The Sometime Vegetarian

Growing up with a vegetarian father, I learned to appreciate the many virtues of vegetarian cooking. While I will never support a diet that categorically excludes any food group, I do have to admit that vegetarian food has its virtues. It’s much lower in calories and fat (unless you fill that meatless hole with cheese), and can often be prepared without a trip to the store (beans tend to have a longer shelf/fridge life than meat…). My mother is the master of delicious, healthy vegetarian meals that can be prepared in the time between coming home from work at 5:30 and feeding her family of five by 7. I’ve shaved even more prep time by adapting this recipe for my beloved slow cooker. And made it lowbrow by substituting out her vibrant but more demanding onion cilantro relish for a handful of crushed Fritos. I’ll let you decide which you prefer.

Vegetarian Chili

1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
2 15-oz can kidney beans
2 chicken bullion cubes in 1 c. water (use 5 cups if cooking stovetop)
1 red bell pepper, diced
5 oz corn
Optional: shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, Fritos, onion relish (diced red onion, cilantro, pinch of salt, pinch of sugar, tossed with white vinegar and olive oil)

1. Spray or oil bottom of crockpot. Toss onions, garlic, and spices and pour in bottom of pot. (If not using crockpot, sautee all together for this step).

2. Add tomatoes, beans, broth. Cook on HIGH for 9 hours (Stovetop: bring to a boil, cook about an hour.)

3. After 7-8 hours, add red peppers and corn. (For stovetop, cook additional 45 min).

4. Serve with grated cheese and/or the topping of your choice. The pictured chili is extra special as our building’s vending machine only had BBQ-flavored Fritos. Did I mention there was no grocery trip involved in the making of this recipe?

In Search of the Perfect Muffin

When your day starts at 6am and doesn't involve much sitting down, a hearty breakfast is important. I consider it one of my life's missions to come up with the perfect breakfast pastry – healthy, full of slow-burning protein and fiber, and easy to consume while running/driving to work (or concealable in the pocket of a white coat).

In my quest for The Perfect Muffin, I came across this one on epicurious. With a few modifications of my own (oats, whole wheat, and less sugar) I feel pretty confident that I’ve found The One. Chock-full of apples, raisins, walnuts, and pumpkiny goodness, it’s one of my favorite ways to start the day. A few lucky coworkers agree.

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

1 c. vegetable or corn oil
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. Instant oats
1 T pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 t ground ginger, 1/2 t nutmeg, optional 1/4 t allspice)
1 1/4 t baking powder

1. Combined wet (first 4) ingredients.
2. Combine dry ingredients, add to wet.
3. Fold in apples and raisins, and walnuts if you like (that extra hit of protein might help you make it to lunch).
4. Pour into greased muffin tin. For huge, 300-calorie, overflowing muffins (with the nice tops) divide among 12 cups; for smaller (260-cal) bites divide among 18 cups. Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar, or streusel topping (4 T butter, 2 T flour, 1/2 t cinnamon, and 1/2 c. brown sugar) for a fancier muffin.
5. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until muffin tops are springy.
6. Let cool 5-10 mins in pan, then on cooling rack until room temp (or as long as you can wait).

Every Season is Pumpkin Season

When the weather turns chilly and the leaves start to turn, so do the seasonal menus become inundated with pumpkin concoctions of every kind – soups, cakes, lattes, beers, even ravioli gets a delightful new twist with the addition of everyone’s favorite gourd. I secretly believe that no one actually is that nuts over actual pumpkin flavor, but rather the almost-synonymous pumpkin spice bouquet: a sumptuous blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and sometimes clove or allspice that conjures up fall scenes, no matter how warm the weather.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not knocking the pumpkin craze. In fact, I’m taking it one step further. Why limit this fantastic vegetable and its associated flavors to one season? Pumpkin is actually a wonderfully versatile ingredient, adding moisture and color to any baked good, often resulting in less fat/butter/oil. The flavor (combined with pumpkin pie spice) is also bold enough to hold its own against whole wheat flour, once again upping the healthy factor.
I came across this recipe on the King Arthur Flour blog (a solid test kitchen, by the way). It seems kinda fancy but it turns out even donut newbies like me can tackle it. Show up one Saturday morning with a box full of these puppies and your coworkers will love you forever. By the way, this donut pan is my favorite new baking tool. No sticking, no mess, and only $10.

Pumpkin Spice Donuts

1/2 c. Vegetable or corn oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1 3/4 c. + 2 T flour (white or wheat)
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
Additional cinnamon sugar for dusting

*pumpkin pie spice = roughly 2 parts cinnamon : 1 part ground ginger : 1 nutmeg : 1/2 allspice (optional), I often err on the side of more cinnamon

1. Mix wet (first four) ingredients.

2. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. My mom always saves on time (and dishes) by using a large measuring cup:

3. Fold dry ingredients into wet.

4. Pour into greased donut pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

5. Let cool for 5 min, then shake in a plastic bag (or dip onto a plate) filled with cinnamon sugar. NOTE: the sugar tends to get absorbed and makes the donuts sticky, so I recommend dusting the day of and covering only lightly until ready to serve.

