Barbecue Tempeh Melt

Do you want to know a secret delicious-enhancer for tempeh? Cut a clove of garlic into thin slices, then cut little slits in the tempeh and carefully tuck the garlic slices inside. Cook as you normally would. For me, that generally means sauteeing it with a little olive oil over medium heat until browned on both sides.

To make this sandwich, melt some mozzarella on top of the cooked tempeh, layer with some tomato slices between toast, and barbecue sauce it.

Banana Bread

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Naan Pizza

You know that genre of tv cook whose angle is "single lady?" Yeah. Annoying, right? And I'm not mean or single-hating, of course, but, come on, salmon and risotto for one? Nuh-uh. When I cook for myself, I never ever take the elaborate route. In fact, most of what I eat when I eat alone isn't really cooked at all: cereal, toast, crackers (I like grains!), maybe a sandwich. That's why I'm so proud of this easy and delicious non-pizza, har har:

Naan from my freezer. Pizza sauce from a jar. The entire leftover grab and go contents of my refrigerator. Cheese. Oven. 10 minutes. Done. I recommend it for one or many.

Whole Grain Yellow Cake with Raspberry Filling and Rasberry Buttercream Frosting

Monday was my mom's birthday. We hosted a dinner party in her honor last weekend and I guess it's a testament to its success that I only managed to snap this one photo. The menu: acorn squash soup with celery root, mushroom lasagna with white sauce, a simple salad of greens and cherry tomatoes, and this cake. One day I promise to share the soup and lasagna recipes, but for now: let us eat cake.

I used this recipe for the cake proper, substituting whole grain pastry flour for the cake flour called for.

And for the frosting, I used ye olde Mark Bittman's not too sweet buttercream frosting recipe. PLUS, I added some raspberry juice (spooned out of the raspberries as they were cooking down) to the frosting, dyeing it a subtle pink and slightly flavoring it.

Raspberry filling:

1, 10 ounce bag of frozen raspberries
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons grapefruit zest
2-4 tablespoons sugar to taste

Stir the ingredients together in a small pot over medium heat. Cook down. This takes 15 minutes or so? Unfortunately I wasn't paying much attention to the time. But the point is to cook it down until it's a smooth, thick but not dry sauce. Spoon and spread this out between the cakes, then frost. And, if you're feeling cutesy, you could carefully form a heart shape by sticking upside-down fresh raspberries to the top of the cake. And then maybe sprinkle some powdered sugar on top of that, because, you know, why not?

Butternut Squash + Hazelnut Hash

So, remember when I made this really delicious thing? Well, yeah, that was really delicious. But it's no longer November, with its permissive pre-holiday luxury eating. So I decided to take the flavors from that dish and make this lighter version. Truth be told, it wasn't as good. But it was pretty good. And not near as richly heartbreaky. A nice end-of-Winter meal.

1 medium onion, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup hazelnuts toasted, loose skins rubbed off with a kitchen towel, and coarsely chopped
Parmesan (skip for vegan version)

Saute the onion in the olive oil until softened. Add squash, garlic, salt and white pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, sage, and nuts. Grate parmesan over top.

Egg Salad

1/2 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 turnip, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon good mustard -- dijon or whole grain, for example
6 hard boiled eggs

Combine the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir.

Egg salad is so versatile -- you could substitute your favorite herbs or aromatics. Chives and celery root would be delicious here.

There's a Mustache in my Coffee

Last weekend, I tried to make a foam heart in my coffee. I made a mustache instead.

Apple Cinnamon Pan-fried Oatmeal

This is so easy and elegant. Make oatmeal as you like (I like chopped apples, sugar and cinnamon), then let it cool slightly. Pack the cooked oatmeal into a mold (I used a 1/2 cup measuring cup), and turn it out onto a hot buttered skillet. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes per side.

Apple Oatmeal Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped small

Mix the dry ingredients together and add the wet ingredients and the apple. Whisk to combine. Spoon onto a hot griddle and cook for a couple minutes on each side.