Stir Fry Time

Oh Thursday, how I both love and loathe you.

Since moving to Baltimore I have come to greet Thursday with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I'm only one day shy of the weekend, and even closer to my favorite day of the week (Friday). On the other hand, it's the second of two days in the week that I have agreed to spend in our Bethesda office.

While I love a majority of the changes that have come with life in Baltimore: more space, car ownership, cheaper wares, closer to my family, there is one thing I loathe about my new life....the commute to Bethesda. To put it bluntly, it's a bitch. It takes me a solid 2 hours, door to door, to get from my apartment in Baltimore to my office in Bethesda. When I actually stop and think about all that goes into the commute (the insanely early rising, driving to the train station, taking the train to DC, and taking the Metro from DC to Bethesda) I get a slightly angry. 

The train isn't all bad. I'm learning how to make the best of it from my fellow riders. 

As you may suspect, alcohol is part of the solution to this problem.

Thus, I force myself to focus on the silver ling: my train and metro rides are paid for by work, I get to use my beloved noise canceling headphones to pass the time (in addition to reading, sleeping, and getting caught up on emails), and I only have to do it two days a week. The latter makes me so giddy that come Thursday afternoons I'm as anxious as a child on Christmas Eve. I cannot get off the train and home to my abode fast enough, all the while knowing that I won't have to return to life on the train until the following Tuesday. 

Today I found myself especially anxious to get home as I'd failed to adequately pace my snacks throughout the course of the afternoon and thus was on the cusp of ravenous. Because I start my Bethesda days before the sun (4:30 to be exact), I'm beyond exhausted by the time I finally get home at the end of the day. Despite being both tired, and today hungry, I still usually want to cook something for dinner. As I've grown to enjoy, and dare I say love, cooking over the past couple years, cooking has become more a form of relaxation than a chore for me. I don't really make a menu or plan what I'm going to eat during the week ahead of time. Instead, I pick up things I think I'll likely be hungry for or want to eat during the week (along with the usual staples) and then just go where the wind (and my stomach) take me. One benefit to a long commute: I have lots of time to think about what I want for dinner and to research recipes if need be. 

Tonight's dish de jour was one I've made before, but have to really be in the mood for to pull out of my tiny top hat: stir fry with peanut sauce. It's super easy, so I really wish I was hungry for it more than once every 6 months...and it's a great way to use up the hodgepodge of fresh veggies I so often have left in my fridge. This is a very free spirit dish (which is the complete opposite of my type-A personality) and perfect to round out a crazy work day. 

Stir Fry with Homemade Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

Makes 2 servings 

• 2 cups Shandong noodles (or an Asian variety of your choosing) 
• 4 medium Brussels Sprouts, stems trimmed and halved
• 1/2 cup broccoli, stems trimmed
• 2 small carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 small leek, chopped
• 1/4 cup frozen peas
• olive oil, salt, and pepper, to taste

For Peanut Sauce

• 1 Tbsp peanut butter
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 2 Tbsps sesame oil (I substituted olive oil because I didn't have sesame on hand)
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar

Things started out a little bumpy when I went to pick up the package of noodles and didn't realize I'd put in on the shelf upside down, thus spilling it all over the floor. Luckily, the package was huge so I was able to salvage the ones that weren't touching the floor (which was most of them) and press onward.

1. Bring pot of water to a boil and cook noodles according to package instructions.

2. Meanwhile, wash and chop veggies as desired. In addition to cooking, I've discovered peeling carrots to be extremely calming. I honestly think it's one of my favorite things, so if you ever need a bunch of carrots peeled, you know who to call!

3. Mix peanut sauce. Bax loved this part because she loves peanut butter more than anything else in the world...and because she knows that if she looks at me with her sweet puppy eyes I will put a little on a tiny biscuit treat for her. Sly, very, very sly. 

4. Heat a Tbsp or two of olive oil in large sauce pan (I prefer my wok) and add in larger veggies first, then smaller ones after a couple minutes and cook until warm and at desired tenderness.

5. After noodles are cooked, drain and add to veggies. 

6. Toss a time or two to combine, then add in peanut sauce. Toss until well coated.

 7. Heat through and serve.

Hello perfection

FOTY Take One: Leek Time

The onset of the new year not only brought with it a slew of life changes, but also the return of my annual Food of the Year (FOTY) program! As you may recall, this is something I started doing a while back to get myself to expand my eating horizons. I detailed the history behind my FOTY program here and to be honest, I'm surprised at how long it's lasted. I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was starting to worry about running out of foods to conquer.  

The last couple years have brought some fun ones, with artichokes taking the prize last year and oysters the year before, but this year I was a little stumped for ideas. In general, I've been trying to work my way through the vegetable circuit with the goal of never finding myself in the presence of a vegetable that I didn't like. With that thought in mind, I decided to choose leeks as my FOTY for 2014. 

My leek choice was admittedly somewhat rushed. January snuck up on me and decisions needed to be made. It's not that I regret my leek choice, so much as I've been near certain from the start that I would like them instantly and there would be nothing to really conquer this year. With this conundrum at hand, I used some of my train time, or thinking time as I sometimes I like to kindly characterize my 2 hour commute to Bethesda, to land on a secondary food of the year: beets. 

