The world's simplest potato salad

I had this at one of my favorite NoCo restaurants, The Kitchen, in Fort Collins last month. It was served as a side to my super-porky, gluttonous Cuban sandwich, and it was sitting there all pale and goopy on my plate.  I thought, "what is this garbage, and when did they stop trying with the sides"?  But then I took a bite and realized it was actually pure evil genius: four ingredients, and it was somehow more amazing than the Cuban (which was also very good, so nice job again Kitchen people).


You can add more ingredients to this to make it a little heartier, or swap out the greens for a different flavor.  But I would caution you against making it too complicated, because then it loses some of its magic.




The Kitchen Potato Salad

Serves 6-8 (or me like, twice)

3 lbs. small red potatoes, cut into approx. 2-inch pieces if necessary
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp. (or more) creamy horseradish
2 cups packed baby arugula
salt & pepper

Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes or just until cooked through. Lay out cooked potatoes on a flat baking sheet, wait for them to stop steaming, then place the tray in the fridge to cool down at least a couple hours or preferably overnight.

Mix together Greek yogurt and horseradish in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Stir this dressing into the cooled potatoes. Use as much or as little of the yogurt mix as you like. Add the arugula, and lightly turn to coat.

Additions/substitutions:

• Swap our arugula for cooked or raw kale, raw spinach, or just a giant hunk of roughly chopped fresh herbs. If you're going to herb route, I like dill and parsley for this.
• Add herbs, as stated above.
• Stir in fresh green peas, lightly steamed (you can add them to the potatoes in the last 60 seconds of cooking)
• Add cooked brown or French (puy) lentils

Pasta and spring things

This dish came about from various little tubs of leftovers; the steamed green beans and asparagus from the garden that had served as a side to grilled steaks, the last bit of yogurt-and-mustard sauce used for dipping grilled potatoes, and some of Alison Roman's glorious savory granola I always keep around. You can make all of these things fresh, or substitute your own steamed veggies and creamy sauce here, and I'm sure it will be glorious. 

Springy Leftover Pasta

Serves 4

4 cups steamed green veggies (peas, asparagus, green beans, broccoli, whatevs)
1/2 pound whole grain farfalle pasta
salt, red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt + 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
garnishes: lemon wedges, a bowl of savory granola or roasted nuts/seeds of your choice (toasted groats would also be good)

In a small bowl, combine the yogurt and mustard. Set aside.

In a well-salted pot of boiling water, cook the pasta according to package directions.  If you don't already have steamed veggies on hand, you could throw them in for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking time. Drain pasta and, if you're using leftover veggies, toss together to take the chill off. Season with crushed red pepper, drizzle with some of the yogurt sauce, and garnish with a spritz of lemon and a generous sprinkle or granola. Eat hot or at room temperature.

Green-and-white chili for summer

As a Midwestern girl, I had never touched a roasted green chile until I moved out to Colorado in the early 00s.  I'm not sure I even knew they existed.  Now they are my absolute favorite, and I can't wait until late summer when my local farmer's market is packed with roasters all morning.  The good news is, those frozen bags/tubs at the grocery store are pretty OK, so you can enjoy spicy, fresh stews all summer long. I use a pressure cooker to do my beans, which slows down the process and heats up the house a bit more, but I wrote this recipe for canned beans to be a little more user-friendly. Don't cheat on grilling the chicken, though--it makes a huge difference, especially when your chiles have been frozen! Just plan ahead and do it the next time you have a cookout, then wrap it in foil until you're ready to make this stew; it'll keep for a week. 

Green and White Chili

Serves 6

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, minced

2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

6-8 oz. of grilled chicken (no skin, chopped)

2 15-oz. cans of white beans (any type, do not drain)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper (optional)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 24-oz. bag frozen, chopped green chiles, mild or hot

1 tablespoon lime juice

shredded cheese or queso, lime wedges, sour cream, and more chopped fresh cilantro to serve

First, you must thaw the chiles in the refrigerator and save their liquid; I just toss the whole bag on a plate and throw it in the fridge for a couple of days. 

In a stock pot or Dutch oven,. heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, and cilantro and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant.  Add the cooked chicken, white beans with their liquid, salt, pepper, cumin, chiles, and lime juice, stir, cover, and heat through.  Serve with garnishes listed above and hot fresh tortillas to clean the bowl. 

