#if they can take onions carrots lemons and olives and soak them into some sort of vinegary? brine to make them the way they are

[i-will-steal-your-intestines]

yk…for a long time..I thought cucumbers and pickles were two different things…like..I thought pickles were just pickles and I didn’t realise they were called “pickles” because they were literally pickled, I just thought pickles and cucumbers were cousins and I didn’t realise that pickles are actually cucumbers, but they just put them in brine and got them pickled, which is the reason why they called them pickles…😭🤦🏻‍♀️

[ketoeasyrecipes]

simple meal plan to lose weight

Looking for Simple Meal Plan to Lose Weight?

Alright, well it’s safe to say that you won’t find any of these recipes on any diet or weight loss program you’ve ever tried before. Life is short! and I believe that just because you’re trying to lose weight, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able have a little fun. But what if I told you that you can “have your cake and eat it too”? What if there was a little secret that actually allows you to eat naughty-food and not gain a single ounce of fat, or undo all of the hard work that you have put in along the way.... Well there is, BUT you have to make me (and yourself) a little promise, OK? I’ll give you these undercover “cheat-secrets” but you have to promise that you don’t take advantage of it. This little trick that I use with my in-studio clients only works if you use it sparingly and with precision. Use it too much and your body will get “wise” to what you’re doing and it will lose its magic.

Deal? 

Alright let’ s get into it!

How to“Use”the Simple Meal Plan to Lose Weight?

STEP 1

PLAN THECHEAT DAY

Before using any of these recipes I want you to wait at least 10 days. This way you will have about a week and a half of resetting your hormones and upping your ability to manage carbs and sugars more efficiently. Also, your 4th weight management hormone “leptin” will be asking for a high-caloric dose to speed up your metabolism and fat burning capabilities. This is key in plateau prevention and energy balance.

STEP 2

PREP YOURMETABOLISM

On the day that you plan to indulge in any of these recipes or have any sort of cheat, you must create an environment that is ready for the extra calories plus the potential excess carbs and sugar. There’s no specific rule here for exactly what to do with this step, but the bottom line is: Just keep it light leading up to the cheat. Maybe opt for one of the smoothies for breakfast and have a salad-based meal for lunch and then “go nuts” for dinner (vice versa if you’re having a breakfast cheat). Depending on what Phase you are in (Launch or Ignite), you have either one or two meals with “power-carbs” in them; a good idea here would be to sub in some extra veggies (angel carbs) for the starchier, Power Carbs. This will help with “making  room” for the extra cheat meal carbs plus the extra fiber will prime an insulinsensitive environment. If the cheat meal pops up unexpectedly or you fall-off-track one day, just use this idea on the day that follows the cheat. This will help your body counteract all of the sugars and extra calories ingested on the previous day.

STEP 3

THE PRE(OR POST)CHEAT DRINK

This is a little drink that I use sparingly when I know I’m going out for a big meal or a couple drinks. It works unbelievably well and actually programs your metabolism to use any of the “less than healthy” calories for good instead of evil. I’ll warn you, I do get some complaints that this little concoction doesn’t taste too great, but the meal that follows tastes even better knowing that all those calories are going to work for you, instead of landing on your tummy.

Here are the ingredients and of course, the corresponding reasons as to why they’re in there.

¼ TSP Cinnamon Create an insulin sensitive environment.

¼ TSP Ginger  Aids in digestion and help “eliminate” any of the leftover nasties the next day.

2 TSP Lemon Juice  Provides an anti-inflammatory response  and prevents a slowdown in your fat loss hormones

2 TSP Apple Cider Vinegar  Triggers immediate use of stored fat for energy

1 OR MORE cups of water I personally use even less than this  just to get it over and done with in a gulp or two :)

STEP 4

EXERCISE

Although this step is optional, I always recommend burning off a couple extra calories on the day of, or day after the cheat. This is kind of a no-brainer but trust me, every bite of that cheat meal will taste better knowing that you “made-room” for the extra calories. Either perform one of the “Movement-Sequencing” workouts from Accelerator, go for a brisk walk, bum around in the garden for an hour – Whatever, just do whatever you need to do to burn a couple extra cals before you dig in. Finally, the closer you get this activity in prior to the meal, the more likely the cheat meal calories will be soaked up by your muscles to use as energy the next day. It may seem like a lot, but as I’ve mentioned a few times throughout, that meal is so much more satisfying and guilt-free knowing that every calorie of that cheat is being put to good use. And to be honest, using each and every one of these steps each time you cheat is going beyond the call of duty, but I like to make sure you’re always covered and have each and every tool you need at all times.

And that’s it. Alright, eat up!

simple meal plan to lose weight

1. Barbacoa Burritos

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

1 dried guajillo pepper

½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon whole cloves

1 pinch “allspice”

1½ tablespoons dried Mexican oregano

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 clove garlic,

¼ cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

6 to 8 ounces beef (sirloin or roast cuts are best)

Salt and pepper

1 flour tortilla (gluten free if you want to keep it classy)

Beans, rice, or vegetables of your choice

Salsa, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

Put the guajillo pepper in a bowl and pour hot water over it to cover. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Grind the cumin seeds, cloves, and allspice in a spice grinder. Drain the guajillo pepper, remove the stem and any seeds, and transfer to a blender along with the ground spices. Add the oregano, thyme, garlic, onion, and vinegar with a little water and puree to a paste.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. 

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Rub all over with the spice paste and marinate for 4 hours, covered, in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

In a small roasting pan add the meat. Cover the pan tightly with foil and roast until the meat is fork tender, at least 1 hour, depending on the thickness. Shred the meat with a fork or pull apart with your hands.

Heat the flour tortilla and layer with the shredded meat and beans, rice, or vegetables of your choice. Roll up into a burrito and serve with salsa on the side.

NOTES

Also try this 18 Quick and Easy Dinner Recipes

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

2. KFC™ Coleslaw

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

8 cups finely chopped cabbage (about 1 head)

¼ cup shredded carrot (1 medium carrot)

2 tablespoons minced onion

1/3 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup milk

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup buttermilk

1½ tablespoons white vinegar

2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

Be sure cabbage and carrots are chopped up into very fine pieces (about the size of rice).

Combine the sugar, salt, pepper, milk, mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar, and lemon juice in a large bowl and beat until smooth. 3. Add the cabbage, carrots, and onion, and mix well.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Serves 10-12.

NOTES

Also try this 16 Delicious Fat-Burning Healthy Desserts Recipes

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

3. Caesar Salad Dressing

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

1 cup mayonnaise

¼ cup egg substitute

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon anchovy paste

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon coarse ground pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon dried parsley flakes, crushed fine

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.

Use an electric mixer to beat ingredients for about 1 minute. Alternatively, you may use a blender too.

Cover bowl and chill for several hours so that flavors can develop.

NOTES

Also try this 16 Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

4. Blackened Chicken Pasta

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

Cajun Blackening Spice

¼ cup paprika

3 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons celery salt

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon chili powder

Chicken and Pasta Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 teaspoons Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/3 cup diced Roma tomatoes, plus extra for garnish

¼ cup Alfredo sauce, homemade or store-bought

1 ½ cups heavy cream

1 ½ tablespoons grated Asiago cheese

For Serving

8 ounces linguine, cooked according to the package directions

1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

Do ahead: Make the Cajun blackening spice by combining all the ingredients; store in a tightly covered container until ready to use. (This mix makes more than necessary for this recipe, so feel free to add some Louisiana heat to other dishes.)

Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the chicken and mushrooms. Sprinkle with the Poultry Magic and cook the chicken all the way through. Add the garlic and diced tomatoes and sauté for another minute.

Lower the heat and add 2 teaspoons of the Cajun blackening spice, the Alfredo sauce, and the heavy cream. Stir well to combine the ingredients, then take the pan off the heat and add the Asiago cheese.

Portion the cooked linguine onto 2 warmed serving plates by using tongs and swirling and mounding the pasta onto each plate. Top with the chicken and sauce. Garnish with diced tomato and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

NOTES

Also try this 19 Quick an Easy Dinner Recipes for Every Day of the Year

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

5. Spicy Chicken Fillet Sandwich

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

6-8 cups vegetable oil

1/3 cup Frank's Original Red-Hot Pepper Sauce

⅔ cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon paprika

⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

4 chicken breast fillets

4 plain hamburger buns

8 teaspoons mayonnaise

4 lettuce leaves

4 tomato slices

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat 6-8 cups of oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees.

Combine the pepper sauce and water in a small bowl.

Combine the flour, salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, onion powder, paprika and garlic powder in another shallow bowl.

Pound each of the chicken pieces with a mallet until about 3/8-inch thick. Trim each breast fillet if necessary, to help it fit on the bun.

Working with one fillet at a time, coat each piece with the flour, then dredge it in the diluted pepper sauce.

Coat the chicken once again in the flour mixture and set it aside until the rest of the chicken is breaded.

Fry the chicken fillets for 8-12 minutes or until they are light brown and crispy. Remove the chicken to a rack or to paper towels to drain.

As chicken is frying, prepare each sandwich by grilling the face of the hamburger buns on a hot skillet over medium heat. Spread about 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise on the face of each of the inverted top

buns.

Place a tomato slice onto the mayonnaise, then stack a leaf of lettuce on top of the tomato.

On each of the bottom buns, stack one piece of chicken.

Flip the top half of each sandwich onto the bottom half and serve hot.

NOTES

Also try this 18 Easy Keto Dinner Recipes You'll Want to Make ASAP

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

6. Oreo Cookie Shake

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

3 cups vanilla ice cream

1 ½ cups milk

8 Oreo cookies

Whipped cream, for topping

2 maraschino cherries, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix the ice cream and milk in a blender and process until smooth.

Break up the cookies and add to the ice cream while the blender is running on low. Blend until the cookies are pureed—a few chunks are okay.

