Melissa Coleman's Blog, page 16

Meal Planning: Week 1

Meal planning is a subject I tackled, reluctantly, in The Minimalist Kitchen. My design background taught me not to stop until form meets function. Having one without the other is just something pretty to look at, much like a pile of recipe ideas without the ability to integrate them into the week. But the difficult thing about advising on meal planning is that our lives look so vastly different. What works for one person, might not fit into the lifestyle of the other. There is one universal truth though. Mom-friend after mom-friend said the same thing. “Oh my gosh, 5:30 (dinnertime) arrives by surprise everyday. Like I didn’t know it was coming.” Getting to the dinner table is a seemingly universal struggle. 

I’ve found myself saying the same thing about dinnertime since becoming a mom. The only thing that’s worked for me is to give up my romanticized way of cooking without a plan, and make a plan. I do this reluctantly, because I swear I’m still young and free and 24. I do this reluctantly, because I’m a horrible planner. But I do this because I want to get to the dinner table with my people.

Over the next 4 weeks, I’ll be posting meal plans using recipes from my book, highlighting general meal planning advice, an efficient tool, and how to prep in advance where possible (a practice that has saved my dinner-cooking life). But first, I’d like to give a huge thank you to OXO for making The Minimalist Kitchen book tour (online and in real life) possible. I’ve been leaning on their tools since day 1 in my kitchen.

Meal Plan: Week 1

M  White Wine Spring Pasta (recipe below)

T   Baked Falafel (pg. 135)

Prep ahead: Make a double batch of falafel and freeze for next week. Make Quick-Pickled Onions in advance. 

W  Beef Tacos with Chimichurri (pg. 117)

Prep ahead: Make Humble Chuck Roast (pg. 119) in advance and freeze into portions for other recipes. Make chimichurri a day in advance.

T   Night off

F   Chipotle Tortilla Soup (pg. 155)

S   Diner-Style or Quinoa Burgers (pg. 125 or 127)

Prep ahead: Make a double batch of Quinoa Burgers and freeze. Prep special sauce and quick-pickles in advance. 

S   Family Style Caesar Salad (pg. 170)

Prep ahead: Make croutons and dressing in advance. 

Tip
Meal Planning is a bit like working out.

You have to force yourself to do it. If you’re new to meal planning, start small. Try planning 3 out of the 7 dinners in advance. If you find success, add an extra planned meal each week. Either way, give yourself a night off (or two) to keep from burnout.

Efficient Tool

OXO grate and slice

I try to sneak vegetables in to meals as many ways as possible. For this reason, I make a lot of quick-pickled vegetables. It preserves their life too. To efficiently slice and shred veggies, I use the OXO grate and slice. I’ve had it in my kitchen for 2+ years now and use it daily. It replaced my box grater that I only ever used for grating cheese and cleans up so easily.

Photography ©2018 by Time Inc. Books





White Wine Spring Pasta












.
shopping list






Prep Time
30 mins




Yield

3-4

   
adjust servings

Recipe from The Minimalist Kitchen. This pasta recipe is salty from the bacon, sweet from the peas and wine, and peppery from 
the arugula and red pepper flakes. If I’m not serving a side salad, I like to go ahead and top my pasta with greens. They soften slightly from the heat but not to the point of wilty, a texture 
I don’t care for. I love the efficiency of this recipe—reusing pans and cooking asparagus in 
the leftover bacon fat. It just works.

Ingredients

Pasta

3

c. short-grain pasta





kosher salt for salting water



1

c. frozen peas

Bacon + Asparagus

2

slices bacon



1

bunch asparagus (about 1 pound), woody ends removed, and chopped into 2-inch segments



1⁄4

tsp. kosher salt

White Wine Sauce

1

tsbp. salted butter



2

cloves garlic, minced



1

tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour



1

c. sweet white wine (like Moscato)



1⁄4

c. heavy cream



3⁄4

tsp. kosher salt





a couple cracks of pepper

Garnish (optional)

1

c. arugula





red pepper flakes





grated parmesan






Instructions

Cook the pasta. Fill a large saucepan two-thirds full with water; bring to a boil. Liberally salt the water just before adding in the noodles. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions until al dente, stirring in the peas with 4 minutes remaining. Drain, reserving ½ cup pasta water in a liquid measuring cup.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon. In a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove and place on paper towels. Once cooled, chop the bacon. Carefully remove some of the leftover fat in the pan with a paper towel and discard. Add the asparagus and salt to the pan; cook for about 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally.

