Kale and Hearty

It's still wet, rainy, cold and grey.  It makes me want to bake, and eat, then roast something, then eat.  You get the picture. Not necessarily a good thing!  But kale is good. And quinoa. And goat cheese.  All three together? Very good, indeed. 


I enjoy browsing through food-related websites and blogs and recipe collections.  There are thousands - I mean tens of thousands out there!  But one, Food52, is a great resource. They have weekly contests that anyone can enter, have a very useful question forum, and recently started posting articles from other resources that might be of interest. 


But I digress. What I wanted to tell you about was the kale, quinoa and goat cheese.  I found it on Food52. They chose the recipe as an editor's pick. I thought it sounded good, Mr. Smartipans was not so keen.  But I made it, we ate it and now both consider it a welcome addition to our eating repertoire. In addition to wonderful flavor, it has the added bonus of being a one-pot meal since quinoa is a whole protein. (I was not so lucky as to convince Mr. Smartipans of that, though, and we used it as a side dish to some pan-seared salmon.)


AND it's quick and easy to make. I literally completed it all in 35 minutes and was eating it straight out of the mixing bowl! I tweaked the original recipe by deensiebat, her blog Mostly Food Stuffs is a real treat.


Enough of this - let's get this pot cooking!

Get the quinoa going in a pot large enough to hold both the quinoa and uncooked kale - I used a 2 quart with a tight lid. Then chop up the kale to add about 8 minutes into the cooking.

While the pot is steaming, toast the pine nuts, grate the citrus zest and squeeze the juice. Blend the juice with the olive oil, add the zest and pour it into the bottom of the serving dish.  Then sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese and scallions over the vinaigrette.

Stir in the steamed grain, greens and pine nuts, enjoy the tangy aroma of citrus and melting cheese. Serve up or eat it out of the bowl! I know you're gonna love it!
Now that was quick and easy - and way better the than bake, eat, roast, eat road I was headed down!


Here's the recipe


Kale and Quinoa One-Pot

SERVES 2-4

·         2 cups salted water

·         1 cup quinoa

·         1 bunch kale (or Swiss chard), washed and chopped into 1" lengths

·         1 lemon, zested and juiced

·         ½ orange, zested and juiced

·         2 scallions, minced

·         1 tablespoon toasted olive oil

·         3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

·         1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

·         salt and pepper

1.       Bring the water to a boil in a covered pot. Add the quinoa, cover, and lower the heat until it is just enough to maintain a simmer. Let simmer for about 8 minutes, then top with the kale and re-cover. Simmer another 8 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to steam for 5 more minutes.

2.       While the quinoa is cooking, take a large serving bowl and combine the citrus juice, the zest, scallions, olive oil (you can substitute walnut oil if you desire), and goat cheese (or feta, if you prefer).

3.       Check the quinoa and kale when the cooking time has completed -- the water should have absorbed, and the quinoa will be tender but firm, and the kale tender and bright green. If the quinoa still has a hard white center, you can steam a bit longer (adding more water if needed). When the quinoa and kale are done, scoop it into the waiting bowl with the remaining ingredients. Toss in the pine nuts to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper, if needed.

Blustery Day Dinner

What happened to "in like a lion, out like a lamb"? March is not living up to its image. On this first day of Spring we are battling huge winds and sideways rains. This calls for some comfort food. And since its allegedly "Spring" I'm thinking bright and sunny lemons might fit the bill of fare. But in a savory, slow-simmered kind of way befitting this blustery day.


Chicken with Roasted Lemons has become a family favorite; the slow braising of the chicken in a tangy sauce made from chicken broth and white wine, with capers, green olives, and the secret ingredients - roasted lemons and garlic,  makes for a hearty and flavorful dinner.  


So let's get started.


Arrange lemon slices in single layer on prepared sheet. Brush them with olive oil; sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper. Roast until slightly dry and beginning to brown around edges.

While they're roasting, season the chicken pieces, dust with flour and fry til golden brown on all sides.

Set aside the chicken, pour off any excess oil and deglaze the pan with the broth and white wine.  Add the olives, capers, thyme and roasted garlic.  I just squeeze the cloves out over the pot. Messy but finger-licking good!

Return the chicken to the pan and place the lemon slices on top. Simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce thickens.

We enjoy this with a brown rice medley that includes wild rice.  Tried it with pasta - great for capturing the sauce.  I think some tummy warming garlic mashed potatoes would be scrumptious too!

Oh yes, we liked it. A. Lot!


Here's the recipe:

Chicken with Roasted Lemons

Ingredients

Roasted Lemons

·         12 thin lemon slices (from 2 lemons)

·         One head of garlic

·         Olive oil

Chicken

·         4 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves or 8 bone-in pieces of your choice

·         All purpose flour, seasoned with salt & pepper, seasoning salt

·         5 tablespoons olive oil

·         1/2 cup sliced pitted green Sicilian olives or other brine-cured green olives

·         2 -3 tablespoons drained capers

·         2 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth

·         1/2 cup white wine

·         3 sprigs fresh thyme

·         3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

For roasted lemons and garlic:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange lemon slices in single layer on prepared sheet. Brush lemon slices with olive oil; sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper. Roast until slightly dry and beginning to brown around edges, about 25 minutes.

