For most of us our Thanksgiving menus are probably pretty standard. You know, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, lots of pie, and so on. This year will be my third time hosting Thanksgiving and I will be cooking a lot of the same things I did the last two years. The only difference is I make sure to check with new guests to make sure the one thing they love most will be on the table.

But I got to thinking about changing up Thanksgiving menus after listening to the podcast Gravy. This podcast is made by the Southern Foodways Alliance, which tells stories about the American South through food. In the episode called “Coming Out Meatless,” part of the episode was about a young man who became a vegetarian and when he went home for Thanksgiving there was only one dish he could eat. And it got me thinking, what would I cook if I were to make a vegetarian Thanksgiving? What I came up with was squash stuffed with lentils. 

Once while eating at Eataly in New York I had acorn squash stuffed with lentils and it was the best vegetarian meal I have ever had. I don’t remember all the details about this dish, but I still remember the happy satisfied feeling I felt after the meal. And I think that’s what you really want on Thanksgiving. You want everyone at your table to end the meal feeling happy, satisfied, and very full.

This recipe is great for that full feeling because anything stuffed gives a sense of abundance. It’s easy to pile the squash high with the lentil salad – and even better you can have it spilling out of the squash to make the meal look plentiful. I think it’s also a good vegetarian main dish because you have filling proteins from the lentils, a bit of healthy fats and a nice crunch from the pecans, and just a subtle sweetness from the squash and cranberries.

Thanksgiving isn’t just about eating a lot, it’s also about connecting to the people you love. Sure, you could order a cheese pizza for the vegetarian at your table and they’d be full, but I imagine that would make them feel left out. I think this recipe for squash stuffed with lentils is great because it uses some of the same seasonal ingredients (squash and cranberries) and herbs (thyme) that you’ll have elsewhere on the table. Food is a great way to bring people together and this recipe will fit in nicely with whatever else is on your Thanksgiving menu.

The squash I used for this recipe is called a harlequin squash. I think in the US it might be called a carnival squash. I did some research to try to confirm this but I was unable to find any sentence that explicitly said this. However, on US websites about squash the photos that looked like the one above were labeled carnival squash and I couldn’t find anything on a US website called harlequin squash. Is anyone out there a squash expert that could confirm this? If so, please write it in the comments.

Anyway you can also use an acorn squash for this recipe. In fact, use any squash you like but I think acorn or harlequin/carnival are the best because they look like personal sized portions when cut in half. Do what feels right to you and it’ll be delicious.

Anyway I think this recipe is so delicious that even the omnivores at the table will want some. What will be on your Thanksgiving table? Are you trying anything new this year?Write it in the comments. I’d love to know!

Adapted from Lentils.ca

Messy level: Not very messy at all. The biggest challenge is cutting the squash but that’s hardly messy. I think the only danger is spilling the lentils when pouring them into the squash. And that’s not worth worrying about.

Squash stuffed with Lentils

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

Serves: 6 squash halves

Ingredients

• 3 harlequin/carnival or acorn squashes
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup green lentils
• 3 cups vegetable stock (or water, but stock has more flavor)
• 2 garlic cloves
• ¾ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup chopped pecans
• leaves from 4-6 sprigs thyme
• 1 tablespoon of butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
2. Cut the top of the squashes off. Cut the squashes in half and scoop out the seeds. Discard the seeds.
3. Cut off a bit of the back of the squash so that it will sit flat on a baking sheet.
4. Place the squash on a baking sheet. Drizzle the squash with olive oil, salt, pepper, and the garlic powder. (You can use more than ½ teaspoon garlic powder if you like!)
5. Roast squash in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until fork tender.
6. Meanwhile, start cooking the lentils. Wash the lentils and pick out any debris you might find.
7. Place the two garlic cloves on your cutting board. Take a chef's knife and put it flat (so the blade is parallel to the cutting board) on top of the garlic cloves. Use the heel of your hand to hit the knife and smash the garlic.
8. In a large sauce pan combine the stock, lentils and crushed garlic. Bring the stock to a boil then cover the pan and lower the heat so the liquid simmers. Cook until lentils are tender, this can take between 20-40 minutes. It's ok to lift the lid from time to time and test the lentils to see if they are soft and tender. Once cooked drain off any excess liquid and scoop out the crushed garlic.
9. In a large bowl mix the lentils, cranberries, pecans, and thyme. Stir in the butter too.
10. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your taste.
11. Once the squash is cooked, spoon the lentil salad into the squash. Fill until slightly overflowing.
12. Serve!

