Love People. Cook them tasty food. - Brazilian Stuffed Peppers

The Wednesday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend (wow that's a long title for a weekend!), Kevin was getting sick and I was missing my sisters.  I spontaneously decided I would drive home to Wisconsin to see my family and let Kevin battle the flu on his own (you may think this is unsympathetic of me, but it wasn't, really, because he just wanted to be left alone to sleep anyways. And I could ensure I would NOT get the flu myself, which could start an endless cycle of influenza outbreak in my household, and is not how ANY one wants to spend the winter in Pittsburgh, including Kevin.  See?  I'm nice).
Thursday night I packed my bags and made Brazilian Stuffed Peppers, which is a pretty easy dish to make, and, while it sounds like a bunch of very odd ingredients thrown together, is actually rather tasty. I don't even like olives, and this recipes calls for a lot of them. I grew up with my parents making the same recipe of stuffed peppers from Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest, which, as I may or may not have stated previously, is my absolute favorite cookbook. The nice thing about this recipe is that while there is an odd selection of ingredients, they all seem to be very interchangeable with what you have on hand, or to your specific tastes.  I do suggest, however, closing your eyes to the fact that it all sounds so odd, and just trying the recipe as-is.  I grew up with this recipe, and have made some slight changes to fit my personal tastes.  I've also changed some things only to go back to the original (i.e. I've used rice and thought about using quinoa instead of the Cream of Wheat, but for some reason, I like the Cream of Wheat better).

Recipe below:

4 bell peppers of any color (I like using a variety, it's prettier)
3 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup minced onion
3/4 cup minced black olives
3/4 cup minced green olives
1/2 cup Cream of Wheat cereal (uncooked)
1/4 cup water
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries (original recipe calls for raisins, but you could use currants or really any other dried fruit that you like)
3 cups canned or fresh tomatoes, chopped

Cut the tops off the peppers and blanch the bottoms to soften them.  Dry them and set them aside.
Saute the onions in the butter with a bit of salt until they're soft. Add the olives and Cream of Wheat, continuing to saute for another 6-8 minutes. Add the water and mix well (and be amazed at how the mixture enlarges!). Cook for another 5 minutes or so, and then remove from heat.
Add the eggs, cranberries, and salt and pepper to taste.
Stuff the peppers. Put them in a baking dish, and surround and cover them with the tomatoes. Cover them loosely with foil and put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Voila!

I ate one, and put the rest in the refri\gerator for Kevin to have if he felt like eating while I was gone.

So Friday night I left straight from work to drive the 8 1/2 hours out to Wisconsin.  I got there at about 11:30pm, WI time, and was greeted by my little sister and my dad.  Happiness!  I spent a relaxing Saturday with my 2 sisters, sister's fiance, dad and step-mom.  We had brunch at my sister's, and sat around chatting and drinking coffee for hours.  Then we got to check out where she's getting married this summer, which was so exciting to see! Eventually we made it back to my dad's and started thinking about meals.  Dinners with my dad are always the best.  He's an amazing cook, and will spend an entire afternoon cooking a fantastic meal. I love sitting in the kitchen, sometimes helping him, sometimes just chatting and sneaking tastes of everything he's working on, drinking wine, and laughing with everyone. As we sat around, I noticed a card they had on display in their kitchen.  It made me smile, because it was so perfect for the moment.

That Saturday night he made Russian Carrot Pie (also from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest), heart-attack mushrooms (yes, we actually call them this, I don't know what else they would be called - mushrooms baked in a cream sauce with lots of cheese - delicious), baked potatoes, and for dessert, my absolute favorite, chocolate orange mousse.  It was a happy, happy meal. :) I felt loved.
Sunday was a very lazy day.  My grandparents came over for a(nother) fantastic meal, and then left us to lay around and nap all day. My sisters and I stayed up late playing games and catching up.
Monday I had to get back to Pittsburgh, so I started out early, around 11:00am.  Of course, on my way out, I had to stop at O&H Bakery (best. Kringle.ever), and Mars Cheese Castle to pick up Kringle and cheese curds to bring home. Not all the curds made it home.
All in all, a long trip to do on my own, but tasty food was cooked, and I felt loved. I suppose that's all that really matters.

A Lil Bit(e) of 2013 - Moroccan Carrot and Chick Pea Salad

2013 came in with a bang and is hear with a vengeance - I can't believe we're halfway through the month already!  To end the holidays, I got a delightful cold, most likely due to my lack of attention to the fact that I now live in Pittsburgh, rather than San Diego, when dressing myself in the morning.  I still haven't quite gotten the knack for wearing socks, or a coat that is for warmth rather than a fashion statement.  But whatever.
This is my first week back at work (and it's been a hell of one - TGIF!), as well as my first week back to cooking normal dinners for Kevin and I (i.e. rather than cookies, snacks, or random side dishes to bring to holiday family dinners).  As most Americans do these first few weeks of January, I am craving healthy foods - colorful veggies, lots of citrus (for the cold!), and things that are all around not covered in a cream sauce or in sugar. Therefore, when I saw a recipe on 101 cookbooks for this Moroccan Carrot and Chick Pea salad, my taste buds perked right up.  When I think Moroccan, I think warm and spicy flavors, yet the carrots and chick peas sounded down right American-after-the-holiadys delicious.
Perhaps my favorite thing about this recipe was the fact that I got to use my mortar and pestle, which makes me feel like an aspiring and exciting chef, as well as possibly an old Native American woman, when I use it. I, in my usual fashion, made some changes and updates to my taste preferences and the (pathetic) availability of ingredients at any store near my abode.

I first made the dressing by toasting 1/2 Tbs of cumin seeds in a skillet until the seeds were lightly browned (about a minute or two). I then ground the seeds into a powder with my trusty mortar and pestle.
In a small bowl, I mixed together 1/3 cup of olive oil, 2 Tbs. lemon juice, 1 Tbs of honey, my ground cumin, 1/4 tsp of salt, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Then I stuck it in the fridge so all the flavors could introduce themselves to each other.
In a medium bowl, I mixed a 10 oz. bag of grated carrots, 1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed), 1/2 cup of pitted dates, chopped in quarters, and 1/3 cup of fresh mint. I tossed it together and stuck that in the fridge.  I also browned some almonds in the cumin seed skillet. Once we were about ready to eat, I took it all out of the fridge, and tossed the salad together with the carrot/chick pea mixture, dressing, and the almonds.  I also added a little more salt to taste.

To go with the salad, I made a quick and easy orzo pasta (I've been on a big orzo kick for the last month or so).  I sauteed up some onion and garlic, added in some vegetable broth, and brought it to a boil.  Then I added in the orzo, and cooked it, covered, until it was done and the liquid was gone (about 15 minutes).  I mixed in some freshly grated parmesan and some black pepper, and called it a meal.
It was delicious.  Easy and delicious.  And not super bad for me, either.  Wooooo!
Enjoi!