Spinach Artichoke Spaghetti Squash Casserole

This is a slightly more involved (and slightly less healthy) riff on my Spaghetti [Squash] Pie. So I've had this can of artichokes sitting in my pantry since the spring. I don't buy artichokes often, but I had added it onto an Amazon Fresh order when we were scared of going to the grocery store, in order to meet the minimum. There was a period early on when EVERYONE was getting online groceries and things kept going in and out of stock and they didn't have much selection. I remember looking through all the departments just to find something in stock to add on to meet the minimum. Hence, canned artichokes.

Then I remembered spinach artichoke dip is delicious - I'm not sure I've ever made it, but seemed like a good cold weather casserole thing. And a spaghetti squash came from Hungry Harvest, so...mix em up! According to the internet I'm not the first person to have this idea, and recipes I found varied a lot. Some use cream cheese and/or sour cream, some use a white sauce, some factor in mayonnaise (which I think is traditional for the dip). As per usual, I made up my own thing.

I added chicken to this, but that's totally optional - easy to keep vegetarian. And like with the Spaghetti Squash Pie, you can use all spaghetti squash for the base and keep it slightly healthier/gluten free. I like to add some angel hair pasta to make it a little more substantial. I recommend seeing how much "spaghetti" you get out of your squash and then judge your quantity of angel hair. The squash I used was pretty big, so I used about 1/3 a box of angel hair.

Warning: as was observed by another eater, this does look a bit like "android guts" when you cut into it. But it's delicious!

- 1 spaghetti squash: halved, cleaned, roasted & forked into strands (more info here). 
- 1 large chicken breast, seasoned & cooked as desired - cube or shred (optional)
- 1/3 - 1/2 box angel hair pasta, cooked until just al dente (optional)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch or small bag spinach, washed & chopped (or use frozen spinach)
- 1 can artichoke hearts (packed in water - not the marinated kind), drained & chopped
- 1 8oz block cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- grated italian cheese blend or mozzarella (I used most of a small bag)

Put your cooked spaghetti squash strands in a large bowl. Add cooked angel hair, season with a little salt, and toss together with 2 forks until combined.

Saute onion in olive oil until lightly cooked. Add garlic & stir for about a minute. Add spinach & cook until just wilted. Add chopped artichokes and cooked chicken, turn the heat off.

Mix together softened cream cheese, sour cream, garlic powder & some salt & pepper (I added some cayenne as well). Add to squash/pasta mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Add spinach/artichoke mixture. Taste and make sure it's seasoned how you want it.

Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan and add in the mixture, spreading it out evenly. Top with grated cheese. Bake in a 375 oven for about 30 minutes. Let sit for at least 5-10 minutes before serving.

A Small Thanksgiving

Like most people this year, we did a small Thanksgiving at home - my husband and I, and we ended up inviting one additional family member. We were a little conflicted about the safety of even that one addition, but we planned to eat outside if at all possible, and wear masks in the house. It ended up being a gorgeous, mild day - so eating outside was perfect!

Even if it was just the two of us, I figured I'd cook a whole turkey dinner - kind of had a craving for it, and thought it would be nice to have leftovers. I've cooked a whole Thanksgiving meal before, but it's been awhile. So I decided to document the recipes and timing of everything in case I have to reference this in the future. Timing everything is the trickiest part, but this worked out well. This is a relatively simple meal with a couple shortcuts like a packaged stuffing mix, making a gravy "base" while the turkey cooks, and canned cranberry sauce. I like homemade cranberry sauce and it's not hard to make, but I also like the jellied canned stuff. But that's one of two things I would have done differently: I bought Lidl brand jellied cranberry sauce, and it was semi-liquid! No satisfying "plop" of the canned shape with nice slices. I'll stick with Ocean Spray brand next time. The other thing was that I added some lemon slices to the bottom of the Dutch oven along with onion slices to rest the turkey breast on. I think it made the juices a little too acidic for the gravy, so I didn't end up using all of it.

So here's the menu, shopping list and timing/steps of everything - plus a bonus turkey stock recipe!

Menu:
- Herb-butter roasted turkey breast
- Apple-herb stuffing
- Mashed potatoes (skins on for more fiber and less work!)
- Roasted brussels sprouts with bacon (optional!)
- Bourbon-cider gravy
- Cranberry sauce (canned)
- Store-bought pie

Grocery List:
- Bone-in turkey breast (this was a little over 5 lbs)
- Pepperidge Farm cubed herb stuffing mix
- Yukon Gold potatoes
- Onions
- Celery
- 1 apple
- 1 lemon
- Brussels Sprouts (~2 lbs)
- Fresh sage
- Thyme
- Bacon
- Chicken broth
- Butter
- Sour Cream
- Milk
- Cranberry sauce (beware the off-brand!)
- Apple cider
- Bourbon (optional)
- Pie of your choosing

If turkey breast is frozen, make sure it's thawing in the fridge by Tuesday!

