Smoothies are an easy way to cram more veggies into your day. A little fruit covers . . . → Read More: How to Make a Winter Smoothie with Local Ingredients]]> In the winter, I usually crave hot breakfasts. Oatmeal with applesauce and peanut butter, eggs of all sorts, or pancakes. Recently, I haven’t been eating particularly well, so I’ve been trying to get a little “insurance” at breakfast to make up for the Pad Thai at lunch and burger, fries, and a shake at dinner. Yep. That was yesterday.

Smoothies are an easy way to cram more veggies into your day. A little fruit covers up the healthy taste and if the green color bothers you, just avert your eyes. This has become my go-to recipe, but you can make some tweaks if it’s not sweet enough for you. Add a tablespoon of maple syrup or use a whole peach/banana instead of half.

We don’t have a fancy blender…although I really really really want one, I can’t justify the crazy price. There’s an easy technique for making a good smoothie with a normal blender. Check out this video from Good Eats – the technique info starts at about 4:22.

My blender has four speeds. I run it on the first until the vortex starts, then each higher speed for one minute. If a bubble forms, I turn off the blender, give it a little shake to encourage the “burp”, then turn the speed back up. It takes about 4 minutes of blending, but that’s enough time to put away the ingredients and make a cup of tea.

If you want to get crazy, add half an avocado to the mix. We ordered a box of them from California Avocados Direct, a responsible family farm, and were blown away.

Local Winter Smoothie

Makes 1 large smoothie

Directions

1. If you are organized and want to be like Alton Brown, prep your smoothie the night before. Put everything except the ice cubes into the blender (in order) and stash it in the fridge. In the morning, add the ice and blend, following the directions above. Make sure all the spinach/kale blends in. Sometimes a leaf or two will stick to the side. This is a great way to have a nice smoothie even on a busy morning.
2. If you, like me, are usually not that with it at bedtime, make your smoothie when you’re ready to eat it. Add all the ingredients to the blender (in order) and blend, following the directions above. It might take a little longer for the vortex to form, because the fruit is still frozen, but you can get it going by stopping the blender and smushing the spinach/kale down toward the blades. When you start up the blender again, the smoothie should start moving. It might take a couple of tries. If it’s really giving you trouble, add a little more water/juice/milk. It’ll thin out your smoothie, but usually does the trick.

Dad! Don’t read this post until Sunday!

My dad has many amazing qualities. He can make a game out of anything – including rolled up socks, the packing material from our new blinds, and a big bucket leftover from some construction project. Incidentally, bucket rides also illuminated one of my mom’s best qualities – trusting that her husband wouldn’t put her kids in the hospital and letting us have some crazy fun.

Dad . . . → Read More: Father’s Day Breakfast Idea: How to Make Homemade Pop Tarts]]>

Dad! Don’t read this post until Sunday!

My dad has many amazing qualities. He can make a game out of anything – including rolled up socks, the packing material from our new blinds, and a big bucket leftover from some construction project. Incidentally, bucket rides also illuminated one of my mom’s best qualities – trusting that her husband wouldn’t put her kids in the hospital and letting us have some crazy fun.

Dad will also support me no matter what – even if it’s listening to me hyperventalate on the phone because I spotted a mouse in my first solo apartment or eating a weird vegetarian meal I cook for him. Oh sure, he’ll eat kale for breakfast to make me feel good, but what does he really want? PopTarts and Diet Pepsi. If you were ever in his car before he retired, you know what I mean. Crumbs and cans galore! Might not be Wheaties, but it’s certainly the breakfast of one of my biggest champions.

So for Fathers’ Day 2012, I give you bacon and jam toaster tarts. Make them for the dad in your life or for yourself, just cuz it’s Sunday and breakfast should be fun sometimes. I froze these and then sent them overnight. Just take one out of the freezer and pop it in the toaster, Dad. Love you!!

Some quick notes on the recipe…First, the dough is almost exactly the same as my standard pie crust with extra salt and sugar for flavor. I also added a splash of vinegar to the water on the advice of my friend Mike, who says it will lend extra flakiness. Second, this is a great way to use up some of last year’s lingering jams. Nothing on the larder shelves caught my fancy, so I made a quick strawberry rhubarb jam from what I had around. Store-bought jam is just fine, too.

