very simple.  Although this might not be the best choice for a weeknight meal, it is most definitely worth your time on a lazy weekend day.  And, I’m pretty sure that making and sharing these empanadas earns you some serious bonus points with your lucky friends or family.  High fives all around.

Empanadas
Adapted from The First Mess
Makes 8 empanadas

Note: Feel free to substitute the whole wheat pastry flour with other whole grain/gluten-free flours you have on hand.  The original recipe calls for chickpea flour, and I imagine spelt might be a good choice, as well.  If you experiment, start with less water than called for in this recipe and add more to the dough as needed.  The dough should be slightly sticky, dense and easy to handle, but not at all dry.  Also, adjust the filling ingredients to reflect current seasonal produce or what you have on hand, but just make sure that you end up with about 2 cups total filling (after cooking).

I also included the recipe for the green creamy sauce you see in the pictures, even though I did not make any adjustments to the original recipe.  Yes, it is vegan, but trust me when I say that plenty of very non-vegan friends and family have been asking for this recipe since I made it the other day.  Follow the link to the original recipe for a great tomatillo salsa recipe, as well (also in the pictures)!

Dough:
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 ½ Tbsp olive oil
⅔- ¾ cup water (the original recipe called for much less water, so start small and add more as needed)
pinch of salt

Filling:
2 small beets, peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, washed and finely chopped
6-7 large leaves of beet greens, kale, chard, or other leafy greens
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup cooked black beans, drained
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper (or less of you want the mixture less spicy)
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
splash of olive oil (or cooking oil of choice)

Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Start by making the dough.  In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.  Add the olive oil, and mix in ½ cup of water (you may need to start using your hands at this point).  Knead the dough in the bowl, and continue to add water (1 tablespoon at a time) until the dough comes together into a slightly sticky, cohesive ball (it will be very dense).  Lightly flour a countertop or cutting board and transfer your dough onto it.  Knead a couple more times to form a smooth ball, then press it down into a disk.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside while you make the filling.

Heat a large skillet with a bit of oil over medium-low heat, then add the beets and carrots.  Cook until the vegetables begin to soften (about ten minutes), stirring occasionally.  Stir in the garlic and spices, and cook for about one minute more.  Add in the beet greens and beans, cooking just until the greens start to wilt.  Taste for salt and pepper and season to your liking.

On a lightly floured surface, unwrap the dough and cut into 8 equal pieces.  Working with one piece at a time (keep the others covered with a damp towel), form the dough into a smooth ball and roll out to about ¼ inch thickness, taking care not to tear the dough.  Place ¼  cup of the filling mixture a bit off-center on the dough circle.  Fold one side of dough over the top of the filling to just barely meet the other side.  Actually, it’s best to leave a small crescent shape when you fold the dough in half, since you want to have enough dough to work with when crimping up the edges.  Then, use your fingers to roll the bottom lip of the dough up and over the seam from the top half (this is where you make the crinkly edge), sealing the empanada shut.  Place finished empanada on the lined baking sheet and repeat this process with the rest of the dough.

Brush the tops of the empanadas with a bit of olive oil (optional) and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the bottoms begin to turn brown.

Poblano Cashew Crema
From Love and Lemons

1 ½ cups cashews, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes, then drained
1 medium to large poblano (sometimes called pasilla) pepper
¼ cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3-4 Tbsp lemon juice
¾ cup water
salt to taste (don’t hold back here!)

Roast the pepper under the broiler for about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so.  The pepper should be blistered when it’s done, so adjust your timing accordingly.  After removing from the oven, immediately place the pepper in a small bowl, cover with a dish towel, and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.  Once cool, peel the skin off the pepper, remove the seeds and stem, then place in your food processor with the other dry ingredients.  Add 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice and ½ cup of water.  Turn the machine on and allow to process for a minute or so, adding more water until the sauce is creamy (but not watery).  Once the sauce is smooth, taste to see if more salt or lemon juice is needed.

Store in the refrigerator for a few days and serve with everything.

You can do this.

