Recipes – Page 6 – Best for the Moment

Good Things in Small Packages: Mushroom Quinoa

May 28, 2014January 2, 2020Posted in Dairy-free, RecipesTagged carrots, green onions, mushrooms, peas, quinoa, spinach, veggieLeave a comment

I’m always on the lookout for healthy ingredients that don’t require refrigeration, or at least have a long shelf life, especially for weeknight dinners. So I was pleasantly surprised to find a $5 bag of dried Maitake mushrooms at the non-frugal Ferry Building and a bag of ready-to-cook red quinoa at a nearby market. Bingo!

First, soak the mushrooms in hot water for 15-30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the quinoa according to instructions, and prep your ingredients of choice. I sautéed minced garlic with chopped green onions and carrots in olive oil, before stirring the mushrooms in. I added spinach directly to the pot of quinoa, and microwaved frozen peas, before pouring in the sauté mixture. For seasoning, I used a generous sprinkling of salt and a couple shakes of fish sauce.

Basically, use your imagination and enjoy guilt-free!

One-Pan Leftover Pasta Revival

May 26, 2014January 2, 2020Posted in Dairy-free, RecipesTagged chicken apple sausage, Leftovers, pasta, roasted red peppersLeave a comment

While I could eat pasta in any form – cold, warm or otherwise – leftovers can be uninspiring as a dinner option for some. Here’s how chicken apple sausage can give previously cooked pasta a new lease on life by providing ample seasoning and one-pan convenience, along with a jar of roasted red peppers.

Sauté sliced chicken apple sausage in olive oil. Using a fork, lift roasted red peppers from the jar and place in pan with sausage. Slice peppers with spatula while cooking, if desired. When both sausages and peppers are warmed through, add leftover pasta and stir to coat.

Beg, Borrow & Meal: Cucumber Salad

May 26, 2014January 2, 2020Posted in RecipesTagged cucumber, dill, goat milk, yogurtLeave a comment

This weekend we enjoyed the summer-like weather, by noshing on a refreshing cucumber & dill salad at local watering hole, Low Brau.

At home, I recreated a version of my own using goat milk yogurt, tomato and green onions.

Mix two large spoonfuls of yogurt with one peeled and sliced cucumber, one sliced tomato, and 3 chopped green onions. Season with salt and pepper. As easy to prepare as it sounds!

Spinach Breakfast Burrito

May 10, 2014January 2, 2020Posted in RecipesTagged Breakfast burrito, eggs, goat milk yogurt, spinachLeave a comment

After indulging in some incredible NOLA cuisine, I needed a light Saturday breakfast that would bring me back to reality. Enter spinach. Specifically spinach that was set to expire that day. So I used it up in a healthy breakfast burrito…

Just sautée a batch of fresh, washed spinach in olive oil or butter and season with salt. Crack two eggs and cook on low until set to your preferred doneness; sprinkle with salt. Pour the mixture onto a tortilla and wrap like a burrito. I had mine with goat milk yogurt for dipping.

And in case you were wondering about the aforementioned New Orleans food adventures, here’s a peek:

Dairy Goat Grub

March 29, 2014January 2, 2020Posted in RecipesTagged chevre, cypress grove, goat cheese, goat milk yogurt, humboldt fog, jollity farms, redwood hill farm, surfing goat dairy, truffle tremorLeave a comment

On my journey to find greener pastures to replace cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, and triple-cream brie, I’ve only encountered one or two trolls. But rather than resort to bland soy or tofu substitutes, I’ve happily swapped in goat cheese for cream cheese, goat milk yogurt for sour cream, and continued to indulge in addictive gourmet chevre that will dominate any cheese board. Burritos and bagels, rejoice!

For those of you trying to cross that bridge, here’s some of my favorite dairy goat grub:

Redwood Hill Goat Milk Yogurt – my most recent discovery, easily ordered with Safeway.com deliveries.
Cypress Grove Chevre – Humboldt Fog, Truffle Tremor…enough said, you can thank me later.
Surfing Goat Dairy – a fun agri-tourism destination in Maui, especially when paired with the Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm, Haleakala and Mama’s Fish House.
Jollity Farms at the Midtown Farmer’s Market – an easily spreadable option for bagels and crackers.

Once you make the switch – oh, the places you’ll go! Here are my recipes featuring goats milk substitutions.

With that, I’ll leave you with a sleeping baby goat at Surfing Goat Dairy:

Corned Pork & Colcannon in the Crock Pot

March 16, 2014January 2, 2020Posted in RecipesTagged colcannon, corned beef, Irish, peppercorns, spinach, St. Patrick's DayLeave a comment

I love a good Irish meal, but don’t love picking over the leftover processed and packaged corned beef in the grocery aisle. So I decided to try seasoning pork tenderloin with the same flavors as the traditional St. Patty’s meal. With potatoes, carrots and broccoli near expiration, I was in a decent position to emulate Colcannon to round out the meal.

Here’s how:

Use a peppercorn grinder to coat all sides of each loin in the crock pot.

Make a paste of about 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard and garlic cloves (I used 2 cloves, but feel free to go big). Spread the paste on all sides of each loin. Cook on low for 4 hours.

Shred the pork in the crock pot. Then, add a layer of peeled potatoes, baby carrots and broccoli florets. Cook for 2+ hours on low (at 2 hours in, the potatoes and carrots were still somewhat firm). Separate and mash the potatoes, carrots and broccoli with 1 cube of melted butter and 1 cup of heated almond milk. Salt as desired.