Day Before:

- Prep Brussels Sprouts: wash, trim & halve. Coat with olive oil, salt, pepper & garlic powder. Roast on baking sheets at 425 until just browned (about 15 mins). I already had cooked bacon, but cook 3 strips of bacon if you want.

- Prep stuffing: chop 1 onion, 3 ribs of celery, 1 apple (peeled) and a few leaves of fresh sage. Melt 1/2 stick butter in a large casserole. Saute onion & celery until just tender. Add apple & sage, saute about a minute. Add 2 cups of chicken broth & bring to a boil. Turn off heat and add stuffing mix. Taste - it probably won't need salt. Leave to cool, then refrigerate.

- Prep herb butter: soften 1/2 stick butter. Add some finely chopped sage, some dried thyme, and the zest of 1 lemon.

Day Of:

- About 4 hours before dinnertime, take turkey and the herb butter out of the fridge. Unwrap, pat dry with paper towels, and trim off any bits (I cut out part of the backbone with kitchen shears and saved it for stock). Rub kosher salt under and over the skin. Put back in the fridge for a bit.

- Wash potatoes, cut in half if they're large, and place in a pot with water. Set aside.

- About 2 1/2 hours before dinnertime, preheat oven - I variously saw recommendations to cook turkey breast at either 325 or 350, so I split the difference and did 335. 

- Rub softened herb butter under and over skin of turkey breast. Peel and thickly slice one onion, and lay on the bottom of Dutch oven. Place turkey on top, breast side up. Put in the oven. You want to cook it til it reaches 165 temp, and it's around 15 minutes per pound or so. I ended up cooking mine a bit over 2 hours but it probably didn't need that long - some parts were testing about 150, but I think I could have taken it out earlier. 

- Take stuffing out of the fridge to come up to room temp before baking.

- Make gravy base - melt 3 tbl butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add 3 tbl flour. Whisk for a couple minutes, until bubbly and starting to brown. Add 2 cups chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook until thickened and reduced a bit, whisking frequently. Cover pot and set aside.

- Boil potatoes (add salt when boiling). Bake stuffing at 350 (it fits in my convection toaster oven, which is handy!). Takes about 30 minutes and then you can hold it on warm. Chop 3 slices of cooked bacon, add to brussels sprouts, and spread on foil lined baking sheet.

- Drain & mash potatoes - add about 1/4 cup sour cream, a couple tablespoons of butter, and enough milk to make it creamy. Add salt & pepper to taste. Cover and keep warm over low heat.

- When turkey reaches 165, remove to a plate along with onions. Put the Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat until juices are bubbly. Add a splash each of bourbon & apple cider, and reduce until browned & starting to thicken. Add this to gravy & reheat.

- When the turkey comes out, put brussels sprouts in to reheat.

- Slice turkey and plate up everything!

Turkey Stock:
- After all meat is removed, break carcass into a couple pieces. Heat oven to 425.
- Roast saved turkey backbone for 15 minutes, then add turkey carcass pieces. Roast about 30 minutes more, until browned.
- Heat a large stockpot over medium heat. Add a bit of olive oil and saute 1 onion (unpeeled, quartered), 3 carrots (chopped in large pieces), a few celery ribs + leaves and 1 head garlic (unpeeled, halved). Saute a few minutes, until starting to brown. Add a splash of water & scrape up browned bits. Then add plenty of water to cover, plus a couple bay leaves and a few peppercorns. Add browned turkey parts, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 2 hours.
- Strain out solids, add a couple teaspoons of salt, then cool & refrigerate. Skim off any fat.
- Use for soup and/or freeze.

Turkey & Stuffing Meatloaf

One of my "comfort-habits" is watching various sped-up cooking videos...there's one called Tasty which is Buzzfeed's cooking division, another called Twisted that I think is British and is mostly ridiculous super-caloric creations (stuff like Garlic Bread Mac & Cheese Chicken Alfredo Lasagna or perhaps a Giant Fried Chicken Donut Sandwich. Twisted indeed!). Most of the stuff I have no interest in making; I just find the short videos relaxing in some way. Well, Tasty had one for Turkey & Stuffing Meatloaf that actually looked decent to prepare, and suddenly I had a Thanksgiving craving...

Their recipe uses a glaze with cranberry sauce & ketchup. I wasn't sure if I was going to try that, and then we switched up our last grocery trip to Lidl and they didn't have cranberry sauce, so I figured I'd make a simple gravy. They also did not have unseasoned stuffing, so I bought a box of their off-brand Stove Top.

I looked up some other recipes before making this, because I don't make meatloaf very often. And wow...there was quite a variance in quantities of the ground meat, stuffing mix, eggs and cooking times/temps. I am also not going to do things like measure 1/2 cup of diced celery...one stick is good, thank you very much. I'm gonna say quantities are pretty flexible. And if you do use unseasoned stuffing, you might want to use chicken broth to moisten it and add more salt/seasonings.