Make the sauce. In the saucepan used to cook the noodles, heat the pan over medium and add the butter. Once melted, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in the flour until evenly combined and cook for another 30 seconds. Pour in the reserved pasta water, wine, and all the remaining sauce ingredients, and whisk to combine. (If you forgot to reserve the water, it happens, use stock.) Cook for about 3 minutes until thickened. Add the pasta and peas back in. Cook for 2 minutes more to coat the noodles. Taste and add more salt if necessary.

To serve, divide the pasta evenly among plates. Top the pasta with the asparagus, bacon, and arugula. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and red pepper, if desired.

Notes

Make this a vegetarian dish by leaving out the bacon. Instead, cook the asparagus in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

The post Meal Planning: Week 1 appeared first on The Fauxmartha.

The Minimalist Kitchen

The Minimalist Kitchen is out! This day. It’s like graduation or your wedding day. It never arrives until it does. And now, here we are! I’m so excited for this book to be in your hands and in your home. I’m celebrating with tacos (BBQ Black Bean Tacos with a Quick Slaw) and a margarita, of course. You’ll find both of these recipes in the book. I’ve said thank you so many times over the last couple of weeks that it feels cheap. I’m not sure there’s a better word to express my gratitude to you. So thank you will have to do. Your support means more words than the English language has to express. I hear you’re already depleting Amazon’s stock pile of the book. Wow. Thank you! If you’re in the Twin Cities, please come celebrate with me tonight at The Lynhall with sips and small bites, a panel discussion, and book signing!

There’s this weird space when writing a book. It’s the space between the time it goes off to print and lands on store shelves. For me, that space was filled with a lot of anxiety. Uncertainty of how you guys would feel with this book in your hands. This book, The Minimalist Kitchen, is the story of how my kitchen broke and came back together again. A Humpty Dumpty story of sorts. My sister came to visit a couple days after the early copies arrived in February. She’s was one of the first to get a copy. She’s my sister, so there’s extreme bias. But she’s also a Surgical Physician Assistant. She’s brilliant, logical, witty, and a really good cook. I was most nervous to hear her thoughts on the book. I’ll let her tell you. (PS—If you click on #theminimalistkitchen hashtag you’ll see so many recipes from her kitchen. She’s cooking her way through the book.)

By: Ashleigh Theimer, MSPAS, PA-C, sister of Melissa

I should preface this by letting you know that The Fauxmartha is my sister, so I’m slightly biased. The moment I saw her new book, I shed several tears of happiness and an immense sense of pride. It’s amazing to see the culmination of her hard work all in one beautiful package and to be able to hold a book, in which she shares her life philosophy as well as the food she feeds her closest friends and family.

Every time I visit the fauxhouse, I always leave thinking about the delicious meals we shared and how Melissa seemed to put them together with such ease. I would lust over her organized, high-functioning pantry and envy the way she was able to use her kitchen. I have loved cooking for a long time, but that love has always been weighed down by my disdain for grocery shopping and meal planning. It seemed like my trips to the store always ended with me spending more money than planned and despite that, getting home without the things I needed; resulting in several trips to the store per week. My pantry was always a hot-mess, filled with junk that I never used, and never seeming to have what I actually needed.

So, when I returned from my recent trip to Minneapolis, with my copy of The Minimalist Kitchen in hand, I decided to not only read the book, but to also USE it!  I spent a weekend cleaning out my pantry (I found three bags of Potato starch), restocking it according to the book, and sorting everything into clear, labeled containers(I use HEB brand containers which are very affordable). I have now spent the last 3 weeks using my pantry and cooking meals from the book. I can honestly say, it has changed the way I use my kitchen. The loathing I felt with meal planning is gone, I have only had to go grocery shopping 2 times in 3 weeks, and, of course, all of the food has been so so good. Not to mention, my fast-food intake (mostly Taco Bell) has seriously declined, which is definitely a good thing.

Melissa has truly found the secret to infusing joy back into mealtime, I have experienced this first hand. I hope, in the coming weeks, that people not only buy the book, but buy-into the book; read it, use it, allow The Minimalist Kitchen to become your kitchen. I promise you won’t regret it! Melissa says it best: “this book will help you make over the most complicated room in the house—the kitchen—so that dinner time feels doable again”.

I’m excited to see what you choose to implement and what you don’t from The Minimalist Kitchen. I’m excited to see how you change the recipes to make them yours. Minimalism is about keeping the good things and getting rid of the things that don’t work. I hope you approach this book the same way. Keep the things that work for you and discard the rest. If I had a hope for this book, it would be this—I hope you fall in love with the ordinary magic of gathering around the table with good food and even better people.

