Food Lush

Not The Prettiest, But Easily My Favorite Lentil Stew

Editor's note: For our last week at Style Lush, I've asked the writers to share both a favorite post by another writer, from over the last three years, and a favorite post of their own. You'll see these posts linked to at the top of their new post for the week. Enjoy a stroll down Lush memory lane!

By Jessica

(Post I've selected from the archives from another writer: The Old Flame by Katie--it has a picture of setting lemon oils on fire, plus cocktail! Post of mine from the archives: Writer(s) Helping Writer: Vegetarian Meals--I often refer back to this post as an easy repository of some fave veggie meals)

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Tonight, I cooked my favorite lenti stew for dinner and as it was bubbling rather furiously away on the stove an odd thought occured to me "This looks like the bog of eternal stench". Now, I've made this particular recipe many times over, I love it and am always excited to eat it and NEVER has that thought occured to me until tonight. I'm not sure if that thought has ever occured to me while I've cooked anything I am happily willing to consume over and over again and yet, here we are. My son asked me why I was trying to force him to eat mud. 

This all sounds like such a rousing endorsement of a my favorite lentil stew, doesn't it? But, I do love it. The main flavor profile is supplied by carmelized leeks and the addition of the honey créme frâiche (or maple sour cream in our house) is just, oh, it's so very very good.

(photo of carmelizing leeks, not so "bog of eternal stench-like")

I find that I don't tweak this recipe as much as I do most recipes I try, although I use frozen leeks from Trader Joes and I add quite a bit more than the pinch of cayenne pepper that the recipe calls for, plus tonight I added a hint of smoked paprika as well and it just rounded out all the flavors nicely. The only other change I've made swapping maple syrup for the honey as it's what I had on hand the first time I made it and I liked it so much, it just stuck.

I hope you'll try it and enjoy it as much as I do. It feels right to send you off with something warm and comforting in your tummies. 

Sauerkraut I Actually Like

By Jessica

I have never been a fan of sauerkraut, which is odd given that I love cabbage and most other cabbage preparations but there was always just something about it. Something off and overly strong. I had thought that maybe it was the metal can in combination with the acidity, maybe that combination made it taste off to me? So I sought out a variety that came in a glass jar and alas no change in my opinion.

It happens to be something that my husband loves, however, so I have always hoped to find one that I could be happy eating too and then most of my twitter stream started Whole30 and I started seeing raw sauerkraut in my feeds.

Farmhouse Culture has several different varieties of kraut to choose from and I was able to find a couple of them at my local Whole Foods markets. For my husband, I selected the smoked jalapeño and for myself the horseradish leek. On its own, it's still a bit sharp for my tastes but all manner of weird and off that I taste in regular kraut is gone. It's flavorful and even though I was expecting the horseradish to take over everything, it's so well balanced, that doesn't happen. 

We had brats and kraut for dinner tonight (I had Apple Sage Field Roast sausage) and I was really happy with it as a condiment. While I'm not a total convert, I will be finishing the jar I have and I also am now intrigued to try other varieties/brands. I have my eye on the Lemon Garlic Dill by Straight From The Vine next. 

Have you tried raw sauerkraut?

(Photo via Farmhouse Culture)

Bread Pudding

By Jessica

In my opinion, dessert is the one food item that shouldn't be polarizing. It's DESSERT. It's the thing that you were the most excited about ALWAYS as a kid. It's the thing you bargained for and your parents bargained with, the thing that got you through that most hated vegetable (whatever your particular flavor of vegetable might happen to be). And yet, strong opinions abound. Are you a chocolate person? Are you more of a fruit person? Do you consider anything containing raisins an abomination? This is where I contradict my own opening premise. Because, raisins are the fru-its of the de-vil, raisins are little chewy, dried bits of evil. Do you happen to be a hater of bread pudding? Because apparently there are a lot of those out there as well.

I think the thing with bread pudding is that it can go right or it can go VERY WRONG in the texture department. It should never be the texture of baby food. NEVER. You should be able to clearly make out the torn (or cut) bits of bread. It should be a bit crusty on the top and the edges. You should have some degrees in softness. 

It should be GOOD.

And if it avoids raisins? Hey, that's as it should be.

The above bread pudding is a modification I made to this recipe. Essentially, I followed it as written but removed the raisins (OBVIOUSLY) and subbed the zest of a tangerine, you could add more if you want it more heavily scented, and a handful of good quality chocolate chips. 

For the bread I used a Pane Luciane I picked up at my local Central Market. It's a really dense bread that holds up well to the custard so you don't get any of that mushy nonsense you sometimes get served under the guise of bread pudding. 

