Mustard Green and Potato "Puree"

So we went to the grocery store on Saturday and by the time we got home it was clear what we should make for dinner. Pictured below are the almost untouched ingredients for tonight's meal. That huge pile on the right is what 2 1/2 lbs of mustard greens look like.

So rather than have to store this huge clump of veggies in the fridge, we made it that night. The initial idea came from here:

Kitchn Blog Recipe Link

We adopted a few of the suggested changes as well as a few of our own.

This is what we started off with:

• 2 and 1/2 lbs of mustard greens
• Chunk/wedge of cheddar cheese
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 and 1/2 lbs of potatoes (4 potatoes in our case)
• Salt & Pepper

I wasn't sure how to cook the mustard greens since I've never touched them before and becuase the recipe link doesn't discuss if you cook them the same as you would kale. So I did a little research and found that you can "quick-boil" it. Basically you rinse it off, tear it into bits, and then toss it into a stock pot and turn on high heat. The water used in the cooking process is just the water that clings to it from rinsing. After about 2-4 minutes they will have reduced in size and you can transfer it to a colander before it burns. Look how small it is after cooking!

I couldn't get it all to fit into one stock pot so I did it in two rounds. Unfortunately, I underestimated the residual heat from the first round and I burned some of the second round. This meant that I had to pull out a second stock pot for the potatoes which I had hoped to avoid. But I did, and I filled up the second pot with water, salt, and the four garlic cloves (which I peeled). By adding the garlic cloves here they give a nice background flavor that is not too strong. Once the water boiled, I tossed in the potatoes and they cooked in about ten minutes, after which I drained and mashed.

At the same time I sliced the cheese into bits and melted them in another pot (except for the ones I ate). Just as the cheese melted I combined everything into our mixer and let it have at it for a bit. Look at it go....

So again, it's not the prettiest thing. Liz does "pretty" much better than I do.

And here it is finished. It's basically really hearty mashed potatoes in terms of texture. I think it has a good flavor, which is good, since this apparently serves 8, and of course it's just Liz and me. (Note to self: check the number of servings before buying ingredients.)

So here is the updated list of new things we've tried:

• Kale
• Acorn Squash
• Brussel Sprouts
• Sardines
• Spaghetti Squash
• Mustard Greens

In other news:

• We went a full week here without snowing, but it supposed to wintry mix on Monday and snow on Friday.
• I'm really cheering for team USA hockey now. I would like my Caps players to do well too, but if it is USA vs Caps player team, I'm going USA.
• Speaking of, Liz and I just renewed out Caps season tickets for next year. And now there are rumors that DC will host the NHL Winter Classic next year (@ Nationals Park). I cannot begin to describe how excited I would be if we get that.

Coming soon... sweet potato soup from scratch!

Spaghetti Squash with Sage and Orange

Happy President's Day! So today was yet another day off for me and I decided it was time to try this spaghetti squash recipe while the squash was still good. Here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.wholeliving.com/recipe/spaghetti-squash-with-sage-and-orange

Liz and I think generally think that squash is unappreciated for how awesome it can be. Up until recently we hadn't touched it outside of pumpkin until we started buying butternut squash ravioli at Costco. A few weeks ago we tried out an acorn squash recipe which came out well, so we're gradually expanding out and getting the hang of it.

To begin, I pulled out the squash and started to slice it up. I think I may not know enough about how to pick the right knife for the job; I used a 5" santoku knife and had to really push it to halve the shell. In retrospect, perhaps a serrated knife would have been a better choice. It would also seem that the squash I picked out was a bit larger than the recipe expected as I had trouble getting it to lay flesh-side to lay down toward the steam in the pan which led to some issues later. While the squash was steaming, I prepped the rest of the the ingredients - random, zesting an orange is kind of fun.

Here are some pics:

(squash steaming - it's a bit crowded in there)

(the orange, post-zest & juice)

(the sauce)

So, at this point the squash is steamed-ish, the sauce is made, and now it's time to make into spaghetti. This part is pretty cool. To "make spagehetti", you rake it with a fork so that it breaks into little strands. Here is a picture of one of the quarters before and after as well as some of the strands:

To finish up I just tossed it all together...

(yay food)

Unfortunately, we didn't have fresh sage so I couldn't garnish it to make it look pretty. I also had to sub-out deli mustard for yellow mustard. But I remembered to take a picture this time before we started eating, just in time for a recipe where it doesn't show whether or not you've dug in.

