Mexican Chocolate Shortbread

I don't really have the patience for baking, unless I make plans for it. Sometimes you just want Christmas cookies and don't want to put in much effort. This is why shortbread exists! I recently received a free jar of cocoa from my last Penzey's order, and got an idea...

This spicy chocolate shortbread is a conglomeration of various recipes I found online (as is my style). You could add more ancho powder to make the heat more pronounced (or use chipotle, or add some cayenne), but this is a pretty subtle warmth. Not too sweet and makes a smallish recipe (perfect for NOT sharing, if that's how you roll).

- Cream 2 sticks of butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar (I used salted butter, if you use unsalted add maybe 1/4 tsp of salt to the recipe).
- Whisk together 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or more) and about 3/4 tsp ancho chile powder. Add to the butter/sugar and mix until combined.
- Line an 8" square pan with plastic wrap (wax or parchment paper might be better, but I didn't have any, and plastic wrap worked). Dump the dough in the pan and press in until flattened.
- Chill dough until firm but not totally hard (I did 20 mins in fridge and 10 in freezer 'cause I was getting impatient).
- Lift dough out by the wrap and cut the square in half. Then cut each half into 8 rectangles. [ If I made this again, I would cut those further in half for smaller pieces (easier to transport without breaking, and these are pretty rich) ]. Prick dough all over with a fork and sprinkle with sugar. Transfer pieces to a cookie sheet.
- Bake at 325 for about 25 minutes.

Roasted Root Salad

This salad is a great example of why I love the CSA. I would never go out and buy all these ingredients to make this - but since they happened to be here, it came together. Planning and shopping continues to be the biggest "roadblock" to eating healthy for me...if the ingredients are in the house, I will make something!

We had several "baby roots" from the last couple of weeks: striped beets, purple-skinned radishes and turnips (I think). I halved or quartered these, tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper and garlic powder, and roasted at 425 for 15 minutes. The greens are all from the CSA: two types of lettuce and arugula. I added some cherry tomatoes, fresh cherries, feta cheese and pistachios. The dressing I've been making lately is just good olive oil, lemon juice, a little bit of dijon mustard & maple syrup, and salt & pepper.

Spring Salad with Roasted Chickpeas

Our CSA started today! No surprise, we got pretty much all leafy green things: two types of kale, collards, spinach, two types of lettuce that looked like roses (there was a fancy name on the checkoff sheet I didn't remember), baby turnips (or are these white radishes...I never remember!), and garlic scapes. I was hoping we'd get strawberries, but nope. We've had a lot of rain and I wonder if that affected the strawberry crop.

  

I figured a salad would be in order for dinner tonight. I've been wanting to make roasted chickpeas as they seem pretty easy, and I had some commercial packaged ones that were delish a little while ago. The method is pretty easy: rinse and drain a can (or two) of chickpeas and dry well on towels. Coat with olive oil & season with salt and whatever other spices you like. I used smoked paprika and a little cayenne; I will probably try something more exciting next time. Roast at 425-450 for 15-20 minutes or until browned and crisp.

For the salad I used the two lettuces, some spinach and some sliced garlic scapes (they are like potent green onions), cucumbers and tomatoes from the store, and I topped with the chickpeas and some goat cheese.

Dressing: a small dab each of dijon mustard and pomegranate molasses, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper and olive oil.

Vegan Black Bean & Rice Bowls

This has been my go-to easy/cheap dinner recently. You can add other vegetables, change up the spices, etc. Vegans look away - I've also been known to add cooked bacon to the beans if I have some around. Cilantro is also your friend, if you have some. This makes about 3 generous servings.

- Start a pot of jasmine rice - I use 1.5 cups of rice and 2.5 cups water. Cook for 15 minutes and let it steam off-heat while you finish the beans.

- Saute a small chopped onion in olive oil until translucent. Add some chopped garlic and half a diced bell pepper.

- Rinse and drain a can of black beans and add to the pan. Season generously with chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper. If I'm drinking a beer I'll add a splash of it at this point, or even some red wine to make it a little saucier. Also a blob of salsa.

- Add some frozen corn, cover and simmer on low heat for a few minutes.

- Serve over rice and top with chopped avocado & diced pineapple. Douse liberally with Cholula or your favorite hot sauce (but you should use Cholula!).

Also I serve this "bowl" on a plate because I don't have any bowls big enough to spread out the deliciousness!

