Snowpocalypse Casserole

What is it about casseroles that's so comforting? Growing up, we'd only really have them at Thanksgiving, and that was because my grandma used to make this amazing concoction of sour cream, cream of mushroom, and zucchinis. In my recent quest to try and eliminate processed and packaged foods from my life, it's been a little hard to throw together a casserole with a can of good ol' cream of mushroom. 

I saw something similar on the Kitchn blog (which you should check out if you haven't already) and figured I could turn it into a one pot meal kind of thing. After shoveling for hours and surviving the great Chicago Blizzard of 2011, it was time for some comforting food.

This dish is pretty fantastic because it omits the can of soup, and adds shallots. You should eat more shallots. They are somewhere between garlic and onion, but milder and really flavorful. Feel free to substitute stuff, add different veggies, or make it meatless.

Turkey and Chickpea Casserole with yogurt and shallots

1 pkg ground turkey

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

3 slices bread (whatever you have around)

2 cups plain yogurt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 - 4 small shallots, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch parsley, minced

2 Tsp. rosemary (fresh or dried)

Zest of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp bouillon (or that "better than bouillon stuff")

1 cup grated parmesan 

salt, pepper, olive oil

Preheat oven to 375

Brown the turkey meat in a pan and toss in a large bowl with chickpeas

Next, add garlic, shallots, parsley, eggs, yogurt, herbs, zest and juice. 

 Stir really well, and add half of the parmesan

Next, pulse the bread in a food processor until you get small breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can double toast the bread and crumble it with your hands. Toss together with black pepper and the remaining parmesan. 

Pour the turkey and chickpea mixture into a casserole pan and top with breadcrumbs and cheese

*note, i used gruyere which was ok but a little too stinky for this recipe. Parm would definitely be the way to go

Bake for an hour and let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Quinoa

After spending a frigid week back in Chicago after sunny San Diego, I took off for the Pacific Northwest to spend a few days cooking with my mom, sister, and stepdad. Even though it's fairly grey up here, it's refreshing to be somewhere that's not covered in ice and snow.

Today, we're heading to one of my favorite towns in the Pacific Northwest, Port Townsend. Historic homes on a hill, quaint lighthouses along the seashore, and a multitude of used bookstores to peruse, it might be one of the cutest towns on earth... seriously.

As shopping fuel, i figured something nutritious and filling would be good to bring along so I started with some quinoa and added some other wintry items to complete this awesome one pot meal.

Wintry Quinoa Salad

1 cup dry rinsed quinoa
2 white onions
1 butternut squash
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

First, boil the quinoa according to package directions and set aside. In the meantime, dice the onions and cook them in some olive oil over low heat until they are caramelized (30-40 minutes). Peel and shop the squash into small cubes and roast in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes or until soft and browned.

Toss everything together in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste.

That's it! Super simple, yet earthy and comforting at the same time. It also happens to be vegan :)

Eggs are for Eaton(s)

Oh hello. It's already been a month? Props to people who write in blogs religiously throughout the holiday season.

After a whirlwind road trip to Southern California, dog in tow, visiting with everyone I could possibly squeeze in, a terrible cold has taken over my life. Adding to the misery is the fact that it's almost too cold to breathe outside, I didn't get to cook nearly enough, and visiting with friends and family made me painfully, nostalgically homesick.

Okay, enough whining. Luckily, I've had this recipe from Garrett that I've been waiting to try out. Since eggs are one of my absolute favorite things to eat, I knew they'd cheer me up. I'm generally a sunny side up, over medium, runny yolks all the way type, but the addition of half and half and cheese to these scrambled eggs may've changed my mind.

They are crazy easy, but so good I couldn't stop shoveling egg into my mouth. Seriously, these eggs embody lazy sunday brunches outdoors on warm summer mornings in SoCal. I fried up some hoe cakes (recipe to come) to go along with them, and if I'd have had a bottle of champagne, a mimosa would've made this the perfect brunch to shake of the cold weather if only for a few fleeting moments...

3 eggs
2 tbsp half and half
1/2 cup of shredded cheese (cheddar/jack mix - Sargento Mexican 4 cheese is what I use)
1 pat of butter (for pan)
salt / pepper

Add butter to pan and put on medium low heat
Crack three eggs in a bowl
Add half and half, salt and pepper
Beat
Add to pan once heated
Mix/scramble as usual
Just before all eggs are cooked, add cheese
When cooked completely, plate, add more salt/pepper to taste

Voila!

