Risotto Cakes with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

A nice thing about working from home one day a week is that my kitchen is only a few feet away from my office, and I have the freedom to make any meal I'm in the mood for. Yesterday I made a risotto cake and some roasted broccoli and cauliflower. Both were so easy to make and required no hands-on work - once you assemble the ingredients you just put it in the oven/on the stove and just check it every 10-15 minutes. So you can work while your meal cooks, tackle a sink full of dishes, or finally get around to putting away the Christmas presents that are still sitting in the living room...

The roasted broccoli and cauliflower has a longer cook time, so I started that first. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, then cut and rinse about 2 cups each of broccoli and cauliflower.

Put the vegetables in a large oven-safe bowl and add a little olive oil and your flavors (I used paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, ground ginger, garlic, lemon juice and rind, and honey). Toss to coat evenly.

Roast in oven for 35-40 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes to ensure even roasting.

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower Ingredients

• 2 cups each broccoli and cauliflower, rinsed and cut
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• juice and rind from 1/4 lemon
• 1-2 tsp honey

I came across the recipe for risotto cakes on about.com and thought it sounded like a great way to enjoy leftover risotto. You simply take some leftover risotto (should be day-old and chilled) and form it into a ball, then flatten it into a patty. I heated 1 teaspoon olive oil on a skillet over medium/medium-low heat and also sprayed some cooking spray. Place your risotto patty on the pan and cook for about 10-15 minutes, until the bottom is browned and crispy, then flip and do the same for the other side.

I used some of the leftover Valentine's Risotto.

And lunch is served!

This was great! I'm so glad I came across the risotto cake recipe because this adds another dimension to the deliciousness of risotto! It was crispy on the outside, but still soft on the inside, and tasted like it was fried, but I only used 1 teaspoon of olive oil for the whole cake! Aside from it falling apart a little bit (I didn't press the ball together enough before I started cooking) I'd say that the cake was a big success! The roasted vegetables were very good - definitely a nice change from steamed. You could really use any spices you want for the vegetables, I just grabbed a few different things that looked good to me and went with it.

I met Steph and Rachel at Border Cafe in Burlington for dinner. We had fun catching up while eating way too many chips with salsa.

Before any of us had our licenses in high school we would always take the train into Harvard Square on weekends, and Border Cafe was one of our favorite places to eat (probably because they give you big portions for little money). I always think of those times when I eat at Border Cafe now, and I think I still prefer the Harvard Square location to the Burlington restaurant.

I did a very surprising thing after dinner. I went to the gym! In a perfect world, I'd work out in the morning every day, but that usually isn't possible because of my work schedule. Most days I'll run or go to the gym after work - but never do I go to the gym after dinner. I don't like running soon after I've eaten, and I think nighttime is the least appealing time of day to exercise. But last night I was feeling a little guilty, since I didn't work out at all on Tuesday (I went out to dinner with Callie and Chrissy) and decided that I could probably squeeze in a quick trip to the gym. So I went home and changed, then headed back out to the gym.

I was finished with chest, tris, and some abs by 8:58, and rushed to a treadmill so I could start running when Modern Family started at 9. I did a short interval run - not as long/hard as I'd normally go for, but I also don't normally have 1/2 a bean and cheese burrito, chips and salsa, and a Dos Equis in my stomach. I did the following on the treadmill at a 1% incline:

Minute	Speed
0-5	5.5
5-7:30	6.5
7:30-10	7.5
10-12:30	6.5
12:30-15	7.5
15-17:30	6.5
17:30-20	7.5
20-22:30	6.5
22:30-25	7.8
25-27:30	6.5
27:30-30	8

When Mr. Sunshine came on, I quickly cooled down and left. Have you seen that show yet? I have a hard time watching Matthew Perry in anything besides Friends.

Also - some news for marathon runners and marathon hopefuls. Check out this article my dad sent me this morning. Due to the increased participation in the Boston Marathon (26,736 ran last year in comparison with just 4,904 in 1986) the BAA has revised the qualifying times - they've dropped by 5 minutes in each category. Marathon Qualifying is Revised (from The Boston Globe).

Snow Day!