3.3.3077

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You know how there are food trends? Like kale, which no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get into. Or coconut oil, which is one I’m thinking about trying out. Well, there are big food trends, and there are small family food trends. In the Cooking is Messy household, we currently have two. Ryan is in to bulgur and is requesting it over the usual rice or quinoa. If you haven’t had bulgur before, you should try it because it’s lovely. It’s got nice texture, a sort of funny rough shape, and a nice grainy flavor. And for me, I’m into pomegranates. I want them on everything – sweet or savory. So, I made up this salad that combined the two foods Ryan and I are craving.

If I’m honest, this salad was inspired by one that I buy at work from Benugo’s (the company that caters all the cafes in the Science Museum). That salad has a ton going on and includes falafel, peas, arugula (rocket), hummus, cheese, and way more. I decided to pare down to the essential while allowing this dish to be a multi-food group power house.

This dish is truly inspired by my work, because in addition to working at the Science Museum I still help work on some curriculum for Live It Learn It. I’m currently brainstorming a lesson on nutrition and I’ve been thinking a lot about healthy meals and balanced diets – which has inspired me to turn my research and writing into a reality. I’m really proud of this dish because it includes four out of five food group. To break it down, the bulgur is your grains, the pomegranate is fruit, the arugula is your veg, and the chickpeas and almonds are protein. Sprinkle on a little cheese and you’d have all five food groups.

I think this salad is pretty good plain with just a little pepper or salt sprinkled on it – but it’s even better with a little dressing. It gives the salad a little moisture, a little more pep, and a little Mediterranean feel. This dressing recipe comes from Chubby Soul, a blog that is written by another American expat in London.

Any food trends you think are worth checking out? Any that you think are totally dumb? I’m always looking for recipe inspiration so please let me know what you think in the comments.

Messy level: The bulgur is the only thing you have to cook, which means only one pot. After that, all you are doing is measuring and mixing. So easy, so quick, and clean too.

Bulgur Pomegranate Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Nice healthy salad. Feel free to mix up the ingredient to the proportions you like.

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 cup bulgur
• 2 cups water
• 1 14oz can chickpeas
• ½ cup arugula
• ⅓ cup pomegranate
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• salt and pepper, to taste

Dressing

• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Following the package instructions for how to cook the bulgur or...In a medium saucepan, bring the 2 cups of water to boil. Once boiling add the bulgur. Lower the heat, cover, and let simmer for 10-12 minutes. It's ready when the bulgur is tender and the water is absorbed. If it's not all absorbed, then drain the excess water.
2. Once cooked, fluff the bulger and let it cool slightly. Meanwhile, rinse and drain the canned chickpeas.
3. Transfer the bulgur to a large bowl. Stir in the chickpeas.
4. Next, stir in the arugula. pomegranate, and almonds.
5. Season with salt and pepper if you like.
6. Now for the dressing. In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix until smooth. Taste and adjust as you see fit.
7. Serve the salad in individual bowls and pour dressing over the top.

3.2.2925

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This is one of those recipes. Coronation chicken was created in 1953 for banquet of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Ryan and I have had it a few times for lunch and it’s really tasty. It’s a cold, sweet, and savory chicken salad. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve only had this recipe at one place. That means I don’t have enough experience to say what is most authentic, best, or worst. All I can say, is that what I’ve had in the shop is good and what I made was good. What I made tasted similar to the restaurant version, but not the same. And that seems to make sense because there are tons of recipe variations out there. I found simple three ingredient recipes, complex and difficult recipes, and ones somewhere in between. I chose this one from the Guardian, and I liked it because it was a mix of ingredients I already had in the pantry and a few special ones I had to buy. Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 chicken, about 1.5kg/3.3 lb

