What's black and white and red all over?

Black and white bean chili, of course!

Although it has been about a million degrees here this week, for some reason my husband requested vegetarian chili for dinner.

So, being the fabulous wife I am, I hopped to it. To be fair, he didn't so much request is as answer my plea for someone else to please just decide what we should eat all week forgoodnesssake.

Come along with me as I take this pile of fresh summer vegetables and turn it into a delicious pot of chili.

This chili contains quinoa, which makes it more filling (and adds all of the healthiness you could ever ask for), as well as two kinds of beans and the veggies. I recommend doubling the recipe... leftovers are almost better than the first round, and it will freeze very well. So you can... you know. Save it. For a rainy day, when the weather actually lends itself to curling up with a nice warm bowl of comfort food.

It cooks all day in a slow cooker, so you really can make it in the summer without slaving over the stove or heating the house too much.

First, mince 2 jalapenos as tiny as you can, and chop up two green onions, half a red onion, half a red bell pepper, half a green bell pepper, and a stalk of celery.

Saute these in about a tablespoon of olive oil for a few minutes, then add the spices:

1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf

Continue to cook these together for another minute, and then remove from heat.

Drain and rinse a can of black beans and a can of white (navy) beans, reserving the water from the white beans.

Add enough water to the bean water to make 3 3/4 cups total.

Put the beans, the veggies, the water, 1 cup of tomato paste, and 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa into the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Just before serving, add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon molasses and mix completely.

Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream.

p.s. We went cherry picking this morning and came home with scads of cherries. Cherry week is a-comin'!

back to the basics

I'm gone for a long weekend, enjoying my little brother's wedding to a great gal.

Just thought I would leave a picture to remind you to enjoy life's simple pleasures.

Maybe when I get back I'll report to you on some new delicacy I tried while dining out three meals a day.

Or maybe I'll come refreshed and ready to try some great new recipes.

Or maybe I'll never come back... you can try looking for me by the pool. I'll be the one with a margarita in her hand.

Caprese Salad

Layer slices of tomato, fresh mozarella, and basil leaves on a plate. Drizzle with olive oil, and enjoy.

That there is the taste of summer.

just peachy

I just can't get enough of summer! It is beautifully hot around here and I am soaking up the sunshine and the outdoors just as much as I can.

We are eating most meals outdoors, which means: less mopping and sweeping indoors, which means: more time outdoors! It is such a happy cycle.

I am also trying to do most of my cooking outdoors. I love my grill. It makes me happy. The kids are all around me while I cook, doing their busy kid things... riding bikes, kicking a soccer ball, climbing trees.

Today, it was grilled chicken breasts with peach salsa. I think I may have died and gone to heaven.

The salsa is sweet and spicy, tangy and fresh. It livens up the chicken (which I marinated in a simple olive oil and lemon mixture), and makes the meal really unique. As a matter of fact, I am considering buying a whole bushel of peaches and canning some of this stuff with the peppers and mint my husband is growing in our garden. I'll let you know how that idea pans out.

Peach salsa

4 ripe peaches

2-3 Tbsp chopped shallots

1 jalapeno, chopped (stem, seeds and ribs discarded)

Juice of a lemon

2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint

2 Tbsp minced ginger

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and black pepper to taste

Just chop all the ingredients and stir to combine... at least a couple hours before you are going to eat it, so it has a chance to meld.

(This recipe is my own special little take on the one I found here.)

Pretty sneaky, sis.

As you may or may not recall, last week I was complaining musing about trying to get my kids to eat enough any amount whatsoever of vegetables.

I decided, last night, to revisit the concept of hiding the vegetables in a pureed form. It really does work. The pasta I concocted last night contained three tomatoes and a large bunch of chard, and no one was any the wiser. They all ate their fill of it and said they liked it! I am not sure how much of a serving of veggies this counts as, exactly, but it is certainly a step in the right direction!

Of course, I also set out a dish of carrot sticks ... I know they would be suspicious that the veggies were in the pasta if they didn't see them next to the pasta. I also garnished it with a sprig of basil. They somehow believe that basil is flavoring, while chard is a veggie. Basil in sauce is acceptable; chard in sauce is just mom being mean, again. I knew the basil would be a perfect foil to account for the slightly greenish-brownish coloring of the chard sauce.

I feel so sneaky.

This dish was very simple, used a minimal number of pots and pans, was quick and healthy. What more can I ask of a weeknight meal?

For your healthy pleasure, past with chard-tomato-cream sauce:

3 medium tomatoes, cut into large chunks
1 bunch swiss chard
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. dried Italian herbs
1 pound pasta
1/4 cup heavy cream

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Cut up the chard into large pieces, and when the water is boiling, add the chard. Let it cook for a few minutes (until the chard is getting wilty), and then lift out the chard with a pair of tongs. Also remove a half cup of the boiling water.

Begin to cook the pasta in the boiling chard water. Cook it for a couple minutes less than the recommended time (it will continue to cook later with the sauce).

