The Kitchen Illiterate

Rice Made Awesome

I was never really a big fan of rice. Given the carbohydrate choice, I’d choose pasta over rice any day, but when I decided I needed more whole grains in my diet, I knew I was going to have to welcome rice, and other rice-like things, into my life on a much more regular basis. This became a lot easier when I realized that rice is a very versatile canvas, and that it can be cooked with all manner of vegetables, herbs, and spices. I know, what a revelation, right?

This general grains-cooking method has become invaluable for me over the last few months. I vary the recipe based on what I’m planning to add in, but the basic technique stays the same, and the recipe nearly always includes carrots. This can be done with all types of grains: wild rice, brown rice, barley, Kamut, millet, wheat berries, even couscous, quinoa, and bulgur, although the cooking method varies slightly for these smaller, less dense grains (I’ll talk about these in a future post). Once the grains are cooked and flavored, you can mix in roasted vegetables, tofu, fish, chicken, whatever you’d like, really. Some of my favorite combinations are listed at the end of this post.
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A new month, a new menu

It appears that March is the month when I take an unintended absence from the kitchen, or at least from writing about it. As usual, I might not be posting, but I have been cooking. However, every time I sat down to share what I’ve been cooking, I couldn’t find a way to make it fit. See, I’ve been eating very differently lately. You might have noticed some of those differences: a lot more vegetables, a lot less pasta, butter, and cream. I rarely make New Year’s resolutions, but this year I decided I needed to make some changes in how I eat. I’m never one to advocate dieting. A life without pasta, chocolate, and burgers is no life at all. But balance? I’m always in favor of that, and this year, I realized I have to put my money where my mouth is, and eat what I advocate.
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Swiss Chard and Red Pepper Gratin

What? Another gratin? Has the kitchen really gotten this boring? Well, actually no. This gratin couldn’t be more different from last week’s Sweet Potato and Spinach Gratin. In fact, I’m not even really sure that this is a gratin. It seems a lot more like a frittata, but if the New York Times wants to call it a gratin, who am I to argue?

I bookmarked this one a year and a half ago, and every time I came across it subsequently, it just didn’t catch my attention the way it had at first. But this week, for some reason, it stood out. I think it was the red peppers. I buy red peppers so infrequently in the winter that I can’t even remember the last time I had them. But the red peppers at the produce market last weekend were so brilliantly red I couldn’t resist them. And I was intrigued by what looked like a frittata with rice, which I’ve been eating a lot more of lately, so I decided I had to try it. I only wish I’d tried it sooner.
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Sweet Potato and Spinach Gratin

I’ll be honest, I had little niggling voices of doubt in the back of my mind as I started putting this dinner together. It sounds like a dubious combination: Sweet potatoes, spinach, garlic, and cheddar cheese? For reals? Well, I’m here to tell you, my friends, to allay your fears of a weird dinner. This is excellent! The flavors balance each other very nicely, and it is a wonderful cold weather comfort food dinner: warm and cheesy, but with the added kick of nutritiousness that sweet potatoes and spinach bring to the table: beta carotene, vitamin C, iron, vitamin K, the list goes on and on. I love it when I get my indulgence and my health boost in one place.

You might think that the cheese cancels out the benefits of the vegetables, but let me tell you, that is simply not true. Some vitamins are fat-soluble, meaning they aren’t absorbed in the body without a complementary dose of tasty, tasty, fat. So don’t skimp on the cheese. It’s good for you!
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Brussels Sprout and Brown Rice Salad

This might not look like the most appetizing meal you’ve ever seen, but I have to tell you, it is so tasty and satisfying it has become a very regular dinner in my little house. I’ve tried a few variations of this recipe, and have concluded that this one is the best: the crunchy walnuts and thinly sliced Brussels are very well accented by the earthiness of za’atar, a blend of sumac, sesame seeds, and other dried herbs. I was introduced to za’atar by an old college friend, whose father is Lebanese, but until now hadn’t found much use for it other than making the flatbread her father would bring up when he visited.