1 cinnamon stick

5 black peppercorns (or a few twists from a pepper mill)

1 tsp salt

pinch of saffron

thumb size piece of ginger, peeled

bay leaf

5 tbsp mango chutney

50g/ 1/3 cup dried apricots, finely chopped

2 tbsp curry powder

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

200 ml or a little more than 3/4 cup mayonnaise

200 ml  or a little more than 3/4 cup Greek yogurt

50g/ 1/3 cup sliced almonds

Small bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Put the chicken, breast side up in a large pot. Add the cinnamon, pepper, saffron, salt, bay leaf, and half the ginger. Fill with cold water until only the top of the breast is exposed.

2. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook for 1.5 hours. Take out of the pan and set aside to cool.

3. Remove the meat and cut or rip into bite sized pieces. Set aside until lukewarm.

4. Finely chop up the rest of the ginger.

5. Put the chutney and apricots in a large bowl.

6. In a pan, toast the curry powder until fragrant. This takes only 45 seconds or so. This is done to help bring out the flavors more strongly.

7. Add the curry and ginger into the bowl with the chutney and apricots.

8. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, then mayonnaise, then yogurt. Taste. Season to your liking. I added more curry.

9. Once the chicken is cold, mix in the dressing. Refrigerate for a couple hours. Try your best to do this, it really improves the flavors!

10. Add the cilantro and almonds.

11. Eat on a salad or on a roll.

Messy level: This recipe is pretty messy simply because there are so many steps. I found it messiest working with the chicken. I had a hard time getting it neatly out of the pot and onto a plate and then I used my hands to remove the chicken. This was a bit drippy and sticky. I also felt I needed a lot of bowls and utensils for cutting, for the sauce, and for the chicken. Still, a long lazy day at home gives me time for a big clean up.

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My family and I went to Crete because my mom’s colleague Elias was getting married. We stayed at Bella Vista, a hotel in Stalida (Stalis) Crete owned by Elias’ parents. They were the most generous and hospitable hosts I’ve ever met. The hotel is up on a hill, about a ten minute walk from the beach. There is a pool, a family of semi-stray cats, and a gorgeous view. About thirty wedding guests stayed at the hotel and every night up to the wedding Elias’ parents cooked a giant feast. There was salad, bread, lamb, meatballs and much more. Sorry I didn’t take any pictures of the food.

We spent a lot of time lounging at the pool. We also took the walk over to the beach. Although technically not far, it was hilly and  very hot – which resulted in some amount of whining on the walk. One day at the beach Papa and I rode a banana boat. We had done it years and year ago when I was in middle school and I remember it being so much fun. If you’re not familiar you can see a picture of it here. Basically it’s a floppy raft pulled behind a motor boat and as the boat hits the waves, the banana boat bounces. It was fun – but also super scary. We were riding with two other tourists and I ended up in the very front of the boat. I was bouncing around like crazy and holding on in a crazy white-knuckle grip. When I got off and back to solid ground, my hands hurt and could barely uncurl. My mom said she could see my flying off the seat during the ride. As I said it was fun and scary. I’m glad we did it – but it was like a haunted house tour because it’s almost more fun to remember it after than to actually do it.

One of the days Elias’ parents organized an outing for the guests. We went to Knossos and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. Knossos is an archaeological site of a palace that is tied to the myths of King Minos and the minotaur. I was so very excited to go there but we had the worst tour guide ever. She was wearing an orange beach sarong as a dress and matching orange jewelry. She spent 40 minutes of our hour tour talking by the entrance, and wouldn’t budge when Elias and his friend asked her to show us the sites. She also spent most of her tour complaining about how European excavators did everything wrong. They may have done it all wrong, but I wanted to learn about the people who lived here and she spoke little about that. It was really annoying and we didn’t see everything I would have liked. She almost convinced us not to go to the throne room too, but what we did see was pretty cool. I enjoyed picturing what the palace would have looked like whole and how gorgeous it would have been covered in frescoes.