Magic Sauce and two ways to use it

I can't get enough of this simple tahini-miso concoction, and I've been keeping a big jar of it in the fridge for otherwise uninspired last-minute lunches:

Miso-Tahini Magic Sauce

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup tahini
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon shiro (white) miso
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon mirin
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon warm water (add slowly until you get the consistency you prefer)

Place everything in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously until mixed.  If tahini remains clumpy, just stick a spoon in there and break it up.

You can use it as a salad dressing, and I particularly like is as a dressing for coleslaw.  Just toss some cabbage or Brussels sprouts in the food processor with carrot and cilantro and finely chop, add sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds if you like, and add enough Magic Sauce to coat.

You can also toss it with soba noodles you've boiled along with vegetables (love broccoli) and a little reserved cooking water, then sprinkle chopped peanuts and squirt a little lime juice on top. 

And you could drizzle this sauce over any grain/tofu/veggie bowl you've put together.  Wait, is that three things?And what if you spiked your egg salad with it?...the possibilities might be almost endless. 

Cauliflower rice and quinoa pilaf

So super easy, keeps remarkably well (even in the freezer), and goes with everything, including but not limited to steak, chicken, pork, fish, tofu, underneath a fried egg and/or steamed veggies, alongside a salad...

Cauliflower rice and quinoa pilaf

Serves 4 as a meal, 6-8 as a side

1 small head cauliflower
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt to taste
1/2 carrot, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 large garlic clove, minced
about 1 cup diced onion (I used  1/4 of a large yellow onion)
2 teaspoons minced ginger
Sriracha to taste (optional)
1/4 cup chopped or slivered almonds

Cut up the cauliflower into medium sized chunks. Then in a blender or food processor, chop the cauliflower until it looks like small-grain rice.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When it becomes fragrant, add the carrot, onion, garlic, and ginger and cooking, stirring constantly, until onion softens, about 4 minutes.  Add the cauliflower "rice" and quinoa along with some salt to taste and continue cooking until cauliflower becomes softened, another 5 minutes or so.  Season with Sriracha if using, stir in almonds, and serve.

7-layer tacos

When I was a young freelance musician (I am now an old freelance musician), I used to rely on Taco Bell's 7-layer burrito, which was $1.79 in the late '90s in mid-Michigan, to get me through long drives to and from gigs. It was vegetarian, which I was at the time, and a total fat bomb that kept me full for hours. These tacos remind me of those times, only I can eat them at my dining room table and not drop food all over my concert black. (PS, you can use real ground beef if you hate animals, but Morningstar Farms Grillers crumbles are actually delish, and that's not a paid sponsorship).

7-layer Tacos

Makes about 6 tacos

6 small tortillas (I like the flour-corn hybrid ones)
2 teaspoons olive oil
6 oz. (1/2 bag) of Morningstar Grillers Crumbles or ground beef
1 garlic clove, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
6 oz. black beans
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 large chopped tomato
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained
guacamole (preferably homemade)
sour cream or plain yogurt
Crumbled fresh queso or shredded Mexican blend cheese
chopped fresh cilantro and lime wedges for serving

Warm the tortillas and wrap in foil until ready to use.

Place the black beans, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and a dash of lime juice in a medium bowl and smash together with a potato masher, fork, or back of a wooden spoon until it resembles refried beans.  Heat those bad boys up in chef Mike (the microwave) for about 60 seconds if you want.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet and add the garlic, Morningstar crumbles, scallions, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon chili powder.  Saute about five minutes over medium heat.

Build your tacos: lay down a tortilla, smear some "refried" beans all over it, then top crumbles, tomato, corn, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese.  Sprinkle some cilantro on top and squirt some lime over the whole thing.

Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This is a great way to use up a jar of roasted red peppers (or roast your own in the oven), and it might be the fastest sauce I've ever made.

Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Serves 4

½ lb. rigatoni or other tubular pasta

2 cups broccoli florets

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ yellow onion, diced

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 8 oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or dried oregano

Salt and crushed red pepper flakes to taste

¼ cup plain yogurt

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil.  Cook pasta according to package directions, adding the broccoli in the last 4-5 minutes of cooking (if fresh, or the last 2 minutes if frozen).

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.   Add the roasted red peppers, about a teaspoon of salt, and Italian seasoning and cook another minute.  Transfer to a food processor or blender and puree, then return to the hot pan.  Stir in the yogurt and Parmesan cheese to make a creamy sauce. Season with salt and red pepper flakes.