Bananarama

I have been making these muffins since college. While they are not my magnum opus of muffins (that post is yet to come) they are simple crowd-pleasers and can be whipped up in a snap. There’s plenty of room to play with ingredients should you be in the market for a more wholesome, filling muffin (suggestions posted along the way) or make as is for a wonderful breakfast indulgence or even dessert.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

2-3 large ripe bananas, the more spots the better
2 T sugar, or to taste (if your bananas are ripe enough you’ll hardly need sugar at all. I am usually satisfied with a few teaspoons. Adding chocolate chips also helps me get away with a less sweet batter)
1 egg
1/2 c. oil (oil makes a crispier muffin, but yogurt can be used instead for a fat-free but slightly chewier muffin – just don’t use Greek yogurt as it makes the muffins kind of sour.)
1 t. vanilla extract (optional)
1 1/2 c. flour (I used whole wheat here, slightly nuttier taste but contributes to that wholesome breakfast goal)
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. chocolate chips (optional) – or walnuts, or whatever you fancy in a banana muffin

1. Mash bananas with a fork.




2. Combine the rest of the wet ingredients (egg, oil/yogurt, vanilla) and sugar.

3. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. I find recipes always say to use a separate bowl but all you really need is a big enough measuring cup : )  

4. Fold flour mixture into wet ingredients.


5. Add chocolate chips.


6. Pour into greased muffin pan. Fill about 3/4 full, or more for bigger muffin tops.



7. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until edges are golden-brown and tops spring back when lightly pressed.
7.

Sunday Night Soup

I love soups, stews, and basically anything you can eat out of a bowl. They’re healthy, usually require only one pot and very minimal hands-on time, and can often be made without a trip to the grocery store. You just throw everything together and let it cook, the longer the better. The problem with working 12+ hours a day is there’s very little time to let things, well, stew.
Enter the crock pot. I inherited one from my mother-in-law a few years ago, and am slowly realizing how great a solution it is to my time shortage issue. Plus, coming home to the aroma of intense flavors that have been simmering all day is a wonderful antidote to the trials of intern year.
I recently came across Real Simple magazine’s post on their most-pinned slow-cooker recipes. This black bean soup recipe caught my eye. Raised half Hindu and half Jewish, cooking pork is something I know very little about. But this recipe was pretty persuasive in its simplicity so I decided to give it a try. It turns out navigating the pork section of the grocery store was the hardest part. I found the final flavor a little overwhelmingly hoppy (then again I don’t like hops) and one-dimensional in its flavor, so I added a few spices and reduced the beer.  The end result was perfectly hearty, but not too rich for a nice end-of-the-weekend meal. The husband even had seconds.

Beer-braised pork and black bean soup

1 large onion, diced
1 lb dried black beans
1 chopped chipotle en adobo with 1 T adobo sauce
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
2 chicken bullion cubes
1 bottle beer (I used an IPA but a lager would probably work better)
1.5 lbs pork shoulder
2-3 cups water

1. Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Set on high for 5 hours.

2. Pull apart pork, discard fat and bones. Add more water as needed/desired (I tend to like a thicker soup but it could be watered down more).

3. Serve with a dash of lime juice, a dollop of sour cream (we used plain Greek yogurt, almost always just as good and it definitely is here), and cilantro and cheese as desired. Serve with a nice crusty bread. Or tortillas.

Postcall Pretzels

When you’re post-call, or jetlagged, or just really sleep- deprived, food just seems to be the only answer. Tucking into a warm bowl of soup or a crusty loaf of bread does wonders for weary limbs and overtired minds. Or maybe it’s just me. But whenever I find myself with a wide open day after being up all night, all I want to do is cook and bake. It probably helps that I spend most of the night (after saving all the patients of course) browsing recipes on Pinterest and getting hungry.

Which is how I found myself, after a week of night float in the PICU and too wired to nap, tackling these pretzel rolls. You may have noticed that the pretzel is making a huge comeback. It’s the hipster baked good of the moment. I mean, the Grange’s brunch menu has a pretzel bread french toast option (which is amazing, by the way). It was only matter of time before I, helpless in the face of overwhelming trends, attempted my own pretzel bread.


After carefully scrutinizing the recipes (read: yummy photos) on Pinterest and cutting out any with too many fancy ingredients or too long a wait (Let rise for another hour?! But what will I eat??) I chose this one. It’s simple, quick, and as delicious as the photos promised. The trickiest part is probably taking the time to roll them into smooth balls instead of dunking chunks haphazardly into boiling water, which I learned after producing a few lumpy (but still delicious) specimens:

Pretzel Bread

2 Tbsp. butter

1 c. milk (I used skim, whatever you have probably works)

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 packet (7g) yeast

3 cups white flour

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg

large-grain salt for decorating

1. Heat milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat, to 100 degrees. This is important, as temperatures over 140º can kill live yeast. And then you’d have matzoh.

2. Pour mixture into a mixing bowl, and add brown sugar and yeast. I used a candy thermometer to avoid casualties, but any thermometer probably works. Or just heat the milk to warm, not hot.

3. Using your dough hook, start the mixer. (For those without, I’ve heard spoons and hands are pretty good at making bread too. And according to some old-fashioned types, much more satisfying.) Slowly add flour  and salt (mixed with in measuring cup beforehand). Beat until dough is smooth. If it’s super sticky, toss in a handful of flour until it’s manageable (you should be able to pick it up and scrape it off your fingers without too much effort).

4. Transfer mixture to an oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise for 1 hour.

5. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Half-fill a large pot with water (I used the one below), add baking soda and bring to a boil. It’s important to add the baking soda BEFORE you boil. Otherwise Chemistry ensues. And nobody likes chemistry.





6. Form dough into balls, sized to your liking. I made a few dinner (burger)-sized rolls, and a bunch of bite-sized ones. As I mentioned earlier, make sure to roll balls until each is smooth and uniform.

7. Drop balls into boiling water, let cook for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to oiled cookie sheet (I used cooking spray on an old beat-up one since I couldn’t bear to tarnish my new shiny ones with baked-on oil).

8. Brush each roll with 1 egg beaten with a few splashes of water. Sprinkle with the largest-grain salt you have. I didn’t have the presence of mind to shop for big salt beforehand, by my kosher salt worked out ok.

9. Bake for 15 minutes at 400º, then turn oven to 350º and bake until browned to your liking.

10. Let cool. Or just eat them all standing up.