Wheat berry and steel-cut oatmeal

**This is not a gluten-free recipe and was posted before I eliminated gluten from my diet.**

I love breakfast, and sometimes it's the only reason that I'm able to get out of bed in the morning. But I don't like your traditional bacon/sausage, eggs, etc. breakfast (it's great at other times of the day, but it's too heavy for me to eat in the morning). For years I ate All-Bran Yogurt Bites cereal almost every day and loved it like nothing else. But, last summer when I decided to avoid all packaged foods and preservatives, this had to go. I had a box left and decided to finish it off while I did my research to come up with good breakfast alternatives. I didn't come up with good alternatives... I came up with great ones.

I started making muesli with oats (rolled, in my first few batches) and anything I felt like throwing in (such as cinnamon, raisins or other dried fruits, seeds, nuts, wheat germ, and flax meal). I ate it just like cereal. At the beginning I would let it sit in milk for 5 min or so to soften, but I got to the point where I liked eating it immediately. That was good, but the magic didn't start until I started using steel-cut oats, and I immediately fell in love. These things have an insanely better flavor than their more processed relatives (in fact, if I didn't already know, I would swear that they weren't the same grain). They'll really give your jaw a workout, but the nutty, sweet flavor is like nothing else. They also keep you amazingly full. The great thing about muesli is that I can make up a batch to take on trips to make hotel breakfasts tolerable. And it's so filling that a quart-sized bag of it lasts for about a week.

Well, last week I had a full bag of SC oats and right before I was about to put it in my muesli container (yes, I now have a container dedicated to it), I decided to cook it. I got so addicted to the raw oats that I never bothered cooking them. Plus, they take about 25 min, and I usually can't wait that long for breakfast. But, after all of the hullabaloo on blogs in the last few weeks about Mark Bittman's SC oats with soy sauce and scallions, I was inspired to use the "quick" method. So I soaked them overnight and then they only took about 10 min of cooking in the morning (plus, they were already measured out in the pan). They're really good. Even better with a dash of half-and-half :). This week I couldn't decide whether to make more or to cook wheat berries and see how they work as cereal. I'm horrible at making decisions, so I decided to combine the two.

Wheat berry and steel-cut oatmeal

Wheat berries

1 cup wheat berries (picked through and rinsed)

3 1/2 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

SC Oats

1 cup steel-cut oats

4 cups water (use 3 if you're not adding wheat berries)

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp half-and-half (or milk)

To cook the wheat berries, combine everything in a pot, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. They never get completely tender, but have more of an al dente texture (one of the things I love about them!). Then drain and store in the refrigerator until you're ready to use them.

To cook the oats, combine oats and water in a pot, cover, and let sit overnight. In the morning, bring to a boil and let simmer until it's fully cooked (about 10 min). Add the cinnamon, raisins, salt, and wheat berries, and stir well. Serve with half-and-half, if desired. Honey would be another good addition, but the whole grains bring their own sweetness, so I don't think it's necessary. Serves 6.

It's good. Very good. I'm still curious to try the wheat berries on their own, but I'm sure I'll get to it. It's been weird to deviate from my normal muesli routine, but it's been a very fun (and delicious!) journey.

Chicken Cacciatore

The chicken finally thawed! I usually get packages of 2 breasts from Otto's, so I drastically underestimated the time that it would take for one of their whole-chicken packages to thaw. Alas, I was patient, and now you can look forward to several chicken recipes in the next few days!

Chicken Cacciatore (adapted from Ellie Krieger's "The Food You Crave")

1 tsp olive oil

2 bone-in chicken breasts, skin removed

salt and pepper

1 onion, sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

4 oz. mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in deep skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and brown on both sides (will take 6-8 min). Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and add onions and bell pepper to pan. Cover and cook until they begin to get tender (about 5 min). Add mushrooms and cook uncovered until they brown (about 5 min). Add garlic and cook for 30 sec, and then add wine and let reduce for about 5 min. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper, cover, and simmer for 10 min. Finally, add chicken back to pan, cover, and let cook for 20 min or until juices run clear (turning once about half-way through cooking time). Serves 4.

This was really good... better than I expected, actually, and that's saying a lot. I loved the taste of this chicken. Otto's chicken always has great flavor, but this was incredible. It wasn't overpowered by the sauce, but complimented it perfectly. I don't normally cook bone-in chicken, and perhaps that made all the difference. Next time I might make more sauce because it was incredibly tasty, too. Ellie was right about this one, because I'll definitely be craving more of it.

Spinach with brown butter and pecans

It's no secret that I love spinach. I love it raw, I love it cooked, and I would love it any other way it could exist. So, here's another simple spinach recipe that I love.

