Monthly Archives: November 2018

Hot Artichoke Dip – 3/67

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I’ve always loved Thanksgiving. I mean, we all know I love food. And a whole day (or letsbehonest, a whole! weekend!) devoted to food?? I’m down.

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We always have two celebrations, one with each side of the family, and then since we’re all together anyway, add a gift-exchange component to the day. On one side that means a Yankee swap, on the other it means socks. Both sides do fairly traditional Thanksgiving meals (although one turkey is always better than the other, not saying which). One side does cherry pie, the other does pumpkin. One leans into the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes, the other tries to get rid of them every year. And one side has artichoke dip.

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Artichoke dip at Thanksgiving is, I concede, gratuitous. But even though something is unnecessary does not mean it is unwelcome. I Love artichoke dip. Well, I love all things artichoke (oh wow, only one other recipe with them on the site!), so it’s no surprise that when mixed with roughly 6 kinds of dairy products and then baked until golden and bubbling and filling the house with incredible smells, I’d be a fan.

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This is my first Texas Thanksgiving, and when faced with the thought of missing my family’s traditions for a year, artichoke dip rose to the top of the list. How else would I ruin my appetite before the turkey meal?? Turns out, there are endless ways to do this, including decadent quiche for Thanksgiving brunch, cheesy salty Tex Mex the night before, and the Williams’ family own impressive appetizer spread, including deviled eggs, bruschetta, shrimp on cucumbers, and various pickled things. Texas always provides. And now I can provide Texas with artichoke dip! Family mushing in action. 

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one year ago: nothing of note, but I also made this cauliflower tart for the Big Meal. So good, so rich.
two years ago: nothing of note, but I also made this mushroom farro stuffing yesterday. This had lots of fans!
three years ago: blueberry lemon cake with ginger cream cheese frosting
four years ago: sweet sesame cauliflower, snow pea, and kale salad 

Hot Artichoke Dip

From Aunt Beth B – I one-and-a-halved Beth’s recipe, with some extra artichokes. The following is how I made it.

12 ounces cream cheese (one and a half bricks)
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded mozzarella
¾ cup grated parmesan
2 14-oz cans artichokes in water, drained and chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Using electric beaters, mix together cream cheese and mayo until combined. Add cheese and mix until just combined. Fold in artichokes, and a dash each of salt and pepper, with a spatula.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. (Original recipe called for a pie pan, but I ended up using a small-ish casserole dish and a little square pan for the extra. I think I prefer it in a thinner layer because more surface area = more browning.) Bake until golden and bubbling — original recipe said 20 minutes but mine took closer to 40.

Serve with crackers and veggies, to kid yourself about any health value.

 

A Very Good Lentil Salad – 2/67

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Daniel decided very last-minute to make something for his “Lyftsgiving” celebration. (Update! He works at Lyft!) I was 100% sure he was going to swirl some harissa into store bought hummus, give a drizzle of olive oil, and call it a day (my recent favorite party trick), but instead he wanted to do a recipe from the binder (awww). He woke me up to ask if we had cardamom for the lentil salad he was making. (We did.) I love you, honey, but I never expected to be woken up by you telling me you’re making lentil salad.

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It turned out great! Daniel added a couple extra things to Nina’s base recipe to bulk it up a bit. Good riddance, last batch of CSA radishes. Until next year! 

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Update: I was looking forward to eating leftovers of this salad all weekend but someone had to leave them at work on Thursday, then stayed home sick on Friday, so here we are on Saturday and we’re still sans lentil salad. Hmph.

one year ago: nothing of note – but last week I made the most amazing broccoli by steaming it, then stir frying in a bit of sesame oil and a lot of ginger. Mmm.
two years ago: soy-dashi simmered kabocha squash 
three years ago: sweet/spicy Chinese peppers and eggplant stir-fry
four years ago: Indian spiced cabbage and onions

A Very Good Lentil Salad 

(Originally called “The Best Lentil Salad, Ever”. I mean, it was delicious, but I just don’t know if I’ve had enough lentil salads to deem this one the BEST.)

From Nina, from the blog My New Roots

Cook up 2 ¼ cups Du Puy lentils (known for their ability to stay intact even after a long simmer) in 4 ½ cups of boiling water. (This took about 15 minutes – Daniel just followed the cooking instructions on the bag, being sure to keep them al dente.) When done, rinse in cool water.

Meanwhile, prep the salad mix-ins. He added one diced red onion, ⅓ cup capers, ½ cup raisins (chopped a bit), a handful of diced radishes, one diced and seeded jalapeño, some crumbled feta, and a couple handfuls of torn baby spinach. Meant to add some basil, but whoops, that’ll have to be for leftovers. Put everything in a big bowl.

To make dressing (seems like a lot of ingredients, but it comes together quickly and is mostly just spices), combine in a jar and shake: ⅓ cup olive oil, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 tablespoon mustard, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon ground coriander, ¼ teaspoon cayenne, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (actually he forgot this and it was still great), salt and pepper, plus a bit of ground cloves and cardamom (we only have whole seeds for those, so Daniel ground a bit up in the molcajete and I’m not sure about quantities. The dressing ended up very floral, a little cardamom heavy.)

Combine everything in the big bowl and season to taste! Lunch for dayyysss (or Lyftsgiving side for a night.)

 

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Tortellini, Spinach, & “Sausage” Soup – 1/67

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Dear blog followers, all 7 of you, what would you say if I changed this up a little bit?

This past weekend, I was delighted to be surrounded by the wonderful women in my life at my bridal shower. It still seems sorta surreal, the feeling of 35 women from all moments of my life answering Ilanna-related trivia questions and getting to know each other over silly games. There were cousins (flying in from Michigan!), aunts (Vermont!), grandmas (well, they’re local…), generations-old family friends (Toronto!), Daniel’s amazingly supportive family (Texas!), and a smattering of my friends from middle school, college, and life in New York City. The only word I can use to describe the weekend is faklempt — overwhelmed by love and kindness and good wishes. Thanks, mom and sister, for putting this all together.

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The brunch will live on by the recipe book these women put together for me, filled with holiday favorites, easy dinners, and lots of desserts. I’m so lucky to have this collection of recipes (and new kitchen implements and ingredients) to cook from for the next forever. (Although it’s not exactly like I’m a little country Pollyanna who’s never cooked a meal and is now forced to make dinner every night for her new husband, who then scolds her for overcooking the chicken. Actually, to be honest, I probably would overcook chicken if I tried to make it since I have no idea how. Well then.)

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All this to say, Daniel and I want to cook every recipe from this new binder by our first anniversary. By March 16, 2020, we will have made all 67(ish) dishes so lovingly bestowed on us. I’ll try to blog them. We’ll see how quickly this fails (please don’t hold it against me if this is the only one.)

To start, tortellini “sausage” spinach soup! Easy and perfect for this day, the first day I had to break out my giant winter jacket. I took a couple liberties with it. Reminds me of the meals we’d make in college in my senior year apartment 🙂 

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one year ago: tapado (coconut fish stew) (also this totally wasn’t a year ago, but… it was in 2017?)
two years ago: mizuna miso soup (soup theme!!)
three years ago: butternut and black bean stuffed poblano peppers
four years ago: cheesy bulgur risotto with broccoli and tomatoes 

Tortellini, Spinach, and “Sausage” Soup

4-6 servings

Saute one chopped onion in olive oil in a big pot until it’s soft, about 10 minutes. Add 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 or 2 chopped carrots, a big pinch of red pepper flakes, some smoked paprika, and some veggie sausage, cut into small chunks. (I did two “sausages”, though the recipe called for a pound, and it was enough.) Cook for another 10 minutes or so, until sausage is browned and carrots have softened.

Add: 32 ounces broth, a 28-oz can crushed tomatoes, a bunch of chopped basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn down heat. Simmer for 25 minutes.

Add a 9-oz package of refrigerated tortellini and two big handfuls of baby spinach. Cook for 7 minutes, uncovered, until tortellini is soft. Serve each portion with extra basil and grated parmesan.

Thanks to Daniel’s cousins Michele and Robin for the base recipe and the bowls! 1 down. 66 to go.