Sweet Potato Collard Soup and a Rainy Day Playlist

Today is a cozy day at the RIC; people doing work and Perspectives homework in the dining room on a rainy, grey day.  I started some soup from a bunch of ingredients that needed to be used and listened to my current favorite playlist of songs by my "friends" while it cooked.

Sweet Potato Collard Soup

2 tsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 Tbsp. ginger, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
8 c. peeled, cubed sweet potatoes
12 c. water
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. oil
1 lb. fresh collards, chopped (or  frozen, thawed and drained)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. ground fennel
1 1/4 c. brown rice, cooked
3 bratwurst, raw

Heat butter and oil in bottom of medium soup pot.  Add onion, ginger, and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently, until golden-brown.  You may need to add a little water to keep them from sticking.  Add cumin, cinnamon, pepper, and paprika and sauté for 2 minutes, again adding water if needed.  Add sweet potatoes, water, and salt.  Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, until potatoes are soft, about 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining Tbsp. oil in a large skillet; add collards.  Saute until they start to soften.  Add salt and fennel, and water, if needed, so that there is a thin layer (1/4 inch) on bottom of skillet.  Add bratwurst to pan; cover and cook five minutes.  Flip bratwurst and cook another five minutes.

Mash sweet potatoes slightly using a masher, whisk (what I used), or immersion blender.  Set bratwurst aside and add collard mixture and brown rice to sweet potatoes.  Rinse the frying pan, then use it to brown the bratwurst on two sides.  Remove from heat and allow bratwurst to set for five minutes before cutting into small pieces.  Add to soup.

Makes twelve 1 1/3 c. servings.  One serving contains 227 Calories, 1 c. vegetables, 1/2 oz. protein, 1 tsp. oils, 37 empty Calories, 3 g. saturated fat, and 680 mg. sodium, according to Supertracker.


If I hadn't had the bratwurst and cooked brown rice on hand, I would have added 3/4 c. red lentils, 1/2 c. uncooked brown rice and an extra cup or two of water to the sweet potatoes at the beginning, cooking until rice is soft before mashing the potatoes and adding the collards.

Granola Recipe

This is the lower-fat granola recipe that I use.  The higher-fat granolas made with lots of oil and sugar have a more tender crunch to them; this one is a little crisper.  It is still not low fat, but at least it has a much more reasonable amount of calories than a lot of homemade granolas do.

A serving is 1/2 cup and is 241 Calories*.  If you keep track of the balance of your diet (I use https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/) it provides 1 oz. of whole grains, 1/4 c. fruit, 1/2 oz. protein, and 1 tsp. oils (from the nuts).  It actually provides those things even if you don't keep track of what you eat.


Granola

8 c. Old Fashioned Oats
2 c. Raw Nuts/Seeds (for this batch, I used 1/2 c. slivered almonds, 1 c. (minus 1 Tbsp) sunflower seeds, 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds, and 1/2 c. pumpkin seeds)
1 1/2 Tbsp. Cinnamon
1 Tbsp. Ground Ginger
1 1/2 c. Brown Sugar
1/2 c. Water
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
2 c. Dried Fruit (I used 1/2 c. golden raisins, 1/2 c. dried cherries, and 1 c. chopped dates)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Mix together the oats, nuts/seeds, and spices.

Heat together brown sugar and water in small saucepan over medium-high until sugar dissolves.  Cool slightly, stir in vanilla, then pour over oat mixture.  Mix well until the sugar mixture evenly coats everything.
Spread onto sheet pans (it will probably take 2-3 cookie sheets) in a thin layer.

Put in oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Stir well.  Bake another 15 minutes.  Stir well again.  Repeat until granola has been baked for 1 hour and is slightly browned and crunchy.

It's hard to tell from these pictures, but the uncooked granola looks darker brown and wet.  Finished granola is golden and evenly dry/crispy/crumbly.  If in doubt over whether it is done, remove a small amount from the pan and allow it to cool, then taste it.  If it's still too chewy, put it in the oven a little longer.

 Add dried fruits; stir.

Allow granola to cool completely, then put in an airtight container for storage.  Some people like to put it in the refrigerator, but mine has never gone bad on me yet.

Now, eat! 

I don't particularly like cereal, but I'm trying to get more dairy into my life.  Here is how I like cereal when I do eat it: pour a few shredded wheat biscuits into a bowl, then a little granola, then a little raisin bran, and then top it off with some cheerios and milk.


