Vegetarian Migas & The Best Weekend. EVER. (veg, gf)

Leave a comment November 13, 2012 Lauren

This is the first in a flurry of recipes I’ll be posting from the Best Weekend Ever. Somehow, the planets aligned and Dave and I had not only a banking holiday tacked on to our weekend, but we had no plans to leave town. And we had no guests coming in. And we had no solo obligations. And the only things we did have on the books were FUN. And both of us were home. And the weather Saturday was insanely pretty. And we got to eat a lot. While this might sound boring, and while we do love our out-of-town loved ones and house guests, this kind of Dave-and-Lauren long weekend never happens. It’s been months or maybe a year since we had time like that with each other that we didn’t enjoy a plane ride away (stressful in itself). And even then it wasn’t just the two of us. This weekend was like a second honeymoon!

We swam, got a bike ride in (on The Windiest Day Ever), saw the new James Bond- two thumbs up, went bowling, went to dinner with friends twice, went for a long walk around our neighborhood, watched movies and took naps every single day. And I furiously cooked my way through the whole thing. For every calorie burned on the bike or in the pool, I’m pretty sure I cooked two to replace it as soon as we got home. But I probably burned half of those off from intense and loving, Pepe Le Pew-style smiling.

le sigh

I made my sweet potato and black bean burritos on Saturday night, and we headed to Illinois to ride on Sunday morning. My ride was shorter and I beat Dave home; I wanted to make a hearty and healthy brunch for when he got back, and I thought the quickest way to do this was to combine the leftovers from saturday and a dish we love- migas. The migas we order in the Midwest are a Tex-Mex version of a Spanish dish. Scrambled eggs, strips of fried corn tortillas, tomatoes, chorizo, chile peppers, onion, and cheese. I health-ed this up a bit (surprise!!) by starting with the veggie and bean mixture and by baking the tortillas.

SWEET POTATO AND BLACK BEAN MIGAS

Ingredients:

half recipe sweet potato and black bean burrito filling, AG! recipe found here
two corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
6 eggs, beaten with: 1/4 cup milk and 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 bunch scallion, sliced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/2 avocado, sliced
salsas, cheeses, sour cream for serving

Directions:

Heat your oven to 350 and spread the remaining teaspoon of olive oil on a foil-lined baking sheet. Cut the tortillas into one-inch pieces and spread onto the oiled baking sheet. Pop these into the oven for 5-7 minutes be sure to check them 5 minutes into cooking. When they’re slightly browned and crispy, remove them from the oven. We’ve been hooked on Mission’s Artisan whole wheat and corn blend tortillas– they have the earthy taste of corn and the addition of wheat makes them pliable. Best of both worlds!

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet (preferably cast iron), heat the tablespoon of olive oil. Add the sweet potato and black bean mixture, and cook over medium for about 5 minutes, until heated through and browned more than it was when you put it in the pan. Add the crispy tortillas at this point, and cook for another 3 minutes.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk with the milk and kosher salt. Pour the eggs over the veggies and tortillas and lower heat, stirring the mixture frequently. The eggs will cook quickly! Once they’re set, top with cilantro and scallions and serve with avocado and salsas. Kiss your significant other. Ta-da! Brunch is served!

Quickie: Chicken Avocado Omelette, or: “One Way To Use Grilled Leftovers” (gf)

BIG Summer Steak Salad with Easy Balsamic Vinaigrette (gf)

Leave a comment June 27, 2012 Lauren

It’s HOT in Saint Louis. Close to 100 degrees hot, and actually entering triple-digits tomorrow. The heat has forced us outside (ironically), to grill quick meals and then run inside and eat them like hungry vampires in the safety of our cool, dark home.

yowza

I had a simple but phenomenal steak salad at Over/Under on Wash Ave last week, and began craving steak salad as soon as I’d polished off the last bite. We had a pretty active and busy weekend, and making a grilled steak salad at home seemed to fit the healthy, fast, craving-satisfaction bill. And I’ll be the first to admit that I’m one to eat and repeat (and repeat, and repeat) when I stumble across a meal that particularly hits the spot.

you look beautiful when you’re undressed

BIG SUMMER STEAK SALAD

For the salad. Ingredients:

1 container Organic Girl Supergreens! or other bagged salad greens
1- 1 1/2 lbs skirt steak
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp canola oil
sprinkling of sugar
1 red onion
1 container NatureSweet Cherubs grape tomatoes- you can leave these whole
1 cucumber, cut into chunks or slices (I like chunks)
1 avocado, sliced
a handful of cilantro, washed and roughly chopped

Directions:

Preheat your grill to a medium-high setting. At room temperature, combine the canola oil, sugar, and soy, and spread over both sides of the flank steak. Let this sit and marinate while the grill heats up. Once hot, grill to desired doneness- I find that cheaper cuts like flank steak do well when cooked rare-to- medium rare, and always cut on the bias. Anyway, grill to your desired doneness (turning once) and let rest while you assemble the salad and dressing.

