Simple

Entries Tagged as 'simple'

Mini Winter Fritattas with Sweet Potato, Onion, & Parmesan

1.07.2013

I’m a big quiche fan and would be lying if I didn’t mention that I was rather hesitant to get on the ‘fritatta’ bandwagon. But as I cook with eggs more and more, I realize comparing a quiche and fritatta is like comparing whole wheat oatmeal cookies and double chocolate chip cookies. Quiches are rich and full of heavy cream and eggs piled on top of a buttery crust. Fritatta is like the healthy crustless sibling to the quiche with its easy preparation and delicious vegetable filling.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE me a cheesy and buttery quiche. But frittatas have been making their way into my daily routine more and more because of their simplicity. I don’t have to spend time making a crust or hoping I have heavy cream on hand (which I usually don’t). I can just stick in whatever vegetables I may have on hand and whisk up some eggs. So simple!

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Homemade Grenadine // Tequila Sunrise + Shirley Temple

12.13.2012

Okay, I have a confession to make. I grew up on Shirley Temples. Any fancy occasion that I was out with my family and my Grandma would order her ‘Manhattan’, I would proudly announced my ‘Shirley Temple’ drink order. They would bring it out in a fancy cocktail glass and it would be garnished with a few cherries. Ah, I felt like such a sophisticated ten year old.

But this is where my confession comes in. I went the first 23 years of my life thinking that grenadine was cherry flavored syrup. Wrong. How can you blame me? After all, they did always garnish those Shirley Temples with cherries! It’s actually pomegranate syrup! Who would of thought I was so health trendy in my tweens? If only I knew French then I would have known that grenade means ‘pomegranate’. Ah well. Silly me.

Anyhow, so I’ve been on a drink kick lately. More specifically, I’ve been on a booze kick (see Boozy Stout Brownies, Cranberry Mojito, etc). And my fascination with simple syrups started this summer when I first whipped up that delicious Sparkling Blackberry Lemonade. And then the Rosemary Lemonade. and then the Lemongrass cooler. and so on. You get the point. So when I found out that grenadine was just an over-produced, over-sugared version of pomegranate simple syrup….I knew I had to try my own.

If you are use to making your own simple syrups, you will notice that this process is a bit different because we are starting off with pomegranate juice instead of having the fruit boil and steep into a juice. But anyhow, it’s not complicated and more on that later. Oh! And last thing – don’t wear white while making this. The juicing part is both fun and messy.

Homemade Grenadine

method adapted from Reclaiming Provincial

2 pomegranates
1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar (depending on how sweet you like your syrup)

First, the fun [and messy] part! Making the juice. I used a citrus squeezer and sliced the pomegranates into quarters to juice them. You could use a hand held squeezer if you have it or even a zip lock bag (break the seeds up as much as possible and then strain out the seeds). The goal here is to get as much juice out of the pomegranate without 1. breaking the tiny white seeds within the red seeds because they will release a bitter flavor (hence why a blender wouldn’t work) and 2. separating the juice from the tiny seeds and whites of the pomegranate. If you don’t have a juice squeezer, this may take some creative thinking on your part but it’s not impossible. Using my citrus squeezer yielded about 2 cups of juice from 2 pomegranates so try to achieve around that amount.

Next, transfer the juice to a small saucepan and add the desired amount of sugar (I started with a cup and a half). Bring to a boil over medium heat and then immediately remove from heat. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved (if it has not dissolved already). Let cool completely then transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge.

Annnnd, in case you were wondering what MY favorite ways are to use grenadine are…

Shirley Temple

1 ounce grenadine
2 maraschino cherries
ginger ale or lemon-lime soda

Place the grenadine and cherries in a glass. Fill the remainder of the glass with ginger ale / soda and enjoy!

Tequila Sunrise

2 ounces tequila
2 ounces grenadine
Orange Juice
maraschino cherry or orange slice, for garnish

Place grenadine and tequila in a cocktail glass. Fill the remainder of the glass with orange juice. Garnish with cherries or orange slices.

