St. Paddy's Day 2012

Timmy and I just realized that this was our FIFTH St. Patrick's Day together. Wow. It was definitely our most laid back holiday, in that I spent a lot of the day working, and I had half a beer total, all day, but it was still pretty great. For the third year in a row, Tim cooked for me, and he really hit his stride this year.

Timmy prepping the carrots

Chef Timmy was in charge of the corned beef that he made in the crock pot with some delicious carrots and cabbage. And, to make something extra special, we also had butter potatoes! Yummm.

The beef, carrots, and cabbage hot out of the pan (hence the dreamy fuzziness from the steam)

 I was in charge of everything else, so I made Kale chips as a snack. I was surprised at how much Tim liked them, and I can't wait to make them again for us. They are possibly the easiest snack in the world to make--- take kale leaves, rip into bite sized pieces, toss with 1 tsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake on a sheet for 20-30 minutes at 300. (I really love them with seasoning blends from Penzey's like Turkish seasoning, or Mural of Flavor as well.)

I also made a Vegan Guinness Cake with a chocolate whiskey glaze. Because we ate so much corned beef, I only ate about three bites of the whole cake, but it was pretty darn tasty! Since the cake was vegan, it was nice to have the little extra something that the Guinness offered.

Also, just like last year, I baked Irish Soda Bread. It was extra delicious piled high with corned beef and cabbage. I also ate it the next morning toasted with butter and honey. I love how the sweetness of the raisins is counteracted by the savory caraway seeds, and this bread is the perfect texture. Plus it is so easy and requires no kneading or rising time, and it is pretty darn gorgeous.

I think my food coma lasted about three days, but it was definitely worth it. Happy St. Paddy's to all!

the whole spread

My adorable "Kiss me I'm Iowish" tee. :)

Warm Red Cabbage Salad

*** a week overdue, and out of order. 
What does one do with an entire head of red cabbage? One googles "red cabbage recipes" and finds a zillion different slaws and salads... and then one chooses the recipe that most resembles the contents of one's fridge.

Okay, I need to stop. Anyway, I had most of a giant head of cabbage left after last night's fish tacos and I am really against wasting food, so I decided to make something resembling this recipe from 101 cookbooks this evening for dinner.

Warm Red Cabbage Salad

• Most of a head of red cabbage; quartered, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1/2 white onion, finely diced (also leftover from fish taco night)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup great northern beans from a can; drained and rinsed (this was a last minute addition because I used the rest of the can earlier this week for a quick tuna salad lunch)
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• S&P
• fresh rosemary and parsley
• 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
• 1 oz chevre goat cheese, crumbled

Saute onion in oil and season with S&P. After a few minutes, throw in the garlic, raisins, almonds, beans, and fresh herbs (keeping some for garnish) and continue to saute. Add more S&P as necessary. As onions are becoming tender, put cabbage on top. Slowly and carefully toss cabbage with toppings. Cook about five minutes until cabbage seems to lose some of its edge, but so long it turns flimsy. Drizzle with balsamic and toss in serving dish. Garnish with herbs and goat cheese.

This salad was better than expected in flavor; however, it was quite difficult to eat. The cabbage was difficult to get with my fork. If I ever find myself with a large abundance of this veggie again, I would chop it into very small pieces, or even shred it so I could avoid this annoying situation. I might go for the balsamic/onion/rosemary/raisin/chevre flavor combo again though, because yum!