My Attempt to Embrace Winter

I’ll be honest, I really, really don’t like winter. I know that we are supposed to make the most with what each season gives but that is oh so hard when all I want to do is wear sweatpants and ten layers of sweaters and hibernate under a pile of blankets until daylight savings. I’ve been sleeping in a lot lately too, which is something I really don’t like. Generally my eyes enthusiastically burst open at the crack of dawn and by 6:30 I’ve showered and have a hearty breakfast in the works. Now it’s just a never-ending series of snooze-button pressings until the sheer embarrassment that I’m still in bed at 8:00 forces me into a wobbly standing position. Like I said, I really don’t like winter.

Over the weekend I went to the farmers market for the first time since mid-December. With memories of Christmas cheer, the hustle and the bustle to stock up on handmade crafts and Brussels sprouts stalks for the holiday table, I set out in the hopes of perhaps snagging some winter greens ore maybe even some pretty purple cauliflower. However, I arrived and saw almost nothing but mounds of potatoes and turnips. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with those items but at this point in winter, I am getting just a wee bit sick of potatoes. At this point, I just want a little freshness. 

Even the tiniest of hints.

I’m not asking for a sun-ripened tomato here, just something to let me know that the sun will be back around soon.

Please.

So after a miniature sulking session I decided that I would not give up. I would embrace winter, work alongside and maybe, just maybe, we could get through this thing together. With a little stroke of inspiration I scrounged up a hodgepodge of ingredients and concocted a winter salad that was able to bring some life back to my palette.

It’s a menagerie of root veg, oranges, salty olives, crunchy celery, and rich avocado, tossed atop a bed of quinoa and dressed with refreshing citrus vinaigrette. It’s invigorating in flavor the way the saltiness and sweetness seem to complement each other so well. You eat it thinking that it’s almost so wrong that it is totally and completely right. Olives and oranges? How would that work…trust me, it does.

If anything, this salad can at least bring a little brightness to the day just from its sheer autumnal and jewel toned hues: deep burgundy contrasted by the neon orange of the tangelo and rounded out with the limey pop of green from the avocado. Finally, a flurry of white goat’s cheese like a dusting of snow finished it off. This would be just as great on regular quinoa but the red quinoa seemed to enhance the “winter salad” feel. It comes together in as long as it takes to cook the quinoa and certainly is a nice break from all those potatoes.

Winter Quinoa Salad

serves 2-4

A few notes on the ingredients…as much as I would like to say that I roasted my own beets, I was too lazy. Plus, the ones at the grocery store looked a little sad. Instead I used these organic vacuum-sealed beets and actually found their flavor to be quite comparable to fresh. Good to know. I also used Minneola tangelos for their tart grapefruity flavor but navel oranges or even blood oranges would be fine. Finally, if you want to make this ahead of time, toss the quinoa, beets, oranges, olives, and celery with the vinaigrette and refrigerate and wait until serving to top with the avocado and goat cheese. It tastes best at room temperature.

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
5 baby beets, sliced (if you are cooking fresh beets here are cooking instructions)
2 Minneola tangelo oranges, zested, segmented, and juices reserved
¼ cup kalamata olives, quartered
1 rib celery, diced
½ avocado, diced
goat cheese crumbles, to serve

for vinaigrette
¼ cup fresh orange juice, reserved from oranges
¼ tsp orange zest
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Prepare the quinoa according to the package instructions. While that is cooking, prepare the beets, oranges, olives, celery, avocado, and goat cheese and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients and whisk until combined.

When the quinoa is finished, pour it into a bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes to cool some. Add about ¾ of the dressing ad toss to combine. Add the beets, orange segments, olives and celery and mix. Spoon into serving bowls and top with the avocado and the goat cheese and a drizzle of the remaining dressing.

A Soup for the Seemingly Incurably Sick

The past week, starting around last Sunday, was a long, long, long week. The longest I can remember. And even though the days passed in a stressful frenzy, the week as a whole dragged as if ten seconds were tacked onto every single one. The main reason: it was the first week of my last semester in college so the aptly named “syllabus week” was destined to be a bit of a bore. Along with that, it is the week where you have to face the fact that there will be no rest for quite a few months (the syllabi give me friendly reminder of the vast readings, papers, presentations, and projects looming in the distance). And finally, just my luck, I ended up with a doozy of a cold starting on day one so all of my professors most likely got a lovely first impression of me as “that lazy student who looks half-drugged, sounds like a duck when she talks, and will probably only come to a handful of classes”. Oh but I will prove then wrong now that I no longer feel like my brain is nothing more that a pile of slightly jellified oatmeal.

It was one of those colds that seems to take its sweet ole time moving along. Honestly, if I’m to get sick, I just want it to hit me. BAM! Just like that. First I’m healthy, then I’m sick, and by day two I’m already on the road to recovery. This cold was one where, a week into thing, you wake up, praying it will finally be the day where you hit the downhill slope, only to realize that the symptoms are just ever so slightly worse. It lingers for weeks after, providing just enough of a cough and nasal drippage that people think you’re nastily sick when, in reality, it’s been weeks since you were contagious.