My publisher, Time Inc. Books/Oxmoor House, made you 2 videos! OXO, a brand I’ve loved and used in my kitchen for 10 years (as long as I’ve had my own kitchen), caught wind of the book and joined in on the party too! Cheers to celebrating the simple things!



Video production by the amazing team at Tucker Fox.



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Dinner Composition

The countdown is on. There are 12 days left until my book, The Minimalist Kitchen is out. If you’ve pre-ordered it from Amazon, I hear it will deliver on publication date, April 10! I’m scared and excited for this book to be in your hands. As Elizabeth Gilbert says in Big Magic, “Scared and excited are conjoined twins, baby.” I’m so glad she’s normalized these bipolar feelings of mine. I’m nervous for all the things I don’t know—how you’ll feel about the book. But I’m more so excited because this practice, that started 4 years ago in my kitchen, has changed my cooking life. I think it will change yours too. For the better. 

Though this is a book full of 100+ recipes, it’s also a book full of kitchen wisdoms—demystifying the many mysteries in the home kitchen. Like why your pantry turns into a monster so fast. Why meal planning can be so difficult. Or why steaming certain vegetables before roasting makes a huge difference. The most impactful college professors taught me how to think well instead of how to regurgitate information. I’ve followed their lead to write this book. I want you to feel like an empowered home cook who knows how to think on the fly. Because it’s no mystery—the kitchen is full of so many variables.

Today, I’m breaking down my loose formula for dinnertime. We’ll call this lesson: Dinner Composition. I only like to keep a handful of good recipes around. But of course, everyone at my house likes a little variety. Instead of reinventing the dinnertime wheel, I’ve become a master at recomposing the same recipe 5 different ways. Here’s how to tackle dinner composition like a minimalist.

First, download the 1-page Dinner Composition Worksheet for context. I’ll break down the formula in detail below.

Step 1: Choose a meal type

These are the 7 varieties of meal types I typically stick to when composing dinner. I’ve designed this to our food preferences, so feel free to add your personal preferences to make these steps work for you. Our meal types vary from grain bowls, noodle bowls, pastas, salads, tacos/fajitas, wraps, and sandwiches. You’ll see this in the recipe selection for The Minimalist Kitchen.

Step 2: Choose protein(s)

We’re not vegetarians, but we look like it about 70% of the week. And when we do eat meat, we consume it in smaller portions. This diet shift, compared to the compartmentalized plate composition I grew up with (a meat, a vegetable, and a carbohydrate or two), has heavily influenced the way I cook and compose a meal now. When I first transitioned to this way of cooking, there was a huge learning curve. But these types of meals were always my favorite to eat, so I stuck with it. Most of the dinners we make are eaten from one bowl or under the supervision of a wedge of naan. All the food touches! Though it’s worth noting, depending on the meal, I usually break apart the components for Hal (4 years old and in a severe picky stage).

Step 3: Choose veggie(s)

I should have just kept this word plural. I like to load dinner with vegetables of all varieties, prepared in multiple ways: raw, sautéed, pickled, steamed, and roasted. Pickled vegetables last a good while in the fridge and offer a nice vinegary kick. I often make a large batch in advance so that I can have them on hand for any meal. Kids tend to love pickles too—pickled radishes or cucumbers!

Step 4: Choose a sauce

The idea of having to make a sauce might sound scary. But so many recipes are naturally equipped with a sauce, like pasta or enchiladas. I think sauces are why I love this method of dinner composition so much more. It adds an extra layer of flavor and pulls everything together. So many refrigerators are overloaded with single-use sauces. I’ll show you how to make simple, delicious sauces from pantry staples, which makes for a less overwhelming fridge and delicious dinners.

Step 5: Choose garnish(es)

Often forgotten, garnishes can really round out a meal, visually, flavor-, and texture-wise. They’re also a place where you can customize to personal preferences. For example, Kev can’t handle the heat, and I’m like, “Gimme all the heat!” I can’t handle a ton of cheese, and he and Hal are like, “Gimme all the cheese!” Everyone is happy this way, and dinner is beautiful. After all, We eat with our eyes first.

In general when I’m composing meals, I like to have something spicy (think jalapeños or Sriracha), something sweet (think carrots or fruit), something sour (think vinegar or citrus), and something salty (this part is easy).