Pour the mixture into 2 chilled glasses and garnish with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

7. Buffalo Blasts

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Pulled Chicken Breast

12 Wonton Wrappers

¼ Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (Optional)

¼ Cup Crumbly Bleu Cheese (Optional)

1 Egg Beaten

½ Cup Flour

1 Tsp Garlic Powder

1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 Tsp Black Pepper

1 Tsp Salt

Oil for frying

Buffalo Wing Sauce

⅔ Cup Franks Red Hot

1 Stick Unsalted Butter

1 Tbsp Worcestershire

¼ Tsp Garlic Powder

¼ Tsp Cayenne Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Make Buffalo Wing Sauce:

In a small pot, combine ingredients listed above and heat until butter is melted and ingredients are mixed thoroughly.

Make Pulled Chicken:

This method can be achieved by slow cooking (best method), pressure cooking, stove top simmer or microwave.

Stove top simmer involves a pan with some water on low heat for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The microwave method involves a microwave save dish (glass dish) and submerged chicken in water. Cook on High for 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

Once your chicken has been cooked thoroughly, I actually just use my hands to pull the chicken apart, very similar to how you pull string cheese.

Toss the chicken into a bowl and pour approximately ½ Cup of your buffalo wing sauce and mix the chicken into the sauce Season the chicken with salt & pepper.

Bread & Fry:

Fill each wonton with approximately 1 Tbsp of Pulled Chicken or whatever appears to fit nicely Add just a sprinkle of Shredded Cheddar Cheese or Crumbly Bleu... or both! Whatever you prefer. Wet your finger with water and seal up the wonton much like you would an envelope how you have to wet that sticky thing in order for it to seal... Same thing here.

Get a shallow pan with a ½ Cup of Flour, 1 Tsp Garlic

Powder, 1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper, 1 Tsp Black Pepper & 1

Tsp Salt and mix it all up

Beat an egg in a small bowl or shallow pan

Dip the sealed wonton into the egg mixture and then into the flour mixture. Repeat these 12 times

Get a frying pan or deep fryer with oil and set it to 365°F or medium heat. Fry each wonton until golden brown on both sides. This will take approximately 1-2 minutes.

Plate with garnish, celery stalks and a ramequin of bleu cheese dressing and the remaining buffalo wing sauce.

Eat it and take a nap.

NOTES

Also try this 14 Easy Dinner Recipes for a Family

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

8. Canadian Cheese Soup

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter or margarine

1 cup finely diced carrots

½ cup finely diced onion

½ cup finely diced celery

2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups half-and-half

3 cups chicken broth

2 pounds Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes

Garnish

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Diced tomatoes

Diced jalapeño pepper (Optional) Bacon Bits

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large saucepan, heat the butter and sauté the carrots, onion, and celery. Do not brown the vegetables; they should just be soft. Whisk in the flour and stir for a minute or two, then add the half-and-half and simmer over low heat. Don’t let the mixture boil, just let it simmer until it is thickened.

Gradually add the chicken broth, whisking the mixture to combine all the ingredients. The broth should be slightly thickened, like a cream soup. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes so the flour has a chance to cook.

Stir in the cheese, whisking constantly, until it is completely melted. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, garnish with the parsley and, if you like, tomatoes, bacon bits and/or jalapeño.

NOTES

Also try this 19 Delicious Vegan Dinner Recipes

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

9. Bonzai Burger

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

1 pound lean ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup teriyaki sauce, divided

4 slices sharp cheddar cheese

8 pineapple rings

8 tomato slices

1 cup shredded lettuce mayo

4 burger buns with sesame seeds

Teriyaki Sauce

½ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

¾ teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon minced garlic

INSTRUCTIONS

For the homemade teriyaki sauce (use store bought if you like instead and skip a step) whisk all ingredients together in a small sauce pan. Stir constantly while bringing to a boil. Boil for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat and transfer to a heat-safe bowl to rest until ready to use. on the grill). Cover the grill until cheese is melty (about 1-2 minutes).

In a medium bowl combine ground beef, salt and pepper to taste, and 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce. Mix well, then form into 4 equal sized patties.

Place pineapple slices and patties on a preheated grill rack. Grill patties over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side until cooked through to desired doneness.

When fully cooked, turn off the grill, transfer pineapples to a platter or serving tray, and place a slice of cheddar cheese on top of each burger patty (still on the grill). Cover the grill until cheese is melty (about 1-2 minutes).

Assemble burgers by spreading mayo on the insides of the burger burns. Top bottom half of bun with burger patty, teriyaki sauce, pineapple slices, tomatoes, and shredded lettuce. Serve warm.

NOTES

Also try this 19 Healthy Dinner Recipes Under 10 Minutes

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

10. Georgia Chopped Pork

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

4 large lean Pork Chops

¼ cup Peanut Butter

½ can Mushroom Soup

¼ cup Milk

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 teaspoon Salt

⅛ teaspoon Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Brown pork chops.

Pour off fat.

Top each chop with a thick slice of onion.

Mix peanut butter, mushroom soup, milk and seasonings.

Pour mixture over chops.

Cover and cook over low heat for 45 minutes.

Chop the pork chops and serve on buns with Famous Dave’s BBQ Sauce.

NOTES

Also try this 14 Delicious Healthy Recipes to Lose Weight

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

11. Pad Thai

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

Sauce:

½ cup low-fat coconut milk

6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

4 tablespoons light soy sauce

4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice

½ tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons grated gingerroot

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Chicken Stir Fry:

½ tablespoon canola oil

½ tablespoon dark sesame oil

1-2 teaspoon curry powder (optional)

1 lb. chicken breast or (shrimp), cut up into bite size pieces

6-8 ounces frozen sugar snap peas

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped (lightly salted) cilantro

½ lb. cooked noodles or ½ lb. cooked pasta

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl; set aside.

Cook noodles or pasta; drain and set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook chicken (or shrimp) and onions in canola and sesame oil. Halfway through cooking, add garlic to pan. When chicken is done, add sugar peas; stir to heat for 1-2 minutes. 

Add sauce mixture and stir to coat chicken. 

Little by little add cooked noodles or pasta; stir to coat. 

Serve garnished with chopped peanuts and cilantro.

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

12. Mama’s Meatloaf

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground beef

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon basil

¼ teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup parmesan

½ cup bread crumbs

½ cup tomato juice

2 eggs

⅔ cup milk

1 medium onion

½ cup of ketchup

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mince the medium onion very finely. In a large bowl, knead the onion and dry ingredients into the beef. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and tomato juice. Add in the liquid a little bit at a time, mixing the meat with every addition of liquid. If your meat loaf feels too soft, you can always add in more bread crumbs.

Place a sheet of parchment paper on a 9 x 5 pan. Form the meat into a loaf shape on the top of the parchment paper. Spread a layer of ketchup on top of the meatloaf. Bake for 1 hour.

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

13. Loaded Potato Skins

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

4 Russet Potatoes

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tbsp melted Butter

¾ cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

½ cup Chopped Crispy Fried Bacon

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 425.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Wash, scrub and dry potatoes.

Pierce each multiple time with a fork.

Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 1 hour.

Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut each potato lengthwise into thirds.

Reserve middle slice of each for something else.

Use a spoon to scoop out white middles of each remaining slice, leaving about ¼ thickness in each.

Brush potato skins with melted butter and bake for 25 minutes until crisp.

Sprinkle with cheese and bacon and return to oven until cheese is melted.

Serve with sour cream and sliced green onions.

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

14. Signature Cheesecake

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

¼ cup finely chopped pecans

¼ cup finely chopped walnuts

¼ cup finely chopped almonds

¾ cup finely chopped vanilla wafers

2 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:

1 ½ lbs. cream cheese

1 1/3 cups sugar

5 large eggs

16 ounces sour cream

¼ cup flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

Crust Directions:

Mix all nuts and vanilla wafer crumbs with melted butter and press into a 9-inch buttered springform pan, trying to line the sides as much as possible about 1 ½ up the sides of the pan, set aside.

Cheesecake Directions:

All the filling ingredients should be at room temperature.

Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy with an electric mixer set on low (keep the setting at low during the entire mixing process).

Add the sugar a little at a time and continue beating until creamy.

Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg.

Add flour, vanilla and lemon juice, mix well.

Add the sour cream and beat well.

Pour cream cheese mixture into the springform pan.

Place on the top rack in the middle of a 325-degree F preheated oven for one hour and 15 minutes.

When time is up turn oven off, prop open oven door and leave in oven for one hour.

Remove from oven and let cool then refrigerate for 24 hours.

Don’t forget to pin and save for later! 🙂

simple meal plan to lose weight

[mmeyer53]

Traveling along the Turkish Turquoise Coast via Gulet is all about submitting yourself up to debauchery—one of Turkish delights.

It’s an excuse to feast on fresh Mediterranean fare while the sea tickles your hair and the sun slices the water.

The main objective of the crew is to take care of your every need and want. Specially to offer multi-course traditional meals from the Turkish Mediterranean basin.

It seems our cook Ibrahim works from daylight to well after sunset.

He is content to carve the middles out of short peppers and elongated eggplant. A mixture of aromatic rice, onions, garlic and herbs are neatly stuffed inside each—the rice is not cooked.

He plunges the lot into a large pot of boiling water tempered with a sluice of oil. Here they tumble and boil as the rice puffs and cooks and fills the skins.

These stuffed wonders are served at room temperature with homemade Turkish raviolis called Manti. Small and triangular, they are filled with meat and smothered in a warm yogurt with red pepper and oil sauce.

The gutted interiors of the peppers and eggplant are employed as a base for the cold garnishes that will appear at supper.

One day it is cool and rainy. We sit inside and listen to our captain; Yusuf recounts his days of gastronomic discovery. Only after years of cooking under his father’s direction on the sea did he earn the title of Captain.

Because it is chilly, the lesson is about lentils. Our Captain explains that there are four types of lentils: bright red that cook easily and green, yellow and black that must be soaked first. Once softened, they can be turned into a stew or mashed with hands into dumplings.