 

Unlike leeks, which I chose mostly because I'd never cooked with them and wanted to start, I've had beets in recent years and do not care for them....making them perfect for the FOTY challenge! I liken this year to my second time oatmeal and I came together. At first it was my only FOTY failing, but at second pass a few years later (after I'd quickly conquered another FOTY) I found a love for it and now joyously start most days with a delightful bowl of it warming my insides. I can only hope for a similar go-round with beets back on the table. But for now, it's leeks' time to shine!

Today's recipe features not only leeks, but one of my favorite adult vegetables, brussels sprouts. Those little green balls of heaven never fail me and, as expected, the leeks were a hit with my palate too. They only had baby leeks at the HT when I went, so I'm hoping to try them out in normal size, and prepared in a more roasted form, over the weekend. But for now, baby leeks it is!

Baby Leek, Brussels Sprout, and Tomato Lemon Quinoa 

Ingredients

*Makes 2-3 servings

• 3 baby leeks, diced
• 8-10 medium brussels sprouts, stems trimmed and halved
• 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut into fourths
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Lemon juice, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• A couple tablespoons olive oil (sorry I didn't measure, just put enough so the veggies didn't stick when cooking in the wok)
• Feta cheese, optional for topping

Preparation

1.   Bring two cups water to a boil, add quinoa, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.

2.   Meanwhile, prepare veggies for cooking (wash and chop)

3.   Heat olive oil in wok, then add brussels sprouts first. They take the longest to cook, but you also have to watch them closely so they don't get overcooked and taste bitter. They're a tricky beast!

4.   After a couple minutes, add garlic and leeks, plus salt and pepper

5.   Finally, add tomatoes and lemon juice. Cook until everything looks done

6.   Once quinoa is done, add it to the party in the wok and mix everything together

7.   Top with feta before serving and enjoy!

Thanksgiving is Coming: Part 1

There's nothing I love more than a good 3-day weekend and this one came not a moment too soon. My sleep schedule was in shambles after election night and plummeted even further with some late nights at the beginning of the weekend. Thus, you can imagine the joy I felt when on Sunday I still had another day of weekend to catch up on sleep with (gotta love all the federal holidays this time of year). In an effort to not squander the entire day sleeping (or miss out on the gorgeous weather), I spent some time today walking with Bax and enjoying the leaves in the park and looking up some recipes for Thanksgiving dinner.

I will never get over how gorgeous the leaves are in fall

I love Thanksgiving so very much (I actually claim it as my favorite holiday) and it's been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember to one day (when I live in something bigger than my current studio apartment) host the event. Since my time as a host is still a ways off, I have settled for the next best thing: coordinating the menu. Last year this time I was just starting to focus on developing my culinary skills and undertook the task of creating a slew of desserts. They were all amazingly delicious and if I didn't love Thanksgiving food so much, I would've feasted on them as my meal. This year, I have no choice but to try and top last year's efforts (damn my competitive nature). In the meantime, I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's thinking about recipes for the big day and thus I wanted to share two delectable fall-inspired sides that I made recently that could also serve as a great addition to any Thanksgiving table.

Acorn Squash with Wild Rice and Veggies

This is one of those recipes that is great when you need to use up some extra vegetables before they go bad and can easily be tweaked depending on the season or taste preferences. I ate it as a meal, but the recipe could definitely be increased (based on crowd size) and used as a Thanksgiving side as well. 

Ingredients

• 1 package of long grain wild rice 
• 1 acorn squash, roasted
• 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
• 1/2 cup portobello mushroom slices
• 1-1 1/2 cups baby spinach
• 4-5 capellini tomatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Roast acorn squash either in the oven or crockpot. I used my pumpkin roasting crockpot method that I recently discovered and am currently obsessed with
2. Prepare rice according to package (usually takes about 25 minutes). With about five minutes left, I added my carrots to cook with the rice (but they could also be cooked in the skillet/wok as well)
3. Meanwhile, remove acorn squash from skin and discard skin (my only regret on this recipe is letting the squash cook for too long so that it was mushy rather than diceable...this is my punishment for not having a vision for the meal when I started cooking the squash)
4. Heat olive oil in wok or skillet, then add mushroom slices. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add in tomatoes and squash and continue to cook for an additional 4-5 minutes
5. Add in spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes. Cover and remove from heat to allow spinach to wilt
6. Once rice is cooked, mix with veggie mix in skillet, season and serve

Veggies post cooking (I also had to drain the excess water as a result of the squash not being as firm as it should've been...still good though)

Wild rice and carrots ready to eat

Giada's Roasted Veggies

Another great veggie side for the big day comes courtesy of my beloved Food Network. I had dinner with my parents over the weekend and offered to make these to accompany the fish my dad was preparing. They were a huge hit and would be a great easy, low stress addition to Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients

Courtesy of Giadá

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 medium carrots (about 3/4 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick circles
• 1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts (about 1/2 pound), halved
• 4 cups red bliss potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 3 medium parsnips (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 cup sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Wash and cut vegetables as mentioned above
3. Grease an 11 by 17-inch baking sheet pan with extra-virgin olive oil. Place vegetables in baking sheet and add the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Toss well, evenly coating all the vegetables with the seasonings and oil. Add more oil if the vegetables seem dry
4. Spread the vegetables evenly on a large baking sheet. Place on middle rack in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!