Recomposing Dinner

Finding a good recipe is like finding a good friend. Do whatever you have to do to keep it! To infuse variety into your dinnertime menu, go back to step one and recompose the components of that recipe into an entirely new meal for next week. For example, I’ll turn my fajita/taco recipe into a salad, a grain bowl, and a wrap. This also works for using up leftover components at lunch or dinnertime.

Homework: turn a favorite recipe into an entirely new one.

Pre-order The Minimalist Kitchen (out April 10) >

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Blistered Peppadew Cauliflower

First things first, I am not fancy despite the presentation of this Blistered Peppadew Cauliflower, which can be served straight from the sheet pan or cast iron skillet, like we do on pizza night. I’m not fancy, and this was confirmed last year at an event held at my house, a blogging event. “We’ll send a private chef if you have some friends over.” That was an easy OK. It was all great until the appetizers started rolling out. And then it got really awkward.

You see, I’m pretty picky. You wouldn’t know that because I publish the recipes I like to eat. But I say just as much by what I don’t say. “Do you have any food preferences,” they asked. I told them someone in the group was a vegetarian. It was me. I’m not a vegetarian, of course, but I’ve found that I usually like the surprise vegetarian dishes better than the surprise meat heavy dishes.

The day of, a sizable van shows up with trays and trays of food. Enough for 50 people. I was hosting a small, last minute party that got even smaller from two cancellations. The dinner I thought we were having was actually a huge charcuterie board, filling the entirety of our 6-person dining room table. If you’ve studied my recipes, you’ll notice a light dusting of cheese and meat. My dining room was liberally covered in both. Heh.

There were four of us at the party. On top having a chef, a server handed out fancy meat and cheese apps. To the four of us! Beautiful apps. The thing of Instagram’s dreams. And every time, I had to say, “No, thank you.” I’m a people pleaser, and this is the thing of my nightmares.

It got more awkward, because I ate a peppadew (a sweet piquanté pepper) for the first time and continued to finish every last one on the 72-inch board. I hope no one noticed, but based on the numbers, everyone noticed. I’m telling you this story because I’m not fancy. It also happens to be my awkward peppadew love story.

When we started working on our wood-fired pizza recipe, Kev and I went to Young Joni for research. Young Joni, owned by Ann Kim, serves some of the best pizza in Minneapolis. Though our intent was to study the pizza crust, we left vowing to recreate her wood-fired cauliflower appetizer. While her sauce recipe is composed of several different peppers, I chose to lean on one pepper—the peppadew, just like that aforementioned night.

A quick steam of the florets begins the cooking process. The cauliflower is then coated in a zippy peppadew sauce and finished under a hot oven or an even hotter wood-fired pizza oven. Serve as is, or plate with a shmear of yogurt (the creamy tartness is so welcomed), plus a heavy handed dusting of chopped curly parsley and walnuts.

An awkward night, a love story, and the birth of something really good—the long story short.

Blistered Peppadew Cauliflower












.
shopping list






Prep Time
5 mins



Cook Time
30 mins


Yield

4-6

   
adjust servings

A blistered cauliflower appetizer coated in a peppadew sauce with a hit of heat, sweetness, and zippy from the vinegar. Serve straight off the pan or the fancy way—over a bed of yogurt. This is what we serve at the start of The Fauxmartha.

On Greying

Before we start talking about grey hair, because I’m greying at what feels like lightening speed, I want to tell you why I’m really talking about grey hair. Because I almost quit blogging in January. Maybe I can attribute the influx to that? I joked about it with Kev and friends for a while. I was trying the idea on, hearing what it sounded like outside my head. It soon became a conversation we were having on the weekly. I’ve already mentioned I’m calling this year “The Year of the Pivot” because something has to change. Mostly because I feel like a plastic bag stuck to a branch in the backyard. “Look, guys, it’s a white fox! Oh no, it’s just a plastic bag. Wait, no, it’s a snow owl. There’s a snow owl in our backyard! Oh, shoot, it’s really just a plastic bag. Hold on, I think it might actually be…” No, it’s the wind blowing a white plastic bag into a thousand different shapes. It’s just a plastic bag. I’m just a plastic bag. 

