Coconut Krispie Baked Tofu

This will be a short sweet and to the point blog. I'm sure you've all had a night swallowed up by the unexpected! I put my adorable naked 10 month old into her playpen (where she sleeps) to grab a Snappi for her diaper. A minute later on my return I realized she had peed while standing up through the mesh and was both sitting in it and licking the mesh. Ughh. This resulted in a bath, her going to bed in the crib, and the toddler in our bed.

A trip to Costco this weekend yielded a multipack of tofu. Price-wise it was a great deal on three to four meals worth of protein. Inspired by a recipe on Cara's Cravings, I jumped off from that point and created a twist that fit my pantry.

Coconut Krispie Baked Tofu
Serves 4

1 lb firm tofu
2 egg whites
3/4 cup Rice Krispies
1/3 cup coconut
cooking spray

1/4 cup soy sauce
3 TBS maple syrup for sauce



1. Preheat oven to 425. Set up a cookie rack on top of a cookie sheet and spray it with cooking spray. Pour Rice Krispies and coconut into the food processor and pulse until the size of breadcrumbs. Pour onto a plate.

2. Remove tofu from liquid and pat dry on a paper towel. Mine came in four squares which I halved horizontally and then cut diagonally to create 4 triangles per square. (16 total).

3. Crack the egg whites onto a plate and dip the tofu into it. Make sure to egg both sides. It is easiest to egg a few at a time, drop them onto the coconut Krispie plate and then use your fingers to cover them completely with coconut. Then rinse your fingers and start again. Put the tofu onto the cookie rack.

4. Bake for 5 minutes, turn down the heat to 400 and bake for an additional 10.

5. Serve with dipping sauce (mix together soy sauce and maple) if desired. I also love to saute fresh spinach and serve it on the side.

Corn Fritters AKA Pancakes for Dinner

Toddlers. One day they amaze you by hoovering everything in sight. The next day nothing will get them to eat. Fun times in our house.

We've been super frugal lately and my husband went a few months working overnights. This meant that I spent a couple of months alone with the kiddos for dinner and bedtime. (Sidenote: sarcastic "Yay") This meant that we ate pancakes for dinner. A lot. I'd strap the baby to my back and serve the toddler pancakes one by one as they came off the skillet. Pancakes are an awesome dinner because:

- They're cheap.
- They're fast.
- If I put fruit in them and use whole wheat flour they're healthy.
- Great excuse to use the amazing Grade B maple syrup a client of mine makes.
- Watching me cook them qualifies as dinner and a show to the toddler.

Now here's where we figure out if my mom reads my blog. She used to make "corn fritters" when I was little. I HATED them. I was never a big corn fan, she thought I was nuts. Basically she was serving pancakes for dinner and I was turning up my nose at them. Now I am an adult and I get it. It was an easy dinner for her to make and at the end of some days pancakes are about all I have the energy to make. So the other day I (gasp) made corn fritters. And you know what? They've grown on me.

Corn Fritters
(Serves 4)

1 cup masa harina (you could use cornmeal but the masa harina is finer and cornmeal and less likely to break apart)
1 cup frozen corn (if you use canned add a little extra flour)
1 egg
1 cup millk
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp coconut oil

1. In a bowl, beat the egg. Add the milk and masa harina. Stir until blended. Add the baking powder and salt. Mix.

2. In a skillet, melt the coconut oil. Dump it into the batter. I love coconut oil because just the residue from that little bit melted was enough to cook the entire batch of pancakes in.

3. Add corn kernels and stir.

4. Make circles of batter on the skillet and cook over medium. Flip after 1-2 minutes and try to achieve a golden brown color.

Serve warm with real maple syrup (please don't defile them with anything that didn't bleed out of a maple tree). 

Quick Eggplant "Quiche"

Eggplant is hot right now. Not just the vegetable (although I have seen assorted "arty" eggplant pics everywhere) but the color. Last week I picked up two eggplants and they've been on the counter looking at me as I deliberated on what to do with them. Last night they became.... delicious. I made a quick and easy "quiche".

Squash and Cheese, Macaroni's Healthy Cousin

I believe that last week included a holiday known as "National Leave a Zucchini on Your Neighbor's Porch Day". Even if you don't have a green thumb, zucchini and squash in gardens tend to do what bunnies do- multiply! Then you are left with an assortment of baseball bat sized zucchinis and you're begging folks to take squash home every time they come over. One particularly abundant year I sent our UPS man off with a bag of produce.

This was one day's harvest. I swear they weren't there the day before when I looked!

If you're reading this maybe you were one of the thousands of folks "googling" - What can I do with 15 pounds of squash? Well, the childhood blue box macaroni and cheese got fancied up a bit in our house.  Whether you have kids who don't love veggies or you're trying to cut out pasta, using squash as the macaroni has delicious results.

Ooey Gooey Squash and Cheese
(serves 4 hearty servings)

A glut of zucchini or squash, I used about 2 1/2 lbs- chopped into rounds it was close to 8 cups of summer squash
2 TBS oil (I used olive oil.)
3 TBS butter
3 TBS flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Wash the squash. I leave the skin on otherwise that texture ends up a little- well, squashy- after you cook it. If the squash is large slice it lengthwise and remove the seeds. (Bonus on this preparation is that you end up with elbow macaroni shaped slices.) Slice squash into 1/4" thick slices.