Drain the pasta-broccoli combination and add to the sauce, stirring to coat evenly.  Serve hot!

Fake a fancy ramen for lunch

I got really excited about all the over priced, hipster noodle shops that opened up in Denver and NoCo a few years ago, and I was always disappointed. Even in L.A.'s Little Tokyo, the homemade ramen is hardly any different from a decent package at the store (whatever, I'm cool with Maruchan too). Now I just make it at home and eat it in my pajamas without having a 20-something get in my face and loudly explain the "concept" of their restaurant. Here we go...

Fancy-assed Ramen at Home

Serves 2 in giant bowls

1 teaspoon peanut oil

5-6 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 packages instant ramen (get a shrimp or chili flavor)

2 cups broccoli florets

1 teaspoon white vinegar

4 oz. (leftover) cooked meat of your choice (I like pulled pork or seared steak, but shrimp's nice too)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 scant tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon chili sauce like Sambal olek (optional)

handful fresh cilantro, chopped

In a large saucepan, heat the peanut oil on "high" and quickly stir-fry the scallions until you have some blackened bits on them.  Remove them from the pot and set on a plate or something. 

Add 5 cups of water to the pot and bring to a boil.  Cook the ramen with the seasoning packet until almost done (stir in some cayenne if you want), then add the broccoli for the last two minutes of cooking. When broccoli is crisp-tender, remove from heat and stir in the vinegar. 

Meanwhile, combine the sot sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and chili sauce in a small bowl. Add the cooked meat and stir to saturate.  Divide the meat / sauce mixture evenly between two large soup bowls.  Ladle the ramen soup into each bowl over the meat, then garnish with cilantro and the seared scallions. Eat immediately with loud slurping noises. 

Thai curry squash soup

It has turned to fall for reals here in NoCo, and we are swapping out our late summer dinner salads (bye-bye, fresh tomatoes) for some warming soups.  You can throw in whatever vegetables you want, but I think the most valuable thing here is that the broth will help you utilize some of that massive pile of summer squash, if you're starting to lose hope but still don't want to just throw it in the compost heap...

Thai Curry-Summer Squash Soup

Serves 4

2 cups roughly chopped summer squash
1 vegetable bouillon cube
3 cups water
1 tablespoon red (or green, or yellow) Thai curry paste
1 cup chopped frozen spinach
1/2 cup frozen corn
handful fresh cilantro, chopped
2 large fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1 cup cooked brown rice (optional)
salt and black pepper to taste
roasted, salted cashews as garnish
Bring the 3 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan.  Add the bouillon cube and the squash, and cook until squash is tender, about 5 minutes.  Pour into a blender (careful to place a towel over the cover) or use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.

Replace this thick broth to the sauce pan and stir in the spinach, corn, and cilantro.  Cover and simmer until vegetables are hot about 5 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes, coconut, lime juice, and rice and season with salt and pepper.  Continue to cook until heated through and serve in bowls topped with cashews.

BLT rice salad

We are frantically trying to pick and use as many tomatoes form our garden as we can before the frost starts, because everyone knows tomatoes have the most give-up in them when it gets a little chilly outside.  Well, tomatoes and basil.  Basil is such a weak baby. It reminds me of my ex-boyfriends. 

So, I started cutting the tomatoes and making the vegan microwave baconish the other night before I realized we had no bread in the house. But we did have a bunch of cooked frozen jasmine rice and a glorious cucumber from the neighbor's garden, so BLT rice salad it was. This was our dinner, but I think it would be a great side to some grilled fish or chicken or this nice lentil salad. 

BLT Rice Salad

Serves 2 as a light meal or 4 as a side

2 cups cooked rice (any kind you like)

1 large fresh tomato, cut into chunks

1/2 cucumber, cut into chunks (try to match the size of the tomato chunks)

1/2 avocado, diced (optional)

1 tablespoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (basil, tarragon, chives, parsley), optional

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 strips of cooked bacon or bacon-like product, drained and crumbled

You can eat the rice hot, room, temperature, or cold.  If it's a long grain rice, best to keep it warm or it will get too dry and hard to eat.  Stir in the tomato, cucumber, avocado, fresh herbs, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon.