- 1 stick celery, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small apple, peeled & chopped (optional, but I thought it was good)
- pinch dried thyme (if you have sage or poultry seasoning that would be good)
- 1 box (6 oz) seasoned stuffing mix
- 1 package ground turkey (about 1 lb)
- 1 egg, beaten

1. Saute vegetables in olive oil until tender. Add garlic & apple, a pinch of salt & pepper and the thyme. Stir a couple times, then turn off heat and let sit. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Pour the stuffing mix into a large bowl and moisten with 1 cup water. Add turkey, egg, about 1/2 tsp of salt and some pepper, and the sauteed vegetables. Mix well. You may want to cook a small chunk of the mixture in a pan to taste and make sure the seasonings are how you want them.

3. Grease a loaf pan. I put parchment paper in mine as well, per the Tasty recipe, but I'm not sure that was necessary. Pack the mixture into the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Let sit for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Gravy:
- Melt 2 Tbl butter in a small saucepan on medium-low.
- Add 2 Tbl flour, whisk and cook about a minute, until bubbly.
- Add about 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or sub a bit of apple cider for some of it).
- Increase heat to medium and whisk until thickened.

Serve with mashed potatoes for sure (I have been making instant potatoes quite a lot during the pandemic, no shame!), and a veggie (roasted brussels sprouts?)

Kona Banana Bread

I guess I should document this here, as I often have to ask my mom for the recipe when I want to make it! This is our family banana bread recipe: rumored to be my maternal grandmother's, but my mom (whose memory is excellent) says her sister (my Aunt Barbara, who sadly passed away earlier this year) found the recipe in a women's magazine after returning from her honeymoon in Hawaii - must have been late 1950s. She had excellent banana bread there, and said this recipe came close.

My sister and I both entered this in our county fair in different years and won blue ribbons! We were in 4H clubs as kids, and entered food/crafts in the fair every summer. I have a vague memory of having something advance to the state fair one year - it might have been this, or maybe brownies? None of us can remember. Anyway, my mom had told me to add a note for the judges - and I'll include it here - that due to the higher sugar content in this recipe, it bakes up darker than many other banana breads. So don't worry if it seems to be overbrowning!

The original recipe uses shortening (Crisco) and that's what I used most recently. We have also made it with butter and it's good that way, but shortening is the classic recipe. I also highly recommend the addition of chocolate chips! If you're a nuts person you can add chopped nuts, or my aunt suggests dried cranberries - about 1 cup of "additions." But it's quite good on its own! 

- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 1/4 cup sifted flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Cream shortening & sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Stir in mashed banana. Sift dry ingredients together. Add to banana mixture and blend just until mixed. 

Pour into greased loaf pan, or 12 lined muffin tins. Bake loaf 1 hour, or muffins 25 minutes. 

Pork Tenderloin with Cider-Mustard Sauce

I didn't manage to grab a photo of this one, but it was so good and easy I have to document!

I've had a pork tenderloin in the freezer since about May, when I went in on a meat delivery from a local farm with a neighbor. I don't cook these very often but finally decided to cook it once the weather cooled down. I searched for various recipes and couldn't find one with the flavors I wanted that wasn't for a larger "pork loin roast" - our tenderloin was maybe 1.5 lbs and I knew it wouldn't take that long to cook. My meat thermometer isn't working anymore so I had to guess, but it turned out perfectly! 

I roasted some potatoes & carrots separately in the oven to serve with this. You could probably even throw them all in the Dutch oven together, but I wasn't sure how they'd all cooperate with cooking times, and I wanted the veggies a little crispy. This took under an hour start to finish, so I'll have to keep this one in mind if I get tenderloin and have apple cider again! This would also be good with chicken thighs, I imagine. The apple butter is optional, but if you have it, it adds a nice sweetness/richness to the sauce. You could also add some apple slices in with the onions if you want to full-on-apple-it. Two of us ate half of this and I saved the rest for leftovers, but honestly could demolish the rest of it easily myself. Not a bad idea to double it if the meat's on sale...

- 1 pork tenderloin (1-2 lbs)
- spice rub: I used salt & pepper plus thyme & garlic powder (maybe a 1/4 tsp of each), plus some Penzey's 33rd St which says it's a pork seasoning
- 1 onion, halved & sliced
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1 Tbl mustard (I used dijon; a grainy mustard would be good too)
- 1 heaping Tbl apple butter

Mix the spices, sprinkle over the pork and rub on all sides. Let sit for a few minutes while you prepare other things. I cut the tenderloin in half so it would fit in the pot a bit better.

Heat a Dutch oven on medium-high, add some olive oil and sear the pork for about 4 minutes on each side, until browned. Remove to a plate.

Add the onion and saute a few minutes (the bottom of the pot should have a good amount of browning; you want this!). Add the cider and scrape up the browned bits as it bubbles. Add the mustard, apple butter and a pinch of salt. Put the pork back in, cover the pot and simmer on medium-low for about 15 minutes.

If you have a meat thermometer, 145 is the temp to aim for, but mine seemed done. Take the pork out to rest for a few minutes. Turn up the heat and let the sauce bubble to reduce a bit. Taste for salt.

Slice the pork and spoon the onions & sauce over.

