Awesome chili

This chili was inspired by Chef AJ's Red Lentil Chili, but in the end I think I only had a few overlapping ingredients, ha.  Well I didn't have red lentils, and I had a bunch of wonderful veggies I wanted to cook up and...so it went.  I did like her spices though and followed them pretty closely.  Here's my version, and as usual, the amounts and even the ingredients don't matter too much, use whatever you like or have on hand.

Ingredients:
1 lb of beans.  I used 1/2 lb pinto, and 1/2 lb lentils (half green, half brown).
2 15-oz cans of tomatoes
1 large onion
1small bulb of garlic or 1/2 large
a bunch of your favorite veggies:  I used eggplant, carrots, zucchini, and a giant red bell pepper.
Something sweet:  1 large beet (or 2 medium) or a sweet potato or some mango or some pineapple, or some dates or some maple syrup (take your pick or picks)
spices and herbs:   I had some fresh parsley, sage, chives and rosemary
1.5 Tbsp salt-free chili powder or to taste
2 tsp smoked paprika (smoked is key)
1/2 tsp chipotle powder (also gives a smokey flavor)
more chipotle if you like it hot, and some crushed red pepper if you like it hot (I don't really).
2 Tbsp apple basalmic or apple cider vinegar (more if you want).
I forgot scallions but that sounds pretty good as a topping if you want it.

cook up the beans in a large pot (soaked overnight, or do a quick soak:  boil then sit for an hour) or open up a few cans of beans.
prep the veggies:   cut them up, peel as desired.    I cooked the beets separately because I wanted to blend them.  the rest I put in a large pan with 1 cup water, covered in foil, baked at 375 for 1 hour.  don't bother cutting the garlic, just put the bulb in (see picture).

When this was done, I blended the beets and one cat of tomatoes and the garlic.  For the garlic, cut off the bottom, and then sqeeze out the garlic--super easy!  I took the rosemary out and poured the veggies into the bean pot.  I added the beet/tomato/garlic puree and the other spices and herbs.   It was delicious before adding the spices so I knew it was going to be good.  

Here is a bowl served up with lunch.  Someone else got a brat so everyone was happy.

Zeb's Waffles

Now that the E2X Captain's Challenge is over, I had my Zeb's waffles from "My Beef with Meat" and I wasn't disappointed! Here is a picture of our waffle iron from the 1950s!

I was worried it wouldn't be up to the task because it doesn't have a modern day non-stick surface. Well, it turns out the 1950s no-stick surface works just as good. It's probably iron for all I know.  But the real reason these turned out is because this baby gets really hot! Here is one of the waffles:

I made a half-recipe which made 3 waffles and I ate them all!  (yes I am a pig, yes I am the only plant-strong person in the house). Another thing that thrills me is that this is the first time I didn't OD (overdose) on maple syrup with waffles or pancakes. I had this clever idea to heat up frozen sour cherries and blueberries in the microwave until nice and hot. They release a lot of juice and taste mighty fine too. I added 1 Tbsp of maple syrup and it made a nice fruit topping, enough for all three waffles. I was most pleased.  

Now I have an even better idea for next time using a recipe from Ann Esselstyn (not posted, just word of mouth--it's just banana, oats, water and cinnamon).  I'll post that whenever I make it.   

Cathy's Ketchup

This is really good.  I wrote a post yesterday on an instant ketchup that is definitely good in a pinch.  That got me curious to try Cathy's recipe.  It's really good.  I thought the apple would make it not taste like ketchup but it's great.  I didn't have lemon so I used fancy-pants apple infused balsamic vinegar.  I suspect that's even better!  

Now the only problem is, it makes more than I need for a day or 2, and what if it gets old before I'm done with it?  I decided to divide it into two bowls and freeze one.  I'm not sure how it will be after thawing.  I'll find out soon enough!

Instant homemade ketchup

I'm finding that I don't like much added salt.  I bought some sugar free ketchup but it has 70 mg sodium per Tbsp.  That doesn't seem like much but if I have 2 or 3, I notice the effect--my fingers swell up and I find that a little disturbing.   Now Cathy Fisher has a home-made ketchup recipe here.  I will try this sometime because it does look good.  But in the meantime, if you need a quick ketchup fix in a small amount, and don't want salt or sugar, here's an option.  It only has 2 ingredients!    You need a fancy-pants vinegar, probably apple-flavored.  Here are some websites with fancy-pants vinegars:  Cuisine Perel (they make the best d'angou pear vinegar),  Olive tap,  Vom Fass.  The other is a tube of tomato paste.  Those are nice because you can use small portions and the rest doesn't go bad.   Mix them together, add a little water.