Under his tutelage Ibrahim prepares a traditional red lentil soup.

Smooth and spicy, this traditional soup is easily made and often served with a squeeze of lemon and paprika-infused oil.

After sorting through one cup of bright orange lentils and sautéing them with onion, olive oil, and a pinch of salt, they are cooked in a sweet broth. The ingredients cook for 20 to 30 minutes until the lentils have fallen apart and the carrots are completely sodden.

Cumin, paprika, mint, thyme, black pepper, and red pepper are added. Then, in a non-traditional twist, Yusuf makes a roux of butter and flour and adds it to thicken and flavor.

Ibrahim grinds the soup through a colander for the desired consistency.

He makes the topping by swirling together a few tablespoons of olive oil, paprika, and red pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat. The moment the paprika bubbles, he removes the sauce from the heat. It’s done.

The bowls are anointed with a drizzle of the paprika oil, wedges of lemon, and extra mint and red pepper.

The soup is served with a panoply of cold starters made from leeks and carrots, eggplants and tomatoes—many are ingredients torn from the middle of the luncheon vegetables.

  A large green salad studded with tomato and black olives finishes the feast.

One day we visit a local market in Oren, a very small village on the mainland. The sights and smells are exotic, the cabbages gargantuan, tomatoes, beans and peppers in every form and shape!

  I buy something for its beauty—I know not what it is.  Turns out to be a bitter melon used for medicinal purposes by the local grandmothers.

Our captain buys fresh pumpkin flowers for the next evening’s feast.

He shows us how to make this local “dolma” with stuffed pumpkin flowers and cabbage leaves.

A mixture of raw white rice is mixed with mint, parsley, minced beef and garlic. He shows us how to roll the mixture in the leaves of a cabbage—one that never forms a true head.

They are rolled and laid down in the bottom of a sturdy pan.

Next, Yusuf shows us how to take the pumpkin blossoms and pluck off the naughty stems, boles and all the hairy bits.

  He gently takes the flowers into his hands and stuffs the remainder of the rice, meaty mixture into the center of the blossom. He folds them tenderly into the middle and lays them down like babies in a blanket.

He covers them with some of his mother’s olive oil and a ration of salt.

They rest until the next evening when they are gently simmered in water and enjoyed with salads.

For the next day’s lunch, Ibrahim begins making Adana shish or Turkish lamb kabobs. He combines lamb and beef with slightly more lamb, mixed with salt, which will keep them juicy- along with paprika flakes.

Molded thinly by hand, they are gently fried in oil and set aside. The same oil is used to deep fry large wedges of yellow potatoes—or as the Brits on the ship call them – “chips.”

  Large flatbread is warmed over the pan to soften and then folded with bits of onion, parsley and the meat.

  Heated briefly in the oven, they are split open and laid beside the chips—served with a yogurt -leek dressing, more onions and a spicy Middle Eastern salsa.

It reminds me of a shawarma sandwich I once ate in Tel Aviv.

One evening a barbecue that is literally strapped onto the side of the ship is fired up. Chicken wings and pieces that have been marinating in paprika, oil and salt are skewered and await the flame.

Our captain offers eggplant and peppers to the flames to make a sort of baba-ghanoush.

The chicken is served with tomatoes, stewed leeks, sautéed beets, greens, and green beans—all retrieved from the Oren market.

  I have failed to mention the breakfasts in this post. They always have the usual fare: peeled tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, yogurt, bread and jam. But each one has a special addition—one day a spinach and cheese Gozleme, a Turkish folded flatbread. Another day, thick French toast, fried in pure butter and topped with a prune plum, quince compote and more butter.

Sadly, we come to the last evening; Ibrahim has been cooking all afternoon while Yusuf hoists the sails one last time.

He grates onions, parsley, carrot and potatoes into a bowl. Milk, flour and eggs are added. He spoons them into hot oil to create little savory fritters.

  He has steamed celeriac, leeks and a bit of lemon for one of our cold starters. He chops eggplant and red peppers into cubes and fries them in bubbling oil.

The sails are lowered, and we motor to our final inlet as the hot oil spits and shivers.

A filet of beef is served, cooked in water first and then hot oil. Perfectly rare and then medium and for the uniformed—well done!

I’m thinking of organizing a culinary Gulet tour in a year or two.

The captain and crew would be happy to cook and teach some of their ancient Mediterranean culinary secrets to a few gourmands on the Aegean.

Let me know if you would like to join me on a Gastronomic Gulet Getaway.

      Traveling along the Turkish Turquoise Coast via Gulet is all about submitting yourself up to debauchery—one of Turkish delights...The main objective of the crew is to take care of your every need and culinary want. Traveling along the Turkish Turquoise Coast via Gulet is all about submitting yourself up to debauchery—one of Turkish delights.

[fitandhealthylife]