What's your take on bread pudding?

Getting Restaurant Iced Tea At Home

By Jessica

We really do love our tea here at Food Lush. I have one half of an entire cabinet at home devoted to all types and brands of teas and it's my go-to beverage at restaurants. I am an "unsweetened with lemon" person when it comes to standard restaurant iced tea because sweet tea in the south or south adjacent Texas (there is some argument as to whether or not Texas is actually the south) makes me gag and gives me sweaters on my teeth. So. Much. Sugar. ICK. 

At any rate, there are restaurant iced teas that stand alone and are better than the rest, of course, and as such I'd love to be able to drink them at home as well.

Café Express serves a black currant tea that we love and I think if I made it at home? My husband might not drink anything else. The exact tea is made by Duncan Coffee Company, $10.95 for 1/2 lb of loose tea. Another option is the Black Currant Iced Tea from Harney & Sons, 6 (2 qt) pouch tin is $8.

Pei Wei serves two iced teas: Vanilla Spice Chai Black Tea and Mandarin Orange Green Tea. At my local restuarant you can purchase jugs of the tea to take home with you. The Vanilla Spice Chai is pretty difficult to replicate, mainly because that balance of flavors in a chai that you don't need milk or sugar to offset and can drink over ice? HARD. Which is why I LOVE that tea. But there are tons of options for the Mandarin Orange: Adagio, Lipton, Celestial Seasonings just to name a few.

La Madelaine serves a mango tea by Ibis Moon. You can purchase it from Royal Cup Coffee directly but it's in a wholesale quantity 24-4 oz bags $56.10

And finally Mission Burrito serves a hibiscus iced tea (as does Empire Café on occasion) for that there are a couple of good options from Republic of Tea: Blueberry Hibiscus or Natural Hibiscus

Do you have a favorite restaurant iced tea?

'Tis The Season For All Things Peppermint

By Jessica

Even though Texas hasn't gotten the memo that it's December (yesterday I was sweating in shorts and a tank top while putting up my Christmas tree) it officially is and that means that all manner of peppermint items have hit the stores. As a peppermint fan? This makes me happy, happy, happy.*

I've already purchased, consumed and driven others to purchase many boxes of these:

Junior Mints Peppermint Crunch which are 5 for $5 at Target. To find them, you need to head to the Christmas aisles and look at the back where the stocking stuffers are, they aren't with the regular candy, FYI.

My next favorite candy are peppermint tootsie pops but this year I found these:

 

Candy Cane Pop Drops for the same 5 for $5 sale at Target and snatched up a box to try. 

Even though I love Angie's Kettle Corn and buy the huge bags at Costco whenever they have them, the Holidrizzle White Chocolatier Peppermint Kettle Corn made me skeptical but...

...not enough to keep me from buying it and scarfing down a bag regardless of it's ridiculously tiny quantity. It was good, I definitely wanted more.

Finally, my most favorite ice cream, that I will totally suffer sinus issues for:

Graeter's Peppermint Ice Cream

Of course there's always peppermint bark and everyone that has a TJ's talks about their most beloved Candy Cane Joe Joe's (which I will finally get my hand's on this year, oh yes, I will) but the above are some of my favorites. Tell me about yours, I'm always on the hunt for a new "must have"!

*Duck Dynasty. Yes.

(Photos from: Candyblog.net, Angies, Graeters)

Easy Vegetarian Sausage Stuffing

By Jessica

This was my second Thanksgiving as a vegetarian or possibly even my third? I'm not totally positive, the years seem to just be rolling by in one big blur lately. At any rate, I know that I haven't made myself vegetarian stuffing until this year. I'm not sure why, it's not like it'd be that big of a deal to sub veg stock for chicken stock with even the usual suspect of Stove Top stuffing that my brother likes and have something that we both can eat, I've just invested more of my time on whole dishes like vegetable pot pie. 

Right before Thanksgiving, I became obsessed with having vegetarian sausage stuffing and ran down to Central Market to grab some Field Roast. I chose the Apple Sage variety, it just sounded more "fall" to me. For the bread part of the stuffing, I went with Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Cubed Stuffing Mix.

This could not have been simpler to use. The instructions, on the back of the bag, call for the addition of onion and celery but as I don't care for celery in my stuffing I used onion and garlic. I also used veg stock instead of chicken stock and I used Irish butter but I could've easily used Earth Balance and had vegan stuffing. 

Super quick, very tasty and has reheated well! I definitely will be making this again.

