plums in the icebox

kale and apple saute

More kale! I've been on a kale kick lately, and for good reason. The stuff is so darn versatile: I've put it in smoothies, salads, and frittatas, all in the last few days. Plus, it's as healthy as an ingredient as you could ever possibly want. Green goodness forever. 

Here's how I cooked my kale the other day: sauteéd with apples. SO GOOD. This little dinner is definitely one of my new favorite "alone" meals: easy, healthy, fast foods I can make while R is at class. As much as I like cooking for my boyfriend, I also like to take his class nights as opportunities to cook food that he wouldn't eat. R doesn't have a problem with apples or kale per se, but he feels very strongly that fruit should not be a dinner food (see also: my Shrimp and Starfruit Stir-Fry, which he respectfully declined). So, I made this for myself, served it over quinoa, and had enough left over for lunch the next day.

Kale and Apple Sauté

serves 2-3

total time: 10 minutes

total hands-on time: 10 minutes

What you'll need:

2ish tbsps virgin coconut oil

4-6 individual kale leaves, deribbed and torn

1 or 2 apples, sliced (mine were small so I used 2. Also, I wanted there to be a lot of apples)

1/4 cup sliced or silvered almonds

sprinkle of lemon juice

fresh garlic to your taste

optional: crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese

What you'll do:

1. Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan. Place in apples and sauté until heated through.

2. Add in garlic and kale, sauté until kale is wilted. Sprinkle with lemon juice and stir to coat.

3. Add almonds and remove from heat.

4. Top with goat cheese, salt and pepper. 

I think what makes this recipe really good is the coconut oil. I've been making a conscious effort to cook with it more often; it shows up often in my baking, but I was wary of having a coconut taste in savory dishes. Actually, though, I find that the coconut flavor is so slight you can barely taste it, although it does impart some kind of lightly refreshing taste I can't quite put my finger on. Whatever it is, it's something that tastes just right to me after years and years of sautéing only in olive oil. 

As I mentioned, I ate this over quinoa but I think it would be great by itself, or as a side dish. The goat cheese (which I went HEAVY on, as you can see) is optional, but unless you're vegan, opt for it! Why would you EVER opt out of goat cheese? 

 

eating in ABQ: a tiny trip recap

It basically goes without saying that I was overjoyed to be in Albuquerque earlier this month. It's no secret how much I love and miss New Mexico, especially if you follow me on Twitter, where I endlessly wax poetic about desert skies and small towns where little old dogs can roam free (Sorry, Twitter followers; I know I'm kind of ridiculous. New readers: I lived in Las Cruces, NM for three years and I loved it. I now live in Northern Virginia where my boyfriend is getting a PhD. I don't love it.) The mountains, the sun, the dry air, the relaxed vibe...and of course, the green chile. I didn't get to eat quite as much as I wanted to, but just being able to eat real chile in the land of real chile was pretty damn satisfying.

Culinary highlights via my iPhone:

Whataburger! My favorite fast-food burger ever. My #7 with cheese no onions was just as good as I remembered it.

New Mexican food. Damn, how I miss New Mexican food. These Christmas (red and green smothered) chicken enchiladas at Sadie's were my life's purpose for a good 20 minutes.

I also met my good friend Stephanie Smith (who now lives in Kansas City!) at ABQ institution The Frontier for lunch. Basically, you shouldn't be able to leave ABQ without eating there.

There was a cute little famer's market directly outside our downtown hotel. While R finished up some work one morning, I wandered out there and treated myself to a berry hand pie and jasmine iced tea for breakfast.

I was very emotional our whole trip; one morning, we stepped outside of our hotel, smelled chile roasting in the air, and I burst into tears. Yup. I'm planning my next trip back as I type.

Me too, Rav4 owner. Me too.

kale, mushroom and potato hash with eggs poached in tomato sauce

Kale, mushroom and potato hash with eggs poached in tomato sauce. That's a mouthful, you guys. Literally, it's a mouthful! And it's also the longest, most convoluted recipe title I've ever written. HAHA. Something about food blogging just lends itself to really corny puns, doesn't it?

Anyway. This recipe is basically a combination of this one and this one, with a couple tweaks, like adding basil and subtracting onions. I made it for dinner last night, and it was absolutely, completely delicious. So much so that I was surprised. After all, it's only a few veggies sauteed together and topped with eggs in red sauce. Simple, really. But SO GOOD. Healthy and hearty.

I made the tomato sauce two days ago, the first batch I ever made from fresh tomatoes rather than canned (also one of the goals on my 26 before 27 list, if you'll remember!). I was happy to find another way to use up the bit I had leftover in the fridge.

Kale, Mushroom And Potato Hash With Eggs Poached In Tomato Sauce

adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Tastespotting

serves 4 (with leftovers)

total time: about 40 minutes

total hands on time: maybe 30 minutes

What you'll need:

2 potatoes, diced (I used one baking potato and one russet, because that's what I randomly had)

1-2 tbsps garlic

1/2 bunch of kale, deribbed and chopped into bite-size pieces

2 cups mushrooms

olive oil

salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

sprinkle of broth

1/4 cup of fresh basil, chopped or chiffonaded

for the eggs:

4 eggs

1 cup to 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce

What you'll do:

1. Dice the potatoes and cook them in salted boiling water for 10 minutes.

2. When there's about three minutes left for the potatoes, heat oil and garlic in a cast iron pan or large frying pan. When the potatoes are done, drain and transfer to the pan and cook until they turn crispy and brown (mine never turned crispy per se, but that's allright).

