Quick Fried Rice with Pork and Sausage

This recipe is brought to you by "we haven't been shopping in awhile" and Struggles' mom. We had talked about making fried rice due to a surplus of frozen veggies and assorted chopped meat. Struggles remembered his mom making an even quicker, simpler version of fried rice when he was a kid, so we called her up and got her recipe. Her's is sans meat and peas/carrots, but we wanted a full meal, not a snack, so we beefed it up, as it were. 

A couple notes: When I say Chinese sausage, I'm talking something like this. Make sure you get fresh, not dried! Our local supermarket serves a pretty ethnically diverse group, so we can pick these up there, but you might have to go to an actual butcher or meat market. It's worth it! These are packed with flavor and a little can go a long way if you're using tofu or meat that doesn't have a strong flavor to start. We probably could have gotten away with one link, but this is what happens when you cook while starving. 

We didn't have enough leftover to be a standalone meal again. So, I made some teriyaki sauce, cooked chicken in it, and served it with a side of sautéed, previously frozen veggies, and the rice. Yay for making dinner without a grocery store trip every time!

Mmmm.

• 2 cups long grain basmati rice, cooked and chilled
• 2 Chinese sausages, roughly chopped
• 1 cup pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2" pieces
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 3/4 cup onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup frozen peas & carrots
• 3-5 tablespoons soy sauce, depending on taste
• 1/3 cup water

1) In a hot wok, (or large skillet) cook the chinese sausage til done. Remove, set aside.

2) In same pan, cook pork til done. Put with sausage. Give it a quick wipe with a paper towel if it's really greasy in there.

3) Melt butter in the wok and then dump in the eggs. Let them sit and cook almost like an omelette, until mostly set. Now chop them up in the pan with a wooden spatula.

4) Add in onion and garlic and cook til the onion is soft, stirring to keep it and the egg from burning.

5) Add peas and carrots and heat through. Add meat back in.

6) Turn heat to high or medium high. Add rice, water, and soy sauce. Cook til heated through.

Cindy's Spinach Balls

This recipe is an old family favorite from Struggles. It's probably his favorite holiday food, and I've made them a couple times now. No comment on whether I do them as well as his mom.

Not my picture. Source here.

• 2 ten ounce packages frozen chopped spinach
• 3 cups herbed stuffing mix
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 6 eggs, well beaten
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt (I actually prefer granulated garlic myself.)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1) Cook spinach as package directs. Drain well and squeeze out excess liquid.

2) Combine all ingredients and mix well.

3) Shape into small balls. (I use an ice cream disher.)

4) Place on greased cookie sheet.

5) Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes.

**If you like, you can make/freeze these in advance and bake straight from the freezer. You don't need to grease the cookie sheet if that's the case, and you should add another 10 minutes to the cooking time. Personally, I like to freeze them first as I feel it helps them maintain their shape while baking.

Summer Cottage Pie

Many people have heard of Shepherd's Pie, but while looking around the internets yesterday for inspiration, I learned something. Technically, it's only Shepherd's Pie if it contains lamb or goat, otherwise it is Cottage Pie. So, that cleared up, you may be wondering why I'm making Cottage Pie in August. The fact is this: we have such freaking bounty from our CSA (denoted by *) that I was just looking for something that would use a lot of our spoils. Mission: deliciously accomplished. I served this with a side of spicy, garlicky sautéed chard, also from our CSA. (PS sorry I didn't get a picture. Trust me though, it's awesome.)

• 8-10 medium yukon gold potatoes*, peeled, large diced
• 2 ears fresh sweet corn*
• 3-4 small/medium carrots*, peeled, small diced
• 2 medium turnips*, chopped into 1/2" cubes
• 2 medium spring onions* separated, whites: thinly sliced half rounds, greens: rough chopped
• 5-6 brown button mushrooms, diced
• 1 cup frozen (or fresh) peas
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley*,  finely chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter (I always use unsalted)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups veggie stock, separated (1/2 c and 1 c)
• freshly cracked black pepper and kosher salt, to taste

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) Bring potatoes to a boil in salted water over high heat. Once the potatoes get to boiling, slip the whole ears of corn in there. Boil until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain. Using a sharp knife and downward strokes, cut the kernels off the corn.

