Even Cod is interesting when doing social distancing

from a tattered and untitled Post clipping, tucked deep into my notebook:

Multiply for number of eaters:

8 oz cod (serves two, barely) - - mine was fresh that day from Whole Foods; when I cook the other half, I'll firm it in 15 min of ice water, with a little salt and 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice.

place in the bottom of a small saucepan:

• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into a few pieces
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 slightly crushed black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp cardamom seed (recipe called for 1 pod, crushed)
• 1/2 tsp anise seed (recipe called for 1 star anise)

add enough vegetable stock to cover your fish (which isn't added yet) and bring to a boil.  Then add the fish, leave the lid off, and turn off the heat.  The fish should be cooked in 20 min.  Next time I might leave the pot on very low - - I thought the fish not hot enough for my taste, but at least it was cooked.  Or I will reheat the broth before pouring it over the fish.

Fiesta Chicken Soup

Prepare 1/2 recipe Joy of Cooking quick creamed chicken
Sautee 1 large (or 2 small) red onions, 1 sliced bell pepper (I used yellow), 3 sliced celery stalks, 3 diced potatoes, 3 smashed garlic cloves, 1 sliced jalapeno, 2 handfuls of frozen corn in EVOO.
Put the creamed chicken, veggies, 1 can of chopped tomates, and chicken stock to the desired consistency (about 2 cups) into a large slow cooker.
Season with cumin (2-3t), chili powder (2-3t), rosemary (1/2t), thyme (1t), salt (1/2t), black pepper (1/2t).

 Cook on low for about 8 hours.

Creamy, filling, delicious! Almost like a white chili.

Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread.

Baked Turkey Meatballs

Almost everyone in the family loved these:
https://uprootkitchen.com/2014/06/25/easy-baked-turkey-meatballs/
For Italian seasoning, I used garlic powder, sage, rosemary, and basil. I served them with whole wheat egg noodles (with a small amount of butter) and grated parmesan cheese. I left the red pepper flakes out so people could spice them up as needed.

carrot mac 'n' cheese

Don't feel like rewriting this recipe - but want to save this here:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/carroty-mac-and-cheese-367160
Delicious, carroty mac and cheese. It makes maybe 5 portions, so it is a much more reasonable size than M's family recipe, which calls for 1 lb of mac and 2 of cheese. I usually make it with skim greek yogurt rather than sour cream, which works fine. One child doesn't seem to notice the carrots, the other does and screams and cries for boxed shells with cheese, so... some success?

vegetarian tacos, or delicata squash for haters

Spoiler alert: there is only one hater, M. I think everyone else I know likes delicata squash, bc it is awesome.

This recipe was adapted from my CSA, Harmony Valley Farm, newsletter.

I make beans in my usual way - pinto beans, cooked in stock (veggie or chicken) with onion, garlic, tomato paste, seasonings (cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, dried oregano, and fresh cilantro).

For the veggies:
Thinly slice 1 medium red onion
Seed and thinly slice 1-2 delicata squash
Slice 2 poblano peppers
Toss the above with 3-4T vegetable oil, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt, and 2t brown sugar.
Roast at 425 for about 20 minutes, or until soft.

Serve with corn or flour soft tacos and any or all of: rice, fresh tomatoes, more cilantro, cheddar cheese, and jalapeno quick pickles (thinly sliced jalapenos barely covered with white vinegar and some salt).

M repeatedly stated "if you want me to eat delicata squash, this is the way to do it." The baby even ate some of the rice and beans. Success.

Leek pie

Mom makes this dish quite often. She has made a few modifications to make it more healthy. I made it tonight in its original glory and LOVE it!

For filling:
Carefully clean 4 leeks (spread the leaves out carefully under the tap)
Cut off the dark green parts
Slice the white and light green parts thinly
Keep an eye out for more dirt as you slice - leeks are often very dirty.
Saute on low in EVOO (use maybe 2T). Salt the leeks lightly. Cover with a lid and cook until the leeks are soft and pale, maybe a little caramelized (note that they will not caramelize as much as onions would, since they have less sugar).
Turn off heat.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix 3 eggs lightly, and stir into the leeks.
Add 1/2 c grated parmesan.
Set aside.
Get a frozen pie crust (I use whole wheat. Puff pastry would be great, too. I will also include mom's recipe for foccacia crust below, which is more classic but also more work.) Line the bottom and sides with several slices of prosciutto (I used about 5 slices.... less than 1 of the small packages you can get at Whole Foods).
Pour the leek mixture into the crust, over the prosciutto.
(optional) decorate the top with thin slices of peppers - I used 1/2 poblano (lightly spicy) and 1/2 Carmen pepper (sweet).
Bake for 45 minutes at 350, or until filling sets and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean (it should look like a quiche).

Photo of the half-eaten pie below. It just smelled so good I couldn't wait...



Optional - Foccacia crust (alternative to frozen pie crust) (nb, I haven't tested it, it's copy-pasted from mom):

mix 1 T yeast with ¼ cup water.  Yeast should start to grow within a few minutes

            Add 3/8 cup olive oil and ¾ cup water and 1 t salt

            Add one egg and stir

            Mix in 2 cups of bread flour and knead on floured surface, adding more flour as                            necessary to get a thick, cushiony dough.  Put in bowl to rise.
Later, form dough into baking dish and add filling. Bake as described above.

Roasted tomato soup

I've used this tomato soup recipe from Smitten Kitchen a few times and LOVE it. Here's why: you do NOT have to peel or seed the tomatoes! So easy!

I've done basil instead of thyme, which is also great. I also haven't ever tried her combined soup + grilled cheese top combination, which sounds amazing - just phoned it in with a bowl of soup and some regulation grilled cheese. It freezes very well, too. Yea!

Note that compared to recipes where you peel and seed the tomatoes, this has a bit more texture to it - as long as you puree it well, there are no actual chunks, but it is not super smooth. I like it this way.