Refried Bean & Veggie Burritos

This almost isn't a blog-worthy entry, but I've been making these on the regular and they are good and cheap and easy! 6+ months into the pandemic (good lord), I at least don't get anxiety any more about grocery shopping, but we still try to keep it to a minimum - a big shop every 2-3 weeks and we're still getting a weekly fresh produce delivery from Hungry Harvest. These burritos are good eating for when you're just down to pantry staples...the sauteed veggies are optional and you could just bean/cheese/rice/salsa it up.

I've never been a big refried bean person...I will eat them when they come as a side at a Mexican place, but I've never bought them regularly. Black beans are usually my legume of choice. Then we discovered these Safeway brand spicy jalapeno refritos - and man, they've got a kick! And for burritos I think refried beans hold things together a bit better.

The store was out of them on a previous trip and we tried El Paso brand spicy refried beans...sadly there was distinct lack of kick, so I doctored those up with chili powder and hot sauce. These store brand ones are also vegetarian, without the lard that's in "traditional" refritos. I'm not opposed to lard in the right applications...but anyhoo these beans are good 'n spicy! One can will make 4 burritos.

I am still not very good at rolling burritos, but they get into our bellies nonetheless. My husband eats his with a fork & knife anyway (I think it's a beard thing?) and I wrap mine in foil. There are different schools of burrito rolling (yes, I researched this). I've been putting the ingredients on the lower half, folding that over almost in half and then squishing/compacting, then folding in the sides and rolling. I also toast the burritos in a hot pan and that seems to seal the bottoms a bit. 

Obviously put whatever you like in or on these: sour cream, avocado/guac, other veggies/meats, etc.

The players:

- Refried beans: I use 1/2 can at a time for 2 burritos, and nuke them for ~30 sec. You can mix a splash of milk in to make them a little creamier. If your beans are bland, you can add chili powder / hot sauce.

- Cooked rice: optional, but I like it. You don't need much, just a couple spoonfuls per burrito.

- Grated cheese

- Sliced onion & bell pepper: saute these until tender, then add some frozen corn. Season with chili powder.

- Salsa

Nuke your tortillas for a few seconds and then layer ingredients - don't overfill! I spread the beans on first, then cheese, rice, salsa, and the sauteed veggies. Roll up and toast in a hot pan for a few minutes on each side: 

Wrap in foil if you like. Not photogenic, nor fancy, but it's good!

Tofu "Egg" Salad

This is one of those things I've made before that I'll forget about for a year or two and then suddenly remember. Perfect for no-cook food in the hot summer! The tofu is a really good fake-out for hard-boiled eggs - this really does taste like egg salad. I'm not vegan, and used regular mayo, but have made it before with vegan mayo. Vegan mayo isn't particularly "healthy" either, but if you're watching your cholesterol, this is certainly a good alternative if you like egg salad.

Basically, just take your favorite egg salad "recipe" (I do not measure anything for stuff like this) and substitute drained/pressed tofu, adding some turmeric for a yellow color. You'll want to make sure the dressing is well-seasoned as tofu is bland on its own - and refrigerate it for at least a little while to let the flavors soak in. I added celery, green onions and grated carrots to mine.

Most recipes you'll see online will suggest medium-firm tofu for the best "egg" texture. My store only had one package of extra-firm left (which is what I usually use for stir fries), and that's what I used - it was fine. Some recipes say to mash to the tofu, others have you dice it into small pieces. The small dice is more "eggy" I think - though I did end up mashing a little bit of it to get it to hold together better.

1. Drain a block of tofu and press between paper towels under a plate and heavy object while you prepare the other ingredients.

2. For the dressing, mix together to your taste preference: mayo or vegan mayo (start with 1/4 cup and add more if you like), dijon mustard, vinegar or pickle brine (I used apple cider vinegar and a little brine from some pickled okra), salt, pepper, turmeric (1/4-1/2 tsp), and any other spices you like (I added a shake of smoked paprika & some cayenne).

3. Dice tofu into very small pieces, and/or mash with a fork depending on the texture you want.

4. Add to the dressing along with any other additions you like: celery, green onions, grated carrots, pickles, fresh dill, etc...

5. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

6. Eat as-is, over lettuce, or make yourself a sandwich!

Summer Squash Fritters

We ate two dinners out last week, and somehow that caused Massive Vegetable Backup. When my Hungry Harvest delivery arrived today I realized I now had 4 large summer squash, 3 heads of broccoli, a cauliflower, asparagus, sweet potatoes, still working on a giant head of kale, plus a bunch of fruit. Had to throw out several clementines that arrived last week already starting to rot, and there's a couple bananas that aren't gonna make it. I've been pretty good not wasting food the last few months, but got into a backlog. Time to eat this stuff!

I managed to use up 3 of the summer squash in these fritters. I prefer zucchini over yellow squash - you can use either here. When you grate it, season it and fry it up, it's hard to tell one way or the other! As per usual I looked at several squash fritter recipes online and then did my own thing. Quantities varied a lot - some used 2 eggs, some used one (I ended up using 1 plus some packaged egg whites); some used over a cup of flour and some 1/2 cup (or bread crumbs, or cornmeal, or crushed crackers)...this is all pretty flexible.

