garlicky honey dijon marinade.

simple delicious marinade for any protein! i'm a vegetarian, so i'd use it on seitan or tofu (or even portobello mushrooms), but i cook for an omnivorous family, so pictured above is sliced steak! combine equal parts extra virgin olive oil, honey, and dijon mustard in a bowl. add a few cloves of crushed garlic, and a dash of black pepper. marinate for as long as possible, covered in the fridge!

lemon chicken soup.

lemon chicken soup recipe for you, from me (the vegetarian)! chop some celery, yellow onions, and leeks and sauté in a few tbsp olive oil in a big pot. when the veggies soften and caramelize a bit, add about a pound of boneless skinless chicken (breast, legs, thighs, whatever) and 8 cups broth (chicken or veggie; make your own stock for future use by throwing a rotisserie chicken carcass in a pot, cover it in water, throw in some pieces of onion, celery, carrot, garlic, a bit of salt and pepper, and cook for a few hours and then strain the broth and freeze for later use). simmer until chicken is cooked, then remove it piece by piece and cut into cubes or shreds and add it back to the pot. add a cup of your favorite grain or pasta (if a grain, cook before adding to soup. for pasta, add to pot with the soup and cook for the time according to the package). add the juice of two freshly squeezed lemons, and serve. easy. 

basil dijon sauce.

in a food processor or blender, combine a large handful of fresh basil leaves, the juice of one small lemon, one clove raw garlic, two to three tablespoons oil (i used walnut, but olive oil would work as well), and two tbsp. dijon mustard. blend until mostly puréed, and serve with veggies (roasted, grilled, or steamed) or your choice of protein (chicken, fish, steak, tofu). 

the healthiest cookie you could possibly make!

these taste better than they look! i promise! every friday at work is "treat day." it is a tradition i continued when taking place of the previous employee. the first week i made chocolate chip cookies, as basic as they come. however, my boss mentioned maybe trying to bake something with at least a little nutritional value, and all i heard was challenge! i love experimenting, so i thought i'd go all out. a friend of the family said these were like "banana bread cookies" (and i think that sounds awesome).

1 and 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats (not instant)
a heaping 1/4 cup ground flax seeds (you can buy it already ground as "flax seed meal"
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
about 1 cup of applesauce or pumpkin
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla (i always just pour and never measure)
2 eggs
1 banana, mashed up
3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar (or less if you don't mind them being not very sweet... or substitute honey and just add a little more flour)
half a bag of chocolate chips

combine the dry ingredients, do the wet stuff in a separate bowl. add the dry to the wet and mix for a minute or so. grease cookie sheets and put heaping spoonfuls a couple inches apart. bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

nobody cares, so here we go.

today i cooked and baked a whole lot. 

pan-fried chicken breasts
oven roasted fingerling potatoes
grilled carrots with lemon yogurt
chocolate strawberry pie

all very easy easy easy, but time consuming when you also have to do a lot of other things simultaneously. i don't think i need to post some of these easy recipes, but i will for the inexperienced cook. also, i cooked my carrots on a grill (and without oil). you probably don't have a grill on your stovetop, so i adapted it for most of you. also, I DO NOT MEASURE! all of these measurements are approximations; use your own judgment!

pan-fried chicken breasts

- somewhat thinly sliced boneless/skinless chicken breasts 
- a few tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- salt + pepper

pour your olive oil into a pan. saucepan, iron skillet, wok, it doesn't matter too much. however, different materials conduct and spread heat differently, so be watchful if you're using an iron skillet. your chicken will cook quickly on the outside while still being raw inside, so just monitor it closely! you don't want salmonella, right? right. onwards.

turn the stove on low to get your oil warm. rinse your chicken breasts if you bought them raw and unfrozen. pat them dry and toss 'em in the pan. generously sprinkle salt and pepper all over the place! the juices from the chicken will dilute your spices, so go crazy with the s + p (salt and pepper, duh). not TOO crazy, now. 

they'll start merrily sizzling away pretty quickly. when they look like they're mostly cooked on the bottom, flip them over. now, here's what i do; i turn down the heat and cover the pan with a lid to steam the chicken while it's frying. i do that because chicken can dry out really easily, and the steam traps the moisture and heat to keep the meat juicy while still getting nicely browned.

i'm a vegetarian of 14 years, so i taught myself how to cook meat/poultry/fish. because of this, i don't know how other people check to see if their chicken is cooked all the way through. i just stab the thickest part of each piece to see if there's any pink. normally i'd tell you that you shouldn't stab/poke/prod your meat, because it lets out juices. however, with the steam method, your food will stay nice and moist (everyone seems to hate that word, so i apologize).

oven roasted fingerling potatoes

- a pound of baby fingerling potatoes (or more... or less)
- extra virgin olive oil
- s + p

preheat your oven to 375°F. wash the adorable baby potatoes, then dump them on a baking sheet or in a glass baking dish and coat them in oil, salt, and pepper. bake them around 15 to 20 minutes, then pierce one of the biggest potatoes with a fork. if your fork goes through easily, they're done! if you like crispy skin, leave them in about five minutes longer. EASY!

grilled roasted carrots with lemon yogurt

- a pound of regular sized raw carrots
- extra virgin olive oil
- ground cumin, smoked paprika, your favorite chili powder, salt, pepper
- one cup plain, unsweetened greek yogurt
- juice of one big lemon or two small lemons

preheat your oven to 400°F. slice your carrots into sticks (lengthwise). put them in a bowl and toss them with just enough oil to coat them. and add about one tsp. each of every spice; if your chili powder is really hot, USE LESS! when everything is all mixed, transfer the carrots to a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. 

mix your yogurt and lemon juice and set aside. i added some more spices to the yogurt, but you don't have to.

at the 10 minute point, LOOK AT THE CARROTS! when they're finished, they should be caramelized and soft enough to pierce with a fork, but still be able to retain their shape without turning to mush. they probably won't be ready yet, so do five minutes at a time until they're done.

serve carrots with lemon yogurt on the side. BAM!

chocolate strawberry pie

- 2 cups white flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2/3 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/3 cup cold water
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 3 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/3 cup cane sugar
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch

preheat your oven to 425°F. in a bowl, whisk your flour and salt together. add your shortening, and use a pastry cutter (or fork, i guess) to mix everything. you don't want it to be mixed completely. add water 1 tbsp. at a time, and stop when the dough can be formed into a ball. flour your surface and roll the dough with a rolling pin. when it's ready, push it into an 8 or 9 inch pie pan. it depends on how thin you roll it. put the crust in the oven for 10 minutes. 

while that's baking, add the berries, water, sugar, and lemon juice. boil until the berries can be mashed with a fork. QUICKLY whisk in cornstarch (if you're too slow, it'll get all gross and clumpy). cook for another minute or so and turn off the heat and let it sit and thicken.

take out the crust and add the chocolate. spread it around evenly on the crust, and then pour your strawberry filling on top. bake for another 10 minutes or so; after 5 minutes, check the pie. the crust should be golden brown.

take it out, let it sit, and then top each ugly slice with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.