Macaroni and Cheese with Crunchy Kale Topping

 

My husband's childhood friend recently cooked dinner for us and his family ( He also happens to be a chef, so we usually let him do the cooking when he comes over). He likes to do it, and we reap the benefits of a delicious meal with good friends.

 

Though he made a different pasta dish, I watched him top it with kale and breadcrumbs and I was, I admit, skeptical. I would have stirred the kale into the whole mix, and I was picturing  the kale turning into a soggy, sloppy mess.

 

Well. Don't question the chef! He pulled it out and the kale was crunchy and salty and delicious. Just like the kale chips we all know and love. He made kale chip casserole.  This dish is inspired by his.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1 package of pasta, cooked and drained

1 onion, diced

2 cups of cheese

1.5-2 cups of kale, torn into bite sized pieces

2 cups of milk

1 tbsp oil or butter

1 tbsp flour

salt and pepper to taste

breadcrumbs

 

Place your cooked pasta in a large casserole dish. Meanwhile, saute the onion until soft, and stir into the pasta.

In a small sauce pan, heat the oil. Stir the flour into the oil quickly and brown slightly, but do not burn. Add the milk and whisk continuously until hot. Whisk in the cheese and stir until melted. Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and salt and pepper to taste.

 

Top the pasta with a sprinkle of cheese, the kale and breadcrumbs and a dash more salt. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake another 8 minutes.

 

 

 

Fresh and Easy Flat Bread Pizza

 

 

California is an agricultural hub and particulary here on the Central Coast, we are really lucky to have access to fresh, local produce. For me, a short drive down to Moss Landing once a week takes us through fields of fresh brussels sprouts and artichokes, along the foggy coastline and ends at one of my favorite produce markets.

 

Here you can also view the marina, go kayaking, shop for shells or visit excellent restaurants.

 

But my purpose in making the trip each week is to get amazing, seasonal, local produce at an unbelievable bargain.

 

This week, I picked up peppers, onions, mushrooms and squash. I admit, it's been a challenge to switch to buying seasonal vegetables, as I have to then find a recipe to use them in, rather than shopping to complete my planned recipe. But I'm adapting.

 

This week's culinary creation came via inspiration from a recipe I saw in Sunset magazine. I'm blogging from memory of something I saw while sitting in the dentist's office (probably trying to distract myself  from the impending procedure. I hate dental work, don't you?)

 

Fresh, thinly sliced veggies are layered on to a large lavash bread, then baked at high heat for a short amount of time. I admit I was skeptical at first that the lavash would hold up, instead expecting a soggy mess. But it did hold up. I recommend slicing your veggies very thinly to avoid too much liquid escaping and ruining your meal.

 

 

 

The result is a very fresh pizza, with vegetables that are barely cooked but very delicious. The crust is very crisp and would make an excellent appetizer, although we ate them as a meal. If you are adverse to nearly-raw onion, I would omit them.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 lavash or other flat bread per person

1 yellow squash or green zucchini, thinly sliced

1 bell pepper, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced into half moons

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

3 mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup of herbed goat cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup good-quality grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste.

chopped tomatoes and arugula for garnish

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place your lavash bread on an inverted cookie sheet and brush with oil. Sprinkle garlic over the top and layer the squash, pepper, mushrooms and onion over it. Crumble the goat cheese evenly, and top with parmesan. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, slide onto a cutting board and top with chopped tomatoes and arugula. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

I hope you enjoy them, we have made them three days in a row because they are that delicious and easy!



Broccoli and Cheese Soup

It's been a tough, but rewarding, week. I'm in the 2nd week (of 7 total) of our LILY study at UCSF, and truth be told, I'm exhausted. I love being a part of this work, but my body hurts from my 5 hours of driving per day and I can't seem to get enough sleep, no matter how hard I try.

For Halloween I was a real-life mommy zombie. No makeup required.  Finally, finally the weekend is here! I have big plans to stay in my bed as much as possible. But with three kids, it's not likely to happen. Still, I can dream, can't I. (Get it? Sleep humor...I'm extra hilarious when I can't think straight).

What started out as a last-minute quickie dinner "for-the-kids" ended up a full fledged family dinner because it was just so darn tasty. And quick! (Did I mention quick? Seriously!)

The trick is to use baby broccoli, if you can, instead of regular broccoli, because it is tender and has a much milder taste.


Ingredients:
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of water
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup of shaved parmesan cheese
a handful and a half of finely shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped baby broccoli

Melt the butter in a hot stock pot. Stir in the flour and cook until mixed and lightly toasted, about a minute. Pour in the broth and water, salt and pepper and get it hot, but not boiling. Next add in the cheeses, a little at a time, stirring as you go. Continue to add and stir in the cheese and cook for 1-2 minutes, again, not boiling hot, but almost. Add in the broccoli, cook 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

Paneer: Homemade Indian Cheese

I have an ongoing obsession with palak paneer, which is spinach with Indian cheese. It's so good, and I have yet to make it myself yet, but I did manage to make paneer today, which was a baby step in the right direction.