Fathers’ Day Toaster Tarts

Makes 10 tarts

Directions

1. Follow these directions to make dough for a double crust pie, adding the vinegar to the ice water and the sugar and salt to the dry ingredients. After you’ve put the dough in the refrigerator, come back to this recipe.
2. While the dough is chilling, make the icing by combining the confectioners’ sugar with 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk until smooth.
3. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. To roll the dough, you need a decent amount of space. We’re aiming for a rectangle that’s 15 inches on one side and 8 inches on the other, so you’ll need to roll your dough a little bit larger to account for uneven edges. Find your counter, clean it, and lightly flour it. Keep some flour on hand for the rolling process.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
6. Take one of the dough halves out of the refrigerator. Prepare your filling, so that it’s ready to do when the dough is. Beat the egg and have a pastry brush nearby. If you don’t have a pastry brush, you can use your fingers, but it’s slower.
7. Now, roll out the dough carefully. This is one of those situations when it really helps to be a bit nuts about neatness. Do your best to keep it in a rectangle twice as long on one side as the other. I use a bench scraper to push the ragged edges flat and to help me flip the dough around every few rolls, so that it doesn’t stick to the counter. Use that flour when you need it.
8. Once your dough is large enough, use a ruler and a thin knife to measure and cut a 15-inch by 8-inch rectangle. Don’t worry about moving it yet.
9. Along each of the 15-inch sides, make a little mark with the knife every three inches. Use the ruler and the knife to connect the marks, so that you now have five long rectangles (8 inches by 3 inches). Again, don’t move anything.



10. Using the pastry brush, paint all the edges with egg wash.



11. Place about a teaspoon of filling on one the end of a rectangle. Fold the dough in half to cover the filling and transfer the tart to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining four tarts.



12. Seal the edges of each tart with your fingers, then use the tines of a fork to crimp them. Poke a few holes in the top of each tart with the fork.



13. Brush or drizzle some icing over each tart. Don’t worry about being too neat. You won’t notice once they’re baked.



14. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly brown. Just like the real thing, you will finish these in the toaster. If you want to eat them immediately, bake them for about 10 minutes longer.



15. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

The final week of the Dark Days Challenge is focused on breakfast. We’ve done a bunch of breakfast posts, so we were a bit stumped. I wanted to do another baked good, but didn’t want to split two dozen muffins or a whole coffee cake with Erik over the next two days. Yogurt and granola parfait with strawberries? I just couldn’t decide. So then I forgot all about it… ….until this morning. I was . . . → Read More: Dark Days Challenge: Breakfast]]>

The final week of the Dark Days Challenge is focused on breakfast. We’ve done a bunch of breakfast posts, so we were a bit stumped.

I wanted to do another baked good, but didn’t want to split two dozen muffins or a whole coffee cake with Erik over the next two days.

Yogurt and granola parfait with strawberries? I just couldn’t decide. So then I forgot all about it…

….until this morning. I was out for a run in the beautiful almost-spring weather and remembered. Dang it! So here’s what I had for breakfast – two poached eggs on leftover mixed green salad with sunflower thyme pesto. Completely local, but maybe not breakfast-y enough for some people. It totally hit the spot for me, though. Maybe I’ll have a muffin for lunch to even things out.

Taza Chocolate makes really SOLE-ful chocolate, if you’ll allow me that somewhat . . . → Read More: Somerville’s Own Taza Chocolate]]> My parents came to visit in December and it was so so cold. My plans of wandering around the city were squashed. We didn’t even want to walk to the nearest bus stop. But d’y'know what’s nearer than the nearest bus stop? A CHOCOLATE FACTORY! For serious. Where’s the closest place to get a snack? A CHOCOLATE FACTORY! Yeah, that’s how we roll.

