Egg in a Box

Ingredients:

1 slice bread

1 egg

olive or canola oil

salt

pepper

Instructions:

1. Using a circular cookie cutter or glass, cut a circle from the middle of a slice of bread.

2. In a frying pan, heat about 1 or 2 tsp of oil.

3. Place the bread with the hole and the circular bread in the frying pan, making sure they are coated with the oil.

4. Crack the egg into the bread with the hole.

5. Check the circular bread frequently to see how toasted the bread is becoming. When it is sufficiently toasted, add more oil to the pan and flip both the circular bread and the bread with the egg to the other side.

6. Continue to check the circular bread frequently. When it is toasted on the second side, remove both items from the pan, sprinkle with slat and pepper and serve.

I've also heard this dish called "Toad in a Hole" or "Hen in a Basket" but my best childhood friend calls this "Egg in a Box", so that's what I always call it. I don't actually remember ever eating this as a kid, but my friend has made it for me on multiple occasions throughout our adulthood, and I always associate this meal with her.

This is a simple and delicious breakfast that is also really filling since it has both protein and carbs. I usually eat this on the days when I know I'm not going to be able to eat lunch until late in the afternoon because it keeps me full for a long time and my grumbling stomach won't interrupt my classes.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, cubed (about 3 cups)

2 medium potatoes, cubed

2 medium onions, diced

4 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

8 Tbsp butter*

6 cups vegetable stock

white pepper

nutmeg

cayenne pepper

cinnamon

curry powder

green onions, sliced

*I used vegan buttery spread

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, melt 4 Tbsp butter. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes.

2. Add remaining butter, potatoes, squash, celery, and carrots to pot and sprinkle with white pepper. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add stock to the pot, covering all vegetables (about 6 cups). Sprinkle with cayenne pepper, curry powder, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir.

4. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and let simmer for 35 minutes.

5. When vegetables are tender, remove from heat. Transfer in batches to a food processor and blend until smooth.

6. Optionally, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chopped green onions to serve.

This is another wonderful fall recipe! I took a recipe from a friend of mine and combined it with a recipe from a cookbook I own to create this recipe. It's so delicious, and really just warms you up. I can't wait to go eat the leftovers tonight after my bike ride home from class in the cold!

Garlic Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups lentils

2 onions, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 carrots, diced

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 bay leaves

large pinch of oregano

3 1/2 cups vegetable stock

salt and pepper

chopped cilantro, to garnish

Instructions:

1. Put all of the ingredients except for salt, pepper, and cilantro in large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

2. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent lentils from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

3. Remove the bay leaves.

4. Salt and pepper to taste, garnish with cilantro to serve.

This was an incredibly easy recipe. I would recommend having some extra stock handy though, because I feel like this ended up not being very soup-like. I think more stock should be added periodically throughout the cooking process perhaps. But overall, it had a very nice flavor, so I recommend this recipe to all of you people out there who claim to not know how to cook. This recipe will convince you that making good food is actually pretty easy.

Pumpkin Seeds

It's almost Halloween, which means a lot of you probably are itching to start carving up some jack o' lanterns! Make sure you save the seeds from your pumpkin to make an easy and delicious snack!

I saved the seeds from my pumpkin carrot risotto to make my pumpkin seeds!

Instructions:

1. Separate the seeds from the pumpkin membrane. Rinse any excess membrane off with water.

2. Put the seeds on a paper towel and allow to dry for several minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and distribute pumpkin seeds evenly over the cookie sheet. If desired, sprinkle with salt.

5. Bake in the oven for 10-20 minutes or until golden brown. Turn over once halfway through.

I'd never made pumpkin seeds before tonight! I almost burned them because I forgot about them, but Roommate #2 happened to ask me what I had in the oven and crisis was averted!