Place the cooked chard in a blender with the tomatoes, diced garlic, herbs, parmesan cheese and cooking water. Puree until it is smooth.

Once the pasta is done, drain it and toss it in the pot with the chard-tomato sauce. Add the cream and toss until combined. Let it all cook over low heat for a few minutes until the sauce thickens a bit.

Mangia!

drinking my vitamins

They say that bad luck comes in threes... well this week I had a set of three circumstances that ended up in some very good luck.

1. The fruit that we have been getting in the AHO box lately is absolutely beautiful. There are peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries and strawberries. The kids are eating tons of it. I am so happy!

2. Recently we were on a day trip that took us past a honey farm. We stopped and grabbed a few jars of local honey (having heard that it might help with my husband's seasonal allergies).

3. I had a cocktail recently that contained honey syrup, and I have been wanting to play around with it ever since. Honey syrup is simple ...  honey dissolved in an equal amount of warm water.

Let's now introduce my honey, my fruit, and the concept called "cocktail" to each other. I think three is definitely company in this case.

This is a light and refreshing summer drink, best enjoyed outdoors either in full sunshine or by the light of tiki torches.

Honey and Nectarine Cocktail

1 nectarine, sliced into 8 wedges
2 ounces honey syrup
1 ounce Rose's Lime Juice
3 ounces vodka
club soda
mint

Place 4 slices of nectarine in each of two tall glasses. Pour equal amounts of the honey syrup into each glass. Mash it up a bit. Add half the vodka and half the lime juice to each glass and stir. Add ice and enough club soda to fill the glass, and garnish with mint.

heirlooms

In honor of my husband, who celebrated his birthday this weekend, here is a little story about his mom.

One day, she sent him a note (he lived about 60 miles or so from her) and included 3 recipes, written out on index cards.

They were for zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, and banana bread.

These were definitely things that she had baked for her family over the years, but she wasn't a huge baker. She was more of a spaghetti night, taco night, kind of mom. They ate family meals together growing up, but nothing gourmet or fancy. Just yummy and filling. These recipes are the same... there is nothing particularly special about her breads. They are just what you want pumpkin and zucchini and banana bread to be. Delicious, sweet, and familiar.

I don't think he asked for these particular recipes. I imagine that she just thought it would be a good thing for him to have... maybe in a moment of missing her son, or of wanting him to have a little taste of home. Maybe she knew how little money he was trying to survive on (as a university researcher just out of college), and thought that he might want to be able to have a cheap treat.

Whatever the reason, as it turned out, these three recipe cards would end up being the only things he has that have her handwriting.

I don't think she knew that... I don't think he realized it until he came across them, stored in a desk, much much later. But as it turns out, the comfort of the warm tasty bread is only as important as the recipe itself. She died a few months later, after battling cancer for years and years.

Zucchini Bread

Combine in a large bowl:

1 ¾ c. flour

½ tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. sugar

Add and mix thoroughly:

2 eggs (slightly beaten)

1/3 c. oil

1 t. vanilla

¼ c. milk

1 c. zucchini (shredded, unpeeled)

Pour into greased loaf pan (2-3 mini loaves). Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes (45 mins for mini loaves)

Cheesy.

In my ranting and raving the other day about how my kids don't eat their veggies, and about how I have tried all the tricks there are with varying degrees of   mild   no   very little bits of success, I forgot my number one way of getting them to eat the veggies.

Cheese. Smother the junk in cheese.

Last night, I made a zucchini casserole (that I found here), and all three kids ate it. I wish I had taken pictures of it to show you, but really it isn't that beautiful. It is, however, tasty and quite serviceable when trying to make zucchini magically disappear off of plates and reappear in bellies. It turns out almost like a lasagna without the noodles. I served it alongside grilled sausages and sliced peaches, and I think that we got much closer to having half of the plate filled with produce items.

Of course, an hour later all three kids wanted a grilled cheese sandwich. They totally ruined the ratio, but oh well. For an hour there I felt good about it all.

Zucchini and tomato casserole

2 large zucchini, yellow squash, or a combination
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (or a combination of thyme, rosemary, basil and parsley)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 onion, minced
3 large tomatoes
2 cups cheese -- a combination of mozzarella and parmesan

First, slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch slices, and set aside.

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onions for about 3 minutes, until they are starting to soften. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning, and cook for another minute or two, until it is very fragrant. Cut the tomatoes into 6 pieces or so, and add them. Cook over medium heat, until it cooks down to about a cup. It should be thick but not dry.

Arrange a layer of  the slices of zucchini into a 8x8 pan. Cover with 1/3 of the tomato mixture (it won't spread perfectly evenly, but that's okay). Cover this with 1/3 of the cheese. Layer again with zucchini, tomato, cheese. Layer again the zucchini and tomato, but leave off the last layer of cheese for now.

Bake it at 400 for 20 minutes. Then, add the last layer of cheese, reduce the heat to 375, and bake another 20 minutes.