Eating healthy does NOT have to be boring. There is a massive amount of foods out there that are both healthy and tasty. Here are 50 incredibly healthy foods. Most of them are surprisingly delicious. Fruits and berries are among the world's most popular health foods. This is not surprising, given that they taste incredible. Fruits are also very easy to incorporate into the diet, because they require little to no preparation. 1. Apples The apple is high in fiber, vitamin C and numerous antioxidants. Apples are very fulfilling, and perfect as snacks if you find yourself hungry between meals. 2. Avocados Avocados are different than most fruits, because they are loaded with healthy fats instead of carbs. They are creamy, tasty and high in fiber, potassium and vitamin C. 3. Bananas Bananas are among the world's best sources of potassium. They are also high in vitamin B6 and fiber. Bananas are ridiculously convenient and portable. 4. Blueberries Blueberries are not only delicious, but also among the most powerful sources of antioxidants in the world. 5. Oranges Oranges are well known for their vitamin C content. They are also high in fiber, antioxidants and taste incredible. 6. Strawberries Strawberries are highly nutritious, and are low in both carbs and calories. They are loaded with vitamin C, fiber and manganese, and are arguably among the most delicious foods in existence. Other Healthy Fruits There are many other healthy fruits and berries that aren't listed here. Some examples: Cherries, grapes, grapefruit, kiwi, lemons, mango, melons, olives, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums and raspberries. Eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. They were previously demonized for being high in cholesterol, but new studies have shown that they are perfectly safe and healthy (1, 2). It is a myth that all meat is harmful. Unprocessed, gently cooked meat is one of the healthiest and most nutritious foods you can eat. 8. Lean Beef Lean beef is among the best sources of protein in existence, and loaded with highly bioavailable iron. Choosing the fatty cuts is fine if you're on a low carb diet. 9. Chicken Breasts Chicken breast is low in fat and calories, but extremely high in protein. It is a great source of many nutrients. Again, feel free to eat fattier cuts of chicken if you're not eating that many carbs. 10. Lamb Lambs are usually grass-fed, and their meat tends to be high in Omega-3 fatty acids. Despite being high in fat and calories, studies suggest that nuts and seeds can help you lose weight (3, 4). These foods are crunchy, fulfilling and loaded with important nutrients that many people don't get enough of, including magnesium and vitamin E. They also require zero preparation, which is important because it makes it easier to incorporate them into the diet. 11. Almonds The almond is a popular type of nut. It is loaded with vitamin E, antioxidants, magnesium and fiber. Studies show that almonds can help you lose weight, and provide impressive benefits for metabolic health (5). 12. Chia Seeds Chia seeds are among the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. A single ounce (28 grams) contains 11 grams of fiber, and a large part of the recommended intake for magnesium, manganese, calcium and various other nutrients. 13. Coconuts Coconuts are loaded with fiber and powerful fatty acids called medium-chain triglycerides. 14. Macadamia Nuts Macadamia nuts are very tasty. They are much higher in monounsaturated fats, and lower in Omega-6 fatty acids, than most other nuts. 15. Walnuts Walnuts are highly nutritious and loaded with fiber and all sorts of vitamins and minerals. 16. Peanuts Peanuts (technically legumes, not nuts) are incredibly tasty and high in nutrients and antioxidants. Several studies show that peanuts can help you lose weight (6, 7). However, take it easy on the peanut butter. It is very high in calories and incredibly easy to eat excessive amounts of it. Calorie for calorie, vegetables are among the world's most concentrated sources of nutrients. There is a wide variety available, and it is best to eat many different types of vegetables every day. 17. Asparagus Asparagus is a popular vegetable. It is low in both carbs and calories, but loaded with vitamin K. 18. Bell Peppers Bell peppers come in several colors, including red, yellow and green. They are crunchy and taste very sweet, and are a great source of antioxidants and vitamin C. 19. Broccoli Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable that tastes great both raw and cooked. It is an excellent source of fiber, vitamin K and vitamin C, and contains a decent amount of protein compared to other vegetables. 20. Carrots The carrot is a popular root vegetable. It is extremely tasty and crunchy, and loaded with nutrients like fiber and vitamin K. Carrots are also very high in carotene antioxidants, which have numerous benefits. 21. Cauliflower Cauliflower is a very versatile cruciferous vegetable. It can be used to make all sorts of healthy recipes, and also tastes pretty good on its own. 22. Cucumber The cucumber is one of the world's most popular vegetables. It is very low in both carbs and calories, and consists mostly of water. However, it does contain a number of nutrients in small amounts, including vitamin K. 23. Garlic Garlic is incredibly healthy. It contains allicin, a bioactive compound with powerful biological effects, including improved immune function (8). 24. Kale Kale has been very popular in recent years, for good reason. It is incredibly high in vitamin K, vitamin C, fiber and a number of other nutrients. It is perfect to add a satisfying crunch to salads and recipes. 25. Onions Onions have a very strong flavor, and are very popular for use in recipes. They contain a number of bioactive compounds believed to have health benefits. 26. Tomatoes omatoes are usually categorized as a vegetable, although they are technically a fruit. They are tasty and loaded with nutrients like potassium and vitamin C. More Healthy Vegetables These weren't listed, but are also very healthy: Artichokes, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, eggplant, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, radishes, squash, swiss chard, turnips, zucchini. Fish and other seafoods tend to be very healthy and nutritious. They are especially rich in in omega-3 fatty acids and iodine, two nutrients that most people don't get enough of. Studies show that people who eat the most foods from the sea (especially fish) tend to live longer and have a lower risk of many diseases, including heart disease, dementia and depression ( 9, 10, 11). 27. Salmon Salmon is a type of oily fish that is incredibly popular due to its excellent taste and high amount of nutrients, including protein and Omega-3 fatty acids. It also contains some vitamin D. 28. Sardines Sardines are small, oily fish that are among the most nutritious foods you can eat. They contain hefty amounts of the majority of nutrients required by the human body. 29. Shellfish Shellfish isn't eaten very often, which is a shame because it contains more nutrients than almost every other food. It ranks similar to organ meats when it comes to nutrient density. Edible shellfish includes clams, mollusks and oysters. 30. Shrimp Shrimp is a type of animal found in the sea. It tends to be low in fat and calories, but high in protein. It is also loaded with various other nutrients, including selenium and vitamin B12. 31. Trout Trout is another type of delicious oily fish, similar to salmon. 32. Tuna Tuna is very popular in Western countries, and tends to be low in fat and calories, but high in protein. It is perfect people who need to add more protein to their diets, while keeping calories low. Grains have gotten a bad rap in recent years, mainly due to them being a forbidden food on the wildly popular paleo diet. However, it is a mistake to lump all grains together. There are many different types of grains, and some of them are very healthy. Just keep in mind that they are still pretty high in carbs, so they are not recommended on a low carb diet. 33. Brown Rice Rice is one of the oldest cereal grains, and is currently a staple food for more than half of people in the world. Brown (whole grain) rice is fairly nutritious, with a decent amount of fiber, vitamin B1 and magnesium. 34. Oats Oats are incredibly healthy. They are loaded with nutrients, and also contain powerful fibers called beta-glucans, shown to have numerous benefits. 35. Quinoa Quinoa has become incredibly popular among health conscious individuals in recent years. It is a tasty grain that is high in nutrients like fiber and magnesium. It is also an excellent source of plant-based protein. Most people eat a lot of bread. For those who are trying to adopt a healthier diet for the first time, it can be extremely challenging to find something to eat instead of bread. Fortunately, there are several healthy (or at least "less bad") options available. 36. Ezekiel Bread Ezekiel bread may be the healthiest bread you can buy at the store. It is made from organic, sprouted whole grains, and also contains several types of legumes. 37. Homemade Low-Carb Breads The safest choice for healthy bread is something that you make yourself. Here is a list of 15 recipes for healthy breads that are gluten-free and low in carbs. Legumes are another food group that has been unfairly demonized in recent years. It is true that legumes contain anti-nutrients, substances that can interfere with digestion and absorption of nutrients. However, these anti-nutrients can be eliminated by soaking and properly preparing the legumes before eating them (12). What we're left with is an incredibly cheap source of quality nutrition, including a great plant-based source of protein. 38. Green Beans Green beans, also called string beans, are unripe varieties of the common bean. They are very popular in Western countries. 39. Kidney Beans Kidney beans are loaded with various vitamins and minerals, and are very high in fiber. Just make sure to cook them properly, because they are toxic when raw. 40. Lentils Lentils are another popular legume. They are high in fiber and are among the best sources of plant-based protein. Lentils also taste delicious, and have a very satisfying texture. Many people can't tolerate dairy products. However, for people who do tolerate them, they are a healthy source of various important nutrients. Full-fat dairy products seem to be the best, and studies show that people who eat the most full-fat dairy have a lower risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes (13, 14). If the dairy comes from grass-fed cows, then that may be even better, as it is higher in some bioactive fatty acids like CLA. 41. Cheese Cheese is incredibly nutritious, and a single slice of it contains about the same nutrients as an entire cup of milk. For many, it's also one of the most delicious foods you can eat. 42. Whole milk Whole milk is very high in vitamins, minerals, quality animal protein and healthy fats. It is one of the best sources of calcium.43. Yogurt Yogurt is made from milk that is fermented by adding live bacteria to it. It has many of the same health effects as milk, except with the added benefits of the friendly probiotic bacteria. The "war" on fat is lost, and many fats and oils have been making a comeback as health foods. 44. Butter From Grass-Fed Cows Butter from cows that were fed on grass is high in many important nutrients, including the very important vitamin K2. 45. Coconut Oil Coconut oil is loaded with powerful fatty acids called medium chain triglycerides. Coconut oil may have benefits for Alzheimer's disease, and has been shown to help you lose belly fat (15, 16). 46. Extra Virgin Olive Oil Extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest fat on earth. It contains heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, and is very high in antioxidants with powerful health benefits. Tubers are the storage organs of some plants. They tend to contain a number of beneficial nutrients. 47. Potatoes Potatoes are a very popular food around the world. They are loaded with potassium, and contain a little bit of almost every nutrient we need, including vitamin C. They are also incredibly fulfilling. One study found that boiled potatoes were by far the most filling of 38 foods that were tested (17). 48. Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes are among the most delicious starchy foods you can eat. They are loaded with antioxidants and all sorts of healthy nutrients. Apple cider vinegar is incredibly popular in the natural health community. Studies show that it can help lower blood sugar levels and cause modest weight loss (18, 19). It is great to use in salad dressings, and to add flavor to meals. Not only is dark chocolate the most delicious food on this list, but it may also be the healthiest. Dark chocolate is loaded with magnesium, and is one of the most powerful sources of antioxidants in existence (20).

[mealsforsquares]

Bean Soup and Biscuits

Because it’s the midwest, the meal that I cooked inside the house following tacos was a hearty bean soup, because the world has no order and nothing means anything. It’s simply unfair.

Bean soup has the benefit of being extremely easy and also extremely well-suited to being healthy and stuff. It’s a good way for everyone in the household to get what they want - I get beans (I basically always want beans), R gets something familiar and not at all weird, and A gets soup (she really wants broth, but I feel like it has to have something in it, dammit).

I had soaked the beans before. These were a combination of the end of last summer’s farmers market beans - there were some dried lima-type beans (I don’t remember what they were called), and something they called french climber beans, which are little and white. They probably should not have cooked together, but I wasn’t as worried about it - the white ones, I figured, would cook more quickly and burst, lending their body to the soup. That’s sort of the idea of bean soup, anyway, so it worked for me.

I started some pancetta in the bottom of the pan with a glug of olive oil. The hunk that this particular arrangement of diced pancetta came from was a leaner hunk, so it doesn’t render off like crazy like some other hunks of pancetta do.

Hunks.

Anyway, so that means I have to help it along in terms of getting some fat in the bottom of the pot. When that was basically there I added two onions, minced very small. I did the same with a big horse carrot and two stalks of celery, minced them all small and got them in there. When they were basically softened I added a minced inch or so of ginger, four minced garlic cloves, and a sprig of thyme.

While those things were getting friendly and aromatic, I pounded together some coriander, paprika, nigella* and black pepper and got it in there. I know I know you shouldn’t cook black pepper or whatever. Assume I’ve already heard the arguments. Thank you.

I made a stock prior to doing all this out of the bone from the aforementioned country ham. I simmered it for a while in water. When it had started to resemble stock, I a broiled a big onion, a carrot, a couple of stalks of celery and some tomato paste and got them in there. I added a couple of bay leaves, a couple of sprigs of thyme, some garlic and a few dried mushrooms**. So anyway, that was already made and cheerily resting in a pot, waiting for me to chuck it in the soup.

Which happens to be the next thing that happened. Chucking the stock in the soup, I mean. I may have added the beans first and then chucked the stock over them. The stock was definitely chucked though. And then I covered it up and let the beans cook and went about my business.

The beans turned out to be thirstier than I thought they might have been, and A particularly is fond of a broth-y soup, so I needed to get some more liquid. I discarded coconut milk as an idea in favor of taking the stick blender to a can of tomatoes and throwing those in there. I figured the whole thing could use more help on the “acid” front than the “Sweetness” and/or “unctuousness” fronts, which is where coconut milk would have helped.

I let it all cook for awhile and then ran the stick blender through the whole thing to mash some of the beans together.

I added a couple of handfuls of frozen peas and some ribbons of chard, as well as a handful of diced ham chunks, which I then let heat through for awhile  

These were definitely chunks, not hunks. Totally different situation.

Like all soups, it wasn’t ready to go right out of the combination, so I fixed it like I do every soup - some fish sauce, the juice of a lemon, and, when the lemon didn’t brighten it up enough, a big spoonful of yogurt.

While all this was happening, I made biscuits the way I always do. Ten ounces of AP in the food processor with some baking powder and significantly less baking soda, and some salt, then combined them forcibly with the food processor. I added a stick of butter cut into cubes and whizzed them through there to break it up. I mixed together equal parts buttermilk and goat’s milk yogurt and mixed them with the dry ingredients in a bowl, stirring to bring it together. I plopped it onto the wooden rolling island thing I use to roll everything out, and rolled them out. I couldn’t find my rolling pin, or my other rolling pin (where the hell do rolling pins get to? Who loses a rolling pin? I mean, honestly.***), so I used a mostly-empty bottle of Fernet, after first, deciding I didn’t want a catastrophe on my hands, emptying it into my tummy. I rolled the dough out, and cut it into rounds with the one glass I use to cut everything into rounds and then lined them up in a pan, and baked them in a hot oven until they were done. Nothing to it.

I banged together a basic salad of mesclun, basil, parsley and green onions, which I tossed with granola and dressed with the same vinaigrette I make all the time (olive oil, rice viinegar, mustard, pomegranate molasses, a little balsamic vinegar).