Tonight, housemate was serving up a meatloaf dinner to her brother.  I was able to eat pretty much the same dinner, just subsituting my veggie burger (with ketchup and mustard) for the meatloaf and topping my potato with soy yogurt and chives.   It was fun. I had to pass on the dessert though (cake and ice cream).  

Speaking of veggie burgers, fat-free vegan just posted one that looks really good:  http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/09/savory-lentil-mushroom-burgers.html

At the bottom of that post are links to some of her other burgers.

Butternut squash veggie mash

This has been my favorite meal this week.   The amounts of veggies depends on how big the butternut squash is.  For small to small-medium ones, I make it all one serving and do a little less of the beans and rice.  If it's a big squash and I want to split it into two, then I do 1/2 cup for the beans and rice.

Ingredients:
1/2 baked butternut squash
1/3-1/2 cup cooked brown or forbidden rice
1/3-1/2 cup cooked beans
1/2-1 cup sweet corn
1 small onion
1 red or green or both bell pepper
1 stalk celery (optional)
some mushrooms (optional)
1/2-1 tsp rubbed sage
1/4-1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (optional)
cinnamon to taste (1/4-1/2 tsp?)

Bake the squash in the oven.  I wrap in foil (is this bad?).   400 F for 1 hour.  Let cool.  I usually bake it the night before and then put it in the fridge overnight.
Chop and cook up the veggies--start with no water, but keep the lid on.  then add water if it looks like it's burning (I usually don't need it).  Add the corn if you need to thaw it or cook it slightly--only needs a few minutes to warm up.

Peel the squash.  (I usually eat the peel as it's soft).  Smash it with the rice and beans and almond milk using a potato masher.  add the veggies and sage and cinnamon.  mix.  serve.

Here was a batch I made for lunch and dinner:

macaroni and "cheese"

(and peas).
This may need more perfecting but it was easy, and cheese-eating housemate liked it.  I based this on Happy Herbivore's recipe from her recent cookbook, but I substituted soy yogurt for yellow miso (because I don't have it and it's high in sodium) and I used different amounts of things.

Cook up some macaroni (I started with 2/3 cup dry for 2 small servings).  I used corn macaroni.  About halfway through, I threw in some peas because housemate and I love peas and macaroni and cheese.

While doing that, make some sauce (the measurements aren't exact yet)
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
2 Tbsp soy yogurt 
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cornstarch (optional, I didn't have any but it might be a good idea)

Whisk it all together, heat up a bit on the stove.

Drain the water from the macaroni and peas, add the sauce, stir, serve.  This makes two fairly small servings.  If you want more than a side dish, double the recipe.

Hash browns

This tasted as good as I've ever had at a restaurant.  I admit, I wanted to put salt on it because that's how I remember it.  I could have put a little on, but I don't want to get attached to it again.   Maybe a little lemon zest would work as well.  Or I could try celery in it.

The ingredients are some vegetables, herbs and potato.   It doesn't matter too much what, or how much.  The method probably matters more.  I used an already-baked potato (cold in the fridge), and non-stick pan.  I started by cooking the onions and mushrooms with no water (or oil).  The liquid from the mushrooms provides plenty of moisture.  Then I added green pepper.  I chopped the potato, and added fresh herbs from the garden:  chives, rosemary, and parsley.  The rosemary is a great addition.  Otherwise, you can do any variety of dried or fresh herbs.  Yesterday I used a pasta sprinkle which consists of basil, oregano, garlic and thyme.  Penzey's mural of flavors would probably be great too and the lemon peel (and citric acid?) in it is reminiscent of salt.

adventures in yogurt making

One of my culinary goals this summer has been to make my own yogurt, especially after being frustrated with the lack of organic options at the store (Stonyfield Organic is actually owned by Dannon).  

I browsed through numerous blogs with complicated steps from ovens to coolers to mini incubators...but this method is the simplest and has worked every single time (ok, so twice). 

