Simple Measure

It was nice, waking up this Thursday. The first snow was just starting to come down— and possibly more exciting, there was a keg of Anchor Steam chilling on the back porch.

Thanksgiving— this year dubbed “Kegsgiving” in honor of the aforementioned keg— was a fun, filling success. How could it not be, with such great people?

For the last few years we’ve been trying our own clumsy hand at tradition-making. While everyone around us darts across the country in a car or plane, we band together with the friends sticking it out in town for a real family-style dinner. With beer. Lots more beer.

My favorite part is always when the last minute chopping, re-heating and general craziness is done. We’re all crowded around the table in our mis-matched chairs, digging in and quiet for a moment.

Looking around, you really appreciate all the little somethings everyone added to the day— whether it’s a dish, some inappropriate jokes or just sharing the afternoon with us. (Yes, I am sentimental like this. Just be quiet, and enjoy the food.)

Thanks to everybody who came, ate, and pitched in!

Simon for handling the turkey and all the corresponding “ickies,” plus the fabulous green bean casserole and green salad.

Ari and Derek for the tollhouse pie and special presents.

Paul and K for the fantastic stuffed mushrooms, sweet potatoes, veggie gravy (yes!) and maple walnut pies.

Meg for her always fabulous rolls, and the pumpkin pie with sugared pepitas.

Jereme for cranberry sauce, two ways (sweet and con jalepeño).

Corey for the spicy plantains (really, they had just the perfect amount of heat).

Brock for the awesome cookies with the mindboggling number of ingredients (exactly what kind of cereal was in there?).

Addison for whipping up some seriously delicious mashed potatoes.

And Jared for so, so much, including the safe arrival of the keg (and for drawing us a map for tapping it while you were at work. That was really helpful.)

And because it wouldn’t be a post without a recipe, here’s how you can make the spiced greens and rice dish I rocked out the night before. In fact, if you can, it’s really best to make this ahead of time so it can chill in the fridge for a good 12 hours or more. (Just pop it in the oven at 375 for about 30 minutes to heat it back up.)

The cinnamon and nutmeg make this (really) simple recipe a festive fit for the table this time of year.

Spiced Greens with Rice
Got this recipe from the farm, by way of Mollie Katzen’s Vegetable Heaven.

2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

4 cups minced onions

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 pound greens, cleaned, stemmed minced (I used kale, which has a chewier texture, but chard and spinach work really well, too.)

Another 1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup long grain brown rice, uncooked

2 ¼ cups water

1. Add the brown rice and water to a small pot with a tight fitting lid (double check the package or instructions of your rice if you’re not using long grain brown). Bring it to a boil and give it just one stir before putting on the lid and reducing the heat so it’s just simmering. Simmer for 45 minutes then remove from heat and let it sit (still covered) for about another 10 minutes. Resist the urge to check on the rice during this process, or stirring it (Well, unless you like really mushy rice). Set aside.

2. Once the rice is simmering, heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet. When it’s very hot, (but not smoking) add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and turn the heat to medium low.

3. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then cover and let the onion cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, stir in the garlic and spices, and cook for about another 5 minutes.

4. Turn the heat way up and add the greens and another 1/2 teaspoon of salt. If you’re using kale, sauté for about 10 – 15 minutes, or until all the liquid has evaporated. More delicate greens like chard or spinach only need to sauté for a few minutes until they turn dark and soft.

5. Remove from heat and serve over brown rice.

Colcannon came onto my scene a little unexpectedly. We were at Corey’s one night (was it a party? St. Patrick’s Day? A hootenanny? The exact details escape me.)

What I do know is K’s great at surprising you with food. She’ll disappear into the kitchen, do some wizard magic, and come out with her usual amazingness, like spaghetti squash spring rolls. Or homemade seitan buffalo “wings.” Or like that night at Corey’s, when she showed up fresh from a cold, cross ‘hood bike ride with a big pot of warm colcannon hidden in her bag.

So I know, mashed potatoes and cabbage doesn’t SOUND like a winner of a party food. But you couldn’t tell that to the 10 or so of us that cleaned out the entire durn pot of it. (OK, so maybe we’re just a weird bunch.)

I finally got around to making it for myself a few weeks back. I was working from home, and wasn’t into a whole big dinner production. And I really only had potatoes and cabbage in the fridge. So it was fate, pretty much.

Save this one for a cold winter night or your next party – it’ll warm you right up, I promise.

