Braised Collard Greens with Coconut Milk

Last week I showed up to teach my childbirth class raving about a delicious collard green recipe I made for dinner that night. My husband and I virtually inhaled an entire head of collard greens in two minutes flat. I will admit, this behavior was quite shocking for both of us. Leafy greens have not been a strongpoint at our dinner table recently. Errrrrr, I mean, ever. 

In class that evening, the topic was prenatal nutrition. I mentioned the amazing properties of collard greens and the benefits for pregnant women and their growing babies. When discussing a healthy and well-balanced diet in pregnancy, I talked on the topic of "Eating Smart". The bottom line is if you choose your foods wisely you will pack the most powerful punch into each meal. This way you get all of your essential nutrients without turning eating into a chore.

Fresh cooked collard greens contain the following essential nutrients:

Calcium & Magnesium — Essential to proper functioning of muscle contractions. (Hello, Uterus!)

Potassium — Is known to relieve pregnancy related muscle cramps. (Good Evening, Charlie Horse!)

Folate — Reduces the risk of anemia for the mother & supports rapid growth of the placenta and fetus. (Hello, Healthy Little One)

Vitamin C — Fights infection and helps to build a healthy placenta. (Welcome, Most Amazing Temporary Organ in the Human Body!)

Vitamin A — Contributes to healthy skin and mucus membranes. (Hello, Amniotic Sac!)

Choline — Helps fetal brain cells to develop properly. (Ahhh, Genius!) 

Not only do collard greens pack a punch, but the coconut milk in this dish offers quite a bit of benefit as well. Coconut milk contains healthy fats and is known to be anti-carcinogenic, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-viral. 

Good heavens! You have to try this recipe. Go for the organic greens at the market and prepare them as soon as possible. The collard greens will turn bitter if left to sit in the refrigerator too long. Also worthy to note, the smaller the leaf on the collard green, the milder the flavor. 

Let's get started...

Braised Collard Greens with Coconut Milk

Serves: 2

Prep Time: approximately 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 TBS grapeseed oil (or olive oil)

1 bunch collard greens, torn into pieces away from the stem

1/2 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice

Salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste

The Preparation Method:

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Wash the leaves of the greens from all dirt and sand. Wash well. Gritty greens are never very tasty.

Tear the leaves apart away from fibrous stems. Dispose of the stems. Set aside.

Slice the yellow onion thinly. Set aside.

Juice that lemon. Set aside.

Once the water is boiling, add some salt and the torn greens. Cook for 2 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

Heat grapeseed oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sliced onions. Gently salt and cook about 5 minutes until soft and translucent, stirring often.

Add the well-drained collard greens. Gently salt and cook about 2 minutes, stirring the entire time.

Add 1/2 cup coconut milk and 1/2 TBS lemon juice. Stir well and gently simmer about 5 minutes or until tender.

Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Serve hot or cold.

Enjoy!

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Oh boy, this sounds good!

Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile — Attaboy (Live)

Bacon Tossed with Spaghetti and Kale

Fall is here. In my house, that means bacon season has arrived. Every girl needs a good regular offering of bacon throughout these cold months to get her through. The first day of fall is my cue to start gettin' it on.

This week I crafted one of my favorite bacon dinners, Bacon Tossed with Spaghetti and Kale. I promised myself and my family that I would start cooking with more dark leafy green vegetables. It's amazing how infrequently we eat dark leafy greens unless I really put the effort forth to get them on the table. Funny how things work.

The kale has been looking luscious at the store lately so I though I'd start there. Partially afraid of this remarkable vegetable, I decided to do what I know best to make anything and everything yummy—fry it in bacon grease.

Here goes...

Bacon Tossed with Spaghetti and Kale

Ingredients:

16 oz spaghetti noodles (we use gluten-free Tinkayada, but use whatever you like best)

2 TBS olive oil

12 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped (12 slices is just a starting place, use more if so inclined)

2 TBS minced garlic

30 oz canned diced tomatoes

1 head kale (approx. 8 cups), washed and torn away from stem

The Preparation Method:

In a large frying pan, fry up all of the bacon 'til crispy. When done, line a plate with a paper towel and set bacon aside to cool.

When cool, chop all the bacon into one inch pieces. Set aside.

