so-called-good-food

[so-called-good-food]

Zucchini and Fennel Tart (? Thing?)

7/19/2022

Hey gang! I didn't forget about this blog. Here's an experimental little something I made last week that came out pretty good! Didn't get any pics since I was in the middle of moving, and my kitchen was a little messy. I get in the mood for fennel sometimes like, this stupid hardcore craving. Let's try out this new format!

Color codes: Red is optional, green are possible substitutions, purple is my commentary.

Ingredients:

Garlic

Thyme

Fennel bulb (can sub: celery with or without caramelized onions for a milder flavor)

Zucchini (can sub: yellow squash)

1/2 cup of white flour + 1/2 cup of wheat flour (I only had a little bit of whole wheat flour, hence the half cup of each. I'm sure this would work fine with a full cup or either white flour or wheat flour, but this is what I did.)

1x 14oz can of diced tomatoes (my local publix has "italian spiced diced tomatoes"; i used those but plain should do just fine)

1 tbsp honey (can sub: sugar) (I found that my recipe came out a bit sweeter than I would prefer with 2 tbsp of honey, so maybe start with 1 tbsp and see how that works for your tastes; add more if desired)

2 tbsp of white wine vinegar

Parmesan cheese (can sub: nooch)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 375.

Prep all ingredients: remove and roughly chop fennel fronds; cut fennel bulb in half and remove core, then cut into equal wedges; cut top and bottom off zucchini, cut into spears lengthways, then cut spears in half width-ways. I use pre-minced garlic because it saves me a lot of time. If cutting into spears is hard for you, just do whatever is easiest for you. I like spears best, but there's no reason this won't work with diced veggies.

Make tomato jam: heat olive oil in a pan. Add tomatoes straight from can (don't drain), honey, vinegar, and garlic. Simmer for ~15-20 minutes on med heat. Add some thyme and some of the fennel fronds. Season with salt and pepper. While that's simmering...

Make crust: Add flour(s) to 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of cold water. Knead; it's going to be a rough kind of crust. Press into a 5x9 pan and poke some holes in the dough with a fork. Bake for ~10-12 minutes, then turn the oven heat up to 425. While the crust is baking...

Tomato jam should be just about done; remove from heat if so and start...

Cook the veggies. Heat olive oil (or, if you're cooking the fennel, I suggest butter. It's especially good if you can get that butter brown) in a pan and add veggies; the fennel will take slightly longer, as you want it to caramelize slightly. Season with salt and pepper. By now the crust should be done, so remove that from the oven and...

Assemble. Spread tomato jam on the bottom, add veggies above, and then sprinkle as much or as little parm on top as you'd prefer. Bake for ~8-10 minutes and you're done!

Notes on the recipe: I suggest pressing the dough pretty thin in the baking pan, and check the corners. Mine came out a little squidgy, which doesn't bother me, but I know it's a sensory turn-off for some people. It won't go all the way to the top; feel free to make more of the flour mixture if you want it to.

[so-called-good-food]

For the record, I haven't been posting much bc a. my apartment is in boxes rn, and thus every picture is a mess (see prev post) and b. I've mostly been eating my #1 comfort meal (canned soup with cheesey garlic bread) or breakfast for dinner (egg, rice crispies, fruit). Not terribly groundbreaking 😅 but I'll have more for y'all as soon as i move! Let me know if there's any advice or tips or recipes you'd like a spin on, or a low spoons version of, and I'll do my best!

[so-called-good-food]

Task Failed Successfully: local dude finds acorn squash at the farmer's market and goes crazy.

This is less a recipe post (I'm going to tweak it and post the actual recipe tomorrow) and more a story of perseverance in the face of adversary (mental illness).

What I had planned to make: acorn squash tacos

What went wrong: SO much <3

I have adhd. How in the world did I think this was going to be successful without making a list. Also, this will be the last thing I cook in my current nightmare of a kitchen until I move. There's no A/C in this kitchen, or countertops. The only option for my cutting board was my stove:

(damn bitch you live like this?)