3) While the potatoes are doing their thing, brown the beef in a large flat bottomed skillet. Season with the cumin, cayenne, crushed red pepper, as well as salt and pepper. When it's cooked, move the meat to a bowl and return the skillet to the heat.

4) Add olive oil to pan. Sauté garlic and onions for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add carrots and turnips. Sauté another 6-7 minutes. Add mushrooms, corn, and peas. Cook another 5 minutes. (If at any point things start to stick, add a little more olive oil.) Mix in beef, parsley, and 1 cup of veggie stock. Remove from heat. Season with salt/pepper to taste.

5) To the drained potatoes add the butter, milk, and 1/2 cup veggie stock. Mash thoroughly. Mix in the green part of the onions.

6) Dump the meat and veggie mixture into a 13 x 9" glass baking dish and smooth out to even thickness. Spread the mashed potatoes on top, as evenly as you can. (If you wanted, you could sprinkle shredded sharp cheddar on here.) Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top starts to get golden brown.

Potato and Turnip Salad with Spring Onions

Today's dish is pretty exciting to me because almost all of it came from our CSA. (Anything with a * is CSA!) I saw Struggles' roomie cooking something similar the other night and was feeling inspired. A note about the onions: When I say "spring onions" I mean something like this. You could also use regular green onions in combination with shallots, I should think. We ate this still warm, but I'm presently munching on it straight from the fridge for lunch and I'm pretty pleased with it as a new take on potato salad. Turnips, even cooked, have a distinct mouthfeel from the potatoes. The onions are alternately sweet and crunchy, on account of adding the different sections at different times. Oh, and the picture below is from the leftover stage, as I forgot to take a pic when it was hot and fresh. Struggles ended up adding more dijon when serving for himself, but I kinda dig the more subtle flavor from the original amount. Don't be afraid to add more if you want!

• 5 medium red potatoes*, cut into 3/4" - 1" pieces
• 2 large turnips*, diced into 1/2" cubes
• 5-6 spring onions*, diced, whites/purples separated from greens
• 3-4 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/4 cup parsley*, rough chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard, possibly more to taste
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

1) Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain.

2) Whisk the olive oil and mustard together. Toss the potatoes in this. Set aside.

3) In a large flat-bottomed skillet, melt the butter. Add the turnips and sauté over medium heat until they are nearly fork tender.

4) Add the white part of the onions and the garlic. Sauté for another 5 minutes, until the onions are getting translucent. Dump in the potatoes.

5) Add the green part of the onions and the parsley. Sauté for another 3-5 minutes, until everything is warm, but the green onions haven't lost their crunch. Salt & pepper to taste. 

Vegan Cheesecake á la Ala (with bonus vegan whipped cream!)

So, my coworker-slash-friend is a bit of a fitness fan. She's tiny but can probably break me in half. She's known for finding ways to sneak good for you things into stuff that's typically not so good for you. Anyway, today's recipe is brought to you by her. I made this the other day for a vegan potluck and it was gone before I could get a picture. I'm hoping to make it again soon because it was pretty damn tasty and tis the season for eating ALL THE BERRIES. So, once I have a pic I'll add it here. 

Edit: I've now made this a couple of times, and I've changed the recipe to reflect my tweaks. Mostly just adding more fruit.

Vegan Lemon-Berry Cheesecake á la Ala

• 1 graham cracker pie crust (store bought or home-made)
• 1.5 cup silken tofu (because I like to fill that crust ALL the way up)
• 1.5 cups strawberries, fresh or thawed frozen
• 1 cup mixed berries (I used blueberries and raspberries)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a food processor, combine silken tofu, mixed berries and strawberries. Process until smooth. Scrape down the sides a few times to make sure everything is combined.

2) Add cornstarch and lemon extract, then blend until smooth. 

3) Pour in the sugar and combine until smooth.

