Kale and Avocado Salad

I love kale. I've been eating it pretty much every night. My prediction is that I live forever. I think that's realistic.

I found a simple raw kale recipe on Pinterest, that called for cleaning the kale by holding the stem in your dominant hand, and pulling off the leaves with your non-dominant hand. It uses just enough force this way. (Why did I ever doubt? It was ON PINTEREST.) I was the kale (which is often sandy) in my salad spinner. And then I spin it! Spin it! Spin it!

The recipe I found called for sprinkling the kale with vinegar next, and that works well... But I found that I like to use the juice of a lime. Then squish a ripe avocado on it, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Then you rub it. Massage that kale. (I envisioned this step taking longer than it actually does, rubbing avocado into each individual leaf, and having to answer the kids, "What do you want? I'm massaging the kale!" But squishing it all together actually takes about a minute.) Keep squishing it all in your hands for a moment until all the kale is covered. The avocado becomes the fat in the dressing.

I like it on its own, or mixed in with romaine or other mixed greens. I've also put nuts and dried fruit in it, or put blackened tofu on top, as in the above picture. Great on its own, or because of the avocado and lime, it's also great on tacos.

Lasts two or three days in the fridge, dressed. Once a week on my produce run, I buy two heads of kale, and one ripe, and one under-ripe avocado. That way, I can make it twice a week with only one trip to the store (I told you I love kale!)

Buffalo Things

Get that? Instead of wings: "THINGS." I also almost called this post, "Buffalo Shoe Tongues," because I'm pretty sure you could cover chewy, smelly, shoe parts (borrowed from any hobo) with buffalo sauce, dip them in ranch dressing and serve them with celery and they would be irresistible. This is, however, a very good recipe, despite the fact that it seems anything under that sauce would taste good. (Or, I suppose I could have called them Buffalo'd cauliflower, which is what they are.)

I went to see the bro recently, and he took me to an eatery heretofore unknownst to me: the Veggie Grill. I hear it is growing quickly, springing up new franchises throughout California. Well, it ain't growing quickly enough, because I'm gonna dream about it until I'm in LA again.

The Veggie Grill doesn't use any animal products at all - no dairy, meat or eggs. And while I really enjoyed their "comfort" food or fast-food-style items, they are also maximizing nutrition in a lot of items (not just a straight, "hey, fries are vegan!" approach). The first time we went, two of us ordered the "All Hail Kale" salad, with "Blackened Chickin'." It was DELICIOUS. And the one in front, btw, is a lunch portion! I usually eat my kale cooked, but these dressed greens really inspired me to eat more raw kale.

Oh, and a side of mac and cheese, just because hey, I had a race the next day, so why not?

This first visit is also where I discovered their Buffalo Chickin' Wings. I discovered them on my brother's plate. I discovered most of them, and only left him a few. These really unglued all of us. I've been thinking about them since.

David also had the "All-American Stack," which he said he really liked.

We took home two pieces of the carrot cake, which I discovered was great with a glass of soy milk. I also discovered half of my brother's carrot cake as well. (Seriously, I love that guy.)

I loved this place so much that we went back the next day! This time, I had the "Baja Fiesta" salad. It was great... But I found myself wishing it were made with kale. Believe me, I've never said those words before, either.

This time, I got my own order of the "Buffalo Chickin' Wings." I think I may have shared. No, I'm pretty sure I didn't.

David went full-force, and made an entree out of two orders of the wings. You go, boy!

So, what's the damage? I looked at their newly-posted calorie counts, and sure, some of the dessert or "splurge" items can be up in the 400-500 calorie range (although most of the menu is lower). But seriously? I don't think they compare with the counts at most fast food places, and the nutrition is much denser. For contrast, I took a picture of the calorie counts at the snack bar of a local movie theater we went to:

Wow, movie theater, 1390 calories for nachos? As my husband loves to quote from the movie "Spinal Tap": "Yeah, too MUCH fak-king pehspective."

Anyway, what is a girl to do about this buffalo craving she came home with? I found this recipe from "Food Fanatics" on facebook (partially reprinted), and I made some changes to just about every line, which are reflected in the following places as noted:

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

For the batter:
Dash of Frank’s Buffalo Sauce (originally Original Hot Sauce)
1 c. white rice flour (originally 1/2 cup)
1 c. BEER (originally 1/2 cup water)
Pinch salt

For the Buffalo sauce:
1/2 c. - 1 cup Frank’s Buffalo sauce (this is double or triple the original)
1/4-1/2 c. vegan butter, melted (originally 1/4 cup canola oil)
Pinch salt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together the batter ingredients in a small bowl. Dip the cauliflower in the batter until coated evenly then place on greased baking sheet (I just tossed the cauliflower florets in the batter). Bake for about 15 minutes or until the batter hardens. (I flipped them once, and ended up with about 20 minutes.)

