Squashing cravings: Butternut and Barley Lemon Pilaf

How are those resolutions coming? I re-started (for the third time) a book that suggested creating an inquiry for each month. The author gave examples for January and February as "what is holding you back?" and "how can you find a daily or weekly way to indulge?" and then said to have at the rest of the months with your own prompts.

Food-wise, for these months I have to say sugar is holding me back. Having some daily dessert tends to make for sluggish mornings. Dave is giving up processed sugar entirely for possibly a year and even suggested if I wanted to join him, that I give up high sugar fruits like berries...I adamantly said I will eat my fruit seasonally thanks, San Diego has too much variety to let that go to waste. Besides whole fruit gives you fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants-that has to offset some of that natural high sugar, right?

 I took the chocolates to work to share but my little pint of coconut mint chip "ice cream" and waffles in the freezer remain. I can't bring myself to just throw them away (dairy free and gluten free stuff is expensive, yo'...but I know, what's the price for my alertness/well-being? Logic doesn't always win still, alas.)Will attempt just to have a weekly "pig out" day. I will try not to buy any processed sugar or regular cane sugar-just coconut sugar for most things, honey, maple syrup and molasses for the oatmeal.

For a more regular weekly indulgence I'd be ever so pleased to just have a relaxed cup of coffee and cookie or baked good for breakfast, which I normally only do on vacation for whatever reason. Daily, I'd ideally like to help myself fall asleep/train my mind by getting some meditation in before bedtime even if it's only 5 minutes or less to start.

Maybe if I fill up on enough satisfying entrees I won't miss sugar so much. Usually something with sour flavor or lots of different textures helps me feel more at peace (not clamoring for crazy portions of dessert). How do you kick your sugar cravings?

This dish just might help. Butternut squash is the soft, rich, sweet taste. Barley can provide some toothsome fiber and whole-grain carbs. Try throwing in some cooked beans if you need non-meat protein. I am using black eyed peas. Plenty of flavor from the lemon juice and garlic. Today's recipe comes to you from my second CSA box, Farm Fresh to You, who pulled it from eatingwell.com. Shopping tip: If you have trouble finding barley, see if there's a Korean market near you. Otherwise, try a natural food store or one that sells grains in bulk. Please note barley is NOT gluten free. But if you need it to be try the recipe out substituting  quinoa or arborio rice.

Butternut and Barley Lemon Pilaf-

*2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
*1 med onion, chopped
1 14 oz can reduced sodium veg broth (or homemade stock)
1 3/4 cup water
1 cup pearl barley
2 cups peeled butternut squash (3/4" cubed)-this was 1 squash for me, I separated the seeds from the guts and spread out to dry to eat toasted later!
*1/3 cup chopped herb such as parsley
1 tsp lemon zest (freshly grated)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic inced
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste
Optional: add half a cup of cooked beans to each serving for extra protein.

*I omitted these items. I used about 1 tsp on onion powder instead, added near the end of cooking.

If you do have onions, heat the oil in the large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened about 2-3 minutes.

If no onions, just add broth,barley and squash to the large saucepan. Bring it to a simmer and then reduce heat to medium low to keep a simmer until the barley and squash are tender. During this time, add 1/2 cup of water at a time as needed to keep the barley from sticking and stir. Do this until the water is gone or until the dish is a desired tenderness. I like my barley a little toothsome, so this ended up being 20-25 minutes.

(Alternatively the original recipe has you adding all water at the beginning and simmering for 45 minutes. My variation is similar to risotto cooking by involving more little bits of water, more watching/stirring but had a shorter cook time.)

Take off heat and add the herb (if you have it), lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. If using beans add them now. Mix gently and serve.

Any or all of the three prompts you'd like to answer feel free, if you try to recipe or even just want to say hello-I'd love to hear from ya'!

Left-over red wine: Braised Root Veggies and Pioneer Woman Tomato-Chicken

Happy new year to all! We had a quiet, home-made dinner and a DVD date (very sad the "Love Actually" type "New Year's Eve" movie that came out last year was not available cheaply on any of the streaming services or Redbox kiosks. They all wanted $10. Instead Lord of the Rings second movie.) This resulted in a headache the next morning and leftover red wine since only one of us was drinking.

What to do with the wine that would clearly not be sipped in a glass? I asked my trusty fellow recipe finding friend, who shot me not one but six recipes she thought might be worthy. I chose two of these. Given it's "cold" here in San Diego (reaching the 40s at night) I wanted to use the oven. The chicken tomato entree she had tried (and that one is here!) and other is a deeply flavored, vegan pleasing dish that just worked wonderfully with the bounty of winter root veggies in the CSA box. You pair the recipes with a grain or pasta to soak up the delicious sauces. I ate them together on the same plate with  rice.