Drain most of the bacon grease from the pan. But be sure to reserve a little bit for the next step. Reserve as much as you'd like. I like to keep at least three tablespoons worth. And don't worry about all that fried on bacony goodness. It comes in handy later for flavor.

Grab the bunch of kale. Give it a thorough wash and tear it into pieces away from the stem.

Prep all of the ingredients and have them ready stove-side. The next few steps happen quickly.

Over medium-high heat, add 2 TBS minced garlic and 1 cup of chopped bacon to the reserved bacon grease. Saute 1 minute until garlic is fragrant but not brown.

Add the whole head of torn apart kale.

Continue to saute over medium-high heat about 4 minutes, or until kale is wilted.

Add 30 oz can of diced tomatoes. Heat through.

Lube the past up with a small pour of olive oil so it's just a little bit slippery.

Take half of the tomato, bacon and kale sauce and mix it into the spaghetti.

Add the remaining half of the sauce and lay it on top. Add the remaining bacon pieces as a garnish on top. Enjoy!

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Ye-ah, Jason Aldean! Gotta love this country music.

Jason Aldean - Tattoos On This Town

Fish Tacos with Grilled Tropical Fruit Salsa

Another variation on a theme. Fish tacos. Grilled tropical fruit salsa. I ain't ready to say good-bye to summer just yet.

Fish Tacos with Grilled Tropical Fruit Salsa

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs mild white fish fillets

1/4 watermelon, sliced and grilled

1 pineapple, sliced and grilled

1 mango, sliced and grilled

2 ripe avocados, chopped

3 TBS cilantro, chopped (more or less to taste)

2 TBS light agave nectar

1/8 tsp salt

cajun seasoning

butter (or butter substitute)

12 corn tortillas

The Preparation Method:

Begin heating the grill on high.

Slice watermelon, pineapple and mango. Brush both sides with a light coat of agave nectar. Place on a very hot grill. Grill about five minutes or until fruit is soft and has nice grill marks. Flipping once halfway through.

Turn oven broiler on high.

Wash and pat dry the white fish. Place in a baking dish one layer thick. Sprinkle a heavy dose of cajun seasoning over the top. The more the better with this stuff! Add small bits of butter over the top about four inches apart.

Place under the broiler for approximately 7 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Pull the fruit off the grill. Dice the watermelon, pineapple, mango and avocado. Mix together in a large bowl with 1/8 tsp salt and 3 TBS chopped cilantro. Pour any remaining agave nectar in the mix.

Serve inside warmed corn tortillas. We like to fry each tortilla in a piping hot skillet with a touch of oil to make it slightly brown and very soft. Salting the fried tortilla makes it even better. Enjoy!

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John Mayer Trio - Ain't No Sunshine

Crispy Onion Hot Dog Sandwiches

"It's hot dog night... again."

Usually when I make this announcement, all the adults on the premises growl with disappointment. Here in The Little White Kitchen I have a rule I follow closely—I cook one dinner for all the peoples. It is against my policy to prepare multiple options for all the peoples of the house. The rule is simple—if you don't like what I've made, don't eat. Thankfully there will be breakfast in the morning.

On hot dog night the rule still stands. Typically the children have no problem my meal selection. The adults, on the other hand, were getting a bit tired of the boring-yet-functional hot dog with no bun routine.

To make this night something everyone could look forward to I added a few embellishments to the routine. All peoples over three foot tall were very pleased with my twist on this classic kids dinner.

Crispy Onion Hot Dog Sandwiches


serves: 4
prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
4 all beef kosher hot dogs
8 slices gluten free bread
1 cup coleslaw topper (One batch = 1/2 head green cabbage, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 TBS rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp celery seed, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp sugar)
1 large onion, sliced
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 TBS ketchup
2 TBS mayonnaise
1/8 tsp sugar

The Preparation Method:

Cook hot dogs on the grill.

While the dogs are cooking, fry onion slices in 2 TBS vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Continue frying until onions are golden and crispy. Remove from heat and set aside.

While onions are frying make the special sauce. Mix together 2 TBS ketchup, 2 TBS mayonnaise and 1/8 tsp sugar. Set aside.

When all pieces are ready it's time to assemble the sandwiches. Toasted bread. Special sauce on each slice. Hot dogs split down the center, arranged flat side down on the bread. Layer a hearty helping of crispy onions over the dogs. And a thin layer of Coleslaw Topper over the onions. Smush it all together and dig in!