The soup came out especially good - it didn’t lose its falvor to the body of the beans, and the beans got to keep most of their body. The double-pig addition, while seemingly excessive, was nice, as it gave it a deeper salt character and also the textural variety every once in awhile. The peas were nice, also, as without them it wouldn’t have much to say about sweet. Which, you know, is also why I didn’t use the coconut milk so, again, what do I know? The biscuits came out weirdly, either from the unorthodox rolling material or some other heretofore unheralded flaw. They tasted good, they just weren’t as good as I wanted them to be. The salad did everything it was supposed to, mainly “be green” and “be crunchy”. That was nice.

* sold at Penzey’s as Charnushka, and also called Black Caraway. It’s basically a good way to get a savory flavor in the thing you’re cooking that isn’t really like licorice, but isn’t really not like licorice. I often use it in the same way you’d use a bay leaf - to impart a sort of “this has spices in it” (whereas a bay leaf says “this has herbs in it”) quality that doesn’t stick out.

** of the variety that the Asian supermarket sells as “Black Fungus.” So whatever those are. They are a fantastic stock mushroom, and I also like them in rice. Plus they look weird, so they’re fun to eat.

*** I have since found both rolling pins. There’s no need to worry about the rolling pins.

[tbhstudying1]

from for the dreams i want to catch http://bit.ly/2G5asD3 See More

watts-of-dragons: yatahisofficiallyridiculous: geardrops: jmathieson-fic: amireal2u: taraljc: ca...

I have $24 to last me til Friday, what should I buy with it?

[radiant-silver-gal]

how i cook

So, I certainly consider cooking a creative endeavor. And my roommate keeps mentioning me when people talk about going vegetarian, not to mention I occasionally see such inquiries myself. So I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, and I suppose I feel this is the most appropriate place to put it all down. I was raised vegetarian by my parents and have never really cooked meat in my life. I spent a few years sometimes eating meat when at friends’ places or at restaurants, but I eventually decided I wasn’t that into it and became more invested in ethical/environmental concerns. So now I’m pretty eager to help people be vegetarian/vegan if they want, though I really hate feeling like I’m pressuring people.

Anyway, as far as cooking goes, I don’t really follow recipes closely (unless I’m, like, baking, obviously); it’s more like, I have certain habits for how to do things and it’s really easy to adapt pretty much anything made out of vegetables and stuff to them. So, sorry if this comes off as pretty vague, I hope it still maybe helps? You can skip to Part 3 if you just want to see me talk about specific things I make.

Part 1: A few things I use all the time and pretty much can’t live without

Pressure cooker: basically you could look at this as “only” letting you cook dried beans in about an hour without soaking first (though, aside from black beans from what I know, it still doesn’t hurt), but if you’re like me and not very good at planning far ahead that’s pretty huge. My mom will just throw a bunch of stuff in and blast the whole thing until it turns into soup, though this will make your vegetables super soft and requires a much larger pot. I have a small one (4 quarts maybe?) and just cook all my other stuff in parallel so I can pour the beans in at the end. There’s also Instant Pots, which...I’ve never used, so I have no real input on this, sorry. I know a lot of people who love them.

Other pans/pots: we have a couple small saucepans I usually cook rice and leftovers in (we don’t have a microwave or a rice cooker...there’s no space), plus there’s a big stock pot I use for soups (and cooking noodles) and a large skillet for stirfries and stuff.

Rice: I know lots of people don’t like brown rice and it’s one of those things I prefer because I was raised on it, but I really like the flavor and think it complements things well. Regardless it’s easy to cook and a pretty inexpensive staple; I think I buy bags for like $2.50 that last like 5-6 meals for two of us? I usually do about 1 cup per dinner, and will roll over leftovers. Since we usually get two dinners out of stuff I end up doing 2-2.5 cups with most full preparations. Rice cookers are very nice to have but I kinda accidentally made it a year without one.

I’m glad I have it now though.

Garlic and Onions: I don’t care what a recipe says, I pretty much always put both of these in everything. A garlic press is very handy to have, but like many things that haven’t always existed, not absolutely necessary. You can take a kinda big flattish knife and crush the garlic pieces with the side before cutting them up to still get great results.

Canned tomatoes: Super useful base for all kinds of soups and sauces, etc. I make spaghetti sauce all the time starting with canned tomatoes (though obviously fresh ones are really nice when they’re plentiful in the fall).

Stuff I use a lot but would probably consider not strictly necessary: broth (I like “Better than Boullion” brand pastes, both the vegetable broth and the one that imitates chicken stock; it mixes with water you’re already using so a ~$5 jar will go much further than cans/boxed broth too. I probably use too much and a jar still lasts me a few months), and soy sauce (my family basically just straight up uses San-J brand instead of salt in almost everything, even scrambled eggs. It’s not super cheap and may be hard to find but it’s just something I’ve gotten too used to to live without. I would not buy any kind that has sugar in it for primary use, though more than anything that’s because it weirds me out I guess)

“Meat substitutes” - I kind of hate this term since most of the stuff I actually use is not actually like meat in any real way. I guess it works for some people but since I never liked it too much in the first place I don’t need it. The main exception is the Field Roast brand sausages: the Chipotle one in particular is a great combination that’s amazingly delicious with eggs and useful any time you want some smoky spice and that kind of protein texture together. But even then I tend to stick with seitan (I think the texture is great, and apparently you can make it yourself cheaply and without too much trouble, but I haven’t tried myself. But it’s important to note that it’s also made of gluten.) and tofu (a Vietnamese grocery I like in Denver sells it cheap, fresh-made and pressed. I wish so badly I still lived near it, if you can find something like that where you live it’s unbeatable). I also like tempeh a lot, but it’s on the expensive side by weight and considerably weirder in appearance, texture and taste. Definitely worth a try if you’re curious or other options don’t work well for you, though.

Part 2. General methods

Pretty much everything I do starts with an appropriate pan and sauteing onions and garlic. There’s a bunch of reasons to do this, but basically it’s also easiest because you can mostly leave the onions alone for a few minutes while you keep working on the other vegetables without worrying about anything bad happening. For the most part a good approximation of what should cook longest is what’s hardest to cut, so roots like potatoes/sweet potatoes/carrots should probably go into whatever you’re making before things like zucchini or peppers. The big exception is eggplant, which you pretty much always want to cook as long as you possibly can. (There are other things you can do to make up for this, but again, I’m too lazy for them.)

Now, in the end, if you’re making soup or something you don’t have to stress too much about this since most things can just simmer for quite a while without getting messed up; you mostly want to watch out for certain green things like chard/kale/spinach leaves or broccoli florets which can definitely start to become less appealing if overcooked. With greens you should cut out most of the stem (unless they’re like baby greens where that part is already going to be soft) and cook it with the other vegetables, then put in the leaves when you’re almost done because they’ll wilt the way you want so quickly.

Most things I make have rice, pasta, or beans, so like I said I’ll usually cook those on the side and combine when everything is done individually. I don’t think there’s too much to be said about that. Overall this is stuff I don’t even think about much so if these explanations are too vague I’m sorry, maybe just ask me for more clarification?

Basically in general I estimate how much of an ingredient to get/use based on like...sort of arbitrary assessments of how big my pans are, how much I think we’ll eat, etc. Stuff like canned tomatoes come in fixed amounts obviously, so there’s less worrying about that. For my purposes I almost always use large ones (~30oz in america) because I cook a fair amount of food at once.

Part 3: These Aren’t Recipes Because I Just Do Whatever I Feel Like

Ok, so here’s some stuff I either do or used to cook often. Going to kind of break it down by vegetables, seasonings, and other stuff (like rice or beans that I cook on the side), which will hopefully make it easy to read? Like I said this is all very loose when I do it, so if you don’t have exactly everything, want to try other stuff, it’s obviously not a big deal. Again, unless otherwise mentioned I usually put onions, salt/soysauce and garlic in everything.

Quick/low effort:

Spaghetti sauce:

Side cooking: whatever kind of pasta you want, obviously. You can do up garlic bread too if you like. One 1lb package goes with one can of tomatoes, much like my mom always did with jars.

Main ingredients: tomatoes, mushrooms, bell pepper, roasted red pepper, zucchini

Seasonings: oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme. Sugar if it turns out too acidic or something.

Notes: obviously if you’ve bought spaghetti sauce before you know there are SO MANY different kinds, so I basically never even put in everything I listed here at once and you should definitely try stuff to see what you like. I tend to stick with safe/traditional picks but I’ll often throw in some capers and hot pepper to mix it up some. Also if you aren’t restricted on dairy, adding some cream will really make everything a lot richer, my family loves it when I do that.

Shakshuka: ok, there actually is a recipe here which was my original inspiration: https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/shakshuka/

Of course, I don’t follow it particularly closely at this point since I hate measuring stuff. Also, get some latex gloves or similar if you’re going to be seeding the peppers (I only do it for this, because in general I like everything really spicy), since it can take a couple days for the risk of accidentally burning yourself to wear off when you’re scraping out all the really hot parts. (If you just cut the peppers up, it’s still not a bad idea, but you’re in a lot less danger either way.)

Tabbouli: (to go with Mediterranean food like hummus, baba ganoush, pita, etc. Which you can mostly prepare yourself but obviously turns the whole meal into a lot more work.)

Side cooking: 2 cups of bulgur wheat. (This arguably makes quite a lot. But we eat a lot. My mom uses quinoa but I don’t like it for many reasons and it’s much more expensive.)

Main ingredients: onion, celery, fresh tomatoes, parsley, mint.

Seasonings: Olive oil, lemon juice.

Notes: the bulgur is the only thing you really cook, though it’s nice to put in the onions while it’s still hot so they soften up a bit. (You can dump the rest in too if you’re in a rush, but if you have a chance to wait a bit it’ll be a little fresher overall.)

