A Green Wrap

I've always loved a simple wrap. They're fast and easy to make and work well on the go. This past summer I started experiementing with different vegetarian combination wraps, and I fell in love with the flavors in this wrap in particular. I made this green wrap with a spinach tortilla (gluten free), hummus, fresh baby spinach, avocado, cucumber, and quinoa with zucchini and parsley--all healthy, all yummy, almost all green.

Ahead of time, I cooked a cup of quinoa with zucchini and parsley. This quantity of quinoa allows me to have a healthy source of protein to use in different dishes for up to five days. There are quite a few quinoa tutorials out there, but the most important piece of advice I have for cooking quiona is rinse the quinoa well before you start cooking it.

When I am ready to make the wrap, I put down a piece of parchment paper to help with rolling the wrap and eating on the go. I also slice the cucumber and avocado and set out the spread for easy assembly.

I spread the hummus on first as a type of glue for the other ingredients.

Then, I add the spinach, avocado, cucumber and top with the quinoa.

Finally, I wrap it with help from the parchment paper and am ready to enjoy lunch.

Let me know if you give this wrap or another green variation a try. Happy eating, y'all!

A Peanut Butter Dog Cookie

Atticus always joins me in the kitchen while I bake, so I thought that I'd bake something especially for him this time. I read through a few dog biscuit recipes to get a rough idea of proportions. I decided to keep it basic for the first batch and go with peanut butter as the main flavor because I know Atticus loves it.

This recipe made a lot of biscuits, but with my chowhound I'm sure they won't last very long.


Atticus's Peanut Butter Cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup organic cornmeal

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 cup peanut butter

1 Tsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup water

1 cup and 2 Tsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, oats, corn meal, and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until evenly combined.

Add the eggs, peanut butter, and oil and beat until incorporated.

Add 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water. Beat until the dough comes together. Add the tablespoons of milk one at a time as needed to bring the dough together.

Separate into manageable-sized disks according to the size of your rolling surface. Roll out one disk at a time into an even thickness. Mine came out to be a little more than 1/4 inch thick, but you can add thickness and baking time if you want a biscuit that more closely resembles the thickness of store bought ones.

Cut out cookies into desired shape and place on a lined or greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 16-18 minutes or until firm.

Since making these, I've read some articles about the use of cornmeal in dog food, and it seems to be a highly disputed subject. I used cornmeal because I thought it would add texture and weight to the cookies, and I saw it in other recipes. I will play around with the next batch I make and possibly make some changes like adding apples/apple sauce, omitting the cornmeal, and adjusting the proportions of the other ingredients accordingly.

Atticus highly approves of these cookies!

Let me know what your hounds think.


Happy baking, y'all!

A Mushroom and Green Pea Risotto

Mushroom and green pea risotto is another recipe I learned from helping my mother in kitchen. This dish takes constant stirring and attention, but the steps are quite simple. It is also very flexible. I used low sodium, fat-free chicken broth for all of the liquid, but part water or all vegetable broth can be substituted. The veggies are also optional and switchable.

the final product still steaming

First, I sautéed the mushrooms in the iron skillet. I used a carton of sliced mushrooms. I added a thin layer of olive oil and cooked the mushrooms in rounds so they weren’t crowded.

While the mushrooms were browning, I roughly chopped half a sweet onion and began to sauté the onions in another pot with two tablespoons of olive and one tablespoon of butter over medium heat.

After about 15 minutes, I added 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice and let the rice cook with the onions for 5 minutes.

Then I added the first of 4 cups of chicken broth. This is when the constant stirring becomes key. I don’t add anymore chicken broth until the broth is absorbed into the rice enough that it does not seep past the rice when I run the wooden spoon through the middle of the rice. This is one of my mother’s tricks, and I am positive it is what made stirring risotto fun when I was younger, making a game out of knowing when to add more broth.

This is what it should look like when it is time to add more broth.

 After the first cup of broth, I add the rest in smaller increments as to not cool down the rice too much as it cooks. Heating the broth in a sauce pan before adding it to the rice also helps with this problem.