Let's Make Pop Tarts

Finals are rapidly approaching and the food I've been making is getting more and more comforting as the stress builds. Honestly, at this rate I'll be eating a stick of butter for breakfast on December 7th.

I know what you're thinking, "Pop Tarts? Really?"

I used to be in the same boat, thinking that I'd never again want to eat those questionable rectangles in a package. But every once in a while I hear them whispering to me out of a random vending machine and I give in, only to be overcome by mild guilt after inhaling them.

Honestly, how many wholesome breakfast options can you think of that are covered in frosting and rainbow sprinkles?

Yes, I've eaten cupcakes for breakfast.

No, that's not what I was thinking of.

These things are better than anything out of a package and though I wouldn't necessarily call them "healthier" since there's a full stick of butter involved, they are delicious and it's ridiculously easy to make them better at home.

Crust

1 1/4 cup flour
1 stick butter (cut into small cubes and frozen for 5 minutes)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg (cold)
2 tablespoons ice water

Filling

Strawberry Jam
*you can actually use anything you'd like here substituting your favorite pop tart flavor... I'm just partial to the strawberry ones myself


Frosting

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4-1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tablespoons milk

Crust

Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl until combined. Then, dump the butter in all at once and work it into the dough with your fingers until there are little clumps of butter all throughout the dough.

Beat the egg with the ice water and fold into mixture until just combined. Push the whole thing together with your hands on a floured surface trying not to knead too much as you work it into a ball.

Divide the ball in half and freeze for 3-5 minutes so the butter can re-solidify.

After it's done chilling, roll each ball into a rectangle and cut into rectangles.

Make your Pop Tarts by spreading 1-2 tablespoons of jam (depending on how big your rectangles are) around the center of one of the rectangles, placing another rectangle over the jam, and pressing together with a fork. Place your completed Tarts on a cookie sheet and freeze for 10-15 minutes to re-chill the dough.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the tops and edges begin turn golden brown.

While they are baking, whisk together frosting ingredients, adding more milk as needed to get the right consistency of frosting. Once the Tarts are cooled to room temperature, frost and eat!

Shepherd's Pie

A perfect combination of all things good in the world: meat, potatoes, veggies. It's not something we grew up eating at home, but in the past few years it's definitely become one of the most comforting foods I can think of. With the stress of finals approaching, and the bone-chilling breezes whistling through the city, I knew it was time to make Shepherd's Pie. 

The first version I learned to make was a layer of meat in white gravy, a thick layer of mashed potatoes, and a layer of cheese and peas on top. After ordering it at various restaurants and being disappointed, I've experimented with several versions until settling on this one. It's a little laborious, but it makes 6-8 servings and will freeze really well.

During my foray into veganism for the early part of this year, I concocted a fantastic vegan version which is definitely on the healthier side in case you'd prefer that. I'll include that recipe at the end.

Shepherd's Pie can be broken down into three steps: Potatoes, Veggies, Meat.

I usually put the potatoes on to boil first. Make sure you start with cold water and let the potatoes heat up in the water so they cook evenly.

While they boil, you can start the gravy. My grandma would actually start gravy this way for Thanksgiving, it helps to get rid of the raw flour flavor before you add it into the liquid. Dump some flour into a dry pan over medium heat and stir frequently until the flour turns light brown.

Set this aside, we'll use it for gravy once the meat and veggies are done cooking. Your potatoes are probably still boiling by this point, so start the veggies. Saute onions, until they are deep brown and super flavorful before adding the rest of the chopped ingredients

Cook everything down for another seven minutes or so until all the veggies are mostly cooked through. Set those aside and dump some ground turkey into the pan to brown 

Once the turkey is crumbled and brown, it should look like this

Once that's done, you can toss with the veggies and let it sit while you finish the gravy

For the gravy, melt two two tablespoons of butter with a tablespoon of olive oil. Saute mushrooms and onions and garlic in this for 7-10 minutes until hey start to brown. Add in half of the flour to start with and whisk furiously before adding in the stock. 

Let it come to a boil and if you need to thicken the gravy more, whisk a few tablespoons of water with some of the remaining flour until its pasty before adding into the gravy. This will make sure you don't end up with big hunks of flour at the end.

When you're happy with the consistency, let the gravy simmer while you mash the potatoes. I know it sounds fattening, but a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise mixed in with butter and milk will make your potatoes amazing. AMAZING. 

Once your potatoes are mashed, you're ready to assemble the pie. Dump the meat and veggie mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and stir in the gravy.

Top with a layer of mashed potatoes and sprinkle the top with whatever spices you might want to add. I happened to have some smoked paprika, which worked pretty well. 

