Back for Lunch & Cat Humor

I'm back, two days in a row, for lunch! This is a miracle of sorts. Actually, my winter holiday starts today, and so I have the rest of the year off.

That joke never gets old.

This isn't a promise to share what I eat every day for lunch; so let's just take it slow here.

I'm impressed with those food bloggers who can post their meals and some humorous and enjoyable commentary alongside on a daily basis. Even more props to those who post three times each day. I can barely remember to shower every day (that one's for you Tim), never mind take photos of my food and write something witty. 

But back to today. This morning ended up being glorious. I walked to the post office first (I have an addiction to checking my PO Box. Too bad that addiction didn't also translate into blog posting... or showering. There you are again, Tim) to get some business done, and then headed out for a jog. 

I think I've reached a new level of boring in my life. Not the post office, or the jog (although those could both qualify) but as I was jogging, I passed all of these well-decorated houses with the most beautiful doors. Festive red doors with huge fresh green wreathes. Old doors on houses from the 1850s decorated with red winter berry wreathes. Doors upon doors. I pondered doing a photo montage of "Doors of Westminster" and then realized that I have plummeted to a new level of mind numb. 

Sorry to bore you with the doors.

After this stimulating run, I came home to this delicious lunch. Talk about excitement.

FSTG corn chips, homemade fish chowder and a satsuma orange

The fish chowder materialized after my deep guilt for my hoarder's freezer. Scary. Don't judge. It was time to purge the frost-bitten packages wedged behind the ice trays.

Most of it is packed with peaches and homemade chicken stock, but I was lucky enough to find some frozen cod and corn, and from that came this delicious fish chowder. It started out being this Eating Well recipe for creamy fish chowder and ended up something else. I didn't add bacon but used some butter and olive oil to cook the onions and garlic. I had no clam juice: substituted vegetable broth instead. I added a ton of frozen corn. The result was a thin-brothed soup. I'm not sure everyone enjoys this type of chowder, but I know I do. The gummy consistency of many clam chowders don't appeal to me.

So if you are sleeping at this point because this post was so boring (in which case you wouldn't be reading this) or if you, in some tangled and distorted way do not believe I embody the likes of a bore, please watch this video.  Then you'll agree. Yes, I take iPhone videos of my cat trying to get a Christmas bow off his head. 

Any Given Day

If I'm home working during the noon hour, lunch is usually a tuna sandwich, peanut "noodles" or some combination of refrigerator ingredients strung together for a balanced plate.

Today was no different. But today featured an old friend. Tempeh.

If you haven't quite made it to the tofu stage, tempeh might be a good first step. It's a bit more texturized than tofu and soaks up the flavor of whatever it is sauteed in (Trader Joe's island soyaki sauce). I learned that in order for it to taste best, you must steam it for a few minutes before sauteing. This removes any bitter taste.

Paired with a slice of The Black Sheep deli whole wheat bread and kale and it's time for lunch!

Question of the Day: Have you ever tried tempeh?

Spaghetti Squash Peanut "Noodles"

Bear with me. This is one of my more peculiar combinations, but I swear this adulterated version of pad thai works.

That is, as I sit here sipping on a green smoothie packed with spinach that tastes a bit more like salad in a cup than the soymilk or peaches accompanying it.

This dish manifested from a post-workout, late evening hunger surge that a bowl of cereal usually squelches. But my latest efforts to purge cabinets of random jars, boxes, and packages of half-eaten content left me with no cereal; instead, the fridge contained some sour buttermilk (I tossed that immediately!) a bowl full of cooked spaghetti squash in all its stringy glory, one scoop of peanut butter left in the jar, half a lime, and some beans.

This dish requires a bit more imagination but you'll like it. The buttermilk has no role, except that it functioned as one of the extraneous ingredients I still hand hanging around in the refrigerator, and like I said, was deposited in the trash.

Let's talk spaghetti squash for a moment. My first experience with it surprised me. I cut the giant lemonade-colored orb in half, expecting a texture of uncooked spaghetti, but found the texture of butternut squash. It amazed me that when cooked properly, the flesh breaks up into a texture quite similar to spaghetti. I know, it's the little things.

Spaghetti Squash Peanut Noodles 
(for one)

1 cup cooked spaghetti squash, broken up with a fork
1 cup kale, ribbon cut
1/4 cup peanuts
2 heaping Tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp sesame oil
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cup cranberry beans, cooked

Combine squash, kale and beans and mix together. In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, lime juice and oil and drizzle over squash mixture. In this case, squash, kale and beans were leftovers, so I reheated in the microwave for 1 minute. In a small saute pan, roast peanuts for 5 minutes, or until browning and fragrant. Sprinkle peanuts on top of dish.

Question of the Day: Any weird combinations of food that are working for you lately?

A Yeast Feast

I've been tinkering with my bread machine and a variety of bread recipes lately. When I came across this whole-wheat pizza dough in the September/October issue of Eating Well, I knew I had to try it. The outcome? A hearty (but not dense) crust that was one of the better recipes I've tried for pizza dough.

In our house, we institute a make-your-own rule when it comes to pizza toppings. I typically roll out 4 individual small round crusts, two for us to eat then and two for lunch the following day. Whatever leftover vegetables lurking in the refrigerator get chopped and the pizzas get topped.

Our pizzas held a combination of cheeses (mozzarella, cheddar and/or feta), quick homemade pizza sauce (tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, herbs, garlic), beets, spinach, onions, olives, and peppers.

Beyond pizza crusts, there have also been butter rolls made for Thanksgiving, a few hearty loaves of whole wheat sandwich bread, and homemade pretzels.

The homemade pretzels materialized from a bread machine loaf of dough. These were delicious with some honey mustard, eaten during a Pats game.

Patriots Pretzels
makes 8 large pretzels
(adapted from Kitchenmaker Pro Breadmaker Cookbook)

14 oz warm water
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
2 cups bread flour
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp yeast
1 egg, beaten (optional)
1 Tbsp coarse salt (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bread machine and set to "dough" setting. When dough cycle is complete, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove dough and place on floured surface. Cut dough into 8 pieces. Roll into 12 inch rope, and shape into a pretzel. Place on a greased cookie sheet, and brush the tops with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

I'm revisiting Zoe Francois's cookbook Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. As we speak, I have a rustic whole wheat loaf rising and ready to be baked off momentarily for egg sandwiches and toast this week.

A rising loaf of bread. A pot of simmering beans. The noises of football and Christmas music in the background. The smell of wood stove smoke from a neighbor's. A thick wool blanket. A snoring cat. The soft living room light. This basically sums up what makes me happy on a Sunday evening.

Question of the Day: What have you been baking lately?