Mix together sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Once the cauliflower are done baking, brush them with the hot sauce mixture (I tossed them in the sauce in a bowl, restaurant-style) and they have you baking again. (I just tossed the baked cauliflower in sauce and got to eating.)

I served these with my very own Vegan Ranch, which I must say is pretty fantastic. The recipe works very well - the cauliflower doesn't stick to the sprayed foil, and it cooks through. Best oven-battered anything I've had, I think!

Mushroom Lentil Loaf

I wanted to try my hand at a veggie "meat" loaf... I do love a hearty loaf, and I love the leftovers on a sandwich. I ran across this recipe, and since I love mushrooms, too, I started there. (Vegan dishes need that umami for deeper flavor, and I figured this one would be loaded with it.)

Of course I substituted the eggs for vegan chia "eggs," and the parmesan for "parmezano sprinkles," which I make up in large batches (I use raw cashews, however). Still, I found that while this loaf came out of the oven in loaf form and had great flavor, it was much too crumbly and fell apart. I made some adjustments, and came up with the following recipe - which includes cooked lentils, breadcrumb, and lots of (chia) binder to hold the whole thing together. I also squeezed out the mushrooms and the green veggies after cooking - the veggies stay juicy but don't add extra water). I was really happy with the results.

I recommend doing some of this ahead of time to ease the prep - the peppers can be roasted the day before, and the mushrooms cooked down and refrigerated. I also use my food processor on "pulse" to do all the chopping. I do them all separately, and add them to the mixing bowl as I go.

 Mushroom Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:

• 32 oz. white mushrooms, cleaned, chopped semi-fine
• 3/4 cup nuts (cashews or walnuts work the best) pulsed small but not too fine
• 2 blackened green peppers, peeled, patted dry and chopped semi-fine  (see link for prep - I use a plastic bag to steam them before rinsing and peeling)
• About 1 1/2 cups green beans, asparagus, cooked down spinach, or any combination thereof, squeezed in a clean tea towel after cooling and pulsed semi-fine - I use frozen veggies and just microwave them
• Binder - about 1/2 cup chia or flax powder, added to 2 cups water, whisked, and refrigerated for 15 minutes or more (this is your "egg")
• About 1-2 cups cooked lentils - I followed the instructions and cooked a whole bag, putting the leftovers in the fridge - I'll tell you what I did with the leftovers later
• About 1/4 cup Parmezano Sprinkles
• Seasoning to taste - you can taste a vegan meatloaf mix as you go! I added salt and pepper, cumin, thyme, marjoram, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and dry mustard (about a 1/2 teaspoon of each)
• 2 Tblesp. BBQ sauce
• 2 Tblesp. ketchup
• About 1-2 cups panko breadcrumb, seasoned or otherwise

Topping:

• About 1 cup ketchup
• about 1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
• about 1/2 cup brown sugar

So after you've given everything a good squeeze in a clean tea towel, pulsed it into the food processor and combined it, it's time to use your noodle. It's a "feel" thing. I leave the breadcrumb until last - then I add it until I feel the mixture is pasty, with enough body to be a little on the stiffer side. Your mixture shouldn't be soupy, and it shouldn't be so dry that you can construct a massive Devil's Tower out of it. Clear enough? You can mess quite a bit with the proportions, but try to make sure that the base is still mostly mushroom mix. This is what keeps it juicy, and less like a dense loaf of bread with ketchup on it, and more like an entrée.

I like to line my pan with aluminum foil, with some sticking out the sides to form handles to pull it out with after it has cooled. Then I spray the lining with nonstick spray.

Mix the topping in a separate bowl, and glaze that sucker. Next time I make this, I'm thinking of doing it in individual muffin tins, just to increase the surface area that will accept glaze. It's all about the glaze.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for about an hour. If the top gets too brown, cover with more foil (mine doesn't). Shown here with purple cabbage...

Let it cool just a bit, then lift out with your foil handles, and unwrap fully.

Slice.

I like to put more ketchup on mine, because that's just how I do.

Great the next day, with, or course, more ketchup on a sandwich. Stay tuned for leftover lentil ideas.

Chicken and Sweet Potato Soup

This was a simple and hearty recipe from Clean Eating magazine, which is my current favorite source for recipes, along with Cooking Light. I do think Cooking Light tends to be a bit more reasonable, in terms of not going off the deep end eliminating every bit of sugar and salt. The idea of "clean eating" is to reduce or eliminate processed carbohydrates and refined sugar, and focusing on sweeteners with a low glycemic index. I have been eating this way for some time, and I didn't realize that the method had a name. I was thrilled to see a magazine all about a movement that I didn't even know existed, except in my house.

Most of the ingredients are "whole foods" - as close to their original form as possible. I don't tend to take things as far as they do - if a recipe calls for a teaspoon of Sucanat, well... I'm gonna grab the sugar, or a little honey. The fact that it is low-sugar is good enough for me. I've also found that most of their recipes really lack seasoning. I sometimes add more cumin, coriander, whatever I think might work, and I NEVER pay attention to how much salt and pepper they call for. I just taste it and add until I'm happy. I do like that they have a lot of meat recipes, for when I want that.

This is a not-great picture of their sweet potato, kale, mushroom and chicken soup. The recipe isn't on their site yet, but basically you bring chicken stock to a boil, then bring down to a simmer, and peeled and cubed sweet potatoes, wait ten minutes, then add cubed chicken, chopped kale, and baby bello mushrooms, and cook until all are tender. Serve with parmesan cheese on top, and a pinch of nutmeg. I would say I liked it, but it didn't re-heat as well as I'd expect a soup to (I think some of them get better with time). Very hearty and healthy, though.

Chicken Meatball Pasta

Grilled veggie and chicken meatball pasta... hope the kids will eat it!

Tweaking the Pizza on the Grill

Okay, I'm getting really good at this, and I have to make some notes on what I've been doing: 425 degrees on the stone for 6.5 minutes. Instant polenta underneath for motion... You need some corn meal to slide the pizza off the peel, and onto the pre-heated stone on the grill. I've used stone-ground coarse corn meal, and it's like eating a pizza that's been dropped onto gravel. The instant polenta still has the ball-bearing effect, doesn't burn (like breadcrumb does), and isn't crunchy.

I used Trader Joe's whole-wheat pizza dough. I keep a bunch in the freezer and thaw them on the counter in the bag. The dough ball HAS to be room temperature, and if it is wet and tacky, it has to be well-floured all around before stretching. Then the peel has to be floured, and then a light coating of corn meal spread on. I build the pizza right on the peel. Don't wait too long - it will begin to stick, so get it on the grill.

This temperature is perfect. The dough will cook and rise before the bottom blackens. I check it at about 6 minutes. My grill has a thermometer on the hood. Not as hot: dough doesn't cook. Too hot: blackened crust.

This pizza is topped with mushroom sauce, and leftover sauteed spinach that I had cooked with garlic and onions. The cheese is a shredded mix, with parmesan and Italian herb seasoning added (gives it that pizza flavor). Lastly, I added basil from the garden after cooking.

Smoky Greens and Beans

"Soul Fazzole" remix! In the past, I've used leftover collard greens to make a soup, naming it this because it's a bit like pasta fagioli, but with collards and smoky meat. This time, I started from the beginning and made one or two additions. It's a great way to get rid of a couple hot dogs, or a little bacon, ham or whatever you got. ***

1 bunch collard greens
1 red onion (regular will do)
2 or 3 turkey hot dogs, small diced, or 4 strips turkey bacon
32 oz. chicken stock
64 oz. water
1/2 pound large rigatoni noodles
1 15 oz. can white beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Add the diced onion to a dutch oven or other pot with a little oil. When softened, add diced meat and brown a minute or two. Add large diced, washed and drained collard greens and a splash of the stock. Cover, let soften and cook down, stirring occasionally. When reduced, add 1 container good stock, and about twice that amount of water. Bring to a boil, add pasta and beans, and cook until al dente. Add BBQ sauce, taste, and season. This dish is good for you, and costs pennies per serving. And even the picky child loved it.

*** I'm not a hot dog advocate in general. Though I'll admit I love the way a good hot dog tastes, this is not a regular menu item around our house (despite the fact that I powered down God knows how many during my pregnancies). However, thanks to Mickey Mouse and his goddamn "hot dog dance," and a certain Mo Willems pigeon, the elder child was asking for hot dogs non-stop (having never had one). Fool that I am, thinking she would actually try one, I stood in our grocery store for 20 minutes reading hot dog labels. Most of them, including the veggie dogs, are filled with horrible things even BEYOND whatever it is they do to the meat (liquid smoke, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates etc.) I finally settled on some turkey dogs that had none of the "ates" in them. Naturally, she wouldn't eat them. Hence, the need to use them somewhere. They actually added a nice smoked flavor to this dish. You could use anything with a smoked flavor that you have lying about, even smoked sliced turkey.