*The recipe I used to use was the Crunchy Granola recipe in the More with Less cookbook.  Per half-cup serving, that granola had 333 Calories, 1 oz. whole grains, 1 1/2 oz. protein, and a whopping 3 tsp. oils.

Thai Meal!

We had a neighbor over for dinner mid-January, and made a Thai meal:

Chicken legs with a garlic-fish sauce glaze.

Som Thaam (green papaya salad), one of my favorites. 
A slaw with a spicy sweet-sour-fish saucey dressing and little nuggets of roasted peanuts.

Laap.  A salad made from ground meat (pork loin in this case), green onions,
cilantro, and fresh mint, seasoned with lime juice, fish sauce, and brown rice powder.

Cucumbers, mint, and basil



Sticky Rice Bundles wrapped in bamboo leaves.

Mushroom Sticky Rice Bundles in Bamboo Leaves
Makes 10

10 Dried Bamboo Leaves
1/4 c. Oil
6 Green onions, chopped
6 oz. Mushrooms, diced
1/4 c. Water Chestnuts, chopped
1/2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
2 Small Chillies, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp. Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped
2 c. White Glutinous (Sweet) Rice, washed and well drained
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

Soak the bamboo leaves, either overnight in cold water or in for 10 minutes in boiling water, until soft.  Drain.

Heat 2 Tbsp of the oil in a frying pan or wok; cook green onions and mushrooms over high heat for 2-3 minutes.  Stir in water chestnuts, soy sauce, chilli, sugar, and cilantro.  Allow to cool.

Bring 1 1/2 c. water to a simmer.  Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a saucepan, add the rice, and stir for two minutes, or until coated.  Stir in 1/4 c. of the hot water over low heat until it is all absorbed.  Repeat until all the water has been added; this should take 10-20 minutes.  Add the soy sauce and season with pepper.

Fold one end of a bamboo leaf on the diagonal to form a cone.  Hold securely in one hand and spoon in 2 Tbsp. of rice.  Make an indent in the rice, add 1 Tbsp. of mushroom filling, then top with another tablespoon of rice.  Fold the other end of the bamboo leaf over to enclose the filling, then secure with a toothpick.  Tight tightly with kitchen string.  Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Put the rice parcels in a single layer inside a bamboo steamer (or other steamer, or a colander suspended over a pot of simmering water and covered tightly).  Cover with lid and sit over a wok/pot half filled with simmering water.  Steam for 1 1/2 hours, or until the rice is tender, adding more boiling water to the wok as needed.  Serve hot.


Then you peel off the bamboo and eat glorious, mushroom-y, soy-y sticky rice!  Here is a link to a recipe for other kinds of sticky rice pockets, with a video showing how to fill them, which may be helpful.

I adapted this recipe from The Essential Rice Cookbook.




Avocado Chapati

Back in arugula season (late spring/early summer) 2013, I made some chapati:

CHAPATI

2 c. whole wheat flour (or 1 c. whole wheat, 1 c. white)

2 Tbsp. oil or melted unsalted butter

1 tsp. salt

2/3-3/4 c. warm water

Stir together the flour(s), oil, and salt.  Add enough water to make the dough soft, but not sticky.  Knead for about five minutes, adding more flour or water if necessary.  Let dough rest for five minutes.  Divide dough into ten balls; let those rest another five minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat until very hot.  Meanwhile, roll out each ball until it is thin like a tortilla.  Grease skillet.  Fry each chapati about 30 seconds on each side, or until little dark brown spots appear.  Use immediately, or reheat leftovers gently in skillet.

For breakfast one morning, we reheated the chapati, mashed an avocado on top, and added arugula, soft boiled eggs, and fresh black pepper.

Okay, so these eggs are more like medium-hard.

Later on in the summer, when we still had arugula but also had cherry tomatoes, we made these again and added smashed tomatoes and extra pepper.

These will definitely be happening again next year.

A Few Good Salads

When you are no longer able to take pictures of your cute niece and nephew because your phone is already full of photos, you know it's time for a blog post.  I dug deep into the recesses of my phone's memory and found a few salads.

 

 

 

Salad #1: Boring Salad with Eggs and Asparagus

 

 

Mixed greens with sliced onion and sections of clementine, tossed in my usual go-to dressing: fig balsamic, olive or canola oil, salt, and pepper.  On the side is green and white asparagus with crispy garlic.  Also soft boiled eggs and whole wheat toast. 

 

This was a good manager special day at Meijer.  The asparagus, the greens, AND the clementines.  Probably other things as well, but I don't remember.

 

 

As usual, we mash the egg and some of the greens onto the toast.  Zach was particularly impressed with these eggs.