You can use whatever root veggies you have or like. Just add it up to 2lbs (strongly recommend getting a scale if you don't have one, it helps give you flexibility when you interchange vegetables for same weight or in gluten free ratio baking... but I also tried to note number of vegetables I used in case you can't get your hands on one.)

WARNING: if making these dishes together, do on an afternoon or early evening when you have plenty of time.  All together with prep and cooking, I jammed in the kitchen for 2.5 hours. Once the chicken goes in, you'll be free for an hour. I opted for something silly to kill time, the Carrie Diaries. You might be able to do the prep faster if you have a helper of course! Anyways, it's not always practical to cook this long but if you want to indulge yourself or make something nice for guests, go for this!

Wine-Braised Root Veggie from Eating Well

2lbs root veggies: It still looks like 6-8 x 1 cup servings!

2 russet potatoes

1 fennel and stems (save leaves for later use, perhaps the chicken recipe)

4 x 6” carrots

2 watermelon (milder, not as spicy) radishes-they looked about billiard ball sized

¾ cup red wine (I tried Zinfandel)

4 oz dried mushroom (I used shiitake mushrooms (about 5 x 1” diameter dried))

8 oz white mushrooms (halved if large)

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp fresh oregano or 2 tsp dried herb* (original recipe was thyme)

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground pepper

2 cups broth (couldn’t find mushroom broth called for,so using veg bouillon cube)

Tools to get out: 13 x 9 pan. Cutting board. Small pot to heat up wine and dried mushrooms.

    Preheat oven to 350

Heat the wine until steaming in the small pot. Remove from heat and add dried mushrooms.

     The original recipe notes you can peel the root veggies. I didn’t bother as I use my organic CSA box, so I just scrub the veggies to remove dirt and leave the peels on. It cooks so long the vegetables are tender even with skins. For oblong root veggies cut into 3” pieces, for round roots cut into 1” wedges. Wash the mushrooms and place them along with the roots into the 9x13 pan. 

    Strain wine into a mixing bowl/measuring cup. Set mushroom aside to chop up and add with rest of veggies. To the wine mix in and whisk oregano or other herb, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Pour over veggies. Add broth, bay leaves and garlic cloves.

Cook covered with foil at 350 for 45 minutes. Then uncover and cook 1 hr more (see steps below if making with chicken)

Pioneer Woman's Tomato Chicken over Grains/Pasta

4- 6 servings

While your root veggies cook, start on the chicken. Only a few substitutions from Pioneer Woman’s recipe. I used more olive oil instead of butter and instead of canned tomato, used fresh tomato. If you want to see some drool worthy pictures go to her website, step by step!

• 8 pieces Chicken Legs Or Thighs
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 3-4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 lbs fresh tomato (about 6 reg round tomatoes)
• 2 Tablespoons (Heaping) Tomato Paste
• Fresh herbs: gave fennel leaves a try!
• 8 cloves Garlic
• Cooked pasta (16oz) or rice or quinoa to soak up the tomato sauce
• Grated Parmesan Cheese, For Serving (optional)
• 1/2 cup White Wine (or Red Wine)

Tools: dutch oven or stir-fry pan + 2 glass baking dishes, tongs to turn chicken, 

     If you have an oven proof pan or dutch oven use this, if not grab your stir-fry sized pan and heat oil in it. I had to do my chicken in two batches so use half the oil in each batch if this is your situation too. Salt and Pepper your chicken. I had leftover Paula Deene seasoning* so I used this instead. 

   Turn on your stove top fan. While waiting for the oil to heat, peel the skin off the cloves of garlic. Begin chopping tomatoes if using fresh.

  On med-high brown the chicken on all sides (about 2 minutes). 

   While the chicken browns (btwn flips), you can continue chopping the tomatoes. Measure out your wine also.

 If not an oven proof dish, move your browned chicken into baking pans. I used 2 9x11 inch pans.

 You’re going to make the sauce now. Keep the heat on, add the wine to the pan used to brown the chicken to get the tasty scrapings. Then add the tomato paste and tomatoes to that pan. Bring to a boil

While waiting for the sauce to boil, chop up your herbs & start doing some of your dishes unless you’re lucky enough to have a helper!

 Remove tomato-wine sauce from heat. Then add to the pans of chicken. Cover with foil. 

 If making with the wine-root veggies, uncover the wine-root veggies at their 45 minute mark and kick the oven up to 400F.  Add the chicken drumsticks and bake for 1 hour. Continue to stir the root veggies periodically during the cooking.

Paula Deene seasoning:

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

What kind of food/health goals do you have this year? I would like to do a 5-10 post theme, pair trying a new restaurant with looking for cool local shops and give HIIT a try to refresh my exercise routine. Dave would like to give up sugar for a year but I asked him to wait until after his birthday. Not that I HAVE to join him, but it'd be helpful to break my sweet tooth for awhile (feeling sluggish even after enough sleep). I'd have to modify and keep honey/coconut sugar/maple syrup in for my oatmeal.