Lazy end-of-summer meals

Because I do a fair amount of traveling during the school year, I am always asked again and again over the summer, "so, are you going anywhere exciting?" The answer is occasionally yes, but the summer months are frighteningly lean for a freelance classical musician, and so the answer is, quite often, a big fat NO. That's OK, because I live in a state other people save up to visit on vacation, and we have created a modest yet cozy habitat here in Northern Colorado, homemade patio, messy vegetable garden, and all. So while I spend my days at home writing, practicing, and teaching flute lessons, I would much rather mix up a cocktail and fix the quickest snack I can at the end of the day in order to maximize that precious patio time. With summer drawing to a close, I feel all the more impatient to hurry up and sit down without resorting to Doritos for dinner. Here are some ideas I've played around with this summer; perhaps you'll find something here to help you live the good life a little sooner, too. 

Current lazy girl dinners at the DFT house:

• Finely chop cauliflower, garlic, and onion, sear in a lightly oiled pan over high heat, then crack in an egg and cook till set.
• Mix together chili oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, and black vinegar while you cook soba noodles. Toss noodles in sauce. Top with sliced green onion. Fry an egg and add it to the bowl. 
• While you cook noodles, blend together avocado, lime juice, cilantro, and salt. Toss hot pasta with the sauce, top with freshly ground pepper, and chopped cilantro. Toss in some chopped tomato.
• Fry garlic slices in oil. Add a can of clams, chopped herbs, and butter. Then stir in cooked pasta, along with a spoonful of its cooking liquid, and a splash or white wine or light beer. Zest a lemon over top.
• Fry up leftover bits of any cured meat or a lone breakfast sausage with a little sliced bell pepper, stir in greens, dump in a container of takeout rice or leftovers form the freezer, and warm through. Splash in some rice vinegar and soy sauce before serving.
• Mix canned tuna with canned chickpeas or white beans, diced red onion, olive oil, and lemon. Plop onto salad greens or toast.
• Warm a can of black beans and a can of fire-roasted tomatoes together on the stove, seasoning as you like. Spoon over a pile of tortilla chips. Top with avocado slices and a fried egg.
• Dip slices of bread into beaten eggs seasoned with a salt, pepper, cayenne, finely grated Parmesan, and chopped chives or scallions. Fry like French toast, then eat with hot sauce.

STUFF TO EAT WHEN IT'S TOO FRICKIN' HOT TO COOK, PART 3

Finally, there is really no cooking here.  You can pull out any leftovers from those other two salads, add these sammies and dip, take a quick look around the mess that your guests left in your house last weekend, and ditch it all for a picnic in the park. Maybe I'll see you there, avoiding eye contact over our beers.

Vegetarian Muffuletta

Serves 4
1 loaf of Italian bread (or something else firm and crusty)
8 oz. roasted red peppers, cut into strips
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
1 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives (or your favorite pitted green olive)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 pickled pepperoncini peppers, stems and seeds removed, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil, plus extra for roasting the carrots and cauliflower
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus an extra splash to season the cauliflower
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 shallot, minced
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into thin rounds
1 small head cauliflower, chopped into small bite-sized pieces
Small handful of basil leaves
1/4 pound aged provolone, thinly sliced (leave this out for a vegan sandwich)
Handful of arugula

Add the capers, olives, garlic, pepperoncini peppers, and the 1/2 cup of olive oil to a food processor, and pulse until the ingredients are roughly chopped. Transfer the pulsed ingredients to a large mixing bowl, and add the red wine vinegar, dried oregano, celery seeds, chili flakes, and shallot. Fold all the ingredients together. Some excess oil is OK—it will soak into the bread and make the sandwich delicious. Taste the olive mixture. It should taste strongly acidic, salty, and spicy. Adjust the flavor with more salt or red wine vinegar as necessary. Set the mixture aside.

Slice the bread in half with a serrated knife. If the bread seems too tall, dig out some of the middle of the bread (you can save this to make croutons or thicken soup later). Spread the olive mixture onto both halves of the bread, allowing some of the extra oil to soak into the bread. Starting with the bottom piece of bread, lay down the carrots, followed by the cauliflower. Tear the basil leaves with your hands and place them on top of the cauliflower. Next, add the provolone, followed by the roasted red peppers. Place a handful of arugula onto the top piece of bread. If there is excess oil leftover from your olive mixture, drizzle some of this over the arugula. Close the sandwich and nom nom nom. 