Black Bean & Wheatberry Chili

12.03.2012

Morning, Morning. Can you believe it is already December? It sure does not feel like it. I don’t know about where you live but I’m located in the Midwest and we are suppose to have some 70 degree weather today (such a weird introduction to winter…). Not that I’m complaining but I would have considered making something a little more…light and refreshing had I known it was going to be so warm. Ah well, this chili is oh so delicious regardless of the temperature.

I’m not going to lie. I am really proud of this recipe. It’s packed with so much nutrients I can hardly wrap my head around it. We are talking loads of protein, fiber, vitamin C, iron, potassium, vitamin A, etc etc etc. The list goes on and if you make the beans from scratch… this chili is packed full of fresh and non-processed foods as well. I’ve never felt soooo good about gobbling down a bowl of food. And not to mention, it is absolutely delicious. The wheat berries give it slight chewy texture while the cocoa powder (learned that trick thanks to a very good friend of mine) bring a new complexity to the flavor.

Oh and don’t worry! If my over zealous attitude towards super healthy eating is freaking you out – I made some oh so irresistible Corn Cheddar biscuits to go with packed full of two sticks of butter and loads of gooey cheese [recipe on that to follow tomorrow!]

This recipe is vegan (unless you add cheese and sour cream) and makes about six serving. You could even double the recipe and plan to have leftovers for lunch the rest of the week.

Black Bean & Wheatberry Chili

adapted from Eating Well

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups black beans, cooked (I used dried but feel free to use canned)
1 24 ounce can of diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups vegetable broth (I used homemade)
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup cooked wheat berries, cooked*
Juice of 1 lime

Avocado, optional
sour cream, optional
cilantro for garnish, optional

Heat olive oil over medium in a large pot. Add in the onion, carrots, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 7 to 10 minutes or until all the vegetables has softened. Next, add in the tomatoes, broth, black beans, and cocoa powder. Bring the chili to a bowl, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Add wheat berries and let cook for another two minutes.

Remove from heat and squeeze in lime juice. Serve with garnish options (avocado, sour cream cilantro, plain yogurt, etc).

*To cook 1 1/2 cups of Wheatberries: Rinse 3/4 cup of berries and letting them simmer for 45 minutes or until softened.

November Wrap Up

11.30.2012

…And there goes another month. Isn’t it crazy how fast time seems to be going by? Thanksgiving has come and gone, the Christmas shopping is underway, and holiday cookies are on the mind. How about a quick recap of the past month before we jump into cookie cutters, green/red sprinkles, and chocolate covered everything?

Some favorite highlights from the past month:

1. Rosemary Vegetable Soup with Rustic Bread – Fresh bread and a hearty vegetable soup. Cannot think of a better way to bring in the cold evenings.

2. Cranberry Mojito – Festive and delicious! This drink was the perfect starter at our Friendsgiving party.

3. Pumpkin Dog Biscuits – Tuko turned 1 so I had to spoil the crap out of him with homemade biscuits and a new sweater. Believe me, I will be making these again very soon for Christmas gifts for all the adorable pups in my life.

4. Dark Chocolate Raspberry Espresso Scones – they were an extra amazing breakfast treat! The flavor was rich and complex with a flaky texture that was pretty much irresistible!

And that sums it up!

Moving forward… here are a few winter goals I am planning to tackle in the dark, cold months ahead:

1. Make homemade ricotta cheese (this has been on my list forever and I am going to do it this time!)

2. Get into a morning yoga routine

3. Make more homemade salad dressings

4. Work on my photography skills // work on lighting

5. Learn basic CSS (or at least enough to get my logo up in that corner where the V is!!)

6. Get into Twitter

7. Make homemade cleaning supplies

Okay, that is a start. Should keep me busy for awhile [I hope]. What you are hoping to accomplish this winter?

Cranberry Mojito

11.21.2012

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! Do you have the Tofurkey prepped, table set, and diagram of the seating chart made? Then let’s celebrate the calm before the store with a drink, shall we?