Traditional Welcome Home Dinner

By Jessica

I just came home from almost a full week away, having left for Arizona on Monday, landing back in Houston on Thursday and getting right back on a plane headed for New Orleans (for The Blathering) that same night. I finally arrived back home yesterday. Whenever I'm away from home for any decent length of time, I have a tradition wrapped around what I eat for dinner upon my return. I always, always go to Chuy's. 

More than once, pretty much this exact picture has shown up in my Instagram the night that I come home from a trip about 10 chips or so in (I am human, there is no way I could wait to dip long enough to take a pic first) and I don't even have to be asked where I want to go anymore. 

It's like having that basket of warm chips and creamy jalapeno dip solidifies me being home almost as much as the first time I snuggle my dogs or my head hits my own pillow. 

Do you have a traditional welcome home dinner?

Chicken Wing Style Cauliflower

By Jessica

I haven't had a chicken wing in over two years and even before then I really only liked the boneless chicken "wings" with a thick crunchy coating and slick-yet-sticky sauce. To further "dumb down" my chicken wing card, that sauce I refer to, my favorite wing sauce? Honey BBQ. I simply am too much of a spice weenie to handle the traditional buffalo wing sauce (though I am far and away better than I was when I first moved to Texas) and don't even get me started on whatever Wicked Flaming Firey Death Sauce my husband gets on his wings. They should just call that stuff "Nose-hair curling, make it burn when you pee sauce." No ma'am. 

I do very much miss "chicken wings" though so when I found this picture on Pinterest?

I HAD to follow that pin, even though it was obviously traditional buffalo wing flavored. Doesn't that look fabulous? FABULOUS. 

My version via late night iPhone photography doesn't look nearly as pretty

but it was oh so very tasty. I made a few alterations to her recipe to make it dairy free. DAIRY FREE (I still weep, a little). 

• For the buttermilk I subbed 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk mixed with apple cider vinegar
• For the flour I mixed 1/2 cup AP flour and 1/2 cup chickpea flour
• Added 2 tsp garlic powder to the flour mixture
• Earth balance and olive oil for the butter
• Stubb's Hickory Bourbon and Bull's Eye Kansas City BBQ Sauces for the buffalo sauce
• Dairy free ranch for the blue cheese

After making these I can say that it's very important to use a shallow baking dish or even a cookie sheet covered in parchment. The first batch, the coating came up a little on the soft side and I think that is because I made them in a regular 13X9 pan. When I reheated them the next day on a cookie sheet? They came out much better.

(Photos from: The Curvy Carrot and me)

Stuffed Eggplant

By Jessica

I love eggplant, you can do so many things with it and if I feel like trying something new with an eggplant I might have on hand? I can just do a search for something that I think might sound good, like Sausage Stuffed Eggplant and chances are, I'll find something that is either easy for me to tweak to my own preferences or sounds good as is. 

I'm sure the recipe I started with (linked above) is great as it's written but I didn't happen to have any homemade (or even jarred) tomato sauce made, so I decided to go with pesto instead*, I used Italian seasoned Panko Bread Crumbs and of course I don't eat meat so I used Field Roast sausage. I also didn't add the Italian seasoning (since it's in the bread crumbs already) or the garlic powder (since the pesto has more than enough garlic).

My husband and I loved it and my teenager grudgingly admitted it was "pretty good," so I'll take it.

*if you use pesto you are going to need WAY less. I used several healthy tablespoons but that's it. Nothing on the side was necessary. 

(iPhone photo)

Philippine Dried Coconut

By Jessica

I know coconut is one of those polarizing food items: people either love it or hate it, not much room for in between. I am a coconut lover, always have been, even the fresh coconut that my brother and I broke open with a hammer and a screwdriver and ended up smashed to smithereens. 

That's not to say that all coconut you purchase is created equal, or at least not created equally for consumption straight up as a snack. I'm sure you've all had the sweetened shredded coconut from the bag at the grocery store, it takes forever to chew it up and is so sugary that it tastes mostly of sugar and less of coconut. The other end of that spectrum is the unsweetened shreds which, depending on the brand, can be so dry you may as well eat sawdust instead.

The other day I found this:

Philippine Dried Young Coconut at my local Costco (of course) and had to try it. This is the same brand that makes my favorite dried mango and I was curious if this coconut product would be the same and it is. It's not crazy sweet, the chunks are large and slightly chewy so you avoid that sawdust feeling and the coconut flavor is very present (as it should be). I think they would be fantastic dipped in some dark chocolate, like a Mounds bar, for a dessert.

My bag was cheaper at Costco than what it's selling for via the above link to Amazon, so I'd definitely see if you can find it locally first. 

(Photo from Amazon)