While the meat is resting, assemble the (prewashed!) greens in a pretty bowl. Slice the red onion, cut the cucumber, slice the avocado, and assemble all of those, along with the tomatoes, on top of your greens. Lovely!! If you’re a vegetarian, eat now!

delicious sans-steak

Meat eater or not, it’s time to make the dressing:

EASY BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

For the dressing. Ingredients:

1/4 c balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp coarse ground mustard
large pinch salt
generous grinding of black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley

Mix all ingredients except olive oil together in a small mixing bowl. Let sit for five minutes. Go feed the cat or pour yourself a glass of wine while this is sitting. When your wine has been poured, whisk in the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, emulsifying it into the dressing. This is a delicious salad topper, and can be kept for days at room temperature. Yay! You’ve saved yourself a step for tomorrow’s dinner!

whisk it good

Slice the rested flank steak across the grain, at a bias, the best you can. You’ll need a sharp knife for this, and a serrated knife may pull at the delicate graining of the meat. The point of cutting this way is to tenderize the steak- cutting on the bias, against the grain actually makes sliced meat more tender and palatable. Message!

Now- grab your favorite BIG Salad Bowl, assemble greens, top with veggies, then with avocado and steak. Serve!! Enjoy your summery meal!!

dinner is served

Quick Marinara Sauce For A Crowd, or “What To Do With Four Pints of Grape Tomatoes” (v, gf)

Leave a comment May 22, 2012 Lauren

We had a party* this weekend!!!!!! First we’ve had in, oh, about three years, so I bought way too many groceries to make the food I had on the menu. What was on the menu? Burgers, brats, BBQ chicken, all of the necessary burger fixins, chips, dips, potato salad with cabbage and sesame oil, avocado and corn tomato salad, baked beans and 534845321564 cookies and cupcakes (none of which I baked).

It was a delicious and overindulgent day, and I wound up with four pints of leftover grape tomatoes from the avocado salad…. What in the heck do you make for a two-person household using that many tomatoes? A friend suggested I make a marinara sauce (my first instinct was tomato soup), so I did, thinking I’ll freeze some later. This recipe begins with the usual disclaimer that I was short on time, so I had to improvise my way through the slow-cooking I would have preferred for the sauce. Cue the food processor…..

the innumerable tomatoes mock me

QUICK MARINARA SAUCE FOR A CROWD

Ingredients:

4 pints of grape or cherry tomatoes, preferably sitting on your counter ripening for two days, challenging you to a “you can’t cook me” face-off
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2 very large onions, chopped
5+ cloves garlic, or 3 tsp garlic paste
1 1/2 tbsp dried Italian seasoning (small palmful)
1 tsp dried basil
2-3 tsp kosher salt (you may prefer more, I try to limit salt)
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup water or pasta water, if you’re simultaneously cooking pasta and you like a thinner sauce

Directions:

Heat a heavy-bottomed stock pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil to the hot pot, and swirl to coat. Add onion, garlic, and spices, and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add the washed tomatoes and water, if using, cooking for about ten minutes, or until the tomatoes start to break down from the heat and salt. Add balsamic at this point, and stir. Cover, and cook for 10-15 minutes more, or however long you have.

Remove from heat and uncover, letting the sauce cool for about ten minutes before processing in batches. The benefit of quick-cooking a sauce like this is that it’s light and fresh at the end, which is nice in the spring and versatile. I plan to freeze it in muffin cups and use the fairly neutral sauce in future pastas and soups. I also thought that a quickly browned pound of ground beef or turkey could easily turn into a spaghetti dinner with two or three servings of the sauce, tossed in at the end of cooking time to melt and meld, then be served over pasta. This sauce is also a great way to use sale tomatoes!

If I’d had more time (Always. Always “if I’d had more time…”), I would have roasted the tomatoes and onions together in a large roasting dish with olive oil before transferring to a stock pot to simmer, and then puree. The flavor would have been richer, but that will be a delicious way to try this sauce in the fall. Enjoy!

Sauteed with cooked ground beef- this was the next day’s lunch. YUM

Some more ideas:

omit balsamic, stir in creme fraiche, or chunks of neufchatel
stir in ribbons of fresh basil after pureeing
stir in Kalamata olives and feta cheese before pureeing, serve over fish
add zucchini or spinach for a nutritional boost
use a head of roasted garlic in place of fresh cloves (DEFINITELY trying this!)

Broiled Honey Salmon with Lemon-Dill Tzatziki Sauce (pes, gf)

Breakfast Smoothie & Detoxifying “Green Drank” (v, gf)

Chicken Thighs Braised in Marinara (gf)

2 Comments March 27, 2012 Lauren

Hello! I haven’t posted in a while- we’ve been moving into and getting settled in our new home! It’s been a very exciting month, but moving always means meals out and cereal for dinner for a while. Instead of posting bowls of Kashi and soy milk, here’s the first meal I cooked in our new kitchen: