Cornbread Quiche May 7, 2012
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in breakfast, dinner, good for a group, vegetarian.Tags: brunch, cooking, quiche, recipe
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I’ve been meaning to make this recipe for so long. I first saw it on the blog Healthy Tipping Point, and then my friend Kim made it and wrote about it on her blog, Girl Evolving. I wish I wouldn’t have waited–this was amazing and a great way to use up odds and ends left in the fridge. The recipe makes a lot and it was maybe even better as leftovers the next day!
For our quiche, I used what we had on hand, which was a few portobello mushrooms, one bunch of green onions, a few handfuls of spinach, and about a cup of broccoli. Really, you could use any combination of veggies and cheese here. For the cheese, we used a new find that I picked up last week at 8 Degrees Plato in Ferndale. It was a morel and leek jack cheese wheel and oh my god, was it good!! If you are in the area and are a cheese fiend, pick that up pronto!
Cornbread Quiche
(Adapted from here and here)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy, no difference)
1 tsp honey, agave, or sugar
1 tbsp oil
5 eggs
Salt, pepper, and other seasonings as desired
Veggies (you’ll need about 3-4 cups of veggies, in whatever combo you would like)
1 1/2 cups cheese
Method:
Start with the cornbread. Mix the cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder together, and then whisk in the milk, oil, and honey. Pour into a greased casserole dish (2 qt size) and bake at 375 farenheit for 10 minutes.
While that is baking, saute your veggies until they are tender. In a separate bowl, whisk the 5 eggs with some salt and pepper (and other seasonings as desired!). When the 10 minutes is up, spread the tender veggies on top of the cornbread, and top with the eggs. Sprinkle cheese on top, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes or so. Let cool slightly before cutting into it!
Kale-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms April 23, 2012
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in dinner, quick meal, vegetarian.Tags: cooking, mushrooms, portobello, recip, vegetarian
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I bought some big portobello caps at the market on Saturday with the intention of making some sort of Mexican-inspired stuffed mushroom, but when I got home and checked the contents of my fridge, I decided on a different route.
I had a container of cooked brown rice (leftover from making this fried rice the night before) that I thought would go well with kale and a tomato sauce. So that’s what I did, and it was delicious. Only I know this, though, because even though I made two stuffed mushrooms, I dropped the one in the picture above on the floor right after taking this picture, and Ryan was nice enough to let me eat the one remaining mushroom and scrounge together something else for himself. Sorry, Ral!
Kale-Stuffed Portobello Mushroooms
Ingredients:
Two portobello mushroom caps
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 bunch of kale, cleaned and chopped
1/4 onion, diced
1/2 cup tomato sauce
salt and pepper
Mozzarella or some Italian blend of cheese for the top
Pre-heat the oven to 375 Farenheit.
Clean your portobello caps. I scrape the gills out of mine with a spoon. In a medium-sized pan, saute the onion over medium heat until it is slightly browned. Add the kale, and continue to cook until the kale is about half the volume it was before. Add the brown rice, tomato sauce, and season to taste.
Scoop the mixture into the caps, and top with shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned.
Here’s the mushroom pre-cheese:
Easy (and Healthy??!) Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies April 23, 2012
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in dessert, vegetarian.Tags: banana, banana chocolate chip cookies, cookies, dessert, food, recipe
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I have a problem. My sweet tooth is out of control! I’ve tried going cold-turkey with no sweets, which failed miserably. I’m doing better at cutting back, but I still eat way more than I used to before I had a baby. I was talking with a friend about this Saturday morning and told her “I really need to get into baking healthy sweets”—if I’m going to continue to chomp on cookies as often as I do, at least I could TRY to make them a little healthier.
An hour after we had this conversation, I passed a roadside booth that said “FREE WINDSHIELD CHIP REPAIR”—but my sugar-crazed mind read it as “FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES”—seriously!! I did a double-take.