3. Add kale, mushrooms and more oil. Cook until kale and mushrooms cook down, about 10 minutes. If the mixture seems too dry, as mine did, sprinkle in just a bit of broth to loosen things up. Liberally sprinkle with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and other spices of your choosing.

4. Turn down heat on hash mixture to low and mix basil in.

5. In a small frying pan, heat tomato sauce on high. Once it's bubbling, crack 4 eggs into it.

6. Turn heat to medium, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes. Then remove the eggs from heat and let them sit for about a minute.

7. Spoon hash mixture onto plates and top with eggs in tomato sauce.  

 

guest post: autumn from autumn makes and does on shisito peppers!

I'm currently in Albuquerque, filling my belly with green chile. While I'm gone, I asked a few of my favorite food bloggers to guest post for me. Today we're hearing from the lovely Autumn of Autumn Makes And Does, who previously shared her no-fail fudge recipe (she also does the awesome Alphabet Soup podcast!). Autumn is sharing her favorite local summer food, shisito peppers (which sadly, I have never tried!):

I adore vegetables, but most of my favorite treats fall squarely in the sweet category. In my ideal life I eat sky-high chocolate cake every day. So for a vegetable to make it anywhere near treat status, it really has to be something special. Shishito peppers are one of the few green things to make the cut.  When Carrie asked me to share a guest post about a favorite local summer food, I knew I had to spread the gospel of shishitos.

Shishito peppers are a small, mild (well, mostly mild) Japanese pepper. Their name is derived from the fact that the very tip of the pepper resembles the head of a lion. Pretty adorable, huh? They’re the Japanese relative of the Spanish padrón pepper and like padróns they’re a mild pepper, but about every tenth pepper can be quite spicy. These peppers have personality. 

Even though shishitos are Japanese, I think of them as a local food because I wait patiently for them to appear at my local farmer’s market when it really starts to feel like summer. I’ve noticed more vendors carrying them this year and have also heard of folks finding them at Asian markets. If you can’t find shishitos, padróns are a comparable substitute (Although, in my experience, the hottest padróns are quite a bit hotter than the hottest shishitos). Both definitely fall in the splurge category price-wise, but they’re ideal hot weather food. 

Preparing them couldn’t be simpler. I wash and dry them completely (the drying is actually important here because extra water means they’ll steam instead of sear). In my cast iron skillet I put a two-second pour of olive oil and get it smoking hot. Next, I throw in the shishitos and give them a toss to get them coated in oil. Once they’re coated, I leave them alone for about half a minute. Not stirring them constantly lets them develop delicious blackened spots. If you’re a meat eater, think of it like getting a nice sear on a piece of meat. Next, I give them another toss and let them sear for another thirty seconds or so. I continue this process until all the peppers are blackened in spots and visibly softened. In my super-hot cast iron, this takes just 2-3 minutes. (I’m a grill-less city dweller, but I’ve heard they’re great grilled too.)

Finally, I remove them to a paper towel and sprinkle them with kosher salt. That’s it. You eat the whole pepper, seeds and all, except for the stem. They’re surprisingly addictive and the perfect starter for an “it’s too hot to cook” dinner. 

 

guest post: marissa from the boot's italian market

I'm currently in Albuquerque, filling my belly with green chile. While i'm gone, I asked a few of my favorite food bloggers to guest post for me. First up is Marissa from The Boot! Marissa is an American expat living in Barletta, Italy, and she's sharing some pictures and words about her local market:

The Saturday morning market in Barletta is something that you have to experience to understand. Not unlike the sprawling markets of Istanbul, the barlettani flock to the Saturday market to walk miles and miles amongst the throngs of people and stalls. If you get there early, like I always try to do, you can miss the traffic around the cheapest stalls where the freshest veggies come still warm from the earth, covered in dirt and cost mere pocket change for a kilo.

At the market, you’ll find the hardest working people in town - farmers and their families - yelling out to the old ladies (the toughest crowd) how great their carrots, fennel, artichokes and cherries are. Some markets sell fruit and vegetables, but at the Saturday market you can find whatever it is you’re looking for. Kitchen appliances, clothes, makeup, jewelry, shoes, plants, artwork, furniture, bread, fish, meat, cheese, and not to mention all the fruits and vegetables you could ever need.

 It’s hard to leave once you’re there; everything looks so appealing. And maybe it’s the sly farmers who make everything sound so good, so cheap, or maybe it’s the general good cheer that surrounds the market, whatever it is, you can never leave empty handed.

A huge grazie mille to Carrie for having me today, and if you're ever in need of more Italian stories and recipes from my kitchen, please stop by the boot sometime! 

embarrassing eats

Let's talk about eating gross, weird stuff. When I was younger, I would eat hot chocolate mix (from a packet) mixed with Cool Whip. I loved chocolate mousse, so this was like my pseudo-mousse, I guess, even though it was a light brown blob of pure sugar. My mom thought it was disgusting, but I ate it allllll the time. These days I don't eat anything all that gross, although I do shovel all the little broken up bits of tortilla chips at the bottom of the bag into my mouth. By bringing the bag to my mouth. TMI? So unladylike, as my dad would say.

One of my colleaugues over at Blisstree recently did a post where women shared the weird stuff they eat when they're alone, like pickles rolled in swiss cheese. I don't eat any weirder when I'm alone than when other people are around, but I do tend to just eat thrown-together, simple meals, like this one. 

So, what are your embarrassing eats? Don't worry, this is a safe space. Let me hear about the mayo you slather on chocolate chip cookies, or whatever it may be.

Oh and ps, I didn't eat the above splooshed tomato. I just needed a picture for this post and thought it worked...sort of?