Main Dish – 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.

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!

Split Pea Soup with Bengali Spices.

Published on April 13, 2015April 13, 2015 by KellyInTheKitchen1 Comment

I’ve been meaning to share this recipe for a while now (pretty sure I’ve been making it for almost a year!). One of my best friends, who is an amazingly creative cook, gifted me a batch of her Bengali spice mix, called panch phoron. I started using it in split pea soup, and it is SO GOOD. The spices get toasted and give a really interesting and savory flavor to the already-wonderful classic split pea. This stuff is great fresh or as leftovers, and it freezes well, too, so you can definitely make a big batch and pop half in the freezer. Pair it with almost any garnish you can think of–my favorites include fresh herbs, grated cheese, toasty buttery croutons, or a poached egg. So without further ado, one of my favorite soups…Split Pea with Bengali Spices!

INGREDIENTS
bacon fat (butter or olive oil will work also, of course)
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp Bengali spice mix (see below)
2 cups cooked ham, chopped
1 lb split peas 5-7 cups stock or water
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
optional: 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

for panch phoron spice mix (equal parts of all spices):
fenugreek seed
nigella seed
mustard seed
cumin seed
fennel seed

DIRECTIONS

Add bacon fat to a Dutch oven or other large soup pot over medium low heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, and stir. Cook until softened and just starting to brown. Use a large spoon to move all the vegetables to the side of the pan. Put a bit more fat in the pan and add the spice mix. Stir into the oil and cook until fragrant–just a few minutes–and be careful not to burn.

When the spices are cooked, stir them into the vegetables. Pour in the stock or water, ham, thyme, and split peas. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook until the split peas are softened. When the soup is done cooking, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the fresh parsley and serve hot!

Though you may be tempted to eat it all up right away, this soup is PERFECTION as a leftover. The flavors get even better when they have a few days to develop.

Quick Weeknight Pulled Pork.

Published on August 3, 2014August 3, 2014 by KellyInTheKitchen3 Comments

Pulled pork is legendary. I could probably eat it a few times a week. But its 4-6 hour cooking time can be brutally long, especially on a weeknight, when you’d have to be nuts to attempt it. Four to 6 hours cooking after work means either a midnight meal or a “creative solution,” and that’s what I’ve got for ya here. Complete with its own quick homemade sauce, this one-pot dish cooks on the stove top and is ready to go (even if you’re a slow recipe-maker!) in under an hour. Now of course, this isn’t the same as the 6-hour slow-cooked version, but it’s tender and flavorful and still makes for awesome leftovers the next day. And the day after. And it’s an excuse to eat some of my favs – coleslaw and refried beans!

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp butter
olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 cup ketchup
2 1/2 cups chicken stock or water
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 lb boneless pork loin roast, cut into 4 pieces

DIRECTIONS

Heat a Dutch oven or other large pot with a lid over medium heat. Melt the butter (plus a splash of olive oil to keep the butter from burning) and add the onion, cooking until soft and just starting to brown. Add the garlic and salt and cook another minute, careful not to burn the garlic. Add the cayenne pepper, cumin, and ground coriander. Stir and toast the spices for about a minute.

When the spices are fragrant (and you feel like you might sneeze from the smell of the cayenne pepper), add the ketchup, stock or water, brown sugar, thyme, and cider vinegar. Bring to a boil and then add the pork to the pot. Cover the pot and keep at an active simmer for about 25 minutes. I flipped the pieces of pork over halfway through.

When the pork is tender and cooked through, remove it to a plate. Turn up the heat so that the sauce comes to a steady boil and let it bubble away until thickened a bit – I let mine go for about 15 minutes.

Let the meat cool until it’s not too hot to work with, and then shred it with two forks. It won’t shred as easily as the slow-cooked kind—don’t worry, just power through it. Toss the pork in the sauce and serve!

Balsamic Chicken with Sauteed Vegetables and Lentils.

