Someone once told me, “You don’t have to cook cabbage, it cooks itself.” All cabbage on the stove asks is that you add liquid and leave it alone. With a little apple, onion and chicken broth, a beautiful and tasty head of purple cabbage cooks itself into a delightful side dish which is even better cold the next day. This is a bonus because a head of cabbage is not easy to finish in one sitting, no matter how good. This purple cabbage recipe goes very well with another lazy dish: oven cooked pulled pork.

The making of this version of pulled pork is less complicated than following the directions on boxed macaroni and cheese. You cut up pork shoulder into large chunks, cutting off as much fat as possible, and put it in an oven safe dish with a whole bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce. I have used Baby Ray’s successfully. Cover with foil and stick in the oven at 250 degrees and completely forget about it for 5 hours. Your nose will remind you.

After the slow cooking, the pork will be fork tender and easy to shred. Add a squirt of ketchup if it needs a little tang. Eat this pulled pork with the following purple cabbage recipe, and potato salad if you can get a hold of it. Cole slaw, cornbread and lemonade are other good ideas. Find someone else to take care of the dishes.

Purple Cabbage and Apples

I head purple cabbage, chopped coarsely

2 small apples, diced, you can leave the skin on

1 onion, diced

1 pat of sweet butter

1 can low sodium chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Throw the onions and apples into a pot with a little bit of butter.  Let it cook until the onion is translucent and the apple is beginning to soften.  Add cabbage and broth.  Put lid on pot and lower heat to low.  Leave it alone for an hour and then come back to season and eat.  This dish is even better the second day cold out of the fridge.

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featured image credit: Jamie Anderson

Ricotta Mashed Potatoes
From Country Living

Serves: 10
Yields: 5 cups

Ingredients

2 pound(s) Yukon Gold potatoes

2 teaspoon(s) salt

1 and 1/2 cup(s) fresh ricotta

1/2 cup(s) whole milk

3 tablespoon(s) butter

1/2 teaspoon(s) ground black pepper

Directions

Heat oven to broiler setting. Peel and cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Place potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and continue to cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes more. Drain and return all but 1 cup of potatoes to the pot.

Mash the potatoes with a potato masher. Stir in the ricotta, milk, butter, remaining salt, and pepper to blend. Add the reserved potatoes and mash just until combined. Spoon 1/2 cup potatoes into 10 six-ounce ramekins and set on a baking pan. Place under broiler until browned. Serve hot.

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featured image credit: Bascom Hogue

Mini Caprese Bites

Courtesy of Southern Living May 2008
Makes 8 appetizer servings
Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 pt. grape tomatoes, halved

10 to 14 fresh small mozzarella cheese balls, cut into thirds*

32 (4-inch) wooden skewers or toothpicks

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

6 thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Thread 1 tomato half, 1 piece of cheese, and another tomato half onto each skewer. Place skewers in a shallow serving dish.

2. Whisk together oil and next 3 ingredients. Drizzle oil mixture over skewers; sprinkle with basil and salt and pepper to taste.

*1 (8-oz.) package fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, may be substituted.

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featured image credit: heatherjoan

It started me thinking.  If this combination works, there must be others!  I am hoping that others out there know some magical duets they can share with the world.  Sweet Lebanon bologna and scallion cream cheese?  Salt and pepper chips dipped in strawberry yogurt?  Tell me your secrets!

Sweet & Salty Nirvana

Take one everything bagel, slice in half and toast.

Liberally apply honey walnut cream cheese.

Eat.  Rejoice!

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featured image credit: cobalt123

The mushrooms should be fresh and not canned, whatever kind you use, and thrown in at the last minute to preserve freshness. Grocery store white button mushrooms are just fine. If you want to get fancy and make sure your chicken is nice and tender, you can pound it flat between pieces of wax paper and then submit it to a process called “velveting.”

The point of velveting is to keep the meat soft and juicy. The chicken breast is coated in a mixture of egg white and cornstarch, rice wine or dry sherry and salt, marinated for up to 30 minutes, and then cooked very briefly in hot oil until the color turns to white. It’s a process from Chinese cooking that prevents chicken breast from turning into dry, mealy chunks in the cooking liquid. If you use this process to cook the chicken, add it at the end with the mushrooms.

Tom Kha Gai
Adapted from myrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 can (14 oz.) reduced fat coconut milk

1 can (14 oz.) reduced-sodium chicken broth

6 quarter-size slices fresh ginger

1 stalk fresh lemongrass, cut in 1-in. pieces

1 pound boned, skinned chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon Thai chili paste

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, broth, ginger, and lemongrass and bring to boil over high heat. Add chicken, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and chili paste. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is firm and opaque, 5 to 10 minutes. Add mushrooms, simmer 1 more minute.  Discard lemongrass. Garnish servings with basil and cilantro.

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featured image credit: elana’s pantry

As these movies are all over three hours long, I learned that in order to avoid extreme discomfort it was necessary to stop drinking liquids at least two hours before sitting for the film, meaning that I was practically dehydrated by the end of it. But that is the work of the nerd. I was so nervous that the first film would fail, I felt it was my personal duty to make sure I attended multiple times and dragged someone new every time.

Tolkien was the kind of writer that knew the importance of food.  Hobbits love food, especially fresh mushrooms. They eat six full meals a day and snack often.  Merry, Pip, Sam and Frodo are nearly killed by ring wraiths attracted by the smoke of the fire started for frying sausages, bacon, and tomatoes on Weathertop. Sam carries seasonings, pots and pans all the way to Mordor. I did not date until college, did I mention that?