For someone who grew up eating beans from a can (that was most of us, right?), cooking beans from scratch always seemed entirely unnecessary.  I mean, let’s be honest, canned beans taste perfectly fine and they are right there in your cupboard when you decide last minute to toss beans into a salad or make black bean tacos.  I get it, really I do.

But, I want to let you know that cooking beans from scratch requires much less effort and skill than you may think.  Do you know how to cover beans with water and let them sit on the counter for awhile?  Can you set a kitchen timer for 45 minutes?  Ok then, you got this.  

I know that planning ahead to soak the beans can feel like an inconvenience, but I promise that it doesn't need to be.  Cooked beans can be frozen for later use, so just make a big batch, freeze some in small containers, and you will have beans on hand for those times when you are in a hurry. 

Simple Black Beans




2 cups dried black beans
6 cups of water, plus more for soaking
1-2 Tbsp. salt (optional)

Place dried beans in a large bowl and cover completely with water, then leave to soak for about 8 hours (or overnight).

Drain and rinse the beans once you are ready to cook them (discard the soaking liquid).  Place beans in a heavy pot, add 6 cups of water and salt (I used about 1.5 Tbsp. kosher salt and they were pretty salty, so use discretion here).  Bring everything to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover and reduce heat to low.  Cook for about 45 minutes.

The cooking liquid can be used for soups, so I recommend saving it.  Refrigerate whatever you think you will use in the next four days and freeze the rest.

Now, wasn’t that easy?

Spring Rolls

Recipes for spring rolls are floating around the blog world right now, and I'd be lying if I said I was not inspired by them.  Actually, I don't think inspired quite covers it, considering I have eaten spring rolls at least once a day for the past four days.  Having never made spring rolls before, I assumed the process was going to be difficult and completely unsuitable for a weeknight (read: easy) meal.  Surely those delicate wrappers would rip the second I tried to work with them, right?  Nope, not even close.

Well, of course some care is needed in handling these little guys, but I would not go so far as to say any skill is required here.  And really, no recipe is required either.  The beauty of the spring roll is its endless adaptability.  Want to use up some leftover salad?  Perfect!  Don't have time or energy to bother with kitchen appliances?  I hear you.  Or, maybe fast forward a few months to fall/winter and all you want to do is turn on your oven: roast some veggies and wrap them in rice paper. 

The process is easy:

1. Soak the rice paper in a shallow dish (larger than your papers) filled with an inch of warm water for 15 seconds or so, then remove and lay it out on a flat surface.
2. Pile your chosen fillings in the center of the rice paper.
3. Drizzle with Sriracha (or other hot sauce) and a bit of dipping sauce.
4. Roll everything into a neat little bundle the same way you would wrap a burrito.
5. Slice in half, dip into sauce, and just try to stop yourself from making more tomorrow.

For more filling and dipping sauce ideas, go here.  I chose to make an almond butter sauce from My New Roots, and I highly suggest you try it if you (like me) usually use spring rolls as a means to consume massive amounts of peanut sauce.

Enjoy! 

Work in Progress

Welcome to my first round of writer’s block since starting the blog.  I mean, I feel pretty silly that it has taken me this long to get back here, especially considering all of the cooking I have been doing this week.  There have been waffles (a little soft, so I’ll get back to you on these after I give it another go this weekend), pita, falafel, chickpea cakes (seriously, try these), and countless dressings to top salads made from gorgeous late spring produce.  Exhibit A: rainbow carrots.

I also made some pesto that I have been hesitant to write about since I am not sure it turned out exactly how I envisioned.  But, if we're being honest, most nights in the kitchen do not result in culinary masterpieces.  I try recipes, swapping ingredients as I see fit, and hope for the best.  And you know, I think there is something to be said for being honest with yourself (and others) in admitting that perfection isn’t always the goal.  If I wanted to eat something I knew I would love the first time around, I would need to stop tampering with recipes-- and that's not going to happen anytime soon.  This pesto was good, but I can think of a few ways I might change it next time.  Something to look forward to, right?

In the past few days, this pesto has made an appearance on pizza, salmon burgers, and falafel salad (for this I added a bit more lemon juice and a scoop of tahini, which turned out delicious).  Let me know if you try it and come up with any great variations!