Feta Pistachio Dip

Serves 6 to 8

1 cup shelled pistachios
1 clove garlic
1 bunch of dill
1 teaspoon dried mint or a few sprigs of fresh mint
4 ounces feta
1/2 cup Greek yogurt

black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Get a selection of raw seasonal vegetables for dipping.

Buzz the garlic and pistachio together in a food processor into a rough crumble. Add the dill and mint and pulse until well chopped and amalgamated, add the feta cheese, and pulse. Add the yogurt and pepper and pulse. Drizzle the olive oil in and pulse one more time. Taste for salt; because of the feta, it shouldn’t need any. This dip will hold easily for a day or two in the fridge and should rest for at least 4 hours to let the flavors meld. I actually like it better at room temp for dipping, though. 

STUFF TO EAT WHEN IT'S TOO FRICKIN' HOT TO COOK, PART 2

This is another salad, made super filling with barley (and yes, you're going to have to cook that), equally portable for picnics, potlucks, and work. I promise this is my last non-cooking recipe that involves cooking in this mini-series.  (Pro tip: you can cook the barley, as well as the lentils from last week's recipe, at any time and freeze for later use.) Also, you could totally serve this at your next otherwise lame backyard BBQ and everyone will love you for not being that person who brought "ambrosia" or uncooked ramen noodles in a bowl.

Grilled Corn and Barley Salad with Tomato Vinaigrette

Serves 4

1/2 cup dried pearl barley
3 ears of corn (shucked)
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 cup cooked cannellini beans
1 large tomato
1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 large garlic clove
1/4 cup basil cut into ribbons
1 bunch of chives, thinly sliced
¼ cup olive oil

Boil barley according to package directions, using a large stock pot. Par boil corn for 5-6 minutes with the barley to impart some of the corn flavor directly into the barley.

Remove corn. Brush corn with olive oil and grill on all sides until charred gill marks appear.
Meanwhile, halve all of the tomatoes and prep beans (rinse and drain if using canned, prepare in advance if using dried).

Cut kernels off the corn.  As you cut, collect any of the “milk” that comes from the cutting process, then use the back of the knife to scrape the remaining “milk” from the cleaned cob. 

Next, cut the large tomato in half and grate with a box grater over a dish or wide bowl, discarding the skins, but collecting the juice and pulp. Paste the garlic clove by mincing the garlic, and then adding some salt and rubbing the mixture between your cutting board and the side of your chef’s knife. Add that paste into the tomato mixture. Add a pinch of salt, crushed red pepper to taste, vinegar, and corn milk.  Whisk in olive oil slowly. 

Combine barley, tomatoes, corn, beans and fresh herbs in a large bowl and dress with your tomato vinaigrette. Toss to combine.

A picnic-ready lentil salad with cheese

It is officially too hot to cook again, but sometimes I get hungry for something other than box wine.  Perhaps you struggle with this, too. Behold, the summer 2017 version of STUFF TO EAT WHEN IT'S TOO FRICKIN' HOT TO COOK, PART 1 (sorry if that seemed like I was shouting):

Lentil Salad with Herbs, Peppers, and Cheese
(adapted from Deborah Madison's Lentil Salad with Mint, Roasted Peppers, and Feta Cheese)

Serves 4 to 6

1 ½ cups small French lentils (Puy or beluga)

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced into 1/8-inch squares

½ small onion, finely diced

1 bay leaf

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

½ teaspoon salt

1 (8 oz.) jar roasted red bell peppers , cut into ½ inch pieces

2 teaspoons chopped mint

3 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs: parsley, marjoram, cilantro, thyme, basil

Black pepper

Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar to taste

8 ounces feta cheese

Olive oil, for garnish

Rinse the lentils, cover them generously with water, and bring them to a boil with the carrot, onion, bay leaf, garlic, and salt. Simmer them until they are cooked, about 20 to 25 minutes. They should be tender, just a little firm, and still hold their shape. Drain the lentils and set aside.

Prepare the vinaigrette (see below) and fold it into the warm lentils. Add the mint, herbs, and peppers. Taste, and season with freshly ground black pepper and additional salt, if needed. Taste again just before serving and add a little more vinegar to brighten the flavors. Crumble the feta and gently stir it into the lentils.

Garnish with a drizzle some olive oil over the surface.