Supplies: 

• crockpot (I got mine at a thrift store for $10)
• kitchen thermometer
• heavy saucepan
• cloth canning bag or cheesecloth
• half gallon 2% milk
• starter-plain yogurt of your choice (must have live, active cultures)

Process: 

1) a:  turn crockpot on high. b) use local//organic milk- 2% or higher is better 

2) heat milk on medium until it reaches about 185-190 degrees F. 

3) place pan in a sinkful of cold water (apparently there was some dishsoap hanging out in my sink) and let cool until at ~100 degrees F. 

4) stir starter into 1 cup of milk. you need 1 T starter per 2 cups of milk (usually about 4 tablespoons). pour the remainder of the milk into heated crockpot and switch crockpot off. 

5) add starter + milk mixture to milk in crockpot and stir. place the lid on crockpot and cover with a towel overnight.

6) in the morning, take the whole crockpot and stash in the fridge for 2-4 hrs. You can strain the yogurt after this step if you want to. I use a cloth bag I found in the canning aisle to drain about half the yogurt before mixing it all together. 

7) add fresh fruit, cinnamon, and agave or toppings of your choice. 

I like this recipe because I can control the sugar content and customize flavors based on my fruit preference of the day. The Michigan peaches have been amazing and are my favorite addition lately.

Let me know if you try this! It seems like a lot of steps, but it's really not, and once you've done it a couple of times you won't even need the recipe anymore. 

breakfast in 2.5 secs

I've never been a huge fan of french toast (maybe it's the weird texture the cooked egg forms on the bread?), but I had a request for stuffed french toast and this recipe popped up quite conveniently on the g.reader earlier. I'm trying to be more adventurous with new recipes, so french toast making began...

stuffed french toast (starring farmers' market peaches)

filling

     3-4 tablespoons cream cheese

     2 teaspoons cinnamon

     1 tablespoon powdered sugar 

     1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 slices bread (I used cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread)

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

fresh peaches (or other fruit of your choice)

Warm cream cheese and stir together with remainder of filling ingredients. Whisk egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together. 

Dip 1 slice of bread into egg mixture. Spread filling and place peaches on top. Dip another slice of bread into egg mixture and place on top of first piece. Cook evenly on both sides in frying pan until desired doneness. 

The verdict? Pretty delicious, even for a non-french toast fan. And the recipe takes about 10 minutes, so  you'll be off to the beach in no time (way waay before anyone else gets there). 

Or the farmers' market. After which you may decide to make sandwiches featuring all the vegetables you just bought with fresh bakery bread, homemade hummus, and red pepper aioli. 

I love summer; as much as some of the weather has been borderline unbearable, I know I'll be complaining when it's -3 with 2 feet of snow. So thankful to be able to take advantage of fresh food and  days full of beach and sunshine. This mostly happens on the weekend, which is part of the reason I look forward to Friday so much.

Happy weekend. Hope you are outside and eating something delicious!

the garden and other things

So the garden has grown like crazy due to the warm weather and responsible watering via the sprinkler. 

This is half of the basil we picked on Saturday morning. Dave and I made a basil//spinach pesto using this recipe. No photo as we were hungry and in a rush to make it to the Andrew Bird concert. I think Patrick Watson (opener) was actually better live. Fantastic music.

Another never-ending project...

I'm still on the search for the perfect granola bar, and it hasn't been that successful. These bars were really easy to make but held together best if eaten right out of the freezer. I think the ratio of wet:dry ingredients is something I need to work on a bit.

And continuing the minimal cooking around here: homemade whole wheat flatbreads + homemade hummus topped with spinach, lentil salad, and red onion. 

homemade hummus [adapted from this recipe]

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 can garbanzo beans + 1/2 cup liquid
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 1 teaspoon cumin

Blitz everything in the food processor. You shouldn't need salt if you use the liquid from the beans (half).

whole wheat flatbread [here are the proper instructions; i take shortcuts]

1.25 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup warm water

Mix wet and dry ingredients. Divide into 6 equal pieces (here you're supposed to let the dough rest, but I didn't really care, so I skipped this). Use a rolling pin (or bottom on a flat pan) to make the dough into a round shape (ha, or egg shaped). Grease a frying pan and heat to desired doneness.