So, with the goal of creating a tasty but not AS bad for you cookie, I googled around, and found a post on Cookie and Kate for banana chocolate chip cookies. Two of my favorite tastes in one snack! These came together really quickly and are delicious. They make a really soft, chewy cookie with a strong banana taste. With only 2 tablespoons of butter for an entire batch, they are definitely healthier than the cookies I’ve been making. Try em, you’ll like them!
Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Slightly adapted from Cookie and Kate)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour (can use whole wheat or all-purpose)
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Pre-heat the oven to 350 Farenheit.
Cream together the butter and sugars using a mixer. Add the egg, and then the banana. Add the vanilla. If you are using a stand mixer, keep it running on low as you gently mix in the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. If you are using a hand mixer, mix all of the dry ingredients together and then slowly add them to the wet ingredients, making sure they are thoroughly mixed before moving on to the last step, which is adding the chocolate chips. Add those chips, and then spoon the dough out in rounded teaspoons onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. The dough will spread a little as they cook, so try not to put the balls too close together. Bake for 10-11 minutes. Let them cool on the sheet for a few minutes, and then move them to a wire rack to continue cooling. Try not to eat all of them immediately!
Michigan Pasta (Orzo Salad with Blue Cheese, Cherries, and Almonds) March 4, 2012
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in uncategorized.1 comment so far
Most of the time, I cook meals that both Ryan and I will eat and enjoy. Sometimes, though, I come across recipes or want to try new things that I just know he won’t enjoy, and I use my weekend days when he’s working or weeknights when he’s at practice to make those meals. This is one of them. Ryan isn’t crazy about fruit all up in his savory meals, so I knew this would be one I’d be eating alone. It’s so good though! And it’s a perfect salad to make and pack up for a few lunches. I’m already excited to eat it tomorrow at work.
Ingredients
1 cup orzo, uncooked
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
1/3 cup dried cherries (or cranberries)
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup blue cheese or gorgonzola
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
salt + pepper to taste
Method
Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain and cool completely.
When the orzo is cooled, mix it up in a big bowl with the rest of the ingredients. This can be served at room temperature or chilled.
Kale, Carrot, and Tofu Curried Fried Rice February 7, 2012
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in dairy free, dinner, vegetarian.Tags: cooking, curry, kale, recipe, rice, vegetarian
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I love the Instagram app on my iPhone. I check it all the time to see and share pictures with friends (my user name is apilchak). 9 times out of 10, the pictures I share are of Emitt, but sometimes I throw a food picture in there, too. This month, I’m doing a “photo a day” challenge where every day you have to post a picture of some pre-determined subject matter. Last night’s subject was “dinner.” Easy enough. This is what I made, and posted, and a few people asked for the recipe, so I thought I’d put it up here!
This comes together really quickly if you have the rice pre-cooked. I usually cook the rice in the morning while I’m getting ready for work. That way, it’s pre-cooked and cooled (which is what you want when making fried rice) when I get home from work. Also, what makes this rice SUPER easy is using a bottled sauce, either curry or peanut. If you have the time and inclination to make your own curry or peanut sauce, it’d probably be even better, but I’m lacking in the time department these days. I usually use one of these:
The two curry sauces are from Trader Joe’s and the peanut sauce is my favorite bottled peanut sauce, the San-J brand. So now that you know my dirty secret (bottled sauce instead of fresh!), here’s how I made the rice.
Kale, Carrot, and Tofu Curried Fried Rice
(Printable Recipe)
Ingredients:
3 cups cooked and cooked brown rice
15 oz firm tofu
1 bunch kale, cleaned and chopped
3 medium carrots, shredded
A few shakes of soy sauce
2 t. golden mountain sauce (can use soy sauce if you don’t have golden mountain)
1/2 cup curry sauce (I’ve used the red and yellow curry sauces from TJs)
2 eggs
Sesame seeds, sriracha, etc to top
Method:
Dice the firm tofu into small cubes. Saute the cubes in olive oil in a large pan (I use my largest skillet for this) until golden, about 10 minutes. When the tofu is nice and crispy, add a few shakes of soy sauce to the pan to lightly coat the tofu.