Lemon Vinaigrette

1 large lemon

¼ teaspoon paprika

Pinch cayenne pepper

1clove garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons olive oil

Remove two wide strips of peel from the lemon with a vegetable peeler, and slice them into narrow slivers (alternately, grate finely with a microplane). Put 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice in a bowl with the lemon peel, paprika, cayenne, garlic, and salt. Whisk in 6 tablespoons of the olive oil and taste. Adjust for tartness, adding more lemon juice or oil, whichever is needed.

Alright, so there's actually a little cooking involved, but you can make a big pot of lentils with it's cool in the house and refrigerate this salad for days, carry it with you to work and play, and add variety with accompanying breads, leftover pastas, etc. So, I think it's a worthy investment. 

Another roasted chicken story, but perhaps the best one yet

Did you ever have those epic, heavy Sunday "dinners" (meaning noontime meal outside of the Midwest) involving roasted meat and vegetables, and lots of family members?  Maybe it was after church, maybe not, but there was a coziness to it--a long, luxurious meal focused on comfort food and comforting people. I miss the sense of security and simplicity I got from those meals sometimes, and I find that if you make the right dish, you can evoke a little of that feeling, even if you're all by yourself. This one tries to capture that sense, and leftovers keep well if you don't have a crowd to feed, but best of all, it's very simple and fast, allowing much more time to drink wine and be idle.

One Dish Maple-Mustard Roasted Chicken Thighs with Vegetables

Serves 6

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or with skin, or bones…)

4 medium Russet potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes

½ yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 stalk celery, diced

6-8 white mushrooms, thickly sliced

¼ cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon grainy mustard

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 425⁰F. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and maple syrup.

In a large casserole dish, toss all the vegetables (potatoes through mushrooms as listed above). Season with salt and pepper and stir to mix. Lay the chicken thighs on top in a single layer, trimming extra fat and spread out when possible. Season thighs with salt and pepper. Pour the vinegar sauce evenly on top and place in the oven.  Roast for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. 

This dish is meant to be eaten straight from the oven, but it is equally delicious the next day as cold leftovers, and you can also shred the meat and mix it all together with some broth for a soup OR turned into a curry by heating it with coconut milk and curry powder. I like to serve it the first time around with steamed green beans or broccoli seasoned with a quirt of lemon juice and salt on the side, and those can also be throw in to your leftover soup or curry.

Brown Sugar Shrimp and Pasta

Consider this a kind of quick-and-dirty, Italian-ish sweet and sour dish.  And spicy, and garlicky...

Brown Sugar Shrimp and Pasta

Serves 4

12 oz. large shrimp, deveined and peeled
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 teaspoons olive oil
small bunch kale, washed and cut into thin strips
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into a small dice
2 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
4 scallion, thinly sliced (green and white parts)
1 tablespoon capers
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or more)
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon butter
1 package spaghetti-like product of your choice

Bring a salty pot of water to boil. Cook pasta al dente according to package directions.

Place the (thawed) shrimp in a bowl and add the brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Stir to coat thoroughly and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and saute the kale, red bell pepper, garlic, and green onion over medium heat until everything is tender, about five minutes. Push to one side and add the shrimp to the middle of the pan. Cook until golden, about five minutes on each side. Add the crushed red pepper and capers and stir everything together; taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Stir in the vinegar, scraping off any brown bits in the skillet.

Add the cooked, drained pasta to the skillet along with the butter. Stir to combine everything thoroughly and serve immediately in bowls.

The Better-than-Chipotle Rice Bowl

I don't eat fast food unless I'm travelling and either trying to be cheap or am in a big hurry. But when that is the case, I do like Chipotle.  I love the green rice, and I appreciate the variety of fresh-like ingredients I can add to my nicely cooked black beans.  But it's way too much food! One burrito will keep me full for over 24 hours, and I'm pretty sure that's not good for your system.  

Work a little less hard to digest your food while enjoying that comforting Tex-Mex flavor at home with these fast and easy chicken (if you want), bean, and rice bowls! And as with most of my recipes, you can easily swap out ingredients to make this more your own. Mine, below, is a facsimile of the included recipe, but doused with Tapatio hot sauce, as well. 

