Project Cook + U Students Like Good Food

My good friend Eric leads a student group on the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus called U Students Like Good Food.  Their mission:  explore the food system as it relates to life on campus, our health, and the surrounding environment.  (Pretty great, right?)  Well a few weeks ago, Eric invited me to come meet with U Students Like Good Food to talk about Project Cook, and how the idea could be used to spark some positive action on UMN's campus.  The result:  A presentation by yours truly at last week's campus-wide Urban Agriculture Panel Discussion, a great big wave of renewed enthusiasm for this idea, and a PLAN to bring Project Cook to campus next fall!  As it turns out I'm not the only one eager to get more kitchen savvy, so starting in September, in a collaboration between U Students Like Good Food, the Community Health Promotion Students in the SPH, and myself, we will be launching a Project Cook Campus Initiative with weekly recipes/inspirations, activities, and monthly U Students Like Good Food Cooking Nights.  I couldn't be more excited!  The details are still being hashed out, but here's the main gist:  with a little effort we can grow a visible community of young adults who are actively trying to improve their cooking skills (and have a lot of fun in the process!)  We just need to figure out the best way to get organized, and so that's what we will be thinking about for the next few months.  (ideas?  pretty please send them to generationyinthekitchen@gmail.com and share!) Aaaaand lastly, in the mean time I'll be dusting off this blogroll to test out some of our ideas (and get back in the habit of writing!).  So, lots to look forward to.  Till then-- Peace and Love from my kitchen to yours, Haley.

8. Give a Man a Fish...

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish [AND show him how to cook it!!] you feed him for a lifetime." I was thrilled to spend this week's project cooking night with Mike testing out a great recipe from Mark Bittman's Minimalist cookbook for Salmon with Roasted Herbs. It was the perfect opportunity to get some practice prepping and cooking up my personal favorite fish variety, and it was nice to be back in the kitchen with friends. We paired the salmon with roasted potato wedges and garlicky steamed kale, which I highly recommend (the flavors complimented eachother great, and the colorful mix made it beautiful for serving!)
Here is the Salmon recipe we used in six easy steps (modified slightly from the cookbook):
What you need: 1/2 pound thick cut Salmon fillet, 2-3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil, 2 Tbs dill (can use basil, thyme, chervil, parsley too), lemon wedges, salt and pepper.
1. Preheat oven to 475 and place a roasting pan in the oven on a high rack.
2. Add the butter and half the herbs and allow to heat until the mixture sizzles.
3. Add the salmon to the pan/pyrex with the skin side up and roast 4-5 minutes.
4. Remove the entire pan from the oven and pull on the salmon skin (if the fish has been roasting long enough the skin will peel right off).
5. Flip the fillet, add salt, pepper, lemon and return to the oven for 4-5 minutes longer.
6. When the fish flakes easily, it is ready to eat! Garnish with extra herbs and lemon wedges.
The ease of this recipe amazed me, and I have no doubt anyone interested could recreate it too. I've already used it again with my roommates, and it's only been a couple days!
Peace and Love from my kitchen to yours, Haley

Annnnnnd We're Back!

After a few week holiday hiatus we are heading back into the kitchen this Friday to continue Project Cooking as a group in the baby blue house! But before we do.... a small recap of what's been going on around here-- Over the last month, Mike shared some amazing recipes, teaching me how to make Collard Wraps filled with Quinoa, Olives, ,and Feta, and a delicious Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli (with homemade pasta we rolled ourselves!) I experimented by recreating the first and adding it to the table on Christmas day and got my mom to eat "the first cooked greens she actually enjoyed."
But my favorite part of this holiday season was at the Blue House with my roommates, where we celebrated our time off work by baking and decorating our very own gingerbread house with from-scratch gingerbread walls and homemade sweet-vanilla glue. And just to prove you are never to old to build edible houses we got 10 of our friends to come over and help us decorate it. The result was the Hawaiian inspired ginger-beach house you see here, complete with a green roof and backyard volcano. Here is the recipe for we used for the Gingerbread, which makes really good cookies, or if you substitute 2/3 of the butter for 1C applesauce, a really good gingerbread:

Gingerbread Cookies:
Ingredients-
1 C all purpose flour
1 C wheat flour
1 Tbs ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C sugar
6 Tbs veg spread (we used EarthBalance organic)
1 large egg
1/2 C dark molasses
(if making a gingerbread loaf, substitute 4 Tbs of the veg spread for 1C of applesauce)

Directions: In a small bowl, beat together the sugar and vegetable oil spread. add the egg and molasses, set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Dig a small well in the middle of the dry mixture and pour in the sugar/oil/egg/molasses mixture. Blend together, refrigerate for 1 hour, and then bake into whatever shape you need!

