The Garden Apartment

Good for the Heart {Roasted Portobello with Red Quinoa}

Our family had a bit of a scare recently, when one of our loved ones suffered from heart failure. 

Reflecting on this, we are all working to eat better- and in particular, to choose foods that are good for the heart. In the past two weeks, I've spent a lot of time researching heart healthy diets and learning which food choices are best for the heart. The top ten foods are: dark chocolate, olive oil, avocados, mushrooms, whole grains, pumpkin, salmon, tea, beans, and pomegranate. And of course, there are all the things one should avoid: red meat, fried foods, salted meats, and processed foods-- to name a few.

Thankfully, much of what we already do in our immediate household is good for the heart. We eat unprocessed foods, a lot of vegetables and fruits, and avoid eating red meat. But, for the past few weeks I've been working to improve our habits even more, and to develop some recipes that are especially heart healthy.

I quickly assembled this vegetarian dish as a side for tonight's dinner, though a larger portion would make a nice meal in and of itself. I chose quinoa due to its super-star nutritional profile. Quinoa not only has a high protein content, but it is the only whole grain that is a complete protein. With the addition of a meaty roasted portobello mushroom (full of antioxidants and potassium) and the sweet tanginess of roasted cherry tomatoes, this dish has a pleasing combination of flavors.

If you can't find red quinoa, white quinoa will work just as well.

Roasted Portabello with Red Quinoa

• 4 large portabello mushrooms
• 1/2 pound of cherry tomatoes
• olive oil (about 2-3 TB)
• 1 clove of garlic, sliced
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning, divided
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 Cup of red quinoa
• 2 Cups of water
• 1/4 cup of kalamata olives, diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: balsamic glaze (or reduced balsamic vinegar), to taste 

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper, and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Place the cherry tomatoes on one sheet pan; sprinkle with salt, pepper, and half a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Toss the tomatoes in the olive oil mixture. Place the portobello mushrooms on the other sheet pan with the sliced garlic clove pieces. Sprinkle the mushrooms with salt, pepper, and half a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Drizzle with olive oil so that the mushrooms are well covered. Place both sheet pans in the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes, until the tomatoes and mushrooms are nicely browned.

In the meantime, combine 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Saute until softened and just beginning to brown.

When the quinoa is finished, toss with the onion mixture, diced kalamata olives, remaining one teaspoon of Italian seasoning, and roasted cherry tomatoes. Spoon the quinoa mixture atop the roasted mushrooms. Drizzle with balsamic glaze, or a reduced balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy, knowing that you are eating well for your heart.

Braised Pork Shoulder in Red Wine and Tomato Sauce

It's been a long four day weekend, folks. 

Between the power outage and the snow, we were already worse for the wear. Then, a family emergency sent my husband hiking out of our neighborhood yesterday to get a rental car so he could be with his family during a critical time. 

Home alone, and facing tonight's prospect of another predicted 10 inches of snow, I hiked over our back fence through the snow to the main road in order to do some grocery shopping. 

Comfort food. That's what I wanted- something warm and hearty. Something that would fill me up after trudging through the snow and shoveling the icy pile at the edge of our driveway.

This braised pork shoulder is just the thing. Simple to make and slowly cooked, the meat just melts in the mouth with its rich and tangy sauce.

The pork shoulder is seared over high heat in bacon grease, giving the meat a nicely caramelized crust. Then, a finely chopped mirepoix (celery, carrots, and onion) and tomato paste mixture is quickly sauteed in the pan.

 

Covered with red wine, beef stock, and tomato puree, the roast slowly braises in the oven for over two hours.

When the roast is fall apart tender, it is removed and allowed to rest before the meat is shredded and incorporated back into the sauce. I recommend serving it over a heaping pile of egg noodles on a cold snowy day.

Braised Pork Shoulder in Red Wine Tomato Sauce {serves 6 generously}

• 1 4 1/2-5 pound boneless pork shoulder roast (also known as Boston Butt Roast)
• 1-2 pieces of center cut bacon, diced 
• 1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 pieces of celery, roughly chopped
• 3 large cloves of garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
• 1/2 large red onion, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• a few dashes of red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 TB tomato paste
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 cup red wine 
• beef stock, to cover (about 2 cups)
• Egg noodles, cooked (for serving)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Season the boneless pork shoulder roast with salt an pepper. Set aside. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and saute until nicely browned (if the bacon sticks, you can add a small amount of olive oil). 

While the bacon is browning, roughly chop your celery, carrot, onion, and garlic. Toss the vegetables into a food processor with the Italian seasoning, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and a dash of salt and pepper. Pulse the food processor until the vegetables are consistently minced into a very fine chop.

Remove the bacon from the dutch oven with a slotted spoon and set aside. Increase the heat to medium-high. The bacon grease should be hot, but not smoking. Place the pork shoulder in the hot oil and sear until dark brown on all sides. Quickly add the vegetable and tomato paste mixture. Stir and saute for approximately one- two minutes. Add the red wine and stir, picking up any browned bits off the bottom. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and beef stock to cover. Toss in the bay leaves and reserved bacon. Transfer to the oven.

Braise for approximately 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. The roast is ready when the meat is very tender to the touch.

