Everyday Food Mini Magazine

One of my favorite little recipe books that's put out seasonally is Everyday FOOD, from the kitchens of Martha Stewart Living. I picked up a copy this past winter, their January/February issue, because it had so many recipes in it that sounded good! This past week I tried out two of them and as usual, they were a jumping off point and I didn't follow them exactly:

Rustic Chicken Minestrone Soup
olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
6-8 cups of chicken stock
1 cup shredded, cooked chicken
1/2 cup uncooked pasta (I used elbows)
1 cup baby carrots, sliced
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
1 zucchini, diced into quarter slices
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 frozen basil cubes from TJ's
salt and pepper

1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat and add the chopped onion, cooking until softened (about 5 minutes), then add the garlic and cook another minute more. Add the tomatoes with all of their juice and cook for 5 minutes more.
2. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the carrots and cook for a couple of minutes, then add your uncooked pasta (it will cook in the hot broth). After another 5 minutes, add the chickpeas and the basil cubes. After another couple minutes you can finally add your zucchini and spinach. Those last two will cook pretty quickly so you want to be careful not to overcook.

3. It's important to remember that the soup will continue cooking while it cools once you turn the stove off, plus it will cook more anytime you reheat if you've made up a big batch. Season to taste - so try a spoonful and if its needs a bit more flavor, feel free to add some salt and pepper.

4. Serve with some fresh parmesan sprinkled on top!

I used chicken from Sweet Cheeks BBQ restaurant, so this minestrone came out really smoky - probably too smoky for some people's tastes, but I liked it! That is easily avoided by using your own chicken, from a meal earlier in the week or just shred a chicken breast after cooking it. I also learned in a cooking class that you should never use uncooked macaroni in a soup because it will get overcooked and keep soaking up the liquid. It seemed to work okay this time though!

Triple Chocolate Brownies
SECRET INGREDIENT: 1/3 cup black beans!
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs plus 1 egg white
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash of cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and get your pan ready - lightly butter or spray your pan (9-inch square) and also line it with parchment paper, which will make getting the brownies out WAY easier.
2. In a food processor, puree the black beans. Then in a large microwaveable bowl, combine butter, beans and chocolates. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between each until the combination is melted and smooth. Should take 2-3 minutes.
3. Whisk in the sugar, eggs and egg white, and vanilla until smooth.

4. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the melted chocolate mixture, but be sure not to over mix.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and you'll bake for about 25 minutes. A toothpick you put into the middle of the brownies should come out pretty clean or with crumbs attached, but not with liquidy chocolate on the toothpick - that means it's not done.
6. Let the brownies cool before you try to take them out with the parchment paper hanging over the edges.

These brownies are pretty fudgy and less cakey - but they were a big hit! Everyone was so surprised to hear there were black beans in the dessert - the three types of chocolate really make them rich and decadent, oh yeah - and delicious! I would even try making them with more black beans instead of some of the butter or egg yolk next time.

My Thai Vegan Cafe

A few months ago a friend that lives in the area near this restaurant said that she ordered from here a lot - and after looking at the menu I could understand why! Their menu is sort of like Cheesecake Factory's - 10+ pages and a lot of variety. Just last week an old friend from a prior job and I met up for our occasional dinner out and agreed we had to try this place in Chinatown! I will admit there is certainly nothing on the outside that would draw you into this place, on the second floor of a rather rundown building on a side street in Chinatown. The food is definitely worth checking out though - it's vegetarian, but they have lots of vegan options as well. Actually, I'm not sure why it isn't called 'My Thai Vegetarian Cafe.' Plus, even better, you cannot beat the prices here! For two soups and two main dishes our bill came to $24! I should also point out that this was with my of my vegetarian friends, so the prospect of having an entire menu to pick from must have been amazing!
My Thai Vegan Cafe
3 Beach Street, Chinatown

After dealing with how overwhelmed we were, given just how many dishes sounded amazing, we ultimately settled on sharing two main dishes and each of us tried their Wonton Soup to start. You'll find categories like: salads, soups, chef specialties, light entrees, thai fried rices, stir-fried noodles, tofu specials, thai curry specialities, vermicelli, and then categories around their different 'proteins' - veggie beef, veggie pork, veggie duck, veggie chicken, veggie seafood.

Wonton Soup - a mixed vegetable soup with chinese-style wontons filled with ground veggie-chicken, tofu, mushrooms and onions. I didn't love the wonton filling in these, but the soup broth itself was delicious and it was full of vegetables!

Cashew Nut Chicken - sliced 'veggie-chicken' sauteed with roasted cashew nuts, onions, mushrooms, red bell peppers, snow peas, scallions and celery. Loved all those veggies!

Pad Thai - their signature thai dish, pan-fried noodles with veggie-chicken, veggie-shrimp, onions, scallions and bean sprouts in a sweet and sour sauce, topped with fresh bean sprouts and ground peantus and served with sliced lime.

They don't seem to have their own website, but Boston Menupages does a good job giving you information about the restaurant.

I was a little nervous about all of these 'veggie' proteins but in the end I was pleasantly surprised with how much flavor all of the dishes had. If I hadn't known, I don't think I could have told you that it wasn't chicken given its similar texture and look, so be adventurous when you come here and don't just get the tofu and veggies dishes!

Sweet Cheeks Q

A birthday party a couple weekends ago brought me to Top Chef contestant, Tiffani Faison's new restaurant in the Fenway area - Sweet Cheeks. I was a bit skeptical, given I'm not usually a fan of heavy bbq food but I had a great time and the food was surprisingly delicious! Basically you can come here once a year though - the food is unbelievably rich and heavy. They have great big picnic tables for large groups and I'm always a fan of the glass jars for cups.