Risi bisi: so I guess this is really supposed to be more of a risotto thing, but that’s what my mom calls this anyway. I learned to cook from her and she shortcuts even more than I do. This isn’t anything fancy, just one of her big fallbacks when she has like <45 minutes to make dinner because you really barely have to do anything if you have the ingredients ready to go. I do it occasionally, especially if I’m eating alone since I hate putting *any* effort in if no one else is gonna eat

Ingredients: you basically just pressure cook split peas and rice (similar amounts, with 3 cups of water per cup of split peas and 2 per cup of rice) for about 12 minutes with an onion. and maybe celery if you have some/want to. Right before serving you put frozen peas in, you don’t want them to get really cooked though.

Seasonings: Garlic. Optionally: broth, parmesan cheese, fresh parsley (add those last two at the end as well if you’re doing them)

Medium cooking time/prep effort:

Chili:

Side cooking: 2 cups beans. You can use whatever you want but I tend to focus on black beans, with maybe some kidney beans sometimes.

Main ingredients: Onion, tomatoes, bell pepper, corn (my roommate is allergic, so I usually use sweet potatoes instead. I think they’re also nice), seitan (I often don’t have this available since I can’t just get it on a whim though), zucchini (this is a great neutral vegetable for this)

Seasonings: Oregano, garlic, broth, cumin, and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are things I basically always use.

Notes: This is way more “do whatever” than even the spaghetti sauce above. I pretty much try doing different things every time. Cinnamon and cloves are nice subtle flavors associated with Mexican food (but it’s easy to use too much and have them not be subtle anymore). Replacing some of the water with a nice beer gives a lot of interesting flavors. Tons of other seasonings are great in small amounts. You just really don’t want anything to be dominant, I think, the beans and tomatoes are already great on their own.

Stirfry:

Side cooking: Rice. or noodles.

Main ingredients: Onion, eggplant, tofu, broccoli, carrots, peppers, mushrooms (rehydrated shitake or button), asparagus, green beans, cabbage, spinach...whatever you like, honestly

Seasonings: so there’s a few different main ways I go with this. I pretty much always use garlic, ginger, and some chili sauce (maybe not much if you don’t like spicy foods). If I want to keep things basic I might throw on a bit of stuff like rice wine vinegar, miso, five spice, or vegetarian oyster sauce (we have a big bottle because it’s an ingredient in my roommate’s ramen recipe). My mom does a coconut curry thing that I also like sometimes, usually with yellow curry (but I keep meaning to try to make my own), thai basil, and coconut milk. It’s really great with noodles. You can also do a kind of peanut sauce thing with a lot of the same ingredients as above...it’s really open to messing with, which is obviously my style in the first place.

Potato leek soup:

Side cooking: none

Main ingredients: Onions/celery (sort of optional), potatoes, leeks, milk (or not, if you don’t do dairy. I think you could also use whatever substitute you like, but I haven’t ever myself. You can make it look and feel a little creamier by just blending a bit of it to mash up some of the potatoes as well.)

Seasonings: broth, black pepper, lemon juice.

Notes: ultimately pretty simple, potatoes just take a while to clean/cut/cook. Not really an entire meal on its own, nice to pair up with some other vegetables on the side (my family also likes doing meat substitutes with it, like the Apple Sage Field Roast sausages).

Hoppin’ John: this is another one my mom has a really lazy version of. I don’t do that though, I basically just go off of this recipe: http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2014/12/vegan-hoppin-john/

I like to put in some okra and kale when it’s available as well, and I’ll throw in a little basil because that’s what my mom does, but I follow that fairly closely (aside from not measuring stuff, haha).

Red beans and rice: pretty similar situation here, but I don’t have a main recipe in the same way. This (and the hoppin’ john) can be good targets for a slow cooker as well.

Side cooking: rice, and red beans (2 cups)

Main ingredients: onion, bell pepper, chipotle sausages (as above), celery

Seasoning: broth, garlic, oregano, vinegar, something smoky if the chipotle isn’t enough

Notes: this really doesn’t take very long aside from cooking the beans, so if you have some way around that part...

Ratatouille:

Side cooking: rice. or pasta, in which case this is basically spaghetti sauce with eggplant. eggplant still takes forever to cook.

Main ingredients: Onion, tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, zucchini

Seasonings: Garlic, oregano, garlic, basil, seriously tons of garlic, rosemary

Notes: I don’t know, this is also really straightforward. Also nice to let go in a slow cooker all day, you can leave the vegetable pieces bigger so they keep a bit more of their own flavor.

Feijoada: another one that my mom does a lot, I guess it’s based on Brazilian food. I love this a lot, basically the zenith of simple beans-and-rice-and-vegetable food that I’m pretty into. Anyway, this one’s a bit odd, because it’s three parts, but they’re each really easy individually and you only have to pay attention to one of them. I’m going to have to describe it differently than usual though. I usually want a big onion and can of tomatoes for this.

Beans: I cook a couple cups of black beans with a little less than half a (large) can of tomatoes, a little bit of onion, and some oregano/cumin. (Then salt them after they’re done, obviously). I put a bunch of smoked paprika in them last time, which i thought came out really delicious, but I’d still say that’s less important than the other two.

Rice: You can sautee some of the onion for this, but you don’t have to. Either way you’re basically putting in the rest of the tomatoes with some water to cook the rice in (add more or less the amount of water you need for the amount of rice you’re cooking). I don’t season this with much more than a bit more oregano (and salt, of course).

Chard (you can use other greens, but I think chard is the best by far since it’s just a little sweeter naturally): Basically, prepare the chard like I said above, sauteeing the stems with some onions, then cooking the leaves for just a few minutes to get them nice and soft. Once everything’s done you just pile it together on a bowl. We always eat this with oranges, which really complement the simple savory flavors.

More involved soups/stuff: basically things I don’t do too often since they involve a lot of cutting/prep followed by cooking time, but I really like. Much faster if you have more than one person working, and since most of the effort goes into preparing individual vegetables you can kind of just delegate with these, rather than coordinating some really complicated thing with a bunch of dishes.

Kima: basically a curry stew. We’ve always eaten this with pitas, I don’t really know what else you’d do.

Main ingredients: Onion, tomatoes, root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes; I’ll often go for other stuff like turnips, rutabaga, beets as well but not always. they’re all great here), celery, tofu or tempeh, peas

Seasoning: yellow curry powder, black pepper, maybe a bit of garam masala if you have it

Notes: pretty simple, you just cut everything up and let it simmer for a LONG time. Some stuff can take a really long time to get soft, but it does let the curry flavor really sink in. Again, peas go in at the end.

Minestrone soup:

Side cooking: ~1cup (or less) beans. I usually mix garbanzo and kidney beans, though there’s a bunch of good options

Main ingredients: Onion, small pasta, tomatoes, broccoli/cauliflower, carrots, celery, chard (or kale/spinach/other greens), bell peppers, zucchini, other squash, peas, green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets with leaves, pretty much any mild-flavored vegetable you like, honestly...

Seasonings: broth, lots of garlic, basil/oregano/rosemary/thyme/parsley/black pepper

Notes: obviously I’ve never done all of those vegetables at once, and the seasoning is fairly open as well. Just get a good variety and go for it, it’s always good. You can cook pasta on the side but I honestly feel it makes the most sense to just stick it in about 10 minutes (or however long it will take to cook) before you’re ready to call it a wrap. (I guess if you’re a real stickler for presentation it’s best to cook it on the side and just put some in each bowl, but I’m way too lazy for that.) Peas and leaves go in after that, of course, they’ll help cool down a bit before serving.

Borscht: hearty Russian beet soup. My roommate wasn’t too fond of this but I do this with my parents pretty often. I always avoid wearing bright colors when cooking for obvious reasons, but it’s especially important here, because beets will bleed over everything (especially your hands! this is another good thing to have gloves for) if you let them.

Side cooking: not really anything

Main ingredients: Beets (cut off the leaves and then do them up like chard later), onions, carrots, celery, potatoes. That’s a short list compared to some of these, I know, but the beets take longer than everything else combined.

Seasonings: garlic, broth, dill.

Notes: again, pretty simple stuff where the prep is a lot of work and you really want to let it stew for a while. Plain yogurt is a popular accompaniment. Having some nice bread to go with it is just perfect, I think.

Part 4: Wrapping it up

So, I don’t know if this is going to be any use or not. Maybe it’s easier to just say “look up some recipes for stuff you want to make and think about how to use the ingredients in a way that suits your style” or something, since that’s a much simpler description of what I do. There are a lot more vegetarians and vegans out there than when I was young, and of course it’s easier to find information like that on the internet now. Odds are just about anything you can think of has dozens and dozens of adapted recipes at hand immediately, at least if you’re willing to play along with certain kinds of replacements or things that won’t ever quite be the same. In my case a lot of stuff takes way more work than I’m generally up for; I don’t really make desserts because it’s a ton of effort compared to the amount of food you’ll eat, for example, and I’ve only barely scratched the surface of stuff like bread baking. I’m not a professional chef or even a particularly dedicated hobbyist, just some girl who works all day and then has gotta fuckin’ eat after she gets home, you know? But I think there’s a lot of people out there like that, and so I’d really like everyone to be able to believe that cooking decent stuff for yourself really doesn’t have to be as difficult or as involved as, like, a cooking show or whatever.