Remove the pork roast from the dutch oven and set on a cutting board to rest for ten-fifteen minutes. In the meantime, skim any excess oil off the top of the tomato sauce and remove the bay leaves (if you can't find them all, our family likes to call them "lucky" to the person who gets one in their dish). 

Remove excess fat from the pork shoulder (you will find several strips of thick fat throughout), then shred the meat. Return the meat to the sauce. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Serve the pork and tomato sauce atop warm egg noodles.

Nosing Around, Karma, and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

In this post: I ponder whether my nosiness turned karma against us amidst DC's big snowstorm. Lacking power to cook up good winter comfort food, I share an old recipe: roasted sweet potato salad.

I am a bit nosy. 

When we lived in the garden apartment, I liked to peek into people's windows to see how they decorated. It did inform some good home decor decisions-- until an embarrassed husband issued warnings to the neighbors.

This past week, my snooping returned in full force while stuck in an endless line at the grocery store. Generally, my non-farmers market shopping occurs at Whole Foods, where peeking into people's carts lacks the excitement of a major grocery chain. Clearly, there's nothing amusing to be deduced about purchases of organic produce and whole grain cereal. 

But Giant, on the other hand, has countless aisles of junk food, candy, soda pop, frozen meals, and boxed food items. On a normal day, there are great opportunities for glimpsing into people's lives via their grocery carts. But, Friday, February 5th was nothing of a normal day. It was an optimum day for observing people in a frenzy. With the DC region on the brink of a major snowstorm and the Super Bowl just days away, people's carts went into overload.

Carts full of salt made me wonder whether people were planning to defrost their entire neighborhood so their friends could attend Super Bowl parties. Parents filling their carts with soda and potato chips made me question crisis decision making. Would I really want to be stuck inside with children wired on caffeine, sugar, and junk food? 

The one that really got me, however, were the people stocking their carts with frozen meals and pre-packaged baked goods. Seriously? I figure that if I'm going to be stuck inside with very little to do, I might as well take the time to make a roast or piece of braised meat, and of course I always bake my own cookies. 

Not surprisingly, I had already planned a wonderful snowed-in weekend menu during an earlier trip to Whole Foods, where the entire produce section seemed to have been torn apart by desperate organic shoppers in need of a vitamin fix. Thus, my trip to Giant.

But, the joke was on me-- or perhaps it was karma getting back at me for my incessant and condescending judging in the checkout lane. With all my plans to make slow-cooked food, our power went out just as the storm was beginning at 9 PM Friday.

Our dark and cold house

As fate would have it, we have not yet purchased that new gas stove. I was relegated to eating cold (organic) grapefruit, and chips (oh the blasphemy!) and salsa. We did manage to get our generator hooked up for a brief half hour, during which the item of utmost priority was deemed to be coffee. 

So, I am sharing with you a recipe from a week ago. I think you'll like it. Lucky me, I happened to find a white sweet potato at the farmers market, which I tried out in this recipe. It tastes just like its orange relative.

The sweet potatoes are cut into chunks and roasted in the oven. Roasting gives them that wonderfully caramelized flavor. While still warm, the potatoes are tossed in a mustard vinaigrette, imparting a slight tanginess. For those of you who find most sweet potato recipes to be too sweet, this recipe may change your mind. 

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad {serves 4 as a side}

Adapted from this recipe, Gourmet Magazine

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
• 4 TB olive oil, divided 
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
  
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Cut the sweet potatoes into 1 inch wedges. Toss with 2 TB of olive oil. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast at high heat for about 45 minutes, or until nicely caramelized. Turn the potatoes once during the roasting time, to allow for caramelization on both sides. After removing the potatoes from the oven, add salt and pepper to taste.

While the potatoes are roasting, whisk the vinegar, mustard, honey, and remaining 2 TB of olive oil together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the warm sweet potatoes with the vinaigrette and the sliced scallions. Served warm or at room temperature, it will taste great. 

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Stay tuned for my resumed access to the modern world, as our power has been restored. I'm looking forward to a day spent slowly braising a pork shoulder. 

The Long Winter {and white hot cocoa}

Yesterday morning we woke up to this beautiful sight. In the moment it seemed wondrous- even beautiful. Then, as I braved the cold crisp air yesterday evening to walk the dog, I encountered a neighbor and babbled on about how much I enjoy walking in the snow.

"You're in luck," he responded "We're due for 12-24 inches this weekend."

This statement quickly changed my state of mind. Suddenly I was ready for warm spring weather. I mean, isn't March almost here?

You see, we just had a record breaking snow fall a few weeks ago. The 16 inches of accumulation seemed like a novelty, given that the DC area historically gets very little snow. 

Now I feel like I might as well be living in South Bend, Indiana again- where 12-24 inches of snow is a regular occurrence.

If you find yourself bracing to be snowed in this weekend, I recommend adding some white chocolate to your grocery list. This recipe for white hot cocoa will warm you up, head to toe {and it tastes delicious}.

White Hot Chocolate {serves 2}

• 1 1/2 Cups whole milk
• 1 Cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces of white chocolate discs (or chopped white chocolate)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• fresh nutmeg, grated 

Combine the milk and heavy cream in a medium sauce pan. Heat until almost boiling (the milk will be steaming). Turn off the heat, and slowly whisk in the white chocolate pieces. Once the white chocolate is completely incorporated, add the vanilla.

Ladle into mugs. Grate fresh nutmeg directly atop.