I said NO waste, NO waste!

I really hate wasting food. I make a conscience effort to use everything I have before it spoils. Inevitably there are times where I have to throw something away, which really upsets me because I feel like an irresponsible consumer. I knew subscribing to The Produce Box meant that I would have to be very due diligent in making sure that all the produce was used in some capacity before it spoiled. This was my first box of local and fresh produce, and I am proud to report I have used almost every item- I still have two sweet potatoes left. I thought about blogging on each dish I made, but I really didn't think everything I made deserved its own entry. So instead I will show you briefly the dishes I made using the remaining produce from our box: kale, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

A bit of advice to those with fresh produce that needs using: try indexing- go to your cookbooks and look up the ingredient in the index, typically this will show you several different recipes using that ingredient. By indexing I was able to find a recipe that used all of my kale, The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook by Jack Bishop. I was excited to try Bishop’s Kale and White Bean Soup, since I haven’t made a thing from this book since receiving it for Christmas. 

Kale and White Bean Soup

Indexing didn't prove to be very helpful when it came to using the remaining cucumbers and tomatoes. I was looking to use the cucumbers and tomatoes in something refreshing. I didn't want to make your typical garden salad or pasta salad, I've done that before. Plus neither of those really provides that refreshing taste I was craving. I searched the interwebs for some help in what to make and finally found a recipe that had everything I was looking for, Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Mint. Fresh mint makes every dish refreshing and summerish! 

Fresh Mint from the Herb Garden

Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Mint

Overall I was very happy with myself for using almost all my produce. I plan on using the remaining sweet potatoes this week- I just need to decide what to cook!

Great Food, Great Weather, Great Company!

With so much information at our fingertips either on the web or in cookbooks, there is no reason to let food go to waste. I challenge you to make every effort to use your food before it spoils. You never know what kind of recipe you can find for leftover horseradish, right?

If you really do have left over horseradish to use, try Susan Stamberg's Cranberry Relish, click here for the recipe.

Sweet Potato Empanadas

We received four huge sweet potatoes in our produce box this week and I was stumped as to what to do with them. I am trying to make every effort not to cook what is easiest or most comfortable for me, thus sweet potato casserole was out of the question (Jonathan really wanted this)! A recent trip to Dos Perros in Durham brought to mind homemade sweet potato empanadas. Not a single cookbook I own has a recipe for this, so I had to research the interwebs for one. This is how I stumbled upon Naturally Ella.  I read through Naturally Ella's blog entry on making sweet potato empanadas and felt confident that I could try my hand at it too! I was also stoked that Naturally Ella provided several recipes that included sweet potatoes. Armed with a sweet potato empanada recipe, as well as several more recipes featuring sweet potatoes, I was anxious, nervous, and excited to get started cooking!

The dough took me awhile to get together. I used my hands, since I did not have a pastry blender (happy Ella told me I could do this, since I really do not need another kitchen gadget). I left my dough in the fridge for well over an hour, as I had a couple errands to run (I can't spend my whole weekend cooking)! I made enough dough for twelve empanadas since Naturally Ella said the dough was okay to freeze (I will let you know how this turns out later this week when I make the remaining empanadas).

The hardest part was chopping the sweet potatoes into small cubes.  My sweet potatoes were so large it took me while to get them to the right size. I loved the colors of the sweet potatoes against the red bell pepper and onions. 

Prior to Cooking

Cooked

I forgot the black beans! I didn't even realize it until after we had eaten the empanadas. However, unlike Naturally Ella, I did not forget the cheese. Since I was curious what the empanadas would be like without cheese, I made half with feta and half with no cheese at all- both were great!

Rolling the Dough to Make a 6" Empanada

Filling the Empanada

I have never done an egg washing before, because I have never made anything resembling a pastry. My only complaint is that it seems impossible to use all the egg wash, which made me feel very wasteful. Per Jonathan’s interwebs research, it seems as though you can keep the egg wash for a couple of days. Since I only made half the empanadas, I refrigerated the egg wash and will try to use it when I make the remaining empanadas this week. At least I will feel half as wasteful if the egg wash keeps. 

Egg Wash and Paprika Sprinkle

I was very excited about my final product- it looked and tasted awesome. Sorry Dos Perros, but my sweet potato empanadas are way better! 

Baked and Read to Eat

Jonathan and I love Jack's Special Salsa, but thinking this may be too tangy for the empanadas we went with Garden Fresh Gourmet's Sweet Onion Salsa. I think this was a great choice, as it complimented the chipotle flavor and toned down the spice.

