Avec Moi

I'm excited about this post...its truly "Indy on a Plate!"
Ted was working late the other night and I was feeling under the weather and not in the mood to cook. We gave up meat for Lent (we're still eating fish) so the usual take-out options (pepperoni pizza, Vito from Jimmy John's....meat, and more meat, respectively) wouldn't cut it. So I ordered take-out from the awesome place called Avec Moi in Broad Ripple. Why awesome, you ask? Because its owned by a woman who makes fresh, usually organic and local amazing dishes that you can order online and then pick up whenever you want. Her rotating menu normally has a meat, vegetarian and GF option, and you can add sides and even dessert. So I ordered her butternut squash lasagna and a side of wheat berry salad and basically looked forward to tasting it all day.

Sorry this picture is awful and clearly taken through my car, but you get the idea. Its in the building on 62nd and College, a block south of Broad Ripple Ave. If you're from the 'hood, you know this cream-colored building, you've just never been there:)

Front door

My food came in an adorable bag and came packaged with serving instructions.


The wheat berry salad was delicious, laced with golden raisins and pistachios to give it some good texture.

This butternut squash lasagna (made with squash from Seldom Seen Farms) was roll-your-eyes-and-moan good. You'll never miss the meat...the squash is meaty, and there's a rich white sauce with hints of garlic and rosemary.

PERFECT meal. Just what I needed--a nourishing, healthy meal that I didn't have to cook. Matched up with a glass of white wine, the day was set right again:) Try her out. You'll love it!

Skillet Cornbread

Cornbread is definitely a winter staple. I never really think about it during the other seasons, mostly because I just like to dunk it in steaming bowls of chili. I love it though, and I should really reconsider its "one-season wonder" status in our house. Another stumbling block is the fact that Ted likes his cornbread cooked so long its crunchy and golden on the outside, while I am firmly in the light, fluffy, crumbly cake-like camp.

My parents came up over Super Bowl weekend and I talked my dad into re-teaching me his cornbread method. I've watched him make it countless times over the years and have his emailed recipe saved, but somehow mine's just not like his. Maybe because part of his email instructions were "add buttermilk until it pours right." Until it pours right?! As I watched him make it this time, I discovered the discrepancy in our definitions of right. Dad's cornbread is better because his batter is wetter. More buttermilk=superior cornbread. That's really all you need to know!

Grady's Cornbread Recipe

Martha White Cornmeal Mix (it already has salt and baking powder added)
Baking powder (why, if its already in the mix? Not sure, but Dad said to add a pinch more)
Salt (again, see above)
Eggs
Buttermilk
Vegetable oil

The amounts really depend on what size skillet you're cooking in. My cast iron skillet is bigger than my dad's, so I use about 4 cups of cornmeal and 3 eggs. Dad's is smaller and he can get away with 2.5 cups of cornmeal and 2 eggs. The beauty of this recipe is, its not a science.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add in the beaten eggs and start whisking in buttermilk. Keep pouring until the batter is pancake-like and maybe a little wetter than you think it should be. That's where the moisture comes from once its cooked.

Another very important step is to put your skillet on the stove over medium heat with a good drizzle of vegetable oil. By the time you've mixed up your batter and go to pour it in, the oil is hot and it sizzles once the batter hits the skillet and creates a beautiful crust. Cook it at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (again, depends on the size of your skillet and how much batter) and take it out when the middle just starts to set IF you like moist, cake-like cornbread. Otherwise, leave it in a while until the top browns.

I made a batch of thinner, crispier cornbread and threw in grated sharp cheddar and diced green chiles. Dad made his famous, good ole' cornbread. I mixed up a honey butter on the side and we went to town on these during the Super Bowl.


Make yourself some cornbread while its still chilly outside!

Cranberry-Walnut Bark

Valentine's Day is almost here! In years past, Ted and I have made big fancy plans, with dinner reservations somewhere romantic and flowers and all that expensive, silly Valentine stuff:) Then came kids and a budget and schedules and a lot of it went out the window. But in its place came a much simpler and, in my opinion, much more romantic tradition: Ted makes one of my all-time favorite dinners and he goes ALL out! He whips up a mean (and by mean, I mean RICH, amazing, all-your-daily-calories-in-a-single-bite-but-screw-it) homemade fettuccini alfredo. Mmm! I'm already looking forward to it! However, this post is about dessert!

While perusing this month's issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray (yes I read Rachel Ray's magazine, so sue me), I came across this recipe for Cranberry-Walnut Bark. I get excited about short ingredients lists, and I get especially excited about short ingredients lists in which every ingredient is a staple in my pantry!

I decided to try it out tonight. I made a few minor adjustments to the recipe, but basically its just this:

Cranberry-Walnut Bark

Semi-sweet chocolate bar (I used dark chocolate chips instead)
Dried cranberries
Chopped walnuts
Coarse salt (I used sea salt)

I melted my chocolate in a double boiler instead of in the microwave....

...poured it onto parchment paper, sprinkled it with all of the toppings, and set it in the fridge for an hour. Break it up and you have this...

It's awesome. Salty and sweet and so, so easy! Perfect little Valentine's Day dessert, if you ask me:)

Quinoa with Lemon and Veggies

I've been making quinoa for lunches lately, and developed a pretty good cold quinoa/veggie "salad" that lasts all week if I make a big batch on Sundays.

Quinoa is awesome because its packed with protein, is a blank slate for whatever flavors you decide to add, and its gluten-free. Bolivia has this stuff coming out its ears, and in every variety you can imagine: white, red, pink, black, and its cheap. I've found that here, natural grocery stores like Good Earth and Pogue's Run have it in bulk which seems to be less expensive than buying the packaged bags at bigger grocery stores.

I won't give an exact recipe since you can add whatever veggies and amount or type of dressing you like, but here's the gist of what I've deemed Quinoa w/ Lemon and Veggies!

Soak your quinoa in a bowl of water for a few minutes and then rinse it in a colander. I believe there are exact ratios of water to quinoa when cooking (like rice) but I've found that covering the quinoa with water by about an inch does the trick. I used about 2 cups of quinoa, brought it all to a boil, reduced to simmer and covered with a lid. Mine was done in about 10-15 minutes and then you can fluff it with a fork.

I sautéed yellow peppers and zucchini. I also added grape tomatoes, chopped parsley and diced up a block of feta.


For the dressing, I whisked together the zest and juice of 2 lemons, salt, pepper and olive oil. Looks like a lot of dressing? It is, but that's because I dress it lightly and then keep the rest in a container in the fridge to add when I eat it so it doesn't get soggy.

Combine everything and voila! Its a great light lunch and also perfect to get into when the 3pm munchies hit.

I'm trying to be good this week with eating because I have a feeling when Super Bowl weekend hits, I'm going to be very, very bad!