I made this cocktail for our Friendsgiving Potluck over the weekend and as I was sipping on it and watching the mint / cranberries swirl around in my glass…I couldn’t help but feel like this would have been even more appropriate for a Christmas gathering. My thought process was fresh cranberries —> cranberry sauce —> Thanksgiving. Boom! Cranberries are served at Thanksgiving and therefore this a great Thanksgiving drink (which, don’t get me wrong, was a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving drink). But the red [cranberries] and green [mint] staring back at me in my glass was filling my head with thoughts of pine trees, sugar cookies, and candy canes.

So let’s agree that this is a great SEASONAL drink and would be smashing at any of your chilly weathered events!

Cranberry Mojito

adapted from We Are Not Martha

White Rum
Ice
Seltzer Water
Lemons
Mint leaves

For the cranberry simple syrup:

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh cranberries (+ more for garnish)

To make the syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water and cranberries. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to low. Let simmer for about ten minutes and remove from heat. Let cool completely and then strain (OR for a more intense flavor move to the fridge for a few hours or overnight before straining).

To make the cocktail: Mix 1 ounce of rum, 1 ounce of cranberry simple syrup, and a splash of lemon juice. Fill the remaining space in your glass with seltzer water and ice. Garnish with mint leaves and cranberries.

Lemongrass Cooler // Collaboration with Dishes Undressed

8.24.2012

Happy Friday! I have a very exciting project to share with everyone today. One of the best parts about the blog world is meeting other creative bloggers and being able to put your creative heads together to create something wonderful. Today I am collaborating with my friend Angie from Dishes Undressed.

We met through our Blogging 2.0 class and were both immediately drawn to the idea of swapping food recipes from halfway around the globe. Angie is blogging to us from Great Britain while I reside in my small town in the Midwest United States. This is going to be a fantastic adventure because I love stepping out of my comfort zone with food and trying things I would have never thought of. We are going to do a 4 part series (cocktail, appetizer, main course, and dessert) for which we both give each other a recipe that is traditional to our countries.

Today I am starting off with the Lemongrass cooler recipe that Angie sent over. This was particularly exciting for me because 1. as many of you know – I am currently OBSESSED with making simple syrups for drinks and 2. I have never cooked with lemongrass and didn’t know anything about it.

I had to get the lemongrass pre-cut and packaged because that seems to be the only way they sell it here in Bloomington but I’ve gathered that it usually comes in long stalk form. I also learned that is it used in many Thai curries and stews which means my head has already been spinning with ideas for my next lemongrass adventure.

The simple syrup turned out wonderful. Easy to make but very fragrant and flavorful. I used it make a little gin cocktail last night that was absolutely stunning. The lemongrass stalk made for a perfect garnish as well!

I also stumbled upon a great use for the leftover syrup. The syrup was so delicious that I may have added it to my morning cup of tea as … okay, I DID add it and it sweetened and gave the tea a hint of lemon. Delicious.

Lemongrass Cooler

4 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 lemon stalks, chopped into 3 inch chunks
Juice from 1 lime

carbonated water
extra lemon grass, for garnish
1 oz of gin, optional
Ice

To make the simple syrup: In a small saucepan, bring the lemongrass, water, lime and sugar to a boil. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved into the mixture. Boil for 10 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and let it come to room temperatures.

Combine in a glass with some carbonated water, a shot of gin, and ice.

Keep leftover syrup in the fridge and use the next mornings to sweeten your tea!

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Also! Don’t forget to check out Angie’s part of the collaboration. She whipped up a fresh version of some delicious Southwestern Sliders.

Summer Pasta: Pesto Linguine with Spinach, Edamame, Lime, and Toasted Pecans

5.29.2012

I am both excited and a bit embarrassed to admit that I am about as nerdy as they come! Not even two weeks into finishing up my 16 years of schooling, I signed up for another class! Luckily, it’s an online blogging course put on by Decor8! I am so excited to expand my blogging skills and see what new thing I can absorb from this. I already have so many goals for VV this summer that I am hoping this course will push me to reach in ways I would have not thought of otherwise. If you’d like to learn more about it (or become my classmate! haha), hop on over to Blogging Your Way.