Chinese Cabbage, Help Me Into These Pants

So, I'm six months out from my second baby. As with the first time, after the nausea subsided, I wanted a variety of greasy meats. Here's a glimpse of the type of thing I craved during my pregnancy! Hopefully, you can keep your breakfast down.

Since you probably can't tell, that's Jaenicke's hot dog chili (from my frozen stash, since they're 2 hours away and only open in summer) on pasta,  and Cheez Whiz. And a salad. You know, for the baby. Not impressed? Okay, how about a little fire, Scarecrow?

I also made the chili into a pizza. Oh yeah, and of course, chili dogs, because I didn't need to be creative all the time, I just needed to cram it into my gigundic maw.

I couldn't even wait to take the picture for that one.

Anyway, here's the pasta remix:

I cut the extra-firm tofu in half lengthwise, wrapped it in paper towels, and pressed it under a heavy pot for over an hour. Then I cubed it, tossed it in corn starch, and fried it very lightly in just a tiny bit of oil. When it was done, I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Then I set it aside, and sautéed mixed mushrooms (with shiitake and oyster, but you can use regular), and cubed Chinese cabbage (bok choy). I seasoned it with a tiny bit of salt, pepper, and a LITTLE Chinese five spice blend. Then I tossed it in a whisked mixture of about a tablespoon of Hoisin sauce, a little rice wine vinegar, and about a half cup of chicken broth. I served it over buckwheat soba noodles and added the tofu back in. I have a little less than 8 pounds still to lose, and then I'm buying all new underwear for myself as my reward. I will let everyone know when I get there by announcing on facebook, "IT IS UNDERWEAR DAY AT LAST."

Oh, what the hell. Here's one more photo of Jewel's chicken fingers, cheese sticks, and various full-fat dipping sauces. Time to say, "Bon voya-gee, Sam and Stella!"

Acorn Squash

Dad used to make acorn squash now and again, and it was always like getting dessert for dinner. He slathered it with all kinds of butter, salt, cinammon, and a handful of brown sugar. Everyone got their own half to scoop out with a spoon.



Chris and I found some acorn squash at one of this year's last farmer's markets. I was going to pass them up, because I thought that the last time I made them, he wasn't so crazy about them. But he said, "Hey, do those again! I loved them!" Oh! Okay!

I just cut them in half, dotted a little I Can't Believe It's Not Fabio on each one, and brown sugar, salt and pepper. I got a little fancy with the spices, but afterward I wished I had just done a little cinnamon. Keep it simple. Oh, and also I think they are better when covered: about 400 degrees for 40 minutes, or until soft when pierced.



I served each one (1/4 is actually a big serving) with the shepherd's pie I had cooked right out of the freezer. (Which, by the way, came out very well: 350-375 degrees for about 1.25 hours or until the very middle is warm).

Baba Ghanoush

Baba ghanoush is an Arabic dip made from eggplant that I'm thinking most of us have had by now. Don't worry if you can't pronounce it. Just make it, and eat it.



I've purchased baba ghanoush in a can that was, believe it or not, fairly decent. But it is so inexpensive to make, like, a metric ton of it. Like dude: a TON. Anyway, I froze several containers of it for later. I'll let you know how that goes.

Ingredients:

4 eggplants
olive oil
lemon juice
3 or 4 garlic cloves
beans or tofu
salt and pepper

Here's how you do it: I use a simple 4/40/400 rule: put four eggplants on a cookie sheet with foil for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Turn them over once halfway through cooking. Let them cool. Then peel the skin off and put the "meat" into a food processor with three or four cloves of garlic (yes, this plan of mine will yield a strong garlic flavor. If you want less, use less, but honestly just thinking about that makes me a little sad). Use salt (plenty, keep tasting) and pepper and a little something to thicken the mix: I use either a rinsed can of white beans, chickpeas, or about 3/4 cup of tofu (whatever you have). Then I add lemon juice, and I use the concentrated stuff if I don't have fresh ones on hand.

