KellyintheKitchen

Hearty Farro and Lentil Vegetable Soup.

Published on October 8, 2017 by KellyInTheKitchen3 Comments

Welcome to this recipe. Here’s some hot hot info on cooking with parmesan rind.

If you buy parmesan cheese “the old-fashioned way,” a.k.a. you buy a real hunk of cheese and not the pre-shredded or grated stuff, you MUST start saving the rinds in the freezer. I keep a little plastic bag in the door of my freezer for them, because they’re an amazing ingredient. Cheese rind has all the same flavor as the cheese itself, so when I’m making a soup or a sauce, I throw in one (or three) bits of parmesan rind during the simmer stage and let all that parmesan-ness permeate into the dish while it cooks. It’s an amazing flavor trick AND it recycles something you would have otherwise thrown away. And given the beautiful plant-based nature of this soup, you might as well offset a bit of the damage your cheese (i.e. a cattle product) ingredient inflicts on the earth by recycling part of it!

Hearty Farro and Lentil Soup with Turmeric, Parmesan, and Kale | Kelly in the Kitchen | Ingredients: butter or olive oil, onion, zucchini, garlic, tomatoes, turmeric, cumin, salt and pepper, stock or broth, bay leaf, farro, lentils, kale, parmesan rind (optional)

INGREDIENTS

butter or olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large zucchini, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
3/4 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
8-ish cups stock or broth (honestly guys I almost never measure stock, so just eyeball it. Also, I use homemade chicken stock, but vegetable stock will do the trick if you want to keep this vegetarian/vegan)
1 bay leaf
1 cup farro, rinsed
1 cup lentils, picked clean and rinsed
optional: parmesan rind (obvi this is not vegan so feel free to leave out. Or, if you love the flavor of parmesan as much as I do, add as much rind as you want)
1 heaping cup kale, washed, stems removed, chopped
good quality olive oil

DIRECTIONS

In a large stock pot, heat butter or olive oil over medium low and add onion, zucchini, and garlic. Cook until starting to soften, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and cook until veggies start to soften.

Add turmeric, cumin, salt, and pepper, and stir. Cook about 2 minutes until the spices are fragrant. Stir in the stock and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add farro and lentils. Bring back to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and partially cover the pot. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are just tender and the farro is cooked but still chewy. Add the kale and cook just until softened, only a few minutes. Turn off the heat. Remove bay leaf and fish out the melted parmesan rind bits.

Mandatory: serve with a drizzle of good quality olive oil. Actually, “drizzle” is far too dainty a word for the amount of olive oil I add when I eat this soup. Some kind of magic happens when all those flavors get together. Enjoy.

Impeachmint Gelato.

Published on July 4, 2017May 30, 2019 by KellyInTheKitchen2 Comments

Impeachmint Summer Gelato | KellyintheKitchen | 4 cups whole milk, 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup water, 10-12 sprigs fresh mint, 5 smallish fresh peaches, juice of 1 lemon, 4 egg yolks

It’s been a year since I last posted. My, how things have changed!

The past few months have held a lot of surprises. Most of them have left a pit in my stomach and a bad taste in my mouth. And amidst all the protesting and the calling my representatives and the learning about my privilege, as a small-time recipe blogger, there is one other contribution I can make: I can combine two summery flavors, peach and mint, in a creamy, icy gelato recipe.

I’m calling it “Impeachmint.”

Fair warning: Impeachment is not easy to do, there are a lot of steps involved, and you’ll have a bit of a mess to clean up after it’s over. Don’t let that stop you. This needs to be done.

And what about this flavor combo, right?? Peach and mint? They really don’t seem to go together at all. Peaches are good on the grill or in a rustic pie, perhaps while kicking back with a toxic dose of Fox News?, whereas mint pairs well with fine chocolate or tea and reading The Atlantic. It’s like these flavors have nothing in common!

Sure, they’re not a natural pair. But in order to successfully execute this recipe for Impeachmint, peach and mint have to unite behind their shared dream of a better gelato. As Abraham Lincoln said, “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.” He was talking about the Civil War, but his words hold true today, about this gelato.