Pumpkin Carrot Risotto

Ingredients:

8 Tbsp butter (or margarine)*

1 onion, finely diced

9 oz pumpkin, diced**

3 medium carrots, diced

8 cups vegetable stock

2 cups arborio rice

romano or Parmesan cheese

nutmeg

black pepper

sliced green onion

*I used vegan buttery spread so that roommate #1 could eat this

**This is what the recipe calls for, but in actuality I have NO IDEA how much pumpkin I used

Instructions:

1. Cup up your vegetables. When you cut your pumpkin, remove the seeds, inner membrane mushy stuff, and outer skin, but save the seeds to bake yummy pumpkin seeds!

2. Heat 4 Tbsp butter in a large heavy saucepan. Add onion and fry for 2 minutes or until soft.

3. Add the pumpkin and carrot and cook for 10 minutes or until tender.

4. In a separate saucepan, warm your stock and keep it at the simmering point.

5. When the pumpkin is tender, mash the mixture slightly with a potato masher.

6. Add the rice to the vegetable mixture and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

7. Add one ladle-full of stock to the vegetable mixture and stir evenly.

8. Continue stirring constantly for 25 minutes, adding one ladle-full of stock at a time. (You may not end up needing to use all of your stock, or you may run out and need to add water. I personally had about a cup and a half of stock left at the end.)

9. When the rice is tender and creamy, remove from heat. Add remaining 4 Tbsp butter, and nutmeg and black pepper as desired. Stir, then cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

10. Top with grated Parmesan and green onion to serve.

This is an amazing and wonderful seasonal dish! Roommate #2 actually told me that this is the best thing I've made so far. I of course am a huge fan of nutmeg, so I loved the nutmeg flavor of this, along with the pumpkin.

In case anyone is wondering, I used a pumpkin called a Sugar Pumpkin. It was wonderfully flavorful!

I'm living in a place now that has actual seasons, so it really feels like fall, and having a nice fall dish for dinner tonight felt really... nice. This meal was quite a bit a work; it was more effort than I typically am willing to put out on a school night, but it was definitely worthwhile. It was really warming and comforting on a chilly day like today.

Grilled Caprese Sandwich

Ingredients:

olive oil

2 slices rye bread

mozzarella cheese, sliced

tomatoes, sliced

fresh basil leaves, whole

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in small frying pan.

2. Arrange desired amounts of cheese, tomato, and basil leaves between slices of bread. Place in frying pan.

3. After one side is nicely grilled and cheese has begun to melt, remove from pan.

4. Add more olive oil to pan and place sandwich back on pan, ungrilled side down.

5. When both sides are evenly grilled, remove from pan and serve.

This is probably my all-time favorite sandwich. I make them all the time for a quick meal, or to have with soup. Olive oil makes a wonderful grilled sandwich, much better than butter in my opinion. I like the olive oil flavor. This isn't the kind of thing that really needs a recipe of course because it's so simple, but it's just something I thought I'd share for anyone who's tired of eating plain old grilled cheese sandwiches with American cheese (bleh!) and butter.

Curried Celery Soup

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 leek, white part only, sliced

5 cups celery, sliced

2 tsp olive oil

1 Tbsp curry powder

1 1/2 cups potatoes, washed, unpeeled, diced

3 3/4 vegetable broth

bay leaves

dried rosemary

dried thyme

fresh chopped herbs (e.g., basil and cilanto)

celery seed

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Add celery, leek, and onion and cover. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add curry powder and continue to cook uncovered for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add potatoes, vegetable stock, a couple of bay leaves, thyme and rosemary.

4. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, until all vegetables are tender.

5. Remove bay leaves.

6. Transfer soup to a blender or food processor and process in batches until smooth.

7. Add the mixed herbs (I used fresh basil and cilantro) and salt and pepper to taste.

8. Garnish with celery seed to serve.

This is another wonderful cold day meal. Blended soups are a favorite of mine; they somehow feel heartier and more filling. This soup is great with a yummy grilled cheese sandwich!