“You know who you are,” Kev reminds me during the 12th iteration of the same conversation. “Be that.” But as blogging has continued to change at the speed of my hair color, so have the expectations, requirements, and ownership. I’ve tried to be everything for everyone, a Mighty Morphing Power Ranger. Of course that’s not healthy. So I’m navigating back towards healthier waters to prevent myself from prematurely jumping off the ship. I’m practicing being a plastic bag, and saying no to anything that makes me look like a snow owl, or a rabbit, or whatever next shape the wind blows. To preserve myself and this space, I want to make sure I’m talking about the things that matter most to me, because those are still the things I love reading most. (PS—I’ve added ads back on my site to support this shift. Thank you for understanding.)

But before you think too highly of me, here’s what’s on my mind these days. My hair! My first grey hair showed up in my mid-twenties. I plucked it out because it wasn’t my hair. Now it is my hair. And it’s in that awkward stage where it appears that most of the new growth is grey. Five inch grey hairs are smattered in between the deep dark brown hairs. It feels a little unkempt, even for me me who spends such little energy on my hair.

I always thought I would grey naturally until I started to grey naturally. I’d love to rock the all grey look one day, but what do you do in the meantime? How are you greying or planning to grey? Do you have low maintenance tips for someone who’s never dyed their hair (me)? Do I need to add a new line item to the budget? I’d love to hear your thoughts and perspective on greying. If you’d like to chime in about your perspective as a reader of blogs—what you like and dislike—I’d love to hear that too. Thank you for being here and for sharing a little bit of your life with mine.

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A Birth Announcement of Sorts

After we had Hal, we kept that squishy girl all to ourselves for a hot minute before sharing her on the world wide web. Like a mother memorizing the folds and smell of her new skin and counting her toes for the 24th time, I’ve been keeping something else to myself. Reading and rereading it. Absorbing the smell of the fresh ink on the uncoated pages. I’m so excited to announce the arrival of my second baby—The Minimalist Kitchen (Oxmoor House). This thing I swore I’d never do is real.

About the book

Though I’m holding a copy, it wont be on store shelves until April 10, 2018. You can pre-order now on Amazon. What kind of book is it exactly? The Minimalist Kitchen is a cookbook, but more importantly, it’s a framework for creating a minimalist kitchen, a kitchen pared down to the essentials—from the ingredients, tools, pantry, and cooking techniques. Once the framework is in place, you can make 100+ recipes. It’s true what they say, less is more. But this is also true—achieving simplicity is hard. This book will hold your hand through the process and make dinnertime (and the kitchen) feel doable again.

The birth story

I swore I’d never write a book. And then I swore I’d never write a book unless one poured out of me.

May 2016: My now editor, Rachel West, pitched the idea of this book to me. These were my thoughts: Can she see into my kitchen? Of course I can’t write a book. I definitely can’t shoot a book. Well, if I don’t write this book, someone else has to.

January 2017: After months of going back and forth on the details, I thought the book had fizzled off. Relief. Out of the blue, Rachel called with an offer. I’d write the book, and the very talented photo team at Time Inc. Food Studios would shoot the book. I had to write the book.

February 2017: I started getting daily grocery deliveries from Instacart, cooking from morning till bedtime. My iPhone couldn’t recognize my fingerprint for months. So many dishes and raisin-like finger tips. The rest of life went on hold, and Kev absorbed all the extra slack from my line.

June 2017: I turned in the manuscript! The book team came out for a two-day shoot at our house. Hal and Kev were the cutest.

July–November 2017: Time Inc. Food Studios shot the book. (There’s a picture for every recipe. Can I hear an amen?) Meanwhile, we were doing rounds and rounds of copy edits. The book then went into layout. Allison Chi, the book designer, created pages better than the ones in my dreams.

November 2017: The book went to print.

February 2018: A year after beginning the book, an early copy arrived!

April 2018: It will be on your bookshelf. Get a sneak peek below.

An intimate perspective

I’ve heard never-again, horror stories about writing a book. Mine was anything but. It was one of the best experiences of my life. And yet, it was one of the hardest times personally. The pressure of print is real.

In so many ways, the birth of this book has mirrored my experience of motherhood. There are labor pains in trying to master a recipe on its 15th round. The low of getting it wrong again can feel so low in the moment. But the high of mastering it is so high.

At the beginning of it all, you have this ignorant confidence about yourself. It’s the thing propelling your yes to an insurmountable task. By the end of it, you feel extremely unfit—for motherhood, for writing a book. You look in the mirror and see yourself. She’s familiar but different. But to put the differences into words is impossible. You start to second guess yourself until you second guess everything. Did I do it right? Am I good enough? Will they love it? Will they hate me?

