Tonight's dinner

Somehow I managed to have enough energy left after the marathon relay yesterday to remember to thaw a frozen chicken (pre-cut into pieces) that I bought at the farmers' market a few weeks ago.  I got home late today (which is becoming more of a rule than an exception), so I wanted something fast.  I decided to roast it at 450, and it only took about 40 min to cook.  I was originally going to put veggies around it, but I was too lazy.  It turned out juicy and delicious, and the little bite of the skin I tasted was perfectly crispy.  I needed something to put with it, so I pulled out the purple kale that I bought on Saturday and started searching for recipes.  I came across one for braised kale and red potatoes and decided to try it out.  I once again managed to set off my smoke detector (don't worry, it's now disconnected), but it was incredibly easy and tasty.  I love the red pepper kick with the kale (and believe me, it's got a kick).  And to top it all off, I had some frozen grapes and yogurt for desert.  It's the perfect ending to a stressful day...

The first soup of the season

I've been really busy lately, but I finally got around to making butternut squash and leek soup tonight with the squash from Al's garden.  I followed the recipe exactly (for once), and it's very good.  The first time I had butternut squash soup was my last year at Emory, and I've been meaning to make it ever since.  It only took 4 years, but I'm glad it finally happened :)

I currently have a small "pumpkin pie" (there's no crust) in the oven because I had some pumpkin left over from making pumpkin and apple bread this weekend.  I made it haphazardly - I threw pumpkin, milk, apple juice concentrate, vanilla, an egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in the blender and then put it in the oven.  I'm not sure that the consistency will be right, but I'm hoping the taste makes up for it.  

recent concoctions

I finally got around to making my spaghetti squash on Monday.  I was originally going to do each half a different way, but I ended up putting spaghetti sauce (with tons of mushrooms, onions, and garlic) over the whole thing.  It's such a good substitute for traditional spaghetti, but I also can't wait to try it other ways.  I'll definitely be buying a few at the market this weekend.

Today I made more baked salmon, and I wanted a side dish that incorporated mushrooms and feta because I had some of both that needed to be used.  After searching around for a while, I found a recipe for Spinach and Couscous with feta.  I didn't follow the recipe exactly - I used a little less broth (and it was plenty), a little more spinach, and fewer mushrooms.  It's very good, but I'm glad I like oregano because it definitely doesn't hide.  It doesn't quite match up to the kale dish, but that's tough competition.

My first kale experience

I've eaten a lot of kale, but I had never cooked it.  I was excited that they had some at the farmers' market this week so that I could try it out.  I found a recipe where you cook kale with pre-cooked beans (I used great northerns), sauteed garlic and red pepper flakes, and chicken stock, and then add in some pasta.  It was delicious (especially with the kick from the red pepper).  I definitely recommend trying this out.  It's so easy (the hardest part was remembering to soak my beans the night before) and is one of those recipes that's easy to tweak depending on what you have on hand.

I also tried out a new granola bar recipe yesterday.  This one is also from the Food Network, and it's as good (but quite different) as Alton's.  Assuming they freeze just as well, it will give me at least 2 good bar recipes that I can alternate so that I don't get sick of either.

Don't worry, I'm not dead...

Between catching up from being gone most of last week and starting a new project, this week has been fairly busy.  Luckily (note the sarcasm), things have already been screwed up with my project, so I have to wait a few weeks until I can do anything else.  But, in all of the mayhem, I managed to make some bread and cook a lot of veggies on Monday.  This batch of bread is probably my favorite so far.  I made the basic whole wheat recipe that I love, but added flax meal and walnuts (and used even less honey than before).  Unfortunately there aren't any farmers' markets open on Mondays (and I couldn't survive without veggies), so I went to the store across town that has decent produce and good prices.  I was surprised to find okra again, and you could pick out your own (so I spent a while picking out all of the small pods).  I steamed them, and it was delicious.  One of the things that I love about okra is that I don't even want any seasoning on it because it's so tasty absolutely plain.  I also got some lettuce, corn, peppers, carrots, and indian eggplant, all of which were good.  

I managed to make it to two farmers' markets on Wednesday (including one that I had never been to before), but unfortunately the selection is getting pretty slim.  They have winter squash, some beans, some greens, potatoes, apples, and a lot of stuff shipped in from warmer climates.  I got some green beans, lots of apples, kale, and some meat (a pork shoulder roast and ground turkey).  Last night was the perfect night to cook the pork; I was exhausted from being on my feet all day at the Obama rally, so I came home, rubbed the pork with some spices, put it in the oven, and collapsed on the couch for a few hours.  I didn't quite cook it long enough so that it's falling off the bone (I was too hungry by that point), but it was delicious.  I also found a recipe for my green beans - pan roasted with a soy/vinagrette/garlic sauce.  It was quite an adventure because there was a little bit of water that dripped into the pan when I was adding the beans, and the pan was hot enough that it created smoke everywhere and my smoke alarm went off for a while.  In all of the craziness, I forgot to add the sesame seeds on top, but they were still very good.  I'll probably make them again (but I'll be a little more careful next time).