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

1 lb ground turkey (beef is fine too)

2 lbs potatoes (Yukon Golds are awesome)

1 large onion diced, divided

3 carrots, diced

1 cup fresh green beans, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

1 yellow squash, chopped

2 cups of mushrooms, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

4 cloves minced garlic

1 cup of flour

2-3 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons mayonaise

1/4-1/2 cup milk

4 tablespoons butter, divided

  **Note - to make this recipe a lot easier, you can just buy a frozen package of mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, green beans etc.) instead of buying carrots, squash, bell pepper. 

First, peel and chop the potatoes before putting them on to boil. In the meantime, heat the flour in a dry pan, stirring frequently, until browned. Remove from heat and set aside.

While the potatoes are still boiling, saute 3/4 of the diced onion in some olive oil over medium heat. Once it's beginning to brown, add 3 cloves of the minced garlic, and the rest of the diced veggies. Saute over medium-high heat until mostly cooked through. 

Once your potatoes are done, drain and mash with mayo, 2 tablespoons of the butter, and as much milk as you need. Make sure to season with salt and pepper. 

Now, finish your gravy. Saute remainder of onions with mushrooms and garlic over medium-high heat in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and some olive oil. Whisk the toasted flour with the chicken stock until no lumps remain. Once the onions and mushrooms are browned, add the flour/stock mixture in a steady stream. You can thin this out with water, broth, or milk if it's too thick. 

While gravy is simmering, brown the turkey in a pan, and add to the veggie mixture in a casserole dish. Pour the gravy over the meat and veggie mixture and stir to combine.

Spread the mashed potatoes over the mixture and top with whatever spices you'd like.

Bake the whole thing, covered in foil, at 375, removing the foil for the final 15 minutes of baking.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

1 Cup Texturized Vegetable Protein (soaked in 1 cup veggie broth for 5 minutes) 

or 1 pkg crumbled meat replacement

3 cups veggie broth

2 lbs potatoes

2 onions, diced, divided

3 carrots, diced

1 large leek (white and light green parts only)

1 cup fresh green beans, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

1 yellow squash, chopped

2 cups of mushrooms, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

4 cloves minced garlic

1 cup of flour (all purpose GF flour works too)

4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 cup white wine (optional)

Soymilk (or whatever unsweetened milk substitute you use)

Earth Balance

Olive oil

  **Note - you can replace carrots/green beans/zucchini/squash/bell pepper with a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Also, nutritional yeast is usually in a health foods store, but you can omit

First, peel, chop, and boil potatoes.

While the potatoes are boiling, saute one of the diced onions over medium heat until it begins to brown. Add the rest of the veggies and 3 cloves of the minced garlic. Saute for 5-6 minutes, and add in the TVP or meat replacement crumbles and remove from heat.

When your potatoes are done, drain and mash with Earth Balance, soy milk or whatever milk-substitute you use, and salt and pepper.

Next, toast 1 cup of flour in a dry pan over medium heat until it turns brown. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Saute mushrooms, remaining onion, garlic and sliced leek in some Earth Balance. Make sure to cook this down until the mushrooms are really beginning to brown, this will give you awesome tasting gravy! It should take up to ten minutes on medium heat. Also make sure you have enough Earth Balance & Olive oil in the pan to keep things from sticking. If you are using the wine, pour it in when the mushrooms are done browning and let it cook down for another minute.

In a bowl, whisk the toasted flour and 2 cups of the veggie broth until there are no more lumps. Gradually whisk into the mushroom/onion mixture until it's the right consistency. Use the remaining broth if it's too thick. Simmer on low for 5 minutes. 

To assemble the pie, dump the veggie/TVP mixture into a baking sheet and stir in gravy. if you have the nutritional yeast, sprinkle it over the mixture before spreading on the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle the top with whatever spices you'd like and bake, covered with foil, at 375 for 35 minutes. Take the foil off for the final 15 minutes. 

Let's Make Chili!

Well it's November, and it just so happens to be my favorite month! Yes, I know final exams are rapidly approaching, and I will have to start looking for a summer internship soon, and it's now too frigid to go to the dog beach with Francis, but it's still my favorite month of the year.

Why is it my favorite month? Well, the leaves are changing color which is pretty spectacular to see for the first time, Thanksgiving is coming up soon which is the greatest holiday EVER, and my birthday is just around the corner too! I guess I could say I'm excited that football season started, but I'd be lying.

