Like Mama Made It

Soul Food

If you're Southern, have ever dated anyone Southern, or if you've ever been to the South, I guarantee you that you've heard someone utter the phrase:  "like Mama made it."  Now, there are other variations of the phrase, such as:  "Like Grandma fixed it"  or perhaps:  "the way Great Aunt Sally used to cook."  But I'm sure you get the gist.  Sometimes, there's just nothing like having good, old comfort food.

In fact, if you're a foodie like me, I'm sure you've been to the hot, new restaurant in town only to notice collard greens, macaroni and cheese and pork chops (insert other traditionally Southern, home-cooked food) on the menu.  There's an obsession both in and out of the South with Southern cuisine and comfort food that has inspired the whole push for nouveau Southern restaurants and farm to table cuisine (although this doesn't have to be Southern, it often is).  Truth is, as much as I like preparing and eating "fancy" food, soul food/comfort food just makes you feel good from the inside out.

Laurie's been a bit under the weather this week, so last night, I decided to see if my own brand of home remedy made her feel any better - pork barbecue, cabbage and corn on the cob.  There's nothing better than coming home to the smell of homemade maple bbq sauce, if you ask me!

Plus, I had to find an excuse to test out those pickles I made earlier in the week.  Not to toot my own horn, but the pickles are awesome.  After last night and packing our lunches, there are none left!  These are super easy, so I'll share the recipe with you - also, they're ready after only two days so you can enjoy quickly.  They're the perfect thing to take to a picnic or a tailgate - everyone loves pickles at a cookout!

LJ's Easy Sweet Pickles

LJ's Easy Sweet Pickles

2 lbs cucumbers
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 tbsp sea salt/kosher salt
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
2 small Mason jars

Slice the cucumber into pickle "chips" or spears (depending on how you like them) and place them in the Mason jar, leaving a little room for the liquid at the top.  Combine the vinegar, water and spices in a sauce pan and bring to a roiling boil.  Pour the mixture into the Mason jar and CAREFULLY screw the lid on the jar.  Warning:  You will burn the hell out of your hand if you don't use a thick kitchen towel to hold the jar.  I did not process the Mason jars because I knew we'd eat the pickles within the week, but this is an option as well.  You can easily find instructions on processing jars online.  Let the jar cool to room temperature before you place in the fridge, and your pickles should be ready to eat in two days. :)

The cutest sous chef ever!

I actually have to get a little work done and should be listening on this conference call, so I need to keep it short today.  The next time I make barbecue (I totally cheat and throw a pork shoulder in the crock pot, then shred it) I will have to share my spin on a paleo barbecue sauce.  It's delicious, easy and surprisingly healthy.

I'm sorry the posts have been very sporadic lately, but my summer is just so busy but not in a bad way...way too busy having fun.  :)  This weekend, Laurie and I are headed to Jason Aldean on Friday and I'm going with my buddy, Brandon, to Dave Matthews on Saturday.  Wahoo!  That's one thing I absolutely love about summertime.  I love sitting outside, drinking a cold beer with awesome friends and listening to great live music.  Oh, and I can't wait to wear my cowboy hat to Jason Aldean!  Until next time, you guys have fun and be safe.

Lauren

Summer is Slipping By...

I don't know about you guys, but the last month and a half has flown by!  I blinked and now, it's nearly August, the humidity is oppressive, college football is right around the corner and I'm looking at the calendar for the Fall to determine when I need to ask for leave for a mini-vacay.  It seems like just yesterday Laurie and I were camping out for Memorial Day Weekend!

Shrimp and Onion Mexican Pizza

This weekend, one of my best friends in the world, Anna, was up here visiting, so I didn't really dig too deeply into the CSA box.  I've been eating pretty healthy lately, so this weekend was a big splurge for me.  We picked up Lost Dog (my favorite sandwich place) and picnicked while watching How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days outside in Rosslyn and brunched at some awesome spots in Alexandria (chicken and waffles is all I can say), so the only meal I really cooked was Saturday night.

Since Laurie worked late last night, I was bored and decided to make Mexican pizza with the leftover fajita stuff from Saturday.  I wish I could share the recipe with you, but I simply threw shrimp and onions in a pan, toasted tortillas, added a little shredded cheese and topped with pico de gallo and a fennel, cabbage and radish slaw I made this weekend.  Sometimes the simplest things are the best, and I love playing "Chopped kitchen".