After you salt and drain the squash you end up with considerably less than you start with. 3 medium-large squash made 10 fritters. Also, these would probably be great with some kind of yogurt or mayo-based sauce/drizzle, but I just squeezed some fresh lemon over and called it done. Oh, and I totally meant to add parmesan and/or cheddar cheese but forgot. Cheese would be good, if you remember.

- 3 medium-large summer squash, grated
- salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 onion, minced
- a few shakes of garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne
- 1/2 cup or more flour
- optional: 1/4 tsp baking powder (I don't know if this really does anything; I saw it in a couple recipes and added it)
- optional: grated cheddar or parmesan cheese
- veg oil for frying

1. Put the grated squash in a colander, sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and let stand about 15 minutes. Press out moisture with a large spoon - or put the squash in a clean tea towel and squeeze.

2. Beat the eggs and mix in onion, seasonings and flour (I added a little more salt too; well-seasoned is good!). Mix in squash, and cheese if you're using. If you want the batter a bit thicker, add more flour.

3. Heat a large skillet (cast iron if you have it) on medium high and coat with a thin layer of oil. Drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter and flatten into pancakes. Don't crowd the pan; I did 4 at a time. Fry until nicely browned and then flip.

4. Move to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain. You can serve right away, or I removed the paper towels and stuck the baking sheet in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes while I made other stuff for the meal. It cooks the insides a bit more.

I served this with sauteed asparagus with garlic and [instant!] mashed potatoes. Good veggie meal. If timed right, I get nice rays of setting sunshine on the table:

Lemony White Beans with Kale

Back in mid-March when I did a grocery trip a couple hours before the governor announced our state was locking down, I "had a feeling" and loaded up on a bunch of non-perishables, including a few bags of dried beans (even though I usually just use canned). I did use some of the lentils at one point, but now 4 months later I'm finally breaking into the dried beans :) .

I think I would cook dried beans more often - they're not that hard - except that I'm not a planner when it comes to soaking them overnight. And canned beans are pretty cheap, and usually the right quantity for a 2-person household. I've thought about getting an Instant Pot mostly for cooking beans, but I don't think I can justify the counter space in our tiny kitchen.

We also got an enormous bunch of kale in our last Hungry Harvest delivery...and white beans and kale are a thing. It's too hot for soup, but I did sort of a saute/braise. You can definitely use canned beans with this (I'd rinse them), and throw in any other vegetables you want. I saved my bean cooking liquid and used it to create a bit of a sauce. If you use canned tomatoes instead of fresh, that would probably be sufficient - or you can add some water or broth if you want a more saucy consistency.

- ~2 cups cooked white beans, or 2 cans rinsed & drained. If cooking dried beans, save the cooking liquid. I added bay leaves to mine which gave it a nice flavor/aroma.
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 yellow squash, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 bunch kale, stemmed & chopped
- 2-3 tomatoes, chopped (or use canned diced tomatoes)
- juice of 1 lemon

Saute onion & celery in a generous amount of olive oil until just tender. Add squash, season with salt, and cook a couple of minutes. Add garlic & red pepper flakes & stir briefly. Add kale and cook until wilted. Add beans and tomatoes. Add some of the bean cooking liquid (or other liquid) if you want it a bit saucier. Cover and simmer for just a few minutes. Add lemon juice, a bunch of fresh ground pepper, and taste for salt.

I served this over couscous with parmesan cheese, and topped with a bit of feta I had hanging around in the fridge.

Deviled Egg Tuna Pasta (or Potato) Salad

I have a bunch of fresh produce on hand I should probably be using/cooking, but I have been craving something like this during hot weather. I made a potato salad version of this (without tuna) a couple weeks ago, and it was delish. The "deviled egg" component is that the hard-boiled egg yolks are mashed into the dressing, like how you would make deviled egg filling. When you add chopped hard-boiled eggs to a pasta or potato salad, the yolks tend to disintegrate anyway, so why not? It gives a nice yellow hue to the salad.

The ingredients and quantities are suuuuuper adaptable. For potato salad, use maybe 6 medium/large potatoes, cubed and boiled in salted water until just tender (I don't peel). You can use less or more mayo depending on the consistency you like (I don't like it super-gloppy), and/or sub in some sour cream or plain Greek yogurt to lighten it up (lowfat versions if that's your jam). Leave out the tuna if you're not a fan, or add another can if you want some more protein. Use less or more eggs (I have seen variations of this recipe online that use up to 12 eggs. That seems...eggy), less or more celery. You can also add whatever else you like in your pasta or potato salads:
- pickles (yum) or olives (meh)
- fresh herbs like parsley or dill
- other chopped veggies like bell peppers, cucumber, carrot, even some finely chopped raw broccoli

If you add raisins though, I'm not sure we can be friends.