Speaking of football, last year for the super bowl my friend Stacie and I concocted some vegan chili that turned out to be fantastic. I know, it's vegan, but most of your football-watching, meat-eating friends won't even notice. Why is chili always questionable brownish/reddish/orangeish color with questionable ingredients and an oil slick floating over the surface? It doesn't need to be.

Dare I say it, this chili is healthy! If that's too much for you, swap out the Texturized Vegetable Protein (TVP) for ground beef and pour it over french fries.

Are we still cool?

Good.

Chili is as easy as slicing and dicing up some aromatics like onions, pepper, and garlic,

Cook them down for a while before adding all the canned goods

Then add cans of your favorite beans and a can of Rotel tomatoes and chilis

toss in some diced green onions and cilantro (those of you who have a strange disdain for cilantro may omit it, but your chili will not be as good)

and a some soaked TVP

finish off with some tomato paste... how cool is this squeeze tube btw?

and simmer the whole thing for as long as you can wait before scarfing down a bowl - disclaimer, sour cream and cheddar cheese are NOT vegan. Fritos are though, so go to town and have vegan Frito pie for supper.

Vegan (or not) Chili

1 onion, diced
3 bell peppers, any color, diced
4 cloves of garlic, smashed and diced
1 bunch green onions, whites and greens sliced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 Cups TVP, soaked
**if you can't find TVP, use a crumbled soy product like taco "meat" or soyrizo
1 can Rotel tomatoes and peppers
1 can corn
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
5 cans of your favorite beans
**I use 1 garbanzo, 2 red kidney, 1 black bean, 1 baked bean
salt, pepper, lime

First, saute the garlic, onions, and peppers over medium heat until tender and they begin to brown

Then, dump in the cans of beans, corn, and Rotel with their liquid. Bring to a boil and add green onions (reserve some for garnish) cilantro, and squeeze in a lime.

Simmer, covered, on low heat for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, stir in the tomato paste and simmer again for at least 10 minutes but up to 30 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

Well, I made it through midterm exams with my sanity intact, but craving comfort food in the worst way possible. I bought this pie pumpkin meaning to carve it, but haven't had the time and figured I might as well make dinner out of it.

While it's not necessarily everyone's idea of comfort food, I had this at a fund raising event a couple years ago and never stopped thinking about it. There's something about pumpkin pie spice that makes me feel comforted and I think the spice blend does really well in savory dishes.

I also like to fool myself into believing that it's healthier since there's pumpkin in it.

I searched for the recipe all over the interwebs, and even called the hotel to ask if they'd give it up. 

They didn't. 

But... I made it better at home.

It's as easy as splitting open and roasting a pumpkin

Making a simple mornay - I was going to take a picture but my hands were full.

Cooking down some mushrooms, onions, and garlic

Boiling up some pasta - I like this kind because i think it holds the sauce really well

and baking the whole thing

The best thing is, you can customize this recipe really easily. Keep the pumpkin, ditch the pumpkin, swap it for butternut squash, swap out the cheeses for your favorites, use dijon mustard, change up the pasta, add some roasted cauliflower... 

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

1 pie pumpkin, roasted and mashed

1 lb fusili, rotini, or any kind of pasta

3 cups shredded sharp cheddar

1 cup shaved parmesan 

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

2 cups milk

1/2 cup flour

1 stick of butter

1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (just toast some bread and crumble it with your hands)

1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1 large yellow onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, smashed

salt + pepper

Slice the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and guts, and roast, cut side down, until soft. It usually takes around 30-45 minutes @ 400 degrees. 

While the pumpkin is roasting, cook the pasta until al dente. 

Also while the pumpkin is roasting, cook the mushrooms, onions, and garlic over medium low heat for about 20 minutes. The onions will start to caramelize, and the mushrooms will shrink up.

Once the pumpkin is done roasting, and it's cool enough to handle, scoop out the meat and mash in a bowl with some salt and a bit of butter.

Now you can make your mornay sauce. Heat the butter over medium low heat until it's completely melted and bubbling slightly. Dump in the flour all at once, and whisk quickly until it's all incorporated. Try not to let the mixture turn brown. 

Quickly whisk in the cold milk and bring the whole thing to a low simmer. Gradually whisk in the cheese, one handful at a time. Once all the cheese is incorporated, add in the smashed pumpkin. Remove the whole thing from the heat and season with pepper, pumpkin pie spice, and mustard. 

Now you're ready to bake and assemble. Mix the pasta, cheese sauce, and onion mushroom mixture together in the pot you used to cook the pasta. Pour it into a rectangular baking dish and top with the breadcrumbs. 

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes covered with foil and remove the foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.