I had a case of the post happy hour blues. This is when you go to happy hour, but all the food is junky. You of course eat it anyway, since you are there to socialize. But afterwards you feel nasty. The best answer (if you are not so full that you think you will burst) is the post happy hour greens.
In this case, we had gone to Trulucks, a seafood joint in the UTC area. It was probably ok, but I'm a vegetarian. Even though I make a lot of exceptions, I also don't really like seafood, so there wasn't much of an incentive this time. I am also battling a cold, so I didn't feel like drinking. As an after thought, I probably should have stayed home, but I was so eager to hang out with my new neighbor-friends that I eagerly said yes! But all I ate was sweet potato fries (delicious), and a carrot cupcake (also good). Despite their tasty-ness, I felt incomplete. I needed the post happy hour greens.
Post Happy Hour Greens
The main thing is the cut up something green, season it, and cook it.
1 small head broccoli
4-6 leaves kale (I used dinosaur)
3 small purple potatoes
garlic flakes
nutritional yeast
havarti
white wine
soy sauce
butter
Cut the potatoes very thinly. They take a while to cook, but I was going to put all this in one pan. They had to be thin to cook faster than the broccoli. Chop the broccoli coarsely. Chop the kale. Sprinkle the garlic & nutritional yeast on top. Sprinkle some white wine and soy sauce. Grate half a block of cheese and chop a few small pats of butter. Mix it up, put it in the oven at 350. I baked dfor 20 minutes with foil and maybe 30 without. They were well done. I actually forgot about them after I took the foil off, but they turned out delicious. A minute longer and they would have been on the burned side.
Showing posts with label broccoli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label broccoli. Show all posts
17.3.10
Wednesday: Green for St. Patty's Day - pasta & bath
I spent a lonely St. Patrick's Day at home this year. While this is my second favorite holiday (after Halloween - both involve dressing up, one in costumes, the other in my favorite color), it was a strange week, and all my plans fell through, and I went home to relax by myself. I didn't really feel like cooking all that much, to be honest. But I didn't want to go out to eat, and I thought I could try to be a little festive by eating something green. On top of that, green is one of the most important food groups, and since I wasn't cooking a lot this week, I felt low in chlorophyll.
I decided to do a quasi-home-cooked meal. This is the kind of meal where most ingredients are packaged in some way, but you prepare it yourself. I don't prefer to eat this way, but I console myself by knowing that partially pre-packaged meals are still better than a totally packaged meal.
Green Pasta
1 package refrigerated butternut squash ravioli
1 half of 1 small bunch broccolini (flowering broccoli stalks; broccoli is fine, too)
1 large spoonful pesto
Boil the pasta according to package directions. In the mean time, chop the broccolini or broccoli. After paste is done, drain, and the put in a frying pan with some olive oil and the broccolini. Cook until broccolini is wilted and raviolis are browned. Add the pesto and stir until melted. Serve hot!
This dish is really easy, but it balances a pre-made pasta with a fresh ingredient and a homemade ingredient.
Green Bath
I also wanted to take a bath, but our custom concrete bathtub does come with the limitation of oil and salt causing discoloration. I wanted to do seomthing in celebration of St. Patty's... I decided to take a green bath!
1 large handful green tea in a hot bath
Survey says: Marshall wasn't home. I thought it was good, but not great. Although I have to admit that I made it again the next day without the broccolini and it was even better. I think the broccolini overpowered the pesto some, and would be good with a smaller amount of it.
Total Time: 15 minutes
Leftovers: Pasta only, a 2nd serving
I decided to do a quasi-home-cooked meal. This is the kind of meal where most ingredients are packaged in some way, but you prepare it yourself. I don't prefer to eat this way, but I console myself by knowing that partially pre-packaged meals are still better than a totally packaged meal.
Green Pasta
1 package refrigerated butternut squash ravioli
1 half of 1 small bunch broccolini (flowering broccoli stalks; broccoli is fine, too)
1 large spoonful pesto
Boil the pasta according to package directions. In the mean time, chop the broccolini or broccoli. After paste is done, drain, and the put in a frying pan with some olive oil and the broccolini. Cook until broccolini is wilted and raviolis are browned. Add the pesto and stir until melted. Serve hot!
This dish is really easy, but it balances a pre-made pasta with a fresh ingredient and a homemade ingredient.
Green Bath
I also wanted to take a bath, but our custom concrete bathtub does come with the limitation of oil and salt causing discoloration. I wanted to do seomthing in celebration of St. Patty's... I decided to take a green bath!
1 large handful green tea in a hot bath
Survey says: Marshall wasn't home. I thought it was good, but not great. Although I have to admit that I made it again the next day without the broccolini and it was even better. I think the broccolini overpowered the pesto some, and would be good with a smaller amount of it.
