What's for Dinner

Wow. I guess I sort of forgot about this. Good thing I have no readers. So, here are a few things we have eaten recently:

Saturday morning, we awoke in our little cabin, which was part of a rental complex we were sharing with friends for the weekend. We meet once a year with this particular group of friends for what is now known as "Friends Holiday." This year, we decided to meet in the San Diego area and enjoy a trip to Legoland. During our holiday together, each family is responsible for one meal. My family (and therefore, me, as I am the primary cook in our household) took Saturday breakfast. Since we were fueling up the troops for a long day of amusement park fun, we decided to give them something good and hearty. The trick, as I saw it, would be to come up with a menu that would satisfy the adults need for delicious variety, the kids' need for simple, delicious food, and everyone's need for fuel that would last them through the first few long lines. I thought I would try to sneak in some nourishment while I was at it. With all that in mind, I settled on the following menu:

whole wheat pancakes
plain old white pancakes
homefries
scrambled eggs
sauteed vegetables
shredded cheese (cheddar, Swiss and soy*)

The idea was that we would leave the eggs plain, and anyone who wanted to add veggies and cheese to their eggs could do so. My original plan was to make an omelet, but it made more sense this way, since we had people who preferred plain eggs or different types of cheese. Instead of making each omelet to order, I cooked it all up and let people mix things up however they pleased. The pancakes were made from mixes, so I won't list a recipe for them, but I will say that, when I make pancakes from a mix, I always add applesauce (about one of those little individual serving packs for the smallest recipe on the box), and I usually use a fortified rice milk, nut milk or other dairy milk substitute for the liquid, even if the recipe onthe box calls for water.

Thanx to Warren, we were able to add fresh-squeezed orange juice and homemade salsa to the menu :)

Homefries are very simple.

You will need:

onion
potatoes (I like Yukon Gold)
salt & pepper to tatse
olive oil (probably 1/2 - 2 TBS)
seasonings of your choice (see instructions below)

Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet (I use cast iron), then add some olive oil (depends on how many potatoes you are making ~ use enough to keep them from sticking, but not so much that they will float away) and turn heat to low. Quarter and then thinly slice an onion, then add it to the hot oil and stir to coat. Use as much as you like. I used one large onion for our big group (24 people, I think).

Peel potatoes and cut into bit-sized chunks. My mom taught me this rule of thumb: one potato per diner + one for the pot. If I am cooking for a very large group, I might add 2 for the pot. I added this part to the equation: 2 small children = 1 person (not in real life, but in the potato equation). Add the potatoes to the hot skillet, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and seasoning of your choice. Now, here's where it gets interesting. You can change the seasoning to suit your taste. I like Old Bay Seasoning on my homefries, but, sometimes, say, if I am serving them with soy chorizo, beans, eggs, salsa and tortillas (one of my favourite hearty breakfasts, BTW), I might season them with cumin, cilantro, garlic, chili powder...or, sometimes I might feel like adding curry powder and dill, or garlic and basil...you can play around with the seasonings. Or, play it safe, and just stick with salt, pepper and onion. That will be tasty, too. In this case, I had forgotten to pack the Old Bay, so I look in the spice drawer and came out with a bottle of Spike. It worked out just fine. Now, you want to cook your potatoes over med-low heat and stir them occasionally, but not too often. You want them to brown a little in some places, but not too brown all over. Just keep checking them. They'll be done when they're done. Sorry, I have no idea how long it will take. That kind of depends on your idea of "bite-sized." Season to taste as you go.

Now, I think I will give you the recipe for the sauteed veggies both with and without eggs.

1 red pepper, thinly sliced, then cut in half
1 green pepper, as above
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
8-12 leaves fresh basil, cut into ribbons**
10 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 bag of fresh baby spinach*
salt & pepper to taste

* first and foremost, I know "1 bag" is a stupidly vague measurement. You know, you go to the grocery store,and it comes prepackaged in these bags...I don't know how many ounces. I will try to find out. Anyway, use fresh spinach ~ frozen gets soggy and canned is already soggy, so fresh is the way to go here. (BTW, the mushrooms were one of those little square packages. I am guessing about the weight, but it seems right...ish)

** to cut basil into ribbons, stack the leaves together, then roll up like a jelly roll, stating at the top and rolling toward the stem end. Use scissors to cut through the roll, in the same direction as you rolled them. (Did that make sense? Maybe I will have to figure out how to add pictures, so I can illustrate this stuff...)

Heat the olive oil in your large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Add peppers and mushrooms. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and stir to coat. Turn heat to med-low and cook, stirring, for just a few minutes. When the mushrooms start to look a little softer and darker in colour than they did when you started, add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add the spinach and continue to cook, stirring, until the spinach is wilted.

Now, you can be done there. You can eat these as they are ~ it's great with with crusty bread and beans ~ add them to a grilled cheese (place veggies in between two slices of cheese and flip you sandwich very carefully, so it doesn't fall apart), toss them with pasta or rice...the possibilities are endless. What I did this weekend was to put them in a dish, then put out a dish of scrambled eggs and small bowls with different types of cheese. However, my original plan was this:

In a large bowl, beat 6-8 large eggs with about 1/4 water (or milk, if you prefer). Evenly distribute the veggies over the bottom of your skillet, then pour the egg mixture over all. You can either stir the egg mixture as it is cooking, scrambling the eggs, or, for a more elegant presentation, cook over low heat until set. If you are skilled enough to flip the large omelet without breaking it, kudos to you. If not, I have found you can sort of "cheat" by placing a lid over the pan, which helps hold in the steam and cooks the top of the egg well enough. Keep the heat low ~ burnt eggs kind of suck. Okay, so, when the egg is set, you can sprinkle cheese over the top if you like. Cover the pan with a lid to melt the cheese. You can serve it as is (cut into wedges) or you can fold it in half (the usual way an omelet is served), but I find that makes it very thick.

So. I have actually posted a couple of recipes. Woo-hoo. They are simple, but I like them. If you don't eat eggs, you can use tofu, I suppose. Be adventurous. Try different veggies, different seasonings...Sometimes, I mix the veggies with the potatoes. Sometimes I add broccoli and/or corn. That, wrapped up in a tortilla with some avocado and salsa is simply scrumptious.