January 05, 2017

15-minute chicken

January 05, 2017/ Rebecca Davis

Ooof. This is the part of Whole 30 in which I just want to take a LOOOOOONG nap. I think my intense holiday cookies-for-breakfast habit is making this first week tougher than any of my other rounds. I haven't wanted to cheat...actually, I totally wanted a slice of pizza yesterday. Nevermind. So, I've wanted to cheat, but haven't because I have the vision of how great I'll feel in a few days dancing in my head.

What helps during these tired, saggy days at the beginning is having a few really fast recipes ready. We also bought a pressure cooker last year, which has been incredible during Whole 30 because we don't even have to "set it and forget it." We can literally forget it and then do it when we panic that there's nothing for dinner. Not that we ever do that.

15-minute chicken | Me & The Moose. This Whole 30-compliant chicken is made with an instant pot or other pressure cooker and is ready sooo fast. It’s full of garlic and tomatoes and is incredibly savory and rich, but is also clean and simple. #m…

This recipe is based on a classic from Gourmet that I found via Smitten Kitchen. We've made the original and it is stupidly easy and GLORIOUS. But it requires a few hours of cooking time and I lack the mental energy for that at the moment. Also, we OD'd on red meat at the end of the year, so we decided to try this with a whole chicken in the pressure cooker. You could definitely make this with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, breasts, or a combination of both, but I wouldn't do boneless, skinless anything because the fat from the skin and bones is what gives the sauce its richness. Also, 3-4 lbs of chicken may seem like a lot, but the chicken, like the meat in the original recipe, is slightly more delicious the next day. I do recommend straining the fat after cooking because there's quite a bit of it. Also, don't skimp on the garlic. You may balk at the idea of feeding a head of garlic to a toddler, but leaving the skin means that the cloves get all mellow and buttery without disintegrating in the sauce and making the whole thing taste overwhelmingly garlicky.

We served this with some smashed potatoes that we just chopped, placed in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and microwaved for 8 minutes until fork tender and then smashed with a few Tbsp of clarified butter and seasoned with salt and pepper.

We bought our chicken pre-cut at the grocery store, but you could get your butcher to cut a whole chicken for you or do it yourself at home.

Pressure cooked chicken with garlic and tomatoes

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, about 4 lbs
1 box/large can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes, about 28 oz
1 head of garlic
S/P

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place in the pressure cooker, largest pieces on the bottom. Take apart the bulb of garlic and remove only the flaky outer skin that comes off easily, leaving on the layer of skin around each clove. Add the garlic to the pressure cooker and space out the cloves to avoid any clumps of garlic. Pour the tomatoes over the chicken and garlic and close the pressure cooker. Set to high pressure and poultry, or 15 minutes. Cook. Let the pressure release on its own once cooking is over.

To crisp the chicken skin slightly, place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes or until you’ve reached your desired crispness. The skin won’t get CRISPY since the chicken is already cooked, but it will firm up a bit. If you plan to remove the skin, skip this step and eat immediately.

Yield: 2 hearty meals for a family of 2 adults and a toddler, plus extra sauce to strain and use in other recipes, if desired.

January 02, 2017

Kale pesto

January 02, 2017/ Rebecca Davis

This easy pesto packs lots of veggies into a versatile green sauce that can jazz up any meal.

Take me to the pesto!

I love playing the game “Will it pesto?” It’s similar to two of my other favorite games, “Does it pizza?” and “Will it waffle?” I can safely say that kale is one of my favorite contestants in this game. I skipped the dairy in this recipe, but as always, feel free to go with your gut and add in 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan or other nutty, dry cheese.

Kale pesto

Time: 15 minutes, all active
Yield: About 1 1/2 cups

Adapted from The Kitchn
4 cups chopped kale, firmly packed
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 cup fresh basil, loosely packed
2 large garlic cloves
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/2 cup olive oil

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and fill another large bowl about half way with ice water. Wash and chop kale, but don’t worry about removing the tough stems because everything will be blended anyway. When water is at a rolling boil, add the kale and swirl with a slotted spoon a few times. When kale is a bit wilted (about 1-2 minutes), remove it from the boiling water and immediately add it to the bowl of ice water.

