Roasted cabbage and potatoes with cheese

When I saw my cousin's recipe for roasted cabbage with cheese, I was a little surprised that I liked the idea of it so much. My history of being an adventurous eater is nearly non-existent, and yes, in my early days of trying "new" foods, cabbage would have been considered adventurous.

I based this recipe off the one Christina posted, but I wanted to make it a little heartier so that it could suffice as an entire meal (hers was a side dish to flank steak). To beef it up a little (har, har), I opted for adding potatoes and onions and seasoning with garlic instead of salt and pepper. I also used only half a head of cabbage - I bought red instead of green, because the work was done for me...someone at the co-op already had it cut in half!

Ingredients:
Half a head of cabbage
Potato(es) (red)
Onion (vidalia)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 tsp flour
3/4 cup milk (skim - and from a local farm!)
3/4 cup shredded cheese (colby-jack)

Instructions:
1) Slice the cabbage into wedges, brush with olive oil and bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes on each side.
2) While the cabbage is baking, scrub and prick your potato(es) and microwave for 2-3 minutes. This will help them cook quicker when the go in the oven later. Slice into little wedges.
3) Remove the cabbage from the oven and let cool while you prepare the cheese sauce. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Christina's instructions say: Melt the butter in a medium skillet and add the flour. Mix together until it's bubbly, then add the milk. Stir and let it thicken for a minute or two. Then add the cheese, and stir until it's all melted. Remove the sauce from the hot burner until you're ready to use it.
4) Chop the cabbage into small bits, chop the onion and mince the garlic. Along with the potato wedges, combine the cabbage, garlic and onions in an oven safe baking dish and mix; pour the cheese sauce over.
5) Return to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes uncovered, or until cheese sauce is bubbling and slightly browned. A few minutes before it was finished, I added a little bit more shredded cheese on top for an extra cheesy melted layer.

It's fun to find a recipe you like and make your own creation from it. It also extends the life of the recipe so your stomach doesn't get bored too quickly. I chose not to season my cabbage when I initially roasted it, because I knew I'd be using fresh minced garlic when all the ingredients were combined. Garlic powder can be very salty, which leaves me with swollen fingers - ick. I prefer to save my flavor for the fresh ingredients that are easier on my body!

Pumpkin Perfect

I love October! It's the best month of the year - perfect weather, the best holiday and the official go-ahead for eating everything that could possibly be made with a pumpkin flavor.

Yesterday, I was trying to think of a snack to make that was a little like dessert but not too sweet, when chocolate chip pumpkin cookies came to mind. Mmmm. The recipe I used is half of the original recipe since - let's be real here - I'm not going to be sharing these cookies with anyone, but also don't want to eat 7 million of them on my own. Even halved, this recipe still made about two dozen medium sized cookies.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar (I used my favorite, Florida Crystals)*
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg (cage free)*
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (organic)*
1-1/2 cups flour (unbleached)*
1 tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves**
1 cup (1/2 bag) milk chocolate chips (mini)*

* My options - use whatever brand or type of product you want

** I did not have any ground cloves in my spice collection, but I did have some pumpkin pie spice - it's a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice and could probably be substituted for the total amount of all the spices used in this recipe.

Instructions:
1) Slice the stuck of butter into a large mixing bowl. Add the white and brown sugar, and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.
2) Beat in the egg, then the vanilla and the pumpkin puree
3) In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
4) Slowly beat the flour mixture into the rest of the batter, on third at a time.
5) Stir in the chocolate chips
6) Spoon onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
7) Remove from the oven and let stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.
8) Gobble down several cookies, followed by a glass of milk from a local farm

Inspired Meal

I have a beloved hobby that's been renewed: riding horses. As a working student at a local-ish horse farm, I have tasks such as mucking stalls and the indoor riding ring, picking hooves, grooming, tacking up, turning out and bringing in horses, and many other jobs that might need assisting such as massaging a sore horse and keeping another still and calm while his sprain was taken care of. In exchange for my work, I'm becoming trained to train, and to be a "horse professor." The woman who owns and operates the farm has a very natural connection with her animals - she tries all homeopathic methods first, uses reiki and other such methods for sore horses and does her fair share to treat the environment right.

I've been riding a Percheron - a breed of draft horse who spent his time working as an Amish plow horse before being welcomed to the spoiled life of a riding horse. I've ridden him bareback and with my eyes closed (a method to train me) - now that's an experience! For training, I've worked in-hand with a fussy gelding who's known for being a bit of an ass on most days. Overall, it's an incredible experience and I'm happy to have found my place there. You can even find me singing along to my "favorite" country songs while working and riding...and even in the car...shhh ;)

Now, onto the food! When people think of horses, they often think of cowboys and campfires and all of the rustic meals that have been part of that lifestyle. With the cool air coming back, I wanted to make a big pot of chili. This is a great meal for me because I can make enough for dinners, lunches at work and even some to freeze for later. Somehow, I managed to lose the recipe (or, more like the "outline") that I used when I made chili last autumn and winter, so I started over today.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I'm not one for following perfectly measured out recipes, so this one won't be either. It's up to you to make those decisions based on your own tastes.

The base: 1 pound of ground white meat turkey from locally raised birds - no antibiotics or growth hormones.
Everything else: 1 smallish bell pepper, 1/2 a jalepeno from my garden, 1 clove garlic (minced), a few slices of onion (minced), 6 oz. ca of tomato paste, 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes, paprika, chili powder, olive oil, 1 can of small red beans.
Extra: Brown rice and shredded colby-jack cheese.