Blend it all up, and while it is whirring, drizzle in about a quarter cup of olive oil. Serve it with chips or pita, and drizzle it with more olive oil and some paprika. So, so good, and good for you (unless you have a date or a job interview). My friend Lynn recently made me aware of "sale produce" at our local Italian grocery, where they sell produce in big bundles that has only a day or two left. So I made this quadruple batch for about $1.29. What a thrill!

Battle Potato

My good (well, she's "great," actually) friend Ann has a sister who is battling MS. Every year Ann joins in the fight against the disease by captaining a team for the MS Walk (to hear Ann and her sister Maggie's story or to make a donation at any time, go here.) As a "thank you" to her friends and donors, she threw a party this year and called it "Battle Potato," in the style of Iron Chef on the Food Network. In case you're the last person on the planet not to see the show, everyone was to bring a dish with potato as an ingredient. Then the guests vote on their favorite, and the winner jumps on his or her cutting board, and shouts "IN YOUR FACE. FOR MS RESEARCH" at all the other guests, while brandishing a butcher knife. And now (it must be said), "Allez cuisine!"

Ann decorated the place all purty with potato centerpieces.



The guests who cooked were given numbered cards to place by their dishes, for the vote later on.



One gi-normous nerd brought a title card for her dish, and pinned her number to the card with an Idaho potato button that she just happened to have brought. Who's the geek?



My card reads, "Twice-baked ranch potatoes with scratch chicken BBQ." Poor Ann had other guests asking her, "where's my title card?" And she had to keep saying, "Uh, she made that." Well, you know what? You could have made your own, too. Don't hate the player.

There were more dishes than I imagined would be there. Curry salad, egg pie, thai dishes, and au gratin. I began to sweat. And eat. Eat and sweat.



I really, really enjoyed the food. When I saw the potato desserts, I knew it was over. There were chocolate-dipped chips, and cream-cheese frosted potato spice cake. There were DOUGHNUTS. How do you compete with that? Might as well just fill my plate.



Some folks got in a time-crunch, and were still courteous enough to go and get what people really like, and then arrange it artfully on a plate. Thanks Abby! Truthfully, I probably had more of the fries than anything else... So now I was contending with food science. You can't argue with years of testing for aroma and "mouth feel."



Or, have some red wine.



Then, form a totem pole, because it mocks both ancient Native American customs as well as your own ridiculously short stature. Everyone wins!



After eating, we all were to vote once for "Best Tasting," and once for "Most Creative." Ann had potato-shaped ballots to write the numbers on, and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head receptacles to put them in. Aw, shmoosh.



And when the votes were tallied, my friends Anna and Adam won for "Most Creative" for their chocolate-dipped chips, and I won for "Best Tasting." Yay! I think it is POSSIBLE that some people pitied the sad girl who made the title card... Or as Jason ribbed me (who baked the cake at #6), he was pretty sure some of his votes got construed as my #9. Also possible. But Jeff said, "I counted those votes. I know my sixes from my nines." What's an election without controversy?

My prize was a colander, filled with everything needed to make a pasta dinner. Which is crazy, because that's exactly what I gave Ann as a wedding gift about a decade ago, only with a double-boiler instead of the colander. So now, I'm pretty sure I owe her a wedding gift. Still, I'm stoked because I can really use that colander!



I can't wait until this party goes again next year. And if I win again, I'll try to be more careful brandishing that butcher knife. (Sorry honey - but you were already missing most of your hair anyway, right?) Thanks for the party, Ann. It was awesome.

Here's my recipe for the potatoes, only this time, I added Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix to the potato mixture. I also refrigerated the baked potatoes overnight in their foil, and they were a lot easier to scoop out the next day.

Black Bean Hotcakes

Y'all ready for this? (Nah nah nah neh-neh-neh...) This is something strange that I came up with when Emeril failed me one too many times. I've been using this recipe for close to ten years now, since I was a vegetarian and that was a LONG time ago. Or at least it seems like it. Well, it has a high rating on the website, which kind of shocks me, because I don't think it works too well. It is basically beans and flour, with seasoning and some other ingredients to flavor them. It sure is tasty and filling - but they soak up a LOT of oil, and I'm never quite sure when they are done frying. They just don't crisp up like I want them to. Ever. I've tried very high heat, more oil, less oil... But I've not gotten the result that I think I'm supposed to.

Mainly, I've always wanted them to lift a little. They're so dense and heavy... So I looked up a recipe for pancake batter, and mixed that into the beans. I seasoned them well, and added garlic, cilantro and onion to the mix. Voilà! A black bean cake hybrid that is a bit lighter, less dense, and I could tell just when they were done (flip them when the bubbles come up, just like a pancake).



