Meatless Monday: Quick Pumpkin Polenta w/ Sauteed Kale

Like my recipe today, this post is quick and easy. 

I spent a few hours this morning finishing up Nick's Halloween costume. On a scale of 1-10 on craftiness, I am about a 2.5, but I nevertheless found a cute, and (seemingly easy) costume--a crocodile wrestler--that instantly became the object of Nick's desire. 

It would have been much easier if I had started it last week--when I purchased the supplies--but one thing piled atop another, and as of this morning, I had yet to begin. But I am proud to report that the foam crocodile is drying in the back yard (after I blew it dry with my hair dryer for 30 minutes to get the ball rolling). Don't worry, I'll take pictures.

Needless to say, there is not much time for cooking today, and chances are, the same is true in your house.. But we all need to eat something before (or after) the festivities, and I have just the meal: pumpkin polenta with sauteed kale.

Perfect Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I love roasted pumpkin seeds. It's more than the toasty flavor and crunch; it's the feeling that I'm getting something for free.

Yet for years, my roasted seeds fell flat, despite painstakingly separating the seeds from their stringy, clingy orange strands and carefully monitoring the roasting time. Though golden in hue, the seeds were typically chewy and tough, and were marked by a distinctly off, raw flavor (my Arkansas father-in-law would call this a "wang.") I ate them anyway (the free factor again), but not without a lot of griping (and chewing).

Then a mentor (let's call her Martha...) clued me in: the seeds need to be dried--completely--before being roasted. Hurrah! However...she recommended (commanded) leaving the seeds out to dry for 3 to 4 days. Boo. I don't have a staff (save for my super-duper pumpkin scooper, below), so I improvised.

Kale, Tofu, and Soba Noodle Stir-Fry

“Mommy, why are you eating brown noodles and marshmallows?! With LEAVES?!”

I insist it is actually Japanese soba and tofu (your cousins Kenji and Hugh love both), bright, earthy kale, chopped and briefly blanched, then stir-fried with sizzling nut-brown garlic and ginger, and a salty-sweet sauce.  

My 5-year-old conversation companion has left the room to peruse his new Highlights magazine.

Cookbook Giveaway: 3 Copies of My New Book, Piece of Cake!

Good morning, everyone! How about beginning the day with a giveaway, specifically three copies of my new book, Piece of Cake!

The entry period runs from now (October 27th, 2011) until midnight CST on Halloween (October 31st, 2011).

To enter, simply do is the following:
(1) Leave a comment telling everyone your very favorite cake! (Luscious Lemon Cake, from my book, is mine)
(2) "Like" enlightened cooking on facebook (immediately to your right, in the right hand column you will find the facebook box and the "like" option. If you do not have a facebook account, leave a note in your comment to that effect. If you already "like" enlightened cooking, you are good to go for step 2!)

There will be three winners, chosen by random.org. I will announce the winners on Tuesday morning (November 1st, 2011). Good luck!

So-Simple Miso-Honey Chicken

I am guilty of overlooking the obvious here at enlightened cooking. For example, dinner. I'll spend my days dreaming of and testing recipes that I think will be fun and exciting for a new post and forget to post the recipes I turn to time and again for simple suppers (often after a long day of recipe development and editing. Oh, the irony).

And yet, it's often these super-simple suppers that readers like you tell me they like the most. Probably because you, like me, love to peruse food magazines and cookbooks by day (or in bed), but once 6 o'clock rolls around, you need something simple, delicious, and reliable. For example, my miso-honey broiled chicken.

Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Egg-Free Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon, Walnuts and Cranberries

A batch of homemade drop cookies may not sound particularly Halloween-esque. Yes, I've given these beauties an ample dose of fall flavor in the forms of cinnamon and cranberries, but I haven't fashioned them into mock tarantulas, ghosts, goblins, or monsters.

But according to my husband, the prospect of a sugar-free, gluten-free, egg-free cookie is nothing short of terrifying. 

Roasted Carrot Hummus

I am giddy with excitement over my new recipe: Roasted Carrot Hummus!

Scottish Oat Cakes (like Walkers Highland Oatcakes)

It's a relaxed, blissful weekend here at enlightened cooking. After spending last weekend on the road, it felt especially satisfying to just "be" this weekend: sleeping in (that's about 7:15, when Nick pops out of his bed and into ours), an extra pot of coffee, a sunny soccer game, and making a mud castle (made possible by the torrential Saturday night thunder storm) in the back yard.

The coffee wore off by mid-afternoon today, but Nick was still going strong; to keep up, I made a pot of tea and a batch of oat cakes.

Quinoa Salad with Morroccan Spices, Dried Fruit and Avocado

TGIF, everyone! I hope it is as gorgeous where you are as it is here in Texas.

I wasn't sure if I would have time to post today due to my work schedule (combined with staying up too late last night watching Project Runway). But I am enjoying being back in a regular posting mode, so I am able to squeeze in a recipe before I head off to pick up Nick from kindergarten.

As you can tell from my recent posts, I am on a quinoa kick; I purchased an abundance of it--white, red, and a bit of black, too--last time we were in Houston. I lose a considerable amount of self-reserve in the bulk foods section at Central Market (one of the best sections anywhere--and I am a lifelong frequenter of bulk foods sections!).

On this past trip,  Kevin took one look at my overflowing basket of various bags of dried goods (he and Nick usually wander off for awhile--a long while--as I peruse the bins and scoop away) and asked if I was preparing for the coming apocalypse (it just happens to be one of his areas of expertise in world literature).

No, just preparing for revelations, such as this quinoa salad.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Cookies

Good morning everyone!