I also made yogurt last week, and it was so easy! Post on that process to come. Get ready to make the best Greek yogurt ever.

emily

Hojo burgers

My friend Holly has been inventing great burger recipes.  She gave me permission to share.  I haven't tried them yet but will.  They are gluten-free.   One is based on a recipe by Lukas Volger, who has this book:  Veggie burgers every which way.

Holly's Pueblo CakesMakes 7 patties
 

4 cups diced raw sweet potatoes, or 3 cups cooked

1 15-oz. can small white beans, low sodium, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups homemade)

½ medium red onion, finely diced (about ½ cup)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, finely ground in a food processor OR 1/2 cup oat bran

1 poblano pepper, roasted, deskinned and chopped

4 T chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Prepare the whole poblano pepper by laying over an open flame or putting on a hot grill you are using for something else, or under the broiler.  Get it charred on all sides and then lay it to rest under a dish towel until ready to use.   When ready to use it, rinse under cold water and the skin will slide right off.  Remove stem and seed pod and chop pepper.

If using raw sweet potatoes, cook in microwave until soft.  You need 3 cups cooked to work with.  In large mixing bowl add sweet potatoes and white beans and mash with potato masher to break up the beans somewhat.  Mix well and add the onion, garlic, poblano pepper, cilantro and oats.  Mix well and add dried spices and cooca powder, again mixing well.  Form into equal sized patties (I got 7 4 oz. patties from this batch) and bake on foil-lined cookie sheet in hot (400*) oven for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for 15 more.  The patties will be golden brown when done. 


Quinoa Beet Greens Burgers
modified from this recipe
Makes 8 burgers
 

I used red and black quinoa and beet greens for this.

2 bunches beet greens, stemmed and washed (12 oz)

2 cups cooked quinoa, preferably colorful   

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2/3 cup finely chopped cooked beets

2/3 cup finely chopped cooked onion (I had roasted onions on hand, so I used those.  Otherwise a quick dry saute would work here.)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 garlic cloves

1 15 oz can no salt added chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 T chopped fresh dill

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Either steam the beet greens for 2 minutes above 1 inch boiling water, or blanch in boiling water for 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl of cold water, drain, squeeze out excess water, and chop medium-fine. Place in a large bowl with the cooked quinoa.

2. Mix cooked beets and cooked onion and add the ginger, cumin and the garli nto the quinoa and beet greens mixture and stir well.    

3. Using a potato masher, crush the chickpeas along with the lemon juice Add to the quinoa mixture and stir everything together. Add the chopped fresh dill.

Cook the burgers.  I cooked these on the grill and they held together ok.   I think next time I will just put them on a foil-lined cookie sheet or silpat and cook in the oven, perhaps pan-frying first as the orignal recipe states:

4. Begin heating a heavy ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Seasoned cast iron is good, and so is a heavy nonstick pan that can go into the oven. Moisten your hands lightly and shape 8 large or 4 smaller patties. Working in batches if necessary, cook the patties for 1 to 2 minutes on one side, until nicely browned. Carefully turn the patties over and place the pan in the oven. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the patties are lightly browned; if they fall apart you can patch them together with some pressure from the spatula. Remove from the heat and serve, with or without buns, ketchup and the works. (I thought mustard went really well with these)

Yield: 8 appetizer sized or 4 large burgers.

 

oatmeal

I've tried different ways of making oat breakfasts and this is one I like (which also means it's pretty easy).  

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup soymilk

1 prune

a small piece of fruit (or half a large one).  e.g., peach, apricot (in season right now), banana.

cinnamon

two methods to make this:

1)   chop the prune.  soak the oats and prune in the water and soy milk overnight.  heat in microwave for a couple minutes until hot, (time depends on your power setting).  Chop the fruit and add, along with cinnamon  If it's a hot summer say, you don't have to heat it much.

2)  chop the prune.  combine the oats, prune, water and soy milk.  heat in microwave for a few minutes until very hot.  wait about 5-10 minutes.  heat again.  Chop the fruit and add, along with cinnamon.

Here's this morning's with a peach:

salsa

I was checking the ingredients on store-bought salsa and, besides the usual tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, and cilantro, the two main flavor ingredients are salt and sugar.  I taste-tested a few of these, one with less salt, the other with less sugar (hard to find one with less of both); and decided I could do better.  I can, and it's easy.  But I got a good idea from the store-bought salsa, and that is to add a fruit of some sort to sweeten it up, since I don't use salt.  I'm sure there are lots you could use, but I found grapes work great.  Mango would probably be good too.

