Fab Foodie Mama

There is a salad I love that I get at least once a month from our local food co-op.  It is called Perfect Protein salad and really, is just that:  a crunchy and flavorful salad made with chickpeas, dill dressing and lots of other veggies.  From time to time I would look at the ingredients wondering if I could recreate this salad, for less than the deli price.  Don't get me wrong, it's worth it, but I was hoping I could make it for less than $12.00/pound. A quick Google search and voila!  I found a recipe which mimicked it perfectly.  I am so happy now that I can make one of my favorite salads at home, and also to share with Rachel and my sister Ruth any time I want.  I hope you enjoy it.         Perfect Protein Salad Ingredients 3 cups water 1 cup (180g) spelt or wheat berries 2 (14-ounce) cans garbanzo beans 1 English cucumber - peeled, seeded and diced (about 1 1/2 cups/120g) 1 green bell pepper, seeds removed and diced (about 1 cup /130g) 3 ribs celery, diced (1 cup/12

Every year at this time I start cooking more often.  September and October always feel 'new' to me.  The start of the new school year, I guess.  Even though we are still in the grasp of the Covid-19 pandemic, schools are in session.  Some in person, some virtual, some masking, others maskless; but kids are back to learning.  And Foodie Mama s back to cooking. This recipe I made up on my own and it was delicious.  So easy.  Rachel bought me an Instapot last year for Christmas and I adore how fast it cooks chicken breasts.  They always come out juicy; it is really foolproof. I was in the mood for Mexican, but not with a lot of creamy sauces.  This recipe for chicken salsa verde can be used with tacos, enchiladas (which is how I served it tonight) or even as a base for white bean chicken chlli.  Using jarred salsa verde took all the guesswork out with regard to spices and measuring.  Just add salt, pepper and lime juice to taste, after cooking.  Perhaps I was craving the green chi

Summer 2020 has almost come to an end.  Sadly, there were no large gathering, picnics, cookouts, or parties to speak of, due to COVID-19.  We are now prepping for the upcoming school year with an open mind and hope that our students are safe and are able to learn. This hummus dip would be great for a group gathering, but I enjoyed it myself over several days because sharing is not the thing to do at the moment.  Anyway, I am not trying to be down or to get my followers down, but it has been tough on everyone.  On to the recipe! This is a great appetizer with a lot of flavors and textures.  You could swap out other veggies as you like.  Enjoy. Have a great Labor Day next weekend and try to hang on to the Summer and the beautiful weather we have been having in the U.P.   xxoo, Foodie Mama   Layered Greek Hummus Dip Ingredients: 4 C hummus 1 C Greek yogurt 1 cucumber, diced 1/2 C jarred roasted red peppers, roughly chopped 1/2 C Kalamata olives, roughly chopped (or regular ripe olives) 1/

Still under Shelter-At-Home orders.  Still no restaurants open for dine-in.  Still cooking a lot.  As I was perusing through the new recipes in NYT Cooking, I came across this colorful, interesting chickpea stew .  It is made with coconut milk, greens, hearty chickpeas and just the right amount of heat.  I modified the Times' recipe by adding grilled paneer cubes.  Such a comforting dish.  I brought some to Rachel at work today and she was full of compliments.  Rachel has a pretty good palate, so the good words coming from her means it is worth making again.  When Rachel texted me asking for the recipe I told her I'd be blogging about it soon.  Hope you enjoy it. Spicy Coconut Chickpea Stew Ingredients ¼ cup olive oil 4

I have been experimenting with Gluten Free baking lately, with varying degrees of success.  I had been looking for a GF scone recipe and just couldn't find one that was straightforward.  I found this easy recipe on Food Network for Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze and I modified it only slightly, to use GF Flour,  and they turned out great.  I made these at 11:30 PM last night.  The quarantine has done strange things to me, and my sense of schedule and time, as I'm sure to most. I'm not a big fan of either coconut flour or almond flour; to me, they add unwelcome flavors which can be overpowering.  I find that the measure for measure GF blend flour (like King Arthur brand) seems to be the closest to regular wheat flour, without adding other tastes to the bakery.  I added 1/2 t of xanthum gum to this recipe as well (the recommendation is 1/4 t for every cup of flour) which resulted in a scone that was delicious and did not compromise on texture by being Gluten Free.  I