At the same time, place a head of garlic in oven prepared for roasting by cutting top off, drizzling with olive oil, wrapping loosely in aluminum foil.  When lemons are done, raise oven temp to 400°F and continue roasting garlic another 25 minutes. (Lemons and garlic can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to container. Cover; chill.)

For chicken:

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in seasoned flour to coat both sides; shake off excess. Heat 5 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Brown in batches if necessary.

Set browned chicken aside, drain off excess fat from pan. Add stock and wine and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet, stir in thyme, olives, capers and the roasted garlic (squeezed from the head).

Reduce heat, return chicken and any accumulated drippings to pan, add roasted lemon slices, simmer low and slow until liquid is reduced to syrup consistency, about 5 minutes, add 2 tablespoons parsley; continue to simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 2 minutes, if boneless (or 15-20, if bone-in). Season with salt and pepper, as needed. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon parsley.

·         NOTE:  The number of chicken pieces is totally up to you; just adjust the quantity of liquid and seasonings to balance with the amount of chicken.  This recipe is based on about 8 pieces of bone-in chicken.

Soup Weather!

It's been a blustery, rainy, chilly couple of days. When that happens, I always think of soup. Bone-chilling weather requires bone-warming soupaliciousness. Soups come in so many varieties - from the left-over everything-in-the-pot variety to the cookbook or magazine favorites. What's great about soups, is that you can make a little or a lot, add ingredients and modify seasonings, whip one up in half an hour or take your time on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It's sometimes tough to know where to start. This week I let the produce in my fridge point me in the right direction.

Butternut squash! Yes - the perfect antidote to cold gloomy weather = Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup!  After further inspection, I found I had almost everything needed to assemble this lovely blend of colorful deliciousness.  So I peeled, seeded and cut the squash into wedges.

Then I did the same with some lovely orange carrots.

Next on the prep table - fresh tomatoes, onions and garlic cloves.  I left the skins on the cloves - they bake up moister that way. Drizzling of olive oil, sprinkle kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, then a toss to coat.

Why on two pans?  Well, that's a lot of veggies to roast, so you don't want to crowd them too much. Plus, later, the tomato pan contents are all going to be blended, while the the other pan cools. So, those go in the oven for a little roasting.  Meanwhile, I cleaned and copped a bunch of dark green kale.

Don't those leaves look gorgeous? These babies are the superest of super foods. And so tasty!












I chopped them in about one-inch strips, slicing down the spine of the larger leaves, so you don't end up with long sloppy greens dangling off your spoon!







Then I got out my favorite soup pot.  I just love, love, love my La Cruset pot. It holds temp so beautifully and simmers everything so nicely. Plus I get a little work-out every time I take it out of the cupboard. These puppies are heavy!

About 8 cups of vegetable stock went into that waiting pot.

Once the veggies were done roasting, the garlic cloves were set aside,

and the tomatoes, onions and their juices were scrapped into the pot.

Then the yummie baked garlic cloves were squished out of their skins and into the pot.  My immersion blender went to work and churned all this into one semi-chunky pot of ymmers.

What a difference a couple of minutes with the blender makes! Speaking of blenders - if your kitchen doesn't have this magical stick blender, use your regular blender in batches, using only a cup or two of the broth to make the blending easier, then add the rest of the broth to the pot at the end.

Next, that beautiful kale went in along with some bay leaves and fresh thyme (there's no need to tear the leaves off, you can remove the stems before serving cuz the leaves will have cooked off by then).

While this lovely concoction cooked, for about a half hour, I chopped up the squash and carrots into 1/2 inch chunks.

Once the kale was tender, the remaining veggies went into the pot along with a can of rinsed cannelini beans. This beautiful mixture was seasoned with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and a little white wine; and simmered til it was warmed through.

Can you smell it? Can you taste it? The depth of flavor from those roasted veggies, the pepperiness from the kale and the creaminess of the squash makes for a rich, warm, hearty and filling soup.

Soup, glorious soup! Slurp it up with some crusty French bread. Stay warm, my friends!

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

4 carrots, peeled and quartered

4 tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 onion, cut into wedges

1 large (or 2 small) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch wedges

8 garlic cloves, unpeeled

2 Tbsp olive oil

4 can (15 oz) vegetable broth

4 cups kale, finely chopped (or Swiss chard)

1 can (15 oz) white beans, great northern or cannelini

1/2 cup white wine

3 fresh thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Arrange tomatoes, onion and garlic on one rimmed baking sheet. Arrange carrots and squash on a separate sheet,  Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake until vegetables are tender and browned, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

2. Set cooked squash pan aside to cool slightly, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

3. Scrape tomatoes and onions with accumulated juices into the soup pot (or blender, if you don't have an immersion blender). Squish roasted garlic out of their papers and into the tomato pot. Pour wine onto the baking sheet and scrape up any remaining bits, add to tomatoes.  Puree mixture until almost smooth (you can add some of the broth at this time to make the blending easier.

4. Add remaining broth, kale, thyme, bay leaf to pot and bring to boil.  Reduce heat, simmer uncovered until kale is tender, about 30 minutes.

5. Add rinsed beans and reserved carrots and squash to soup along with remaining seasonings.  Simmer to blend flavors, about 10 minutes, Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves.