m00se

grilled dinner

Originally uploaded by l@in.

Have I shared this recipe yet?

It’s adapted from a recipe that Joanna got from her co-worker. He also gave her a grill pan as a gift to facilitate making it. Very thoughtful.

For 1 lb. of tuna steak:

(all quantities are approximate)

1/8C sesame oil
1/2C soy sauce
2t chopped garlic
1/2t basil or oregano
up to 1t wasabi powder
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
dollop of honey

Mix and marinate tuna for a minimum of 30 minutes. Grill tuna steak on a grill pan or the grill. Lately I like to section the tuna into smaller portions so the marinade can really soak in.

With this I sliced some zucchini and vidalia onion and tossed it with olive oil, a drop of sesame oil, a little balsamic vinegar, chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Then grilled them too.

It’s yummy over rice, with a nice light beer or a glass of wine. And it’s healthy!

…posted because I always have to dig through my email for it. No longer!

Moosewood Red, Gold, Black and Green Chili - adapted

28 oz. undrained canned tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
3 cups chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 generous teaspoon ground cumin
1 generous teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce, or 1/4 tabelspoon
cayenne (I used the cayenne)

2 zucchini, chopped into small cubes
2 cups fresh or frozen cut corn
14 ounce can cooked black beans, drained
14 ounce can cooked red kidney beans, drained
salt to taste

Optional:
Grated Chessar or Monterey Jack Cheese (i didn’t use)
Chopped Fresh Cilantro (i didn’t use)

1. heat the olive oil in a large pan and saute’ the onions, garlic,
cumin, chili powder, and tabasco or cayenne
2. When the onions are soft, stir in the zucchini and saute until semi-soft.
3. Chop the tomatoes right in the can and add them to the pan. Stir
in the corn and beans.
4. Heat thoroughly on low heat.
5. Cover and simmer for a few minutes for the flavors to meld. Add
salt to taste.
6. Serve plain or topped with grated cheese and fresh cilantro

Enjoy!

Tonight I adapted this awesome recipe for Dark Chocolate Cranberry Blondies and delivered it to Hillary HQ for the volunteers calling voters in Texas and Ohio.

the recipe with my adaptations:

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 kosher salt
1 cups milk chocolate chips
1/2 cups dried cherries

Lightly grease 8 x8 baking dish.

Melt butter in pan, remove from heat and cool. Stir together butter and sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla extract. Stir in flour and salt, mixing just until no streaks of flour remain, then add chocolate and dried cherries. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is a light golden brown. If using a 9×13, the brownies may be slightly thinner, so be sure to check them early; it is better to check once or twice than to have overdone blondies.

Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Again not my recipe, but the way I adapted it. I think it turned out very well.

I made some calls to voters on Saturday, and was amazed that many of the people that I talked to weren’t aware of the so-called Texas “two step” process. Others regretted that they couldn’t make it to the caucus because they had work. What a really screwy system. Regardless, tomorrow should be an exciting day.

Go Hillary.

breakfast cereal muffins

Originally uploaded by l@in.

So I have a meeting tomorrow morning and said that I’d bring in snacks. I seriously considered popping by the store on my way into work but decided I’d make muffins instead.

I adapted them from this crunchy muffin recipe.

* 3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup sifted whole wheat pastry flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 5 tablespoons butter
* 1/2 honey
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 cup crisp whole wheat cereal flakes
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 cup walnuts
* 1/2 cup dried cranberries/cherries (or more)

:
Grease bottoms of 12 medium muffin cups or line with paper liners. (I used spray canola oil.)

Sift flour with baking powder and salt; set aside. In mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla and cereal flakes. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, stirring just enough to moisten the flour mixture. Stir in nuts and dried fruit.

Divide the batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake at 400° for about 15 minutes or until muffins spring back when lightly touched.

It makes for a simple, hearty, lightly sweet muffin.

Just in case this isn’t sweet enough, I’m also making Chocolate Banana Bread. Hope it turns out.

the other night i tried a new recipe. it was super yummy. i really should have taken a picture. i thought about it …about halfway through dinner. it’s adapted from a recipe i found on all recipes.

Pasta with Scallops, Zucchini, and Tomatoes

3 tbs. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (or more. i used more)
2 zucchinis, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/2 pound scallops
splash of white wine
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet heat oil, add garlic and cook until tender. Add the zucchini, salt, red pepper flakes, dried basil (if using) and saute for 10 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, bay scallops, and fresh basil, and white wine (if using) and simmer for 5 minutes, or until scallops are opaque. Pour sauce over cooked pasta and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

This recipe over half a box of pasta made 2 large dinners and one good-sized lunch.

Yummy. Seriously.

Usually for a tofurky roast I just use the sauce recipe on the box, but this year I decided to switch it up a bit, and looked around for something different. I adapted this Ginger Garlic Tofurky Roast Recipe as it was kind of a last minute thing, and I had no ginger - no worries, and doubled it to cover both roasts.

* 3 tbsp grated or minced fresh garlic
* 3 tbsp olive oil
* 2 tbsp sesame oil
* 2 tbsp soy sacue or tamari
* 1/4 tsp celery seed
* 1/8 tsp dried mustard
* 2 Tofurky roasts

I left a lot of garlic sitting atop each roast and went in and basted them every 20-30 minutes or so during baking. The tofurky had a really nice flavor, but it wasn’t overwhelming. Honestly, I think it was better than if I had used the ginger. I feel like it would have been a bit overpowering.

yummy lunchtime smoothie

Originally uploaded by l@in.
today for lunch I had a delicious, healthy smoothie. they’re always better when you don’t make them yourself.