Drain the kale. I don’t drain it very thoroughly (I just take it out of the water and shake it a few times) because I think a little extra water helps to thin the sauce without adding more oil, but you can pat the kale dry if you want a thicker pesto. Add to your blender or food processor.

Roast the walnuts in a 350 oven or toaster oven for about 5 minutes or until just lightly browned and starting to smell nutty. You can also toast them in a sauté pan on the stove top. When browned, add them to the blender or food processor as well.

Add the basil, garlic, salt, and lemon juice and start to blend, slowly adding the olive oil in a thin stream. If using a small food processor or a blender without a top that opens, just add the oil with the rest of the ingredients and process together. Blend until you've reached your desired consistency.

December 27, 2016

Vegan raspberry doughnuts

December 27, 2016/ Rebecca Davis

Want to switch up the traditional sufganiyot this year? Or want to add something baked, but not heavy to your breakfast rotation? Try these vegan baked raspberry doughnuts that feature whole wheat flour, flax seed meal, coconut sugar, and applesauce for a baked treat that tastes great, but doesn’t spike your blood sugar or weigh you down like a traditional doughnut.

Take me to the recipe!

Okay, so I’m a fan of eating traditional foods in the traditional way, so I was a little apprehensive about “healthifying” a fried jelly doughnut. HOWEVER! I feel like these stray so far from the original that they aren’t really a “healthified” dessert as much as an entirely different thing that you could also eat at Hannukah that would taste delicious.

This baked doughnut journey started with Ina’s Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts and they were delicious, but very very sweet, especially with the icing and sprinkles I used.

I reduced the sugar in the batter, which definitely helped, but they weren't really a healthy alternative to traditional fried sufganiyot. The mountain of powdered sugar in the icing totally undid any of the benefits of baking. So, I decided to start a recipe from scratch and also make them safe for kids with allergies. These beauties are egg-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, and don't use any processed sugar. They're also super tasty! I'm actually fighting the urge to eat one right now.

A couple of notes:

Flax eggs: In my recent vegan baking adventures, I've tried a few different combinations of flax seed, water, and baking powder. I like Joy the Baker's best. She combines 1 Tbsp of flax seed meal with 3 Tbsp of water and lets this goop sit for 30 minutes. At the end, she stirs in a generous pinch of baking powder and uses the flax egg immediately. I used 1/8 tsp of baking powder and it worked quite well.
Coconut milk: I called for reduced fat or light coconut milk in this recipe because too much fat can weight things down and since we’re using an egg replacer, the doughnuts get too dense with too much fat. If you can only find regular, use the liquid in the can and leave the hard, coconut cream at the top. Also, replace the olive oil with another Tbsp of applesauce.
Olive oil: I like to add a little extra olive oil in the doughnut pans to mimic the “fried” taste of traditional doughnuts. But I really mean A LITTLE (about 1/8th of a tsp works just fine.) If you do this, heat the oil and the pan for about 3 minutes in the oven before carefully adding the batter and baking.

Vegan raspberry doughnuts

Time: 30 minutes, half active, half baking
Yield: 9 donuts

1 Flax egg (1 Tbsp flax seed meal, 3 Tbsp water, and 1/8 tsp baking powder)
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup light coconut milk *(see notes above about using regular coconut milk)
1 Tbsp apple sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup freeze-dried raspberries

Preheat oven to 375.

Make flax egg. In a small bowl, combine flax seed meal and water and stir well. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Prep your doughnut pan by spraying with olive oil (see notes about about adding a little extra olive oil to the pan).

In a large bowl, combine the flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

In a measuring cup, whisk together the coconut milk, olive oil, and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients and the raspberries to the batter and stir to combine. When the flax egg is ready, add 1/8th of a tsp of baking powder to the flax and water goop and stir well. Add to the batter and stir gently to combine.

Spoon mixture into greased doughnut molds until ¾ full.

Bake for 17 minutes, flipping the pans halfway through to ensure even baking. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

December 20, 2016

Spinach and artichoke spread

December 20, 2016/ Rebecca Davis

Throw some spinach, artichokes, garlic, and cheese in a blender and you have a versatile spread that you can eat all week.

Take me to the recipe!