Parsley Cilantro Pesto
adapted from Adrienneats

This pesto is not a creamy as I remember other pesto sauces being, but this may be due to the water content in parsley/cilantro versus basil (this is purely speculative).  You might consider adding water or more oil (just a little bit at a time) until you reach the desired consistency.  

2 cups flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
⅓ cup almonds
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp. white miso
juice of 1-2 lemons (start with one and add more to taste)
2 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil (start with the 2 Tbsp and add more as needed)
salt and pepper to taste (do not add salt until you taste the pesto, as miso tends to be pretty salty on its own)

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth (this may take a minute or two).  Add more oil, lemon juice, and salt as needed.

Simple Joys

Anyone who has spent more than a couple of days with me knows that I love bananas.  As in I eat at least one and a half bananas most days of the week, and I am still not tired of them.  I even received this thoughtful gift from my lovely boyfriend a few anniversaries back (to the dismay of my coworkers who thought I was smuggling inappropriate items into the childcare center).

Another thing you might know about me is that I love ice cream and will eat it every day if the opportunity presents itself (which it usually does when a carton of Tillamook Mudslide is tucked away in the freezer).  As you can imagine, a daily ice cream habit does not exactly fit in with my no-refined-ingredients-packaged-food-free lifestyle, so I have been on a quest to find a happy balance.  

Friends, I have found the solution: banana ice cream. 

This one doesn’t even need a recipe since all you do is peel and freeze some ripe bananas, blend them in a food processor and serve.  Done.  Ok, I will add that I used three bananas and a few splashes (approximately 3-4 tablespoons) of almond milk to achieve a smooth consistency and it yielded about 1.5 cups of ice cream.  I tossed in some chopped strawberries at the end, but you could try peanut butter, chocolate chips, cocoa powder...you get the idea.

Happy (almost) summer.

Waste Not

I, like many of you, love a good deal.  Buy two get one free?  Sure.  One basket of strawberries for $4.00 or three baskets for $8.00?  Is that a serious question?

Deals are fabulous when you are feeding a family, or maybe even two people, but when all you have to worry about is feeding yourself, three baskets of anything can feel a bit excessive.  This really becomes a problem when the bulk product on hand is fresh-- in other words, perishable.  The last thing I want to do is save a few bucks on some gorgeous produce and then throw half of it out at the end of the week.  These are the issues that keep me up at night.  

This week my mission was to do something useful with the aforementioned three baskets of strawberries I just couldn’t pass up at the market.  Cake has often been my method of choice for using up a whole bunch of strawberries at once, and this time I chose to try a recipe from My New Roots.  I am always on the lookout for a solid cake base that uses no refined ingredients, and, let me tell you, this cake delivered.  

However, the cake is definitely not for those of you who expect intense sweetness from dessert.  In fact, I would argue that a piece of this cake would be just as welcomed at breakfast as it is at dessert (maybe just skip the ice cream...or don’t), so you make the call.  The original recipe includes a rhubarb-honey sauce to be served atop each piece of cake, but since I did not see rhubarb at the market this week (did I already miss the window?) I opted for a side of ice cream and a drizzle of maple syrup instead.  Any way you choose, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Strawberry Cake
via My New Roots

Just a quick note about the chia seeds, since I know that this is not an ingredient everyone has on hand: the chia seeds in this recipe function as a replacement for an egg, so please do not omit them unless you plan to use an egg instead!  If you would rather use an egg, just omit the seeds and use 3 tablespoons less milk, although I encourage you to experiment and try the chia seeds in baking.  As a rule of thumb, 1 tablespoon chia seeds + 3 tablespoons water (or, in this case, milk) = 1 egg.

1 ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup rolled oats, plus a sprinkle for the top of the cake
½ tsp. salt (I used kosher)
1 tsp. baking soda
zest of one lemon
1 heaping cup strawberries, chopped
½ cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
⅓ cup maple syrup (or honey)
3 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp. chia seeds

Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a cake pan (or small square baking dish) with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the milk, applesauce, oil, maple syrup, and chia seeds.  Set aside for about 10-15 minutes, giving the seeds time to form a gel with the liquid ingredients.