Add the cleaned and chopped kale and shredded carrots (I grate mine with the box grater) to the pan with the tofu. Saute them together for 2 minutes or so, then add the rice. Stir fry everything together for 3-4 minutes, add the curry (or peanut) sauce and golden mountain (or soy) sauce. Continue cooking until everything is heated through and some of the rice grains get a nice crisp to them.
In a separate, small pan, scramble two eggs and throw the eggs in with the cooked rice in the large pan. Top with sesame seeds (I use black and white) and sriracha before serving.
Don’t Call It a Comeback: Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili February 6, 2012
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in dairy free, good for a group, quick meal, soup, vegan.Tags: chili, recipe, vegan, vegetarian
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Oh, hi. Long time no recipe. I almost don’t want to post this because it’s been SO long since I posted a recipe, and this is just a chili recipe. With an iPhone photo, taken of chili leftovers in the kitchen at my work. It’s not glamorous or exotic or even all that exciting, but it is good, and that’s what counts with food, isn’t it? I use this blog a lot as my own personal recipe collection, and even if it’s not the most exciting recipe in the world, it’s one I will want to make again, so I’m putting it here for safekeeping, and for sharing. Because you can never have enough chili recipes! I made this last night for three non-vegetarians and everyone devoured it. It’s a keeper for sure, and super easy, which is my main criteria for recipes these days. I was able to get it in the slow cooker in about 5 minutes time, and let it simmer there for the better part of the afternoon until it was time for dinner.
Next time, I’ll try to come back with something a little more interesting—but no promises!
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili
Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup frozen corn
½ small can tomato paste
1 small can diced green chiles
½ onion, chopped and sautéed
½ red pepper, chopped and sautéed
½ green pepper, chopped and sautéed
1 cup water
1.5 tablespoons chili powder
1.5 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tsp smokey salt
Method:
Saute your onion, red pepper, and green pepper in a little olive oil until tender. Throw everything in a slow cooker and simmer on low for at least 3-4 hours. Taste for spice level—as made, this is not a spicy chili but you could easily up the spice factor with some cayenne or hot sauce.
Topping suggestions: diced avocado, sour cream, tortilla strips, shredded cheese. The more, the better!
Veggie Pasta Salad with Peanut Soy Sauce August 19, 2011
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in dairy free, quick meal, vegan, vegetarian.add a comment
What’s this??!!? A new post! If you didn’t know, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy a little over a month ago. You can follow his adventures on Hey Emitt! if you so choose. Between caring for a newborn and following a new diet (I had to cut out dairy because it was giving Emitt all sorts of tummy trouble; you can read about it here), I have been really, really bad about cooking anything new. It’s been a little tough figuring out dinners that Ryan and I will both want to eat. For my part, I’ve been living mostly on cereal and almond milk, toast with peanut butter and jelly, hummus, granola bars (thanks to my friend Grace who made me a big batch of amazing granola bars!), vegan cookies (thanks to my sister-in-law and mother-in-law), pasta, quinoa, rice and beans, avocados, spinach salads, and fruit. I’m also a little addicted to this vegan ice cream and will probably buy out the stock at our local natural foods store.
Still, I feel like I’ve been mostly just getting by rather than really enjoying food lately. If I had more time, I would love to cook some delicious vegan meals and try new things out but until we get into more of a routine over here (or until Emitt can chill in his baby carrier for more than a few minutes), it’s mostly eat-what-you-can-grab, although we have slowly been making some better meals (pizza, polenta lasagna, and kale chickpea casserole all translate well to vegan form if you use a little Daiya cheese in place of the mozzarella in the original recipes) in both vegan and with-cheese options. I unearthed two small glass Pyrex mini casserole dishes in our cabinet this week that are perfect for making two small separate servings.
Until yesterday. My next-door neighbor brought by a container of freshly picked veggies from their family garden. A nice-sized cucumber, a few carrots, two green peppers (which went into fajitas!), and a bunch of super sweet cherry tomatoes. Every time I have a cucumber in the house, my first thought is to make sesame noodles. Every time. I love cold pasta with sesame sauce, and I wanted to make a variation on that using the rest of the veggies and some odds and ends I had in the house.