Spicy Pineapple Chicken

I've been on a fresh pineapple kick lately. I never used to buy them - I think because I was intimidated about cutting them (it's not that hard!), and I thought they were expensive (not really...$3-4, and you get a lot of fruit). Mostly I've just been eating it as a snack, but I thought I'd make a chicken stir-fry with the remaining bits of last week's fruit. You could certainly used canned pineapple too. I don't really go for the super-sweet gloppy sauce, but this one has a nice balance of savory/hot/sweet. You could add cornstarch to the sauce if you want it thicker, but I didn't bother.

- Cut chicken breasts or boneless thighs into bite-size pieces and marinate in a little soy sauce (and any spice you like...I used some Penzey's Bangkok Blend) while you prepare the rest:

- Cut a sweet onion, red bell pepper and a small zucchini into medium-size pieces. Grate a bunch of fresh ginger and mince a couple garlic cloves.

- For the sauce, stir together a generous tablespoon each of hoisin sauce and orange marmalade (or honey/maple syrup/brown sugar), a bit of rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil & Sriracha. If using canned pineapple, you can add the juice. Stir in about 3/4 cup of chicken broth. 

- Stir-fry the chicken in a bit of oil until just cooked, and remove to a bowl.

- Add a little more oil and stir-fry the vegetables for a couple minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, and about a cup of pineapple chunks; cook for a couple more minutes.

- Add the chicken back in and pour in the sauce. Heat through, add more soy sauce and/or Sriracha if you like, and serve over jasmine rice.

I added some chives (green onion would be good) and garnished with black sesame seeds.

Spanish Chorizo, Chickpea & Potato Stew

I visited a Spanish market in Williamsburg this weekend and picked up some real chorizo (also got some good olive oil, smoked paprika and some Tempranillo wine). Decided to make this when I got home. I added some asparagus and zucchini - probably not very Spanish, but they needed to be used. You could certainly add whatever veggies you like - spinach or other leafy greens would be good. Serve with some good bread for dippin'!

- Halve and peel an onion, and cut into slices. In a large pot, saute onion in olive oil until soft.

- Slice some chorizo and add to the onions. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add some minced garlic.

- Add a good amount of smoked paprika and some cumin. Stir and cook for about a minute. Optional: add about half a cup of red wine and cook for another minute.

- Cube 3 medium potatoes and add to pot along with a can of diced tomatoes. Add one can of water which should just about cover everything; cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

- Add 1 can of chickpeas (drained & rinsed) and any additional vegetables. Cover & simmer for about 10 minutes, until everything is cooked. Add a splash of lemon juice, some freshly ground pepper, and taste for salt.

Maple-Mustard Salmon with Quinoa & Roasted Broccoli

I gotta remember this one, 'cause it was super easy and the ingredients are all frozen/pantry items. Good healthy dinner even when you don't have fresh fish/produce. I was a little skeptical about roasting broccoli from frozen, but The Internet Said It Was OK - and it was. I still prefer fresh broccoli for roasting but this was decent.

I picked up cheap frozen salmon at Aldi, which I always forget to go to and have to be reminded that they have awesome cheap things. Their quinoa was only $3/bag, too.

About the air-dried shallots - this was a freebie from Penzey's in my last order and I love them! You could leave them out, or probably used minced dried onion, or not. Just plain cooked quinoa is fine.

I totally did not measure the sauce ingredients - this is a guesstimate and I also had extra sauce.

I cooked the broccoli in the regular oven, and the salmon in my toaster/convection oven (easy to see when it's done) - but you could do both in the regular oven. Also, if you foil-line the pans, easy cleanup!

Serves two, with leftover quinoa.

For the broccoli:

- Preheat oven to 425. Line a sheet pan with foil.

- Dump out 1 package of frozen broccoli. Drizzle with a couple tablespoons olive oil and some salt, pepper & garlic powder.

- Roast for about 20 minutes, until browned (broil for a couple minutes at the end if it's not browned).

For the quinoa:

- Rinse 1 cup quinoa & add to a pot with 1 1/2 cups water.

- Bring to a boil, add some salt and a handful of air-dried shallots (optional).

- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

For the salmon:

- Thaw two frozen salmon filets (you can probably cook from frozen too, just takes a little longer) & place on a foil-lined sheet pan greased with a little olive oil.

- Mix sauce in a small bowl: 1 Tbl dijon mustard, 1 Tbl maple syrup, a dab of mayonnaise (I'll probably try this without the mayo next time; not sure if it made a difference), a dash of salt & pepper, and some smoked paprika.

- Spoon a thin coating of sauce onto each filet.

- Bake at 425 til just done (my filets were thin and only took about 7 minutes).