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I LOVE this jam. I'd never seen the video before today, even tough I've listened to the song about a million times. It makes me love the song and Erykah Badu even more.

Erykah Badu - On & On

Butternut Squash Breakfast Tacos for Dinner

I cook dinner for my brood nearly every night of the week.

Only recently have I come to realize that many of my meals are a slight variation on a theme. Take for instance the taco theme. There are a million and one ways to make a tasty taco. Why not explore them all?

This recipe is one that came together on a moment's notice. It's not that I had a moment's notice to prepare dinner. For I know this is part of my job description from the moment I awake any given  morning. But a moment's notice because the day got away from me and it was suddenly 5pm and I had three hungry munchkins at my feet demanding I feed them.

With no real plan for dinner in that moment, I began fantasizing about placing a carry-out order at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. In all practicality—and back in reality—I began pulling items fast from the fridge and frying them up. First came the chorizo, then the red onion, red bell pepper and butternut squash. Next the egg. I threw it all together on top of a corn tortilla and called it a night. My sweet hubby was so impressed with the flavor he couldn't stop raving about my new taco creation in-between bites.

There was something remarkably special about the caramelized butternut squash that put this dish over the top into the "Best Taco Ever" category in The Little White Kitchen. Perhaps it will fill the role of "Best Taco Ever" in your Big Blue Kitchen, or Awkwardly Tight Yellow Kitchen, or So Large I Can Hardly See You Across the Room Gray Kitchen, or ....

Butternut Squash Breakfast Tacos

Ingredients:
1 pound ground Chorizo sausage
8 eggs, fried
3 TBS vegetable oil
1/2 large butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 large red onion, diced
salt & pepper, to taste
1 TBS brown sugar
8 soft corn tortillas

The Preparation Method:


This is going to require all four burners on your stovetop to be working at once. Get ready!

In one pan, over medium-high heat fry the chorizo sausage until cooked through. Set aside.

At the same time, in another pan, heat 3 TBS vegetable oil. Add the diced red onion, red bell pepper and butternut squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to suite your tastes. Saute over medium-high heat until the onions start to caramelize. Add 1 TBS brown sugar. Stir to combine. Continue to saute until onions are nicely caramelized and the butternut squash is easily pierced with a fork. Set aside.

At the same time, in a third pan, begin frying the eggs. We like ours over hard. Set the fried eggs aside.

In a fourth pan, heat a touch of vegetable oil and fry the corn tortillas to make them super pliable. Corn tortillas just aren't quite right unless they're gently fried.

Once sufficiently warm, pile each tortilla high with one fried egg, a heaping spoonful of chorizo, and a double-heaping spoonful of sauteed veggies. 

Yum-yum-ya-yum-yum.

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This is the jam that inspired my four-burner stovetop session. I may have played it five times over during the fifteen minutes it took me to prepare this dinner. I may have broke out a few hot Bollywood moves on my linoleum floor. I may have busted into a few old-school breakdancing moves in front of my three young children. Or I may not have done any of those things.

Panjabi MC featuring Jay-Z — Beware

Huevos Rancheros

This is a picture of my favorite breakfast on our recent trip to Mexico. I liked it so much I was moved to photograph it. My husband was slightly embarrassed by this behavior. But what the heck, I find pleasure in recreating my restaurant favorites at home. Photos help.

On the menu it was listed as Ranchero Eggs. I asked the waiter what to expect with this dish, thinking I was potentially ordering some kind of farmhouse scramble.

He kindly described a very common meal in Mexico—corn tortilla topped with refried beans, sunny-side-up egg, chorizo and tomato sauce. It took me a second, but when I realized he was talking about Huevos Rancheros I giggled quietly to myself trying to understand the logic here. In the States we call this dish by its Spanish name and at this particular restaurant in Mexico they call this dish by its English name. What gives?

Anyhow, it was darn good. So good that I made a point of coming home to recreate the flavors in my Little White Kitchen. Not knowing where to start with ranchero sauce, I took to the world wide web to find something similar to the flavors I remember at that quaint restaurant on the corner of the town square.

Emeril Lagasse's Food Network recipe for ranchero sauce seemed to be the closest fit to what was captured in my photograph. So I gave it a try with a slight modification for spice. I strayed from the rest of the recipe based on what I remembered from my breakfast in Mexico. Emeril's ranchero sauce is a good fit for this recipe, but it is fun to play around with the ingredients until you find the perfect fit for your palate. Increase the amount of tomatoes, decrease the green pepper, up the cayenne or try other varieties of hot pepper.

