Dinner before 10:00 p.m.

This is the first summer in several that I have planted a garden.  I like to think I have a green thumb, in fact, gardening is my genes.  Both of my great grandfathers were spectacular gardeners.  The Judge and my mom attempted their hand at 'farming' with our little acreage that proved to be such a labor of love it exhausted all of us. We all miss the farm.  Especially the Judge and his tractor.

One of my first projects after moving into our new house was planting a small, container garden.  Unfortunately, our growing season here is about two months.  The snow starts falling around October and melts about March, but then intermittently spits until May.  I optimistically waited until mid-June to plant, assuring myself we were beyond any late-season frosts.

One particularly chilly night, I contemplated covering my little friends in the backyard.  Damn intuition. I woke up the next morning to my windshield covered in frost, as well as my tender tomato, pepper, squash, watermelon and cucumber plants.  I could have cried.

For then next week or so, I ignored the pots in the backyard.  I couldn't stand to look at those sad, withered plants.  Feeling guilty, I started watering them again, trimmed back their frozen bits, talked sweet nothings to them.  Amazingly, they have started to sprout life.  They have even managed to produce!  I picked my first tomato and peas grown from my own efforts in years.

My poor little plants look a little wonky now, their tops lobbed off, the remnants of the freeze still lingering on a few leaves.  But hey, we're all a little wonky with our own freezer-burns.  I know I sure am -- and I am bearing fruit!  Sorry, couldn't help the analogy.

I have two days away from the Lodge, which makes me a little giddy.  I taught yoga this morning to my little group of local ladies, I have some domestic duties to tend to, and some rhubarb to bake. I may even take a nap.  I told you I was giddy.

There's still hope!

Maybe not so much for this guy.

Last night I actually made it home before the sun set.  It was so strange to be home at a reasonable hour that I didn't quite know what to do with myself.  What do most people do at night?  Eat dinner before 10:00.  The Great Samoan Hunter was equally as shocked when he came home to a prepared meal other than a bowl of cereal.

This is not a super original meal. In fact, it's probably a staple in your home.  However, I did get creative with my tortillas. I was hankering for a crispy shell.  My hankerings these days are really difficult to dispel.  I have nearly driven to town several times for a bean and cheese burrito from Fiesta Ole.  I. LOVE. THEM.  I was hungry for crispy shells and all I had on hand were soft wheat tortillas.   Here was my solution:

Baked them draped over the oven rack for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. 

They came out looking like these perfect, hard taco shells!

Sauteed yellow onion, garlic and ground beef with a can of tomatoes,

cumin, oregano, chili powder and red pepper flakes.

Lovely little radishes.

I even had time to make some homemade pico. It really is wonderfully unique and refreshing salsa with 

the addition of diced cucumber and avocado.  You can find the recipe here.

Hates don't hate. This is the most spectacular topping for corn on the cob.  

Mix about 2 parts plain yogurt with 1 part crumbled feta.  Smear over your steaming hot corn.

Delicious! Makes a great topping for tacos, too.

Light, healthy, fresh and homemade!  I could get used to dinner before 10:00.

A number of you have asked (begged, pleaded, lovingly hounded) me for a photo of Baby M's progression in my belly.  Here she is 25 weeks, 6 days in all of her (my) glory.  

xo H and Baby M

Muffin top

Before I begin today's random diatribe, I have to briefly give thanks -- to you, dear internet friends.  I realize my blog is but a blip in the garantuan universe of the World Wide Web, and you have myriad other sites to read.  But, all three of you, you keep coming back, and I sure love you for that. 

As I mentioned in the last blog post, the unabashed eating and drinking and being very merry has caught up to me.  There used to be value in putting a little meat on one's bones in order to make it through the cold, bleak winter.  Now that 'extra meat' has evolved into horribly irritating food references like 'muffin top,' which are not at all charming.  The term 'muffin top' annoys me about as much as the abreviation 'EVOO.'  I shutter at that phrase.

Someday when I am a master of English, I am going to strike muffin top and EVOO from the English language.  That's what this near degree has earned me -- the power to make up words, as well as eliminate others I loathe.

Sorry, I warned you about the diatribe.  I have for you a few photos of the merriment that ensued in Saipan.  Because Heather and Nick were cautious of my camera's safety, I didn't take it everywhere. Almost everywhere.

Tuna and avocado salad. I can't wait to recreate this.

Spicy tuna.

So many food options, so little time.

Banana pancakes with caramel sauce AND chocolate ice cream.

Heather opted for the ice cream on the side.

Spam, corned beef hash, chorizo with scrambled eggs and garlic friend rice.

I blame this meal for the muffin top.

Have you ever eaten mac and cheese with chop sticks?

Nope, didn't think so.