Deviled Egg Tuna Pasta Salad

- 1/2 box pasta (shells, elbows or other small shape)
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (sub with part sour cream and/or plain yogurt if you like)
- 1 Tbl mustard (I like Dijon)
- 2 Tbl vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
- salt & black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- dash of hot sauce
- 2-4 ribs of celery, thinly sliced (I like the crunch of celery so I use a lot)
- 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 can tuna, drained

1. Cook pasta in well-salted water until just al dente. Drain & rinse under cold water, let it hang out in the colander.
2. Hard boil the eggs (cover eggs with water, bring to boil, turn off heat, cover & let sit 12 mins. Then cool in ice water). Peel, halve and scoop the yolks out into a large bowl. Roughly chop the whites and set aside.
3. Mash the egg yolks in the bowl and add the mayo, mustard, vinegar, sugar & seasonings. Mix well. Taste and see if it needs anything (it will coat a lot of stuff, so make sure it's well-seasoned).
4. Add the celery, green onions and tuna; mix until combined. Then stir in the cooled pasta. Gently stir in the chopped egg whites last.
5. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving. The pasta will absorb more dressing the longer it sits. Sprinkle with paprika before serving, if you like.
6. Let your cat go to town on the empty tuna can. 😻

Spiced Meatballs with Tahini Sauce

Well, here we are a little over 2 months into lockdown. I've continued to NOT find myself with scads of free time in which to constantly be cooking - things have remained pretty busy keeping the remote wheels turning for the music store I work for. Though I gave up being general manager years ago and shifted to just handling email & website for the most part, now...that's all there is, so it's kinda like managing again. I'm grateful that it's making up for lost income from not playing gigs though, so I'm keeping at it...and though it exhausts me at times, it does give me a sense of purpose to help keep a beloved small business afloat when so many have had to shutter completely.

So I've been cooking fairly simply for the most part; by the time dinner rolls around I'm often bleary-eyed from too much screen time and mentally done. But, I'm occasionally whipping up more complex things. A couple of days ago, we did our first grocery store trip since lockdown started. We've had a lot of paranoia about it, but it was surprisingly fine (we did not opt to wipe everything down when we got home, but there was lots of handwashing through the unpacking process...I think it's fine). We went after 8pm and there weren't many people there. Some precautions at the store seemed a bit...lackluster? But they were quite well-stocked on almost everything we needed. We probably did not need to buy quite as much as we did, but I figured as long as we were there and they had stuff, get some more of those non-perishables and we'll be good for a few more weeks. We have no interest in going out in public more than is absolutely necessary. Sure it'd be nice to enjoy public life again, but it's not yet safe to do that, we'll keep on keepin' on at home.

A weekly Hungry Harvest delivery has been keeping us in fresh produce, and we usually add on bread and sometimes other things. I've contemplated joining our CSA again, but I think we'll stick with Hungry Harvest because there's a bit more variety, we can add on bread, etc - and it's delivered to our door (and we're a bit hesitant to do the up-front payment for months of CSA). There have been a couple of Amazon Fresh/Pantry orders, but I think we'll give that up now that the grocery doesn't seem quite as scary. And we've been getting some other grocery goods from Farmhouse Greens, a local fast-casual salad place that has opened up a pop-up pantry with easy online ordering & curbside pickup. Also my friend notified me that Liberty Delight - a local farm that sells sustainably/ethically raised meats at our farmer's market - was doing home deliveries. She and I went in on a meat order together to meet their minimum for delivery, so our freezer is now full of ground beef & turkey, 3 kinds of sausage, bacon and a pork loin. It's pricier than grocery meat but I feel better about the farming practices and supporting a local farmer. Aaaand I was kind of getting tired of beans.

Alright, so now we're finally getting around to these meatballs. Usually I feel like meatballs are more prep than I wanna deal with (I'll generally just make burrito bowl type meals, chili or pasta sauce with ground meat). But I gave these a whirl with our Liberty Delight ground turkey. I wanted to do some kind of middle eastern-y spiced meatball and as usual, looked at a bunch of recipes and then did my own thing. I'm not an experienced meatball maker but they seem pretty flexible; you can use any kind of ground meat (lamb would probably be awesome), add some vegetable bits, etc. I meant to add minced onion but forgot - just the green onion was fine. If you have parsley or other fresh herbs, definitely use them (I didn't have any). You can also cook the meatballs on the stovetop; I find it easier to bake them. Tahini is great for making a quick sauce with little effort. I'm almost at the end of my Trader Joe's jar so I'll have to look for that on my next trip.

I read an article today that said something like: right now, it feels like almost the only thing we have control over is what we cook and put in our mouths. Yeah, I feel that. Some folks may roll their eyes at other's food photos and documentation...I get that too, but I like seeing what people are cooking and eating out there. It gives me ideas for when I'm finally motivated to make something blog-worthy, and - I like looking at and reading about food. So thanks, if you're reading.

OK, good lord, here's the "recipe!" (because I didn't measure anything, of course!!). I served this with produce from Hungry Harvest: roasted potatoes (olive oil, lemon pepper) and sauteed broccolini with garlic and a spash of lemon juice.