Better-than-Chipotle Rice Bowl

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 small serrano, thinly sliced (remove seeds for a milder meal)

1 chicken breast, cut into 2-inch chunks

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 large garlic cloves, minced

¾ cup corn kernels

2 15-oz. cans black beans (drain one, use the liquid from the other)

Green rice:

1 cup long grain white rice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon lime juice

Salt to taste

Garnish:

Small avocado, cut into chunks

1 medium tomato, cut into chunks

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Salt and black pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan or your rice cooker, cook the rice according to package directions. 

Meanwhile, heat the oil on medium heat in a large skillet. When it shimmers, add the bell pepper, onion, and serrano and sauté until soft, about five minutes. Add the chicken along with the cumin and chili powder and some salt. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the chicken is almost cooked, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic cloves, corn, and black beans, reduce to low heat, cover and let simmer about 15 minutes.

Prepare the garnish: combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

When the rice is done, fluff with a fork while stirring in the cilantro, lime juice, and salt.

To build bowls: place equal amounts of rice into the bottom of each bowl.  Top with equal amounts of the bean mixture and then the garnish. 

Salad dressing recipes that will have you rejecting the bottle...

Bottled dressings kind of suck, don't they?  They're always off--too sweet, too gloppy, weird fake garlic taste, dead rat parts floating around--and they're certainly not good for you, with all the preservatives and corn syrup meant to make them "good" and long lasting.  If you want to up your salad game (meaning, stop feeling resentful when eating salads), the best thing you can do is keep a couple of jars filled with some tasty, super-easy homemade dressings.  Here are my favorites.

Japanese restaurant-style salad dressing: combine in a blender

1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup peanut oil
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
2 tablespoons minced celery
2 tablespoons ketchup
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Tahini Dressing: whisk together
1 cup tahini
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 grated garlic cloves
1 cup water
salt and black pepper to taste


Mustard and Caper Vinaigrette: whisk together
1 garlic clove, smashed and minced
1 teaspoon capers, chopped
1 teaspoon mustard
pinch sugar (optional)
4 tablespoons vinegar
6 tablespoons olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste


"Ranch" Dressing: whisk together
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup milk (any kind will do)
½ teaspoon dried summer savory
½ teaspoon dried dill
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon dried onion
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Green Goddess: combine in blender

half an avocado
¼ cup Greek yogurt
½ cup water (more as needed to adjust consistency)
1 cup cilantro leaves and stems
1 small clove of garlic
½ teaspoon salt
a squeeze of lime juice

Recipe review: Thug Kitchen's Pasta Piselli

This recipe sounded  little weird, so of course I had to try it.  The result is, as promised, very fast and easy when you're starving and considering take-out. It's nothing you're going to make for guests when you have time (unless you're a lazy friend), but the flavor is a little earthy, a little bitter in a nice way.  If you wanted to be even lazier, you could replace the shallot with 1 teaspoon of dried onion and toss it in with the peas. I added the crushed red pepper, too, because that's how I roll.

Thug Kitchen's Pasta Piselli

Serves 4

1 pound short pasta shape, like elbows or shells
3 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, diced
pinch salt
3 cups chopped spinach or kale
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
dash crushed red pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions.  In the last minute, add the peas.  Drain all but 1/4 cup of the pasta water and set aside.

Heat the olive oil and cook the shallot with salt until tender. Toss in the spinach or kale and cook until wilted. Add pasta and all other ingredients and stir to coat thoroughly.

Oh-So-Satisfying Cauliflower and Olive Penne

What could be simpler than this luxurious, but very easy dish between Christmas and New Year's? Nothing.  Nothing, I say. And for anyone who doesn't love cauliflower, this is the dish for you. 

Cauliflower and Olive Penne

Serves 4

½ pound penne pasta

1 cup mixed olives, pitted and chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

½ small yellow onion, diced

1 small head cauliflower broken into small florets (about 2 cups raw)

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more to taste)

Olive oil

1 tablespoon lime juice

Salt to taste

1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for serving)

¼ cup roasted almonds, chopped

Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425⁰F.  In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower and onion with the oregano, red pepper flakes, some salt, and about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast until brown bits develop, stirring once, about 15 minutes.  Add the olives and garlic, stir and spread, and roast another 5 minutes until olives and garlic are fragrant.

When the pasta is cooked, drain all but a ½ cup of the cooking water.  Stir in an ounce of Parmesan cheese, the lime juice, and salt to taste. Add the cauliflower mixture and stir thoroughly to combine.  Serve in individual bowls topped with equal portions of the chopped almonds and more grated Parmesan on the side.