My brother, Patrick, inspired this concoction when he mentioned that he had started cooking Brussels sprouts sliced very thinly. They cook a lot faster, and have a little more delicate flavor. And why, you might be wondering is this dish so very yellow? I decided to cook the rice with turmeric, a little suggestion from a former housemate, Christa. So this is dish is like a big amalgam of inspiration from people I’ve known, and a quick and easy weeknight dinner full of crunch and flavor.
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Poor Man’s Brioche

Brioche is the gold standard of bread. It’s incredibly tender crust and rich, buttery flavor purportedly lost Marie Antoinette her head when she callously prescribed it to her starving countrymen: It’s richness was so far out of their reach that their only possible reaction was revolution. I think they really just wanted the brioche.

I’ve avoided making it until recently because I’ve heard that in order to get that flaky, tender crumb, you have to stir and knead forever, and my little weakling arms just were not up for that. One of the first things I thought of as I unpacked the shiny new stand mixer was that I could finally give brioche a try. Good timing, too, because it was quickly approaching in my quest to bake every bread in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.
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A note on chicken enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas are one of my all time favorite meals, but they are messy, and not all that healthy. However, I’ve recently discovered something that makes them a little easier to pull together, and a little less greasy, and I had to share: La Tortilla Factory’s Handmade Style Corn Tortillas. They are actually made with a blend of corn and wheat that makes them more flexible and less prone to breakage. I suspect real, homemade corn tortillas, or those fresh from a tortilleria would provide the same effect, but if you are looking for something a little easier, look for these. If you’re working with flexible tortillas like these, you don’t have to dip them in oil first, which, well duh, makes them a little less greasy. I thought these were perfect, and I’ll be using them from now on. Until, that is, I get up the nerve to make my own corn tortillas.

(I was not in any way paid or encouraged by anyone, especially not La Tortilla Factory, to post this. I just like to share my supermarket discoveries with all of you. Enjoy!)

Spinach and Clementine Salad

So far, February has been a little hectic. I’ve been traveling a lot for work (who knew being a librarian would involve so many hotel rooms?), and luckily I’ve been able to combine that work travel with visits to friends and family. I got to spend a week in the Bay Area, and even got to go to Santa Cruz for a quick day trip, a place which still has the ability to make me blissfully happy, even though they are doing massive construction on my old dorm. Oh nostalgia, you are a powerful beast.

Of course, all this traveling has involved a lot of restaurant meals, and I don’t complain about that. But I do miss my kitchen when I’m away, and frankly, when I return I’m not usually in the mood to be wildly experimental with my food. No, I’m a homebody at heart, and being away makes me long for familiar dinners, like my very favorite chicken enchiladas. But the days of heavy restaurant food also make me crave light, fresh salads, and this winter-friendly spinach and citrus salad absolutely does not disappoint.
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Spinach Potato Mash

I have to say, I don’t know if there’s anything I like so much as a big bowl of mashed potatoes for dinner, especially in February, when it’s cold and damp and winter is still a long way from being over. Before I knew the first thing about cooking, or sound nutrition, for that matter, I would frequently mix up a pot of fake, dehydrated mashed potato flakes and happily enjoy my beige dinner. And my parents always knew to quadruple the mashed potato recipe at Thanksgiving if they wanted any hope of leftovers.

I do still love mashed potatoes, but have since figured out that if I want to eat them for dinner, it would be wise to find some way to make them a more complete (and healthy) meal. Not to knock the humble potato. Potatoes have a reputation for being nutritionally suspect, but one potato packs a healthy wallop of vitamin C, potassium, vitamin B6, and fiber, not to mention a ton of important, good energy for the proper functioning of the body. Potatoes are most certainly our friends.
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Homemade Bagels

A few months ago I decided to try to bake my way through Peter Reinhardt’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I am far from the first person to try this, and I’m willing to bet I’m not the first person who got hung up only a few recipes in by the bagels. They seemed so…daunting. People get really intense about bagels. There are long-standing arguments about what kinds of bagels are the best, and how to cook them so they are more authentic, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to jump into the fray. But last weekend, I finally decided enough was enough. And I discovered that bagels are actually pretty easy, and unlike my English muffin experience of a few weeks ago, they turned out awesome. Sure, maybe a real New Yorker would shun my bagels, but out here in Walla Walla, where beggars perhaps cannot be choosers, I am awfully glad to have this recipe in my arsenal.
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