Ingredients:
1 can tomatoes (no salt)
a little bit of chopped red onion
a little bit of got pepper, or I just use a little chipotle powder
cilantro if you like it
bell pepper (any color) if you happen to have one around
a handful of grapes, chopped
anything else you think would be good

Combine it into a bowl, stir, serve. It tastes as good or better after sitting for a while in the fridge but is good at any point.

Yesterday's version before stirring:  tomatoes, orange bell pepper, cilantro, red onion, grapes, chipotle powder:

after stirring:

today's version--can tomatoes, cilantro, grapes, some chopped yellow tomato (didn't have bell peppers), chipotle powder:

summer snapshots

This rainbow shot through a humid evening downtown recently...it was pretty amazing. The warm weather is officially here to stay. Fortunately, I now have window air conditioner after coming to the conclusion that 97 degrees + no sleep is pretty awful. How did people survive pre-air conditioning?

I haven't done any races since the frustratingly hot St. Louis Half, but two weekends ago I ran a breezy 15k along the lakeshore, and Dave completed his first triathlon. Races always seem to inspire my running a little. There's just something about running with a bunch of people who know what it's like to get up for a training run at 5:30 am or sweat through 88 degrees at the end of a stressful work day; it's like instant camaraderie. I don't know if you've ever watched a triathlon before, but holy craziness...these people are hard core.

Still on the no-cooking food rule (and therefore eating a lot of smoothies and salads). If you're looking for heat-free ideas check here. Or maybe you should just eat this. The Chocolate Moose in Bloomington, IN makes an amazing grasshopper ice cream that I will replicate before the summer is over. What kind of ice cream are you eating this summer?

Dave made this wheat berry salad, which was delicious. Wheat berries are the whole wheat kernel pre-processing, containing both bran and germ. They contain fiber, protein, iron, and B vitamins and have a slightly nutty taste and chewy texture.

And my next project involves these. Any guesses?

today's lunch

Today I got back from kayaking a little later than I'd planned, and didn't know what I was going to do for lunch besides some onions and kale and a sweet potato I'd baked earlier this morning.  So I started up the onions and kale, and took a shower.  Then I thought about my work snack:  rice, edamame and corn.  So I mixed that up (I usually have cooked rice in the fridge, and edamame and corn in the freezer).  Then I thought, ooh, throw that into the kale and onions and I'll have it for both lunch and snack.  and here it is:

Easy and yummy!   Housemate wanted some too.  Here it is with my baked sweet potato, to which I added some cinnamon and soy yogurt.  

A very yummy lunch and a yummy snack later on.  Great for building muscles after my intense kayak ride--we went out in a tailwind and curiosity always makes it hard to turn around at a sensible time.  The return trip was quite an endurance test.

chili beans

These are good in tacos, or just about anything.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb dry beans, soaked overnight

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

If you want, you can dry-fry the onions first.  then add the beans and everything else, cover with water, and start cooking.  Or if you don't want to dry-fry the onions, just combine everything and start cooking.   cook for 3 hours.  Add water as necessary but not too much (to keep the flavors more concentrated).   If you like a sweet flavor, you can add a little sweetener of your choice (e.g., maple syrup, brown sugar).  I've also seen mustard included in some recipes.  

Dry-Frying onions

I learned this from a chef at a Fuhrman immersion last fall.

Heat a pan up.  I use a stainless steel pan, no need for non-stick coating.   I put the dial to medium, number 5, on the electric stove.  Chop up your onion.  Throw it in the pan.  It should sizzle and start browning.  Add the lid right away.  This will trap the moisture that's released and keep it from browning too quickly.  Stir a lot.  Then when it browns some but isn't burned yet, you can add some water and/or other veggies.  Mushrooms release a lot of liquid. Then you just cook everything up.

It's easy and makes for very flavorful onions, without the oil!

cooked multi-grain

I don't know what else to call this.  It is a bunch of grains cooked together.  I couldn't pick one so I cooked them all.

