the employable chef: Archive

Fun on the farm

My new avatar is a goat I met at the Daufuskie Island Community Farm, which is an awesome and magical place, except for an incident when my sister, my mother and I were mercilessly chased by an angry male turkey and his harem. My mom made a run for safety, and my sister jumped a fence and escaped, while I was trapped in the stable with the goats and had to crawl out the goat door. Good times....

Mar 16th

4 tags

Mar 16th

1 note

1 tag

Gluten Freeish?

This is an example of something I won’t be making/eating in the near future. I recently revised my little summary to read “gluten free?” As an explanation, I’ve had generalized tummy issues for many years, that have fluctuated between being a severe problem and manageable thing. I’ve figured out most of the food that triggers bad stuff for me, and I usually avoid...

Mar 10th

3 tags

Mar 10th

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Mar 10th

4 tags

Mar 10th

5 tags

Spiced Red Lentils with cucumber yogurt

When I made this, I served it alongside the chard from my previous post, because it is another Ottolenghi recipe, this one from Plenty. Equally delicious, and even easier to adapt for a quick dinner of spice lentils and rice - you don’t have to be too precious with all the ingredients for this one, and I didn’t have all of them on hand - but following the recipe does pay off in...

Mar 10th

5 tags

Swiss Chard with tahini, yogurt, pine nuts

Wow. I haven’t written anything here in quite a long time. Sorry. I moved, I got a new job, I’m still in school. It is a lot. I’m still cooking, just not writing about it too much. Anyway, this dish is from Yotam Ottolenghi’s amazing book Jerusalem, which is worth buying if only to gaze longingly at the beautiful photographs of delicious food. Thankfully, I didn’t...

Mar 10th

Jan 26th

White Bean Pizza

(alternative title: how to take a delicious looking vegan recipe and throw a bunch of cheese on it.) The crust: Smitten Kitchen pizza dough recipe The toppings: 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed 3 cloves garlic juice of 1 lemon olive oil, several glugs crumbled goat cheese, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup 1 yellow onion, sliced How to: The sauce is basically white bean...

Jan 26th

Jan 6th

Gluten free, veg shepherd's pie

I was hosting a dinner party and had both vegetarians and gluten free folks in attendance. A challenge (rubs hands together maniacally). I took this original step of googling “gluten free vegetarian dinner party” and found this recipe from Bon Appetit. Another wrinkle is that I HATE MUSHROOMS. Can’t abide ‘em. So my version has no mushrooms and less liquid because this...

Jan 3rd

Nov 15th

Collard-Chickpea Cobbler with Cornbread Topping

Whenever I bake something on a weekday, I feel like I should get an award. Plus, this is the first time I’ve cooked collard greens, and it was awesome, if I do say so myself. I started out with this recipe from Food and Wine via the Yellow House but made a lot of changes to veggie-fy everything. In fact, this recipe is very nearly vegan, except for the butter in the cornbread, which you...

Nov 15th

Black bean pumpkin stew and cornbread

I’m pretty proud of myself for this one - especially since I made the stew without a recipe. I would call the stew “chili,” but I know people get fussy about what does or does not qualify as chili, so let’s chill out (or chili out?) and call it stew. And I carried on despite a nasty burn on my hand while taking the cornbread out of the oven. You can see the edge of it in...

Oct 7th

Beer Bread

I was in the mood for a savory quick bread last week. The claim behind beer bread is that the yeasty-ness of the beer can act as a leavening agent - however, this alone would make a pretty gross bread without additional baking soda or powder or yeast. Flavor-wise beer adds a nice molasses-y taste to the bread, especially if you use flavorful beers. I can’t imagine a can of natty boh would...

Sep 23rd

Sep 9th

Veggie Sausage Pizza and Margaritish Pizza

Two delicious pizzas, made with whole wheat crust sans rosemary. Brush crust with olive oil before adding toppings, and cook in a 500 degree oven for 10-12 minutes on a pizza stone: 1) Veggie Sausage Pizza Topped with chopped red and green bell peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, crumbled goat cheese and tofurkey italian sausage sliced thin. 2) Margaritish Pizza Topped with shredded...

Sep 9th

Aug 19th

Heirloom tomato and cucumber salad

I’ve fallen off on the posts lately. One reason is that I’m commuting 2 hours each way to my job this summer, and it tends to eat up some of the time I used to spend messing around in the kitchen. The other reason, which would be true no matter where I worked, is that during the summer produce is so good that you don’t have to mess with it. This lends itself to delicious dinners,...

Jul 29th

Goat Cheese Pesto

This is an amazing non-traditional basil pesto I made the other night based on what was in my fridge: Goat Cheese Pesto 1 1/2 cups basil leaves 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese handful of walnuts a 3-4 second glug of extra virgin olive oil salt, pepper to taste Put in the food processor, adjust ingredient ratios to your taste. We used this as a dressing for a tomato/mozz salad.