Spiced Meatballs:

1 lb ground meat (I used turkey)
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)
1/2 tsp salt
~1/4 tsp each turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, smoked paprika
1 chopped green onion (add some regular onion too, ifya want)
1 clove garlic
small piece fresh ginger

- Grate the ginger & garlic on a microplane into a medium-size bowl. Beat in the egg.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix gently with your hands or a spoon until incorporated.
- Form smallish (~1.5"?) balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Roll around in the oil as you put them on the sheet.
- Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes.

Tahini Sauce:

3 heaping tablespoons tahini
juice of half a lemon (I used bottled)
a sprinkle of turmeric (optional but gives it a nice golden color)
garlic powder (or fresh minced/crushed garlic), salt & pepper
sriracha or other hot sauce

Mix it all together and then add enough water to make a drizzle-able sauce.

Deep Dish Cast Iron Pizza

Greetings from Week 6 of Quarantine. We've made it thus far without a trip inside an actual grocery store, though that's probably going to have to happen in the next week or so. Thanks to weekly Hungry Harvest produce deliveries, a couple of Amazon Fresh & Pantry orders, a handful of takeouts from local restaurants and one Giant online pickup order where we got less than half of what was ordered, we've been kept well-stocked with minimal human contact.

A couple days ago I made my Spaghetti [Squash] Pie and had some leftover red sauce with Italian sausage. I was figuring I'd just make more pasta for it, but...there has been much pasta these last few weeks. A voice said "Girl, ya got flour and yeast, make pizza!" I don't remember the last time I made pizza with from-scratch dough. At least 10 years? At one point I had a pizza stone but I think I got rid of it as it never got used.

I've come across recipes for pizza made in a cast-iron pan and figured that was a good starting point to get a good crust. So I browsed several recipes...and as is often the case with online recipes, every one was different! Who do you trust?? Some had you pre-heat the pan in the oven and then put the dough in...that's how I make my easy Dutch Oven Bread, but you don't have to poke that around in the pot, and it sounded like a recipe for burnt fingers. Some had you make dough and let it rise/ferment overnight (again, like the bread)...but I wanted pizza TODAY (though if I plan ahead, I'll try the overnight dough as it does make the bread really good). Eventually, I came across Minimalist Baker's recipe for deep-dish pizza in a cast iron pan, and thought that sounded like a good way to go. Put a good amount of oil in the pan and let it "fry" in there while it bakes...yum!

So...that recipe links to another site's recipe for the dough, and said to use half the dough. So I was figuring I'd freeze the other half. But when I got to the final step before dividing it and putting it in the pan, it really didn't seem like half the dough was gonna be enough for a deep-dish style pizza. So I made a game-time decision to use all the dough for one pizza. I mean, dough-sauce-and-cheese...how can you really screw up?

It was definitely pretty "bready" - but it's deep dish, so I think that was the right call!

Now as for the rest of the ingredients - we only had sharp cheddar and sliced Havarti, but I figured those could work (dough-sauce-and-cheese, right??). Of course mozzarella would be best if you have it. I had a zucchini and some portobella mushrooms so I broiled those in the oven with some olive oil & Italian seasoning:

Put whatever you want on pizza in this pizza!

Here is the dough recipe I ended up with. You want to start it at least 90 minutes before you want to bake - I ended up letting it rise longer, but at least an hour is fine.

- 1 cup warm water
- 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 Tbl olive oil, plus more
- 3 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 5 minutes, until slightly foamy. Add the salt, sugar and olive oil.

2. Mix in the flour, in increments. I used a wooden spoon and then my hands. Knead in the bowl until a smooth ball forms.

3. Grease another large bowl with olive oil and put the dough in. Spread a little oil on the top too. Cover with a towel and let rise for 60-90 minutes; it should about double in size.

4. Flour a work surface and knead the dough a few times. Then roll into a 12-14" circle.

5. Put a couple tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch cast iron pan and spread around so the bottom and sides are coated. Put the dough in and build up the sides on the edge of the pan.

For the rest of the pizza:
- Red sauce, jarred or homemade (I'm not sure how much I used...maybe a cup?)
- Whatever toppings you want (I used roasted zucchini & mushrooms)
- ~2 cups (or more) grated mozzarella or other cheeses. I ended up using 3 slices of Havarti on the bottom and about 1 cup grated sharp cheddar on the top. Would have used more, but...I'm rationing cheese :( .
- Italian seasoning, garlic powder, grated parmesan if you have it.

Preheat the oven to 450. So with deep dish pizza, you usually put cheese on first, then toppings, then sauce...and maybe more cheese. Not having the sauce directly on top of the crust keeps it from getting too soggy. So layer on half your cheese, then your toppings, then sauce, then the rest of your cheese. Sprinkle with seasonings and grated parmesan. Oh, the sauce and cheese can go right to the edge. If cheese gets on the edge or on the pan it will get crispy and delicious.