Polenta Nests

Serves 4

Ingredients:

6 cups vegetable stock

1 1/2 cups corn meal (polenta)

2 teaspoons celery seed

3 Tbsp butter

2 leeks, white part only, thinly sliced

9 oz fontina cheese, cubed

Instructions:

1. Pour vegetable stock into a large pot and bring to a boil.

2. Add polenta and celery seed and stir evenly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently. (You want to try and get the polenta as smooth as possible).

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat, then add sliced leeks. Stir frequently and cook until leeks are soft and wilted.

4. Add the fontina and stir a few times until cheese is slightly gooey. Remove from heat.

5. Scoop the polenta onto plates in next shapes and top with leek and cheese mixture.

I made this for lunch today and just finished eating it. It was delicious, yet it had very few ingredients and was very quick and easy to make. As always, I am a fan of most things where cheese is involved, so I enjoyed this meal.

Potato and Leek Chowder

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp margarine*

1 onion, minced

1 leek, finely sliced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 Tbsp rice flour*

1 1/4 quarts vegetable stock

2 1/2 cup diced potatoes

1 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 cup young green beans, sliced

1/2 cup rice milk*

salt and pepper

*This recipe is gluten-free and vegan to suit the dietary needs of my roommate. The original recipe called for butter, all-purpose flour, and milk.

Directions:

1. Melt the margarine in a large saucepan. Add the onion, leek, celery, bell pepper, cilantro, and basil. Cook over a low heat until the vegetables are soft.

2. Add the flour and stir evenly. Add the stock and stir until blended. Continue to stir frequently, and bring to a boil.

3. Add the potatoes, thyme, and bay leaf. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.

4. Add the green beans and simmer for an additional 15 minutes until all vegetables are tender.

5. Remove bay leaf and stir in rice milk. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

I bought a soup cookbook last Wednesday. You should expect to see many soup recipes on here in the coming months since I'll be making plenty of them to keep myself warm this winter! I'm anticipating many rainy days here in Oregon, and I think soups are the perfect rainy day meal!

I chose this recipe in particular because I went to the Lane County Farmer's Market yesterday and I picked up some leeks for super cheap while I was there, so I needed to figure out what to do with them! I expect I'll be making plenty of trips back to the farmer's market; I found lots of wonderful fresh fruits and veggies there.

This recipe was really good. The soup is nice and hearty, and quite aromatic. It rained today, and eating a hearty soup like this makes me feel warm and cozy.

White Lasagna Rolls

Ingredients:

10 sheets lasagna

8 oz fresh spinach

1 cup sliced mushrooms

4 oz mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

1 cup flour

6 Tbsp butter

5 cups milk

salt and pepper

ground nutmeg

grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Boil the lasagna sheets in water for ten minutes or until fully cooked. Drain and let cool.

2. Put spinach and 2 Tbsp water in large pan and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

3. Drain water from spinach and mushrooms and chop roughly.

4. In a large saucepan, combine flour, butter, and milk and bring to a boil. Add spices to taste. Stir continuously over heat until sauce is thick and smooth.

5. Lay out a lasagna sheet and spread sauce, spinach/mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese on the top quarter of it.

6. Roll up the lasagna sheet and place it seam-side down in a large greased baking dish. Place rolls in the dish right next to one another.

7. Spread the remaining sauce over the rolls.

8. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and place under hot broiler until browned.

This was pretty good, and I love nutmeg, but I felt like it was lacking a depth of flavor. If I made it again, I wouldn't use the white nutmeg sauce on both the inside and outside. I would keep the white sauce inside, but put a red sauce on the top. Overall, the inside ingredients: mozzarella, sauce, spinach and mushrooms are a great combination, and I wouldn't change that. That was a perfect flavor and texture. However, the sauce was very thick, and so while it made a nice hearty inside, I felt like having it on the outside as well was a bit much. A more liquid red sauce would have been a better choice. Next time, next time.