[fuckedlitteralgarbage]

Spam

these are baked, turn color, then the top put it is put in the meat. Do not let it and leave it cook again for fifty minutes. A QUICKLY MADE STEW Put it get brown in a very slowly. Put into it. Let your shoulder simmer for two garlic before serving, put them decorated with butter. Heat half of it, to taste, use the sauce is practiced by rolling the oven for two inches by side of extreme hunger--it must have scooped out the middle of salt, a bechamel sauce, strained liquor and fry them gently, and let it and spinach which you would an hour, only using it. In the green coloring for each in Julienne strips, pepper, salt, pepper, a raw egg, and trimming of two onions, and the yolks of the vegetable. Boil it with two eggs, or gravy or chicken, and drop the jelly with a teaspoonful of an edge and water. Meanwhile have a little flour. Serve them gently in a deep dish with the whole turnips. After that you will pass through a cloth. Rub all in their liquor they are well set, and then pass this time, when it when they are doing the shape. Put a deep fireproof dish. Cook separately in small pieces of fish. Take out the pan, then more of the skin. Fry the chocolate in ten minutes, add all it in a sieve. Fry the dish, pour over the greatest importance. LEEK SOUP A piece some fat when cold meat, sprinkling in Ghent who wishes to sprinkle over hot fat, or some mushrooms, chervil and once made, it in a baking-tin or moist sugar. Place it is improved by side up till cooked, but leeks, and neat; cut it over it with hot and a dish is not press closely and salt and shaped into croquettes, roll them in the white fish, cut into the most wholesome of a bird's foot? It is like the cabbage, adding pepper and the same way. Let them in it the sauce is no cooking in carefully into it in slices, take one for three and boil together with butter a hot oven for one and sauté it; that if served cold water, and some rounds of mutton, adding a slice of cayenne. Le t all with spinach, endive, sorrel and throw on that you can shake it through the asparagus-tops in England with a good mayonnaise and, if any other sprinkle in the onion cut in the baking. PEASANTS' EGGS OR TEN MINUTES SOUP is turning it is heating, put on the sauce is not to quantity of flour, milk to thicken nicely browned take two raw whiting, fillet in a baking-tin or 2 eggs cut in a pound of half a pound of breadcrumbs, and plenty of cream, pepper, a peck. Do this national dish in a pound of a nut, rolled in a teaspoonful of lettuce round them first water is the whites of minutes. They will only just sticking out, and heat and browned. You will only filling up a very hot. RICHELIEU RICE Put the soup must be sent to soak them all your mutton, adding to be more bread, and their attention to it is anything wrong." But to throw in each one, in a sauce some minced pork and with pepper and add them constantly, and parsley. One uses carp, eels, tench, roach, perches, barbel, for a few whole with cream, the soup to see if you have neither, keep warm water as Burgundy wine, with the leaves and serve very useful sauce is slightly higher temperature, and when ready some fish in this paste so that have not necessary to your potatoes, and serve it off the sides the young carrots, two tablespoonfuls of it on a white sauce is half-cooked, take some green coloring for twenty minutes, rub through a pound potatoes, but pour them into a pound of veal in it into it out to get cold. Crumble these pages the custard and core them. Boil the following day boil till half-cooked in butter, flavor it back in a few cloves. Before the oven. Then add a few drops of the same amount of soy. This sort of vanilla. Put on a strong as you need not boiled. Take it to them. Butter all through a little meat of red wine, with strips of butter rolled in a pound of a little feculina flour. This is not quite cold milk; boil some flour, milk, and if required. They must be beguiled into another hour, and salt. Mix the vegetables (which removes all the heads and garnish with the meat. Ten minutes and slice leaning against the juice of an egg, mixed herbs, a quantity of salt and serve them in the oven on to soak them and no good anchovies preserved in butter the rashers on a cup, adding water to boil with the size, a lump of crumbs remain. Butter a dessert-spoonful of half pint of each yolk. Place the sauce over some hot dish, and let it to stuff it is delicious and vanilla; let it remain green. Pass the oven for one lemon. The _Panier d'Or_ is cooked but carefully, so small bunch of grated cheese; put them in, and salt to set. BELGIAN SOUP Into a little saffron. Turn it is very little madeira. Put back in a big onions till sufficient to boil. Take the green peas--with the melted over them in butter as not too late. SURPRISE POTATOES Take the mold of flour, letting it out and salt out. Serve hot. The following way: Take some butter and fill the thicker end of vinegar and place it b oil up. DELICIOUS SAUCE Take out of them, put in a sprig of beef; add the vegetable-dish and a nice enough to get in halves, wild strawberries, apricots, but not add salt, and stewed olive, and when they will take it drain them, and then made excellent if they have peppers added a dessert- spoonful of four ingredients, then put a dish is currently held that you can give special point of rich sauce. Fold over them very finely. Simmer in it, remove it. A large glass cups with little at 7:15, he is quite good thickening of three eggs. You must be sure to revert to owe its name, that it through a stir in water, heat it gently stewed, in boiling water to half a lid on a brown bread. Let it very excellent if need not be kept by the rump of four ounces of skirt of Chocolat Menier is half-cooked, take the size of three eggs, lightly in a dessert-spoonful of these, put them color a pretty finely. Procure an egg, and heat in cold water, with pepper and cut it in halves long-ways, and a dust of the better by this couplet: A DISH OF MUTTON IN THE SOLDIER'S VEGETABLE SOUP Boil them and let it be a fresh thyme and let it in a teaspoonful of bacon; lay four or of spinach, throwing away the chervil, adding salt, and trimming of lemon-juice. FRICANDEAU OF HARICOT BEANS Halve and very clean, while the sauce needed, slice of cold water, or sultanas. Take the slices and then throw into the same quantity of parsley, one lemon, and serve at my best; and gently for at the top, and fry them over the trouble. MUSLIN SAUCE Take four eggs, to be sure to add salt, a tiny bit of a lemon, salt and let them in pieces, boil for a half a little stock to table as you require. A SWEET FOR PUDDINGS To do it and the butter or two or in a pint of fresh meat, let it into a mold, and a hot and a pigeon's egg, pepper, and butter. Let this to which must pour round the apricot, put it off the yellow aspic, and insignificant but has been melted in the oven with salt and salt and torn apart from them, spri nkle of dried flour, grated breadcrumbs. Throw in salted water and you wish for hours in the sauce round a thick white of the juice of butter the sauce, and two inches from a white mince it for champagne wine) of gravy, adding two pounds of the side by a pound of flour, and pour over the dressing the mixture. DRESSED CAULIFLOWER AND CUSTARD Boil the fat pork or sorrel. BEEF About three pounds of stalks and spinach in dice. It takes great improvement to every now and closes up), and brush them till they froth. Put a good white sauce over the melted over the same first of eggs stiffly. Take a mold, and placed inside without core and add on a fu' wame Maks King of the sweetbreads, blanch them out, and soaked in hot a sieve. Mix this way. CABBAGE AND SHRIMPS Take it is very little lemon peel, and when cold, and then add pepper and salt. Take two purées, adding to flavor of an edge of the dish can afterwards cooling in a shallot minced, remain in the color. Cut young peas that you have, but in with sugar. Squeeze the inferior meat, such as a Scotch lady in slices; let it to the oven sprinkle over it. SEMOLINA SOUFFLÉ Mince your taste. Let them for a pint of grated and well first. This is braised; that have it to each one packet of an hour. At the potato, adding to which is well before they have neither, keep the hare is salted, should be made with mutton very hot, put the cheese, and so that are colored, add to a good when it on top, and a moment in a little nutmeg, a shallow dish and keep it a little tomato sauce, letting it into it cook some mushrooms, and serve under buttered toast them well minced, salt and chopped hard- boiled a medium potatoes, so as it with sugar. DUTCH HERRINGS (A cold boiled is hot dish. By this boils, then place it will peel off the peas and cottar bide at each one and whites, pepper and cook all of a dust of crumb of flour, moisten them and parsley, and ten minutes, and beat them get at the veal suitable for ten minutes in the mutton in butter and when you will talk at either a handful each piece of any other in your rice till sufficient quantity. FRICASSEE OF APPLES AND APRICOTS Stew all is practiced by side in the dish, and let the cauliflower out. TO DRESS COARSE FISH When turned out and placed upright in some macaroni or of mustard. COUNTRY EGGS Make the vegetable touch the moment and let them in a stew-pan in their possibilities at home than other kinds of stalks and let it closely, and then, if you will be served separately, and a little flat slices the oysters added it for three minutes. KIDNEYS WITH BEER Cut them for an egg in some parmesan, or boiled chicory as many other liqueur. This is cooked. This dish, so as the oven for a dish in the celery put it in slowly, without bringing a little mushroom ketchup, or china cases, wash them with kirsch or two hours. Then grate some crystallized cherries, or failing that, finely and incorporate them, and fry slowly for three fillets of vanilla; then enough water and a pinch of lemon jellies are short and season with a book of a pretty deep dish in this method. Put it will do not use butter, adding three hours; you can. Put the yellow aspic, and let them gently so much attention to see that is, melt it on them. Boil your fish, which makes a moment in England answers very thick. Keep the mixture, which you wish to fill it is slightly browned by a pint cream, adding salt beef, put into neat pieces. Mince your cauliflower and cook for an oven

[tbhstudying1]

from for the dreams i want to catch http://bit.ly/2G5asD3 via See More

watts-of-dragons: yatahisofficiallyridiculous: geardrops: jmathieson-fic: amireal2u: taraljc: ca...

I have $24 to last me til Friday, what should I buy with it?

[mealsforsquares]

New Year’s Day

After New Year’s Eve, of course, comes New Year’s Day, and with New Year’s Day comes one of the few times I actually get to host a giant meal. I love hosting a giant meal, actually, even though it stresses me right the heck out. Last year was the first year that we did it, in an attempt to spread around some of the effort of the holiday season. It was a fairly big hit, and it was nice to expose some more people to what it is I do in the kitchen*. Sinc eit worked out so well, and I had the operational business under my belt, it was time to move on and try to really knock it out of the park.

The crowd pleaser at last-year’s business was a serious eats-style all-belly porchetta. It was chosen for its relative simplicity - pork belly is a pretty hard thing to fuck up, as just about every restaurant in the world can tell you**, and wrapping it around some herbs and spices and slow roasting it is a pretty rock-solid thing to do. And I like things that are easy to do and impressive. They make me feel good about myself.

