Poached Egg with Mashed Sweet Potato and Steamed Broccoli

I had a wonderful weekend; went to a local brewery for some drinks, dinner, and basketball after work Friday. Met up with a couple of their wives and then we went to another co-worker's house and drank and partied all night until about 3 am. It was extreme fun and involved eating chic dog-bakery dog food, wrestling, riding bikes around the house, smoking tobacco from wooden pipes, and more beer than was strictly necessary. Total blast.



Saturday I bought a beautiful new bike! This is something I've been saving up for for over a year and holding off until I found the perfect one for me. I ended up getting a Surly touring bike that one of my co-workers hand-picked for me. It fits me perfectly and I'm extremely excited to start bike-commuting to work again (once MO decided to stop snowing) and bike-packing (back-packing on bikes!). After that I spent a nice calm evening hanging out with my roommate and biking friend Melissa who came over, eating veggies with hummus and drinking tea and working on moving over accessories to my new bike, and then taking a ridiculous photo shoot (as shown above).

After Melissa left, I caught my roommate (sushi chef/ex-professional ballet dancer) and we geeked out over HP, LOTR, and Doctor Who until about 3 am, after which I was already on my computer and ended up writing for 4 hours straight analyzing a lot of things I've been thinking about with regards to pretty much everything going on in my life and how it relates back to work and vice versa. I'm making a detailed presentation I want to give to my manager in our up-coming meeting. : ) Something I've needed to do and get off my chest for quite some time now! I was up until 8 am Sunday morning. I started receiving FB notifications because people were waking up for the day x.x The college schedule dies hard in this one.

Sunday I had a delightful conversation over a long (and delicious brunch) at Gratitude Cafe with my mom. We talked about literally about everything, but the focus was on the community house that we're going to start together : ) She loves the idea and has full support from her church community and explained the family history behind a community living initiative that my grandfather (a Kansas City builder) did back in the day. It was called Purple Circle, and so shall ours be named! I'm completely excited about this prospect, something I've been thinking about for a very long time now. We drove around for about an hour, impeding traffic as we looked at a ton of different houses in the Midtown area (Hyde Park and Hospital Hill areas are where we're thinking). Very exciting!

After that I came home to some block printing my roommate Stephanie and her friend were doing for a new KC local zine they just started (Undercurrent: A Zine About Kansas City). This is something I would like to participate in in the future, especially with the community house. We had an intriguing conversation about poly vs monogamous relationships after that. Definitely reminded me of the Oscar-nominated movie 'Her' that just came out. I highly recommend everyone see it! Great film and great lessons about life and love.

After THAT (this weekend just doesn't end, does it?) my good friend Rachael came over and I cooked this meal while we talked about her art class lesson plans she's making for her students in rural Missouri (while drinking left over wine from her paint-and-sip studio she works at!). Such a fun and great evening/weekend. I think it could have lasted forever (though my body would soon give out due to lack of sleep in there! I'm greatly looking forward to my detox weekend)

So, without further ado:

Poached Egg with Mashed Sweet Potato and Steamed Broccoli
serves 4

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 large sweet potatoes
1 large red onion
1 head broccoli, sliced into thin florets
cheese, grated (to garnish)
1 Tbs butter
1 pinch sugar
1 pinch salt
vinegar or lemon juice
olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
garlic salt
fresh ground black pepper

Instruction:
1. Heat a medium heavy-bottomed skillet over a medium flame. Dice the red onion small, melt the butter in the skillet, and add onion, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Stir together and cook onions down until golden-brown, stirring every so often.
2. Bring water to boil in a steamer. Dice sweet potato in to 1" cubes (no peeling necessary). Once water in steamer has boiled, and steam until fork-tender (5-10 minutes). If possible save water in pot so can be used for broccoli steaming. If not, refill and bring back to a boil.
3. In a medium-small pot, boil enough water for egg poaching, and add a splash of vinegar into the water. Meanwhile, mash together sweet potato, caramelized onions, paprika. Set aside.
4. In steamer, steam broccoli florets for 5 minutes until just softened and bright green. Set broccoli aside.
5. Once poaching water boils, bring down to just below boiling, stir pot with a spoon to make a vortex in the middle and crack an egg into the middle (I like to crack an egg into a ramekin then pour egg into vortex). Poach for 1-2 minutes or until white has set on the egg.
Assembly:
1. On a plate or in a bowl, mound about 1 cup mashed potatoes and flatten on top. Pile on a handful of steamed broccoli (1/4th of what's there) on top of that, place poached eggs on the very top. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt, black pepper, and grated cheese. Enjoy!