There is really nothing like a good old fashioned snow day. As a kid (i.e. until I left for college) I loved the prospect of snow days. I'd always stay up extra late the night before, since I'd be able to sleep in the next morning, and eagerly watch the school closing scroll on the news, waiting for my school to be listed. I'm pretty sure I coerced my parents into allowing many school night sleepovers with friends the night before we expected a snow day.

I got back up to Nashua yesterday evening before the big storm hit and unpacked all of my wonderful goodies from Santa and my family (including lots of baking stuff I needed! A rolling pin, cookie sheets, stackable cooling racks, cookie cutters, a stand mixer, official cake tester, and several new cookbooks). I then curled up on the couch and spent a couple hours reading in front of my lit Christmas tree, followed by a wonderful nap for an hour or two. At 10:30 Pat woke me up to announce that he was not tired, and convinced me that it was a good idea to start Inception at around 11pm. Normally I would not be so irresponsible on a school work night, but going back to my childhood behavior, I felt that staying up late was justified if I'd be having a snow day the next day. I'm glad I stayed up, Inception was such a good movie! For anyone else that totally missed the boat on seeing this last summer, I highly recommend renting it now.

At 5:45 this morning I looked outside and saw that it was still snowing, the plows hadn't touched the roads in a few hours, and that our cars were blocked in by a snow wall about 3 feet high that had been created the last time the streets were plowed. I declared today a snow day and emailed my supervisor that I'd work from home instead of coming in. I reset my alarm for 8am and went back to bed!

After a few productive hours, it was time to have some fun. Pat also declared today a snow day for himself, so I had a partner in crime. I threw on several layers of Under Armour, knee-high socks, my beloved Sorel boots, my heaviest winter jacket, a pair of gloves and mittens, and a hat, and we were off on our mission: trudging to Jackie's for a breakfast/lunch feast!

Trudging in the snow to a fun destination is probably one of my favorite things to do after/during a big storm. I love the feeling of being snowed-in (as long as you're where you want to be!). Its about a 1.5 mile walk to get to Jackie's, and there weren't many other people on the road. Except plows and bobcats.

 Lots of places downtown were closed.

Jackie's was open! This has been our favorite breakfast spot since we moved to Nashua. Its a little French Canadian place that makes everything homemade and is run by the nicest people.

 

We ordered a mixture of breakfast and lunch items. I got one crepe with powdered sugar and lemon. It was amaaaazing. Of all the times we've been here I'd never ordered crepes, but I definitely will now! I also got a salad with (grilled) buffalo chicken, which was very good (and very spicy!).

 

Pat got a turkey club with fries. The club was sooo good but best of all were the fries. These are hand-cut homemade fries, and I could have eaten a whole plateful (but instead I just ate half of Pat's!).

Then we trudged back home, happy and full.

Once we got home we shoveled out our cars for about a half hour, after which I needed another treat! Snow with maple syrup! Did you ever have that growing up? It was a favorite in my family...just gather some (clean) snow and pour some maple syrup on top, and you have yourself a delicious snack!

Pat and I hit the gym for a chest/tris/ab workout, and when we got home he showed me the gingerbread cookies his mom made for me. A gingerbread angel! She is not long for this world...I'd better eat her send her to heaven to be with the rest of the angels.

Homemade Happiness

This year I made some edible gifts to give to friends and stuff my family's stockings. My favorite part of the holidays is spending time with the people I love, and what better way to someones heart than through some delicious homemade treats!? I would never turn down a pair of Cole Haan boots or a David Yurman ring if you wanted to give them to me, but I do believe that the most important things are what come from the heart. So I present...HOMEMADE HAPPINESS!

 

 
Chile Honey Butter

This is a Serious Eats find, and immediately jumped out at me as something my brother would enjoy. Jim never liked spicy food until he went to college in New Mexico, but has since developed a love for spicy dishes and tries to incorporate hot peppers as often as he can. I made a bigger batch of this butter, and also added some green chile powder (in addition to the cayenne powder) for extra kick.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/3 tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
• 1 tsp green chile powder
• salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients. Whip in a blender/food processor/by hand until a smooth sauce is formed. Spoon into a container and keep covered in refrigerator.

Serving Suggestions:

• On toast
• Cook fried eggs in
• In stir fry
• On grilled corn
• On cornbread
• Melt and use as dipping sauce for steamed artichokes
• Slather on chicken or fish and bake
• In baked rice

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Another find on Serious Eats! This one I thought would be appropriate for Kristi, Jim's girlfriend. She grew up in New Mexico and also loves spicy food, and she is a coffee connoisseur. I thought this might be a nice change from coffee that would be appreciated in this freezing cold New England winter!

