Greens, Groins and Guest Granola

Courtesy of Alison, inspired by many of my family members requesting her homemade granola recipe.

Hello, Health-Nuts! I'm one of Jessica's dearest friends, and shockingly also a consumer of medium-rare meat, white pasta and copious amounts of dairy products. However since I've had the opportunity to live with our chef in close quarters, I have come to love body-and-mind-conscious cooking (some of my faves being: Cotes du Rhone, Brussels Sprouts and Salmon with lemon and bread crumbs). This holiday season I was looking for something small I could make and package to give to my co-workers that would show my dedication to wellness living (a contrast to last year's gift of blocks of fudge). I stumbled upon this lovely blog with this lovely recipe:

Now, if you're like me and blow this up to full size, you will see some of the measurements are rather hard to read. This might lead to putting in double the amount of honey and double the amount of brown sugar. Some people call these "happy accidents." The only thing that really happens is you come out with more of a granola bar with sticky fingers rather than granola you sprinkle in your non-fat greek yogurt.

So, ed note for sprinkely granola:
1/4 cup of honey
3/4-ish cup brown sugar
1/3-ish cup of the add-ins

I omitted the dried cherries and substituted them with dark chocolate chips (some habits never die). I also used a plastic spatula instead of a metal one (it's a recession).

Everyone at work seemed to love it, claiming they ate "half the bag before lunch!" (it was a snack sized bag, c'mon). I tested both versions out in the Berkshires, in oatmeal and on my couch, and I have to say it proved delicious in all scenarios. Here's to snacking!

Greens Day: Collards

Here at G+G, we're a little bit Jewish, a little bit Southern Rock. So it's hard for me to believe I have thus far neglected one of the core greens that exist on God's earth and in my home: collards.

Traditionally collard greens are a staple of southern cuisine, stewed in a vat with ham hock and served with black eyed peas and corn bread ala Paula Dean. But here's where the Jewish part comes in--ain't no way we making anything with ham hock. Esther has been making vegetarian collard greens since all you's were stars in heaven. And she ain't stoppin' now.

The method used to cook collards is similar to our old friend kale, but the difference is that collards need longer too cook and we add onions. Collards are more flat, less leafy. However like kale, collards are packed with nutrients including B6 and C, carotenes, chlorophyll, and manganese. One cup of collard greens provides more than 70 percent of the RDA for vitamin C (according to my source on the web).

When making collards, first I get a bunch, wash them and cut them in thick chiffonade style.

Then I chop 3-4 cloves of garlic and 1 small onion.

Then I add about 2-3 tables spoons of olive oil to a pan on medium heat.

Add onions and garlic. Let cook for about 5 minutes.

THEN add collards:

COVER and let cook for at least 10 minutes, checking often. They'll cook down. While you wait, check out my Gator-themed Hannukah candles:


Now, after 10 minutes, add:
-2 tablespoons Braggs or soy sauce
-1 1/2 tablespoons dry sherry
-a few splashes of plum wine vinegar
-black pepper to taste
-(whatever other seasonings you feel like)

Mix, cover and turn to low. Let steam for another 5 minutes. Should look like this when done (notice the green is a little deeper and duller as compared when you first put them in the pot. This is the color of 'done.' Try a bite just to make sure it's not chewy) :



Should look like this on your plate with a sweet potato latke:

Happy Hannukah, y'all.

Back to Basics: Tofu Stir-Steam

I realize readers haven't had a new recipe in weeks, and with all the crap we're eating during holiday season, wouldn't it be great to have a nice clean, warm dish to get us through the winter? I think so.
So here's my tofu stir-steam. It's not really a stir fry because I don't use a wok, I use very little oil and I cover the pot so the veggies steam more than fry. Stir fries are so easy, but sometimes you forget about them in a pinch for dinner ideas. Here's what I used:

1 TBS olive oil
1 small onion chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic chopped or minced
1 package button mushrooms rinsed, chopped
1 package broccoli florets
2 stalks celery chopped diagonally
2 carrots chopped diagonally
1 package of extra firm tofu diced to your liking
1/4 cup of Bragg's Amino acids (or 1/8 cup soy sauce to taste)
1/4 cup dry sherry
black pepper to taste
1 TBS sesame seeds (0ptional)
dry parsley to taste (optional)
1/2 lemon (optional)

Prep:

This is pretty easy. Put the oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Saute onions and garlic for about 3 minutes or until onions are slightly transparent. Add broccoli, celery, carrots. Cover and steam for about 5-8 minutes, tossing often. When veggies are sweating, add tofu and mushrooms. Add Braggs, sherry, black pepper. Toss a lot and cover again for another 5 minutes. Keep checking and tossing to make sure its getting cooked evenly. Here's what it looks like in the pan before it cooks down:

These guys said they were integral in this recipe and didn't want to be left out:

Add sesame seeds, lemon, parsley and whatever other spices you have hiding. Finally, serve over brown Basmati rice that's been cooked in coconut oil, add a lemon wedge and a slice of avocado for good measure:

Wedding recipes

When my dearest Tiney got married this past February, Wolison and I put our heads together to come up with something a little creative to include in her gift along with the kitchen items we picked off her registry. Because the couple was going to Singapore for the honeymoon, we decided to include 3-4 recipes of that region they could make with their new kitchen tools. Wolison expertly designed little recipe cards on her company's time, and the whole thing was real cute.

For the most recent wedding I attended, I was flying solo, so I had to come up with something with my rudimentary design skills and photoshop 7 (circa 1998). This is a couple I also love, and who both love to cook; I wanted to do recipes to reflected their relationship. They originally met in high school in South Florida, started dating in Gainesville, have lived in Boston for the past five years and are honeymooning in Spain. So, I found four recipes I thought were appropriate:

• For South Florida, Lilly's Kasha (of course)

• For Gainesville, Sage Lentil Loaf from local restaurant The Book Lover's Cafe (which also has a cookbook that I happen to own).
  

• For Boston, New England Clam Chowder (naturally) from SlipJacks's in Boston, which I plucked off of epicurious.
  

• And for Spain, a Grilled Cheese sandwich with Manchego (also appropriate because their gift from me was a Panini grill)--recipe also from Epicurious.*{Ed note: G+G does not condone the Serrano Jamon part of this recipe, but when in Spain... Also, this would make a delicious vegetarian grilled cheese.}
  

It looked like this, but bound together with ribbon. Click to make larger and steal the recipes.

I hope they enjoy!

Quick update

Greetings readers! I'm back from the birthday/Thanksgiving/tailgate/wedding haze with a belly full of complex carbs. Remember that time in October when I read that great New York Times article my Aunt Rhonda sent me, and then tried to be vegetarian? Yeah, that didn't stick. But holidays are time for family and indulgence, and I'm going to estimate that 50% of my food intake has been appropriate for this blog. First, let me show you my Thanksgiving feast:


While you were stuffing your face with turkey, I was stuffing my face with turkey AND sushi AND edamame AND spring rolls. Made by real Japanese people from Japan. Also on deck was my mom's most delicious eggplant casserole with melted cheese on top.

Then, I went to Gainesville for the weekend and drank beer at 10:30 am with this guy:


THEN I went to a lovely wedding and did my hair myself:

And finally, I ate Filet Mignon (no picture necessary. I think you know what shame looks like).

Next post will share a great, personal idea for a wedding gift involving new recipes...