Not All Food is Good.

Some weeks, we do good (see: last week). Everything we cook is delicious and perfectly seasoned and nice looking to boot.

Other weeks, not so good. What sounds like a good recipe sometimes turns out to be bland, boring, or just plain bad. This was one of those weeks.

Black Bean Burgers with Salsa and Avocado.
Good concept, not so good execution. The patties had virtually no flavor, and they were practically impossible to cook. The recipe is here if you really want to try them. I’d suggest tripling the spices and seasonings at the very least. Also baking them might be a better solution vs. sautéing them, if anything just to avoid having to flip them. Again, it’s an intriguing concept, but just needs a little (ok, a lot) of refinement.

Roasted Balsamic Vegetable and Pecan Salad
Again, just a bit boring. It needed more of a dressing than just the little juice left from the veggies. We also made the mistake of adding Chinese Eggplant, which has a very tough and almost bitter tasting skin. Recipe here if you’re interested. It is a healthy meal, but needs some more work before we’ll make it again.

Bobby Flay, this time, you’ve not done so great. Maybe because we didn’t grill it, or because we used frozen salmon, or maybe because we used canned artichoke hearts, but this one was not so great. I liked it a bit more than Taylor did… the olive marinade was STRONG but had potential. The artichokes had potential as well… they just weren’t fabulous. The salmon burgers we made last week would have been a much better use for this salmon!

Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

These are Not Cheesesticks.

They might look like cheesesticks, but you’d be quite wrong if you assumed that’s what they were.

Nope. These babies were made in response to a few comments on our coconut shrimp post a few weeks back. Why not try the same thing with tofu? Hey, now there’s an idea!

Taylor’s given you his Kick Butt Peanut Sauce. Now it’s my turn. I present to you, Lindsay’s Kick Butt Mango Sauce! While it’s not the *ideal* dipping sauce (it’s pretty chunky and needs to be spooned on top of the tofu sticks), it has a natural sweetness and tang that is the perfect compliment to the coconut. The sauce would be a great dipping sauce for some asian spring rolls, or even as a salsa for fish tacos. I have to say, it’s pretty darn good!

As far as the coconut tofu goes, we followed the exact same recipe as our coconut shrimp, just substituting extra firm tofu in place of the shrimp. Be sure to press as much moisture out of the tofu as you can, then cut into ’shrimp sized’ pieces. They definitely don’t have as much flavor as the shrimp – they almost need to be sweetened, but when combined with the mango sauce are quite delicious! And hey, wouldn’t it be fun to trick your friends into eating tofu by pretending they are mozzarella sticks? hehe.

Lindsay’s Kick Butt Mango Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1 tablespoon (or to taste) sweet chili sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 mango, cut into a 1/4″ dice
1 kiwi, diced as well

DIRECTIONS
Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Add chopped fruit. Enjoy!

No Knead Bread, a Pretty Pot, & Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto

Happy early birthday, to me, to me.

Very happy indeed!

I’m easily stumped when it comes to birthdays. I get asked over and over what do I want, what do I want, when really, I don’t know. I guess it’s a good sign when you are satisfied with what you have.

Since no one close to me ever wants to buy me fonts for my birthday (yes, I’m a design nerd), I was at a loss. Until I found the now infamous recipe for No Knead Bread. You see, no knead bread requires, well, a nice pot. A heavy pot that can go into the oven. I wanted this bread, and I wanted it badly. And I had no such pot.

Needless to say, I knew what I wanted for my birthday.

Lucky for me, we have a Le Creuset store downtown (next to Whole Foods, nonetheless!). And so Taylor and I made the treck to the hoity-toity shopping center. I was entirely planning to make the final purchase online, where I could surely get a better deal. Maybe it was the pushy salesman or the enticing shade of turquoise… either way, we left carrying (or, rather, Taylor was carrying) a lovely 5 1/2 quart Le Creuset, in Caribbean blue.

I’m in love (with a pot, yes, but with the boy who bought it for me too!).

And let me tell you, this bread is worth it!!

Of course, we couldn’t JUST eat bread for dinner. I recently saw this recipe for Vanilla Bean and Butternut Squash risotto over at Erin Cooks… and with my stash of ebay vanilla beans I am always looking for new ways to use them. While it might seem like an odd combination, the subtle sweetness of the vanilla is a perfect compliment to the squash and creamy risotto. Plus the tiny speckles are a sight to be seen.

Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto

Makes 4 regular or 6 side dish servings.
Recipe from Giada.

INGREDIENTS
4 cups vegetable broth
1 large vanilla bean
3 cups peeled cubed (1-inch wide) butternut squash, about 12 ounces
2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon
3/4 cups finely chopped onion (from 1 onion)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan, warm the broth over medium-high heat. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and add them, and the bean, to the broth. When the broth comes to a simmer reduce the heat to low. Add the butternut squash to the simmering broth and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the butternut squash to a side dish. Turn the heat on the broth down to very low and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to of the broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes total. Discard the vanilla bean. Turn off the heat. Gently stir in the butternut squash, Parmesan, the remaining tablespoon of butter, and salt. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl and sprinkle with chives. Serve immediately.