Comfort Food

Food is a love language. When someone has a baby, is ill, or when we loose a loved one, food comes in to show love and comfort.
This week I've barely cooked. I've been needing comfort, and I'm sure some of you feel the same. But as I've been needing comfort, I've been holding our friends in Florida in my heart. Their beloved son is transitioning through the end-stages of leukemia. He is a bright, brave child. His family is strong and loving.

So. Comfort food. My comfort food is a plain white bagel, toasted and slathered in butter. I've never made my own bagels, so I'm offering my husband's comfort food, which is mac'n'cheese.

Pumpkin mac'n'cheese (not mine, don't remember whose)
1 can pumpkin puree
3 C whole wheat twirly pasta
3 TB unsalted butter
 3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4C flour (AP or whole wheat, whichever you have)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper 
1 C milk
2 C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Optional:
2 pieces toasted bread for crumbs
1TB olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
cook pasta al dente, set aside
Combine pumpkin and milk, whisk to combine
In a saucepan, heat butter until melted
Add minced garlic, cook until fragrant, about 1 min
Whisk in flour, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook 1 min, stirring
Add milk mixture to flour mixture, little at a time (roughly 1/4c each addition), allowing mixture to thicken after each addition. Whisk to combine.
Remove from heat and add shredded cheese, stirring to melt
Combine pasta and cheese mixture in a 9x9 baking dish
Optional:
Toast your bread and chop finely (or use a food processor if you have one). Drizzle breadcrumbs over pasta and drizzle olive oil over top.
Bake 20-25 minutes
(*you can try making this gluten-free using gluten-free pasta nad 3 TB corn starch in place of flour)

If you can, please send comfort in the form of food (send order-in) or financial assistance for my friends in Florida, who are in need of comfort for the biggest ache.

https://www.gofundme.com/jkqggc

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/oll5d1

Sweet Potato of Love

I love sweet potatoes. This is a phrase of maturity. As a kid, I didn't get it. But as an adult, the sweet potato reigns. Black beans are also a big deal. Because, you see, they are cheap and adaptable.
I've made this recipe three times. The second time I made it, my man cake got to the slow cooker before the potatoes were really fully finished cooking, and he STILL ate all of it. So, it's good.

*This recipe is from a slow cooker cookbook (thanks, oldest sister). I've found that anything you are encouraged to cook in a slow cooker can likely be cooked in a casserole dish, with more chaperoning. So, don't be discouraged if you didn't get a giant slow cooker from your sister for Hanukkah.

Oh photography gds, forgive me. But the subject is good.

Black Bean Chili and Sweet Potato Casserole (originally from Robertson)
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 TB tomato paste
3 TB chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1-16oz jar tomato salsa (total shortcut!)
3 C cooked black beans (I soak/cook dried beans, it's easy and good for you)
1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
1C shredded cheddar

Here's where the 'slow cooker' idea is silly to me, but here goes:
Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, saute until soft. Add tomato paste and spices. Stir in a small amount of water to keep from burning.

In a bowl, combine onion mixture with black beans and salsa.

Spread a thin layer of the beans over the bottom of your dish. Arrange a layer of sweet potatoes, overlapping slightly. Season with S&P. Top with thin layer of chili, followed by the cheddar.
Repeat: chili, sweet potatoes, cheese until it's all used up. Hopefully ending with a layer of potatoes topped with cheese.

Cook in slow cooker on low for at least 4 hours. If using a casserole dish try 350F, covered, for 45min? Let me know if that's too long. You want your potatoes really soft.

Serve with perfectly ripe avocado

HEEEY.

It's been a long, long time. I know you've missed me. A lot has changed. I mean, a freak'n lot. But I don't have time to detail all that, so I'll just get strait to the good stuff (and you'll catch up eventually). Food needs to be good. And these days, it needs to be simple and easy. Here's what we've eaten recently:

Purple cabbage and noodles* with Korean pancakes (I think this happened in an earlier post, in a galaxy far, far away)
Veg sloppy joes* with buns and salad (let's rename sloppy joes when they're vegetarian, eh?)
curried lentils with naan bread, spinach, and sweet potato
falafel with purple cabbage slaw* and homemade hummus*
Black bean sweet potato slow cooker chili*
Massive amounts of peanut butter (like, a lot)

phew.

Let's start with the curried lentils.
I have three recipes for curried lentils, and they all taste different. Lentils are good food, and holy cow they pack a lot of iron in them. If you're in the market for iron support, lentils are your new main ingredient.
This recipe for curried lentils is my newest, and in my opinion, the tastiest. Probably because it contains the most fat, and this lady knows fat is good for you. And it tastes really damn good.

Forgive the photo and trust me, this is good

Curried Lentils with Coconut Milk (originally from Food52)
3 TB EVOO
1 TB minced fresh ginger (a micro-plane is my new favorite way to make this happen)
2 cloves garlic, minced (micro-planed)
1 onion, minced
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 C lentils
1-13oz can unsweetened coconut milk
Salt (1-2 tsp)

Heat large saute pan over medium heat. Warm oil. Add ginger, garlic, onion and spices. Stir occasionally, until onion is soft and kitchen smells enticing.
Add dry lentils, coconut milk and salt. Fill coconut milk can with water, add to saucepan. Stir to combine. Bring to boil, then lower to simmer until liquid is absorbed (this may take a little while, go drink some water).

Serve over rice, or with Naan bread, with cooked spinach, fresh cilantro and a sweet potato. Eat it all day.

Here's the easiest recipe for Naan Bread, and it's pretty fool-proof.

I'd say more about this super delicious combo and how amazingly easy that recipe is, but I need to go serve up an order of breast milk.

*I'll get to these later