We are still under the grips of the COVID-19  Stay- at- Home order.  Now that we are getting into late spring, the pandemic is definitely going to impact the summer plans of many.  Thankfully, we don't have any major milestones this year.  I was looking forward to my niece's HS graduation and going to visit my sister and her family in Portland, however.  Hopefully soon. The uncertainty is scary; we are all watching the devastation to many business and the toll it is taking on our local, national and global economies with each passing day.  Today, we heard there may be a drug which speeds up the recovery time.  Let's hope that is true. I'm still not sick of cooking...yet.  But it would be nice to be able to go out for a pizza or take a ride up to the Keweenaw with friends to get a burger at the Eagle Harbor Inn.  Again, hopefully soon. This is a dish I found in NYT Cooking and I thought I'd give it a try; they have great recipes and I get a lot of inspiratio

After too many days of eating sugar, gluten, too much meat, and too much other junk, I crave simple, whole, non processed, vegetarian food.  I need to reset my habits and get back on track. Lentils are an amazing staple food.  I shared Foodie Mama's amazing recipe for Dal Makhani a while back.  This lentil dish is easier to prepare.  There is no need to soak the lentils overnight with this recipe, and the entire cook time is 1 and 1/2 hours.  The rice cooking technique is quite unique and almost fool-proof. Toasted almonds and a tangy lemon yogurt sauce add additional flavor and texture to this humble recipe.  This dish can be made vegan by using non dairy yogurt. We all need to be humble now.  COVID-19 still has its grip on the world. Stay Strong Foodie Followers, Foodie Mama 😷 Lentils and Rice with Yogurt Sauce and Toasted Almonds Ingredients: 3/4 C plain Greek yogurt  2T lemon juice 1/2 t minced garlic 1/2 t Kosher salt 1.25 C large green or bro

Being a Yooper,  I grew up on pasties.  All of my grandmothers and great grandmothers made them often and all of them tasted a little bit different.  I won't say which are my favorite, but the lard crust that Maima made was by far the flakiest.  A satisfying and filling meal, the pasty was brought to the Copper Country by the Cornish who worked in the copper mines a century ago.  Trips to England and our six months in Melbourne, showed us the varied ways pasties are made.  Here, not many venture beyond the traditional beef, rutabaga, potato, onion and (sometimes) carrot version. While I have eaten a lot of pasties in my life, I have never made them.  Perhaps because of the ubiquity in this area, or maybe because, while they are very good, all the chopping (or chipping, as I will explain later) takes a considerably long time. This version is taking a short cut, not on the chipping, but on the crust.   Pasties traditionally have their own flaky crust (the best part in my opinion)

Hunkering down has meant, so far, a lot of cooking and a lot of eating.  Since we aren't able to really be in contact with others beyond immediate family members, I have been cooking for my kids, even though none of them actually live at home anymore. This baked rigatoni is a fabulous, simple, creamy, comforting and easy pasta dish that everyone in my family loved.  I had the cudighi sausage in the freezer from a previous trip to Ralph's Italian Deli in Ishpeming.  This was the perfect use for it. Our first confirmed case of COVID-19 is here in Houghton County.  We are not at the top of the curve yet; likely not for a while.  It will get worse before it gets better.  Stay safe, fellow foodies. Oh, the quote in the title is a funny one liner that has become an idiom whenever I make rigatoni or ziti in my kitchen.  My cousin Joe told his daughter, Samantha,  to get in line for dinner one Christmas Even at my house probably about 12 years ago, and for some reason, how he sai

Foodie Followers: As each and every one of us are impacted in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety abounds at the present time.  So much is unknown, so much is scary; we are all trying to keep our families and ourselves safe and healthy.  Today is day 3 of the mandatory three-week Stay At Home order in Michigan, which is similar to the rest of the US and the entire globe. Please keep safe, Foodies.  We are in this together. One of the few activities we are allowed to partake in is going to the grocery store.  Understandably, many store shelves and fresh foods can be scarce.  Simplicity and creativity may be necessary in the coming weeks and months. I made this hearty, simple and comforting cabbage roll soup yesterday. Keep calm and carry on, everyone! This too, shall pass. Cabbage Roll Soup Ingredients: 12 oz ground beef 12 oz ground pork 1 T dehydrated onion 1 1/2 c long grain rice 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes salt and pepper to taste pinch chilli pow