Published on April 5, 2014April 10, 2014 by KellyInTheKitchen3 Comments

Can we talk about lentils? Why don’t we eat more lentils in this life we lead? I realize I’m speaking for you, readers, when really I should just speak for myself…maybe you eat a lot of lentils already, or maybe you’re allergic to lentils and I’m being insensitive to your needs. Sorry. But everyone else, why aren’t lentils a bigger part of our lives?! They are cheap, good for you, SO easy to make, and incredibly versatile. They can be the star of a dish, the sidekick, or the background canvas for another ingredient’s greatness. And let me repeat how cheap they are. Most stores in my neighborhood sell a pound bag of lentils for less than a dollar, and since they do plump when you cook ’em, you end up with a LOT of lentils for very little money. They are also a great high-protein substitute for rice if that’s your thang, and since you prepare them basically the same way you prepare rice, it’s not hard to learn to make lentils. Also they taste great. Are you convinced? Good. Make this. INGREDIENTS

for chicken:
3 small chicken breasts
fav all-purpose spice rub (there are 2 kinds of people: those who know that Back-of-the-Yards rub from the Spice House is the best seasoning ever, and those who haven’t tried it yet)
salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar
butter

for lentils:
1/2 lb lentils
1 cup chicken stock
3 cups water
pinch of parsley
pinch of rosemary
pinch of thyme

for veggies:
1/4 onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups spinach leaves, chopped
salt and pepper
lemon juice (optional)

DIRECTIONS

I believe marinades are an art, not a science. With that in mind, have a bowl or plastic bag handy and rub the chicken breasts with some spice rub and salt and pepper. Put the chicken in the bowl or bag and pour in a few teaspoons of balsamic vinegar. Let this concoction marinate in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, or as long as overnight.

The lentils take a little while, so get them going next. Sort through and pick out any stones or weird looking ones, and rinse the remaining beauties. In a small pot, combine lentils, chicken stock, water, parsley, rosemary, and thyme. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer and cover. Cook until tender, and drain any remaining liquid. Set the lentils aside.

When you’re almost ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 350 F.

To cook the chicken, heat a skillet or other stove-to-oven-safe pan over medium high heat. Add some butter to the pan and let it melt, and then add the chicken breasts. I like to move each one around a little bit in the butter so that I know they’ve all had their turn in the good stuff. Make sure the chicken breasts are not touching or crowded too closely (we don’t want them to steam or braise).

When one side of the chicken has browned nicely, flip the chicken over and get some color on the second side. Once you’ve got some good color on both sides, turn off the heat and finish cooking the chicken all the way through in the oven. It’s done when the center is white, not pink, and the juices run clear. Remove from the pan and set chicken aside.

But don’t do anything to that wonderful pan! It has awesome flavor in it from the chicken. So put the pan back on the stove and turn the heat to medium low. It should still be a pretty hot pan, so add the onions, carrots, and garlic, and stir around to pick up the beautiful browned bits of flavor. Cook until softened and add the spinach, cooking just until wilted. Squeeze over a bit of lemon juice if you like.

Then add the lentils into the pan and stir to create a beautiful mottled mosaic of colorful veggies. Taste for salt and pepper, and then top with your chicken breasts for a gorgeous, rustic meal!

This lasted me a few days of lunches at work, and man was it good. Lentils are just awesome.

Chicken, White Bean, and Brussels Sprouts Salad.

Published on February 11, 2014February 10, 2014 by KellyInTheKitchen4 Comments

Here’s a quick and simple dinner recipe that I love to make on weeknights (you can tell from the poor lighting in my photos that I really do make this on work nights!). Shredded Brussels sprouts salads are so popular right now, but for me, they’re only really special when they check a few specific boxes: the dressing needs to have a creaminess factor, supplied by a bit of mayo here. The tart-sweet balance has to be just right – so I’ve paired apple cider vinegar with honey. And though I hate to say it, the protein must come from something other than bacon (as is so often the case with Brussels sprouts salads). This is a dinner salad, not a side salad, so the beans and chicken are essential and so so good. Here’s how you know this is an awesome dish: I always make twice as much as I’ll need, so that I can bring the leftovers to work for lunch the next day. But once or twice I have eaten the whole thing and had to think of something else to bring for lunch. What can I say…it’s healthy and tastes fantastic!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 tbsp mayo
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp parsley
pinch of cayenne pepper (or a squeeze of hot sauce)
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
salt and pepper to taste
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3 cups shredded Brussels sprouts
1/2 cup canned white beans, drained and rinsed (I used great northern beans)
2-3 tbsp chopped roasted almonds

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, stir together mayo, olive oil, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, parsley, mustard, vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper.

In a larger bowl, toss Brussels sprouts, beans, chicken, and almonds with dressing. C’est tout!

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