Vegan Cheezy Broccoli Soup

This soup was delicious and simple! You need to make sure to start the cashews soaking ahead of time, but besides that it's one of the quickest things I've made in a while. So refreshing in so many ways : )

Something that will never get old about my new place: using the Vitamix blender.

Vegan Cheezy Broccoli Soup
from lunchboxbrunch.com

2 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups broccoli
2 cups vegetable stock
3/4 cup raw cashews
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbs nutritional yeast (optional, for cheezy flavor)
salt and pepper, to taste
smoked paprika, to garnish

prep
Soak raw cashews in salted water over night.

Instructions:
1. Set a pot of water to boil for steaming broccoli.
2. Wash broccoli and peel stem. Cut stem pieces into 6ths width-wise (so they steam quicker) and cut the head into large florettes (these will be blended, do not need to be perfect).
3. Steam broccoli stems for 5 minutes then throw in florettes and steam for another 5 until bright green. Reserve a couple small florets for garnish, if desired.
4. Mince garlic and drain and rinse cashews.5. In a high-speed blender, blend together broccoli, vegetable stock, cashews, garlic, and nutritional yeast. Salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with paprika.

Chocolate Candy Filled Chocolate Cookies

Now this is not my usual: I have been trying to avoid processed sugars and unhealthy food. In fact, one of my friends has persuaded me to try a juice detox coming up here soon! That being said, we had a couple of cool Canadian associates doing some training at my work for a couple weeks. A group of us locally-based associates took them out for a bar tour of Kansas City last weekend and good times were had by all. One of them who was sweet and vegetarian was leaving this last Friday, and for his departure I wanted to make a truly American cookie. In my mind this means extremely unhealthy. My first thought was chocolate chip, as to me this is very American but I was unable to find my chocolate chips and I ended up finding this recipe.

I put dark-chocolate covered salted caramels as the center for these bad-boys (since I had a Costco-sized container that's been living in my room, so many bad choices there I know). The original called for Snickers bites, but I have boycotted candies like that in recent years. A home-made snickers would be a fabulous cookie filler though. I also used craisins instead of chocolate chips since I was unable to find my chocolate chips this time and, somehow, all of my 85% bars have migrated to work <.<

I definitely plan to make this one again, but cutting the caramels in half and squishing them into a ball. There was way too much caramel and the cookies too large. It also meant I only had 13 to share which, among my self, my co-workers, and my house mates, isn't as much as I'd like to have.

Chocolate Candy Filled Chocolate Cookies
from Pretty. Simple. Sweet.
makes about 18 cookies

Ingredients:
125 g. flour (I used whole-wheat flour and it was fine in these)
42 g. cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
113 grams butter, softened
100 g. brown sugar
100 g. sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup small chocolate chips
16-18 candies
coarse sea salt, to sprinkle

Instructions:

make dough
1. In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars for 3 minutes using electric mixer until fluffy, then beat in egg and vanilla to combine.
3. Add dry ingredients and gently mix with by hand or wooden spoon until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips, cover with damp towel, and chill for 1-2 hours or overnight (helps with cookie spread-age)
assemble and cook
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F and line a baking pan with a silicon mat.
2. Take 1 Tbs of cookie dough, press candy on top of it, and take another Tbs of cookie dough and press edges together until candy is completely sealed in dough.
3. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt (if desired) and bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges start to set. Let cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Sauce

Delicious and easy eggplant recipe, with a delicious sauce involving ingredients you probably already have on hand! It's amazing how thick the tahini makes the sauce, I had to add more water to mine for consistency sake. I packed leftovers for lunch today with sauce on it. Eggplant lost its nice dry baked texture, and the sauce soaked into the eggplant slices but still delicious : )

Also: Google? HOW do you not have tahini in your dictionary? Seriously? How many food blog do you host??

Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Sauce
from LaaLoosh
1 serving (or 2 as a side)

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/2" thick
1 Tbs tahini
1 Tbs water
1 clove garlic, minced
2 pinches smoked paprika
1 Tbs lemon juice
salt and pepper
olive oil, to brush
parsley, to garnish

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with a silicon mat.
2. Place eggplant slices evenly on baking sheet and brush with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 20-30 mins, flipping half way through.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together tahini, water, garlic, paprika. Add more water if needed for consistency.
4. Plate eggplant, drizzle tahini sauce over, and garnish with parsley.

Brussel Sprouts with Craisins and Walnuts

Delicious, fresh, and simple! This is a great side dish for color, taste, and health! I've generally only had roasted brussel sprouts,  and I feel like this quick sautee is a great middle between that and raw.

The original recipe used dates and slivered almonds. I happened to have these on hand, but I feel almost anything would work! Prunes and pine nuts, sesame seeds and minced raisins. Will definitely make something like this again with variations like that, to get people to like brussel sprouts!

Brussel Sprouts with Craisins and Walnuts
adapted from the tolerant vegan

Ingredients:
 1 lb brussel sprouts, ends trimmed and halved
 1/4 cup craisins
 1/3 cup walnut halves, toasted
 2 Tbs olive oil
 2 cloves garlic, minced
 salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:
 1. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet on medium heat.
2. Toss in brussel sprouts and saute for 2-3 minutes stirring frequently, until sprouts are browning on multiple sides.
 3. Toss in garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring, until garlicbis fragrant.
 4. Dump sprouts, nuts, and craisins into a bowl and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chipotle Sweet Potato Hummus

I wanted a healthy (vegetarian) alternative for a Super Bowl party, and I found this little gem. It's a non-chickpea based hummus, using sweet potato instead. Extremely quick to make (I didn't even peel the sweet potatoes, just scrubbed) and it has a great thick texture. I didn't add much olive oil, just a little for taste.

Serve with cut vegetables, pita triangles, or use as a sandwich spread.

Chipotle Sweet Potato Hummus
from The Fitchen

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed small
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp ground chipotle pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
olive oil as needed for consistency

Instructions:
1. Steam the sweet potatoes until fork-tender (15-20 mins)
2. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse in 5 second bursts until desired consistency is reached, drizzling in olive oil as needed.
3. Garnish with olive oil drizzled on top and a couple dashes of ground chipotle pepper.

Lentil Mushroom Ragu Sauce

Delicious tomato-lentil-mushroom sauce. Quite like the gritty texture of ground beef-tomato sauce. This makes a good large batch, stores well, and is great for packed lunches. Can be served onto of anything; spaghetti squash, spaghetti, potatoes, eaten directly from a bowl.... I choose to put it over baked spaghetti squash.

Lentil Mushroom Ragu Sauce
adapted from Fox Loves Lemons
serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:
2 lbs. tomatoes
2 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, diced small
16 oz mushrooms, cubed small
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, cubed small
1 large bell pepper, diced small
2 cups lentils, rinsed and picked through
2 cups water (or as needed)
1/2 cup red wine
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbs cumin
1 Tbs tumeric
2 Tbs fresh basil, minced
herbs to garnish (optional)

Instructions:
1. Core tomatoes and put into a frying pan on high heat, and cover with a lid. Every 5 minutes smash them down a bit until they're crushed.
2. Heat olive oil in a large sauce pot, and add onion and carrot and cook over medium-high heat until are starting to brown, stirring often. Add in bell pepper and mushrooms, and cook until both have softened.
3. Add in garlic, cook for 30 seconds more. Combine rest of ingredients (crushed tomatoes, lentils,  water, red wine, and all spices EXCEPT basil). Cover, and simmer on medium heat until lentils are tender, 30 minutes or more. Add more water as needed.