Peace and Love, with lots more to come,
Haley

Green Chile Enchiladas with Zucchini and Cilantro Black Beans

Green Chile Enchiladas with Zucchini and Cilantro Black Beans.
inspired by Nava Atlas' American Harvest



What you need for the Enchiladas:
(filling)
-2 Tbsp olive oil
-1 large onion
-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
-3 cups grated zucchini
-2 cans (4 oz) chopped green chile
-handful of chopped cilantro
-1/2 tsp dried oregano
(sauce)
-2 cups milk
-1/2 large can tomatoes
-1 Tbsp butter
-pinch of salt
-2 Tbsp white flour
(the rest of the goods)
-12 corn tortillas
-2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
-1/2 bunch scallions, minced
-Diced tomatoes to garnish

What you need for the black beans:
-2 cups dried black beans
-1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
-salt and pepper to taste

1. Beans! Soak the black beans over night. Start them boiling 30 minutes before beginning enchiladas.

2. Filling! [Preheat over to 350] In a large skillet, saute the onion until translucent, then add the garlic, green chili, zucchini, oregano and cilantro. Keep stirring until the zucchini is tender and the ingredients are nicely mixed together. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Sauce! Heat the milk, butter, and salt in a sauce pan until it gets just hot enough to steam. In a separate bowl dissolve the flour in enough water to turn it into a paste. Wisk it into the hot milk and add the tomatoes, stirring occasionally and allowing the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes. If there are still large chunks of tomato, throw the sauce in a blender and pulse a few times, then return it to the pan.

4. Roll! Warm up the tortillas so they are nice and flexible. Fill each with the green chile zucchini mix, then roll up and arrange in a shallow pan (seem side down). Cover the enchiladas with sauce and cheese. Sprinkle the scallions on top and bake for 15-20 minutes.

5. Final touches! Once the beans are tender, drain and return to pot. Stir in cilantro, salt and pepper. When the hot bubbly enchiladas come out of the oven, serve with a side of black beans, and top with salsa and guac. Enjoy!

5. The Tradition Has Been Established!

The tradition has been established! Three weeks in a row makes it official-- Sundays are Project Cook nights in our baby blue house's circle kitchen, and our group is growing. This week we were 6 thanks to Vanessa and Sarah joining us, and together we cooked up some Green Chile Enchiladas and Cilantro Black Beans that turned out absolutely DELICIOUS! This is definitely a recipe worth gathering roommates and friends for-- and its posted right here for anyone who wants to give it a try!
Peace and Love from my kitchen to yours, Haley

This weeks Project Cook Recipe to try: Little Bean Soup!

Little Bean Soup

What you need:
3 cups small beans (1-2 varieties, dry)
1 large onion, chopped
3 cups mushrooms, chopped
2 tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
head of celery
fresh baby spinach
water/stock
olive oil
fresh thyme, marjoram
dried oregano, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Step 1- Rinse and sort beans (we used Adzuki and Black Eyed Peas). Soak them overnight (or if you didn't plan that far ahead, like us, you can do a quick soak by adding them to a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes and then turning the heat off and allowing them to soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients).

Step 2- Chop! the mushrooms, onions and garlic.
**Cooking tip of the week (thank you Mike!)- leave the root end of the onion attached while chopping. Cut off the top, make one horizontal cut through the center stopping before the root, then chop in rays outward from just below the root. It's amazing how much easier it is!**

Step 3- Saute! the mushrooms, onions, and garlic. In a large stockpot heat 3-4 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the mushrooms first (they take the longest) for 5 minutes or until soft. Then add the garlic and onions and continue to saute until the onions are translucent.

Step 3- Chop! up the celery, tomatoes and any other veggies you will be using in your soup. Pick the thyme and marjoram from their stems, about 1 Tbsp of each. Add them to the saute, stirring 1-2 minutes.

Step 4- Soup! Drain the soaking beans, rinse, and add them to the stock pot. Pour in enough water/stock (we used 1/3 part vegetable stock, 2/3 water) to reach the consistency you like. Simmer on low heat until beans are cooked through, about 1 hr.

Step 5- Enjoy with friends! When serving, add a handful of fresh spinach to the bottom of the bowl for extra color (and a nutrient boost full of good for you minerals like potassium, iron, zinc, and calcium!) Simple, delicious, nutritious. And so easy to make!

4. Soul Satisfying Soup

When the snow starts falling and the sky goes gray, the meal I crave more than any other is a bowl of warm, hearty, flavorful soup and fresh bread. And I usually know right where to find both at the grocery store... But now that I find myself writing this blog about cooking more often, it just didn't feel right to stock up on my usual boxes of Imagine! Tomato soup or any of the canned stuff (apparently the motivational piece of this project is working!). So instead, I invited my friend Mike over this week to join me in cooking up something at home instead. The result: A soul satisfying soup that was less expensive, more nutritious, and way tastier than anything I could have brought home from Lunds. And even better-- the opportunity to share it with my roommate Dave, his sister Lindsey, and our friend Natalie, who all happened to come home while Mike and I were cooking and gladly accepted the warm bowls.

Anyone else in the mood for some warm satisfying soup? Turn it into a Project Cook night and make some of your own this week with roommates or friends! I'll post the recipe Mike and I came up with: a delicious mushroom veggie combination I think I'll name... Little Bean Soup. I highly recommend it!

Peace and Love from my kitchen to yours, Haley