Kev asks, “Why are you placing all your self worth in this book?” Because I gave so much of myself. It’s impossible not to lose yourself a little on the way—in motherhood and writing a book. But it’s also possible to find yourself again. I’m sturdier than I was last month. They say you forget the labor pains. I don’t want to. They’re the best reminder that I can do impossible things, things I swore I’d never do. Motherhood and writing a book. It’s as hard as it is good. It’s full of my worst mistakes and greatest successes.

Welcome to the world The Minimalist Kitchen. You made it. We made it!

PSST—get a head start on your spice cabinet with this DIY makeover.

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Vegetarian Chili Cheese Fries

#Healthier. I saw this hashtag the other morning and fell in love. Healthy is a complicated word, a word that’s meant many things to me over my short lifetime. At one point, it meant peppermint mocha Frappaccinos worth 9 points and iceberg lettuce worth 0 points. At another point, it meant sugar-free, fat-free ice cream and unpronounceable ingredients. And then, at another point, it meant no pizza or French fries or dessert. I’m sure you could give an account of this word too.

This post was created in an ongoing partnership with Alexia. A chef once told me to source the things that others do better. That’s how I feel about Alexia’s fries and sides. To see how they are shaking things up with chef-inspired flavors, real ingredients, healthy alternatives, and surprising recipes, follow Alexia on Facebook and Instagram, or check out their website.

Time has taught me that most of life is like yoga—a practice. It’s this ongoing, organic thing that becomes richer as you acquire more experiences and knowledge. And the only way to acquire that richness is to live through the ignorance, the mistakes, the lessons, and the successes. It’s a culmination of our best and worst moments. It’s freeing that we get to have both. That we get to practice.

I struggled with my weight growing up. Mostly because I love to eat. That’s why I cook. I’ve exhausted the meaning of healthy. I think that’s why I like healthier. It’s a little less definitive and a little more accurate. Right now, healthier means everything in moderation, except vegetables. Eat them in plenty. It means adding more plant-based proteins into meal-times. It means trading deprivation for celebration. Pizza and Alexia fries are back on my menu. Of course, it means to never skimp on flavor…or garnishes. So here’s healthier Chili Cheese Fries—topped with a toothsome plant-based chili, sprinkled with a light coat of cotija, and a heavy hand of herby and veggie garnishes.

Vegetarian Chili Cheese Fries












.
shopping list








Cook Time
30 mins


Yield

4

   
adjust servings

These Chili Cheese Fries are made healthier by a quinoa-based chili, a light coat of cotija, and a heavy hand of herby and veggie garnishes. Add more toppings as you wish!

Ingredients

Fries

1

bag (15 oz.) Alexia Organic Yukon Select Fries

Vegetarian Chili

3/4

c. red quinoa*



1 3/4

c. water, divided



1/2

tsp. kosher salt



1

tbsp. olive oil



3/4

tsp. cumin



3/4

tsp. chili powder



1/2

tsp. oregano



1/4

tsp. lemon pepper



1/4

tsp. cayenne (optional)



1

clove garlic, minced

Garnish

1/2

c. shredded red cabbage



1/4

c. loosely packed cilantro, chopped



1

green onion, sliced



1/2

avocado, diced





sprinkle of cotija to your liking






Instructions

Make the fries. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and add fries in a single layer. Cook according to package directions until golden and crispy.

Meanwhile, make the chili. In a saucepan, combine the quinoa, 1 1/2 cups water, and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed. (See additional cooking guidance in the notes below.) Once the quinoa is ready, add all remaining chili ingredients to the saucepan, including the remaining water. Stir together and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat until the liquids are mostly absorbed. You'll want this to be slightly saucy. Taste and add more salt as needed.

Garnish and serve. Add fries to a serving tray. Top with the prepared chili and garnishes. Serve family-style.

Notes

Different quinoa varieties require different cook times and water amounts. Defer to original package instructions. Quinoa is ready when the white ring is visible. Add more cooking water as needed to achieve this.

TO FIND ALEXIA NEAR YOU

Head this way. If you’re in Minneapolis, you can find it at Co-ops, Whole Foods, Target, Lunds & Byerlys, and Cub.

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Cherry Almond Breakfast Cereal

Never have I ever skipped eating breakfast. Even at 5 am before catching a flight. That’s when I usually pack a bowl of muesli to-go. We’re big muesli eaters over here (even when we’re not traveling), eating it about 3 times during the work week, alternated with scrambled eggs and toast. This breakfast cereal is fit for on-the-go or at the table.