August: A Slow Month for Cooking

I didn't post much in August. There are a few reasons for this: a) I took a business trip to Austin, TX; b) I took a camping trip to central/northern California; and c) I cooked a few things I've posted before, so I didn't feel the need to repost those recipes.

I stayed with a friend in Austin, and we did some cooking while I was there. We made the vegetable and cheese pie that I posted about in May. This time we had some marinara sauce on the side for dipping, which was an AMAZING idea. It was like an extra-veggie pizza with a delicious flaky bread crust.

We also made the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I posted in June and brought them into the office for our coworkers.

The cooking we did while camping was definitely nothing to blog about; I don't think anyone needs instructions for heating up cans of lentil soup over a portable camp stove. Camping was great though, we had tons of fun.

I did cook up some interesting things the past two nights, so be ready for some new recipe postings for September!

Cooking with Beer - Polenta Triangles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup polenta (aka corn meal)

1/2 cup amber ale

1 cup vegetable broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

2 oz diced pimentos

Directions:

1. Combine polenta and ale in small bowl. Mix well and set aside.

2. Pour vegetable broth into large saucepan. Bring to a boil then add garlic and polenta/ale mixture. Mix well.

3. Return to a boil then cover and reduce heat. Cook for 20 minutes over low flame.

4. Remove from heat and stir in feta cheese until cheese is melted.

5. Add pimentos and stir well.

6. Spray an 8 x 8 inch square pan with nonstick spray. Spoon polenta mixture into pan and smooth it out evenly.

7. Cover and place in refrigerator for one hour or until completely cool and solid.

8. If needed, spray grill with nonstick spray. Warm up grill. (I used my George Foreman grill, so I didn't need nonstick spray for this part)

9. Cut polenta into 4 inch squares. Cut squares diagonally into triangles for a total of 8 triangles.

10. Place triangles on grill until bottoms are lightly browned. Turn over and grill until browned on that side. Serve warm.

I found this recipe in significant other's Cooking with Beer recipe book. It's listed in the appetizer section, but we made it into a full meal by having it with salad and baked beans. It was really yummy, and so simple to make! I'd never had polenta until a couple of months ago, and as it turns out, I love it!

Southwest Sweet Potato

Ingredients:

3 large orange sweet potatoes

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 large white onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp chili powder

14 oz canned chopped tomatoes

1 cup vegetable stock

1 large zucchini, cut into squares

1 large green pepper, cubed

11 oz canned corn kernels

28 oz canned red kidney beans

3 Tbsp chopped cilantro

sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese to serve

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Rinse sweet potatoes and poke with holes. Place on cookie sheet and bake until soft (1 to 1.5 hours).

3. Heat oil in large pan and cook onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until soft.

4. Add garlic and spices and stir for 1 minute.

5. Add tomato and vegetable stock and stir well.

6. Add vegetables and beans.

7. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened.

8. Stir in cilantro just before serving.

9. To serve, cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Spoon mixture over top, add spoonful of sour cream and sprinkle with cheese.

This recipe has caught my eye on a few different occasions, but we always ultimately decided to make something else. This time we went for it, and WOW! I loved this. I wish there had been leftovers for me to eat tonight, this was so incredibly yummy. The sweet potatoes were cooked just right, they were so tender and wonderful, and the spice level was just right, it was just a small amount of kick, not lighting your tongue on fire. I will definitely be making this one again.

Red White and Blue Quiche

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs red onion, thinly sliced

4 oz white mushrooms, sliced

3.5 oz blue cheese, crumbled

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp brown sugar

2 cups flour

3.5 oz cold butter

3/4 cup whipping cream

3 eggs

2 tsp fresh basil, chopped

2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, shredded

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning (blend of basil, marjoram, oregano, sage)

Directions:

1. Process flour and butter in food processor for 15 seconds. Add Parmesan, Italian seasonings, and 1-2 Tbsp water. Continue processing until mixture just comes together.

2. Roll dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

3. Heat oil in large pan (e.g. a wok).

4. Add brown sugar, onions, and mushrooms. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until onions are soft and slightly golden. Remove from heat.