Ingredients:

For the mix -

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Ghirardelli is great)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp cayenne powder

For the drink - 

• whole milk
• vanilla extract

Directions:

1. To make the hot chocolate mix: put cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon and cayenne powder in a bowl. Stir with whisk until combined. Put mix in a jar or container of your choice.
2. To make the drink - heat 1 cup milk in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until simmering. Add hot chocolate mix and vanilla extract; whisk until cocoa and milk are combined. Add remaining 1 cup milk, stirring to combine. Cook until warm, about 2 minutes. Serve.

Cookies in a Jar

I made this for my sister Laura because she is a true chocolate lover, which of course includes chocolate chip cookies! She is very busy as a third year student in a PhD program at UVA (smarty pants) so I thought that I could give her cookies in a jar so that when the craving for cookies strikes, she won't have to spend very much time preparing them before they're ready to bake. I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (Pat requests these cookies on a weekly basis at this point) and put all of the ingredients in a large mason jar. 

If jarring the ingredients for cookies, try to separate the ingredients accordingly. For example - I whisked together the flour, sea salt and baking soda. I separated the chocolate chips (using Ziploc bags) because these are added in at the end, and separated the dark brown sugar because this needs to be creamed with the butter. Separating makes it easier for the baker! Now all Laura needs is 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 eggs, and 2 sticks of butter.

 

Pumpkin Spiced Almond Butter (aka one of the best things I've ever tasted)

Found on this brilliant blog! The only changes I made was to reduce the baking temperature from 300 degrees to 275 (the first batch I made at 300 degrees and there was a hint of burnt taste) and also reduced the amount of canola oil added at the end from 1.5 tablespoons to a little less than 1 tablespoon. Adjust according to desired consistency.

Serving suggestions: on toast, in oatmeal, on crackers (or graham crackers!), in sandwiches, and definitely by the spoonful!

Measure 2 cups of raw almonds:

Spread almonds on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Add maple syrup and molasses.

Stir to evenly coat all almonds.

Bake for 30 minutes at 275 degrees, stirring every 10 minutes. Then take out of oven at let cool for at least 30 minutes.

I folded the parchment paper and poured all of the nuts into the food processor. I still managed to get crumbs all over my kitchen floor.

And the butterizing begins!

1 minute:

 2 minutes:

 3 minutes (large ball has formed):

 4 minutes:

 5 minutes:

Then I added the remaining molasses, maple syrup, canola oil, spices and salt.

Back to butterizing!

 1 minute:

 2 minutes:

 3 minutes:

 4 minutes:

Look at that deliciously smooth and drippy almond butter!

Transfer to jar. Then lick spatula, spoon, and anything else lucky enough to be covered in almond butter!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw almonds
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup, divided
• 1.5 tablespoons molasses, divided
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Spread almonds on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
3. Pour 2 T maple syrup and 1 T molasses on the almonds, stir so almonds are evenly coated.
5. Remove from oven and let cool (about 30 minutes).
6. Pour almonds into food processor and turn on. Process until nuts butterize (past the stage where a ball of dough is formed) - this will take about 5 minutes.
7. Add in 1 T maple syrup, 1/2 T molasses, spices and salt, and 1 T canola oil (if desired for consistency). Process again until smooth (about 3-4 minutes).

I first made one batch of this almond butter, and then when I realized how delicious it was, I went back for more. The second night I made four batches...every inch of counter space in my kitchen was covered in roasted nuts! I was excited to have a nut butter factory going on in my apartment, but Pat wasn't. He doesn't like nuts (with the exception of peanuts and pistachios) and especially doesn't like it when I trick him into eating nuts (like when I told him to taste the almond butter out of the food processor after promising it wasn't nuts - he wasn't too happy!).

I also learned that mixing all of the spices together in batches was a good time saver (since I left all of the butterizing for the final step):

Filling up the jars:

And a Holiday Drink:

This "white sangria" is made with 4 cups Pinot Grigio, 3 cups Diet Ginger Ale, 1 cup Cranberry Juice, and a few cups of fresh organic cranberries. Serve over ice and enjoy!

Merry, Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!