Noodles with Swiss Chard and Peanut Sauce

Well, it's been a while. A very eventful while.

In the past month since I last posted, I witnessed Paul's graduation and celebrated Mother's Day. I've seen a roommate evicted and discovered that the kitchen sink was clogged. I've finished the first draft of my project for Cincinnati Children's. I've done a six-mile run, my longest to date. And though I haven't told you much about it, I have done quite a bit of cooking.

I've had to be creative the past couple of days because the kitchen sinks are still clogged, which means I can't make too much of a mess. It's difficult to clean up without a garbage disposal, a dishwasher, or even just a place to wash your hands. So, I've armed myself with paper plates and plastic utensils for the duration, and gotten friendlier with the microwave and toaster oven. More on that later.

For now, it's back to happier times. To cat times. To these cats:

Lila & Squish.

These cats belong to my friends Doug and Stacy, who went off to Boise last week and needed a house/cat sitter. Which means that I got to spend almost a full week with these little (adorable) balls of fur. The cats really aren't important to this story. I just like them and the picture.

Anyway, the point is that taking a mini-vacation from my house was pretty nice. I'm a creature of habit, but sometimes I need to shake things up.

A food related example: spinach. I have been buying pre-washed, organic baby spinach in plastic tubs for months now. Every week it went in the cart at the store. Every week it ended up on my sandwiches, sauteed with my eggs, wilted in my pasta...and finally I just couldn't take it any more.

Enter the new leafy green on the block: Swiss chard. Similar health benefits, but prettier. And cheaper, too. I got a bunch (organic) for about $1.50.

My roommates' reaction: "What is that giant vegetable?"

Now I've seen chard popping up in recipes for a while now, and had a vague idea of what it was, but it took my spinach ennui to help me take the leap. And I have to tell you, this stuff is pretty tasty. To me, the greens taste like thicker spinach, but in a way that is different enough to keep me interested. It's a little crisper, maybe. The stems taste sort of like beets. Which is odd, because I don't really like beets, but I like these stems. So in short, Swiss chard tastes like things I don't feel like eating, but in a way that makes me feel like eating chard. (My relationship status with Swiss chard: It's complicated.)

Anyway, here's how you prepare it:

1.  Fill a large bowl or a clean sink with water. Add your chard and swish it around to clean the leaves. If there is any grit, it will sink to the bottom.

2.  Using paper towels or a salad spinner, dry the chard. (I suppose you could also do this after you cut it--might be easier that way!)

3.  Lay a leaf on the cutting board. Cut off the end of the stem and discard it. Run the tip of a sharp knife along both sides of the stem to separate the greens.

Easier than it sounds, I promise.

4.  You can leave the stems whole or cut them up (assuming you want to eat them--some people throw them away). I chopped mine up like celery.

Chard comes with different colored stems. Mine was just red, but
I've also seen yellow and white in the supermarket. Sometimes stores
bunch several varieties together and call it "rainbow chard."

5.  Bunch or roll up the greens and slice them. I don't think it's the conventional way of doing things, but I like to roll them up from a short end and then slice so that I end up with long ribbons of chard. They mix well with pasta that way!

Pretty and healthy.

6.  Store your chard greens in a paper towel-lined bag or plastic container. I washed out one of those spinach tubs and used that. Store the stems separately.

You'll probably end up with more than you thought.

After you chop it all up and see how much space it takes, you'll probably be wondering what you are going to do with all this chard. Well, you can eat it raw, saute it, steam it, boil it, stir fry it...you name it. But for some more specific options, The Kitchn's Open-Faced Ravioli is a great choice. Or, if you've cut it into nice long ribbons, a noodle dish might be appropriate.