Taza Chocolate makes really SOLE-ful chocolate, if you’ll allow me that somewhat over-used acronym. Beyond Fair Trade, Taza Chocolate is “Direct Trade” certified, which adheres to the following principles:

1. We work exclusively with certified organic cacao farms that practice sustainable agricultural methods.
2. We pay a premium of at least 500 US dollars per metric ton above the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) price on the date of invoice to the producers of our cacao beans for high quality cacao with 95 percent fermentation rates or more and dried to 7 percent moisture or less.
3. We physically visit each cacao producer or producer group at least once a year to build long-term, sustainable relationships.
4. We only buy cacao from producers using fair and humane work practices.
5. We never purchase cacao from producers engaging in child or slave labor.

Source: Taza Chocolate website

Their chocolate is Mexican-style, which has a nice gritty quality and really fruity flavor. “Gritty” might not be something you think you want in chocolate, but it’s pretty tasty. The straight-up chocolate is great, but my favorite part of Taza is all the crazy stuff, like salt and pepper hot chocolate discs. Or chocolate-covered ginger. Mmmmm….

They also make roasted cacao nibs, which are a great nut substitute. They definitely have a chocolate flavor, but it’s much subtler than chocolate chips. We remade these cranberry muffins substituting 3/4 cup of nibs for the carrots. Wicked! (I’m really becoming a Bay Stater, now, huh?)

If you want more info and live in the area, you should definitely check out their factory tour. Gena at Choosing Raw just wrote a post on them, too, so check out her site for another take on the greatness of Taza. If only they were still open, so that I could swing by for a snack…

Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful 2011. Ours was very exciting – we traveled to some interesting places (here and here), got engaged, and moved to Somerville, MA. Whew! 2012 promises to be a fun one as well. We wish you all happiness, health, and delicious food!!

After last night’s festivities, you might want to top your burnt toast with this marmalade full of vitamin C and fructose and just . . . → Read More: How to Make Clementine Marmalade]]>

Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful 2011. Ours was very exciting – we traveled to some interesting places (here and here), got engaged, and moved to Somerville, MA. Whew! 2012 promises to be a fun one as well. We wish you all happiness, health, and delicious food!!

After last night’s festivities, you might want to top your burnt toast with this marmalade full of vitamin C and fructose and just a tiny bit of whiskey. Once you slice up all the clementines, it comes together pretty quickly. If you don’t process it, you can have it ready in about an hour. It’s got a nice bittersweet flavor that would work well with rich food, if you get sick of toast – a glaze for salmon or maybe in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Hair of the Dog Marmalade

Makes 6 4-ounce jars

Directions

1. Prepare your canning tools, if you’re processing this. (Steps 3, 4, and 6)
2. Since we won’t be removing the peels, wash the clementines really well. They might be coated in wax, so give them a good scrub. Slice the clementines as thinly as you can, discarding the first and last slices and any seeds. I have a cutting board with a little moat, which is really helpful for catching the juice. If you’re using a regular cutting board, consider pouring the juice into your pot occasionally, so that you don’t lose any of it.
3. Add the clementine slices, juice, grated apple and carrot, and water to a wide saucepan. Put the cinnamon sticks and allspice berries into a tea ball or tie them up in a square of cheesecloth and add them to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Once the mixture is boiling, stir in the sugar and lemon juice. Once the sugar has dissolved, raise the heat to high and boil hard for about 15 minutes or until the liquid has thickened considerably. I know this is a vague description, but it’s done when there’s only a little puddle of liquid at the bottom of the pan.
5. Remove and discard the spices and stir in the whiskey.
6. If you’re canning this, fill your jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, and process for 10 minutes. (Steps 7+)

Besides the excitement, which I think stems from Mom occasionally buying bulk yogurt pretzels when I was a kid, here are the . . . → Read More: How to Navigate the Bulk Foods Section to Survive the Dark Days]]> Let me just get this out of my system. If you haven’t explored your supermarket’s bulk food section, you are missing out! It’s a smorgasboard of tasty bits and pieces. You can get a HUGE sack of oats for oatmeal or a tiny nibble of chocolate-covered raisins right in the same place!