5 large strawberries
1 large chunk pineapple
2 medium chunks papaya
1/2 banana
1 TB flax meal
put into blender and fill halfway to top of fruit line with cranberry juice.

yummy.

green smoothie

Originally uploaded by l@in.
It’s day 4 of eating raw. Last night I got ambitious and tried a soup recommended by 1L. After fighting with the blender a bit, the soup was blended and looked and smelled delicious. Unfortunately when sitting down to enjoy it there was something in the texture that was simply too much to deal with. The girl and I took several bites, and kept asking each other if we liked it. “It’s good,” followed by the addition of something to the soup - sunflower seeds, more grape tomatoes. The it was decided that it would be better if you had something to cut the flavor and texture - like a cracker or some nice multi-grain bread. Ha! So it was axed and we dined on pre-cut carrots, berries, nuts, tomatoes, and apples. Thanks so much for the recommendation - but it just did not work for us, which sucks since it was so pretty (pictures to come).

That said I got up and made a green smoothie this morning. After last night I was a little concerned but decided to go for it anyway. I used the basic Green and Gone recipe and added a handful of blackberries and a few ice cubes. It was delicious. So good, in fact that I need to get more kale so I can make more.

Green and Gone Smoothie Recipe- modified

* 1 quarter to 1 half fresh pineapple (i used 1/2)
* 3 leaves of Kale
* 1 ripe banana
* 4 fresh mint leaves
* handful of fresh blackberries
* 2 to 4 cups water

Preparation

Place all ingredients in blender.

Start out with only enough water to cover everything about half-way (allows it to blend to a creamy consistency). After all creamy, add more water to get to the thickness you prefer.

fried shrimp salad

Originally uploaded by l@in.
Last week I got a big bag of frozen, deveined and partially shelled shrimp on sale and since then I’ve been having fun thinking of different ways to use them. In the process of moving I discovered a container of whole wheat panko breadcrumbs and thought that shrimp breaded with these bread crumbs would be yummy in a salad. It was.

Panko Breaded Fried Shrimp Salad

Panko Bread crumbs (I used Ian’s)
peeled, deveined shrimp (probably 8-12 per salad depending on size. I think I used 9 per salad)
1 egg
a little water
basil
italian spice mix
fresh grated pepper
olive oil (for frying)
tossed salad ingredients of choice (i used a mesculen salad mix, topped with shredded broccoli stalk and carrot, fresh mushrooms, and grape tomatoes)
grated hard italian cheese for garnish

If your shrimp is frozen, make sure that it’s completely thawed. This can happen while you’re assembling your salad. It’s easier if you’re salad is ready to go in the fridge before you start frying you shrimp.

For the shrimp. Beat egg with a little cold water. Pour a 1/2 cup or so of breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl and mix basil, italian spice mix, and fresh grated pepper into the breadcrumbs to taste. Cover the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil and heat. Dredge shrimp in egg mixture, then breadcrumbs and spices and drop into frying pan when it’s the appropriate temperature. Fry 1-2 minutes on each side. Fish the shrimp out of the pan (I used a fork. I could really use some tongs…) and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all shrimp are fried.

Top salad with shrimp and enjoy.

plated seafood enchiladas

Originally uploaded by l@in.

For the past few months I’ve been fooling around with different enchilada fillings. After a dinner at a decent mexican place on U street, I decided to experiment with my own version of seafood enchiladas. I wanted to make something yummy with lots of protein using ingredients that I could easily have on hand. This resulted in using canned crab meat and tiny shrimp. They turned out pretty well. I’d definitely make them again.

Ingredients:

1 can crab meat
1 can baby shirmp
1 can black beans
1/2 medium onion
3 large mushrooms
6-8 oz. grated cheese of choice (i used a mix of colby jack and sharp cheddar. i think next time i might try a soft, white mexican cheese)
approx. 1 1/2 C. cooked brown rice
8 6-inch tortilla shells (i used whole wheat)
1 can enchilada sauce of choice
1 container salsa of choice (i used a sweet black bean and corn salsa)
tabasco sauce
cumin
salt
vegetable oil for frying
avocado (optional, yummy garnish)

Roughly chop the mushrooms and onions and fry with tabasco, salt, and cumin to taste until the onions are translucent. Mix crab meat and shrimp. Pour 1/4 can of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking pan. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a small amount of oil in a wide flat frying pan and heat each tortilla one by one approx. 20 seconds on each side. Once the tortilla is heated transfer to a plate for assembly. Place a small amount of brown rice, black beans, seafood mix, onions and mushrooms, in a line on one end of the tortilla. Top with cheese and then salsa. Fold up the sides and roll the enchilada. (You’re on your own with this one. It’s kind of a pain in the ass. Practice makes perfect. This is why you should make them a lot. Why the hell do you think I’ve been experimenting with different fillings?) Place the enchilada seam side down in the pan until all of the tortillas are used. Top pan full of enchiladas with the remainder of the enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve with chips and salsa and some nice avocado slices. And dos equis or tecate even. Corona is nasty.