 

 

 

Salad #2: Fried Cheese Salad

 

Once upon a time, I found some goat cheese on manager's special, and remembering a salad I had had many years before, I fried it and put it on a salad.  Zach loved it.  Since then, whenever I find a good deal on goat cheese, I pick some up and make a salad or two.  For this particular salad, I had also found some fresh mozzarella on M.S. and had some Cheddar on hand, so I decided to fry those up as well.

Since there are more components to this salad than just cheese, here are some other ingredients:

Red and Green Leaf Lettuce

Roma Tomatoes
Frozen Sweet Corn (thawed)

Grapes

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Avocado
Toasted English Muffin with Butter

 

 

To make fried goat cheese:
cut well-chilled cheese into rounds about 1/2-3/4" thick.  Dip into flour seasoned with salt and pepper (taste a bit of the flour to make sure it tastes lightly salted), then into beaten egg mixed with a little milk.  Finally, dip them into bread crumbs, then either fry right away or, for best results, put them untouching on a plate and chill them for 15-30 minutes.  To fry, cover the bottom of a skillet with about half an inch of oil, heat to medium-high and fry until toasted on each side, flipping after about two minutes.



Salad #3: Steak and Asparagus Salad

 



 I don't actually remember this salad.  It happened around the same time as the first asparagus salad, because I have only had white asparagus once.  I don't remember why I got steak.

Greens, arugula, onion, fig balsamic vinaigrette, sautéed asparagus and zucchini, steak, avocado, whole wheat toast.

 

 

 

Salad #4:  Asparagus, Avocado, Summer Squash, and Mushroom Salad with Egg

 

 

 Yet another salad during the White Asparagus Days.  The White Asparagus Days coincided with the opening of  Lucky's Market in Clintonville.  There was a good sale on red and green leaf lettuces there, along with avocados and many other things.  It's the kind of market where you can't actually afford anything unless it's part of a fantastic sale, but at least some of the sales are indeed fantastic.  The steak in salad #3 may have been from a good Lucky's sale.

 

This salad was made from the said leaf lettuces with raw onion and red wine vinegar.  On top of the greens were sautéed summer squash, white asparagus, and mushrooms, along with diced avocado, a fried egg, and whole wheat toast.  The oil from sautéing the vegetables made up the oil part of the vinaigrette when everything was mixed together.

 

 

Salad #5: Amazing Salad

 

(Not pictured)

 

Had I known I was going to do a post on salads, I would have taken pictures of some of the AMAZING salads I had for lunch recently.  Once again, steak was involved, leftover from the Russian dinner.  Most of the salads were exactly the same, and basically great, thanks to really good manager's specials.

 

 

Amazing Salad Recipe (serves 1)

2 oz. steak

1 Lime

Kosher Salt

1 oz. Whole Wheat Linguini

2 c. Mixed Greens

1 c. Arugula

5 Mushrooms, sliced

1 Radish, sliced

Onion, 4-5 thin slices

8 Sugar Snap Peas

1/4 Green Bell Pepper, sliced

1/2 Avocado, diced

 

 

Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice from one half onto both sides of the steak.  Sprinkle it lightly with kosher salt on both sides, set aside.  Cook pasta.  Meanwhile, assemble the salad ingredients.  Once pasta is done, drain it and add it to the salad.  Cook the steak on both sides to desired doneness.  Let rest for 5 minutes, then slice.  Squeeze remaining lime half over salad, sprinkle with about 1/4 tsp kosher salt (or to taste), mix well, top with lime.

 

I had this salad once, and thought it was fantastic, but that it had to be a fluke.  So I tried it again the next day, and the next, and the next, and the next, and IT WAS STILL GOOD!

 

(I ran out of steak after day 2 and started using ground turkey, and I started running out of other ingredients and doing lots of supplementing, and eventually the salads weren't as good anymore)

 

 



Corn Tortillas

Every time I see a tortilla press somewhere (Mexican grocery stores, thrift stores, etc...), I want to buy it.  I am normally not a fan of one-use kitchen gadgets, but for some reason the tortilla press always calls my name.

At some point, I decided that if I ever started making corn tortillas regularly, I could justify having a press.  That was many years ago, and I never once made any tortillas.

Until now.

Connie, one of our interns this year, wanted to make some enchiladas for lunch.  She put corn tortillas on the grocery list, but I decided that the time had come for me to make them!

Instead of the tortillas, I bought this:

The recipe on the bag said 2 c. of the masa, 1/8 tsp. salt, and 1 1/4 c. water.  Mix together, divide it into 16 little balls.  Cover the yet unused balls with a damp cloth while you roll them out.

