born in the 70's: braised green cabbage / brown rice with mushrooms

I curse the Vancouver winters for the short amount of daylight. Many days, we don't even get to see the sun...just grey, grey, grey. The lack of natural light (along with our apartment's low-energy bulbs) makes my photos brown and looking at them right now makes me feel like I'm back in the 70's. Throw on the corduroy, cozy up in an afgan and settle into an evening of orange and brown. The seventies weren't so bad, really. My mom took yoga and made her own yogurt and even took a self defense class where she could bust up a 2x4 with a swift kick and a power yell.

I made this brown meal after our trip to Portland. Too much good IPA and a stop (or two) for a Reggie Deluxe and we were glad to be back to the healthy drizzle of Vancouver. Portland was all about excess and this meal is about scaling back while still meeting the oh-so-important comfort quotiant. I've made Orangette's braised cabbage a few times and it's delicious. Sweet and soft and a meal in it's own right. And even if you are a bit ho-hum on cabbage, the braised carrots alongside are so rich and yielding that you can't believe that you just got all excited for a carrot.

But I didn't think the husband would be all that happy with a hunk of cabbage on his plate, no matter how bejewelled the carrots were, so I made some brown rice. After a quick look on the computer to see what I could add to make the rice a tad more appealing, I stumbled upon this recipe. Kalyn uses farro, but subbing in the brown rice was a perfect choice. The balsamic added a nice sweetness and tang to the dish and the brown mushrooms just multiplied the earthiness factor to the max. I threw in some barely steamed broccoli for crunch and colour and put on a little Jackson C Frank on the hi-fi. If a meal could make you feel healthy, wealthy and wise, this could be it. Ahhh, much better.

brown rice with balsamic, thyme and mushrooms
(recipe adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen)
1.5 c brown rice
3 c vegetable broth
1 T olive oil
1/4 c diced red onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 c sliced brown or button mushrooms
1 T fresh thyme, chopped (stems removed)
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

1. In a medium sized pot, bring the vegetable broth to a boil. Add brown rice, cover and turn heat down to medium. When all the broth has been absorbed, rice will be ready.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive in a large skillet. Saute onion, garlic and mushrooms and add in the thyme. When the mushrooms are soft and have released their juices, stir in the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Add the brown rice into the mushroom mixture and mix until all the rice has been coated with the mushroom balsamic sauce. Serve.

braised green cabbage with onion, carrot and hot peppers
(adapted from Orangette)
1/2 green cabbage, cut into quarters with most of the woody core removed
1 onion, quartered
4 carrots, cut into 3 inch chunks
1 hot pepper, seeds removed and diced
1/4 c vegetable stock
2 T olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven at 325F. In a large oven proof dish, place vegetables into an even layer and cover with stock and olive oil. Give everything a good sprinkle of salt and pepper and cover tightly with a lid or foil. Bake for 1 hour and turn vegetables over if necessary, adding water if dry. Bake for another hour and then serve.

a hail-storm of a dinner: braised cod with chickpeas & corn

After writing about breakfast items like poached eggs and biscuits, I figured a hearty dinner recipe was more than required. I had a good one all lined up too because last week I had a little dinner party and made a pretty amazing eggplant dish...and I don't even really like eggplant. But then last night rolled around and I ate one of the best meals I've had in a long while. The eggplant dish will come later, I promise.


Last night was a cold crisp night. Biking to my Monday night bowling league game I was a bit wary because there was frost on the ground and I diligently searched and stayed clear of any patches of black ice. My way home however, the clear skies turned cloudy and let loose a barrage of hail. After realizing that the hail actually helped improve my traction by making the streets extra crunchy (and pretty), I took off for home. The only downside was going down hills only because of all the stinging icy bits hitting me hard in the face. When I got home, getting dinner ready didn't seem like something I really wanted to pull off...especially since it was almost 10pm. But our rumbling tummies made it clear that something had to be done.


A quick peek at Epicurious, a small bit of prep and tweaking to the original recipe, and dinner was in the oven. It was that quick. I even got together a simple green salad going that turned out to be the most perfect accompaniment for this meal. Letting the dressing mingle not only with the greens but with the rest of the ingredients on the plate took the entire meal over the edge into 'oh my god' territory. At first, I wasn't sure how cod and cumin-spiced chickpeas would work together, but the meal was delicious. Next time I'd sprinkle a bit of finely diced red onion over top before popping it in the oven just because I love onions so much and a bit of added crunch would be a nice touch.


braised cod with chickpeas & corn
1 can of chickpeas
1/4 c water
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 t red pepper flakes
1 T cumin
2 T olive oil
1/2 c frozen corn
3 cod fillets
salt
freshly ground black pepper
handful of parsley, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas. Add chickpeas to a pot along with water, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin and the 2 T olive oil. Heat over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add chickpea mixture and corn into a square baking dish.

2. Rinse cod fillets and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Lay fish on top of the chickpea mixture, sprinkle with parsley and lemon juice. Drizzle really good olive oil over top of the fish and put the whole shebang into a hot oven. 20 minutes later check on things and if fish flakes easily, remove from oven and serve with a green salad.

simple green salad with lemon vinaigrette
juice of 1 lemon
really good extra virgin olive oil
spoonful of tarragon mustard
pinch of kosher salt
dollop of honey
small head of romaine leaves, washed, dried and torn

Shake all ingredients in a small jar and drizzle over salad greens. I didn't give measurements here because going by taste is the only way I can get this dressing perfect. It's tart and just a bit sweet and it works so well clinging to the leaves as it is mingling with the braised chickpeas and fish.