It turned out really well and gave me three nice meals to look forward to. I ate it when I first made it warm, and then ate it cold for lunch the next two days, and both ways were tasty. If I wasn’t watching what I was eating for Emitt, I would’ve dressed it up with some sriracha, but for the spice-intolerant, this was a good meal!
Veggie Pasta Salad with Peanut Soy Sauce
Ingredients:
8 oz dried pasta
1/4 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, whatever you like)
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup rice vinegar
1/8 cup hot water
1 tsp fresh ginger (optional)
A little sriracha (optional)
Vegetables: I used one cucumber, a few small carrots, some cherry tomatoes, and green onions. Improvise with what you have!
Method:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. While you are boiling the noodles, prepare the sauce and chop the veggies. To make the sauce, mix the peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot water, ginger, and sriracha until smooth. Chop up the veggies, and mix well with the sauce and cooked pasta.
Getting Fresh: Baked Kale Pasta with Chickpeas and Feta July 8, 2011
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in good for a group, vegetarian.Tags: kale, pasta
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My most recent column on Ferndale Patch went up a few weeks ago, and I forgot to post about it here! That is a travesty, because it includes the recipe for one of our favorite dinners, baked kale pasta with chickpeas and feta. This one has evolved over the past year or so. It started out with broccoli and breadcrumbs, but eventually we decided that the kale was better than broccoli, feta was a delicious addition, and the breadcrumbs could be left out. The recipe on Patch is the “perfected” version. I also originally made it with a big tablespoon of this allspice blend I brought back from Jamaica, but since that is long gone, I now make do with a mix of Penzey’s southwestern seasoning, smokey salt, and whatever other random spices look good to me.
Click on the link or photo above to be taken to the column and recipe on Patch. I promise it’s a good one!!
Best New Thing: Coconut La Croix July 6, 2011
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in products.Tags: la croix
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I found myself wandering the aisles at Target at 8am Sunday morning (really, what else should a restless, 40-week-pregnant person be doing at that time of day?) and came across a new discovery–La Croix coconut flavor! The coconut flavor is natural and subtle and just sweet enough. Further investigation has revealed that it is only being sold at Target right now. I had my first can last night and I am slightly obsessed…I feel like I could be pregnant for another 9 months now that I have found my new favorite drink! Just kidding!! I am sure it’s just as good as a mixer in a cocktail. I’ll find out soon enough.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars June 20, 2011
Posted by Angela @ Making Food for Friends in dessert, vegetarian.2 comments
I woke up early yesterday and had these cookie bars in the oven by 7am for our Father’s Day gathering later in the afternoon. As I get closer and closer to having this baby (about 2 weeks to go now), I have to believe that this “nesting” thing people talk about might really be true. Why else would I be up before dawn on a Sunday, and have baked cookie bars, emptied, organized, and restocked our kitchen cabinets, washed the basement floor, and done 3 loads of laundry all before 8am? Only a crazy or pregnant woman would consider that a “good” Sunday morning!
(By the way, if you are interested in following along as this baby is born & grows up, check out our new blog, Hey Emitt. Now, back to the recipe….)
These bars tasted like a delicious, soft chocolate chip cookie with a little something extra added to spice them up. The pretzels gave them a nice salty/sweet thing and the peanut butter chips, added at the last second, were a great idea. I’d make these again for sure, but only if I had somewhere to take them, because they are so good I’d probably eat half the pan if left alone with them for too long!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars
Adapted from Food & Wine magazine
(Printable Recipe)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 (6 ounces) sticks butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Half a bag (6 oz.) of chocolate chips
Half a bag (6 oz.) of peanut butter chips
1 1/2 cups mini pretzels, crumbled
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Butter a 9-by-13-inch pan.
Using a mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. On low, sprinkle the baking soda in, and then beat in the flour in half-cup increments, just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate and peanut butter chips and pretzel pieces.
Spread the batter evenly in the buttered pan. Press the batter down with a spatula. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown. The middle might be a little gooey but the bars will set up as they cool. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool completely before cutting.
Tuesdays with Angela: Making Food for Friends 