Normally you would use a tortilla press (http://www.amazon.com/IMUSA-VICTORIA-85008-Tortilla-Pre-Cured-8-Inch/dp/B00164T384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361195884&sr=8-1&keywords=tortilla+press) and press the little balls into tortillas (between two sheets of plastic wrap).  I expiremented with a few different ways of properly flattening them, and decided this way worked the best for me:

 

Put the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and flatten evenly with something heavy and flat-bottomed.  I used a frying pan.  This is how it ended up:

Too thick.  I then used a rolling pin to slowly press it out further.  I thought that starting with a rolling pin might also work, but it didn't.  The combination of the two pressing methods definitely worked the best for me.

You need to be gentle with this dough.  Unlike a wheat flour dough that stretches as you roll it out, this dough will just flatten into nothingness if you press to hard.  And if you roll too quickly, the edges of the dough ended up really ragged.  Slowly and gently, roll out the dough from all angles until the dough is very thin, somewhere between the thickness of a dime and a penny:

Next, cook them in a medium-hot, ungreased skillet.  It took about a minute on each side for me.  They turn a more opaque white when cooked.

They tasted soooo good.  And were simple enough that I might actually start making them regularly and will then be able to buy a press!

Note: I made three batches of dough.  The first batch was too dry, and the edges of the tortillas cracked a lot when I rolled them out.  The next to batches had more like 1 1/2 cups of water in them and worked a lot better.  Start with the 1 1/4 c. and try rolling out one ball.  If it seems too dry, a bit of water to the rest of the batch and try again.

Making Yogurt

Making your own yogurt is fairly easy, and can save you a LOT of money if you eat yogurt a lot.  A gallon of milk generally goes for $2.50-$3.00 around here, and makes the equivalent of about ten and a half of those little 6-oz/ yogurt cups that you buy (for probably $6-7), or two of the 32-oz. tubs (around $6).

I was first inspired to make yogurt by my 2012 intern, Megan.  Since then, a lot of other have been asking me about it, and I refer them to various blogs and online instructions that I have found.  With all of the information out there, however, everyone just asks me how I do it, what works for me.  And this is it:


First, you need to heat your milk.  I use a homemade double boiler with several inches of water in the lower pan:

If you don't have two pans that fit inside each other, you can use a metal bowl in place of the upper pan.  It it important that the two pans (or whatever you use) fit tightly together so the heat doesn't escape out the sides.  If there are large gaps, use foil to close them.  Or just heat your milk in the microwave.  Some people do the whole yogurt-making process in a crockpot, but I have never tried that, as I make a LOT of yogurt at a time.

I usually make somewhere between 1-3 gallons of yogurt at a time.  The smallest amount I have made is half a gallon.   Whole milk will make a thicker yogurt, skim milk will make a thinner yogurt; anything will work.  For this batch, I used half a gallon of whole and one gallon of 2%.  For home, I usually use skim or 1%, but for work I make it a little richer sometimes.

Heat your milk, covered, to 180 degrees.  Some people say you need to (to change the proteins in the milk to something that will solidify better), some people say you only need to heat it to 110 degrees.  Whatever the case, I heat it to 180.  Ideally, you would use a thermometer to check the temperature, but I have found that it is ready when it looks like this:

Lousy cell phone camera.  You can sort of see little bubbles on the milk.  When those little bubbles are across the whole surface of the milk, it is ready.  It is not boiling, just has little bubbles everywhere.

Next, remove the upper pan from heat, and cool it quickly to around 110 degrees.  I put mine in a sink full of cold/ice water:

If you are using as much milk as I do, you may need to stir the milk and/or change the water once or twice during the cooling process.

Once again, you would ideally have a thermometer so you would know what the milk is at 110, but if you don't, cool the milk until it is still warm, but you can hold a (clean) finger in the center of the milk comfortably.

Next, you inoculate (I love that word!) it with yogurt cultures.  I use one cup of yogurt per gallon of milk, some people use less.  Once you have made a batch of yogurt, just use some of that for your next batch.  Now, yogurt cultures do die after about two weeks, so if it has been much longer that that since you made your last batch, you might want to buy some new yogurt.

What kind of yogurt should to buy?  This is what I usually start with:

You can buy smaller single-serve yogurts also.  The important things to remember is that it needs to be plain, it needs to contain active cultures (it will say on the package somewhere), and it needs to not be past its expiration date by the time you will use it.  Some people say not to use lowfat yogurt, but I will use it as long as there aren't lots of weird ingredients like gelatin and other thickeners.  If the ingredients are basically just "milk" and "active cultures (of some sort), I will use it, whether it is nonfat, greek, all natural, or whatever.