In a medium bowl, mix together all remaining ingredients, except for the strawberries.  Gently stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture until just combined.  Fold in the strawberries in as few strokes as possible.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle some rolled oats over the top, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan, then serve with a drizzle of maple syrup and ice cream.

Skillet Bread

The idea of this post is simple, so I want to keep this description short and sweet.  If you like bread, but sometimes hate the thought of turning on your oven and waiting one whole hour for your bread to be golden and delicious (and that’s if you’re making quick bread), this recipe is for you.  Get out your food processor, throw in five ingredients I guarantee are already in your cupboard (well, maybe not the white whole wheat flour, but keep reading to find out why it should be), form adorable little bread patties, and cook them in a skillet.  About 20 minutes later, sit down to fresh bread.  Done.

I do want to make a quick mention about the white whole wheat flour I chose to use in this recipe because I have tried a number of combinations and this one consistently yields the best results.  The original recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but I tend to go to great lengths to to avoid refined grains (which mostly means that I ruin a lot of perfectly wonderful recipes by substituting whole wheat flour for the all-purpose).  Having tried other combinations of whole wheat flours for this bread, I think I have finally settled on white whole wheat being the best option.  This flour produces a light, fluffy bread, whereas regular whole wheat yields a very dense bread that feels like work to consume.  So, what makes white whole wheat white?  Well, it’s simple really: the flour is made from white wheat berries. Regular whole wheat, on the other hand, is made from the red wheat berry and is much darker in color than white whole wheat.  Both flours, however, retain the outer bran layer of the wheat berry that is lost in the refining process of all-purpose flour.  The bran is where most of the nutrients and fiber of the wheat berry are found, so it’s such a shame when the bran stripped away through refining.  If you are wary of switching to whole wheat, I recommend starting with white whole wheat because its mild flavor makes it an easy substitution for all-purpose flour.

Olive Oil Salt Skillet Bread
adapted ever so slightly from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything
makes 6 2-inch rounds of bread, or 1 8x4 inch loaf

This recipe is halved from the original printed recipe, so it serves three people (perfect if you are cooking for one or two and want leftovers), but if you’re feeding a crowd then definitely double these amounts.  The bread is best right off the stove, but I tend to keep mine at least a couple of days loosely wrapped in wax paper.  Allow the pieces to cool completely before storing.

I am only going to give detailed instructions for the skillet method here, but if you feel like baking, turn on your oven to 375 and bake the bread for 25 minutes covered with foil, remove the foil and sprinkle with coarse salt, then continue baking (uncovered) for 20 minutes more.  
Lastly, even if you do not have a food processor, skillet bread is not out of reach!  The food processor definitely makes life easier, but the dry ingredients can easily be mixed in a bowl and the wet components mixed in.  You will need to turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured cutting board to knead for a minute or two, just until the dough forms a cohesive ball. 

1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
½ tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. coarse salt, plus more for sprinkling (I used kosher)
just over 2 ½ tbsp. olive oil, plus a bit more for the pan (the original recipe calls for ⅓ cup, so this is approximately half)
½ cup warm water

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, baking powder and salt.  With the machine running, slowly add olive oil through the feed tube.  Slowly pour in the water through the feed tube and mix until a ball forms.  The dough should be cohesive and only slightly sticky to the touch.  In other words, very easy to handle.  This is what mine looked like:

Separate the dough into 6 pieces, each about ½ inch tall, and sprinkle the tops with coarse salt.  Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan over medium heat (I used a non-stick pan so I did not need much oil, but use more if you are using cast iron or something similar).  When the pan is fairly warm, add a few of the dough rounds (salt-side up) without crowding the pan (I cooked mine in two batches).  After 5 minutes check each piece for browning and flip if needed (the recipe says 5 minutes, but mine took more like 8 ½ minutes on the first side).  The bottoms should be golden and the tops should be puffed up a bit.  Cook another 5 minutes or so on the other side, but be aware that this side will mostly likely cook a bit faster than the first.

Serve bread warm.