4) Pour the tofu/berry mixture into the pie crust. Put the pie into the heated oven and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle. 

5) Chill for at least 5 hours, then slice and serve! Feel free to garnish with vegan whipped cream.

Vegan Whipped Cream

Take a can of coconut milk (full fat) and put it in the fridge overnight or the freezer for an hour (try not to shake it up before that if you can avoid it) and then open it and just use the top layer. It should be pretty separated and you don't want the watery part. Use an electric mixer to whip it until it's fluffy. Add any flavor extracts or some powdered sugar, or just use as is.

Our CSA is BACK! (aka Thai Chicken over salad with Pea Shoots)

Hurray and huzzah! Our CSA is back in action. It being early yet, we mostly got greens, but you all know how I feel about greens. :) Carrying on with the trend of getting at least one thing I'm confused about each time, I have now made the acquaintance of pea tendrils aka pea shoots. They sound tiny like sprouts, but they're more like a bunch of spinach. The internet tells me you can eat them raw or cooked and that they're delicious. The internet never lies, obviously, so they were definitely meeting their demise in dinner the very night we received them. Struggles and I had a thing to go to, and my errands took longer than expected, so rather than the elaborate thai chicken stir fry over mixed sautéed greens I had planned on, I opted for this quick and dirty salad version. This time the only thing I used from the CSA was the pea shoots but I'm thinking about all those greens languishing in the fridge for dinner later...

Not my best photo but it's all I got.

Thai Chicken over salad with Pea Shoots

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
• 3 tablespoons thai chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 tablespoons canola oil 
• 1 heart of romaine, rough chopped
• small handful pea shoots/tendrils, rough chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, rough chopped
• 2-3 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 bunch green onions, diced

(in retrospect, the bottom of the salad was a tiny bit dry, so I would probably mix up a little more of the sauce I used for the chicken as a dressing.)

1) Mix chili sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger, and canola oil in medium bowl til well blended. Drop in chicken strips and stir until it they're coated. Let marinate for 10-15 minutes.

2) In the meantime, prep your salad bowls. I put romaine in the bottom first. Then I put the chopped peppers and mushrooms around the sides. Pile the pea shoots in the middle.

3) Heat up a medium sized skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until done but still juicy. This took 10-15 minutes-ish.

4) Arrange the chicken on top of the pea shoots and sprinkle the green onions on top. Eat it way too fast.

Uncle's Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Ah the holidays. All that stress and eating like you're actually going into hibernation! In all seriousness, I'm not particularly religious but for reasons too complicated to go into here, I do enjoy the holidays. For me it's an excuse to get together with my friends and family and make a big mess of delicious things. Feeding people is, for me, a sign of affection. So, if I've cooked for you, it means something. 

Today's recipe is one that gets me right in the feels and makes me feel like I'm not 3,300 miles away from home. It's my Uncle's homemade cranberry sauce with orange. Now, I know some people don't like orange in their cranberry sauce because it's easy for the sharp citrus to mask the wonderful tart and sweet of the cranberries. Uncle's secret is using the fruit of the orange, as opposed to dumping a bunch of zest in there. The result is much more subtle and complementary. I love this stuff and will keep it in the fridge as long as humanly possible and put it on everything. Toast, sandwiches, ice cream- go crazy! 

(The raw materials.)

• 1lb (4 cups) cranberries washed and inspected (fresh is best)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 whole orange (peeled, deseeded, food processed to mush)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• Sprinkle of cinnamon

1) Bring sugar and water to a boil.
2) Add cranberries, orange, and cloves.
3) Simmer over high flame stirring frequently.
4) When the berries start to pop then you're getting there. 

(I know you can't hear it, but they ARE popping. Trust me.)

5) When they stop/ slow down it pot will foam up. (I didn't get a picture of this because it happened REALLY suddenly.)
6) Turn heat off and sprinkle with cinnamon. Stir and let cool before storing.

A couple notes:
- You can add chopped nuts for a variation. 
- If you're using frozen berries then you pretty much will have to blend the sauce, either in a blender or using an immersion blender.