Black Bean Hotcakes:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 red onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, diced fine
2 Tblesp. cilantro, cleaned and diced fine
1/2 jalapeño diced very fine
2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred with a whisk or sifted before measuring
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
good shake (2 teaspoons or so) salt
liberal dusting of mexican seasoning

Take half of the beans and half of the milk, and purée them in the food processor. Then return them to a bowl and mix the rest of the ingredients together. (Check my lists below: you can dice all of the onion, garlic and cilantro that you'll need for the guac at the same time.) Then drop them as you would pancake batter, about a 1/4 cup at a time in a hot pan. Turn them as you would pancakes.



It's all about the condiments with me, as usual. So top the cakes with lime cream and guacamole, and fresh salsa or your favorite from a jar.

Lime Cream (my version):
1 cup light sour cream
juice 1 lime
2 Tblesp. sugar

Guacamole:
2-3 avocados, diced
juice 1 lime
1/4 red onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, diced fine
1/2 jalapeño diced very fine
1 Tblesp. cilantro, cleaned and diced
salt & pepper to taste



These reheat very easily (just keep the toppings separate. And if you put enough lime juice in your guac, it will keep in the fridge for a day or two without browning.) I don't think Chris quite wrapped his head around the whole "savory pancake" concept, but he loves the sweet stuff. But I think these are a filling, tasty veggie dish, and might be good with leftover bacon or ham in them, too - if you've fallen off the veggie wagon, as I did!

Artichoke Cream Pasta

Chris recently brought a regular sale to my notice through Amazon.com. You can get subscriptions to lots of magazines, many times, for $6-$10 for the whole year (or sometimes two years.) I treated myself recently to a dirt-cheap subscription to Cooking Light. I really like it. I've read many foodie periodicals over the years, starting with my father's old addiction to Gourmet magazine. Cooking Light is one part lifestyle mag (like Gourmet), and the second half has most of the recipes. I've already tried several, and they've all turned out well.

This one is an artichoke, lemon zest and pea pasta that is based on a recipe that they had. Of course I took my usual cursory look at the recipe, but I put onion and garlic in a liberal amount of oil first. Then I added drained and rinsed artichoke hearts, and peas, a little white wine and the zest of a whole lemon. Then I seasoned the mix. Lastly, you add cooked pasta and about a half-cup of ricotta cheese, and just stir until mixed.



It was good, but I must say, I have never eaten a dish that so BEGGED for bacon. I think if I had started the mix with a little diced pancetta, it would have been so much better. As it was, it tasted a little flat. Either that, or leave out the ricotta, and I think the zippier flavors (like the lemon) may have come through more. Quick way to make a cream pasta, though!

Easy Galumpki Bake

Recently, I was at my friend Beata's baby shower. She and her husband are Polish, and they had lots of Polish friends, who brought quite a bit of Polish food. And when I say, "they brought quite a bit," I mean in the way that Sitting Bull brought quite a bit of Cheyenne to a small party with Custer. It was astounding. After we all ate our fill, Beata announced, "And now, we eat dinner!" Holy crap. That's when the meat really came out. Dear lord, the meat! If meat makes for a healthy baby (and I think I'm a testament to that), then this kid is gonna be Herculean.

One of the many tasty, meaty items was galumpki, which I think most people have had at one time or another. They're also called cabbage rolls, and that's just what they are: rolled cabbage leaves with rice and pork in the center, and tomato sauce on top. All through my childhood, my father made them, and mistakenly called them "pigs in a blanket," which they are not.

They're great, but not so easy to make. The cabbage leaves have to be blanched, and the rice pre-cooked, and then of course there's all the rolling. I made a sort of "deconstructed" galumpki in the slow cooker, which is also a bit healthier because it uses turkey. It tastes great (much like the original), and utilizes a much simpler "open package, dump contents" sort of technique.



Ingredients:
1 carrot, peeled and broken up
1 celery stick with leaves
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
(if you made the Turkey Chili Mac, then you already have these in your fridge)
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1 bag of cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
1 lb. ground turkey
1 cup water
1 29 oz. can tomato sauce (puree)
salt and pepper

In layers, place half the bag of cabbage mix, then half the mix of the first four veggies, which you've pulsed to a fine chop in the food processor. Add half the rice, then tear half the turkey up into chunks to complete the first layer. Make sure you season the meat. Then repeat each layer once more, and season again. Add the sauce to the top, and the water. Cook on low for six to eight hours.



Serve with crusty bread, with parmesan cheese on top. Mm!