Jul 29th

Green Stuff

A typical dinner for us is whatever vegetables we have, in the skillet, plus garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and rice. This iteration was very green and very tasty: Green Stuff Bunch of Asparagus Bunch of snap peas 1 onion 3 cloves garlic 1 inch piece of ginger ramps (these guys) coconut oil, splash of sesame oil, soy sauce to taste juice from 1/2 a fresh lime cooked brown rice, or rice...

Jun 6th

Strawberry Bonanza

So many springtime strawberries! What to do with them all? 1. Smitten Kitchen’s Strawberry Summer Cake Amazing. Total Crowd Pleaser. 2. Fuss Free Cooking’s Strawberry Syrup Pancakes. French Toast. Cocktails. Spritzers. No limits. 3. Tide and Thyme’s Strawberry Yogurt Cake - no picture because I really messed this one up. Totally my own fault because I took the cake out...

Jun 6th

Prelude to cheese

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...

May 22nd

Grocery store flower arranging: 101

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

May 22nd

Lemon Ginger Garlic Asparagus

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?

May 22nd

Spring Frittata

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,...

May 16th

Asian-Fusion Noodles with Chicken

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...

May 15th

Pizza Primavera

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...

May 15th

Big Colorful Healthy Mess

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...

Apr 28th

New Kitchen Gadget

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.

Apr 28th

Guac Pasta (for one)

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...

Apr 20th

Sweet Potato Black Bean Quesadilla with Swiss...

These are great for dinner and lunch the next day. I made the original recipe a little simpler by opting out of the chipotle roasting bit, but check it out if that seems up your alley. The swiss chard pesto is a really fun touch, and it makes you feel like your quesadilla is nearly healthy! Sweet Potato Black Bean Quesadilla with Swiss Chard Pesto Adapted from Closet Cooking 1 large/2 small...

Apr 19th

Cornbread Waffles

Cornbread and waffles, together at last. A lot of recipes suggest serving these with chili, but we just had them for breakfast. They’re really great when one person wants a savory breakfast, and the other person is in the mood for sweet. The cornmeal adds a little crunch and flavor to the traditional waffle situation. I’ll definitely be making these again. Savory Cornbread Waffles...

Apr 7th

Last night's dinner: Saag Tofu →

Apr 6th

Apr 4th

Chocolate-Chip Banana Muffins

These muffins were fun to throw together - I only had 1 banana, so I supplemented with plain yogurt and applesauce. They make a great afternoon snack. Enjoy! Chocolate-Chip Banana Muffins Inspired by Food.Com 1 ripe banana, cut into chunks 3/4 cup plain yogurt 3/4 cup applesauce 2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 egg 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2...

Apr 4th

Beet Burgers

Another great vegan recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen - these veggie burgers might be my favorite ever. The beets and lentils give it a real meaty taste and feel. Unlike a lot of veggie burgers which use egg as a binder, these use almond butter - I’m sure peanut butter would work just as well. Genius and you can’t really taste it. Recipe: Beet Burgers from the Post Punk Kitchen ...

Mar 21st

Vegetarian Enchiladas

These are great for a party/potluck, or make it all for yourself and freeze the leftovers individually wrapped for later. Vegetarian Enchiladas Makes 4-6 servings 6-8 small corn tortillas 2 cans black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed 1 onion, diced 1 green pepper, diced 1 red pepper, diced 1 small zucchini, diced 3/4 cup frozen corn 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 can red enchilada sauce...

Mar 21st

Red Velvet Birthday Cupcakes

My significant other has a leap day birthday, so this year I tried to make it extra special for him. One way I did this was by making surprise red velvet cupcakes - his favorite flavor. Red velvet is one of those crazy flavors where I’m still not sure if the vinegar and the cocoa powder and whatever results in a really different flavor, or if it’s all your brain going “red!...

Mar 4th

Feb 23rd

6 notes

Whole-Wheat Rosemary Pizza Crust and Arugula White...

This pizza basically made my weekend. The flavor combinations are incredible. The inspiration for the pizza came from a number of sources - my friend Scott made a rosemary pizza crust and topped it with beets and goat cheese, I’d previously made a delicious white pizza with arugula from Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (hail Ina, full of grace…), and I turn to Mark Bittman whenever...

Feb 20th

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Post Punk Kitchen has the recipe, but I have the photos! Put them together, then be inspired to go make some moist, delicious vegan muffins. I like baking vegan, because it is a challenge, and it makes my vegan friends happy, but now it just forces me to admit that my life is basically Sh*t White Feminists Say. “Heteronormativity! Oh my god, you have to try this vegan banana bread!” ...

Feb 20th

Quinoa-stuffed Acorn Squash

Tragically I don’t have any pictures of this dish, because I was cooking with friends and it simply won’t do to be hovering over the food snapping pictures while there are guests to entertain. But, everyone loved this dish from what I can tell, so just trust me on this. Quinoa-stuffed Acorn Squash Serves 5-6 3 small-medium acorn squash 2 cups quinoa 2 cups vegetable broth 2 cups...

Feb 12th