Delicata Squash Casserole, Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

There are a couple (among many) things different about me since I last blogged regularly:
1. I shop at Trader Joe's now.
2. I no longer have time to whip up creative meals.

...Wait a second. Something doesn't look right with that #2. It's not that I don't have time. I have pllllenty of time. It's more so that I'm distracted by other activities that aren't cooking. My life is wildly different from two or three years ago. And it's mostly internal-ish things that only I would notice. My priorities are different. I think a lot of the cooking I used to do during that time period was a way for me to fill a void, to play a role. It's not that I didn't enjoy it or take artistic pleasure in it...I did. But that wasn't its main function. I won't get into too many details, as this isn't a therapy session (or is it?). Long story short, nowadays, cooking as an art (not as a way to prepare food) is low on my priority list.

That being said, before tonight, it had been a really long time since I made a from-scratch, no ingredient list, innovative meal. The meals I used to blog about. Tonight is just a typical Tuesday night. Home from work, tired, not much going on. I just need to feed myself dinner so there's no one else's taste or desire to consider. As everything was finished and I set the plates down at my little solo table setting, I realized that this was the first meal in 2 years I felt compelled to blog about. But it's not really about the meal...is it?

I'd also like to blame Trader Joe's on the partial death of my kitchen spontaneity. That store is amazing. And so much of it is prepared stuff...like really REALLY GOOD prepared stuff. Like their cooked pastas, for example...that stuff is amazing. So many of their frozen meals are good. The curry chicken salad is the bomb, too. Anyway, it allows you to make really awesome "gourmet" meals on a time crunch. Ideal for a busy 27-year-old foodie like me. So "from scratch" hasn't really been part of my vocabulary lately.

I do have to thank Trader Joe's for my discovery of DELICATA SQUASH. Hoooly moly. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a vegetable (and I love vegetables!).

This squash is actually CREAMY. Imagine whipped sweet potatoes with cream cheese added...that's the texture (not the taste). The taste is somewhere between a butternut squash (but more intense) and a sweet potato. It is so sweet. And so easy to prepare. I just poke a few holes it with a knife and microwave it for 6-8 minutes per pound (thanks TJs!).

I had a tupperware full of a delicata I cooked last night and just wanted to do something different with it. I remembered a sweet potato casserole I made "back in the day" and figured I'd do something similar. I'm not going to even try to write a recipe, so I'll just tell you how I made it.

DELICATA SQUASH CASSEROLE

I used about 2 cups worth of cooked delicata squash. You can eat the skin, but I discarded it as I wanted the casserole to be smooth and souffle-like. Mash it with a fork until the consistency of mashed potatoes (doesn't take much). Add equal parts brown sugar and white sugar, maybe a tablespoon each. A couple tablespoons of melted butter. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves to taste. Pop it in a casserole dish, top with pecans, and bake at 325 for about 20-30 min.

Oh, and I made some chicken salad because I had a bunch of cooked white meat chicken to use up. I was inspired by a Trader Joe's recipe but eyeballed everything.

TRADER JOE'S HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN SALAD WITH CRANBERRIES...THE HALF ASS VERSION :)

I used:
Cooked chicken
Dressing (equal parts TJ's Garlic Mustard Aioli, apple cider vinegar, and honey)
Pecans
Dried cranberries

I served it on TJ's Sprouted Multigrain Bread with some thinly sliced red onions and baby kale leaves. Those are TJ's Everything Pretzel Crisps on the plate, too.

This was way too long and I probably sound crazy. Sorry!

Cheers,
L

Photo Blog: What I've Been Up To...

It's been a while since my last blog because, well, sh*t life happens. Here's what I've been up to food-wise since then, in photo form :)

My "inventive" curried tofu and sweet potato stir-fry, served over thin rice noodles.

My mom's cherry congealed salad.

My mom's savory chicken casserole. Yum!

Savory chicken casserole and rice.

Glorious sushi!

Everything was so, so, so good.

The green lights were actually very bright and flashed like strobe lights. A bit distracting, but cool. It was New Year's Eve, so I guess the chef figured, "why not?"

Red = Ahi tuna. Light pink = a fish we never quite figured out. Still tasty though!

Happy New Year! More posts in 2011. :)

Cheers,

L

Basic Chicken Noodle Soup For Two

I know what you might be thinking.  It's the end of summer, it's 93° out... why are you making soup?  Well, starting on Friday I came down with a nasty cold.  Thankfully I'm starting to feel better, but now Paul is starting to show symptoms.  Great.  It is his first week of grad school and I don't want him to feel as crappy as I did the last few days.  I have nothing to do today, so I figured some good old chicken noodle soup would be a nice thing for him to come home to.  The problem is, it's hot as hell outside, and I don't want to make things even hotter by having a pot of soup simmering on the stove all afternoon.  So I decided to go for my trusty Crock-Pot.  I know my tastiest soups have started with sweating the mirepoix in butter, and letting the soup simmer for a couple hours, but A) I have a lot of chores I'd like to get done today after laying in bed the last 3 days, and the Crock-Pot is the perfect solution; and B) it's HOT.  I'm sure this will still be tasty, but most importantly, I want it to be healthy and hearty.  And that it is.

I pretty much threw this together spontaneously, so this is the closest I can come to a recipe.  It's very interesting and challenging to write recipes for meals in which I "wing it" -- but I just make sure I pay attention to the amounts I'm using as I go along.