I get it, the prospect of Impeachmint is kind of intimidating. And there are probably other gelato flavors you prefer over this one. Hell, I’ll take something chocolatey from Ben & Jerry’s over Impeachmint any day. But be realistic. What’s in your freezer right now? Some gross old orange creamsicle? Impeachmint is definitely better than keeping that thing around.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup water (plus more for prepping ingredients)
10-12 sprigs fresh mint (a good handful), washed
5 smallish fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped
juice of 1 lemon
4 egg yolks

And check out these fun links while your ice cream freezes!
Swing Left: https://swingleft.org/
Indivisible: https://www.indivisible.us/
ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/
Pod Save America: https://getcrookedmedia.com/here-have-a-podcast-78ee56b5a323
Planned Parenthood: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/
Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com/

Impeachmint Summer Gelato | KellyintheKitchen | 4 cups whole milk, 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup water, 10-12 sprigs fresh mint, 5 smallish fresh peaches, juice of 1 lemon, 4 egg yolks

DIRECTIONS

Heat milk over medium flame. Once it reaches a simmer, remove from heat, cover to retain some of the heat, and set aside.

Heat 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside.

Prepare an ice bath. Heat a small pot of water on high until boiling. Add the mint and cook for 30 seconds until bright green. Transfer mint from boiling water to ice bath. When cooled, squeeze out extra water and set aside.

Add peaches, lemon, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar to food processor. Blend until smooth. If you like, pour peach mixture through a strainer to strain out solids. Set aside.

Add sugar syrup and mint leaves to food processor and blend until smooth. Pour through a strainer to remove solids. Set aside.

Add egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar to food processor and blend until smooth. Then, with the machine running, slowly pour in half the hot milk mixture, careful not to scramble the eggs.

Get another ice bath going—one big enough to fit the bottom of your pan—and set ice bath aside. Add the egg mixture to the remaining milk and heat pan over medium. Stir constantly until thickened. It’s ready to go when this “custard” mixture smells amazing and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove pot with thickened custard mixture from heat and set in ice bath, stirring a occasionally to cool to lukewarm.

In a large bowl, combine strained peach mixture, lukewarm custard mixture, and mint syrup to taste (I used 2 tbsp of mint syrup because I like a more mellow mint flavor—start with that and then taste to see if you need more). Refrigerate at least a few hours, or overnight is even better.

Once gelato mixture is thoroughly chilled, churn according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Freeze in cute little cups or in a bigger ice cream container. When the mixture has set, your gelato is ready to go! In typical gelato fashion, give it a minute or two to thaw a little before digging in. Garnish with a mint leaf or two, bring some over to your neighbor, eat it together without fighting, if possible.

Impeachmint Summer Gelato | KellyintheKitchen | 4 cups whole milk, 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup water, 10-12 sprigs fresh mint, 5 smallish fresh peaches, juice of 1 lemon, 4 egg yolks

WTAF Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Published on June 5, 2016June 23, 2016 by KellyInTheKitchen4 Comments

There’s no such thing as a reimagined-to-be-healthy recipe that’s as good as the original. Anyone who says otherwise is either delusional or magic. That’s my long-held belief, anyway–which is why I’m naming my recipe WTAF Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies. If we’re in need of a bit of decoding, WTAF stands for “What The Actual F***,” a fitting exclamation of surprise at how perfect these cookies are. Why was I so surprised? Because, after months of experimenting with healthier cookie recipes, I had resigned myself to the fact that without AP flour, butter, sugar, and other highly-processed ingredients, healthier cookies would just never compare. Then I made these (!!!), drawing from a recipe I saw on Whole and Heavenly Oven. Maybe the trick is the making my own cashew butter (easier than it may sound), or that I’ve left in just enough brown sugar to be a *little* bad. But the first bite from my first batch was so damn good, these cookies earned their name and then some. If my mom’s chocolate chips are an 11 on a 1-to-10 cookie rating scale, I’m awarding these guys a solid 9.5. They meet all my cookie requirements: golden color, chewy texture, good chip distribution, and they taste pretty much perfect. PLEASE make them soon, and know true healthy dessert joy.