Afterthoughts:

I highly recommend this recipe to those of you who are growing, buying, or have on hand sweet potatoes. I am thinking that these empanadas may even replace my sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving this year. Next time I will remember to add the black beans for added color, fiber, and protein, even though they were delicious without!

The Produce Box

Jonathan and I were introduced to The Produce Box last year by a coworker of mine. It is a great way to get local produce delivered to your doorstep (literally) at a great price! My weekend blogging will now start to center around what we receive in our weekly box, as I refuse to let food go to waste. This week's box contained: tomatoes, strawberries, romaine, kale, cucumbers, and sweet potatoes. I think this will provide a great opportunity for me to find new things to cook, and new ways of cooking old things. Hope you will find this as adventurous as I do.

Banana Flapjack Recipe

Since so many people asked me for the Banana Flapjack recipe I e-mailed Isa Chandra Moskowitz who authored Vegan Brunch to ask if I could post her recipe to my blog. To my astonishment she actually replied to my email and said yes! I encourage you, if you like her recipe, to buy her book Vegan Brunch and check out her blog. I have never been disappointed with anything I have cooked using her recipes.

Banana Flapjacks

2 very ripe medium bananas

2 tablespoons canola oil

½ cup almond milk (or your favorite nondairy milk)

½ cup water

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch ground allspice

Cooking Spray

Use a fork to mash bananas in large mixing bowl. Add the oil, milk, water, vinegar, and maple syrup and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Mix until there are very few clumps left. As usual, be careful not to overmix.

Preheat large, heavy bottomed, nonstick skillet over medium heat for at least 3 minutes. You'll know the pan is hot enough by adding a drop of water- the water should dance around the pan, but the pan should not be smoking.

Spray the pan with a light coat of cooking spray. Pour pancakes one at a time in 1/2 cup measurements and cook until the top looks somewhat dry (about 3 minutes). Flip over and cook for another minute.

Transfer to plate covered with tinfoil to keep the flapjacks warm while you prepare the others.

TIP: For the thick-battered pancakes use the back of your ladle or measuring cup to gently spread the batter on the griddle. Don't press hard, just skim the surface in a circular motion as soon as the batter's been poured to get it to spread out by half an inch or so. It works well with thick, large pancakes to ensure even heating.

Caffe Driade

I talked in my The Morning Times post about Independent Weekly's recent publication focusing on the coffee and tea venues RTP has to offer. In an effort to find the best mocha, expand my palate, and try new places we ventured to Caffe Driade in Chapel Hill. I will be upfront and let you know now that this post will be succinct. Caffe Driade lacks both great people and great food. The only thing that Caffe Driade has to offer is that in the spring and summer it would be a fabulous place to mingle, read, and relax. When I went to order it seemed as though neither barista really felt like being there. There are two things which totally ruin a food experience for me. One: when the service is over-the-top Southern Hospitality (my meal was fine the first five times you asked, I don't think it will change the sixth time). Two: when the people serving you feel as though they are owed something for doing their job (how about I buy an overpriced drink from you, and you get a paycheck). Of the two ruinations, Caffe Driade is the later. In some cases great food can gloss over awful people, but in the case of Caffe Driade the mocha did not prove to be their saving grace. Of the many mochas I have tasted from West Coast to East Coast, Caffe Driade's ranks amongst the worst (Starbuck's "mocha" would rate higher). I was really excited to try something other than Counter Culture coffee in my mocha, as Caffe Driade serves Carrboro Coffee Roasters, but with a dull tasting mocha I found it hard to concentrate on the espresso. In consultation with Jonathan (who ordered a plain latte with regular milk, since they were conveniently out of soy milk) we decided that the espresso was not bad, but lended itself to the milder side of espresso, and we are more accustomed to, and prefer bolder espresso. Perhaps if Caffe Driade did a combination of things: had an attitude adjustment and could pull a great tasting shot of espresso into a flavorful mocha, I would return. But I find it hard to want to spend another $4.25 to find out, when I can go up the road to 3Cups and have my never disappointing mocha.

 My Mocha

Given that it was rainy and cold (Portlandesque) when we went to Caffe Driade, I could not get a better photo to show how eco-chic the place was. The outside was actually very warm and inviting. If only the service matched.