I also made pickles last night, and I promise I'll share the recipe with you tomorrow if they're any good.  We're starting to have the same problem with cucumbers that we did last month with lettuce - way too much!  It's my first time making bread and butter pickles, so it may be hit or miss with them.  Regardless, I'll let you be part of the experience.

Lauren

Spaghetti Pie, Oh My

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and spent yesterday afternoon watching one of the best World Cup Finals I've seen in a long time!  I'll admit that I was pulling hard for Argentina (it's hard not to love Messi), but the German team was just too good.  I also want to thank everyone for supporting me and reading my last post, even though it was a little emotional.  I'm a pretty private person, but sometimes it just feels good to share.  On to the food!

Last Thursday, Laurie was craving pizza, so we decided to take a healthy spin on it and create a spaghetti pie.  Now, I can't take credit for this at all (wish I could).  Laurie is the evil genius that introduced me to this wonderful creation - last time she sent me out to the store for a spaghetti squash, I came back with butternut squash.  Rut row!

You guys have to try this though.  It's easy, healthy and delicious.  The first time Laurie fixed this dish for me, I almost positive that we ended up eating an entire casserole dish of it.  I'm not sure that's something I should be proud of or not, but you get the picture.  The best thing about this dish is that you can alter it to suit your own taste...don't be afraid to swap out the Italian sausage for pepperoni or try it with just veggies. :)

The picture does not do the ymminess justice. :-/

Laurie's Spaghetti Pie

1 spaghetti squash
3 eggs whisked
1/2 onion (we used white)
1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup of sliced zucchini
1 lb Italian sausage
1 cup of tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce
A few sprigs of fresh basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to top

Spoiler Alert:  This is the easy way to cook spaghetti squash!  Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place spaghetti squash cut side down in a microwave-safe container and nuke for 8-12 minutes or until the skin of the squash gives when you press on it. Once squash is done cooking, remove threads and place in an 8×8 greased baking dish.

Place a large pan over medium heat. Add italian sausage and onion. Cook until pink no longer remains in the sausage and it is broken up into pieces.  In a separate pan, cook the zucchini and mushrooms.  Combine the ingredients, add pizza sauce and salt and pepper to the pan and mix well.  Add sausage mixture to the 8×8 dish and mix well with spaghetti squash threads.  Lastly, add whisked eggs to the baking dish and mix everything together until you can no longer see the eggs.  Place in oven and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until the top of the mixture forms a slight crust.  Add a little Parmesan cheese if you're feeling frisky.  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Lauren

A Weighty Issue

Disclaimer:  This post is less about food and more about me.  Mom would call it a "Come to Jesus" moment.

We survived Hurricane Arthur!!!  Yay!

I have a confession to make.  I haven't posted lately because I've been eating like crap.  Yes, I can blame vacation - stuffing my face with hot dogs, beer, chips, candy and pies (all delicious, all not so healthy), but if I'm being completely honest, it goes way beyond that.

Roughly a month and a half ago before I left for a work trip to Argentina, I found a lump in my left breast.  I tried to stay calm, pack for my trip, focus on my meetings in Buenos Aires and set up a doctor's appointment upon my return, but my health weighed heavily on my mind.  It may seem ignorant, but the first thing that ran through my mind was that I'm way too young to have breast cancer.  Fast forward a few weeks, post-exam, post-mammogram, and I'm listening to doctors refer to my lump as a tumor and insisting that I see a breast specialist.  That's about the time I decided to start this blog...I really just needed to take my mind off health issues and focus on something positive.

Well, I have good news for you!  I DO NOT have cancer (or any other health issues), but I'm carrying around about five extra pounds from stress eating and drinking over that time period.  While it turned out to be a benign cyst, I was so worried during the process, partially due to the "sky is falling" attitude of my doctors, that I didn't feel much like cooking and just generally felt depressed.  There were days that I didn't even feel like rock climbing, and working out is usually my solution to everything.

Pan-roasted salmon with sorrel sauce

Yesterday, I got a final clean bill of health from my doctor, so it's time for me to shed these few extra pounds and start eating better.  Laurie has a big birthday coming up in a few months (the dirty thirty :) ), and I want to look as good as I feel when we're celebrating.

Last night, I started cooking again and fixed pan-roasted salmon with sorrel sauce and a fresh cucumber, tomato and onion salad.  It was my first time experimenting with sorrel (it was in our basket last Thursday), and it gave a yummy, lemony zing to the salmon.  I know that I'll definitely be using it in the future to liven up some of my dishes.