Oh, and because you must be wondering (you are, right?) — our 6th annual Thanksgiving extravaganza is shaping up nicely. We’re aiming for about 16 awesome people, and a great line up of veggie food. And yes, a turkey.

Hoping to post at least one more recipe by Wednesday to give you a preview, but you can get a sneak peek at one of the dishes I’m making, right here.

Easy Colcannon
Adapted from Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables

There’s a couple of ways to make colcannon. Some involve the oven, and cooking the cabbage and potatoes separately. I wasn’t feeling that fussy, so I came up with this lightspeed version.

Using organic potatoes also cut down the prep time, since all they needed was a good scrub, and the peeler got to sit untouched. The one step you absolutely can’t skip is cooking the scallions separately in milk, which brings out their full flavor.

The result? Awesomeness intact, and no leftovers.

1 ½ pounds medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks

2 tsp salt, and extra to taste

½ one large head of cabbage, (or about 1 ½ pounds. You can also use kale.), chopped

1 cup chopped scallions

1 cup milk

½ cup butter

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Toss the potatoes and cabbage into a large pot, cover with water and 2 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are very tender, about 15 – 20 minutes.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, put the scallions in a small pot with the milk. Cook over very low heat until they get really soft, about 15 minutes or so. Basically, when your potatoes are done, so will your scallions.

3. Drain the potatoes and cabbage well, and return them to the pot. Pour in the milk and scallion mixture, add the butter, more salt to taste, and a few good grinds of black pepper. Mash it all together until the liquid and butter are mixed in and the potatoes are fluffy. Be careful not to over do it – too much mashing and you’ll end up with a gluey consistency.

4. That’s it, really.

Serves up 6 as a side dish

The mail isn’t usually anything to get all excited about. Bills, bills, and credit card offers for months at a time, interrupted only by the occasional greeting card.

But yesterday there was a big, fat unexpected package waiting for me on the table when I dragged my rain-soaked and exhausted self home from work. I eagerly ripped it open and was jump-up-and-down delighted to find a brand new cookbook from my CSA farm. It was their way of saying “thanks” for being a 2007 shareholder.

I can’t wait to show it to you, Meg. Flipping through recipe after recipe (all organized by season and vegetable!) I came across a variation of a knock-out farm recipe Jared and I had tried and loved late in the season. With more rain in the forecast, I knew this would the perfect comfort food to come home to tonight.

Ok Meg, there’s no denying we used to be BIG mashed potato fans. We’d eat it until we were rolling around the floor with stomach aches. You’d think it would be hard to improve on such a good ol’ twin favorite. But toss a rutabaga and a carrot into the mix and POOF! You have a pretty little side dish worthy of your holiday table.

To me, rutabagas are a little less showy than their winter turnip cousins. They’re a root vegetable all right, but they’re not bragging about it. Their flavor seems slightly more mild, and here they complement rather than overpower the potatoes.

And the carrot? You wouldn’t know it was in there to taste it, but it adds a beautiful golden color. We don’t eat potatoes often, and it really brightened up this rainy Chicago night.

The random nature of our pantry turned this into a vegan side dish, but I’m sure if you use unsalted butter and milk it would be just as rich, creamy and bowl-scrapingly good. You can make it a little lighter by substituting the rutabaga and potato cooking water for the milk or soymilk.

The recipe boldly suggests it serves 4, but Jared and I had NO problem polishing off the entire pot with a quick mix of seitan, spinach and red peppers on the side.

Mashed Rutabaga and Potato

Adapted from Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables
Serves 4

1 pound rutabagas

1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes (Yukons add an extra buttery taste)

1 medium carrot, chopped

1/4 cup plain soymilk

2 3/4 Tbs Earth Balance soy margarine (or your favorite buttery spread)

3/4 tsp salt plus two pinches

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg with extra for garnish

freshly ground black pepper

1. Boil a large pot of water and throw in two pinches of salt. Add the rutabaga and cook for 10 minutes or so. Add the potato and carrot and cook until all vegetables are tender, about 20 more minutes. Drain.

2. Heat soymilk in a saucepan, being careful not to boil.

3. At this point Jared threw the vegetable mix and Earth Balance into the food processor, because it wasn’t mashing very well with just a fork. Maybe having an actual potato masher would have helped. Whether you’re mashing by hand or with a processor, add a little of the warm milk as you mash until you hit your desired consistency. Stir in the salt, nutmeg and pepper. Sprinkle with a little extra nutmeg and serve hot.