There are many recipes for Indian butter chicken.  Along with Tikka Masala, these two are the most popular Indian dishes in the US.  I have made several recipes and this one is a combination of several found on NYT Cooking and Allrecipes.  I used a mish mash of spices and cooking techniques that I think work the best.  This version has a kick; add less cayenne pepper of you prefer a milder sauce.  Serve with naan and basmati rice. Slow Cooker Butter Chicken  (Serves 6) Ingredients: 3 lb boneless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces 4 t garam masala 4 t curry powder 2 t cumin 1 t cardamom 1 t cayenne pepper 2 t ground ginger salt and pepper to taste 5 T butter 1 yellow onion, minced 2 T lemon juice 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 small can tomato paste (6 oz) 2 C water 1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk 1 C heavy whipping cream Fresh cilantro for garnish Directions: In a small bowl, mix together the garam masala, curry powder, cumin, cardomom

Rachel and I like to make Indian food a lot, and we are still high on our voyage to Chennai last summer.  Given there are no Indian restaurants local to the Keweenaw, home cooking is necessary.  Rachel hosted an Indian feast a few weeks ago and she made butter chicken, saag paneer and naan.  I made a pot of lentils (aka Dal Makhani) and some chutneys.  The whole dinner was delicious.  I have blogged about the saag before (Rachel used Foodie Mama's recipe).  When I make dosa, I will blog about the chutneys too.  The next project. There are a lot of spices in this amazing side dish, which is exactly what makes it so amazing; don't skip any if you can avoid it.  I hope you enjoy! - xxoo Foodie Mama Wedding Attire in Chennai - Foodie Mama is 2nd row, 2nd from left ,  Dal Makhani (Indian Lentils) Ingredients: 1 C dry lentils enough water to cover lentils 5 C water salt to taste 2 T vegetable oil 2 1/2 t cumin 1/4 t cardamom 1/1/2 t cinnamon 3 ba

Long, cold winters require many nights of comforting, warm, delicious food.  This creamy chicken tetrazzini recipe fits the bill.  This is one I found in a Paula Deen magazine and I modified it a it to be more kid (and fussy husband) friendly, removing the peas and mushrooms, which you can certainly add as desired.  The photo below is Paula's.  I have made this 3-4 times in the last 2 months but I seem to always forget to snap a photo. Stay warm.  Only 2 1/2 weeks until Spring 2020. Chicken Tetrazzini Ingredients: 1/2 C butter 1 C chopped onion 2 t minced garlic 1/3 C flour 1 T minced fresh thyme or dried equivalent 1/2 t salt 1/4 t black pepper 3 C chicken broth 1 C heavy whipping cream 3 C cooked shredded chicken 1 (5 oz) package shredded Parmesan cheese 1/4 C panko breadcrumbs 2 t EVOO 1 (16 oz) package egg noodles, cooked according to package directions Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onion

Welcome to 2020!  Who knows what the next decade will bring, but I hope all of my followers will be healthy and prosperous.  Let's greet the new year with a simple and tasty brunch casserole (aka 'egg bake',  aka 'hotdish', etc etc) that is a bit out of the ordinary. Annie and Aaron hosted a small brunch on New Year's day with just the family.  It is so nice that our grown 'kids' all live here so we can hang out often.  Aaron made Nisu French toast (see a future blog for that) and bacon.  I offered to bring some eggs to the gathering. I hope you enjoy this.  What typically can be a boring egg bake, turned out really jazzed up with the green chilis and the heat from the chorizo.  It goes best with a slathering of salsa and a dollop of sour cream.  Sorry no photo, we ate it too fast and I simply forgot to in the midst of conversation with the fam.  I made this recipe up as I went.  Feel free to adjust the quantities to what works for you.