Broccoli Bacon Salad

This salad is incredibly un-healthy. I know, not my usual, but my fiance loves it and requests it every time he's down. I'm making it slightly healthier every time, so we'll get there but here it is so far. I highly recommend making the night ahead.

The pictured salad has a three dashes of Chinese black vinegar, no mozzarella, and honey vs granulated sugar (I find it combines easier with the dressing) but other than that it is the exact recipe below.

Broccoli Bacon Salad
adapted from food.com

Ingredients:
- 2.5 lbs. fresh broccoli florets, chopped small (I recommend Costco bag of florets)
- 1 cup sweet red onion, chopped small
- 1/2 lb. bacon
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 oz. mozzarella, shredded

Instructions:
1. Cook in microwave until slightly firm, then chop bacon into 1/2" pieces. Drain fat.
2. Mix together broccoli, onions, bacon, and mozzarella in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, sugar, and mayo.
4. Pour mayo mixture over broccoli and stir well to coat.
5. Let marinate overnight in refrigerator before serving.

Green mac ‘n’ cheese with spinach & broccoli

 Cut down to fit a 1 lb. macaroni bag. Raymond decided he wanted to make ALL THE MAC AND CHEESE. So we made all 4 of the Jamie Oliver mac and cheese variations. He believes that they need more cheese, as Jamie Oliver is "a health nut" according to him so I may come back around and tweak these recipes. But overall delicious and great as a side. 

I think to make this into an entree, all you'd have to do is bake some chicken with herbs, oil, and salt to cut up into this. I'd say 250 g. of cooked chicken would be plenty.

Green mac ‘n’ cheese with spinach & broccoli

adapted from Jamie Oliver

2 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. flour  
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced  
4 fresh bay leaves
3 cups milk
1 lb. macaroni
125g Cheddar cheese, freshly grated
75 g Parmesan cheese + more for sprinkling, freshly grated
150g. spinach 
1 head broccoli

2 splashes Worcestershire sauce, optional  

1 grating nutmeg, optional 
a few sprigs fresh basil

1. Melt butter in oven-proof sauce pan on low, add flour, turn to medium and stir until roux is formed.

2. Add sliced garlic and cook until golden and garlic is sticky, stirring constantly.

3. Add bay leaves and slowly whisk in milk.

4. Bring to a boil, then turn to low and leave simmering.

5. While bringing to a boil, chop up and steam broccoli for 8 minutes until fork-tender.

6. Once sauce is ready, add broccoli and spinach to sauce and combine using immersion blender.

7. Add cooked pasta to sauce, stir in cheddar Parmesan, and optional ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Place in oven pan, sprinkle over some more Parmesan over top along with a few springs of basil.

9. Bake for 30 minutes at 425F.

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!

Tahini Broccoli Salad with Almonds

Flavorful, fast, and delicious side. And using the last of the farmer's market broccoli! Amazing they still had some so late in the season.

Tahini Broccoli Salad with Almonds
from Anja's Food 4 Thought
serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:
1/4 cup almonds, whole and raw
1 lb. broccoli, cut into florets and thin stems
1/4 cup tahini
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, minced
hot water (as desired)
2 Tbs. sesame seeds (to garnish)

Instructions:
1. Heat a dry skillet over medium-low heat, and toast almonds until fragrant (5 minutes), stirring frequently to avoid burning. Let cool, then chop.
2. Steam broccoli florets for a few minutes until just tender, then blanch. Set aside.
3. Whisk together tahini, olive oil, salt, and garlic. Add hot water to achieve desired consistency.
4. Combine broccoli and tahini sauce. Sprinkle with chopped almonds and sesame seeds. Serve room temperature or cold.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Rice

Hardy go-to broccoli cheddar soup with on-hand ingredients. My family loved it!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Rice
from dksCooks

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
5 Tbs. butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
2 cups cream (or milk)
3 cups chick'n (or vegetable) broth
1/2 lb. broccoli florrets
1/4 ts. all-spice
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups sharp cheddar, grated
2 cups prepared brown rice

Instructions:
1. Heat 1 Tbs. butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and saute until golden-brown.
2. In a medium pot, whisk remaining butter and flour over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Slowly whisk in cream and broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add broccoli and onion-garlic mix and continue to simmer until broccoli is tender (~6 mins). Add all-spice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Stir in cheese until incorporated. Put a scoop of brown rice into individual bowls, ladle in soup, and serve.

Savoyarde Fondue

Savoyarde Fondue
adapted from Journal des Femmes

Ingredients (per person):
250 grams of cheese:
     1/3 parts Beaufort
     1/3 parts Comte
     1/3 parts Emmenthal or Gruyere
1 deciliter of Roussette wine (or other dry white wine)
1 dash corn starch
1/2 clove garlic, minced
ground black pepper and nutmeg to taste (optional)
1/3 baguette, cubbed
1/2 cup steamed broccoli florets
1/2 cup steamed cauliflower florets

Instructions:
1. In a pan, combine the cheese, wine, and garlic. Gently stir, until the mixture is smooth, combining the liquid with the cheese.
2. Once the mixture is homogeneous, add a small dash of corn starch until a nice thick consistency. Let cook for a few minutes.
3. Add pepper and nutmeg to taste.
4. Use the baguette, broccoli, and cauliflower florets for dipping into the fondue. You can of course use other things to dip.

Broccoli-Mushroom Loaf

This turned out amazing! I even invited my friend over to share this with me. I substituted farro for breadcrumbs, powdered garlic for real garlic, and broccoli for carrots (as compared to the original recipe), just because those are things I needed to use up. This Moosewood book has never failed me. If ever you have a vegetarian friend, or someone who doesn't know what vegetarians eat besides salads, give them a copy of the New Moosewood. Healthy, delicious vegetarian dishes with common ingredients, and simple instructions.






Broccoli-Mushroom Loaf
adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cups minced onion
1 T. butter
1 lb. mushrooms, chopped
2 heads chopped broccoli (or 1 1/2 lbs carrots, grated)
1 1/2 t. salt
1 t. basil
1 t. thyme
1 t. dill
1 T. garlic powder (or 3-4 cloves garlic)
2 cups cooked farro (or 2 cups bread crumbs)
1 cup packed grated cheddar + some for sprinkling
2 eggs, beaten
2 T. black beans (optional)
black pepper to taste
panko for sprinkling

Instructions:
1. Oil loaf pan, pre-heat oven to 350
2. In a large skillet, add butter and onions. Saute for 5 mins. Add mushrooms, and saute for 3 mins. Add broccoli, salt, herbs, and garlic, and saute for 10 mins.
3. In a large bowl, combine cooked farro, cheese, eggs, and pepper. Add the sauteed mixture, and mix well. Spread into the prepared pan, and sprinkle with the panko and extra cheese. Cover pan with foil.
4. Bake for 30 mins covered, then uncover and bake for 15 mins more.