Spinach with Brown Butter and Pecans (adapted from "Vegetables Every Day" by Jack Bishop)

1 lb spinach leaves

2 Tbsp pecans, chopped

1.5 Tbsp butter

Bring large pot of water to a boil, add spinach (be sure to get it all submerged in the water), and cook until spinach just wilts (about 2 min). Drain spinach and set aside. Toast pecans in dry skillet over medium heat until they get fragrant (about 5 min). Remove pecans from skillet, reduce heat to medium-low, and add butter. Continue to cook butter until it turns brown (about 4 min). Then add spinach and pecans to skillet, stir well, and cook for a minute until spinach is warm. Serves 3.

It's light, fast, and goes well with Italian-themed dishes. Next time I would probably use more nuts for a bit more crunch, and I may try other nuts just to mix it up (the original recipe called for walnuts).

Bread revisited

**This is not a gluten-free recipe and was posted before I eliminated gluten from my diet.**

When I started making bread I intended to try out a bunch of different recipes, but I fell in love with the first one I tried and I haven't been able to try anything else. I vary it slightly, but mostly stick to the same recipe. It's somewhat hard to make a 100% whole wheat bread that rises correctly in a bread machine, so you might as well stick with what works, right?

I should note that this works fabulously in my Zojirushi S15, but doesn't rise nearly as well in Dad's cheap machine (I can't remember what brand he has). If someone is giving away a Zojirushi (which is a very lucky situation that I fell into), take them up on it without hesitation. I think there are cheaper machines that do a good job with whole wheat breads, but I don't have enough experience to give out advice. No matter what machine you use, it will taste great... but if you want a light and fluffy bread, you'll have to acquire a good machine.

100% Whole Wheat Bread (adapted from King Arthur Flour) - for 1 1/2 pound machine

1 1/4 cups lukewarm water

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp honey (or agave nectar)

3 cups whole white wheat flour

1 Tbsp wheat gluten

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Add all ingredients except walnuts (in this order, or according to your machine's manual) to the pan. Cook on raisin cycle (or the cycle that beeps for adding nuts and fruits). When it beeps, add the walnuts. During the last few minutes of kneading, check on it to see if you need to add more water or flour (the dough should be tacky, but not so sticky that it won't let go of the sides of the pan during kneading). The flour:water ratio will change depending on the humidity that day, so it's a good idea to get in the habit of checking every time you make bread.

I've also used other nuts (pecans or almonds), seeds (sesame or flax), or dried fruits (raisins) in place of the walnuts, and it's always good. My favorite is the walnuts, though. Either way, be prepared to be extremely happy because there's nothing better than the smell of baking bread.

I have every intention of making another loaf by hand, but it's hard to find a day when I'll be home long enough to let it rise. Until then, I'm still enjoying this kind...

Update: I suppose I should tell you how to store this bread. After it's completely cool, I slice it and put the whole thing in the freezer (unless I want to eat some immediately). I've found that it's just as good out of the freezer as it is right after it's cooked (and much better than if it sits out... even if only for a night). Then if I want some immediately, I throw a frozen slice in the toaster. If I want to pack some for lunch, I take it out of the freezer in the morning and it's thawed and ready to eat in about an hour. I've kept some frozen for as long as a month (while I was doing a lot of traveling), and it was still great.

Eggs Diablo on Polenta

I intended to make chicken tonight, but when I went into the kitchen to start dinner, the chicken was still completely frozen. I decided it could wait until tomorrow and I would try something different. It's kind of fun to find a recipe at the last minute that you can make with ingredients that you have on hand. It could be a stressful task, but luckily I keep my pantry stocked. I've been meaning to make polenta for a while, so when I came across a recipe, I figured it would be a good time to try it out.

Eggs Diablo on Polenta (adapted from Karina's Kitchen)

Eggs Diablo

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1/2 can diced tomatoes

1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles

1 tsp Italian herb blend

2 eggs

Polenta

1 1/2 cups chicken or veggie broth

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

To get the diablo sauce started, heat oil over medium heat in pan. Cook onion in oil until it's tender. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook for 1 min. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chiles, and herbs and let simmer on medium-low while you prepare the polenta. When the polenta is almost done, crack the eggs into the sauce, cover, and let the eggs poach until they are cooked through (about 6 min).

In a separate pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil and slowly add the cornmeal, whisking continuously. Continue to whisk constantly until the polenta starts to pull away from the sides and the bottom of the pot. The coarseness of the cornmeal will determine how long it takes - I used medium-grind stone-ground cornmeal and it took about 20 min. When it's done, whisk in salt and cheese. Serve the eggs and sauce on top of the polenta. Serves 2.

This was super tasty. I love polenta, eggs, and tomato sauce, so I knew this would be a winner. And I hadn't had a poached egg in a long time, so that was a nice change of pace. On top of that, I got a great workout at the same time! This would have been a lot easier to make if I had someone else to help me, but I had the sauce simmering before I started the polenta (and had everything else that I would need measured out ahead of time), so it worked. Be prepared to have two extremely tired arms at the end (especially if you're using a coarse-grind cornmeal). Just don't take more than a very short break from whisking it or it will burn. So if you don't have time to get a workout and make dinner, this is the perfect solution.