What is muesli (myu-slee)? It’s a minimally-processed, lightly sweetened breakfast cereal made from a mix of raw, dried, and toasted ingredients (like oats, nuts, seeds, and fruit). It’s cereal—the very best kind.

We keep our pantry stocked with Seven Sundays Muesli (Cocoa Coconut is the family favorite). But we’re new fans of A Couple Cooks easy Cherry Almond Breakfast Cereal from their new book, Pretty Simple Cooking (pg. 22). I think I might have to start stocking both.

It’s laced with toasted oats and coconut, raw almonds and pepita seeds, and sweetened with dried tart cherries, maple syrup, and a slurry of spices. Make a batch ahead for the week. Soak overnight or the morning of while making coffee. It’s a delicious, wholesome breakfast cereal that will keep you full until lunch.

About the book Pretty Simple Cooking, it’s brilliant, doable, welcoming, and vegetable-forward. It’s all the things I crave as a mom trying to feed my family with the best kind of gas, energy, calories—whatever you want to call it. The duo behind the book, Alex and Sonja, have become real life good friends over the years. In fact, I went on a trip with Sonja when this book was just a list of recipe ideas on a page. Now in print, this book is a masterpiece.

Giveaway

In an effort to get this book on every kitchen shelf, I’m giving away a copy! To enter: Leave a comment with your favorite weekday breakfast. Details: Ends Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 11:59pm CST. Open to US and Canada residents. Winner will be chosen at random.

Cherry Almond Breakfast Cereal












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shopping list






Prep Time
15 mins




Yields

8 cups

   
adjust servings

This recipe is from page 22 in The Fauxmartha.

Nordic Winter Party

The more time I spend in my adult years, the more I wonder why we squeeze all the fun festivities into the first third of winter (December) and wish the remaining 2/3s away (January and February). It’s no wonder winter feels as bleak as the temperatures. We’ve left ourselves with no parties to look forward to. That is, unless you throw a Nordic Winter Party.

I threw the first annual Nordic Winter Party in the middle of December. It was so fun, but it was the middle of December, that always overbooked month. I’ve moved it where it belongs, where we need it, after the new year. Now I know, I’m one of those rare birds who loves winter—the snow, the slowness of it all, a fire, a wool blanket, and lit candles. It’s just hard to feel the depth of cozy in a season other than in winter. This party is a celebration of that. Maybe, just maybe, this party will make a convert out of you too. At least for an afternoon.

Set the table

I always like to keep hosting simple, but this party in particular begs for simplicity. Note: Since this is a party I intend to throw yearly, I’ve used some reusable decor. Let’s dress the table. First things first, cloak the table in a white table cloth. Next, add moss down the center of the table. (This is reusable year after year.) Tuck fresh silver dollar or seeded eucalyptus branches into the moss. (These are super affordable at Trader Joe’s.) Finally add candles. I like the vary the height of candles—some tall, some low, and some really low (tea candles). A candle-lit party is so cozy, whether by daylight or nightlight.

For cups and plates, I chose to go disposable to keep clean-up simple for a party of 15. For a smaller party, I’d probably use my everyday dishes. Either way, I’d recommend disposable plates so people can bring their decorated cookies home. Or, BYOP (Bring Your Own Plate). For pretty party disposables, check out Hip Hip, Sugar and Cloth for Amazon, and Oh Happy Day.

Prep the food in advance

I do best when I have food prepped in advance. Otherwise, I’m a bit frenetic as a host. For this party, make Nordic-inspired finger foods—something meatballed, something pickled, and something open-faced. I served Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs with a quick lingonberry sauce, open-faced egg salad on crackers garnished with pickled onions and sprouts, and gingerbread cookies. The gingerbread icing can also be prepped in advance and portioned out into sealed ziplock bags that double as pastry bags. Just before the party starts, assemble the open-faced crackers and fry the meatballs. Dress the rest of the table with the finger foods.

Adult Crafting is Fun

Decorating gingerbread cookies like Nordic Sweaters is my craft of choice for this gathering. You could go a more simple route, and decorate royal iced cookies with stamps (also make-ahead friendly). Either way, when dessert is also a craft, you become the most efficient host ever. For non-edible crafting ideas, check out Paper and Stitch, Be Crafty Workshop, Almost Makes Perfect, Sugar and Cloth, Lovely Indeed, Studio DIY, and The Proper Blog.

A Wintery Drink

If I’m going to serve a cocktail, I like to serve one that really fits the theme of the party. I recommend serving a wintery drink at this gathering—something that looks and tastes of winter. Try the Alpine Cocktail, Honey Lemon Thyme Cocktail, Winter Thyme and Key Lime Cocktail, or Grapefruit Thyme Cocktail.