...or a little storage table I use that is perfect for kneading bread, but awful for cutting things up. The top of this table is about knee height for me. I am six feet tall and suffering every day.

What I used:

-1 full acorn squash, sliced up about this thin:

For the record, if you have mobility issues or are just generally feeling low spoons, I really don't recommend using an acorn squash. This thing was a real pain in the ass to cut. I'll get to this more on my actual recipe post tomorrow, but most stores carry pre-cubed butternut squash. I then battered this in...

-Tempura batter. I used flour (i suggest either regular white flour or rice flour), water, and garlic powder until it's about the consistency of pancake batter. Pro tip: either use a reusable bowl or throw the excess out and rinse out your bowl immediately when you're done with it. This stuff turns to glue if you let it sit and it's difficult to clean out of your bowl.

-Avocado (diced). Life pro tip, if your avocado is ripe and you have Issues™ with the feeling of scraping a spoon against the skin, you can just squeeze the good stuff out like this:

Ain't pretty but it's honest work. You'll be either dicing it up or, for a low spoons option, just mashing it up with a fork anyway.

-Cilantro. I am a slut for cilantro. I diced up the whole bunch to save me some grief tomorrow.

-Aioli. This is a word white people use to pretend they didn't have to use mayonnaise. I really would have preferred sour cream, but ngl this turned out pretty good. Recipe: roughly 2tbsp mayo, 1 tsp of both smoked paprika (or in my case, whatever was left in the jar. RIP to my fallen soldier) and garlic powder, and the juice of a lime wedge.

-Cotija cheese, or anything similar.

-Lime wedge as garnish.

This came out very tastey, but I know i can make it better and much, much easier. I ended up slicing the whole acorn squash bc I knew I wouldn't want to do it tomorrow, but then realized I wouldn't want to fry another round so I roughly chopped them for tomorrow.

What I wanted to add: radishes and pickled onions, both of which I thought i had in my fridge. Think again, past me 😔 Also maybe some arugula or romaine.

[so-called-good-food]

Alright so meal one! This is going to be a pretty non standard post since I'm at the point in my week where I've eaten all of my planned meals and I'm working with whatever is in my fridge. Plus I'm still figuring this blog out! Let me know how this format is.

So let's start with what I'm eating, and move to variations on the theme.

Of course my first post has some controversial ingredients. Irony always finds me. Since this is my first post, I do want to reiterate that I am basing the spoon system off of my own personal spoons. I consider this a low-to-medium spoon meal; it's something I can make after a long day at work with no issue, but your milage may vary. You will have to measure- although eyeballing will work- and there is some timing invoved, but it's not super precise.

Not my prettiest picture; well, it's not the prettiest bowl of food in my defense. It was a very long day and this only takes about 8 minutes. Less, if you're using precooked food; see variations on a theme below.

What I've Made

Tonight I've made a little orzo salad with beets (these are trader Joe's pre-peeled baby beets; I've just halved and sliced them), bosc pears, walnuts, and goat cheese. It's super easy, and listen, this orzo is literally my saving grace on harder nights.

That's the bitch. It lasts forever (I can stretch it to last ~ a month).

It's super quick and easy to cook: one part orzo to two parts broth (add an extra splash or two if you prefer your pasta softer). It cooks in about 7 minutes; usually that's as long as it takes for me to put my shoes away, change out of my work clothes, and do the litter box.

You can substitute this out for rice (especially if you have leftover rice) or your preferred grain, or smaller types of pasta such as stelline. I think canned beans would work as well, just make sure you're only adding a little broth to those, if any at all.

The reason I prefer this orzo is that it comes out perfect even if I forget about it on the stove (you will hear it crackling when it's absorbed all of the broth; it takes a minute to truly burn, and I rely on sound or visual cues sometimes to remind me that yes, I did start cooking). Plus it cooks in one pot and you don't need a strainer, which means less dishes.