Anyhow, back to the point at hand: easy pasta dish! This dish has it all – protein from the edamame, nutrients from the fresh spinach (and maybe-sorta the corn?), and energy packed into the whole wheat pasta and pecans. Not to mention it’s delicious, colorful, and can be made in under 15 minutes. What more do you want? Yeah, maybe some garlic bread and red wine but those things are so easily solvable as well!

I whipped this up for a date night we had a few days back because when you are planing to spend your whole evening with that special cutie, who wants to waste the first two hours slaving away in the kitchen? Although, if its a FIRST date, I might recommend holding off on the garlic bread (or bringing a toothbrush!- just sayin’).

8 ounces of linguine
1/2 cup prepared pesto
4 ounces fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups edamame, cooked according to package
1/2 cup frozen corn, cooked according to package
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
2 Tablespoons lime juice

Prepare the linguine according to the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, add the chopped pecans to a small skillet. Saute on low for 5 to 10 minutes or until they are toasted.

Drain the pasta and toss with the pesto and lime juice. Fold in the edamame and corn. And finally, top with the toasted pecans!

Serve with garlic bread (I just took two pitas and put butter/crushed garlic on top and stuck it under the broiler for a few minutes) and red wine!

Done!

Easy Vegan Pad Thai

12.28.2011

Okay, so after having an epic cooking marathon this past weekend for Christmas, I’ve been feeling a bit less motivated in the kitchen and have been making my boyfriend survive off of leftovers. Finally, I regained the desire to cook up something fresh last night and decided to whip out this pad thai for dinner because we had everything on hand and it was about as simple as recipes come.

Although this recipe was simple, it was (to my honest surprise) super delicious. Sometimes I find “half-assed” pasta recipes to be bland and not as flavorful as their scent but this stuff was really as good as take out. It took us maybe 20 minutes to whip up (at the most) so I am excited to add this one to my weeknight rotation when I’m short on time and need something comforting.

Plus, it’s vegan (thank goodness. Cheese in pad thai…yuck)!

Vegan Pad Thai

8 ounces of Lo Mein noodles
4 cups of broccoli
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 Tablespoons lime juice
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 green onions, chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Fresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish)
Peanuts, chopped (for garnish)

In a large pot, boil the lo mein noodles according to the package directions. In the last five minutes, add the broccoli. Drain and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Next, add the noodles/broccoli and soy sauce mixture. Toss until the noodles are well coated with the sauce. Remove from heat and stir in the green onions.

Garnish with cilantro and peanuts.

Enjoy with your kitty while watching an episode of Twin Peaks and wishing you had every article of clothing that Audrey Horn fashions.

Nutella Cupcakes

10.13.2011

4 ingredients. That’s it. For these soft, brownie like cupcakes baked to a crispy top and gooey center.

The are probably the easiest baked goods I’ve ever made. It’s so simple yet I was in awe of how good the end product was. If you like chocolate (specifically nutella) than these cupcakes are the prefect thing to whip up in a hurry! I made them WHILE making dinner last night and it wasn’t an extra strain at all.

I will warn you…this recipe only makes 10 and they will go very fast. Living in a house of 5, these cupcakes didn’t last a half an hour.

And as always, the chance of you having hazelnuts just hanging around the house is unlikely (I think) so just pick up the amount you need for this recipe in your bulk section at your local co-op to same on money!

Quick Nutella Cupcakes

1 jar of Nutella (about a cup)
2 large Eggs
10 Tablespoons of flour
1/4 cup crushed hazelnuts (I just put them in a bag and beat them with a spoon!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and fill a cupcake tin with liners (mine only made 10 but you could probably spread them out into 12 to fill the whole tin).

Whisk the nutella and eggs together. Once combined, add the flour and mix until a thick batter is formed.

Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full with the batter. Top with hazelnut chunks.

Cook for 15-17 minutes or until the top is cracking and a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for a few minutes and then walk around and pass out your snack proudly to everyone in your household.

Consume. Enjoy. Etc.