Serve the salmon over the quinoa and drizzle with more sauce.

[another] Mac & Cheese with Roasted Cauliflower

I think this is the 4th mac & cheese recipe I've posted here - and the second one with roasted cauliflower (here's the first one). But this one is quite a different technique. I'd run across this recipe from the NY Times awhile ago, and it was intriguing: no white sauce, contained cottage cheese, and you put the pasta in uncooked. I never have cottage cheese on hand though, so I filed it away...

A couple weeks ago I randomly decided to buy cottage cheese at the grocery store, having not exactly a craving, but a curiosity as to whether I'd enjoy eating it again as a healthy snack - it's been years. I had it with some fresh pineapple, and...meh. No desire to make that a snack habit. So most of the container sat at the back at the fridge until...

We're on our 5th day shut in from Snowzilla and we've eaten our way through the chili I made on Day 2. I had cheese, and plenty of milk and half & half. So mac & cheese sounded good...and behold! I can try the recipe with cottage cheese! I adapted the original recipe as follows:

- used half milk and half half & half (hah!)

- dijon instead of dry mustard

- probably did not use quite a pound of cheese...I used a mix of sharp cheddar, some kind of odd cheese with peppedew peppers, and 3 slices of American cheese, 'cause that always adds to creaminess.

- I used "mezze rigatoni" instead of elbows. I was a little nervous about throwing that larger pasta in uncooked, but it was fine...in fact, it was almost a little too done for my taste after a full hour of cooking.

- I also blended just the cottage cheese with an immersion blender instead of blending the milk and everything together at once. I thought that way would break up the cottage cheese more.

- And of course, added some roasted cauliflower. Even though I added it halfway through the cooking, it pretty much melted completely into the mix (so this would be a good "hidden vegetable" dish). I had not added the whole head but probably could have.

The verdict - it was tasty, cheesy and creamy, but I'm not sure I'll use this method again. I didn't actually find it any easier than making a white sauce and boiling the pasta separately. But if you stress out about the white sauce method, this one's worth a try. And I think my cottage cheese experiment will not be repeated. Anyhoo, here's my version:

Roasted Cauliflower:

- Cut 1 head of cauliflower into tiny florets. Toss in olive oil, salt and spices - I used roasted garlic powder and oregano.

- Roast on a baking sheet at 425 for about 15 minutes. Stir and pop under the broiler for a few minutes until it gets nicely browned.

Cheese Sauce:

- Blend 1 cup of cottage cheese with an immersion blender (or regular blender) until smooth. I blended it right in its container and then put in a large bowl.

- Mix in two cups of milk (I used 1 cup milk, 1 cup half & half), a squirt of dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp salt and some cayenne and black pepper.

- Grate 2-3 cups of cheese - definitely some sharp cheddar. Hold back a large handful for topping, and add the rest to the milk mixture. I also put in 3 slices of American cheese, torn into small pieces.

- Add 1/2 box dry pasta (elbows or other chunky shape) and stir to combine.

To cook:

- Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 2 qt baking dish. Dump in the pasta mixture.

- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

- Uncover and stir. Then stir in most of the roasted cauliflower. You may be able to add it all depending on the size of your baking dish and how big the cauliflower head was. But if it looks like the liquid isn't mostly-covering everything, it's better to hold back some. 

- Top with the remaining cheese and bake another 30 minutes. I also broiled at the end. 

- Let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

- The NY Times says this makes 6-8 servings. Uh...maybe more like 3 if this is your whole dinner (and you're a mac & cheese freak).

Ghiradelli Incendio Brownies

I love Ghiradelli brownie mix. LOVE. It beats out most homemade brownies, seriously. It's often on sale at my grocery store for $1.99. There are a few varieties but I like the dark chocolate one. I had a box hanging around and needed a dessert to take to a holiday party...

We also love Patron XO Cafe (a tequila-based coffee liqueur), and they've recently come out with an "Incendio" version that includes arbol chile and Criollo chocolate. Um, YES. 

So, did you know that you can substitute booze for the water in brownie mix? Yup. I've done it before with the regular Patron Cafe, and this one was even better...just a hint of spice. It was almost too subtle, but I didn't know if using more than 1/4 cup liqueur would mess up the texture. Someone should try it and report.

Other boozes I'm guessing would be good: Kahlua, bourbon, amaretto. So if you actually need a recipe:

- Whisk together 1 egg, 1/2 cup of oil & 1/4 cup of Patron XO Cafe Incendio (or other booze).

- Add the dry brownie mix

- Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes (err on the underdone side, because fudgy brownies are delicious).