I never knew how easy it is to make! And cheap: the whole batch cost me less than $4.00 to make.

FYI: you will need a cheesecloth and a fine mesh strainer!

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon of whole milk
4 tbsp lemon juice

And that's it! Seriously!

First bring your milk to boil over low, stirring occasionally and being careful not to scorch the milk.

When it begins to boil, add in your lemon juice, stirring constantly but gently, until the milk begins to seperate, like this:

Remove from heat and pour into a cheesecloth bag, over your strainer. You may have to do this in small rounds, instead of dumping the whole thing in at one time.

It will look like a crumbly sort of mound. Cover the top with cheesecloth, leave in the strainer over a pan, and place lots of heavy objects on top to flatten it out. My contraption looked like this:

Let sit for about 1.5 hours, then carefully remove from the cheesecloth. It might not be pretty, I'm working on that!

 

At this point, you can cube it up and store in the fridge for up to a week. Pan fry it and add to your favorite recipes! I added mine to a savory tomato and spinach masala.

 

 

Tofu Cutlets, Cheesy Cauliflower Mash and Roasted Brussels Sprouts

It's fall and the supermarket is packed with pumpkins and gourds and Brussels sprouts. I didn't discover Brussels sprouts until I was into adulthood, and I've never had a bad one! But my husband is convinced he doesn't like them, so when I brought home a gorgeous stalk of them, he was not impressed. But it's not the first time I've changed his mind about food, so I charged on ahead anyway.

I set the kids to task on mashing up the cauliflower and shredding and mixing in the cheese, they had a blast doing it. But it gets cold fast, so wait until the end to do it and keep it covered until ready to serve.

First, start the sprouts:

Brussels Sprouts

2 cups whole brussels sprouts, outer leaves peeled and discarded
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 and oil a cookie sheet. In a large bowl, mix the sprouts, salt and pepper and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Toss to coat. Cook for 45 minutes, or until browned and fragrant.

Then start the cauliflower:

Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar
1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
1/4 cup of butter

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil the cauliflower for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Drain and mash with a potato masher, mixing in the cheddar, butter and green onion as you go. Keep covered until ready to serve.

Tofu Cutlets

1 package of extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup of panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp ranch dressing

Combine in a bowl  2 eggs and ranch dressing. In another bowl combine the breadcrumbs, salt and pepper and the Italian seasoning. Heat a few spoonfulls of oil in a large skillet. Coat the tofu with the eggs wash and then coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Cook until browned on both sides.

Open Faced Avocado Melts

The lady at Trader Joe's who samples cheeses could be my most favoritest person ever. Somehow she not only manages to convince my husband to buy delicious artisan cheeses, but advises him on how to use them. Which makes me about as excited as children on rollerskates.

Take for instance this little beauty, a combination of delicious ingredients, brought to you by none other than my husband, via the sweet little genius at TJ's.

We used a rustic olive baguette and a dijon cheese, but any cheese will work and you can add dijon mustard right on top.

Ingredients:

1 baguette, cut into slices
spinach
sliced tomato
sliced avocado
cheese of your choice
dijon mustard
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

Brush your bread slices with olive oil and vinegar, then top with spinach, tomato and avocado. Top the whole thing off with dijon mustard and finally sliced cheese. Broil until melty and slightly browned on top and eat with a knife and a fork.

Chili Rellenos with Garlicky Beans and Chili-Scented Greens

This was the first time I've attempted Chili Rellenos and I have to say they came out quite perfect! They taste like a tortilla-free enchilada. Even the smallest natives ate to their hearts' content. The best approval there is!

Chili Rellenos

1 onion, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
5 mushrooms, chopped
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
salt and pepper to taste
10 poblano peppers, roasted and peeled (these come canned and pre-peeled as well)
15 slices jack or cheddar cheese (or about 1-2 cups shredded)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
1 large jar of green sauce
1/2 cup of sliced olives

Saute the onion, zucchini, mushrooms and spices until soft. Then spread the mixture on the bottom of a glass-bottom baking dish.

Stuff, carefully, each pepper with 1/2 slice of cheese (again, you can use shredded, but slices are easier to handle here). Then coat each pepper in the egg wash, followed by a coating of bread crumbs and lie carefully on top of the onion mixture. Continue until all peppers are stuffed and coated.

Bake at 425 for 12 minutes. Then remove the pan of chilis from the oven and top with enough green sauce to cover the spaces in between (not too much on top of the chilis, but around them). Top each chili with 1/2 slice of cheese and sprinkle olives on top. Bake another 12 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

After you plate each chili, top with red salsa, cilantro and green onion, and sour cream!





Garlicky Beans

I didn't want to use too much of the same spices here, so these beans were really simple. I used canned pinto beans and cooked them in a bit of olive oil, splash of veggie broth, and sprinkled with garlic salt and pepper. Cook until hot.


Chili-Scented Greens

3 cups (or more!) of greens of your choice. I used mixed greens like mustard, collard and spinach.
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
salt and pepper

Combine greens, water and oil in a large pot and cook, over medium heat, covered, until the greens are wilted. Sprinkle with the remaining spices and mix well. Serve hot.