I recently tried to make ricotta cheese, thinking it would be easy peasy according to 1,000 blogs. It was not easy peasy and I failed and rebooted the experiment several times before ending up with runny ricotta the texture of cheap yogurt. So no recipe this time, but a little photo essay on the “cheese” that just wouldn’t drain.
What could go wrong?
Waiting and waiting…
Macguyvering…
Greek yogurt crostini would have been more satisfying. Stay tuned for the next attempt.
1) Get flowers at the grocery store - these purple japanese chrysanthemums last forever
2) Stick them in a mason jar with water
3) Stick the mason jar on your kitchen table
4) Sit back and marvel at how pinteresting your apartment suddenly looks
I love this simple way to cook asparagus, make it a dinner with a fried or poached egg on top! Recipe at Sound Spicy, I added a couple minced cloves of garlic because why not?
Frittatas are literally the easiest thing you can to do use up multiple small amounts of veggies in one fell swoop. This skillet variation is even easier than most - 1 pan people!
Springtime Frittata
1 big oven-safe skillet
4-5 eggs
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 bunch of asparagus, ends snapped off, good part chopped bite-sized
Handful of chard, stems separated from torn leaves, stems chopped bite-sized
1 zucchini, sliced
1 small onion, diced
Dash of olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1. Pre-heat the oven for 375. Heat up oil in the skillet over medium heat. Cook onions until soft. Add chard stems, cook for 4 minutes.
2. Add about a teaspoon of salt and some fresh pepper, chard leaves, zucchini and asparagus, stir until chard leaves are mostly wilted. In a bowl, whisk the eggs together with the parmesan. Pour into the skillet.
3. When eggs are set around the edges, stick the whole skillet in the oven. Let cook for 8-10 minutes until eggs are set and the frittata is fluffy.
It has been almost a year since I posted a recipe with meat in it. I cook vegetarian at home, but guess what? I didn’t make this dish at home. I had a lovely dinner date with a friend in her kitchen, so she gets co-author credit on this delicious noodle dish. (Hi Kristina!). Her kitchen has so much natural light, I was jealous. I was excited to buy some chicken at the store, but frankly I’m still freaked out by cooking meat, so she took the reins on all meat-related tasks, haha. You could easily make this dish with tofu instead of chicken, so that’s an easy conversion.
Asian-Fusion Noodles with Chicken
1 package skinny rice noodles (like this)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 bell peppers, any color, diced
1 large zucchini, sliced
1 large bunch of turnip greens, rinsed thoroughly, greens torn from stems, all chopped.
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 bunch scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 small jar plum sauce (like this)
vegetable oil, as needed
sesame seeds, to taste
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, to taste
sriracha and soy sauce, to taste (like this)
1. In a large bowl, toss the chicken in the plum sauce. Let it marinate a bit while you chop up all the veggies. This is a great teamwork dish because of all the chopping.
2. On the stove, heat a large pot of water on high heat, and a large skillet on medium heat with a mix of sesame and vegetable oil.
3. Add ginger and garlic to skillet, cook for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add chicken.
3. Cook chicken, stirring occasionally, until mostly cooked, 4 minutes. Add the chopped stems of the greens and the white part of the scallions. Cook until wilted, 2-3 minutes.
4. Add peppers, zucchini, and greens. Cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn off the heat and add green part of scallions, sesame seeds, and cilantro.
5. Meanwhile, whenever the water boils, add rice noodles, cook for 3 minutes, then drain and shock in cold water to stop the cooking process.
6. Mix the rice noodles and chicken/veggies in your bowl, top with sriracha and soy sauce to taste.
I think this springtime veggie pizza was one of my most successful pizzas yet. Unfortunately it was probably my least successful pizza photography, so please excuse that. I really need to get a real camera one of these days. Anyway - eggs on pizza are the best, especially when the yolks are a little runny.
Pizza Primavera
1/2 batch of whole wheat pizza dough, minus rosemary.
1 bunch asparagus, ends snapped off and discarded, cut into bite-sized pieces. Slice any thick stalks in half.
1 zucchini, sliced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 crumbled goat cheese
2-3 eggs
1. Heat the oven as high as it goes, with a baking stone or baking sheet inside. Stretch out the pizza dough as thin as possible on a silpat or a cornmeal dusted cutting board. Rub a little olive oil on the dough.
2. Spread the mozzarella and goat cheese on the dough. Add asparagus and zucchini. Top with parmesan.
3. Put in the oven for 2 minutes (either directly on the silpat, or slide from the cutting board onto the baking stone). Crack eggs directly on top of the pizza and cook for another 6-8 minutes until whites of the eggs are set and crust is crispy and lightly browned.
You know how somedays you eat nothing except like, pizza and a muffin? And the next day you feel ridiculously malnourished, like maybe you have scurvy? Well, that happened to me recently, and I literally took everything healthy in my kitchen and cooked it and put it in a bowl. It was delicious and very necessary.
Big Colorful Healthy Mess
1 big bunch kale, rinsed, stems cut off, and torn into pieces
1 cup tri-color quinoa
3 beets, peeled and cubed
1 small acorn squash, cut in half
2 tablespoons extra vigin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt, pepper, to taste
1. Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a pot, add quinoa and cook on low-medium heat until water is gone.
2. Meanwhile, heat your oven to 450. Grease a baking dish with olive oil, put in the squash face-down, and put the chopped beets in there too. Cook for 30-45 minutes until squash skin is black and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool.
3. When the quinoa is done, toss it in a large bowl with the kale. When the squash has cooled enough to handle (or use cooking gloves) scoop out the seeds into the trash, then scoop out the squash flesh into the bowl. Add the beets. Toss well.
4. Make a dressing with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Mustard is a good add-in, as is yogurt if you want a creamy dressing, or replace lemon with red wine vinegar. Go nuts. Toss the dressing in your big bowl of nutrients and you’re good to go.
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Breakfast perfection is attainable on a weekday: 2 fried eggs, over easy, 1 end of a baguette, sliced in half, walnut-basil pesto, and parmesan.
Oh, what is that cute silicone snail doing in your kitchen, employable chef?
Wait a sec…
Oh snap! It’s a funnel!
From fab.com.
Last week, when I discovered that my darling boyfriend would not be home for dinner, my first thought was, “pasta!” Alas, he does not like pasta very much and it is truly a sticking point in our relationship because I would eat pasta all the time and he wants protein or vegetables or whatever. Crazy, right? In totally unrelated news, I’ve lost 5 pounds since we moved in together. I whipped up this guac pasta, mostly cribbed from Oh She Glows. It was a little strange to be eating pasta that tasted exactly like guacamole, but I was hungry enough that I soon got over it.
Guac Pasta (for one)
adapted from Oh She Glows
Whole wheat pasta, as much as you want, any shape (it’s that kind of recipe)
1 avocado
juice of half a lemon
1 clove garlic
handful of sliced cherry tomatoes
olive oil
seasonings of your choice - I went with oregano and black pepper
1. Boil some water and cook the pasta
2. In a food processor, chop the garlic and add the avocado, lemon juice and a few glugs of olive oil.
3. Drain the pasta, stir the avocado sauce in, add some seasoning and the tomatoes. 0 to pasta in 10 minutes or less. Accompany with a Modelo and Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