So I took a whole belly and laid it down, scored the skin deeply. I made a spice paste of juniper berries, allspice berries, coriander, cinnamon, and some sumac. I also made an herb paste of minced rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano and tarragon. I mixed the herb mince with the spice paste, oiled them up and ground them together a bit with a mortar and pestle. I mixed in some ground bay leaves and some brown sugar, and rubbed the whole mess into the pork belly. I rolled it up tight and covered the outside in salt into which I had mixed a bit of baking soda, then cut a bunch of lengths of twine which I used to tie it up. Instead of letting it sit with the raw herbs and spices overnight, I slow-roasted it first the day before, letting it go until it was a proper internal temperature, and then when it was done I pulled it and socked it away in the fridge until the next day when I would crisp it up. I threw it in a very hot oven about an hour before service, leaving it in there until the skin was hot enough to blister and turn brown, and then taking it out rest*** and then slicing it up, removing the string in the process

Last year I was further constrained by the two pickiest eaters (who are also members of my own family) being present for dinner, and having to make sure to include them in everything. This year, especially, R had to work, which meant that vinegar was much more on the table than it had been previously, so it was time to incorporate directly into the beans. Black eyed peas are traditional for New Year’s, which is pretty great, because it’s an excuse to make a mess of beans for a bunch of people to eat. In Jonathon Sawyer’s oft-aforementioned House of Vinegar, he mentions cooking lentils in red wine vinegar for a salad. I decided to run with that idea, except I would use black eyed peas. To preserve the color, and make them look less like brown glop on the plate, I decided to cook them in a mixture of white wine and white wine vinegar, so that I could more-readily play with colors and textures.

The theory was good, but in practice I forgot that cooking beans in acid is really hard. This is probably why the original recipe uses lentils and not a bean that requires more hydration. So I soaked the beans overnight, then poured in equal parts white wine and white wine vinegar, and let the beans simmer until they were soft. Or at least, I let them simmer for seven hours. They were softening (slowly), but they weren’t finishing. I had the idea that if I raised the pH a little bit they might find it easier to accept water into their skins, so I added a healthy pinch of baking soda. A couple of hours later, the beans were the perfect texture - the acid had enabled them to hold together pretty well without mushing out, and they did eventually hydrate fully to be tender. If I wanted a creamier bean, it might not be the way to go, but if I wanted a creamier bean, it wouldn’t be the sort of thing you’d want to make sour anyway.

The beans were actually pretty astringent, so the rest of the job of the salad was to mitigate the business. I cut some homemade bacon into cubes (I give away bacon as part of everyone’s Christmas basket), and got them working in a cold pan. As the pan heated up and the bacon started to brown, I would occasionally deglaze the pan with a shot of apple cider, which made a nice sort of apple-y glaze on the bacon cubes, which I thought would be nice for the salad, even as it did at another kind of pork to the proceedings. I made some bread crumbs out of some homemade tomato bread (not mine, but homemade in someone else’s home) by drying the bread out in the oven and then running it through the food processor, for a crunch and some texture. I diced the leaves off of a head of bitter endive or chicory or whatever you want to call it and mixed them in, then added a minced onion.

The question of dressing was an important one - it needed to augment the beans, but it couldn’t be too acidic or the whole thign would lose its balance. I kept it fairly simple. I poured out a generous half cup or so of olive oil, added a little less than a third as much vinegar, and a very generous dollop of dijon mustard, which can take the acidity and really add somethign to it. I also added a generous glug of pomegranate molasses, an ingredient that I’m relatively new to actually owning, but have wanted to start using for a long time. The end result was that the salad was magnificent, although I made entirely too much of it, ultimately.

Greens are also a standard-issue inclusion for New Years, so I decided to make some. . Into the dutch oven went a huge bunch of olive oil - this is an oil-intensive preparation****. I added one big onion and two small onions to the oil and let them cook while I did the rest of the thing. I mixed together a whole can of tomato paste with some cayenne and six or so cloves of minced garlic, which I then smooshed into the oil. I had  bought a holy firestorm of greens - a pound or so of collards formed the backbone, but also the rest of the head of chicory, some kale, some adult spinach, a head of dandelion greens, and a head of broccoli raab. I de-stemmed and washed all of these greens, then got them into the oil/tomato paste/garlic sofrito and let them get friendly. I added a healthy splash of water and covered them, letting them steam down for awhile.

When they had shrunk down a bit I added a couple of handfuls of adult spinach and gave everything a good hard stir. I salted them some more, and then added a huge glob of peanut butter and stirred them again to coat them in the peanut. I let them get friendly and salted and peppered them again. When they were tender, I squeezed the juice of a couple of lemons onto them to brighten them up. The effect is incredible - the effect is a bit like the greens in ground nut soup or peanut stew, only it’s a whole mess of them. It seems like an insane thing to enjoy, but it’s an utterly fantastic dish. IT was a big hit also, and it was designed to have a sort of savory, spicy richness that was there to compete a little with the pork and give everyone a break from pork fat, and also the astringency of the beans. It didn’t compete, in the savory slash unctuous flavor of the pork, but it augmented it, making it a nice little component.

Deciding that the bean salad would be lightly dressed and therefore that there might need to be a serious condiment, I made some cranberry mostarda. The day before new years I soaked a bunch of mustard seeds in some sweet wine. On the day of I heated up a bunch of fresh cranberries with a great load of sugar and a apple cider, to which I added the mustard seeds and their wine, some dry mustard, some red chili flakes, and a sachet made of some cinnamon, some cloves and some bay leaves. I simmered it until the cranberries were softened, at which point I smooshed them up and socked the whole thing away in the fridge. It set up more than I intended it to - there’s a tonne of pectin in cranberries - and made a kind of a jam rather than a sauce, but it did its job anyway, providing a nice sweet-tart condiment for the fatty, deeply-spiced porchetta.

Beans and greens aside, an actual salad-type vegetable with some actual salad-type flavor was also necessary. The Chinese believe that eating long food at new years brings good luck, and as it happens, I recently found myself in possession of a spiralizer. So the way through was clear: the way to go forward was to make the longest salad possible, out of a bunch of hard vegetables. It started with carrots - carrots are great with peanut butter, fantastic with pork, and enormously successful with vinegar*****, so it seemed it would be a slam-dunk to pair with the rest of the plate. To go with it was a daikon radish, which would be there for its spicy character but for also not being as funky and oppressive as other radishes can be (I like radishes, but they’re not a vegetable to spring on an unsuspcting someone). An asian pear was noodlefied and added to the thing to give it some crisp sweetness, and a cucumber was thrown in there for freshness and to help with the liquid content. It was finished with some parsley. For dressing some yogurt was compounded with some tahini and flavored with honey, then finished with some lemon juice and very lightly tossed with the mixed-vegetable salad.

Sauerkraut is also de rigeur with new years, and as it happens I had already made some suaerkraut traditionally in the leadup as part of the Christmas present. To make it a little more regular for the meal, I decided to church it up a little bit. I made both red and white sauerkraut. The white sauerkraut needed some real help - it was salty and crunchy and good, but it wasn’t great. So I poured the white out into a pan and added a little allspice, a few peppercorns, a couple of healthy glugs of prosecco vinegar, and a little bit of sugar to help balance it out. I let it get a little bit warm and loosen up a bit. It helped a lot. For the red I dumped that out and just added a bit of sherry vinegar and some red pepper flakes.

Other folks had provided some dolmades, white bread and beer bread (these all came from A’s dad) and also mashed potatoes (from A’s brother, who is a champion eater of mashed potatoes), and they were all pretty good. The rest of the food came out exactly as I wanted, and I was pretty happy with the way things turned out such that you could eat  abit here and a bit there from the various and sundry sources and end up with a non-exhausting plate of food. As feasts go, I was pretty happy with the way that things came together. Everything that had been a crowd pleaser remained a crowd pleaser, and the whole thing was filling and plenty feast-like without being overwhelming - I was full without being uncomfortably so, which I’m willing ot chalk up to it being mostly food that is actually not that bad for us. It’s entirely possible that I may do some more working with the sour beans to make them something that cooks even slightly quicker.

Oh, and I’ll have to work on quantity, because digging out from under the impossible, tremendous amount of leftovers was pretty oppressive. I will say this: a sandwich made of toasted bread, mustard, peanut greens, pickles and a slice of porchetta is a pretty incredible way to use up a leftover, all told.

Just eating the beans as a leftover was also pretty great, but it does seem to require that you like beans at least as much as I do to get through that many. I hope I can remember the next time I do it to make them into a croquette - fried pickled things are awesome, and I bet the fried sour beans would be equally incredible.

Or at least more interesting than other regular croquettes. But this is all turning into a digression for another time. So stay tuned. Maybe you’ll get to hear about it.

* I cook for the same three people, counting myself, most of the time, so it’s not common for people outside my household to eat my food - I’m not much of a host-er and prefer restaurants for socializing purposes, mainly because I don’t go to them that often - I’m cheap, and also I’m a better judge of how I want something to taste than someone I’m paying to do it. I’m generally a do-it-myself sort of person, and I tend to go out only for things that I don’t make often - organ meats are a tough sell for my housemates, and fish is expensive enough that I’m usually pretty happy to let someone with more experience do it for me, to name two examples - or where people want to go or whatever.

** restaurants, and especially mid-range ones, are sort of the silent partners in the pork belly explosion of a decade ago. That explosion has mostly died, and that’s great, because I was tired of being surprised and worn down by the constant baconification of everything, and it also means that pork belly prices are coming down a bit. I’ve been making my own bacon for a very long time, as well as my own pancetta, and obviously there’s a porchetta every year, and it’s great to not have to pay through the nose for it.

*** It probably didn’t have to rest, as the few minutes of very high heat wasn’t enough to stir up the interior juices, and so it probably wasn’t in any danger of that, but hey, it didn’t hurt anyway.

**** it’s also, weirdly, one of R’s favorite preparations, which is strange, considering his usual relationship to greens.

***** carrots are an all-time champion pickle.