Punxsutawney Phil, the ground hog, says you have 5 more weeks to host this party. I hope you do! Keep it simple, wintery, candle lit, and bubbly. But most importantly, make everything in advance so you don’t feel spazzy the day of. And tag it #nordicwinterparty. For more Nordic Winter Part party ideas, see my pins here. May your winter be merry.

The post Nordic Winter Party appeared first on The Fauxmartha.

Minimalist Fridge

Once we started practicing The Minimalist Kitchen framework for the pantry, it just naturally overflowed to the fridge. We did a better job of buying what we could consume before expiration, which ultimately led to less waste. But, no matter what we did, we couldn’t get that box of lettuce or that clamshell of berries to last the whole week. Nor could we figure out how to control the chaos of the fridge drawers.

This post was created in an ongoing partnership with OXO, the brand I lean on in the kitchen. Their products just work. They’re smart, functional, and affordable.

There are so many ecosystems in the fridge

It’s true. The apples should be stored away from the leafy greens and the lemons away from the carrots. But it’s really hard to keep everything straight and separate. Enter the Green Saver Produce Keepers. They create individual ecosystems that allow you to control the humidity within the container.

For example—open for berries, closed for spinach. If you can’t remember whether to keep it open or closed (which is me every time), pull off the white filter cover, and you’ll find a cheat sheet. Each container is also equipped with a carbon filter (read more below on how this works).

I was leery that these containers would keep their promise, but so far we have yet to throw out any raspberries or spinach, two things that died well before their time in our fridge. Look at that week-old, crisp spinach! Here’s how it works. The produce sits in a basket within the container, which is great for two things—airflow and keeping moisture away from the produce, two causes for premature rot. If you don’t believe me, read the Amazon reviews.

If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend buying either a medium (4.3 qt) or large (5 qt) GreenSaver for for leafy greens and a small container (1.6 qt) for berries. After you fall in love, you can add more depending on the space in your fridge.

The Carbon Filter

Fridge technology is improving overnight. Even though better preservation technology exists, we can’t all run out to get the newest fridge. Enter the $5.99 OXO Crisper Insert. The carbon filter helps to absorb the ethylene levels that your produce is naturally giving off. This helps to slow the ripening process and give that produce a couple extra days of life.

Note: Filters need replacing every 3 months. The insert has a slider so you can denote the month it needs replacing. So smart.

Fresh Herbs Aren’t an Oxymoron

Is it possible to keep living herbs fresh longer than a day? Yes, and it’s called the Herb Keeper. It’s a similar container to the OXO produce containers, with an added fill line for water. Fresh herbs are thirsty and need a bit of water to stay alive. I used to keep my fresh herbs in a glass jar filled with water and covered with a plastic produce bag. It worked OK, but was unsightly and often tipped over in the fridge. The cilantro and curly parsley I keep on the regular have held up so well in the Herb Keeper.

Note: Replace the water every couple of days and remove rotten herbs to prevent widespread decay. If your herbs are too tall for the container, chop the ends. In fact, do that either way. Most drink water in the same way that flowers do.

Controlling Drawer Chaos

Kitchen drawers, even the fridge variety, don’t work all that well without dividers. A little division helps to bring order to the natural chaos. I had planned on using OXO expandable dividers elsewhere in our house, but added one to a crisper drawer on a whim and it worked! Designate a purpose for either side of the divider. For example, I’ve place whole, unused produce up front and cut produce (like the other half of the onion or the remnants of ginger) on the other side. I’ve added a divider to the cheese drawer as well.

We also have one really large drawer in our fridge that takes a thorough digging to find what you’re looking for. So I’ve added clear bins to give the drawer (and myself) some guidance. I’ve also used the bins throughout the fridge to wrangle similar things, like butter boxes. Compartmentalize where it makes sense.

Fridge Sources

OXO Green Savers:  Small (1.6 qt) Medium (4.3 qt), Large (5 qt) | OXO Crisper Insert| OXO Herb Keeper | OXO expandable dividers | Fridge Containers: Long (5.43″ x 14.5″), Square (6.94″ x 10.5″)

For more kitchen organizing posts, check out The Minimalist Pantry Part 1 and 2 and Minimal Cabinets and Drawers. For a comprehensive guide to creating and cooking from a minimalist kitchen, pre-order my book The Minimalist Kitchen (out April 10, 2018).

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