Total Time: 15 minutes
Leftovers: Pasta only, a 2nd serving
10.3.10
Wednesday: Easy Dinner of Soup and Side
Mid-week, and I am feeling tired. But yet I want something fresh for dinner, and don't want to go out. Soup is always easy, and you'd be amazed at how many vegetables can fit into a bowl of soup! Another trick is to combine something homemade with something store bought or already prepared. Tonight I used that trick twice! I had some Aisan-style dumplings, and they only needed 2-3 minutes to boil. That sounded good to me. I also had some pre-cut sweet potatoes.
Asian Dumpling Soup
1-2 carrots
2-4 mini bell peppers (1/2-1 regular bell pepper would work, too)
1 small handful broccolini (broccoli flowering stalks, but 1/4 head of broccoli would work, too)
1 small handful already shelled edamame beans
4-6 cups water (6 if you are using larger volume of vegetables)
6-12 small Asian-style dumplings (mine were stuffed with mung-bean noodles, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, and a lot of flavoring, but mostly soy sauce)
1 large spoonful miso paste (or 2-3 packets instant miso)
1 large spoonful tahini (sesame seed paste)
Chop the vegetables to your preferred size. Larger chunks are easier to cut, but slower to cook (and vice versa). Add to boiling water. Cook for a few minutes, until carrots are just turning soft. Add the dumplings, cook a couple more minutes. Remove from heat.
After you remove from heat, add the tahini and miso. If using paste, you may want to mix well in small bowl with 1/2 water before adding, to make sure it gets dissolved. Miso is "living" (it is fermented), so it is best to add it after the soup has stopped boiling, so it stays "alive."
Curried Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Curry used on anything besides curry in an instant way to fancify. I prove it here with curried sweet potatoes.
1 package pre-cut sweet potatoes (or 1 large sweet potato, cut into strips)
1 apple, sliced thinly
1-2 tablespoons curry powder
I used an apple slicer to slice the apples, and they were too thick. If you use an apple slicer, cut them in half after you use it, so they are closer in size to the sweet potatoes. Place sweet potatoes and apples on a cooking sheet, spray with oil, spread around, and spray again. You could also put them in a bowl and pour oil over them and mix them up; more oil would make them crispier. Once arranged on try, sprinkle with curry powder. Bake at 350-375 for 15-30 minutes (longer for crispier product).
Marshall says: "The soup needs more salt." "Woah! Are these apples?? I just dipped them in my ketchup!" I recommend warning guests that apples are mixed in with sweet potatoes so they don't make the same mistake. I thought the soup would have actually been better as a stir fry - all the same ingredients, but without the water and in a pan instead of a pot. With a little more oil of course.
Total Time: 45 minutes or so
Leftovers: Ate all the potatoes and apples; had 1 bowl of soup for lunch the next day.
Asian Dumpling Soup
1-2 carrots
2-4 mini bell peppers (1/2-1 regular bell pepper would work, too)
1 small handful broccolini (broccoli flowering stalks, but 1/4 head of broccoli would work, too)
1 small handful already shelled edamame beans
4-6 cups water (6 if you are using larger volume of vegetables)
6-12 small Asian-style dumplings (mine were stuffed with mung-bean noodles, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, and a lot of flavoring, but mostly soy sauce)
1 large spoonful miso paste (or 2-3 packets instant miso)
1 large spoonful tahini (sesame seed paste)
Chop the vegetables to your preferred size. Larger chunks are easier to cut, but slower to cook (and vice versa). Add to boiling water. Cook for a few minutes, until carrots are just turning soft. Add the dumplings, cook a couple more minutes. Remove from heat.
After you remove from heat, add the tahini and miso. If using paste, you may want to mix well in small bowl with 1/2 water before adding, to make sure it gets dissolved. Miso is "living" (it is fermented), so it is best to add it after the soup has stopped boiling, so it stays "alive."
Curried Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Curry used on anything besides curry in an instant way to fancify. I prove it here with curried sweet potatoes.
1 package pre-cut sweet potatoes (or 1 large sweet potato, cut into strips)
1 apple, sliced thinly
1-2 tablespoons curry powder
I used an apple slicer to slice the apples, and they were too thick. If you use an apple slicer, cut them in half after you use it, so they are closer in size to the sweet potatoes. Place sweet potatoes and apples on a cooking sheet, spray with oil, spread around, and spray again. You could also put them in a bowl and pour oil over them and mix them up; more oil would make them crispier. Once arranged on try, sprinkle with curry powder. Bake at 350-375 for 15-30 minutes (longer for crispier product).
Marshall says: "The soup needs more salt." "Woah! Are these apples?? I just dipped them in my ketchup!" I recommend warning guests that apples are mixed in with sweet potatoes so they don't make the same mistake. I thought the soup would have actually been better as a stir fry - all the same ingredients, but without the water and in a pan instead of a pot. With a little more oil of course.
Total Time: 45 minutes or so
Leftovers: Ate all the potatoes and apples; had 1 bowl of soup for lunch the next day.
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