$5.00, 5 pound thai feast.

Now that I am home and attempting to establish a routine (still splitting my time between river and city livin), I am also putting forth a diligent effort to gain control of my waistline.  

Here's my plan:

Eat breakfast.  Eat whole, real foods. Drink less beer.  Drink more water.  Move a lot (this has largely taken the form of walk/jogs with the Tuli dog and loads of yoga). 

Easy, right? So far so good. I plan to sign up for a few fun runs and triathalons this summer to ensure that I am motivated to move.  Fear is an extraordinary motivator.

Here's an easy peasy salmon recipe that is both delicious and nutritious.  This dish combines garlic, ginger, seasame oil, soy sauce, sriracha and cilantro to create a spicy, flavorful glaze.  You can whip up the sauce in the time it takes your oven to preheat.  I served mine with quinoa and snap peas marinated in the same sauce.  This would be great on any protein -- fish, chicken or pork.  Try it, you'll like it.

Baked salmon with spicy glaze

1 lb fillet of salmon

1 clove garlic, minced

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

1 handful of cilantro, chopped

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs seasame oil

1 tbs sriracha (more or less depending on your affection for spice)



Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, combine all of the above ingredients.  Place the salmon in a baking dish and pour the glaze over (I spooned the chunks over the salmon).  Cover the pan with foil, bake for about 15 minutes or longer depending on your desired doneness.  Serve hot or cold and enjoy!

Come on science!

If you could have one wish right this very moment what would it be?  Win the lottery?  Have the ability to fly or read minds?  Even better, the ability to teleport?  Guess what mine is this very second -- a CLONE!  I want a clone who would studiously read my homework, attend class and write my thesis.  My clone would free up my time so I could play outside in this glorious 72 degree weather. Because I have no clone, I am stuck inside attempting to write a chapter of my paper. 

I can hear you crying, too, because you're stuck at your desk.  Clones.  I am telling you, the world would be a happier, more productive planet if we had mirror images of ourselves to do all of our unwanted work.  Come on science!

Since you are stuck at your desk, here's something delightful to distract you.  FHE last night was less of an affair than last week.  My roommates had some gorgeous, wild Alaskan salmon that we grilled on cedar planks.  Thanks to my lovely neighbor and friend Ashley, we had the tastiest of tasty glazes for the fish: chipotle huckleberry. I will get the recipe for you straight away, as it was really something special.

We had a number of sad looking root vegetables in the fridge so I once again tricked the roommates into eating rutabagas and turnips.  We also sauteed some red cabbage and kale.  Without planning, we created quite the antioxidant-rich, purple meal.  

Try these mashed veggies.  You'll like them, and I'm certain if you had a clone, s/he would like them too.

I peeled the rutabagas and turnips and left the potato skins on.

Boil in salted water until tender. 

(The rutabagas take longer so you could put them in a few minutes 

before everything else).

Mash up and blend with 1/2 cup broth (vegetable, chicken or beef), 

2 tbs butter, 1 heaping tbs grainy mustard.  Season to taste with ground pepper.

Cedar planks soaking.

Deboning the salmon. Fish bones are about as pleasant as gun shot.

Wild and delicious.

Matt glazing.

Product placement was entirely accidental.  

You're welcome Deschutes. 

Family home evening

A tradition has been established: Monday night family home evening.  This borrowed term describes the gathering of friends, the drinking of wine, and the only night I have to cook.  These shared meals are an antidote to the dreaded case of the Mondays.  

This week's meal was particularly fun because I employed the assistance of my roommate and my neighbor.  We also employed the assistance of Indian food queen Madhur Jaffrey for inspiration.  We perused the cookbook and the fridge choosing dishes that helped us clean out the bounty of vegetables from the past week's CSA shares.  

We chose seven dishes and two condiments.  Seven main course meals that required an enormous amount of slicing, dicing and blending.  The three of us, armed with numerous instruments of vegetable mutilation, managed to produce this feast in just two hours.  I kept asking the girls, "I am not sure if we have enough food."  I was sincerely concerned.  

Friends, we cooked the equivalent of an Indian Thanksgiving dinner.  We will be eating Indian food until I come home next Monday.  We had plenty of food.  

Here's the menu: carrots with dates and raisins, peas with tomatoes, creamed spinach, mung bean sprout salad, cauliflower and zucchini, corn and coconut milk, lentils with tomatoes, yogurt raita and cilantro chutney.  

After this meal, I am confident I can orchestrate just about any family eating event -- Thanksgiving, Christmas or Monday night family home evening.  

Excuse me while I heat up a plate of leftovers.  Until next week!

The bounty.  

I chopped three HEADS of garlic and six inches of ginger.

Thank you Pampered Chef.

Cilantro chutney lovingly assembled by my kitchen partners in crime. 