2. In a stockpot heat up 2 TBS oil. Add the squash and saute gently for 3-5 minutes flipping to coat all the slices. Turn the heat down to low and cover. The squash will continue to steam. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

3. In a saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Measure out your milk. When the butter is melted add the floor and whisk gently to make a smooth paste.

Slowly whisk in the milk to form a roux (basically a white gravy). Add in salt, pepper, paprika, and mustard.

Add the cheese, stirring gently to mix. Let it heat until melted completely.

4. Pour cheese sauce over the squash and stir gently until all the squash is coated in ooey, gooey melted cheese. Serve to a happy family and enjoy!

Note: This is great in the fridge as leftovers for quick kid lunches.

Garlic Scape Gnocchi with Mushrooms

Garlic scapes. Google them and you'll find 800 million garlic scape pesto recipes. These curly green snake-like veggies are abundant at my CSA at this time of year. I have to admit, I'm tired of scape pesto so I shook things up a little bit. It was freakin' delicious to shake things up. After roasting the scapes I blended them into a gnocchi base. The result? A mellow garlick-y green delicious fluffy ricotta pillow. These will happen again!

Garlic Scape Gnocchi with Mushrooms
Serves 4

Big Bunch of garlic scapes- enough to cover a cookie tray (I used about 1/2 lb)
1 egg
1 tsp salt
8 oz ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 lemons
8 oz mushrooms
2 TBS butter

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and lay scapes on it. Roast for 8 minutes and shut oven off. Leave the scapes in for a few more minutes. (If you roast for longer than 8 minutes the tips tend to burn- shutting off the oven avoids any burning.)

2. Shove the scapes into a food processor. Don't worry if you really jam them in they'll fit :) 

Process the scapes with the blade attachment until they are finely chopped. 

Add the egg, ricotta, salt, flour, and the juice of one lemon into the processor. Make sure you measure out the ricotta.

The result should be a thick paste-like dough. 

3. Flour a counter and take out a sharp knife. Set up a floured cookie sheet to put finished gnocchi on. Take the gnocchi one large spoonful at a time and roll in flour. Roll out into a snake-like shape and chop into little gnocchis. This part is really challenging to take pictures of so if you want to see step by step photos feel free to see a past post I did on Ricotta Gnocchi. 

Ready to go into the boiling water. 

4. Boil a large pot of water on the stove. You can also choose to freeze the gnocchi at this point to cook at a later date. This is a great way to have quick meals ready. To freeze- freeze in a single layer then transfer to a tupperware container once frozen. 

While you are waiting for the water to boil, melt the butter in a saucepan. Chop the mushrooms up and saute in butter. When the mushrooms are brown, add the juice from the 1/2 lemon. Lemon really helps to counteract the intensity of the scapes. 

 

Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water. Boil for 3-5 minutes. They will float to the top when they are ready. Use a slotted spoon to remove them. Don't drain into a strainer. The gnocchi will stick together and get gummy. 

Top with mushrooms and enjoy!

Refrigerator Radish Dill Pickles

Radish Dill Pickles

Early in the CSA season there are an abundance of radishes and greens to use. We eat salads nonstop and even experiment a little. My husband was NOT a fan of the mustard green juice I made :)

The ginger juice did not exactly get a "Woo-hoo" response either. 

Radish dill pickles are a new item to my lineup this year but this is now the third batch I've made. They are super simple to make as they are just refrigerator pickles. This means that I don't process them in any way- no hot water bath, no pressure canning- just good old-fashioned vinegar. I'm going to run through the steps but there will be no exact measurements. If you follow the proportions you'll be able to do this with any quantity of radishes. I had a mixing bowl full and it made 3 pint jars and one small canning jar of pickles.

You will need:
Canning jars, bands & caps
Radishes
Fresh Dill
Kosher Salt
Water
Vinegar- I use white

Soak your radishes in water for 5 minutes to remove any loose debris. Agitate the water with your hand to get dirt off of them. Dump the water and carry the bowl over to your cutting board.

Chop the roots and tops off of the radishes and halve or quarter them depending on their size. I keep a little bowl nearby to put the ends in so I can run them to the compost easily.

If you see any black spots on the outside just slice them off. If the spot is on the inside too discard the radish.

Bring the radishes back over to the sink in the bowl and give them one more rinse. Then pack them into your jars. You want to leave about 3/4" at the top for the dill. Wash your dill and take stalks of it off. Curl them into the top of the jar over the radishes. 

Pour vinegar through the dill until the jars are halfway full. 

Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of kosher salt on the top of each jar. Fill the jars the rest of the way with water.

I top off the dill at this point. I want a lot of dill flavor so I cram as much as I can fit in there. Once your done cap and band the jars. 

Turn them upside down for about an hour on the countertop so that the dill infuses into the vinegar. After an hour put them into the fridge.