This week, it looks like we'll be getting cucumbers, onions, parsley, zucchini, swiss chard and cabbage in our box.  Can't wait to share those recipes and pictures with you!

Lauren

Summertime in the City

It's Laurie's fault that we haven't posted in awhile (sorry to throw you under the bus, but it's true)!

Laurie cooked. I plated. :)

Last Wednesday, Laurie made these awesome turkey meatballs with zucchini and peppers in them and braised Swiss chard with Parmesan.  She promised that she would write a post and share the recipe (recipe forthcoming) but just was too busy to do so.  I guess working on a massive construction project and spending 70+ hours of week at work is a pretty good excuse, but I still have to give her a little guilt trip! :)  I'm not always a huge fan of meatballs, but Laurie's blew me away.  The sauce was so good that we saved some and reused it on Thursday for stir fry.

Swiss chard can be a little bitter, but the combination of the Parmesan and red onion mellowed out the flavor.  Also, by using the chard and the spring onions to garnish the meatballs, we were able to use up all of our veggies from the past two weeks.  Seriously, it can be hard to use up the veggies before they go bad (especially if one of the two people sharing the basket is working her tail off).

Look at that basil (ignore the sweet tea vodka)!

Which brings us to this week's basket.  On Thursday, we picked up our new CSA basket, which contained Swiss chard, radishes, spring onions, scapes and basil.  While we have gotten scapes and onions every week so far, I think those veggies are so versatile that they've been the first items used up every week.  You can't beat fresh spring onions as a garnish or scapes in a frittata on Sunday morning.

I think I was more excited this week than I have been with any of the other boxes.  My mom laughs at me when I say this, but I love radishes, so I was super excited to cook with them.  Also, the basil was too beautiful to cook down, so I chopped up a juicy pineapple and prepared a pineapple and basil salad drizzled with local honey.  I'll admit that I'm often guilty of ignoring the fruit group in the food pyramid (if they even call it a pyramid anymore), especially in the wintertime, but there's nothing I like better than a sweet and savory fruit salad as a side dish on a hot day.

Since Laurie and I spent yesterday afternoon bronzing ourselves by her apartment complex's pool, we were both craving something cool and fresh for dinner, so I decided to make Poke.  If you're not familiar with it, Poke is a raw yellowfin tuna salad that is a Hawaiian delicacy.  While it may sound strange, I was introduced to poke by my Japanese/Hawaiian friend, Joe, when I lived out in Idaho.  I'd never had it before then, and now, I always check for ahi poke on the menu whenever I'm at a good sushi restaurant.  I've been craving it for weeks.

As you might imagine, the most important part of making Poke is the fish.  I recommend going to a Japanese

market, local fish market, or upscale grocery store (Whole Foods or Fresh Marker) and asking the fishmonger if there's any sashimi grade tuna available.  It's kind of a no-brainer.  The freshest tuna makes the best salad.  You can find all sorts of Poke recipes on the internet, but traditional Poke is so easy to make that I could do it in my sleep.

Cameron looks like a Chopped judge in this picture. I love it!

Ahi Tuna Poke

2 lbs fresh tuna steaks, cubed
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup green onions
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

In a medium size bowl, combine all the ingredients.  Garnish with additional diced green onions if you're feeling fancy.  That's it...so simple.  Enjoy!

I served the Poke over an Asian inspired slaw that included the radishes from the CSA, cabbage and jalapenos (for a little kick).  Yes, I cheated and did not make the dressing for the slaw, but after a full day in the sun, I let Whole Foods do the work.  Their ginger and garlic sauce is just as good as anything I could have made on my own...probably better, if I'm being completely honest.

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I"m looking forward to a short week of work and a great 4th of July!  Safe travels to those of you hitting the road later this week.  I'll try to post again before I take off the for the beach, but I'm making no promises!

Lauren

It's Not Easy Being Green

I lamented in my last post that we were up to our ears in green leafy vegetables...kale, swiss chard and

especially lettuce.  Honestly, if I don't have to look at a salad again for the next few days, I'm okay with that.  Well, I found a solution to my problem.  Soup!

Before you go shaking your head and thinking I'm a nut for making soup when it's 90 degrees outside, think about your ultimate "go-to" comfort food.  It's probably something along the lines of chicken noodle or tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.  And when you're craving something simple, hearty and comforting, it really doesn't matter what the heck the temperature is outside, which brings me to dinner last night.  While Laurie was a skeptic about a lettuce and kale soup (and I'm sure many of you are as well), I'm a huge fan of cream of spinach and thought that any leafy green vegetable in a soup could be delicious and healthy.  Here's my recipe!

