Emeli Sande - Next to Me

This song is super repetitive but catchy.



She actually just finished up a tour in the US, and is now headed out on tour through Europe.



Image via.

Steph's salad

My lovely friend Steph had a similar salad the other day at Higgins, a really excellent restaurant here in Portland.  We recreated it for dinner the other night, along with some Shepherd's Pie, but I foolishly forgot to take a picture.  It was so good though that I made it again the other night, with some substitutions (namely romaine instead of cabbage, because I was craving it).



Sometimes I forget how depressing winter can be, and barring a trip to find some sunshine, eating citrus fruit is a great way to bring some brightness into your life, which I was reminded of after reading this.

Also, this is amazing - The Various Varieties of Vegetables.

Steph's Salad
one head of napa cabbage, washed and chopped (or romaine)
2 citrus fruits, supremed (video here) (grapefruit, orange, blood orange)
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup slivered almonds
one avocado, diced
Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette to taste

Mix all ingredients in a large salad bowl.  Toss to coat with vinaigrette.  You can also supreme the citrus over your salad bowl to take advantage of the citrus juice.

Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette
juice of one lemon (and zest if you want it really lemony)
1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
splash of white wine vinegar
4 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and taste for more salt/pepper/acid/oil.

Music from Nashville

Just in the last few weeks I've gotten hooked on the TV show Nashville, starring Connie Britton, also known as Tami Taylor, and Hayden Panettiere.  I think a large part of my engagement with the show has been the really excellent original music they have recorded, although my initial interest was driven by the highly entertaining recaps written over at Go Fug Yourself.



ABC has also recorded and posted really great videos featuring the songwriters behind some of the songs on the show.  While the songs themselves are great, I really appreciated getting a behind the scenes insight into the songwriters' process and the songwriting community in Nashville itself.

Below are some of my favorites from this first season.

Fade Into You:


No One Will Ever Love You:

Asian-style Vegetable Mujadara

I started cooking last week intending to make something like this vegetable barley soup, but somewhere along the way it morphed into an Asian-seasoned and vegetable laden version of this mujadara.  So much so, that when my sister got home and asked what I had cooked my only response was, I don't really know.

It all took a left turn when I decided to use coconut oil instead of olive oil to saute the onions, and the smell of the coconut oil reminded me of Asian flavors and that we had some leftover lotus root in the fridge from the bibimbap Megan had made.  So instead of continuing on with an english vegetable barley soup, I thought I would just make an asian vegetable barley soup.  However, I don't know that there are any asian dishes that use barley, so it morphed into what was intended to be an asian vegetable rice soup, but then I added lentils to the pot after adding the rice and before I knew it, I had something more similar to mujadara.



Asian-style Vegetable Mujadara, adapted from here and here:

1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 spicy pepper, de-seeded and chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup brown rice
2/3 cup green lentils
4 cups broth (or water)
5 leaves kale, de-ribbed and chopped
Lotus Root, to serve

Saute onion, parsnip, and celery in coconut oil in a medium saucepan for just a minute or two, and then added ground spices to fry a little in the oil.  Saute for about 5 minutes until softened and just starting to brown, stirring often to keep from sticking.  Squeeze in lemon juice to de-glaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom.  Add the rice and lentils, to let toast a little before stirring to mix thoroughly and adding stock (or water).  Bring to a boil, and then cover, lower heat, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep bottom from sticking.  (This dish is done once the rice is cooked through.)  If at any point it gets too dry, add some more water and give a good stir.  Check at 30 minutes for rice doneness.  If not done add some more water and cook for another 5-10 minutes, checking until the rice is cooked to your preference.  Once rice is cooked, stir in kale and cook for just a minute or two, until the kale wilts.  Serve with lotus root, if you happen to have some on hand.

Fashion Inspiration - Bright Winter Coats

As all the street style photos from NYFW have been trickling in, I've been so impressed with how much a bright winter coat livens up an outfit.  I usually tend to gravitate towards neutral colors for outerwear, with the mindset that it makes them more versatile, but maybe I just need to go for it with a bold color.


{Via Brooklyn Blonde}

{Via Atlantic-Pacific}

Alex Clare - Up All Night

I heard this on the radio the other day and was so surprised to hear that it was Alex Clare, of  "Too Close" fame, since it sounds so differently, that I identified it through SoundHound twice.



Turns out this was his first single, which was re-released after the popularity of "Too Close."



Album cover via.

Quinoa Chard Bowl

I haven't been cooking much lately, but after Megan did the heavy lifting of cooking bibimbap while I was out of town, I figured I had better help out.  Inspired by this recent post and this old one, and by the vegetables piling up in the crisper drawer, I decided to make a grain and greens bowl, throwing together whatever we had in the house that needed to be used.  With that objective in mind, you should feel free to substitute to your heart's content.  I have written below what I did, but this is a dish to throw in whatever you like.  Don't like chickpeas?  Black beans would be delicious too, or the beans could be omitted entirely if you don't think you need the protein or want to substitute an egg instead.  Any kind of winter greens would work in this dish, whether you have chard, kale, or spinach on hand.  You can also play around with the grain, using rice, farro  quinoa, polenta, whatever.  Also, we topped ours off with Yumm sauce and Chalula hot sauce, since we usually have some sitting in the fridge, but you could just as easily whip up the quick tahini sauce from this recipe instead.



Quinoa Chard Bowl

1 cup quinoa
2 cups broth (or water)
2 pinches of salt

1 yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 bunch rainbow chard, ribs chopped small and leaves chopped
1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Yumm sauce and hot sauce to taste

Rinse quinoa and put in small saucepan/pot with broth (or water) and salt.  Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Pull off the heat and cover for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Meanwhile, chop your vegetables.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet/fry pan, then add onion and spices cooking for a few minutes to fry the spices.  Add carrots, celery, and chard ribs and stir to mix, cooking for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.  (You can add a little bit of water if you pan gets too dry.)  After about 10 minutes total, or when you vegetables are cooked to your liking, add the chard leaves and chickpeas, stir to mix and cook for just another minute or two to wilt the chard and warm the chickpeas through.

Serve over quinoa with Yumm sauce and hot sauce to taste.