I've been remiss in posting anything very seasonal, particularly baked goods, largely due to the persisting 90+ degree heat. It's challenging to wax poetic about cozy cookies, cakes, stews, and soups while typing in a tank top and gym shorts.

But literally overnight, the temperature dropped more than twenty degrees; autumn has arrived in East Texas. I'm ready!

A quick perusal of some of my favorite blogs reveals a plethora of sweets treats, from the gorgeous to the ghoulish; I am so inspired by the creativity of my fellow bloggers. I know it's the season for super-sweet treats, but it's also the time of year for celebrating some of my favorite produce: apples, cranberries, pears, pumpkins, winter squashes, and sweet potatoes, to name but a few. So in the remaining days leading up to H'ween, I'll be offering some baked goods that highlight the natural sweetness of these fall favorites and steer clear of scary sugar levels.

First up, Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies, amped with multiple superfood ingredients from the pumpkin to whole wheat, flax seeds to yogurt.

Quinoa Power Omelet

Nick, Kevin and I went to the Texas State Fair this weekend in Dallas, a first-time experience for all of us. My favorite part was the petting zoo (especially the Scottish Highlands cattle--perhaps the cutest cows in the world--and the baby goats). Nick's favorite part was the high-speed whippersnapper ride that left me nauseous for the rest of the day (whee!). I think Kevin thought his favorite would be the deep-fried bacon, but despite the hype, it was truly awful. We passed on the deep-fried bubblegum, too.

Still, we ate ourselves silly at a great Tex Mex place Saturday night (Mattito's--I am a sucker for chiles rellenos, and theirs was fantastic; same goes for the rum margarita...) Oh, and then there was brunch on Sunday morning (cheese danish!). Oy. No regrets in the least, but I was ready to get back to my own cooking by the weekend's close.

How to Write and Publish a Cookbook

I am out of town today, but wanted to share an exciting article that appeared today in the New York Times. 

If you have ever dreamed of writing a cookbook (or any book, for that matter), but dread the idea of waiting months, or even years, before an agent or publisher opens and/or reads your proposal, then you need to read today's article, because it may permanently alter--in what could be a very good way--the publishing process for would-be and current authors. Take a gander:

Amazon Rewrites the Rules of Book Publishing

Pretty exciting stuff. If this has you fired up, the next step is to get a copy of Dianne Jacob's book, Will Write for Food. I had the pleasure of taking a food writing class with Dianne years ago at Book Passages bookstore in Corte Madera; it changed my life. Her book covers all of the ins and outs of food writing and the publishing process (plus great references for additional sources of information). Dianne has a great blog, too: Will Write for Food Blog.

Here are a few other books I've found indispensible over the years:
1. How to Write a Book Proposal, by Michael Larsen
There are many books on this subject, but I think Larsen's book is, hands down, the best. I followed it to the letter for writing my first proposal--accepted!--and have used it for all subsequent proposals.

2. Writer's Market
Ever wonder where to find listings of literary agents and publishers? Here's your answer. For agents, it gives all of the necessary contact info (names, addresses), whether to send a proposal or just a query letter, etc. For publishers, it provides contact info (i.e. the specific editor for sending your proposal), whether they publish cookbooks, whether they accept un-agented proposals (i.e., direct from you), percentage of books published annually that are by first-time authors (so valuable if you are trying to break in), and so much more. Really useful for finding smaller, regional publishers (that's how I broke in)--they are often more likely to accept un-agented, first-time authors.

3. The Recipe Writer's Handbook, by  Barbara Gibbs Ostmann and Jane Baker
The everything-you-need-to-know style guide for writing recipes in a professional manner.

Let me know if you have other books you've found useful! I hope an idea is already brewing...

Edamame, Spinach & Brussels Sprouts Barley

Cheap. Easy. Fast. It reads like a less-than-discrete ad on Craig's List. But it's meant to describe my take on on a fast-food dinner.

From the comments I receive, it's clear I'm not the only one who loves healthy meals that are quick and easy (perhaps 7+ years of graduate school helped me figure that out, too).  And if the meals are frugal, all the better.

This quick and easy assemblage of barley and vegetable was loosely inspired by fried rice, which is ironic, because I do not like the Chinese restaurant fried rice. At all. The kind with the red food coloring-dyed bits of pork freckled throughout makes me particularly squeamish. But my lovely husband is quite keen on the stuff, and I'm partial to grains and vegetables scrambled together in general, hence this recipe was born.

Vegan Red Velvet Cake

I love a blog post that requires little explanation, and this is just such an instance.

Quick Quinoa-Chipotle Stuffed Peppers

 Whether you use quinoa frequently, or have a bag of the stuff gathering dust in your cupboard, then this recipe is for you. Despite the persistently warm (hot!) weather, I have been itching to make some cozy, comfort food to get me in an autumn frame of mind.

Quinoa Soda Bread (gluten-free)

Hi everyone! Apologies for not posting sooner; we had house guests this weekend, so I've been playing catch-up with, well, just about everything the past few days. It's good to have some time to sit down and compose a post.

On Saturday, I made some over-the-top caramel buns (from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book). They were supposed to be pecan rolls, but my stash was depleted, hence a new variation was born: caramel-walnut sticky rolls. It was actually (finally!) a cool autumn morning, so one (or was it two?) of these rolls with a cup of coffee in the backyard was an idyllic way to welcome October.



But after eating my third roll on Sunday morning, I was ready for some healthier baking. I had had my fill of sweets (which is unusual, given my sweet-tooth), so on to savory. My choice? A quinoa flour version of Irish soda bread.