Lettuce and Kale Soup with Scape Pesto Grilled Cheese.  Yum!

Lettuce and Kale Soup

6 cups of lettuce
2 cups of kale
1/2 cup garlic scapes
1/2 cup spring onions
3 cups broth (veggie, chicken, or beef)
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Start by finely chopping your scapes and spring onions and sauteeing them in a deep skillet with a little olive oil.  While the aromatics are softening up, do a rough chop on your leafy greens, and when the kitchen is really starting to smell great, throw your greens in the skillet as well.  On another burner, heat up your stock.  When the greens have begun to wilt, transfer them to the stock pot and add the yogurt.  Stir until the yogurt is combined with the stock and the soup looks creamy.  At this point, add the cheese, salt, pepper and cayenne (if you like the flavor).  Carefully transfer the soup to a blender or processor.  Be careful processing hot liquids!  Pulse the soup until you're satisfied with the texture, then transfer it back to the stock pot.  Let the soup continue to cook on low while you fix your grilled cheese.  Enjoy!

Since we had extra scape pesto left over from last week, we added a spoonful of pesto to our Vermont cheddar grilled cheese sandwiches.  I'm a huge fan of dunking my grilled cheese into soup, and the combination of flavors last night was amazing.  Once again, Laurie ribbed me for not including meat in the meal, but I don't think either one of us missed it at all.

Just a quick side note before I actually get some work done today.  I'd be remiss without sharing that yesterday was Cameron's birthday.  We celebrated by taking her swimming, to the park and to the Muddy Mutt for a bath (that was more for our benefit).

It's hard to believe that she's four years old now.  Honestly, it seems like yesterday that she fell asleep on my chest while bringing her home from the breeder.  I never thought that owning a dog could change my life, but she has, without a doubt.  Here's to many more years of hikes, swimming, long runs and cuddles with my best friend in the world!  Happy Birthday, Cameron!

Lauren

My First Recipe

I apologize.  There will be weeks that I skimp on the blogging, but I didn't plan on slacking off so quickly.   I know...I've completely neglected this blog over the past week, but it has been the week from hell.  Seriously, I think that the world just threw everything at me.  Hey, we all have those weeks though, right?  I am just so glad it's Friday, tomorrow is the first official day of Summer and I have a ton of great World Cup matches to watch this weekend!

Cameron was not pumped for the CSA pick-up selfie. Nope.

Yesterday, Laurie, Cameron and I picked up our second box of veggies from the CSA.  Laurie was off early, so I forced her to come with me (there's a crazy person who lives across the street, so I needed to bring backup).  This week, we got kale, beets, garlic scapes, zucchini and MORE LETTUCE.  The fridge looks like Peter Rabbit lives there - never thought I would say that.

Over the last week, we did a pretty decent job using up the zucchini, spring onions and kale (I fixed a huge frittata with tomatoes, arugula, onions, kale and peppers on Sunday), but I swear, we have lettuce coming out of our ears.  I feel like a bunny.  If anyone has innovative ideas of how to use up lettuce, please let me know!  I don't want the lettuce to go bad, and I'm not sure that Cameron would be too excited for me to start sneaking her lettuce.

Since we hadn't cooked with the scapes yet, Laurie and I made a garlic scape pesto for dinner last night.  If you're not familiar with scapes or have never cooked with them, they are the "flower stalks" of hard neck garlic plants.  They can be chopped up and used like scallions in salads and to garnish dishes, but one of the most popular way to use the scapes is in pesto.  Now, scapes are very aromatic, so it's important to keep that in mind when using them in a pesto - I used a lot of arugula and basil to mellow out the flavor.

Garlic Scape Pesto

1 bunch Scapes (I had 4 stalks)
4 cups Arugula
2 cups Basil
1/4 cup Pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pinch of Red Pepper

Finely chop up your scapes, then mix all your leafy greens in a bowl with a little salt and pepper.  Then, put the greens in a food processor.  Add the pine nuts, parm and olive oil and process until the mixture becomes a paste.  At this point, I added a pinch of red pepper and more salt and pepper.  If your pesto seems too thick, add a little more olive oil and pulse again.  Enjoy!

Since we had a lot of fresh pesto, Laurie and I decided to use some in a quick and easy pasta and save the rest for later.  I peeled and deveined about a pound and a half of shrimp and tossed them in a pan with spices, while Laurie chopped up tomatoes and green and yellow peppers to add to bow tie pasta with the pesto.