Basic Chicken Noodle Soup For Two [for a small slow cooker -- about 4-6 cup capacity]

• 1 skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into chunks
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• about 1 cup of chopped onions
• kernels from 1 ear of corn
• salt and pepper to your taste
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped; or 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• enough chicken broth to fill your slow cooker about three-quarters full
• 6 oz. noodles

1. Combine first nine ingredients in the slow cooker; cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
2. Cook the noodles separately and add just before serving.

Veggies.

Everything but the broth and seasonings.

Labeling is your friend.

All ready to cook.

This is cooking as we speak and it has a few hours to go.  I was anxious to write a long-overdue new post, so consider this an unfinished work.  Check back later tonight for an update on how it turned out!

UPDATE:

That's one chunky soup!

 
Turned out pretty good!  This was a VERY hearty soup -- I may even venture out and call it a stew.  But that is basically what I was going for.  Chunky, lots of flavor, chock full of good nutrients.  I still prefer to make soup on the stove-top, but this was a great option for a hot day.

Cheers,
L

Slow-Cooked Thai Chicken Thighs

I love chicken thighs.  I love Thai cooking.  I love my Crock-Pot.  Put all three together and this is what you get.

Slow-Cooked Thai Chicken Thighs for a small slow-cooker (2-3 quarts), adapted from busycooks.about.com

• 3 chicken thighs (skin-on/bone-in or skinless/boneless, whichever you prefer... I prefer the former)
• 1 cup medium chunky salsa
• 2 heaping tbsp smooth peanut butter
• juice of one lime
• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1-2 inch piece of ginger root, grated/minced
• dash of Sriracha
• big handful of unsalted peanuts, toasted and chopped
• 1 green onion, chopped
• about 4 lime wedges

1. Place chicken thighs in slow cooker.
2. Mix together salsa, peanut butter, lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, and Sriracha.  Pour over the chicken.
3. Cook on high for 3-4 hours.
4. Plate the chicken and sprinkle with peanuts and green onions.  Garnish with lime wedges and squeeze juice over the chicken before eating.  Serve with rice or noodles (I chose rice).

Before mixing.

After mixing.

Quite possibly my favorite thing in our fridge.

Chicken thighs nestled in and ready to cook.

Ta-da.

Pretty soon I'm starting a part-time job that will have me working from 4pm-9pm on weekdays.  Good hours in terms of convenience (I can still go on interviews & get a ton of stuff done during the day), but not the greatest for someone who likes to cook dinner, because I sure as heck won't feel like cooking when I get home at 9:30.  So, I have a feeling I'll be using the Crock-Pot quite a bit over the next several weeks on days when Paul won't be cooking (did I mention he is a great cook too!).  Any good recipes?  Send 'em my way ;)

Cheers,
L

Hi.

The obligatory "first post"... how shall I begin?  Well, I've been thinking about starting a food blog for a while ever since I joined Allrecipes.com.  I review recipes and post pictures there all the time, but you have to be a paying member to have a blog there, so... no thanks.  My older sister, Jess, suggested that I start a food blog in a comment on one of my cooking pictures I had posted on Facebook (she has also repeatedly suggested I go to culinary school...hmmm).  My interest and enjoyment in cooking has increased over the past few years but I still consider myself largely a beginner. I would estimate 75% of my cooking is done without a recipe (this does not include baking).  I feel that's the best way to really learn how to cook...experimenting and creating on your own.  But of course, I do need (and greatly appreciate) help from the pros from time to time!

Literally a week ago, I relocated from Philadelphia (where I recently graduated from Temple University...go Owls!) to Delaware (where my boyfriend, Paul, will begin grad school this fall). I'm still unemployed (thanks, economy!) and when I'm not job searching, I'm slowly unpacking the apartment and getting back into cooking. I figured since I have all this free time now, it's the perfect time to take advantage of it and cook as much as I can... as well as start blogging. This is the state of my new, bigger kitchen now:

I love it; it gets plenty of sunlight and opens up to a big patio out back.  Quite an upgrade from our kitchen in Philadelphia.  As you can see, last night I finally unpacked (almost) all our kitchen boxes and unloaded everything onto the counters & stove.  Yikes...what a mess.  It hasn't stopped me from preparing a few meals, though.  Last night it was my favorite way to prepare chicken breasts: Melissa D'Arabian's Versatile 4-Step Chicken.  I love this recipe because you can switch out whichever poultry, aromatics, seasonings, citrus, and green veggie you want (last night I used chicken, onions/garlic, s&p, lemon juice, and American broccoli. In the past I've done pork chops pounded thin, lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, spinach...the possibilities are endless).  And, in the corner near the microwave, you can see my mini-crockpot which currently has a batch of homemade tomato sauce simmering away (blog post about that coming soon).

Anyway, this is my little blog.  I hope to chronicle as many cooking adventures as I can, as well as our experiences dining out.  I may write about non-food related topics from time-to-time, as well. We'll see!  In the coming weeks I may back-track and do some posts about favorite meals I've made or enjoyed at my favorite restaurants in the past.  For now, here are some favorite shots of foods I've prepared:

Seared Ahi Tuna with Napa, Cucumber & Carrot Salad

Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Asparagus with Spicy Mayo Dip

Bacon-Wrapped Salmon Fillet with a Balsamic Glaze (everything's better when wrapped in bacon)

Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing (icing recipe...so delicious, tastes like strawberry ice cream)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (recipe)

General Tao Chicken (recipe)

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

Cheers,

L