Besides the excitement, which I think stems from Mom occasionally buying bulk yogurt pretzels when I was a kid, here are the rational, adult reasons for loving the bulk foods section:

• There is very little packaging, so you cut down on waste. You can even bring your own containers.
• It’s almost always cheaper than other options, especially since you can buy exactly the amount you want.
• It allows you to have more variety in your pantry, since you can buy smaller amounts of more things, rather than getting a gigantic bag of black beans or settling for just raisins in your oatmeal for two weeks.
• You can try new things without the committment.

I like to think of all choices as a hierarchy. If not this, then this, etc. My food hierarchy goes something like this: I prefer to buy food from a local farmer I’ve talked to, so I know how he or she runs the farm. If I can’t get what I need that way, I’ll buy food from Joe Schmo local farmer either at the farmers’ market or a grocery store. If I still can’t get what I need, then I probably don’t really need it. But, if I do really need/want it, I’ll buy organic produce from the US (since at least it hasn’t traveled as far as, say, Chilean strawberries) and almost everything else from the bulk foods section. In the Dark Days, we get down to the last level pretty often.

Our supermarket carries several different types of rice, grains, beans, nuts, and dried fruit. It also has a few flours and varieties of granola and trail mix. We can get some beans, flours, and grains locally, but we get all our dried fruit and nuts there.

Here’s how it works:

1. There’s often a roll of thin plastic bags nearby. Grab one or pull out your own container. If you bring your own, make sure it’s pretty lightweight. Some supermarkets will tare (zero out the weight of your container), but others won’t. If the store tares, remember to do it before you fill the container.
2. Find what you want. This can be the confusing part, since the aisle might not be organized in a logical way, so ask an employee if you can’t find something. They usually know exactly where everything is. Even though we go every other week or so, I feel like the section is constantly rearranged!
3. Fill up your bag or container. Sometimes there’s a scoop and sometimes the food comes out of a shoot that you open with a lever. Go slowly if it’s the lever kind, so you don’t take too much.
4. Take a look at the bin and find the product number. This is usually pretty conspicuous, but ask someone if you’re unsure. Some stores let you weigh your own and print a label with the amount and product number. Some just want you to record the number on the fastener, so that they can weight and price it when you check out. If you don’t see a fancy scale where people are printing labels, assume it’s the latter.

That’s it. Now go to the grocery store and try something new!

About two weeks ago, we ordered a five-pound box of fresh cranberries from Cape Cod Select. Take a look at that . . . → Read More: Dark Days Challenge Week 3: Cranberry-Carrot Muffins]]> Happy Sunday to you all! My parents are visiting for the weekend, so we had a lazy morning. After a huge feast last night of braised chicken and parsnips, a riff on this macaroni and cheese, and a kale salad with toasted almonds and dried cherries, we only needed a nibble for breakfast. Muffins!

About two weeks ago, we ordered a five-pound box of fresh cranberries from Cape Cod Select. Take a look at that great box!

We used most of them for canning – whole berry sauce, relish with oranges and walnuts (no mint), and pickled cranberries…

… but had about 2 cups sitting in the refrigerator. We also had a TON of carrots. Why? I don’t know. I probably planned to use them in some grand scheme, so bought some at the farmers’ market, and then got some more from the CSA, and it just got out of control.

For a random muffin based loosely on a Mark Bittman recipe, these turned out really really well. Just sweet enough, but with a tart bite every now and then. The texture is great, too. I don’t usually like coffee shop muffins, because they’re too dense, but these are moist without being heavy. If I do say so myself…

Cranberry-Carrot Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Add the butter pieces to the dry ingredients and use your fingers to rub the butter through the flour mixture. Keep smooshing until the butter is pretty evenly dispersed and all the chunks are pea-sized or smaller.
4. Whisk together the maple syrup and egg.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the flour/butter mixture and whisk until just barely combined.
6. Gently fold in the cranberries and grated carrot. You’ll probably have to switch from the whisk to a spoon or spatula, but use as few strokes as possible to avoid developing gluten, the protein that makes bread nice and chewy, but muffins tough.
7. Fill each muffin cup with a scant (i.e. not quite full) 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a thin knife or skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.