Noodles with Swiss Chard and Peanut Sauce
Serves 1

Ingredients

2 oz long pasta, such as linguine or fettuccine
1 1/2 cups Swiss chard greens, cleaned and cut into ribbons
1/4 cup of Swiss chard stems, cleaned and sliced
1/2 cup snap peas
1/4 cup carrot, sliced into disks (half a medium carrot, or a handful of baby ones)
1 clove garlic
1-2 tsp cooking oil
Soy sauce
Sriracha hot sauce
2-3 tbsp prepared peanut sauce (homemade or store-bought--I don't have a good recipe yet!)

Steps

1.  Boil a pot of salted water (or add soy sauce to the water) and add the pasta. Cook it for the minimum time indicated on the package. When there is about 4-5 minutes left of cooking time, add the carrots. When there is about 2 minutes left, add the peas. Drain.

2.  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add the chard stems and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the chard greens, garlic, and soy sauce and sriracha to taste. Saute for another minute or two, until the greens are just wilted. Turn the heat to low. (You could just as easily boil the chard with the noodles too--I just happen to like the sauteed texture better--or saute all your veggies. It's up to you!)

3.  Add the drained noodles and vegetables to the frying pan. Pour the peanut sauce on top. Toss everything together (tongs work well for this) and cook for another minute. Serve with extra condiments, if desired.

Noodles, veggies, and sauce. Does it get any better?

The great thing about this recipe is that it's adaptable and a great way to clean out the fridge. With so many veggies, you don't need a huge serving of pasta. And once you get a feel for how long different kinds of vegetables need to cook, it's easy to switch things up. You could also add chicken, beef, tofu, or some other kind of protein to this dish, or use a different kind of sauce.

So, have you tried Swiss chard? What do you do with your leafy greens?

You win some, you destroy some.

I don't know how it happened in my culinary life that the first time I tried stuffing filling into sheets of dough it wasn't for an Italian dish. I am half-Italian, so ravioli or tortellini would have made sense.

But instead my first attempt was potstickers, something decidedly Asian. Although if Marco Polo really did bring pasta back to Italy from China...maybe it does make sense.

Anyway, the back story: I "discovered" potstickers about a year ago, and made a habit of buying them whenever I saw them in the freezer section. This was during my undergrad days, and my grocery store then always had them. The Kroger where I shop these days, however, does not, so for a while I lived with no potstickers.

And then, I discovered Trader Joe's, a magical store that carries not one, but FOUR different types of potstickers (or gyoza, as they are labelled there). So for a while I bought the pork or chicken potstickers and was contented. And then, Lent happened. No more pork, no more chicken. My choices were narrowed to Shrimp or Thai Vegetable, so I got the vegetable ones.

Trader Joe, I was disappointed. The Thai vegetables were mushy, the wrappers were pre-browned for some odd reason, and I still don't know what makes them "Thai." I gave them a chance, but ultimately this is not a solution.

Which brings us to Wednesday's interesting adventure. I typically don't go "off book" on foods I've never made before, but this was an exception. I'm not going to say these potstickers are authentic or correct or anything like that. I mean, I had to use wonton wrappers (more on that later). These are borne of the mind of a finals week graduate student. Take them for what you will.

Vegetable Potstickers

Ingredients

1 small package of coleslaw mix (shredded broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and cabbage)
8 white mushrooms, cleaned
1 tbsp minced garlic (3-4 cloves)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Black pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
1 egg, beaten
1 package (40-count) wonton wrappers (get potsticker/gyoza wrappers if you can)
Water

Steps

1.  Chop coleslaw mix roughly in batches. Chop mushrooms into small dice.

Just a rough chop on the coleslaw, so you don't end up
with huge pieces!

2.  Heat vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add coleslaw, mushrooms, garlic, and seasonings. Stir to coat with oil. Cover the pan for 1-2 minutes so that the vegetables steam, and then saute for another 1-2 minutes.

Cook the veggies until crisp-tender

3.  Remove pan from heat and place the vegetable mixture in a strainer over a bowl. Allow it to strain and cool for about half an hour.

Strain the extra liquid out of the filling.

4.  Taste the vegetables and add additional seasonings if needed. Press out as much liquid as possible. Beat the egg in a mixing bowl and add the vegetables, mixing thoroughly.

5.  Prepare your assembly area. Have a bowl of water (for sealing), a damp paper towel (to cover unused wrappers), a plate, a spoon or fork, and a baking sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper ready to go.

Not pictured: a cup of water for wetting the skins.

6.  Take each wonton wrapper and lay it on the plate. Use your fingers to spread water along the edges of the wrapper. Use the spoon or fork to place ONE teaspoon of filling in the center of the wrapper. Fold the edges and pinch them together (pictures below).

Wet the edges of the wrapper and place a spoonful of filling
in the center.

The easiest way to do it with the wonton wrappers is to just make a triangle-shaped potsticker:

Fold corner to corner...

...seal one edge...

Press out as much air as you can while sealing the other side.

 Or, try the pyramid shape:

Fold the top corners together just like for the triangle shape.
Then, fold the side corners in one by one.

You should end up with something that looks like this!

I even tried crimping a few like "real" potstickers. They came out pretty ugly, so I only did a couple!

Not my best work.

7.  Place finished potstickers on the baking sheet. When it is full, place the sheet in the freezer (you will probably need to have two sheets available). Continue forming the potstickers until the wrappers or filling runs out.

On the plus side, these potstickers are one of the most
photogenic foods I've ever blogged about!

Cooking station. Yes, I ate all of those. It was a long

cooking session.

8.  To cook the potstickers, heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan with a lid over medium heat. Place the dumplings in the hot oil and cook for about two minutes (until the bottoms brown). Reduce the heat, add about a quarter of a cup of water, and cover. Steam until done. (And remove promptly!) The first batch I steamed for over two minutes, which was wayyyyy too long and resulted in a bowl of destroyed dumplings:

If this happens... just slosh some soy sauce on top
and call it good. That's what I did.

The  second time, I steamed them for only ONE minute, and most of them came out with no trouble. Some even had crispy bottoms still! Even so, wonton wrappers are not the same as potsticker wrappers. They are thinner and thus cook faster (which is nice), but they don't crisp up the same way that potstickers do (and they seem to lose the crisp pretty quickly). I'm not saying it's good or bad; it just is.

One of the few that came out perfectly steamed
AND nicely browned on the bottom.

Alternatively, place dumplings in a microwave-safe bowl with a tablespoon or two of water. Cover with a damp paper towel and microwave 30 seconds to a minute. While not quite as tasty, this method at least kept them all in one piece!

The microwave was kind to this little guy.

So, while I didn't succeed at producing perfect potstickers with wonton wrappers (I don't think that's possible), they're still better than the Thai vegetable things that are still sitting in my freezer. Why?

Fresh, tasty, and non-mushy veggies!

The filling is the real winner here. The seasoning may not be authentic, but the vegetables are just the right texture--soft, with just a little bit of bite left to them. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe again sometime with a different mixture of veggies and seasonings...right after I finish all the ones left in my freezer!

Oatmeal Four Ways

Can you tell it's finals week?


If you haven't inferred it from the lack of blog posts, suffice it to say that I've been busy. Grading, researching, writing papers, editing and proofreading, analyzing, rewriting...I've been doing a little bit of everything for the past couple of weeks, and I'm ready for it all to end in the next week or so.

Don't let the lack of posts and recipes fool you into thinking that I've stopped eating, though! I certainly haven't, although I've been nomming more pre-packaged foods (thanks, Trader Joe's) than usual, and making quicker meals when I do cook from scratch.

Which brings us to the topic of this post: oatmeal. Quick, easy, cheap, and delicious.