Bake the pizza for about 25 minutes. When I took mine out, it looked like the bottom needed to get a bit browner. So I put the pan on a stove burner over medium heat. Pretty soon, it started to smoke. Don't be like me! This step probably isn't necessary - but if you try it, watch carefully. You need to rest the pizza for about 10 minutes anyway, and if you leave it in the pan it will continue to brown some.

You made some pizza! High five!!

Pantry Staples Recipe Roundup

Greetings from approximately Day 10 of Social Distancing! What a weird time. It seems like there are a lot of people looking for new recipes that focus on pantry staples, so I thought I'd make a list of past recipes from my blog that fit this format. I originally started this blog as a way of documenting things I was making from our weekly CSA vegetable share - but I haven't been doing the CSA for a few years.  Most of these recipes are vegetarian, some are vegan, and pretty much all encourage improvisation to use what you have on hand.

I've never really been a meal-planner, but with grocery stores not being able to stock some things, I've felt compelled to at least make a list of what I have on hand in the fridge, freezer and pantry, and make sure I'm finding ways to use what's on hand. I feel super-thankful that I had the instinct to get a stock-up shopping trip in right before our governor announced school closures, so I was able to find most of what I needed before the big rush happened. I also re-activated our Hungry Harvest subscription to get bi-weekly produce deliveries, so that's keeping us in fresh produce and eggs (unfortunately it looks like HH is not taking new subscribers right now; they are probably overwhelmed). Hoping to avoid a grocery store trip for as long as possible to let supplies get replenished and other folks get what they need.

Anyway, here's some recipes!

No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread
If you want to get into bread-baking but don't know where to start, THIS IS IT. This bread couldn't be easier (I am not a baker). I've made it 3 times this week. It's a crusty, rustic loaf that's great with soups or just eaten on its own with butter/jam/whatever. It's not really a sandwich bread. You do need a Dutch oven (enameled cast iron pot with lid), and to remember to mix the dough the night before. But it's literally just mixing flour, yeast, salt and water, letting it sit overnight, and then plopping the dough into a preheated Dutch oven. Much reward for little effort.

Mujaddara
A Middle Eastern staple of lentils, rice, onions and spices. Simple but really good, and super cheap eats.

Spiced Lentil Sweet Potato Soup
Sweet potatoes keep for awhile, so it's a good veg to stock up on - but if you don't have one, just make lentil soup. If you don't have all the spices just use what you have. You can also use water instead of broth.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie
Another lentil-based recipe. Got instant mashed potatoes? Use those instead. If you have other vegetables that need to be used up, this is a good recipe to stick them in. Have ground meat and want the meat version of shepherd's pie? I've got one of those too!

Stovetop Mac & Cheese
This uses evaporated milk! You definitely need the eggs as it's what helps thicken it in the absence of a flour white sauce.

Spicy Coconut Peanut Stuff
A base recipe for a sauce with canned coconut milk, peanut butter, sriracha or other hot sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and brown sugar (or honey, maple syrup). Stir-fry whatever veg and/or protein you want and add this!

Vegan Black Bean & Rice Bowls with Pineapple
Canned pineapple works. Top with avocado if you are so blessed.

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Tofu
My favorite tofu cooking technique that gives you a nice texture. Tofu is cheap and an unopened package keeps for a long time in the fridge. You can also freeze uncooked tofu, and when you thaw it it gets an even "meatier" texture. Add whatever vegetables or other protein you want - or just make noodles! You can use linguine or spaghetti.

ilyCHILI
A vegetarian chili (for happy band practices) with beans, sweet potato and some other stuff. Chili should always be somewhat improvised, so you do you.

Sauteed Spiced Chickpeas with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Broccoli & Spicy Hummus Drizzle
No veggies? Just make the chickpeas and rice. Roasted broccoli works with frozen broccoli florets, too.

Spaghetti Squash Pie
We're sort of getting out of winter squash season now, but if you can find it, spaghetti squash keeps for weeks. This combines a base of angel hair pasta & spaghetti squash (the latter basically becomes undetectable) and layers in spaghetti sauce (can add meat if you want) and cheese. It's really delish.

Potato-Veggie Breakfast Hash
Potatoes and eggs are really the only must-haves; if you have any other veggies (especially bits of things that are nearing the end of freshness), throw them in here.


And here's a couple of desserts, because you should treat yourself:

Dark Chocolate Habanero Creme Brulee
You need heavy cream, eggs and dark chocolate. If you want to do the spicy chocolate thing, the "habanero sugar" may be findable online; you could also use a spicy dark chocolate bar, and/or just mix a little cayenne powder into the sugar for the top. You also really need a kitchen torch to get that good cracklin' crust. Broiling in the oven may get you mostly there, but I've never tried it.

Ghiradelli Incendio Brownies
This is basically take a box of brownie mix and sub some kind of alcohol for the water. We actually haven't been able to find the Patron Incendio (spicy chocolate tequila liqueur) for awhile. But you can use pretty much any liqueur (Kahlua, amaretto, cointreau) or bourbon, whiskey, straight tequila...