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 cup purple barley
2. 1/4 cup forbidden rice
3. 1/4 cup oat groats
4. 1/4 cup buckwheat 
5. 1/4 cup red quinoa

I have them ordered in their cooking time (longest first).  Total cooking time was 1 hr, 15 minutes or so, plus another hour to cool.  This is one of those things you do when you are at home doing other things. I was reading a book and the breaks were okay because it was one of those books that makes you think.

• Add the barley to 3 cups water, bring to boil, turn down to simmer, cook for 25 minutes.
• Add the forbidden rice, bring to boil, turn down to simmer, cook for 10 minutes.
• Add the oat groats; cook for 10 minutes.  While that is cooking, prep the buckwheat and quinoa.  I put each in a bowl with some water and microwaved for 30-60 seconds to get hot.  let sit for 10 minutes, then rinse.  why?  well, the buckwheat has this layer that turns gooey in water so I like to rinse that off.  and I'm told the quinoa has a bitter outer coating.  Rinse both. 
• add the buckwheat, return to simmer/boil;  see if you need to add more water
• add the quinoa, return to simmer/boil,  cook for 15 minutes.  check.  cook longer if needed
• when it's done, if there is too much water, take the lid off and stir and let some evaporate.  you can pour it off too.  then call it "sticky grains" and pretend you intended it this way.

It sounds complicated but the times aren't set in stone.   Grains are pretty forgiving.  It's not like baking.

This makes 4 cups:

things that make me happy when life is crazy

Today was a crazy day in clinic., so naturally, chocolate chip cookies seemed like a good idea. Made with ethical (non slave-children, as Dave likes to say) chocolate nonetheless. This was 70% cacao, but I could have definitely gone with 80%. Btdubs, I could only make these because it cooled down from 87 to 77. You know things are desperate when you're turning the oven on in that kind of heat...

This is the recipe I use 99.5% of the time for cookies. They almost always turn out. I say almost because they don't fare well when you bake 2 trays on racks one above the other. Or maybe that's just a general baking rule and something I've failed to remember from food science class.

To avoid a sugar high, I rounded things out with a salad. I don't care what Coca-Cola says...sugar makes people hyper. This ended as a fresh spinach salad with sun dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and almonds. Balsamic vinegar is great when you're craving something salty because it tastes salty but has no salt.  Then you can make up for the lack of salt with some goat cheese; it's worth it.

Elements of a successful salad:

• separate dressings/any juicy components from rest of the mix
• include all the macronutrients: carbs (dried fruit), protein (beans or nuts), fat (avocado)
• use a giant container to prevent messes 

It's no secret that sunsets are one of my favorite views in Michigan. Despite icy winters of getting sprayed with overzealous snowplows and dumped on by crazy lake effect snow, these nights kind of make everything worth it. There's something quite amazing about seeing the patterns of nature and recognizing the vastness of it. For me, it serves as a reminder that bigger things are always happening, and my problems are insignificant in the scope of a cycle that continues to write its own history. Looking forward to spending some more time here this weekend.

How is your week so far? Any exciting plans for the heat wave to come? (or tips to stay cool when you don't have central air and live in an ancient hot apartment that holds heat like crazy??). 

potatoes, veggies and yogurt

Wow, was this ever good and it was easy to make.  You can see I'm playing with yogurt in recipes...this was a great lunch after a good workout.

Ingredients:

• 1 potato (I used yukon gold)
• 1 onion (the sweet vidalias are in season so I used that, otherwise, any kind)
• 1/2-1 lb vegetables  (I had some cabbage to get rid of and I like kale, so for me it was mostly cabbage with some kale).  
• 3-5 oz homemade homemade soy yogurt  or 2-3 oz of WholeSoy plain unsweetened soy yogurt (it's stronger than home-made)
• some fresh dill, cilantro (optional), rosemary or something else you prefer (or have on hand)

Dry fry the onion (heat the pan on medium heat, throw on the onions--they should sizzle--put the lid on to trap the moisture, stir occasionally, let them brown a little, then add water); add the potato and water, cook for 10 minutes while chopping the veggies and herbs.   Add the veggies and rosemary and cook another 10 minutes, until the potatoes and veggies are done.  Add the herbs, let cool some.  Serve, pour the yogurt on top.

Here the nutritional information with 1/2 lb of veggies and 3.4 oz soy yogurt:
Calories 329; protein 13 g (12%), fat 3 g (7%), carbs 69 g (81%).

here's what it looked like before stirring: