spicy winter vegetable stew with turmeric basil quinoa

yesterday was the gloomiest day that Austin has seen since I've moved here, except for maybe today which is shaping up to be just as cold, wet and gray. Unfortunately, all the cold weather is turning my waist line into a waist round. This is a great warm, comforting winter dinner, it's flavorful and extremely filling, and the greatest part is that one large serving of quinoa and stew is only about 350 calories.  So let's get to it!
I always make just one serving of quinoa and about 4-6 servings of veggies so that I can freeze the stew and heat it up later in the month :)

For 2 Servings of Quinoa:
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water, vegetable stock or chicken stock (low sodium)
a dash of turmeric
a dash of salt and pepper

For approx 4 servings of Stew:
between 1/2 lb-3/4 lb of butternut squash, medium diced (that's half of a smallish medium squash)
1 zuchinni, medium diced
2 large carrots or 3 small carrots, medium diced
1-2 large handful's of spinach leaves
1 14 oz box of diced tomatoes (I use the box not the can just because I've heard that the acid in the tomatoes reacts with the aluminum can and I try to avoid putting that weird acid aluminum erosion into my body)
1-2 cups of water as needed
1/2 yellow onion, medium diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 t olive oil (the only fat added to the dish..not too shabby!)
for the spices my measurements are approximate as I adjust them to taste as the stew cooks, you may like more or less spice than I do.
1 T cumin
1 T sweet hungarian paprika
1 T salt
1/2 T cayenne pepps
2 t chili powder
2 t ground coriander
1 t ground ginger
1 t turmeric
a few grinds of cracked black pepps
a few leaves of fresh herbs for mixing in and garnishing, you can use any cool toned sweet-ish herbs that you like, so this would include, cilantro, flat or curley parsley, mint, basil (i use basil and mint, cilantro and I are NOT amigos unless it's in the form of ground coriander)

Get 'Er Done:
bring the quinoa, tumeric and liquid to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered about 15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and the little spiral germ has come out from the grain and it's soft and fluffy.

Add the teaspoon of olive oil to a medium sauce pot over medium heat, add the onion and garlic and saute until soft, about 5 mins.

Add in the dry spices (not the salt or fresh herbs though). You should be hit with a really spicy, warm aroma and the onions and garlic will turn a nice orange yellow hue. (they should actually be more red than the picture but we all know what my camera can do to colors and whatnot)

Let the spices and onions marry together for a few minutes and then add in the diced squash and carrots and stir to get them coated in the spices.

Add the salt, tomatoes and enough water to cover the vegetables and an inch above them.  It seems like a lot of liquid but it will cook out and the veggies will draw some of it in.

(Your quinoa is probably finished by now, turn off the heat, stir in some chiffonades of basil and let it sit until we're ready)

Bring the stew to a boil, covered on high heat, reduce to medium and let cook for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are ALMOST to the consistency you want them (I like mine soft but with a bite, not mushy)

Once you're at the point where a piece of squash can be cut with a fork, add in the zucchini, stir and cook uncovered (so that some liquid can cook out) for about 15 minutes or until the veggies are at the right consistency.

Add in 2 handfuls of spinach and mix--the heat will wilt it within 1 minute. 

Taste the stew and adjust the seasonings and spices as necessary. 

Now, this is my trick for the quinoa that looks really pretty but also gives me the illusion that I'm eating way more quinoa than I am (think waist line, not waist round).

Form the quinoa around the edge of your bowl, leaving a big whole in the center of the bowl.

Scoop 1.5-2 cups of the stew into the center well. Garnish with the fresh basil and mint (or whatever herbs you used)

Another alternative to freezing any leftovers you might have is putting the stew into a blender or food processor until it's more of a ragu type mixture and adding some more tomatoes or tomato sauce and roasted garlic and using it as a pasta sauce or a hearty ragu to serve along side lamb or beef or to serve over grilled polenta rounds. 

Happy Healthy Eating!!!

sirloin and bean chili with corn bread and smoked cheddar

Upon returning to a normally drought and heat stricken central Texas I was hit in the face by 50 degree wind gusts. CHILI TIME!!!  

even though everyone knows that i'm always ecstatic about what i call "chili weather", i've never actually made chili before. and recipe schmecipe. so this evening was a great american staple adventure.

staple like quintessential dish, not like i went on an adventure for office supplies. (although, i do love supplies so if you know of any nifty useless supply websites, get at me)

There was a lot that went into this chili, not in the actual cooking but in terms of getting to the chili action. the grocery store trip was exhausting. I stood in front of the $12 sea salts for 10 minutes until I realized I do not have $12 to spend on salt (for the record: i went with slice and bake cookies, instead of a posh sea salt confection) Then, because I wanted to use really good cheese to garnish my chili, I stood in front of the "british isles/cheddar" section smelling every single cheese at least three times over.

there is a lot that I wanted for this chili. A lot that couldn't happen, sadly. I wanted to use dried rather than canned beans, but since I didn't know I would be making chili until an hour before dinner, I couldn't use dried beans. Also, I originally intended to make a turkey white bean chili, but there was no ground turkey at the store and so I took that as a friendly nudge in the direction of big meat, ground sirloin, to be precise. 

once the glorious grocery store madness ended, it was chili improv time:

1/2 T butter, 1/2 T olive oil

1-3 lbs ground sirloin 

1 12 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 12 oz can fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles

1-3 cups chicken stock

1 can black beans, no salt added; drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, no salt added; drained and rinsed

1/2 white or yellow onion, diced

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, diced

approx 1 T cumin (or to taste)

approx 1/2 T chile powder (or to taste)

approx 1 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1 T dried oregano

approx 2 T salt (or to taste)

avocado slices for garnish

sharp yellow cheddar and/or smoked cheddar for garnish (and for melty cheesey gooodness)

a slice of cornbread or a pepperjack corn muffin if you are me and you are lucky enough to come across that in the store!!!!!! ( i wanted to make my own cornbread, i really did, but as i mentioned earlier, grocery stores are distracting and exciting for me and i don't always meet all my goals)

How It Alllll Goessss Down:

1. melt the olive oil and butter together in a heavy soup pot. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Saute until translucent but not brown.

2. Add the spices and stir to combine. and to make great aromas happen

3. Add the sirloin and cook over medium heat until fully brown.

4. Pour in both cans of tomatoes, crushing and mixing with a wooden spoon. Add enough chicken stock to just cover the meat and loosen up the chili, but not enough to make it brothy. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for at least 20 minutes (45 minutes or an hour will only make it taste better).

 5. After simmering for as long as your impatient taste buds can handle, add the beans, stir and taste. Adjust the seasonings and spices as necessary!

Put a slice of cornbread or a corn bread muffin into a bowl. Ladle the chili on top, garnish with both shredded (or oddly minced if you don't have a grater like me) smoked cheddar and sharp aged yellow cheddar, avocado slices and sliced scallions. 

This is what it looked like after I mushed around all the garnishes and the corn muffin :) it was a deliciously sweet, corny, meaty, spicy, smokey, cheesy bucket of YUM. except it was a bowl, i WISH it had been a bucket.

it's officially been 2 days since i've made this chili and i wanted to add that i've eaten it for breakfast yesterday and today. it's delicious, plentiful and only gets better as it sits :) 

pumpkin ravioli with pecans and sage brown butter

My heart beats for this type of dish. 

I want to make a list about this dish. Here it is:

1. I used pumpkin ravioli and butternut squash ravioli but I should have left out the butternut squash, it wasn't nearly as delicious and plump and flavorful as the pumpkin. 
2. I know that it doesn't look so beautiful because the two different raviolis don't match etc. The taste makes up for what the aesthetics lack. 
3. Pumpkin ravioli is widely available this time of year at your normal grocery store, if not, you can definitely find it at a specialty store like whole foods, balducci's etc. Or just buy a pasta roller and make it yourself if you're feeling motivated. 

The Shtuff:

pumpkin ravioli (approx 5 per person if you're normal, 9 if you're me)

2 T room temp butter

1 handful of pecan halves

a little less than 1/4 cup chiffonade-ed sage leaves, loosely packed (loosely packed means you're not packing it into the measuring cup)

salt

VAMANOSSSSSSS! : (i'm going to do this in list-ish form because list's are a good thing)

1. boil a large pot of water, LARGE, the ravioli request that you please don't crowd them in the jacquzzi. 
2. kind of chiffonade up some sage, just chop it relatively thinly and so it's not totally busted looking. Always remember to respect your food. Respect the sage, bro.

     3. Once the water is boiling, SALT it. See my Mountain Salty McSalterstein as an example:

        4. Heat a medium saute pan over medium high heat, add the ravioli to the water-it takes about 4 minutes    cook depending on the size. Once your pan is HOT HOT HOT Add the butter to the saute pan, it should kind of sizzle and immediately start to brown. Add the sage in and let it fry up for a minute. Drain the pasta.

Notice the butter is brown-ish looking, this is the key. Don't burn it! just get the pan hot enough so it immediately turns the butter a caramel color, not a mucky brown. You'll know by the smell :) 

     5. add the pecans to the sage butter, toast 2 minutes. 

       6.  Toss the pasta in the saute pan, add a small pinch of salt, garnish with a few sage ribbons. 

 and it's party rocker time!

Now for a quick photo montage of my pasta..

Enjoy with a nice mug of spiced whiskey cider :)  

(my mug is half full  because I sipped as I cooked)

how to snag a date.

This is a food blog, so why am I beginning by offering dating advice? Well. This mac and cheese is guaranteed to get you a date with whomever you make it for-after all, nothing says true love like a creamy, spicy, cheesy casserole.

a side note: I plan to take step by step pictures for the rest of my recipes but when I made this last night I didn't plan to start keeping a blog so all we have is a picture of the final product in my bowl. Don't panic though, its pretty hard to make cheese, butter, pasta and buffalo sauce taste bad.

What You'll Need:
1 lb of medium size pasta shells (medium is important, the small ones don't soak up enough of the saucy cheesy goodness)
2 1/2 cups of half and half
4 cups medium grated sharp cheddar (don't get reduced fat, this isn't the time to count your calories, trust me)
2 cups of medium grated jack cheese or mozzarella 
3 cups of shredded chicken (rotisserie, breasts, left over thighs-whatever you have on hand or is cheapest at the store is fine!)
1 T of flour
12 T or 1.5 sticks of unsalted butter
as much buffalo wing sauce as you desire, i use about 1/3-1/2 of a cup total 
1/3 cup sour cream (okay, here you can actually use the light version if you really care that much. and if you do decide to use light sour cream then congratulations, instead of making a 1,000,000 calorie dish you're now making a 999,980 calorie dish. Was that right? I can't do math which is why I cook.) oh also, if you don't have sour cream you can use 1/4 a cup of cream cheese instead.
1/2 of a small yellow or white onion, diced
2-4 garlic cloves, minced, depending on your relationship with garlic use more or less. i use 5-its a serious relationship.
1 cup of panko bread crumbs, you can use regular breadcrumbs but, true fact, panko are the breadcrumbs of Mt Olympus.

The Run Down:
preheat the oven to 350, oh and make sure you have some kind of casserole dish or cake pan that will work. There have been times that I've sent myself into a deep depression after making the whole recipe only to realize all i have in the house are cookie sheets. (for the record, I found a way-stainless steel bowls anyone?)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a handful of salt (yes, a handful-whenever you're making pasta).
Add the shells, stir once right away and then every couple minutes give it a stir until its just short of al dente, about 7-8 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, add 2 T of butter to a saute pan over medium heat. Saute the onions until translucent, add the garlic and chicken, stir to incorporate and let them get to know each other for about a minute or two before adding some buffalo sauce magic. (about 1/4 of a cup...or more if you're feelin spicy). Let those flavors hang out for a few until thickened slightly and then take the pan off the heat and set to the side.

Your pasta is probably ready to be drained and you can let it sit in the collander for this next part, or you can choose to make the pasta once all of these steps are finished-whichever you prefer.

Melt 1 T of butter in a sauce pan (with talllll sides), once melted add the flour and mix with a whisk or spoon until there are no lumps in the roux mixture (culinary talk for flour+butter). Whisk in the half and half and let thicken slightly, about four minutes before adding about 1/4 of a cup more buffalo sauce. Whisk in 3 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese and all of the jack cheese slowly so that no clumps form. Whisk frequently until all of the cheese has melted--you'll know when it looks right because you will think, "wow this looks like cheese sauce heaven". At this point you can add in the sour cream. Pour in the pasta and mix it all up!

Spray you're baking dish with some non stick spray and pour in half of the mac and cheese. Cover the top of this layer with the chicken and buffalo sauce mixture and then top with the second half of the mac and cheese.
Melt about 2 T of butter in the microwave, once melted combine the butter and the panko and cover the entire top of the dish. Then, if you like to party, add the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese on top.
Bake for 20-40 minutes (I bake it as long as I can stand to wait before eating it) and then devour.