INGREDIENTS

1 heaping cup raw cashews
1 heaping cup honey roasted cashews (or, cut out all the cashews completely and replace with 1 cup store-bought cashew butter, WITHOUT the oil layer on top stirred in, as this will likely make the cashew butter too liquidy)
scant 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I like to go lighter on chips (…I know…) so feel free to add more)

*Note on replacements: This recipe doesn’t turn out anywhere near as good if you omit the raw cashews and replace them with another cup of roasted cashews. For whatever reason, it throws the texture off. Stick with 1 cup raw and 1 cup roasted.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper.

In a food processor or bender, add both types of cashews and grind them into nut butter. It takes my food processor about 5 minutes to get to the right stage: completely pulverized and able to hold together as a ball (read: a thick, just-barely-spreadable nut butter), but not liquidy.

Measure out 1 cup of the cashew butter (you should have just about that amount in your food processor, with maybe a little left over) and transfer it to a mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt, and stir until combined. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Your batter will be sticky.

Scoop the dough into small balls and press them flat onto the baking sheet–not too close, as they do spread just a little bit. Then, pop them in the oven.

After about 6 minutes, bang the bottom of the cookie sheet onto the oven door a few times to deflate the cookies (this step will help result in cookies that are more chewy than cakey–I HATE cake-y). Continue to bake for 4-6 more minutes, til the cookies have turned a gorgeous golden brown color. Let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Like all chocolate chip cookies, they’re at their most amazing while still warm, right out of the oven. If you do have any leftovers, keep them sealed and they’ll last up to a week.

IMPORTANT SERVING NOTE: I have also successfully baked these pressed into mini-skillets with a scoop of ice cream on top. Highly recommended.

Chickpea Flatbread.

Published on February 29, 2016October 8, 2017 by KellyInTheKitchen1 Comment

I’ve become obsessed with these chickpea flatbreads. Lately I’ve been making them every week, because they go with everything and are so good. They’re the basis of a breakfast tostada-like thing I make on weekends, a great addition to a curry chicken and cauliflower rice work lunch, and I’ve even tried to make them into a quesadilla for dinner (with mixed results). They’re also very forgiving–it’s tough to overcook them–and have so few ingredients, I can barely call this a recipe. But a recipe it is, and such a versatile one. Chickpea flatbreads are quickly becoming one of my go-tos and I’m not mad about it.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups chickpea flour
3 cups cold water
olive oil
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Pour the chickpea flour into a mixing bowl, and slowly whisk in the cold water, stirring to break up any lumps. Once you’ve added all the water and the batter is completely combined, use a slotted spoon to skim off any foam that has risen to the top. Get rid of that foam! Your digestive system will thank you later. Set the de-foamed batter aside on the counter to soak overnight (or for at least 6 hours).
A note on soaking: I’ve made the flatbreads after waiting only 3 hours, and while they still turn out delicious, they are also a lot harder on your digestive system (remember that rhyme about beans?). So I soak the batter overnight at a minimum.

Once the batter has soaked, use a slotted spoon again to skim off any foam/impurities that rise to the top. Then give the batter a good stir to make sure it’s well-combined, and you’re ready to make some flatbreads!

Heat a crepe pan or other non-stick surface over a low flame (2 out of 10 on my stove) and add a good amount of olive oil to the pan – not so much that you completely cover the bottom of the pan, but more than you’d use to just grease it. The olive oil is a fantastic flavor in this recipe, so you really do want to taste it.

Once the pan is hot, you’re ready to add your batter. The amount you add will depend on the size of your pan: I use about 1 cup of batter, which covers the entire pan so that you can’t see the bottom–thicker than a crepe. Pour it in, add salt and pepper to taste, and let cook undisturbed for about 10 minutes. Once the batter is set on top, turn up the heat to medium/medium low (4-5 out of 10 on my stove) for 2 minutes to brown the bottom.

Flip the flatbread over and cook the other side for another 8 minutes or so, until both sides are browned and the flatbread is cooked through.

That’s it! I prefer to serve these right away, with some melted cheese, salsa, and eggs. Or you can let them cool, cut them up into quarters, and serve later. These heat up fine in the microwave, but they’re best reheated on a skillet. Usually I make one at a time, and I keep the rest of the batter in the fridge to make later (up to a week after first mixing it).

Kale Salad with Pistachios and Roasted Cauliflower.