After Knossos we went to a nearby restaurant and had an epic feast. There was of course salad, lamb, bread, and olive oil. But there were also snails, tomatoes on crusty bread, squash blossoms stuffed with meat, and beer. The group of about twenty of us sat at a big long table and they kept bringing out course after course. We’d finish a drink and a new one would appear. Since we were celebrating a wedding they brought us a traditional rice dish that is supposed to bring fertility. It mostly tasted like hot rice with chicken broth. It was an amazing meal and afterward we were stuffed. I apologize for my messy pictures but I was half way through gorging myself before I thought to take pictures.

Lunch completed, we went to the Archaeological Museum. Since our first tour guide was awful, Elias’ best man (who is a doctor not a tour guide) led us through the museum. He was awesome! So knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He knew so much about Crete and the history of the island. I took pictures of the giant intact storage pots and the frescoes from Knossos. The originals are at the museum and copies at actual Knossos. Also I took a picture of the snake goddess, which I had learned about in undergrad art history. Apparently early cultures on Crete were a matriarchal society and the bare chested woman holding snakes was a powerful symbol. Cool, right?

The wedding itself was the last Saturday we were there. The ceremony was outside a tiny chapel next to the water. The guests waited outside the chapel and the bride and groom were driven up separately in a beautiful convertible with the horn blaring their arrival. It was fun an exciting. They processed with their families toward the altar in front of the chapel and the guests all gathered around them. It was more casual than any wedding I’d been to before. People in the back of the crowd talked to each other quietly and walked around a little. At one point in the ceremony, the bride and groom are wearing crowns connected together. They walked around the altar and the guests threw rice from small bags at them. The bride had told me earlier that in total they had bought 30 pounds of rice to throw! There was rice everywhere and all night we could see rice in peoples’ hair.

The reception afterward was gorgeous. It was at a resort that was so amazing because the rooms looked like little villas and were on winding streets. The reception was held in a huge hall right along the water. The buffet was enormous. There was one room of mains and one room of desserts. There was so many kinds of meat too – lamb, chicken, beef, rabbit, and fish. There was also more traditional fertility rice, like we had at lunch. In the dessert room there was baklava, six flavors of ice cream, cookies, cakes, and fruit. They had a dj, a band, and traditional Greek dancers. And there were shots. So many shots of raki and ouzo that just kept coming. There was lots of Greek dancing too. I was too shy, but my parents were brave enough to jump in and try it.

It was a great night and we spent the next day relaxing by the pool drinking lemon Fanta. The whole experience – wedding, pool, banana boat, and food – was absolutely incredible.  It was really tough leaving Crete – it’s just so flipping beautiful.

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But I’m getting ahead of myself. Last week I flew back to London, back to our cute little flat, and back to Ryan. It was wonderful to be back. Done with the move and done with long distance. Now, on to be an expat. The only draw back of my arrival was that the airline lost my luggage for just over 24 hours. I was grumpy about it, but at least I eventually got it back.

On the Thursday after I got back, Ryan took the day off and we went to the zoo. After living in DC, I was a little spoiled on free zoos, but the London Zoo is totally worth the money. It was awesome. We saw so many animals and they weren’t just lounging around they were walking and doing stuff. Exciting, right? We saw a komodo dragon, a tiger, giant tortoises, and a okapi – which I didn’t even know existed and has a butt like a zebra.

Then on Friday, my parents and my brother Eric arrived in London. We took one of those double-decker bus tours and it was really fun seeing so much of the city and learning random facts. Then, Monday, less than week back in London, and we were off to Greece.

My family! L to R, Papa, Eric, Ryan, Mama

We are lucky enough to have this family vacation in Greece because my mom was invited by a colleague to his wedding in Crete. Incredible, I know! But before the wedding, and before  Crete, we spent a few days in Athens. I have been wanting to go to Athens for about seven years – since I studied abroad in Rome, and fell in love with Classical art, architecture, history, and mythology.

Athens was AMAZING. First, to blow your minds, our hotel had a view of the acropolis. When Ryan pointed it out I was in disbelief. It was there? I was finally seeing it?! Later we went to the hotel’s roof bar and the view was even more breath taking at night (although my pictures didn’t come out well).

