Clean-out-the-cabinets Vegetarian Night

Feeling dirt-ass poor tonight, so it was "how do I use what I've got and make a whole meal?"

There were red lentils in the cupboard, and a little rice left in the canister, a couple cloves of garlic, some onion, and about a third of the kale from the CSA this week.  Veggie stock I made last night.  That was dinner, and in this combination:

Rice-Cooker Rice and Lentils

• Equal parts brown rice and red lentils*
• Twice that amount of veggie stock* or water
• Two cloves of garlic, crushed or minced or whatever
• A pat of butter or a dribble of oil
• Salt

Throw all that in a rice cooker.   Turn it on cook and let it go until it clicks off.

Cut thin slices off the onion so that they form rings.  Saute these briefly in a skillet, in either oil or butter.  Once they're clear/browned/caramelized, remove from pan and set aside.

Top lentil mixture with onions and eat up!

Skillet Greens

• 1-2 T butter or oil
• 1 clove garlic (or the remains from pressed garlic, which I used
• about 1/2 cup water
• fresh greens (kale, chard, collards, mustard, spinach, or whatever)
• lemon juice or vinegar of your choice

Rince greens in cold water.  Heat the skillet (I used the same one I'd just cooked the onions in) and tear up the greens, still slightly wet, into the pan.  (For tender greens like spinach and chard, the stems can be chopped and added before the leaves.  For kale, the stems went into the veggie bag.) Cover and let steam slightly, adding the 1/2 of water if they start to sear.  Cover again and let steam until greens are tender (about 5-6 minutes for kale) and add butter/oil and garlic.

Saute just a bit, then remove from heat before they greens get scorched.  Sprinkle with lemon/vinegar and salt, if desired.

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*Lentils:  Any kind of lentils will work.  Red lentils turn this into a stew/casserole, depending on how much liquid is left.  They fall apart, seriously.  Brown lentils retain a slightly crunchy beaniness if not cooked a bit beforehand, so if you want them soft, they'll have to go in at least partially pre-cooked.  Haven't done this with green or black lentils.

*Vegetable Stock: I save all my veggie scraps in the freezer in a much-reused gallon-sized plastic bag, until the bag gets full.  Then I dump the contents into a stock pot, cover with water, salt lightly, and boil the stuffing out of it.  When all the veggie scraps are looking like all the life is out of them, I remove the solids, run the liquid through a strainer-inside-a-funnel into a jar, and there you have it.  (By the way, my "funnel" is the cut off top of a gallon milk jug.)

Blondeez Intermittent Diary

Let's just call it what it is. ;)

Sunday I basically had one long meal, for the birthday party.  I snacked on things while I was cooking, then had leftovers for dinner, so I'll just tell you what I made for the party!  I made Baked Kale Chips as an appetizer, and guacamole (vague instructions below) that I served with salsa and tortilla chips also as a munchie snack. Then CJ fired up our grill to cook the marinated tri-tip (I bought it pre-marinated because it was on sale, actually cheaper than the same quality meat without marinade), Lemon Chicken drumsticks that I marinated the night before, and salmon fillets (loose recipe below).  I threw Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Bacon in the oven and then Broiled Zucchini, and only barely remembered to get out the Quinoa Tabbouleh I made the night before!

The cake was a gluten-free devil's food cake with homemade vanilla buttercream (recipe below), which my mom and I cut up into a duck, like she used to make me as a kid.  Ours looked like this, but there are lots of animal cut-up cakes here.  We paired it with vanilla bean ice cream and good company!

On Monday I had the delicious Apple Raisin Irish Oatmeal for breakfast after a short run.  For lunch, I met some friends at LYFE kitchen, where I had the grilled artichokes with lemon aiol, roasted beets & farro salad (organic field greens, whole-grain farro, roasted beets & fennel, oranges, walnuts, dried cranberries, pomegranate, red onion, basil, and maple-sherry vinaigrette) and a pineapple-coconut-lime cooler.  After the weekend of intense cooking I pulled out a carton of organic tomato soup and made grilled cheese using whole wheat bread and muenster cheese, and some baby spinach.  Plus birthday cake for dessert!

Today I polished off the birthday cake before I left for work, then had greek yogurt with honey as a mid-morning snack.  I went to my first official CrossFit workout at noon, then had leftover beef and sweet potato stew and quinoa tabbouleh for lunch.  When I got home I put artichokes on the stove to steam and fried up a few eggs for a very quick dinner.

Grilled Salmon (from a friend of my mom's)
Serves: however many you want
Cook Time: ~20 minutes

• Salmon fillets (~4 oz. per person)
• butter
• soy sauce (I used wheat-free organic because one of my guests is celiac)
• minced garlic

Lay salmon on a generously-sized piece of heavy duty foil.  Dot with butter and garlic and drizzle with soy sauce.  Wrap the foil to seal around the fish, then put on a hot grill for about 20 minutes, or until done.  The fish is basically steamed in its packet!

Guacamole (made up as I went along)
Serves: 6-8
Prep Time: 5 min.

• 4 avocados
• 1/2 jalapeno
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder (or minced garlic)
• 1-2 Tbsp. lemon or lime juice 
• salsa

Mash up the avocados and then stir in the rest to your own taste.

Buttercream Frosting (courtesy of my mom's brain)
Frosts one 9" round cake (double if you're doing a layer cake)
Prep Time: 4 min.

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 lb. powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2-3 Tbsp. milk (to desired texture)

Whip the butter until light and airy, then add most of the powdered sugar gradually, mixing slowly at first.  Alternate with the liquids as needed until you reach the desired texture.  You can add other flavors or colors to match your cake!