Who has time to cook before Christmas? Between prepping Christmas and Hannukah dinners, cookie swaps, last-minute gifts, wrapping, school parties, work parties, and the million other things going on, dinner is probably low on the priority list. Another challenge is that, at least in our house, all of this holiday hoopla has thrown us off schedule, which makes feeding a toddler even more difficult. After all, an overstimulated and tired kid is a cranky, fussy mess.

So, this weekend I whipped up some spinach and artichoke spread and we've been eating it in a million different ways: As a dip with carrots and crackers, thinned out and made into a pasta sauce, and with bread and tomato as a grilled cheese. I reduced the amount of cream cheese and cheese in most spinach and artichoke dips and increased the amount of spinach. It's been really convenient having something so versatile at our disposal and the variety keeps it interesting for M. And did I mention that this is a no-cook recipe that comes together in the time it takes to blend the ingredients? VERY helpful when time is limited.

Spinach and artichoke spread

Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 cups dip

2 oz cream cheese
1 cup Parmesan or Romano
1 can of artichoke hearts (or a heaping cup, 9 hearts, 8.5 oz)
4 medium garlic cloves
2 cups raw baby spinach, packed very tightly
1/2 tsp kosher salt
pepper to taste (I like to use Aleppo pepper for little kick, but feel free to use black pepper)

Put everything (raw spinach and garlic included!) in the food processor and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

December 17, 2016

Cardamom and pistachio meltaways

December 17, 2016/ Rebecca Davis

A few ingredients and a quick whizz in the food processor leads to quick, easy, and delicious cookies for your holiday cookie tray.

Take me to the cookies!

These cookies are GOOD, y'all. Sorry, I've been watching a marathon of Fixer Upper while writing, which is really the only logical reason for this Yankee to use the word "y'all." Anyway, I've called these cookies "meltaways," but they're the treat of 1000 names: Snowballs, Butterballs, Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cookies, meltaways, you name it. At their core, these are egg-free, simple cookies that are a little crumbly, very buttery, and subtly sweet. Adding in cardamom and pistachio just makes them a tiny bit more interesting.

I tested this recipe more than was technically necessary (not sorry). But it felt like there were many possible variations that would radically change the final product, so here are a few lessons:

1) Buy already roasted and shelled pistachios, if you can. Trader Joe's calls them "nutmeats" which is just awful. But your fingertips will thank you.
2) Use unsalted nuts even though you're adding salt to the batter.
3) The amount of cardamom in the recipe is for a new or newish bottle. If you can smell the cardamom when you open the bottle, use less. If you have to really stick your nose close to the spice to smell it, increase the amount. I used the dregs of a VERY old bottle of cardamom in my initial recipe and I had to more than double the amount used to get the taste I wanted. Then I tried with a brand new bottle and 1/2 tsp was more than enough. So, get friendly with your spices to judge for yourself.

Cardamom and pistachio meltaways

Time: about 30 minutes, mostly active
Yield: 14 cookies

Adapted from Bon Appetit

1 cup roasted, shelled pistachios
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 Tbsp powdered sugar, plus 1/2 cup more for rolling
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½-1 tsp cardamom
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ tsp lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350. If they aren’t already roasted, place the pistachios on a sheet pan and roast them until the nuts become fragrant, about 4 minutes.

In the bowl of the food processor, whizz the butter and 2 Tbsp of sugar until the butter has broken down, formed a ball, and then spread itself out again, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla, flour, cardamom, salt, lemon zest, and pistachios. Whizz again until the nuts are broken down and the ingredients are combined.

Scoop a scant 1 Tbsp of dough at a time, roll into a ball, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with all of the batter. Bake for 7 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake for 4-7 more minutes, until the cookies start browning on the bottom and form tiny cracks on top (but too much cracking means dry cookies, so be careful not to overbake).

Let cool completely. Place about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and roll the cooled cookies in the sugar, one at a time. Leave out for a few hours before storing: This helped keep the sugar from dissolving into the cookies, I found.

Elevated family food

Pressure cooked chicken with garlic and tomatoes

Kale pesto

Vegan raspberry doughnuts

Spinach and artichoke spread

Cardamom and pistachio meltaways

Me & The Moose