Anyway, day 1 in Athens and the five us make the sweaty hot trip up to the acropolis. I can’t explain how amazing the experience was. I loved seeing things I learned about over ten years ago in an art history lecture hall at the University of Maryland. I loved walking among stone and sculptures that have witnessed history. It was incredible to look out over a vast and built up city with this ancient history in the middle of it. And the Parthenon – wow. I was in awe of it. In awe of the building, the history, the city. It was great to imagine what it was like when people actually came to worship Athena. I can’t say anymore, just look at these sweet pictures.

I also insisted on seeing every single thing at the National Archaeological Museum. I was really impressed by that museum. Some of you might be reading this thinking, “archaeological museum, snooze-fest.” But I loved it. I know this blog is my platform for talking about food  (and I’ll get there I promise) but my training is in museums so let me chat on that for sec. Pieces of pottery and faded carvings can be a snooze-fest, I’ll admit. But this museum put the pieces together with reconstructed pieces to give a full picture of what the object was. I liked seeing real pieces put together with a reconstruction to create a full vase. And for faded carvings, they had color reproductions next to the original. It helped provide context and let me imagine a little better. And there were awesome maps and info graphics to put these objects into a historical context. Ok, I’ll stop. I know I’m dorking out on museums.

Ryan and I also went to the Agora to check out some more ruins. In case you don’t want to Google Agora, it was a commercial center in Athens. It was a place where people went for religion, shopping, art, and what have you. It was amazing to walk around among foundations of buildings and temples. The Agora museum had more pottery pieces and sculptures – but it also had 6th-4th century cooking equipment. See, I told you I’d get back to food. It’s cool that some of these objects look so similar. Below are pictures of a cheese grater, grill, casserole, oven, and spit.

And while we’re talking about food, let’s just say I AM IN HEAVEN. First, I love Greek salads. Greek salad is what I eat when Ryan is away for dinner, and that’s because he doesn’t like olives or feta cheese. I have been indulging to the utmost.  Also we have had delicious lamb and beef, bread, olive oil, tomatoes. In the pictures below there is mousaka, something like a falafel, tzatziki, stuffed lamb, Greek salad, potatoes, and other things I don’t know the name of. This was all from Xenois Zeus, a restaurant in Athens with a great roof-top view dining room.  And while less widely lauded, I’ve also had tons of Fanta Lemon, which is my favorite soda of all time. I’m hoping to find a cookbook and maybe sneak in few Greek recipes in after vacation. I’ll write more about Crete when I’m back in London!

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Meanwhile, while I was doing that, Ryan was in Brussels for work. How cool is that?! Seems super cool to me. He did get to do a bit of walking around, he ate an awesome waffle, and he even saw the King of Belgium! I was jealous. He was only there overnight, so I didn’t go with him, which means I was making dinner for one.

Now, I’ve mentioned it before, but when I’m alone I make girly, vegetarian, salads. My go-to is usually a Greek salad because Ryan doesn’t like olives or feta. I decided to put a twist on a regular salad and do a pretty liberal interpretation of this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Part of the reason for interpreting the recipe is that I don’t currently have access to an oven or food processor. What I found is you don’t need an oven, but a food processor would definitely be helpful. Either way, it’s a pretty yummy and simple dish. The proportions below are small, since it was just for me – but feel free to double it. And sorry, this is not a photogenic dish.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes

3 garlic cloves

Dressing:

1/8 cup olive oil

1/8 cup warm water

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives

1/4 cup crumbled feta

Instructions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Or, put 1/2 cup of quinoa and 1 cup of water in a pot, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer until all water is absorbed. This takes about 20 minutes.

2. Heat a skillet on low. While the pan is heating, cut the tomatoes in half. Also cut the garlic cloves in half. Put the tomatoes and garlic in a hot skillet. Heat for 10 minutes, stir once halfway through. The tomatoes are done when they’re a bit wrinkly and when you press on the tomato skin, it has some gentle give. This part smells so so good!