Sweet Cheeks Q
1381 Boylston Street, Fenway area - Boston

Having browsed the menu in advance, I arrived still not sure of what to order. In an attempt to make even one healthy decision while here I opted for the simple roasted half chicken as my main and picked their salad as one of my sides. After numerous recommendations though I had to splurge for their mac and cheese and couldn't possibly resist their biscuits they brought to the table with a honey butter. Unbelievable. I couldn't even eat one whole biscuit - that's how big and rich they were! Everything is served on a tray - very rustic.

The Natural 1/2 Chicken came with my choice of 1 hot scoop and 1 cold scoop. With 6 hot options and 4 cold options the decision was a tough one. Again, the mac n'cheese was a given for my hot - though the collard greens and broccoli casserole were close contenders. They have a farm salad that sounded delicious when our server explained it as shaved brussels sprouts, greens, grapes, nuts and parmesan cheese with some sort of delicious vinaigrette dressing. For those wanting even more flavor on their various meats, they have three different sauces on the table - ranging from a more typical bbq to a spicy sauce,
which I, of course, avoided.

For the birthday boy they brought out one of their giant nutter butters and what seemed like a hot s'mores cupcake with melted chocolate inside. I was a big fan of the nutter butter cookie - but yet again, anything with peanut butter gets my vote! I'm also not sure how any group fewer than 10 could eat that gigantic cookie!

For a bigger group, be sure to make a reservation because the place isn't too big and it gets really packed.

Oh yeah - and I almost forgot, their mixed drinks are creative - and strong! I tried their hard cider, which I also enjoyed.

Lentil and Avocado Salsa

After a friend of mine made this at a 4th of July party this summer, I vowed to make it myself. It was so good and it also felt a little healthy. It's sort of like a salsa, and using tortilla chips is probably best for scooping out all of the delicious dip! Don't be scared off by the lentils if you don't know if you like them - they don't have a strong flavor and just take on the flavors of the other ingredients in this dip!

Lentil and Avocado Salsa
1 bag of lentils from Trader Joe's (already cooked and ready to use)
2 tomatoes
1 avocado
1 small cucumber
1/2 cup of corn (I used 2 ears of corn)
1/2 red pepper, chopped small
1/2 a red onion, chopped finely
fresh cilantro (use as much as you like - I probably used 4 TB or so)
Juice from 1 lime
salt and pepper

Making the salsa is as easy as chopping all of your ingredients and mixing together!

I recently tried out a new type of tortilla chips that I came across in the organic/natural aisle. Anything made with sweet potato grabs my attention so seeing a corn and sweet potato tortilla chip was a must-try for me. As you might imagine, they were a tiny bit sweet and not quite as salty as the usual tortilla chips but they had lots of flavor, and the same shape and crunch as your usual tortilla chips. These were yummy on their own, but also worked fine with salsa. Don't let the natural sweet potato fool you though, they're still high in calories and fat grams.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

I attempted to order these on a menu in Chicago and when they came back to tell me they were out, I was disappointed. But alas, why be upset when I can recreate them myself?! Half the recipes I found online were shortcut recipes, as I like to call them - used bisquik or some sort of pre-made mix, sweet potato butter instead of actual sweet potato.

*I'll give you fair warning, this recipe makes a lot of pancakes. I may be eating sweet potato pancakes  all week for breakfast actually.  It would be a                                                                      difficult recipe to cut in half though because you use just one potato.

Sweet Potato Pancakes
1 medium sweet potato, peeled, cubed and boiled - then mashed
*Mine was about 2 cups chopped largely
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup ground oatmeal (in a food processor)
1 TB flaxseed
4 tsp baking powder
2 TB brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 1/2 cups milk
4 tsp melted butter
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites

1. Peel, cube and boil the sweet potatoes until fork tender. Drain and let sit until the food processor is ready.
2. In large mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients. Before adding your oatmeal, take out your food processor and grind up the oatmeal and the flaxseed together. Add that to the other dry ingredients - the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk together.

3. Back in the food processor, puree the boiled sweet potato together with the melted butter. The addition of the butter will help it to get the sort of silky smooth texture we're looking for!
4. In a small mixing bowl, beat your eggs together. Then add the sweet potato mixture to it and mix together with a fork. It will still be a pretty thick liquid at this point - with the back of your fork press out any un-pureed sweet potato chunks so there aren't chunks in the pancakes.
5. Then add your milk - mix well so that all of the ingredients are completely incorporated together.

6. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients bowl and whisk together just until all of the dry ingredients are all wet. At this point you can decide if you need more milk, based on whether you like big fluffier pancakes or lighter, thinner pancakes. Personally, I like the thick ones, so I added maybe a couple TB more of milk just to be safe, but you could add up to another 1/2 cup of milk for the thinner pancake versions.

7. In a large, nonstick pan, heat over medium and once hot spray with nonstick spray and start making your pancakes! You can make them however large or small you'd like - just when the top starts to bubble, that's when you know it's time to flip them over. Well, correction - that's how you usually know when to flip pancakes over. With these, if you have them thick, they're so thick that you don't really see the bubbles. After 4-5 minutes I'd say you're safe to flip over.

These turned out to not be very sweet, so the syrup was a nice addition on top. They were seriously the most fluffy, soft pancakes I've ever had - just totally delicious.

Hint for those with lots of leftovers: Don't try to save the batter. I tried and they lost a lot of their fluffiness and ended up heavy and rather dense, not how good pancakes should be! Instead, make them all and put your extras in the freezer, then pop them in the toaster when you want to eat them!