The finished product (with a little shaved Parm). :)

Given a choice between cooking/eating seafood and poultry or beef, I will always choose seafood, and I absolutely love shellfish in a pasta (pretty much in anything, honestly). I cautioned you earlier that the pesto can be very strong, so adding the sweetness of the shrimp and the fresh bite of the peppers in the pasta really made a nice combination.  In fact, Laurie said it's the best pesto she's ever had. :)

Now, we can really eat, but we may have overestimated our appetites last night, which is a really good thing.  We had enough leftover pasta for two lunches, and I actually think the pesto is something that will be even better cold the next day.  Also, I cooked way too much shrimp, so we were able to make salads with the shrimp, peppers and tomatoes with miso ginger dressing  for today.

Yum!  Salads and kale for kale chips!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and is able to get outside and enjoy the Summer Solstice.  If you get a chance, I highly recommend drinking an Anderson Valley Summer Solstice (in a can of course) on the Summer Solstice.  I plan on spending as much of the weekend by the pool as possible and watching Argentina and the U.S. play in their respective World Cup matches.  While I prefer American football to futbol, I can say that I have really enjoyed watching the World Cup this year, and though handsome, I can't wait to see Ronaldo (and Portugal) lose to the U.S.!  I find him to be extremely obnoxious.

I'll try to be better about posting less sporadically and including more recipes in the posts.  I plan on making a salad with the beets and swiss chard tomorrow night, so I'll be sure to share that with you guys!

Lauren

And It Begins...

Our first produce box...yay!!!

Yesterday after work, I picked up the first box from the CSA.  I was afraid we would end up with a lousy box, and I was overjoyed when I got to the CSA drop point and found a beautiful head of lettuce, curly kale, garlic scapes, spring onions and my favorite, zucchini.

Since I was getting a late start on dinner, I decided to make a quick, easy stir fry with the zucchini from the box, carrots, peppers, broccoli, onions and mushrooms.  It doesn't happen often (I think Laurie was pretty shocked), but I wasn't really in the mood for meat last night.  Plus, I always like making stir fry because it gives me the chance to show off my knife skills.

Laurie needs to get on my knife skills level. :)

Tonight, I'm planning on preparing a steakhouse salad (making up for the meat I didn't eat last night) with the lettuce and spring onions from the box, sirloin strips, bacon and homemade blue cheese dressing.  If you're lucky, I might even share my blue cheese dressing recipe!  I think that Fridays are just made for a little indulgence, and I plan on stopping by the wine store to pick up a nice bottle of Cabernet to have with dinner.  Hey, what's life if you can't enjoy it a little bit?

I hope everyone has a happy Friday and a great weekend!  Maybe this rain will go away, so we can play outside.

Lauren

In Season

We love food. Well, Laurie loves food, but I (Lauren) LOVE food. I really do. I love food shopping, reading magazines like Food & Wine and Saveur, venturing to new restaurants, discovering recipes, cooking and especially eating. Like most Americans, we are far too often guilty of valuing convenience over quality and grabbing take-out Thai food or ordering pizza, so back during the long, snowy winter, Laurie and I decided to join a Community Supported Agriculture program and split a small share of vegetables from Earth Spring Farm in Pennsylvania.

What the heck is a CSA you might ask? Essentially, it is a simple way to purchase fresh, local produce while supporting a small farm. Both Laurie and I grew up in the country and could find decent vegetables in our families’ gardens or at roadside produce stands, but here in D.C., there’s neither the space nor opportunity to grow our own produce. By purchasing a small share of vegetables from the farm, we will receive a weekly box of seasonally available vegetables from early June through late November and pick up the box from a neighbor’s porch every Thursday. In our “pre-harvest” e-mails we’ve received from Earth Spring, we’ve been told to expect everything from kale, collards and carrots to winter squash, cauliflower and kohlrabi.

I consider myself to be a good cook (with the exception of my risotto, which is always a little crunchy), but this will be a new experience for me given that we won’t have a choice with regard to the vegetables we receive weekly. Friends that have been members of CSAs before have given the experience mixed reviews, and some have gone so far as to swear off kale for the rest of their lives. Still, I’m optimistic. This whole experience will probably be fun – it might be challenging, but it will most definitely be interesting.

Tonight is the first pick-up day for our CSA, so get excited for the great vegetable unveiling!

Lauren