3. In a food processor, blend the olive oil, water, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and half of the tomatoes and all the garlic. Blend until smooth (or in my case smash with a fork to the best of your ability).

4. Plate the quinoa, mix in the olives, tomatoes, and feta. Then pour over the dressing. Pour the dressing slowly, to your taste. Don’t just dump it or you’ll have soggy quinoa.

Messy level: Two spoons, and only because you need two pots. It’s easy to make though and won’t have much clean up.

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thanks to Charlotte for suggesting I include my learn to cook dude!

This is one of Ryan and my favorite, go-to, weeknight dinner recipes. Ryan loves Mexican flavors. I love rice and beans. It’s a great meal. But even so, I’ve been debating about posting this. I even made a pros and cons list. Here it is:

Cons –

• Creates a lot of dishes and that’s annoying
• Requires some finesse and timing. Lots of things are cooking at the same time, which can be stressful

Pros –

• Takes less than 45 minutes to make everything
• Tasty and filling
• It’s easy to make a lot, so it’s great for guests or if you want some to take for lunch
• There’s lots of options for making this even faster or even more homemade (more on that below)
• There’s lots of options for adding all the toppings and add-on foods that you like

So the pros outweigh the cons, which means you all get a nice recipe. Before we get started let me tell you about some of the options to amp up or amp down this recipe.

I use canned beans, frozen sofrito, and a taco seasoning packet. I prefer using these products because they still taste great and they decrease my prep time. Specifically, I liked Goya pink beans or any brand’s pinto beans. But of course you could use black beans, re-fried beans, or whatever kind of beans you like. If you don’t like canned beans, by all means use dried beans. People tell me they are much better, but I grew up often eating canned beans so I like them just fine.

You can also make your own sofrito. If you’re not familiar, it’s a tomato based seasoning blend. I prefer not to make it because it requires a lot of ingredients, some of which can be hard to find. If you are so inclined, a recipe I like is from Wilo Benet’s book Puerto Rico True Flavors. You can also do some Googling, and find a recipe you like. But the Goya frozen sofrito is great because it’s such a big tub and it keeps for a long time.

Finally, I buy taco seasoning packets. Again, it’s because taco seasoning is made up of a lot of ingredients and not all of which are already in my spice cabinet. However, when I’ve found myself without a seasoning packet, I’ve used this recipe.

Now, for the rice. I’m going to give you the recipe for making rice on the stove. I don’t have a rice cooker so I don’t know how that works, but go ahead and use it if you have it. If you really want to save yourself time, go ahead and use Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice – but I’ll be judging you a little bit. And I’ll be judging only because I think you should try stove making rice before you go to prepared rice. I’ve totally had Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice (sorry Mom), but the bag doesn’t make much and it’s not cost effective. I like making rice myself because it’s largely passive cooking, it makes a ton, and it’s cheap. Seriously a 2 pound bag of rice cost about $2 and will last a long time.

Just a few more notes and we’ll get to cooking. I never use tortillas when Ryan and I make taco salad. This is largely because I feel guilty about waste. I buy a bag of tortillas, we use about 6 and then they go stale and I feel bad about throwing them away. Usually Ryan and I make a taco salad heap and then use chips to scoop up the food. Feel free to use taco shells, tortillas, chips, or just a fork. Make it your own.

You’ll have three things going at once. I like rice on the back burner and beans and veggies/meat on the front two. This way, when you stir, you aren’t reaching over anything.

And the last thing about “make it your own,” is that this meal allows for you to put whatever you like on top of it. We usually add at least cheese and salsa, but there’s so many more options and I’ll list some below.

That’s enough background, let’s get to cooking. With this recipe you’ll be cooking 3 things. The directions will be all together, and I’m doing this because it should allow you get all 3 dishes finished at the same time. And that’s what you want because then you can serve everything hot.