Banana Flapjacks (Vegan Brunch Book)

After a late night at Cat's Cradle listening to Dr. Dog and a run planned for later in the day, nothing said breakfast better than banana flapjacks from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan Brunch book. Since receiving this book at Christmas, I have found myself making something from it almost every weekend, my favorite being the Chelsea Waffles. Like the numerous other sweet breakfast delights I have made from Vegan Brunch, the banana flapjacks proved no different. They were perfect in texture- a light crispy outside and a very moist/dense inside. Topped with real maple syrup and butter, they are breakfast at its finest. I will digress here to explain two things I have come to realize when it comes to pancakes, waffles, French toast, and the like. One: it is essential to use real maple syrup and not the imitation syrup. The taste between real and imitation syrup is not only incomparably better, but the real stuff does not contain high fructose corn syrup. Two: butter is an essential component to top all great breakfast items. I am not a vegan, so I have absolutely no qualms about adding butter to a vegan recipe. My reasoning being that I have not found a suitable substitute for the taste of butter. Butter has this fantastic smooth creamy flavor. I find that the vegan butter, such as Earth Balance, lacks the smoothness and creaminess of butter, and more importantly it leaves a weird greasy film on the roof of your mouth.  I routinely bake using Earth Balance and love the outcome, but when it comes to topping off toast or pancakes, Earth Balance just won't do. I should also note that I only use organic and unsalted butter. I will make no apologies for this substitution. 

At first I thought I might have followed the directions incorrectly, as the batter was pretty thick. However, I followed what Isa said to do and smoothed out the top of my pancake about 1/2" with my measuring cup. By smoothing out the batter on the griddle, this created the flapjack look and taste.

I am not the most patient person, so I find it hard not to want to flip my flapjacks the minute I put them on the griddle. But, waiting as I did allowed for me to brown the outside to perfection.

 Perfection! :-)

Banana Flapjacks served with real butter and maple syrup. Of course, breakfast is never complete without some veggie sausage, French pressed Counter Culture Coffee, and a glass of Maple View Creamery milk!

Afterthoughts:
Next time I would like to try to upgrade the good ole' banana flapjack to banana split flapjacks. There is a recipe for homemade chocolate syrup in the Vegan Brunch book I am just itching to try out. Topped with fresh strawberries, pineapple, and whipped cream I think you will have a fantastic banana split flapjack!

Confession:
In my Huevos Rancheros entry I said I would be making homemade enchiladas next since I had plenty of leftover corn tortillas. I was true to my word and made homemade chicken enchiladas. I even made homemade enchilada sauce to boot. Alas, they were not picture perfect and I refused to blog about them. They were fabulously delicious, but I couldn't bring myself to show the world my inability to roll a corn tortilla without breaking it. I will try my hand at chicken enchiladas again in the next couple of weeks, and fingers crossed they will be picture perfect this time around!

Huevos Rancheros

The idea of cooking something "foreign" has always scared me. I always find the list of ingredients overwhelming, the instructions daunting, and the weight of my own inexperience exhausting. However, I decided that this year I was going to make an effort to cook those things which scare me most. This is how Huevos Rancheros came to be. Jonathan and I have always talked about making Huevos Rancheros at home, but ultimately we would neglect to pick up corn tortillas at the grocery store and would end up using the beans and salsa to make nachos. But with a dismal amount of leftover salsa, a handful of cheese, and leftover homemade black beans, excuses were running low. The only part of making Huevos Rancheros that scared me was poaching the eggs. I have never poached eggs before, and as I have seen on other posts, most people fail at their first attempt. This made me reminisce about my first experience of making crepes, in which half my batter went to waste and my frustration lead to a tearful morning.  Plus, my only know-how of cooking poached eggs was a glimpse of how Mama's cooked them in San Francisco- there was this large shallow pan filled with boiling water in which the cook cracked open an egg and the poaching began. So today I decided that I would try this very method to poach my eggs and try my hand at Huevos Rancheros.

Poaching the eggs..

At first I thought that perhaps my glimpsed insight into how to poach an egg may have been wrong. But as I assembled the Huevos Rancheros my self doubt subsided, and the eggs began to look more like the poached eggs I am used to being served at restaurants.

Assembling the corn tortillas with cheese and beans...

The poached eggs look much more normal when removed from the water and assembled on the corn tortilla.

My final product: corn tortilla + cheese + black bean puree + two poached eggs + salsa + Cholula hot sauce= delicious Huevos Rancheros.

Afterthoughts:

Next time I will cook the corn tortillas a little longer and with more oil, they were not as crunchy as I would have liked. But it was my first time cooking with corn tortillas. My poached eggs were PERFECT, so I will change nothing about my poaching method! If serving more than two people I will add sour cream, freshly sliced avocado, and minced cilantro. Overall, I was very pleased with my first attempt at Huevos Rancheros, and I used up some left over food to boot! I will definitely be making this again!!

Up Next... Enchiladas! Why not, I have left over corn tortillas.