I love oatmeal. I really do. I have fond childhood memories of the Quaker Oats instant packets, particularly the kind with the dinosaur eggs (remember those??), but also equally fond memories of my parents whipping up a pot of the plain stuff to top with raisins and brown sugar on cold Sunday mornings. While I've "graduated" from the super-sweet instant packets and I still love the raisin and brown sugar combination, I've also come up with a handful of my own variations, some of which I'm sharing with you below (with possibly more to come).

A word about oats and cooking methods: I know the steel-cut stuff is all the rage right now, but I prefer the texture of the quick-cooking oats. You can use whatever you like for these recipes (they're more about mix-ins than technique), but you'll need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.

As far as technique, I probably use the stove-top and microwave methods about equally, and I have preferred cooking methods for most of my oatmeal variations. The stove-top gives you a firmer texture, whereas the microwave tends to be creamier because everything cooks together. You can also get the creamy texture on the stove if you add the oats when the water is hot, but not yet boiling. If you do use the microwave, NEVER leave it unattended; the oatmeal will expand to fill whatever bowl you have it in, and from there it can overflow.

I also make a slightly smaller serving size than standard:

Basic Oatmeal Ingredients

3/8 cup oats
3/4 cup water (or milk)

Mix-ins (see variations below)


#1: Banana Oatmeal


This variation is great for using up bananas that are past their prime!

Banana oatmeal with a touch of milk.

Add-Ins

Ripe banana (whole or half)
Dash of cinnamon
Nuts (optional)

Steps


1.  Peel a ripe banana, break it into pieces, and place in a bowl (I just use the one I'm going to eat from). Add the cinnamon and mash it with a fork. (You could also slice it, but mashing is faster.)

2.  The best method for this one is the microwave. Add the oats and water to the banana and microwave on high about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2b.  If you want to make it on the stove, add the banana to an empty saucepan on low heat and cook and stir it for about a minute. Then, add the water and oats. I've found that if you add everything together the banana ends up being oddly starchy; the extra cooking step fixes that.

3.  Top with a spoonful of walnuts or a splash of milk, if desired.


#2: Chocolate-Banana Oatmeal

This variation plays off the sweetness of the banana instead of adding extra sugar. It's still possibly more of a dessert than breakfast!

Chocolate-banana oatmeal.

Add-Ins

Ripe banana (whole or half)
Heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder

Steps

1.  Peel the banana and mash in a bowl with the cocoa powder.

2.  Follow the steps for cooking Banana Oatmeal above.

#3: Pomegranate Oatmeal

Pomegranates are in season in the winter, so they're a great way to liven up your oatmeal on a cold morning.

Pomegranate oatmeal.

Add-Ins

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Steps

1. On the stove, heat the water and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it boils (or sooner, for creamier oatmeal), add the oats. Cook and stir.

2.  When the oats are just about done, turn off the burner and add the pomegranate seeds (you just want to warm them, not cook them). Mix them in until they are distributed throughout the oatmeal. Top with additional seeds if desired.

2b.  To make in the microwave, combine water, vanilla, and oats in a bowl. Microwave on high for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. When it's cooked, add pomegranate seeds to the hot oatmeal.

#4: Savory Oatmeal with Spinach and Egg

An interesting departure from the usual sweet varieties. Honestly, this is my least favorite of the bunch, but I've been seeing savory oatmeal all over cooking blogs so I had to try it.

An Asian-inspired savory oatmeal variation.

Add-Ins/Extras

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1 cup baby spinach
1 egg
Soy sauce

Steps

1.  Add the water to a saucepan and bring it to a boil.

2.  While you're waiting for the water to boil, heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Saute the garlic for about a minute. Add the egg to one side of the pan (most people cook it sunny-side up or or over-easy so that you end up with a runny yolk to mix into the oatmeal). When the egg is about two minutes away from being done, add the spinach to the other side of the pan (keep them separate) and wilt it. Remove the pan from the heat.

3.  Add the oats to the saucepan. Cook and stir until done.

4. To serve, add the oatmeal to a serving bowl. Stir in the spinach. Top with the egg and a drizzle of soy sauce.