With the last 1/2 cup of broth, I incorporated the sautéed mushrooms and 1 cup of thawed frozen green peas into the rice and cooked the risotto for about 5 more minutes.

It's almost finished. Just five more minutes or until there is no longer standing broth at the top.

 I checked to see if it needed salt here because even though I used low sodium chicken broth. I didn’t want to add any salt until all of the chicken broth was in the dish. I added about a half tablespoon of salt and stirred it in. Then the mushroom and green pea risotto is ready to serve.

To go with the risotto, I made very simple grilled chicken tenderloins and a thrown together salad. I used only salt and pepper for chicken seasoning and cooked the strips in a thin layer of olive oil in my cast iron skillet.

Fajita Night!

Every once in a while, I get a craving for my momma's fajitas. I'm sure her version has little resemblance to the authentic Mexican dish, but her fajitas are quite tasty. This was actually the first of my mother's dishes that I learned to cook on my own, and they are relatively easy, except for the amount of chopping and time involved. They do take a full night of cooking, but it is definitely worth it. I promise.

My mother's fajita night came about as a healthier option to both restaurant fajitas and the ground beef quesadillas that my brother requested all through his high school years. Mom and I both make chicken fajitas with onion and bell peppers, but I'm sure you could do shrimp, steak, or just the veggies. We also prefer more veggies than meat so the ratio is about 2:1, but, again, that's up to you. Everything about fajitas is very flexible, and it's easy to adjust the amount to the number of people from whom you are cooking.

The first step is to marinade the chicken. I cut 1.5 lbs of chicken breasts into strips, cover them in marinade, and put it all back in the fridge for about an hour. The marinade includes the juice of one lemon and half of a lime, around 1 tsp of salt and 1 of pepper, and 2 tablespoons of chili powder.

Raw chicken isn't the prettiest, but this is what the marinade should look like.

Next, I chop onions and peppers. I found red and orange bell peppers on sale for the same price as the green ones, so I used one of each color and 1 1/2 large sweet onions. I don't really worry about the size of bell pepper slices or how precisely I chop the onions because as long as they are all relatively the same size with the seeds removed they will all cook down evenly.

All the veggies are finally ready

Now on to the cooking, I use a cast iron dutch oven skillet to cook the fajitas (and most everything else). My mother graciously parted with this high-sided, well-seasoned skillet when I moved to Tuscaloosa, and I will be forever grateful. I could go on about the merits of my cast iron skillet (as any other Southern cook could), but that's a story for another day. Back to the fajitas, I always cook the chicken first because I want the chicken and marinade to flavor the vegetables. Depending on how much I cook, it takes a couple of rounds to cook all of the chicken strips because I try not to crowd them so they will char and cook quickly. I think there were 3 rounds of chicken this time.

Next, I cook the vegetables in the same fashion, and I believe there were 3 rounds like the chicken. When they are finished, the onions should be translucent and have a light brownish tint and the bell peppers should be slightly charred and a little duller in color.

After all the veggies are finished. I put all the vegetables and chicken back in the skillet, turn the eye off, cover it with a lid, and let it all mix together and warm back up for about five minutes.

The topping usually vary as to what is available and personal preferences of the group, but that night we had shredded sharp cheddar cheese, black olives, fat free refried beans, salsa, and sour cream. I also warmed whole wheat tortillas this time, but regular flour or none at all can be used. Sliced avocados are normally a standard topping for me, but I couldn't find a ripe one at the grocery that afternoon.

 All that's left to do is for everyone to make their fajitas to their liking. Here's mine:

Fajita side note: I threw a Tacky, Mexican Christmas Party last semester to celebrate finishing papers and grading and in honor of some long lost grad school friends, visiting from West Virginia and Maryland. The tacky part was just for fun. The Mexican part was because fajitas were one of the only dishes I was confident that I could cook for 20ish people, and they were a success. 

Here's an action shot. At least we know Steve enjoyed the fajitas and Lola, the dog, wanted some, too. 

See, everyone loves fajitas (and friends and holidays and tackiness).