Published on December 7, 2015December 7, 2015 by KellyInTheKitchen1 Comment

Fancy breakfast side. Favorite work lunch. Quick and easy dinner. This salad has everything going for it even before I tell you how healthy and and wholesome it is (and it is healthy and wholesome). The dressing has all the things a good dressing should. Lemon and oil, sweet honey and tangy mustard, and a bit of seasoning are beautifully simple tossed with kale. The cauliflower makes it interesting and a little “meatier,” and with a good sprinkle of pistachios, things are starting to look downright fancy! I love this as an accompaniment to frittata on my weekend mornings (check the bottom photo!), and it’s an office lunch I actually look forward to. And since it’s normal to be out of an ingredient or two, I love riffing on the dressing using whatever I have around (no lemon? Try white wine vinegar. No pistachios? Almonds are great, too.). What I’m saying is, it tastes amazing, is good for you, and you can eat it for every meal. Make it. Make it today.

INGREDIENTS

for salad:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
salt and pepper
1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (or as much as you want!)
1/3 cup chopped pistachios (or about 1/2 cup if you measure before shelling)
1 large bunch kale, washed, dried, and julienned

for cauliflower:
1 cup cauliflower florets, washed, dried, and sliced
olive oil for drizzling (no need to use EVOO here, regular is fine)
salt and pepper
scant 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
pinch of cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

I like to start with the dressing; the longer those flavors have to come together, the better it will taste. Combine olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper, and stir together. Add the cheese and gently stir it in. Set aside.

Toss the cauliflower in the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and cayenne until evenly coated. Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. It’s done when the florets are soft and just toasty-brown. Let it cool to room temperature before using.

While the cauliflower is roasting, I use this time to de-shell and chop the pistachios.

The final step is assembly. Toss the kale in the dressing, taste, and adjust seasonings if needed. Add the pistachios, and top with cauliflower. Serve as a side or as the main event. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pretzel Shortbread Bars.

Published on September 6, 2015September 5, 2015 by KellyInTheKitchen3 Comments

Pretzels: hands-down, a top-5 snack food. So simple, so good, so surprisingly versatile (just ask Auntie Anne). For me, pretzels get really interesting when you think of them as an ingredient, as the start of something, rather than the end of it. I’ve posted a pretzel-transformation recipe before, and I wasn’t surprised to discover that other bloggers had the same idea. Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen has got a real knack with pretzels, as evidenced by these insane pancakes. And Molly from My Name is Yeh‘s pretzel shortbread cookies looked so good, I barely changed anything in the riff I’m sharing with you today–just a slight tweak in ingredients and process. But it’s an important change, where I sub in one of my all-time favorite ingredients besides pretzels: brown sugar. Damn. Enjoy.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
200 g pretzels (any kind)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp canola oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Start by making the “pretzel flour.” Using a food processor (or a plastic bag and a rolling pin, if you’re very patient), pulverize the pretzels until they are utterly dusted. It should look like light brown flour. **Don’t underestimate this step; it took me at least 20 minutes to process the pretzels, pass the flour through a sifter to catch the bigger crumbs, process those crumbs again, and repeat the whole thing. And don’t skip this step – if you have big crunchy crumbs in your batter, it will make for weirdly crunchy, sandy-textured cookies. If it doesn’t take you as long to get to the flour stage, then you’ve got a better food processor than I do.**

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.

Stir the pretzel flour and all-purpose flour into the butter mixture. Eat a tiny bite of the batter, because it’s sooooo good.

Press the somewhat crumbly batter into whatever pan you’re using (I used what I think of as a “brownie pan”) so that it’s evenly packed. Then, use a knife to cut the batter into bars. Do this before you bake, because if you try to cut them after baking, you’ll probably end up with a pan full of crumbs. Poke a few holes in the tops of the bars with a fork (make a pattern if you’re feeling cute).

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until just starting to brown. Savor the scent of your kitchen…it will smell divine.

When the bars are done baking, remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Use a knife to retrace the lines you cut before the bars baked; it should be easy to do. Let cool completely in the pan.

Once the bars are cool, melt the chocolate chips and oil together in a small bowl. I popped them in the microwave for about 40 seconds, stirring halfway through, but you can use a double boiler if you’re fancy. Take a spoon and drizzle the chocolate in whatever pattern you want. I went for free-form marble and I’m pretty happy with it.

Let the chocolate set. That’s it! Enjoy the salty-savory-sweetness.

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