To inoculate it, put the yogurt in a bowl and add a little of the warm milk to it.  Whisk away any lumps, then add it to the rest of the milk, whisking well.  If you used a lowfat/nonfat milk, you could add some dry milk powder to it if you want your yogurt to be a little thicker.  Some people will add gelatin, but I prefer not to.

Next, you need to incubate your yogurt.  You could leave it in the pan, you could pour it into clean glass jars, or whatever you want.  The milk now needs to stay at 110 degrees for a while to allow the little yogurt bacterias to multiply properly.  There are various ways to do this:

• many ovens will be 110 degrees just with the pilot light on.  My oven at work is like that.  But you should find out for sure with an oven thermometer.
• turn your oven on low, then turn it off.  Wrap your yogurt containers in towels (I use an old comforter when I make it at home!) and put it in the warm oven.
• wrap the containers in towels and place in a cooler.

Again, some people use crock pots for the whole process, but I have never looked into it and therefore don't know the instructions for that.  I have always used the pilot light method or the towels/oven method.

If there is any chance that someone might come in and turn on the oven without checking inside first, put up a warning sign so they will leave your yogurt alone!

The yogurt needs to incubate for at least 4 hours, or up to about 20 hours, depending on how tart you like it.  I usually leave mine for 12-16 hours.

When you take it out of the oven, the yogurt will be solid, probably with a little yellow whey on the top. 

For it to thicken the rest of the way, the yogurt needs to be thoroughly chilled.  Just chill it in whatever container you used to incubate.

After it is chilled, it is ready to eat!  You could flavor it at this point, too (vanilla and sugar, strawberry jam, honey, etc.).

Perspectives V and Mesir Wat Recipe

Ethiopian food for the fifth Perspectives meal.



 

 

Injera with Mesir Wat (lentil stew) and Spinach-Sweet Potato Wat...I should probably not mix languages so often in recipe titles.  I am assuming mesir might mean lentil, though in my mind it should refer to corn (Uzbek?  Turkish?)

The camera on my phone is clearly not the greatest...

Injera is a spongey, sourdough flatbread made of flour from a grain called teff.  I have expiremented a little with making injera, with no real luck as of yet, so I meanwhile continue to buy it from an Ethiopian store nearby http://www.yelp.com/biz/addisu-bakery-and-carryout-columbus.

The Mesir Wat recipe is also (based on the one) in the RIC cookbook http://www.yelp.com/biz/addisu-bakery-and-carryout-columbus.

MESIR WAT

• 3 onions, chopped
• 1/4 c. oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T. ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 1/2 T. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2-2 tsp. cayenne pepper, spice to taste
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 3 c. water or vegetable broth, plus extra as needed
• 2 c. split red lentils, rinsed well
• salt to taste

In a large stock pot, heat oil and cook the onions on medium/medium-high heat for several minutes, stirring frequently, until they begin to soften and turn translucent.  Add the spices and allow the ingredients to simmer together for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes, lentils, and water and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat to low-medium and simmer about 30 minutes or until lentils are completely tender.  Add more water as needed so that it does not dry out.  Salt to taste.  Should be like a medium stiff porridge.

Som Tam Recipe

Som Tam (Som Thaam, Som Taam, etc...) is a green papaya salad that I made for a Perspectives meal, and it is gooooood.

The recipe is (based on the one) in the RIC cookbook
http://rosedalemennonitemissions.org/w2/getInvolved/cookbook.html,
and was submitted by my 2011 intern, Samantha Yoder.



SOM THAAM

 

• 1/4 c. peanuts
• 1 T. oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 lg. pepper, chopped
• 6 fresh green beans, cut into 1/2" lengths
• 1 sm. tomato, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 green papaya, peeled, seeds removed, and shredded or julienned
• Juice from one lime
• 2 T. fish sauce
• 1 T. sugar

Fry peanuts in oil.  Cool.  Mix all remaining ingredients together and muddle, either with a mortar and pestle, or in a large bowl with a heavy spoon.  Mixture will be soft and juicy, but not completely smooth.

 

 

 

Since I made it for 40 people, I bought pre-julienned papaya from a Laotian store nearby.  The lady there saw all of the papaya I was buying (along with a 25-lbs. bag of sticky rice) and asked if I was making chicken wings to go with them.  Apparently in Laos, you eat chicken wings with sticky rice and som tam.  Sounds good to me!