Ingredients you don’t have to cook and can use as toppings:

salsa

chopped tomatoes

shredded cheese

sour cream

lettuce

guacamole

Ingredients (for the cooking-part):

1 cup long grain white rice (you can also use other types of rice if you prefer)

2 cups water

1 tbsp butter

1 medium onion

1 can Goya pink beans

1/4 cup Goya frozen sofrito

1-2 bell peppers (any color you like)

1 tbsp and 1 tsp (or 4 tsp) taco seasoning

1 lb ground turkey (or beef if you prefer)

Directions:

1. Start with the rice. I recommend following the package instructions, but I’ll also give you my instructions. Use a back burner, this is important because you need 2 other burners and the rice will be largely left alone so it shouldn’t be in the front. Anyway, add 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water, and 1 tbsp of butter to a medium pot. Bring the water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, turn the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.  I recommend you set a timer for 20 minutes and use it to help you synchronize the rest of your cooking. Below is the rice mid-cook.

2. While you’re waiting for the rice. Chop the bell pepper and onion in strips.

3. When you have about 15 minutes left on your rice timer, heat a large pan (on a front burner) on medium. Once it gets hot enough, saute your onions and pepper strips until they are browned and soft. This takes about 5-7 minutes.

4. At about 12 minutes left on your rice timer, put the beans (and the liquid in the can) in a small pot. Add the sofrito. (Note: if you’re using frozen sofrito, microwave the tub for 30 seconds and then scrape out 1/4 cup. It’s not serious if you have more or less). Simmer the beans on medium for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Beans are done when they are tender and hot throughout.

5. Ok, once your peppers and onions are soft, remove them from the pan and set aside. You should have about 8-10 minutes left on your rice timer. Add the ground turkey to the hot pan. Stir in the taco seasoning. Cook until the meat isn’t pink. This takes about 5-7 minutes. Stir the onions and peppers back in. (Note: You don’t have to mix the onions and peppers in with the meat, but I like to because it ensures we eat our vegetables).

6. Put a paper towel on a plate. Pour the cooked ground turkey on the paper towel plate and let the grease drain.

7. Your timer should be going off! Check the rice! Take off the lid, use a fork and push aside the rice so you can see the bottom of the pan. Is there water? The rice isn’t done. Is it dry and does the rice look fluffy? Then it’s done! Fluff it up and serve. (Note: Technically you shouldn’t open the lid while you’re cooking rice but if you’re new to this, I suggest checking on the rice maybe 5-7 minutes before it’s supposed to be done. This will help you gauge if the rice is cooking too fast (the water is already gone) or if there is some water left then things are going well).

8. Turn off all your burners and you should be ready to serve! I like rice on the bottom, then beans with their juices, then meat, then toppings. But you should plate however you like!

Messy level – This is a three spoon recipe because of the amount of dishes this makes. You’re going to use 2 pots, 1 pan, a knife, and a cutting board. And if you put all your toppings in serving bowls, you’ve got yourself quite the mess. But, in terms of cooking, this doesn’t make much of a mess. The technique is pretty much heat, stir, serve so there’s no splatter or craziness. I think it’s worth the mess. And Ryan’s my resident dish washer and requests this meal, so the dishes can’t be that bad… right?

This past weekend, Ryan and I had dinner with our friend Shane and his girlfriend, Molly. Shane told me he had been binge-reading my blog. I was so touched, and I told him I’d give him a shout out in my next post. So here it is: Hi Shane!! Thank you for reading my blog!

Want a shout out of your own? Post a comment about something food related and the next shout out could be yours. Tell me about your favorite meal, favorite dish you’ve had on vacation, childhood favorite, a food you’re afraid of, or whatever you want. If I like the post, I’ll give you a shout out. 

The post Taco Salad appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

And then I tried a roasted acorn squash stuffed with rice and lentils. It came out under cooked and under seasoned. That was probably a recipe that with a little tweaking I could get right, but I was still disappointed.

But one meal worth writing about was my lunch on Monday. I had off for Columbus day and my friends Ashley and Mala came over. We had a pretty fancy lunch despite some lazy hostessing on my part. And by lazy hostessing, I mean that 75% of the dining table was covered with a puzzle of Abraham Lincoln that I’m working on, and I also made them use paper plates. In spite of that, lunch actually turned out quite nice and now I wish I had taken more pictures.