Variations on a theme

...in order of least to most amount of spoons needed:

Throw in some of your preferred frozen or canned veggies and a little extra broth and cook them all together.

Use it to bulk up a can of soup (just throw the can of soup over them as they finish cooking; slow releasing carbs like those found in whole wheat pasta or whole grains will help you feel fuller for longer).

Throw in some chopped leafy greens (I love this with kale and parmesan or plain ol' frozen spinach) as well as some extra broth and cook them together.

Add to salads (even if you aren't using lettuce, like I've done here). I've had this with spinach, apple, walnut, and blue cheese before and it is truly *chef's kiss.* I find that I don't need salad dressing, because the orzo when cooked in broth is very flavorful, but feel free to add your preferred toppings and dressing to it. Even some ripped up deli meat and cheese would be tasty! I'm a big advocate for ripping up soft food with your hands. Save a cutting board; go ape shit.

Try adding an egg on top for extra protien; soft boiled eggs take about 6 minutes to cook and will be done alongside your pasta.

Serve with some roasted veggies and a source of protien: tofu, chicken, an egg, etc. A lot of stores carry pre-cooked chicken for salads that would work perfect for this.

And... Woohoo! That's my first post on this blog. I'm still figuring this all out; let me know how this works out for y'all, and if you have any questions, never hesitate to reach out!

[so-called-good-food]

What is this blog?

I'm using this as a way to share recipes and give some inspiration, tips, and ideas for (mostly) healthy low energy and depression meals. This is a food positive space!

I do like to have one day to cook one nice meal, so let's jump in to:

How do I navigate this blog?

>As of right now, I'm using these tags:

Vegan friendly / No vegan option / No vegetarian option: By default, a majority of my recipes are vegetarian because that is my preferred diet. However, I am very prone to anemia and sometimes I will eat meat out of dietary necessity. I use a lot of cheese and butter, so vegan friendly means that you can leave those sort of things out / easily substitute them. Things like egg-centric meals (which I don't typically eat; maybe the occasional quiche) might be listed under "not vegan friendly."

Low spoon / medium spoon / high spoon: This is based of off my own personal spoons. A rough guide would be: something that is packaged/ microwaved is low spoons; something that requires a little attention on the stove and maybe some chopping is medium spoon; something that requires knifework and timing would be high spoons.

Recipe / Tips: Self explanatory. Either a post is a recipe or a tip.

>Feel free to send me an ask if you'd like me to tag anything else! Or just an ask in general. I'm happy to help!

>For every recipe, I include possible substitutions where I think are necessary. Things like strongly flavored or controversial food (olives, beets), or allergens (nuts, fish, eggs).

About the mod

Hi! I'm Silas, an agender dude, and I'm in my twenties. Minors are okay to follow this blog; it is rated G. I've been struggling with depression, ADHD, and disordered eating for my entire life. In an effort to combat my depression related food guilt, I've worked really hard (and with the help of a few different therapists) to get to this point, and I have a lot of experience making depression meals that don't make me feel worse even on my lowest days. I still have a long way to go with my relationship with food, but I think I'm doing alright these days.

I work as a chef (well, line cook and prep chef, but let me dream for now), and I've always wanted an easily navigatable resource for healthy, low energy meals, but also the occasional low effort nice meal, too. As of writing this, I am in the middle of moving, so the start to this blog might be a little slow.

I try to keep my ingredient list down for a few reasons: mostly to keep things cost effective but also because if I buy a lot of food at once, I tend to forget about it and a lot goes to waste. I do my best to keep all of my recipes below about four to five perishable items.

Not every recipe is going to be groundbreaking. This is a depression meal blog first, after all.

As a final disclaimer I'd like to just state: I really like strong flavors in my food and I am not picky at all. I will eat literally anything. Things like saurkraut, olives, kimchi, pickles, mustard, etc are up my alley. I will always have some tips under recipes with more strong flavors on how to tone them down or remove them altogether.