No dish, pan, plate or fork was left unscathed.

As a result, dessert required some creativity: 

butter knife, baby spoon, melon baller, serving spoon.

These two dishes seemed to be the favorites.  This corn is out of this world.  Please try it.  The peas, well, the peas will make your toes curl.  Just saying.

Corn with coconut milk

adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian Cooking

4 cups corn

1 large onion, sliced in rings

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp ground tumeric

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 tbs vegetable oil

2 cans coconut milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large oven-safe pan with a lid, combine corn and coconut milk.  Bring to a boil and then set aside.  In a separate pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until caramelized, stirring frequently -- about 10 minutes.  Remove and set aside.  Meanwhile, combine the garlic, cumin, tumeric, cayenne and 1/4 cup water in a small bowl.  Add this mixture to the same pan as the onions.  Fry for about a minute.  Add the onions, sugar and spice paste to the coconut and corn. Bring to a boil.  Cover and place in the oven.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Peas

also adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian Cooking

1 gigantic bag of frozen peas

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 inch chunk of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

3 large tomatoes, diced

1 tbs red chili flakes (or more if you like it spicier)

1 tbs ground coriander (I had coriander seeds and it was delicious)

1/4 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 tbs vegetable oil

Put the chopped onion and ginger along with 1/4 cup water in a food processor.  Blend until you have a smooth paste.  Heat the oil in a large pan.  Add the spices and stir until fragrant, then add the onion/ginger paste.  Cook until the paste begins to caramelize -- about 5 minutes.  Add the chopped tomatoes.  Fry for another 5 minutes.  Add the peas, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes or until the peas are cooked through. 

Get the caboose moving

Breakfast and I have a love hate relationship. I love to cook breakfast, but I normally hate to eat it unless it is after 11:00 a.m. I just can't be bothered with anything other than coffee before then. Being a health educator who touts the value of breakfast -- breaking the body's fast from a night of rest is very important to "get the caboose moving," (a favorite quotation from one of my students) -- I should listen to my own advice. Should.

I made an effort today to consume something other than my daily caffeine fuel. I had leftover cooked barley from earlier in the week and some raspberries. Voila! I added some rice milk -- cow's milk and I had a falling out in college, similar but not as hateful to my falling out with my old friend Jose Cuervo -- chopped almonds and raspberries. The barley was much more fun to eat than oatmeal. Oatmeal is ooey and gooey and difficult to swallow. Barley's like individual pearls of goodness. My caboose is moving.

Everything in moderation

Brief story time: my meat consumption has gone drastically down since my vow to purchase locally-sourced meat (still clicking along, by the way). Notice all the vegetarian recipes as of late? Yeah, local meat is expensive for this gal.

I'm deviating from story hour: I worked the farm last Friday. I worked hard. Lester worked hard. I was HUNGRY when I returned to my parents' house late in the day. The Judge suggested we eat out in Hazelton where the words vegetarian option are not part of the vernacular. As I mentioned, I was hungry, ravenous maybe. The Judge ordered a 16 0z ribeye that made my salivary glands quake. I ordered my own 16 0z ribeye. I ate my own 16 oz ribeye. I ATE MY OWN 16 0z RIBEYE.

Friends, without revealing too much information, my gastrointestinal tract has not been the same. I have been punished for my gluttony. Everything in moderation, Hailey. Why is this lesson so hard for us (me) to grasp?

I just started a new book today: Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals. I've had many friends impressed and influenced by this book -- we'll see how it further affects my meat consumption.

But did I mention how good that 16 oz ribeye tasted? Sweet Jesus. Moderation. Moderation. Moderation.

Normally I have about thirty-seven photos of vegetables in various stages of mutilation,

but today you merely get the finished product.

These are my new favorite chips:

Jalapeno from Food Should Taste Good.

Gluten free and colored with beet juice. Groovy.

Taste damn good, too.

Taco salad

(it's healthy and potentially vegetarian, too. I won't tell if you won't tell)

1 lb ground meat -- lean beef, turkey or fake meat

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped

1 zucchini, diced

1 yellow summer squash, diced

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can green chiles, diced

1 can diced tomatoes, including juice

1 heaping tbs chili powder

1 tbs garlic salt

1/2 chili flakes (more for spicier)

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tbs olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Garnishes: sour cream/plain yogurt, chopped cilantro, avocado, green onions, feta cheese, tomatoes, salsa, tortilla chips.

In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic. Saute until translucent, about two minutes. Add zucchini and squash and cook until tender, about three minutes. Add meat and cook until cooked through. Add spices, green chiles and tomatoes. Cook for about five minutes to allow the flavors to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve taco meat on the chopped lettuce followed by the toppings. Serve immediately.