This Irish girl was happy with the flavors of the dish, but my non-Irish husband added BBQ sauce. Slainte!

Oscar Remix: Crock Pot Almond Milk Pulled Pork

March 2, 2014January 2, 2020Posted in RecipesTagged almond milk, crock pot, mashed potatoes, pork tenderloinLeave a comment

In 2009, it was raining on Oscar Sunday, so I whipped up a milk-braised pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes dinner using ingredients on hand in our tiny SF apartment. Last year, same occasion, I swapped in almond milk and added pappardelle. Today, it’s act III, but the crock pot is now playing a lead role in my kitchen.

To the crock pot, add pork tenderloin and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Add about 1 cup of chicken broth and 2 cups of almond milk. Cook on high for 4 hours (or low for 6-8), or until pork can be easily separated with forks.

Optional mashed potatoes:

Midway through cooking the pork, place 4 peeled russet potatoes around or on top of the pork. Cook for 2 hours, and flip halfway through. Remove potatoes and mash with melted butter and almond milk. Season with salt & pepper, and stir in green onions. Keep warm in the oven at 200 degrees, as needed.

Served pulled pork over a bed of mashed potatoes; ladle juices over the top.

Pin Real Life: Barley & Baked Eggs Brunch

March 1, 2014January 3, 2020Posted in RecipesTagged baked eggs, barley, brunch, green onions, spinachLeave a comment

It’s Sacramento Beer Week, so what better time to celebrate barley? Actually, that wasn’t really the motivation for this. The real story is that we’re going to be drinking a lot of beer to celebrate a certain Beer, so a healthy and hearty brunch is in order.

I’ve been wondering what to do with the pearled barley I was inspired to purchase at some point. So naturally, Pinterest provided a solution, Skillet Barley with Kale & Eggs.

I swapped in green onions for shallots, spinach for kale, and chicken broth for vegetable broth, in this adaptation:

Add 2 sliced green onions to 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat; cook for 2 minutes.

Add 1 cup barley; stir to toast for 1 minute.

Add 3.5 cups broth (I used organic chicken broth) and bring to boil; adjust temperature as needed to maintain active boil for 15 minutes, and ultimately you want the barley to soak up all the liquid.

Turn on the broiler with the rack 6 inches below.

Stir in a bunch of spinach (I used half a bag) until wilted. Add another swirl of olive oil to help the process along.

Crack 4 eggs over the top; season with salt, and broil until egg whites are opaque. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.

I was very happy with the results, because I like grains any time of day, and the dish had the right amount of flavor. David isn’t as convinced about the barley. But the eggs were perfectly runny at least!

Embarrassingly Easy Meatball Lasagna

February 25, 2014January 2, 2020Posted in RecipesTagged lasagna, marinara, meatballs, pasta, spinachLeave a comment

One of my favorite things about the Sopranos was how they didn’t mess around when it came to food. Feisty Carmella always served up hearty pasta dishes for the family, even when she and Tony were on limited speaking terms. But I digress.

Tonight I was looking for something similarly no nonsense. So I pulled meatballs out of the fridge, and found marinara sauce and lasagna noodles in the cupboard. Bada boom! Basic ingredients for an easy Italian dinner.

The only curve ball was that I had 6 lasagna noodles. Hardly enough for a typical layered lasagna. So here’s what I did:

-Butter the pan; add three lasagna noodles.
-Pour a layer of marinara sauce, followed by pre-cooked meatballs and spinach leaves. Cover with sauce and a layer of shredded cheese.
-Ideally, here’s where you repeat another layer or two.
-Top with final layer of noodles, sauce and shredded cheese.
-Bake covered at 375 for 45 minutes, or until noodles are tender. Finish by baking uncovered until cheese is adequately melted.

David ate a Tony-size portion, so I’d say it was a success.

Pin Real Life: Veggie Scramble

February 22, 2014January 2, 2020Posted in Dairy-free, RecipesTagged broccoli, carrots, Cauliflower, eggs, garlic, tomatoes, veggie scrambleLeave a comment

There’s Pinterest, and then there’s real life. There are farm fresh eggs and vegetable gardens, and then there are potatoes sprouting limbs and eggs about to expire. So today’s brunch creation was a marriage of fantasy and reality.

Inspired by this lovely pin, I was thrown a curve ball when I pulled some scary looking potatoes out of the cupboard. My plan B was to pull some frozen veggies out of the freezer, and go from there.

-Swirl some olive oil in a pan over medium heat, add one chopped clove of garlic
-Pour 3/4 quarters of a bag of frozen veggies, and a handful of frozen breakfast sausages into the pan and cover
-Note: Cut the sausages into slices either before they go in the pan, or after they’ve thawed a bit, like I did (PS – I really like Applegate)
-Once the veggies and sausages are cooked through, crack 4 eggs over the top, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low
-Once egg whites are opaque, remove lid, turn off heat; optionally, sprinkle with shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, or salt and pepper as desired

Part Pinterest, part real life, and totally easy!

Category: Recipes

Good Things in Small Packages: Mushroom Quinoa

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One-Pan Leftover Pasta Revival

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Beg, Borrow & Meal: Cucumber Salad

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Spinach Breakfast Burrito

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Dairy Goat Grub

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Corned Pork & Colcannon in the Crock Pot

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Oscar Remix: Crock Pot Almond Milk Pulled Pork

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Pin Real Life: Barley & Baked Eggs Brunch

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Embarrassingly Easy Meatball Lasagna

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Pin Real Life: Veggie Scramble

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