So much fun to be had with ranchero sauce! I bet you never knew.

Huevos Rancheros


Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup white onion, diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon minced serrano pepper (or jalapeno for less heat)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup coarsely chopped tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
4 large eggs
1 pound Mexican chorizo
1 can refried beans, heated
4 corn tortillas or tostadas

The Preparation Method:

Get all of your ingredients ready ahead of time. The sauce comes together quickly and there won't be time to chop, dice and measure once you get cooking.

In a medium saucepan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, cook the onion and bell peppers for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the cumin, salt, cayenne, serrano and garlic.

Stir together and cook for 30 seconds only.

Now add the chopped tomatoes along with any accompanying juices. Cook for 2 minutes while continuing to stir.

Add the chicken stock and simmer for 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

Remove from heat.

While the sauce is thickening, you can start browning the chorizo.

Use a wooden spoon or spatula to make the meat all crumbly. Cook throughly. Set aside.

Once the ranchero sauce and chorizo are finished cooking, start frying your eggs. Be sure to add plenty of oil to the pan and let it heat up over medium-high heat before cracking the egg into it. Hot oiled pans make for easy egg removal. Dry mildly warm pans make for a mess.

Note: Sunny-side-up is the traditional way to prepare Huevos Rancheros, but there are those of us who don't prefer our yolks to run. In which case I give you complete permission to pierce the yolk sac and flip that baby over to make this Huevos Rancheros over-hard.

While the eggs are cooking, begin assembly...

Tostada or soft corn tortilla,

layered with warm refried beans,

crumbly chorizo,

runny (or not so runny) egg,

and ranchero sauce.

Dive in and delight in the simplicity of a farmhouse breakfast.

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I am thinking of farmhouses. I am thinking I remember something about Ray Lamontagne moving into an old farmhouse built in 1830. I am thinking I really like Ray's cover of Gnarls Barkley's song Crazy.

Family Taco Night

Family vacation. 

Eight individuals sitting down to dinner. 

One vegetarian. 

One lactose intolerant. 

Two no beef and no pork. 

Two Celiacs. 

One corn allergy. 

Two casein allergies. 

What to eat? What to eat? I need a foolproof meal in a snap that will surely satisfy everyone's needs.

The answer every time ~ Family Taco Night!

With this recipe, I'm able to prepare a little something for everyone and the folks can pick-and-choose to their liking. 

Our vegetarian fills her tacos with black beans and sweet potatoes.

Our cholesterol conscious folks fill theirs with the ground turkey.

Our little corn allergy buddy takes his in a bowl with all the fixin's.

So easy. So fast. So satisfying.

Family Taco Night

Serves: 8 

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cans black beans (drained)

1 can sweet potatoes in syrup (not drained)

2 lbs ground turkey (or beef, or buffalo, or ostrich)

4 TBS taco seasoning

4 ripe avocados

4 medium tomatos 

shredded lettuce

shredded cheese

rice

corn tortillas

2 limes to squeeze over the top of the finished tacos

The Preparation Method:

Start the rice to cook.

With the rice going, brown the ground meat in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once no longer pink, approx. 8 minutes, add 1/2 cup water and 4 TBS taco seasoning. Mix well to combine as some of the water boils off. Turn heat to low to keep warm.

While the meat is browning, in a separate saucepan combine 2 cans of black beans and 1 can of sweet potatoes with their syrup. Cook over medium heat until heated through. Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork. Mash a few beans while you're at it.

Dice ripe avocados, tomatos, and lettuce for the topping.

Shred the cheese if you have cheese eaters in the group.

Once the rice is finished cooking, you're ready to go. 

Set everything out in an assembly line and let the folks have at it.

Don't forget to squeeze the lime over the top of your taco. Yum!

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This song grows on me every time I hear it. I love the line about the "ice cold beer sitting in the console". First thing, I haven't heard the term "console" in a while. Second thing, I haven't had an ice cold beer in an even longer while.

The lack of real beer is the thing I miss most about being gluten free. I'm reminded of how much I love beer when I hear this song. It's the only time in my gf existence that I chant "damn gluten free."

Jason Aldean - Dirt Road Anthem