We started out with a cheese plate. Ashley brought apple-cinnamon covered goat cheese. I had never had goat cheese coated in anything but herbs, so it was cool to try. We also had Gruyere and cheddar, which I served on my fancy cheese platter with the fancy cheese knives.

For our lunch we had a salad (that Ashley made), pici pasta, and homemade tomato sauce. Ashley’s salad was a great combination of sweet, from the fruits, and a sharp saltiness, from the blue cheese. The pear she used was a little soft, which was actually really nice because it soaked up the dressing. And the addition of pecans made for a nice crunch.

The recipes for the pici and tomato sauce I adapted from the Amateur Gourmet. We were all skeptical of how well the pasta would come out and we were delighted that it actually tasted like pasta. We did have some issues with shaping the pasta. The Amateur Gourmet said to shape the pasta, put it on a plate, and toss it with flour before putting the pasta into boiling water. We did that, but we must not have used enough flour because all the pasta stuck together and Mala and I ended up ripping the heap of dough apart and throwing in random sized pieces into the water. The three of us agreed it would have been easier to bring the water to a boil, then shape the pasta, then immediately throw it in the water so the shape would be less weird. Because of the random shaping, some of the fatter pieces were heavy and reminded me of gnocchi. But, if you roll thinner pieces it really tastes just like pasta. Though in the end, I think we were all impressed that we made homemade pasta for lunch.

The pasta sauce was my favorite part. I learned about it from the Amateur Gourmet, but the original author is Marcella Hazan. This recipe is SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS. I really don’t think I’m overselling it. There’s this pasta restaurant that Ryan and I love called Pasta Mia. The pasta there is so good that we always overeat because we want to soak up as much of the good flavor as possible. The first time I made this recipe I thought, “this smells like Pasta Mia.” But I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to influence Ryan. Then he took a bite and said, “this is like Pasta Mia.” So if Pasta Mia means anything to you, then you’ll know this sauce is good. If Pasta Mia means nothing to you, sorry. You should still try it because it’s so simple and comforting and tasty.

Anyway, today’s post has three recipes and I hope you enjoy!

Ashley’s Salad–

Ingredients:

(Portion amounts based on your taste preferences)

arugula

sweet and spicy pecans

crumbled blue cheese

1 pear, sliced

dried cranberries

balsamic vinaigrette

Directions: 

1. Mix arugula, pecans, cheese, pear, and cranberries in a large bowl.

2. Dress with balsamic vinaigrette. Serve!

Tomato Sauce –

Ingredients:

1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes

5 tbsp butter

1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half.

Directions:

1. Empty the can of tomatoes into a pot. Use a knife and roughly cut up the tomatoes. Don’t get crazy with this, just cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters.

2. Add the butter and onion halves. Turn on the heat to medium and bring to a simmer.

3. Once it’s simmering, lower the heat. Let it simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally and use your spoon to smash and crush the tomatoes.

4. After 45 minutes, discard the onion.

5. Serve.

Pici Pasta –

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 large egg, beaten (Mala beat the egg first, then we measured out half)

1 cup water, room temperature

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix together flour and salt.

2. Add the water and egg. Knead until smooth. (Amateur Gourmet says about 5 minutes)

3. Flatten it and rub it with olive oil. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes.

4. While you’re waiting for the dough, bring  a large pot of water to boil.

5. Generously flour your work surface and hands. Roll out the dough. Cut the dough into desired pieces. (I cut the dough into chunks and then rolled out snakes).

6. Drop the pasta snakes into the boiling water.

7. Boil for 3-4 minutes.  You want the pasta to be cooked through but not raw.

8. Drain, top with sauce. Serve!

Messy level: The salad and tomato sauces are easy 1-2 spoon recipes. The pici though is a 4-spoon recipe. You have to stick you hands in and knead the dough and it get really sticky and caked into your finger nails. Also you have to flour your work surface and roll everything out. It takes a bit of work and makes quite a bit of mess. All this mess is the reason I was  a lazy hostess and opted for paper plates.

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