Every other time I've made chili, I let it simmer for hours in a crockpot. Today I felt like being a little more involved in the preparation, so I opted for stovetop cooking.

1) First, I cooked the turkey in a medium frying pan and set aside.
2) In a stock pot, I sauteed the chopped onions, garlic, bell pepper and jalapeno pepper in a little extra virgin olive oil until the onions were soft, but not browned.
3) After the veggies were cooked, I added the meat and sauteed a bit more together, then added the cans of beans, tomato paste and diced tomatoes.
4) I added dashes of paprika and chili powder, stirred, then covered the pot and let all the ingredients simmer while I cooked my rice.
5) When the rice was finished, I scooped some into my bowl, added a serving of chili, stirred together and topped with shredded cheese. So filling! I like mixing rice in with the chili because it adds another texture and really extends the meal to provide more servings. You don't need as big of a serving of the chili if it's going to be mixed with rice. It also means you may not have to buy as much meat - something that could certainly save a big family a few dollars. When brown rice is used, it adds an extra nutritional component that the meal did not have before.

My chili was so darn hot that it cracked a beautiful piece of pottery one of my friends gave me (the outside is a pretty metallic blue glaze). I'm really disappointed - it's been a favorite pasta and salad bowl since I received it. Since I can't bear to part with it, I'm sure it'll find a recycled use as some sort of catch-all bowl somewhere else in the house.

What did I use from my shopping trip yesterday? Turkey, onion, bell pepper, cheese, rice and red beans. Now I have a few more lunches or dinners already made!

To market, to market

Have you ever had such a knock-out grocery shopping trip during which you've bought so many great meal components that you don't even know where to start once you get home? A blessing and a curse at the same time, hmm? That's how I'm feeling after getting home from the co-op! I think my first step is going to be to make a meal plan for the week, and take it from there.

Here is a sampling of some of the items I bought (L=local product; O=organic):

• 1 lb. ground turkey (L)
• red beans (O)
• black beans (O)
  
• rice (O)
  
• pumpkin puree (O)
• red cabbage (L)
• red potatoes (L)
• tomato sauce (O)
• assorted cheeses
• pasta
• acorn squash (L)
• broccoli
• bell pepper (L)
  
• eggs (L)
• vidalia onion
  

There was plenty more that came home with me - organic fruit, local dairy products, organic yogurt, etc., but the above items are what will be featured in this week's meals.

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Tasty dish for 1, please

Another confession: I despise the word casserole. It always makes me think of multiple gross ingredients baked into a pan and topped with cheese - to trick you into thinking it's good.

Due to above confession, I commonly call this type of meal a "baked chicken dish," which it is. I'm a big fan of that classic meal - made with chicken strips, rice, broccoli, cream of celery soup and topped with cheese - baked in the oven. It is indeed a tasty and easy dinner to make, but when wanting to limit my meat intake to about once a week, I don't want a couple days worth of leftovers (remember, I'm cooking for one). I would, however, like some extra rice and broccoli, so I opted for the following version.

I bought three stalks of broccoli, then washed and steamed them all. I also steamed an entire (dry) cup of brown rice. This gave me plenty of broccoli and rice to use in my dinner and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow (which I'll eat with a little soy sauce drizzled on top). Then I browned two chicken breast strips, cut into smaller pieces.

In a Pyrex dish I layered the rice, the chicken and the broccoli, then topped with shredded Mexican blend cheese. I placed it on the bottom rack of the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. One thing I also despise is the taste of meat warmed in the microwave - it seems to lose flavor and texture. In the end I had a dish perfectly portioned for one person, which had all the healthy components of a well-balanced meal.

Meat-fest '09

Okay, that wasn't the official name...more like "backyard barbecue"...but it should have been called meat-fest!

Fact: I am not much of a meat eater. I have not eaten beef in probably over 3 years now (environmental reasons), and occasionally (once a week?) eat chicken, pork, turkey or various seafood.

Confession: On Monday, I ate 3 types of meat and 1 seafood.

Sadly (or maybe luckily?), I don't have any photographic proof. In the backyard is a wonderful fire pit dug into the ground and lined with stones. It's a favorite dinner spot for my neighbors and me, who quite often collect the contents of our refrigerators/freezers and turn any and everything grill-able into a meal.

The Menu:
-Dry rubbed pork ribs
-Andouille chicken sausages
-Dry rubbed chicken breasts
-Shrimp
-Assorted veggies (the saving grace to my potentially looming heart attack)
-Frozen Nutty Bars (the necessary dessert to any fireside event)

I started out easy with some grilled summer squash and zucchini - coated in a little EVOO with a generous sprinkling of garlic powder. Then I hungrily (savagely? no, not me) dug into a crispy, seasoned chicken breast and had a helping of shrimp, steamed in a cast iron pan over the fire with broccoli, corn and okra. I have finally, at the age of 25, become brave enough to eat slimy okra. Finally, I tore into some pork ribs, my new love. We've had then 3 or 4 times over the last couple of months, every time with the rub varying just a little bit. This one was a mixture of paprika, brown sugar, cumin and some other tasty spices (this same rub was used on the chicken). I could hardly wait until they were charred just enough to be crunchy and delicious.

All of these foods were grilled over a wood fire. Chicken breasts should be pounded before seasoning so that they cook through a little easier; place them bone side down on the grill first. For best results when grilling a rack of ribs over a wood fire, wait until you have a glowing bed of coals. This will prevent the outside of the meat from becoming charred before the inside is thoroughly cooked.

Now scamper off to your yards to collect some wood and make dinner!