Merry’s Mushrooms

Courtesy of Middle Earth Recipes at http://lotrscrapbook.bookloaf.net/other/recipes.html

1 onion, small dice

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

3 cups small mushrooms, washed (can also use large mushrooms sliced in half or quarters)

3 tbsp. oil

1 tbsp. thyme

2 cups water

2 tbsp. arrowroot

Salt & Pepper

In a medium pot or a deep pan, saute the onions and garlic in the oil until the onions are soft. Add the mushrooms and thyme and cook for two more minutes.

Add 1 and 1/2 cup water and simmer uncovered for 15 min. Mix the arrowroot with the remaining 1/2 cup of water, and add to pot. Cook until thickened, approx. one minute. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately to hungry Hobbits.

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It is no big secret that comfort food is rarely meaty or green. Starch is king in the land of comfort food: sugary donuts, buttery mashed potatoes, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, pancakes with syrup, cherry pie ala-mode, French fries, fresh bread with sweet butter, tater tots, or my personal favorite: white rice, with anything.  Why doesn’t kale or a chicken leg give you the same buzz? You could argue that sugars and starches cause the brain to release the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is responsible for producing a sense of wellbeing and calm. This is the brain chemical that drugs like Prozac and Paxil work to elevate. You could also argue that when you were a kid, and you fell and scraped your knee, your mom handed you a cookie, and not a plate of steamed spinach to cheer you up.

So in the spirit of comfort and good cheer, I give you this recipe for baked ziti, or lazy lasagna.  It all get mixed up in your tummy any way right?

BAKED ZITI

(Courtesy of Simplyrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 pound ziti (can sub penne) pasta

Olive oil

1 pound bulk Italian sausage or ground beef or pork

1 large onion, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary (or basil), minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 large jar of marinara sauce (about 32 ounces)

1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese, grated

1 heaping cup of ricotta cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese

Method

1.  Bring a large pot of water to a strong boil. Add about a tablespoon of salt for every 2 quarts of water. Add the pasta and boil, uncovered, until the pasta is al dente—edible but still a little firm. Drain the pasta through a colander. Toss with a little olive oil so the pasta does not stick together while you make the sauce.

2.  Pour a tablespoon or so of olive oil into a large sauté pan on medium-high to heat. When the oil is hot, add the bulk sausage or ground meat. Do not crowd the pan (work in batches if needed). Break up any large chunks of sausage as it cooks. Brown well. Don’t stir that often or it will be more difficult for the meat to brown. If you are using ground beef or pork instead of sausage, add a little salt.

3.  When the meat is mostly browned, add the onions and stir well to combine. Sauté everything until the onions become translucent and start to brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary or basil, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Cook 1 minute, then add the tomato sauce and stir well. Bring to a simmer.

4.  Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9×13-inch casserole pan, then dot the surface with half the ricotta cheese. Ladle in some sauce with the pasta, mix it well and add the pasta into the casserole.

5.  Pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta, dot the remaining ricotta cheese over the pasta, and sprinkle on top both the mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese. Bake in the oven until the top is nicely browned, about 20 minutes.

Yield: Serves at least 8.

featured image credit: cscan

So on this Valentine’s Day, and every day, my advice is this: no matter how exhausted you are, how wrapped up in your own cares and troubles, take the time every day to hold your lover’s face, stare deep into his or her eyes, and say the words that make even the toughest hearts melt.

Homemade Nut and Berry Bars Courtesy of L Fusco and Sherry Mosovsky

These bars are a great source of nourishment and will give you tons of energy to love your mate!

Necessary equipment: Food Processor

1 lb dates, preferably fresh -must pit before processing

.5lb mix of salted nuts – peanut, walnuts, almonds, or whatever nut you love

2 tbsp unsweetened peanut butter

Dried fruit such as apricots or fruit leather pieces

Process nuts until they are powder.

Process dates .25lb at a time until you have four balls of date goop.

Add powdered nuts to dates and process.

Mix in fruit.

In square Pyrex, drop in mixture and press until covering entire container (we use a bacon press sometimes).

Refrigerate and enjoy.

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featured image credit: 8 Eyes Photography

Luckily, I like them, and luckily for everybody, there’s hummus.  What could be easier and more satisfying with some pita bread and cut up veggies?  There are a myriad of forms; see the recipe below for the original. 

Hummus – Courtesy of About.com

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
• 3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.

Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).

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featured image credit: Shelby PDX

Maybe it was my abhorrence of any spots on my bananas that made me feel as if I had to eat every one of those beautiful golden bananas in the bunch as soon as they lost the greenish tint and before anything marred their perfect yellow peels. I was, like many children, suspicious of adults who claimed that brown, mottled bananas were “just as good,” even sweeter than the unblemished and firm bananas that I preferred. Spots of gushy rot greeted me when I peeled back the flecked outer covering of a forlorn banana, and my seven year old self found this abhorrent. 

Years later, I still find blemished bananas less than appealing. (Ha! Ha! And Ha!) But grown-up Roya has accepted the fact that brown spots happen, that life is too hectic to simply sit and wait for that perfect banana moment, and that sometimes you have to eat the bananas you’ve been dealt and simply scoop out the rotten bits with a spoon. 

Banana Bread (Courtesy of Food network)

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

3 ripe bananas

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Spread slices with honey or Nutella, or serve with ice cream.

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featured image credit: Mike Dresser