Saturday, April 18, 2009

Kale!


So after going to the farmer's market last weekend, I've been making lots of kale recipes. And actually, they didn't end up being that different (I didn't want to make soup because the weather was warm). So I made White Beans and Rigatoni, I threw some extra fresh basil in it and replaced the canned tomatoes with a bell pepper I had cut up already, also I left out the mushrooms. It was kind of bland. I also made Bean and Kale Ragu, which was pretty good, and I took a picture, which is above. The only comment I have here is that fresh oregano is much stronger than I expected, so I did what I do with basil, cut it very coarsely and put about twice as much as it called for, and this was a bad idea with oregano, just to warn you. I cooked it down a little more.

Finally, my favorite kale recipe of the week was Kale Puttanesca. My modifications: I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned, I left out the anchovies because I dislike fish (especially anchovies) and the olives, which yes, I'm sure makes it less authentic, but I wouldn't eat it otherwise, and as always, I added extra garlic (or maybe I just used to large cloves, I forget). But this was a great dinner, a nice light, spicy pasta dish. It seemed like the perfect warm weather night food, and was complemented perfectly by mint ice cream for dessert.

Actually, I think this was the majority of my cooking for the week...

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Pseudo-Indian Feast

So I'll be cooking a lot this week/weekend so be prepared. The reasons for this: 1) I went to the farmer's market today and 2) I'm moving a lot of my stuff, including most of my pans and what not. I'm cooking ahead, so I can have a bunch of reheatable meals for the future weeks.

So today, I made Indian Flavored Vegetable Pancakes, which aren't too expensive when you go to the farmer's market and get all your veggies and spices for next to nothing and a great way for someone like me to eat veggies. I also attempted a new dahl: Red Lentil Dahl, another ridiculously nutritious for the buck meal. I used red split lentils because that's what I bought today (and I misread the recipe) and reduced the oil by a lot. The were both great dishes and went well together. I forgot plain yogurt for the dipping sauce for the pancakes, but I'll pick that up tonight, I kind of think they needed the lime flavor.