I’m back! You may or may not have noticed, but I took a little blogging hiatus. This hiatus coincided with me starting a new job and, along with that, a new food blog. That, in addition to taking care of three cats and a PhD student, has had me a little distracted. I’m hoping that this little dip of my toes back into the blogging waters will be the start of some more consistent posting.

So what am I eating? Pizza! Sara is allergic to tomatoes, so I’ve been trying out some tomato-free pizza recipes. I came up with a combo last week that sounds a little fancy, but didn’t take very long to put together and tasted delicious. Here’s how it went down:

Fancy Pants Pizza

Brush an unbaked pizza crust (I make my own using the recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance) with some extra virgin olive oil. Top with:

Caramelized Onions
Roasted Beets
Toasted Walnuts
Crumbled Feta

Bake according to pizza dough instructions. When finished, top hot pizza with:

Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
Arugula

]]> http://dinnerchronicles.com/2011/11/rosemary-pull-apart-rolls/feed/ 1 http://dinnerchronicles.com/2011/11/veggie-sausage-and-white-bean-stew/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=veggie-sausage-and-white-bean-stew http://dinnerchronicles.com/2011/11/veggie-sausage-and-white-bean-stew/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:16:46 +0000 Megan http://dinnerchronicles.com/?p=322
Sara is working on the research for her PhD dissertation. It’s a grueling process that so far has been full of much excitement and some major lows. At times, it seems like this study is taking over our house.  I’m glad that I can at the very least be a support for her during this process because of love, and because I really believe in the work that she’s doing. And of course, the way that I best offer support is with food. Yesterday we were badly in need of something comforting around here, so I decided to make this hearty stew coupled with homemade pull-apart rolls because, really, what is more comforting than freshly-baked bread? I think this will be a good recipe to keep around for the long, cold months coming up.

"OM NOM NOM" CC BY-NC-SA notemily, flickr

The Internet has been feeding me since my college days when my roommates and I would scour allrecipes.com every week to find new and exciting things to make in our dorm kitchen. I think I was possibly the most well-fed college student ever. Now that the Internet is all grown up, I can spend hours and hours digging through recipe websites trying to find the best version of something to try out (or more likely, the version of this thing that uses ingredients I have in my house). It’s exhilarating/exhausting.

Also exhausting is digging around the web trying to find something I made 5 months ago and am craving again. It’s a precious few recipes I make more than once, so I thought I’d save both you & me some time by rounding up a list of favorites so we don’t have to look all over for them.

Baked Oatmeal with Pecans, Blueberries, & Bananas (ok, I made this for the first time just last weekend, but I already know I’m going to want it again.)

The Moosewood Cookbook’s Thai Salad

Root Beer Cupcakes with Vanilla Malt Frosting (recipe mashups are my favorite kind of mashups)

Basil Hummus

Scrambled Tofu with Greens and Berry Chipotle Sauce

Red Split Lentils With Cabbage and Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes

Best Brussels Sprouts

Basil Lemonade Scones

Ingredients:
1 1/4 C soy milk
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C sugar
2 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C vegetable oil
3 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest
3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
lemon basil glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet (or cover it with parchment paper.)

Combine the soy milk and vinegar. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, & salt. Add the milk mixture, oil, orange zest, and basil. Mix until just combined, so that the dough is clumpy (not sticky), and there’s still a some flour dusting the bowl.

Divide the dough into two portions. Form each portion into a 6-inch disk, and cut each disk into 6 wedges. Arrange the wedges on the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes (until slightly brown & firm on top). While scones are still warm, top each with about 2Tbsp lemon basil glaze.

Lemon Basil Glaze

Ingredients:
1 C confectioners’ sugar
2 Tbsp nonhydrogenated margarine, melted
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 tsp finely chopped fresh basil

Mix together all ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth.

The first event was all about food. This was my first food swap so I was super nervous. I decided to bring root beer cupcakes with vanilla malt frosting and vegan basil lemonade scones (recipes for both coming soon.) I got there early to set up my station. Here’s my very own trading post:

And here’s everything I brought home in exchange for all that sugar:

I traded all of my leftover frosting for that big bunch of kale. Other very exciting items I brought home with me included: chocolate orange zucchini bread, a vast assortment of jams, pickles, cowboy caviar, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, pie pops, and candied sesame walnuts. This event is so full of win. I also would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the swap is held at Open Arms Minnesota, an organization dedicated to providing nutritious meals to people living with serious and life threatening diseases.

The Swap-o-Rama-Rama was all about clothes. It was much less organized than the food swap, but I brought a garbage bag full of clothes to share and came home with a full bag of new duds, so I consider it a huge success. In addition to a giant pile of clothes to dig through, this swap had sewing machines and an airbrushing station for anyone who wanted to make immediate alterations. I didn’t make use of any of the stations, but I have a whole new Winter wardrobe (huge thanks on this to the friend I attended with who brought great clothes.)

Anyway, all gooeyness aside, the chanterelles I bought were incredible. I fixed them pretty simply and served with crepes so I could really enjoy their flavor. Such bliss! And I can’t do crepes without something sweet, so I cooked up some apricots and honey, too.

Chanterelle Crepe Filling

1 Tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
3 Shallots, diced
1 Pint Chanterelle mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 Tsp Fresh Sage, chopped
2-3 Tbsp Marsala cooking wine
1/4 Tsp Salt

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add shallots and sate until soft. Add mushrooms, sage, cooking wine, and salt, and saute until mushrooms are cooked and most liquid is evaporated (about 5-8 minutes.)

Honeyed Apricot Crepe Filling

5 Apricots, peeled, pitted, and sliced
3 Tbsp Honey

Combine apricots and honey in a small saucepan. Simmer over low heat until a thick sauce forms (about 10-15 minutes).

Tip: to help get the skins off the apricots, I boil them whole for a couple of minutes, and then put them in cold water

Serve with your favorite crepes. I used this recipe from Minnesota Monthly.