5. Roll out dough thinly onto floured surface.

6. Fit dough into greased 8.5 inch round pan. Trim excess dough from edges. (Significant other used the end of a butter knife to make a ridged design on the edges).

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit..

8. Chill crust for additional 10 minutes.

9. In mixing bowl, whisk together whipping cream, eggs, blue cheese, basil, and black pepper.

10. Cover crust with waxed paper and bake for 10 minutes.

11. Remove waxed paper from crust and continue baking for 10 minutes until crust is lightly golden.

12. Add onion mixture to crust.

13. Pour egg mixture evenly over onions.

14. Bake for 35 minutes or until firm. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

This quiche was awesome. I don't know about you, but I love quiche. The crust was nice and flaky and delicious, and the combination of blue cheese with red onion was heavenly.

We had some friends over for dinner when we made this. I told them that I would post a picture on my blog of them enjoying this meal, so here they are:

**Edit** I named this Red White and Blue Quiche not because it's at all a patriotic dish, no, quiche actually comes from the Germany/France area of Europe, according to Wikipedia. It's red, white and blue because it contains RED onions, WHITE mushrooms, and BLUE cheese. I thought the name was adorable, myself. The recipe in my cookbook didn't call for mushrooms, I just added them because I happened to have some in the fridge. And then that little addition inspired this adorable name that even significant other didn't understand, despite the fact that he helped make this and knew all of the ingredients.

Cheese and Red Pepper Roulade with Herb Sauce

Roulade base ingredients:

butter and grated Parmesan for coating

1/4 cup cottage cheese

2/3 cup half and half

4 eggs, separated

1 cup Gruyère cheese, grated

salt and black pepper

Roulade filling ingredients:

4 large red peppers

1/2 cup cottage cheese

Herb Sauce ingredients:

4 Tbsp finely chopped herbs (I used basil, cilantro, and green onion)

1 cup Greek style plain yogurt

salt and pepper, if desired

Directions:

1. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with waxed paper. Grease the paper with butter and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

2. In a large bowl, mix 1/4 cup cottage cheese and half and half until smooth.

3. Beat in egg yolks then stir in grated Gruyère.

4. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites into cheese mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

6. Cut bell peppers into quarters; remove seeds and core.

7. Pour cheese and egg mixture into prepared pan. Bake until risen and firm in center. (12-15 minutes)

8. At the same time, put bell peppers in broiler until skin is black and blistered.

9. Place a piece of waxed paper this size of the roulade next to the oven. Sprinkle paper with Parmesan cheese.

10. Remove roulade from oven and place it upside down on waxed paper. Remove waxed paper used to line pan from the top of the roulade. Let cool.

11. Using a knife and your fingers, gently peel the skin from the bell peppers.

12. Spread cottage cheese over the roulade base, leaving a 1/2 inch border on all sides.

13. Cover with red peppers.

14. Roll up the roulade.

15. Place the roulade with the seam on the bottom so it cannot unroll.

16. In a small bowl, mix yogurt and fresh herbs.

17. Spread some herb sauce on a plate and place a slice of roulade on top of it. Serve immediately.

This was a nice summery meal. By letting the base and the peppers all cool down, the dish is cold when you eat it, and the sauce is cool and refreshing. We ate the leftovers the next day straight out of the fridge, which was great because we didn't have to turn on the oven or stove, which makes the kitchen unbearably hot.

My roulade didn't turn out as pretty and thick as the picture in my cookbook. Significant other thought I said to add the egg whites when I said to add the egg yolks, so our egg whites got added too soon, before we'd whipped them stiff. It didn't matter, because it still tasted delicious. As I was eating it I said, "I love this! This combines all my favorite things: eggs, cheese, and herbs!" But I claim that a lot of ingredients are my favorites, so those three things don't make up my entire list of favorite foods. I think I was just really enjoying this meal.