Yes, this was one of those colds. It has drained my entire body, physically and mentally, and to be honest my desire to cook has been quite minimal. And when everything tasted like cardboard anyway, what was the point in making something good. Yet, finally, I am just now able to start tasting my food. I’ve been yearning for a hint of flavor, something to awaken my tastebuds, and I really found something to kick start my renewed sense. This is something along the lines of a southwestern style potato soup. It vegetarian, virtually fat-free, but it is tremendous in flavor, hearty and creamy in texture, and packs a huge punch of heat. Half a jalapeno and a good bit of cayenne add a hidden kick while a surprising addition of molasses rounds it out with a deep, sweetness. After only a few bites, my sinuses were amazingly clearer than I remember them being in a while. Best yet, once I was finished peeling and dicing, the whole thing came together in twenty minutes of largely idle time. I took a bite and was simply just in shock that something with so many levels of flavor was so simple.

At a time when I thought that this cold would never end, this soup came along to knock enough sense and energy into me to remind me that these things do pass. Here’s to a more successful second week…and three more days of leftover soup. 

Southwest Potato Soup
serves 4-6
adapted from The Wednesday Chef

I strayed a little from the original recipe. I used a mixture of red and sweet potatoes, rather than just sweet, added the beans for a little heft, and pureed, only half of the soup to leave some potato chunkiness. I bought a little baguette to go on the side but in hindsight I now wish I had bought a large bag of tortilla chips and used them as a spoon equivalent. Therefore I may just have to buy a bag of chips tomorrow.

Ingredients
olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ jalapeno, finely diced
2½ pounds of a mix of red potatoes and sweet potatoes, peeled and cud into ¾ inch cubes
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1-14 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbs. molasses
¼ tsp. cayenne
a pinch of cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
to serve: a spoonful of plain yogurt, diced avocado, and tortilla chips

In a soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and jalapeno and sauté for about 3 minutes until soft. Add the potatoes and the stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 13-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Remove from heat.

Transfer half of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return the puree to the pot and return the pot to the heat. Add the corn, beans, molasses, cayenne, cinnamon, salt, and pepper, and return to a light boil until reheated through.

Serve in a bowl with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream, some diced pieces of avocado, perhaps some diced tomatoes or cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips on the side for scooping up the soup.

Pumpkin Polenta

In my defense, I made this creamy, starchy, and comforting delight back in the days of 2011, before the New Year health kick charged in for its month-long (maybe two) appearance. However, in my admittance I had Chipotle, movie theatre popcorn, and chocolate covered toffee for lunch yesterday so I remain, as your first impression of this post led you to believe, guilty as charged.

This polenta is just something I could not pass up. I looked so inviting on this blog, bright orange from a hefty dose of pumpkin (and you know how much I love my pumpkin and orange foods), its flavored heightened with a touch of paprika, cayenne, and nutmeg. It’s sprinkled with a handful or two of aged cheddar cheese, and intensified with a scattering of pork.

The swelled grains of cornmeal, turned into indulgent creaminess by the mere activations of its starches, serves at a perfect nest for spicy chorizo meatballs, dark and crusted on the outside. It slid slowly into the stomach leaving a hot path along the esophagus and sat like warm steamy bath in my stomach. Its something you eat on a biting cold night. It’s also great for people who are a little upset. It has that calming tendency yet rejuvenation from the gentle heat that kicks in a while after the initial taste.

I know you are probably researching salad recipes right now and other low-carb, lean-protein, veg-rich dishes. I saw the health craze every year when I headed back to college: the salad bar line was a little longer than normal, the gyms looked like a war zone after an epic battle for the elliptical machine, and every girl dresses as if she is ready to work out at the drop of a hat (oh wait, they do that year-round). But I ask you to still consider a little polenta indulgence. In fact, the more I think about it, the actual polenta part of this recipe (meatballs aside) is really not to bad in the health department. It has plenty of protein on its own and is crammed with calcium and beta rich pumpkin. Plus, with all of the add-ins and flavorings, you end up with something quite a bit more advanced than your standard polenta. Pair it with a succulent sauté of mushrooms and dark kale and I think you can end you day relatively guilt free yet filled with warming and rich food.

Pumpkin Polenta

serves 4 as a main
adapted slightly from Evil Shenanigans

I’m not including the meatball recipe because it is simply ground chorizo mixed with a little onion and breadcrumbs, formed into meatballs and cooked in a frying pan until done. And it’s really more of a suggestion. You could also sprinkle over some bacon or like I said, some sautéed leafy greens or even some warmed black beans. This also reheats nicely.*

Ingredients
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. butter
½ onion, finely chopped
1 garlic glove, minced
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. paprika
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 can pumpkin puree
1 cup milk
3 cups good-quality chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup polenta
¾-1 cup shredded aged cheddar cheese
2 Tbs. cream cheese

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a Dutch oven or an ovenproof pot with a lid, heat the oil and butter over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, cayenne, paprika, salt, and nutmeg. Stir and continue to cook for another minute. Add the pumpkin puree and mix to combine. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until the pumpkin is slightly toasted.

Whisk in the milk and the broth, breaking any lumps in the pumpkin mixture, until smooth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and slowly pour in the polenta, whisking constantly. Once added, give the mixture a final stir, cover with the lid and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Stir every ten minutes, adding more broth, milk, or water if it starts to look dry.

Meanwhile, cook any additions you plan to eat with your polenta, whether it be chorizo meatballs, bacon, or vegetable/beans.

When the polenta is finished cooking, remove from the oven and add the grated cheese and the cream cheese. Stir until completely combined and add any more liquids if necessary until you reach you desired consistency. Serve immediately.

*Pour any excess into a glass or ceramic dish, spread even, and refrigerate. To prepare leftovers, you can cut the set polenta into wedges and pan-fry them or mash a portion of it in a bowl into fine crumbles, add some water and/or milk and microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring vigorously every 30 seconds, until creamy and hot.