The review: Liz and I thought the sauce came out well but that the squash was a bit too al dente as it was rather crunchy. That goes back to the over-sized issue I mentioned earlier. I was concerned about overcooking it and probably pull it out a bit early. Basically, you should cook until the fork slides easily into the flesh but before it is mushy. Whereas, when I took it out when I still had to push the fork a bit to get into some of the flesh.

The flavor is very light and delicate. If you're pairing it with a non-water drink you'll want to go with something that won't overpower it. I went back for seconds, so apparently I like it (we have brownies too, so it's not just because I'm hungry).

Positive Notes:

• From start to finish this took less than 30 minutes to make
• As with all veggie dinners, there are plenty of calories leftover for beer
• The new food list increases to 5 (sardines, acorn squash, brussel sprouts, kale, spaghetti squash)

Random Asides:

• Less than one day to Men's Olympic Hockey
• I don't think drinking Coke and eating at McDonald's makes me an Olympian, despite what the Olympic ads tell me
• In honor (or dishonor?) or President's Day - this is hilarious. A very good friend happened to send this to me while I was writing this post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZfRaWAtBVg&feature=player_embedded#

Alright, back to work tomorrow :)

Alton's Sardine Recipe

So, as you are almost assuredly aware, DC has set all new records for snow fall in the last week which has led Liz and I to be stuck in the apartment for most of the week. Ideally, this would have led us to getting every apartment cleaning goal we've ever had done. In reality, when you're stuck all day in one place, you mostly just past the time. But Liz did make yummy cupcakes early on, which she'll post about later. But, today while she is at work, I tried sardines for the first time.

I was inspired by a diet food episode Atlon Brown had done a couple weeks back which included some recipes for using sardines. After the show, I did some additional research and found out that sardines are very low in mercury as seafood goes because they are at the bottom of the food chain and have such a short life span. Before the show, I had never had them, and had generally forgot they exist. And since Liz seemed less than enthused about trying this one out, I decided to have it for lunch on my AWS day. Here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sherried-sardine-toast-recipe/index.html

First off, I pretty much did everything in this recipe wrong. I had just got home from a Crossfit workout, and as I've found, cooking post-CrossFit goes better sometimes than others. Being hungry and tried is not the best combination for following directions well. As the recipes states, you are supposed to reserve the olive oil in the container, I poured it down the drain (and added in fresh olive oil to compensate). You're supposed to wait 45 minutes to an hour, I waited 5, maybe. You're supposed to spread olive oil on one side of bread, I did both. We also didn't have fresh parsley, so I used dried; no sherry vinegar, so I used apple; and no fresh lemons, so I used lemon juice. I also totally blanked on salt.

Despite all of this it came out alright.

(Again, I forgot to take pictures before I started eating.) It definitely not the prettiest thing I've made and I have to say based on the reactions that people normally give to sardines, I was prepared to take one bite and toss it, but I was pleasantly surprised when I actually liked it. The avocado, parsley, sardines, olive oil, and bread share the flavor equally; so while it has some fishy in taste, it is not overpowering. I recommend picking a good bread since that is what your tongue will hit first. We had a little bit of country what bread-maker bread left over which worked out well.

Some other random notes:

If I could toast bread at work (which I currently cannot do) I could have a minimal cook meal on a work day... if people don't object to the smell of fish.

Fullness Factor: The fat of the avocado and the density of the bread makes this meal very satisfying while being pretty healthy. Sardines are a great and natural source of omega-3s which are often left out or under-represented in most American diets (including mine).

So now with this meal, I can update our list of new foods that we've tried this year:

• Kale
• Acorn Squash
• Brussel Sprouts
• Sardines! (pat only)

Alright, back to my lectures.

Stressy Eggs

So we wanted to go to IHOP for comfort food, but thought we would try to do something fancy at home instead that was a little more nutritional.

So Liz whipped up a tasty egg dish:

(Next time we'll remember to take the picture before we start eating)

Here's what she used:

• 5 extra large eggs (beaten and set aside)
• 1/4 of a red onion (diced)
• Handful of baby spinach (cut into little strips)
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• Black pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 Cup Sargento 4-Italian Cheese Shredded

Sauteed onion in olive oil for one to two minutes, add spinach and sautee for another minute. Add eggs and pepper, cook through. When the eggs are almost done, add cheese. Garnish with spinach leaves.

It was really good and took only about 10 minutes to make.