What to do with those terrible neon cheese balls at Safeway

You know those cheap cheese balls in the grocery store, the ones that are bright orange and covered in ground up nuts, stored next to the Sabre hummus and other things you really should just make yourself? In a rare moment of optimism, we picked one up at the beginning of the holiday season. It wasn't good.  It didn't cause any gastro-intestinal distress, but that's about all I can say for it.  So, we choked some down with crackers and beer one night and then shoved it to the back of the cheese drawer. TYhree weeks later, the thing was still edible, but not edible enough to actually put on any more crackers.  I hate to waste food, so I wondered what I could do with it.

If you have ever found yourself in this situation, I can highly recommend these two super-easy recipes that will also help you use up some other holiday meal leftovers shoved in the fridge. And if you'd like to try making a cheese ball you and your guests will actually enjoy for New Year's Eve, there's a recipe for that at the bottom, too.

Party Mac and Cheese

Serves 4

1/2 pound macaroni or pasta shape of your choice
4 oz. or so of your sad cheese ball
1/2 cup leftover vegetables (I leftover pesto peas from Christmas: pesto stirred into some thawed frozen peas and gently heated by Chef Mike while my dad carved the turkey)
2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomato (optional)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
salt and crushed red pepper to taste

Bring a well-salted pot of water to boil.  Cook the pasta al dente and drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Stir in the cheese ball and Parmesan, if using, adding some of the cooking liquid if necessary (try a tablespoon at a time) to form a smooth sauce.  Stir in the cooked vegetables, sun dried-tomatoes, and season with salt and red pepper.  Serve hot.

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Cheese Ball Potatoes

Serves 8 as a side

4-6 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1/2 cup (4 oz) leftover cheese ball
2 eggs

Mash everything together and spread in an 8x8 pan. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
OR, to make it faster, reheat the mashed potatoes in the microwave before adding everything, bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, then move it to the top rack in the oven. Broil for 2-4 minutes (check at two minutes), until browned on top.

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Edible Cheese Ball

Serves: depends on how drunk you are

16 oz softened cream cheese 

3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon (don't you dare use Bacon Bits)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped pecans 

Whip the cream cheese and cheddar cheese together in a high power blender, food processor, or stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Form the cheese into a ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, until firm.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bacon bits, green onions, and pecans. Roll the cheese ball in the mixture.

Wrap the ball tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Wild Rice and Miso Soup

Planning on having wild rice again for Christmas dinner?  Just go ahead and plan on making this soup now, because you know you're going to have a big tub of the dried-out stuff taking up precious space in your refrigerator afterwards. I did this one after Thanksgiving a few weeks ago, and I already miss it.

Wild Rice and Miso Soup

Serves 4

1 tablespoon neutral oil, like peanut or grapeseed

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 small carrots, chopped

2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger

1 large garlic clove, minced

pinch salt (maybe 1/2 teaspoon?)

2 oz. dried shitake mushrooms

4 oz. mixed fresh mushrooms (portobello, white button, whatever)

6 cups water

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 packed cups chopped kale

3-4 cups leftover (cooked) wild rice

1 tablespoon white miso

1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon dark toasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) Sambal Olek or other chile sauce

In a Dutch oven or stock pot, heat the oil over medium heat and, when it shimmers, add the onion and carrots.  Saute until fragrant and slightly soft, then add the ginger, garlic, and salt.  Continue to cook until you can smell the garlic, then add the mushrooms.  Give them a stir, then add the water and soy sauce.  Cover and increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat again to maintain a gentle simmer.  Cook until the shitakes are soft, about 15 minutes, then stir in the kale and continue to cook another 5 minutes.  Finally, dump in the wild rice and break up any clumps. 

While the rice is coming up to the temperature of the soup, place the miso, vinegar, sesame oil, and Sambal along with about a tablespoon of the hot broth in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.  Shake thoroughly to break up the miso, and when you have a thick sauce, pour it into the soup.  Turn off the heat, give it a stir, and serve. 

Roasted Pumpkin and Spinach with Whole Wheat Pasta

After Thanksgiving I cut and roasted my pumpkins, which had been serving as table dressing until then. I ended up with some some puree for making smoothies or baking and some cubed, which I used in the recipe below. It's a totally satisfying, yet not overly rich, pasta meal that can be whipped together quickly for lunch or dinner.  If your pumpkin is already cooked, I still recommend tossing it in the oven for a short time to get those brown marks you can only achieve through roasting. 

Roasted Pumpkin and Spinach with Whole Wheat Pasta

Serves 4

1 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
2 cups of cubed pumpkin
about 2 cups torn spinach
½-1 tsp chili flakes
½ lemon, zest and juice
salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup walnuts, finely chopped

Coat cubed pumpkin in 1 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and some of the chili flakes. Bake in a hot oven (425º F) for about 40-50 minutes, until pumpkin turns soft and gets lightly caramelized. 

Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Fry onion gently on a low-medium heat, stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn. Add chili flakes and garlic and cook for another minute or two stirring frequently.

Cook spaghetti for a minute shorter than you would normally.

Mash half the pumpkin with a fork or potato masher. Put both mashed and whole pumpkin chunks into the pan with onion mixture.

Add drained pasta and washed spinach into the pan. Incorporate them well into the pumpkin. Taste and season with pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and additional salt and chili if needed.

Serve immediately with chopped walnuts and lemon zest on top. Shredded Parmesan on the side is also a nice garnish. 

What is the Cocktail Hour equivalent of fika?

I've been really getting into the Swedish fika tradition now that it's cold and I am getting tired of grading online Intro to Music assignments...basically, I flaunt my Swedish heritage as an excuse to procrastinate and drink more coffee and eat snacks.  It's great, thank you Sweden!

I have also enjoyed replacing a big heavy dinner with light snacks to go with my cocktail around 5pm.  Here's a little plate I made up to go with my gin and tonic a couple of weeks ago (above).  What do you call that?  Just being a pig?  I'm OK with that.

These little snacks were totally delish with that G&T and super easy to make, though, so here's how you do it:

Deviled eggs: I've written about those here before. It's a kind of old-timey snack that's quick to make if you keep some boiled eggs available in the fridge and it's very filling, which I love. The one on my plate, above, is just a plain old deviled egg with some fresh chopped tarragon added to the filling. Obviously it was very artlessly stuffed after the filling was made.

Almonds: I love all varieties.  These are salt and vinegar almonds I got in the bulk section of my grocery store, but smoked, tamari, or wasabi all would have been great, too.

Smoked salmon: another quick, protein-rich snack that is much more luxurious tasting than it costs.  I put thin slices from a cheap, small package I bought at Safeway down on some Wasa crispbread, then topped with finely chopped pickled beets, thinly sliced red onion, a few capers, and a generous crank of black pepper.

Asparagus: who knows why it was on sale at the store yet completely out of season, but there it sat in the fridge with no plan.  So I steamed it, then tossed with a little soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and toasted sesame seeds. 

All of this took less than 30 minutes to prepare (I already had boiled eggs, though). And dinner somehow managed to feel like a festive holiday party without leaving me overstuffed and regretful the next morning. Now, we just need a better name than "evening fika"...