Within an hour of making them the pickles will start turning pink. I try to leave them in the fridge for at least a week before we open them to eat. They keep 3-6 months in the fridge. As a fair warning, radishes make stinky pickles. They taste delicious but they are smelly. 

Spinach and Mushroom Biscuits

It's been one of those weeks. After going to the hospital Tuesday night thinking "it was time" I was discharged. Sure my contractions were 2 minutes apart but I stopped dilating shortly before I hit 4 cm so I was sent on my merry way. Since then we've been in limbo. My son came in a little over an hour from the time that my water broke and I realized I was in labor. My daughter was born in less than 4 hours from my water breaking and it would have been faster if they hadn't slowed me down with medication because of a low heart rate. So, living about 1 hour and 15 minutes from the hospital has caused much logistical planning and some nights spent at my parents house (10 minutes from the hospital). After deciding to "brave" it tonight at home I was rummaging through the fridge trying to figure out what I needed to cook that wouldn't last if we were out of the house for another three days. Finding some hard boiled eggs, spinach & mushrooms I decided that biscuits were the best vehicle for them.

Lately I've had a love affair with biscuits. I bake batch after batch, smothering them in jam and butter. It might even qualify as a fetish. And I couldn't be happier with this Spinach & Mushroom version. My husband proclaimed them "awesome" and they will be on a regular rotation here because they contain the correct combo of speed, ease, and low cost.

Spinach Mushroom Biscuits
(Makes 8 biscuits- there will be extra spinach mushroom filling to eat as a side for lunch the next day)
Just want to make plain biscuits- gather the ingredients up through the asteriks & follow instructions below!

2 cups flour
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 TBS butter
1 cup buttermilk (you could use regular milk but the buttermilk is sooo good!)
*****
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1/2 lg shallot
1 TBS oil
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 oz spinach
2 hard boiled eggs

1. Preheat oven to 450. In your mixer combine 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1 TBS baking powder.

Run the mixer for a minute to blend it all. 

Take the 6 TBS cold butter and chop it into little pieces.

Throw it into the mixer a couple pieces at a time with the blade running. 

The little butter chunks will start to get mashed into the flour. 

Measure out a cup of buttermilk. You could use regular dairy but the buttermilk flavor is amazing and incomparable.

Add the buttermilk into the mixer and mix until combined and sticky. There will still be tiny chunks of butter. This is ok. 

Flour a cutting board to dump the dough onto.

Using a spatula, put a chunk of dough onto the flour. If you're making plain biscuits you can dump the whole batch out- if you'll be doing the spinach mushroom filling it's easiest to work with one quarter of the dough at a time. 

For the filling, chop half of a shallot finely. Saute in a tablespoon of olive oil. 

Pre-sliced mushrooms were on sale so that is what I bought. I threw them into the food processor quickly to mince them so that they would be "filling-sized". 

Saute the shallots and the mushrooms together until golden brown. Add 1/4 cup of white wine (optional). Add salt and pepper. 

Add 8 oz spinach. I roughly chopped mine. Stir a few times. You want it to wilt. 

Once the spinach has wilted turn the heat up a tiny bit just to evaporate any excess liquid in the pan. 

Dice up two hard boiled eggs. Toss them into the pan with the spinach and mushrooms and turn off the heat. Toss to combine. 

My sous chef was growing restless and kept trying to pull down my pants so I gave her the mixer attachment to lick. I think she likes biscuits too. :) 

Ok, back to the biscuit dough. You've already put a quarter of it onto your flour covered board. Use your palms to gently flatten it. Do NOT roll it out. Rolling it out presses all the air out and they won't puff up all pretty. 

Now fold it in half and flip it so that the top side is now down in the flour. Flatten it again and repeat this step about 2 more times. This helps to add air so that the layers bake up fluffy. 

At this point my hands were covered in flour and the sous chef kept yelling for daddy so I missed a photo. With the dough flat you want to spread one side of it with some of the mushroom and spinach filling. Then, fold the other side over to cover the filled side. 

Filled and folded over. 

Flatten it out a little bit more, gently- so that the filling doesn't come out. 

Use a pint glass top to cut the biscuits out. Same deal if you decided not to fill them. It is very important to just push the pint glass straight down without twisting it. You should hear a little burping noise when you push down. That is good! It means your biscuits have air in them and will puff up (can you tell that puffing up is a really good thing yet?). Do not twist the glass. Twisting the glass as you cut crimps the edges and will yield flat dense biscuits. 

Your biscuits should look like this:

Repeat the above process until you've used all your dough. You will probably have some leftover filling. That's fine. You can serve extra with the biscuits or save it for lunch the next day. I like to spread it on crackers.

You can also make calzone shaped biscuits if you feel more comfortable. Just put some filling on and stretch the dough over.

Bake at 450 for 8 minutes. They will look delectable and golden brown when they come out. 

If you chose to not fill the biscuits and make plain ones they'll look lovely and golden too! I make these all the time- the height and the fluffiness is my ideal drool-worthy biscuit. 

Serve immediately. They taste best warm. Enjoy!

Spinach Mushroom Biscuits