Possibly because I’m going to see him LIVE at WRIGLEY in TWO weeks.

I’m a little excited.

But also because I was in the woods this past weekend.

And there are real, live ticks out there.

It was just what I needed. A break from the city (especially with NATO in town), no internet, and unreliable (and therefore unused) cell reception.

Some sun on the dock.

Plenty of family time.

Johnny Mathis and Frank Sinatra the way they were supposed to be heard.

Oh, and I ate a few (hundred) of these.

In case it wasn’t abundantly clear, I was in Wisconsin. Home of the cheese curd.

I am a self-professed city slicker (yup, I buy my salsa from Neeeew York Ceeeeety) and I sometimes forget how much I need down time away from public transportation, a restaurant on every corner, and Bravo.  So this was a good weekend.

But seriously, guys, the ticks. The ticks will get you.

Once the weather turns, the sun comes out, and the coats come off, it’s pretty amazing.

And it makes all the bundling, freezing, frost-bitten fingers worth it, in a way.

It’s sort of like lobster. If you ate it every day, you wouldn’t appreciate it as much.

My point is, I’m listening to emotional music on Pandora at the moment and it’s making me sentimental, so let’s move on.

I love Chicago.

And I love my grill.

Welcome back, old friend.

Here, let’s make a meal.

Asian Marinated Grilled Chicken
serves 4

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or whatever cut you like)
1/4 c soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
3 large cloves garlic
1 T sriracha (or to taste)
2 inches fresh garlic

1. Cut chicken into 4 portions, or into tenders if you’re short on marinade time. 2. Using the flat side of your knife, crush garlic cloves. Slip the skins off.
3. Using a knife or spoon, scrape skin off ginger and roughly chop. Place in a plastic bag with all other ingredients and allow to marinate in fridge for at least a few hours, or overnight.
4. Preheat grill over medium-high heat.
5. Place chicken on grill and discard marinade.
6. Grill on each side for 5 minutes (depending on thickness) until completely cooked.

Simple, kick-you-in-the-mouth flavor, minimal clean up.

I love grilling.

I’m glad it’s back in my life.

With the exception of fresh herbs and scallions. The damn scallions are always going bad on me.

That’s not to say that I always use my produce at its prime. I’m nowhere near being that organized. I’m not afraid of a slightly wilted piece of kale or a just barely soft potato. The way I see it is that as long as it hasn’t actually gone bad, it’s still better than creating more food waste, right?

(I know, I’m so green.)

Of course, this sometimes means that I have unattractive produce to deal with. I mean, no one likes an ugly vegetable.

Especially when you’re a weirdo who photographs her food for all the interwebs to see.

I’ve come up with a fairly excellent solution to the problem: ragout.

Ok, so technically a ragout is a kind of stew usually made with meat, but it’s really just a bunch of ingredients that are cooked together for a long time over low heat in some kind of sauce base.

And despite my love of France from whence this dish came, I made this an all-American version. Because I can.

All-American Mixed Vegetable Ragout
serves 1

2 oz sliced cremini mushrooms (any mushrooms will work)
1/2 cup yellow or sweet onion, chopped
1 cup kale, stems removed and torn into pieces
1/2 cup cauliflower florets, chopped
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 T yellow or Dijon mustard
1 T ketchup
1 t olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper
1/4 t garlic powder

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add mushrooms and onions and saute for 10 minutes. You want them to begin to develop deep color without browning or crisping too quickly.
2. Add cauliflower and saute until tender.
3. Add kale and chicken broth and saute until kale is wilted and broth is reduced by half, another 5 minutes or so.
4. Stir mustard and ketchup in and add seasonings.  Cook for another few minutes until thickened to your liking.

I  served my ragout as a bed for an over easy egg.

The ketchup and mustard might sound a little strange, and you could certainly sub in other sauces/condiments that you like better, but it added really good flavor and texture to the dish.

Plus it made me feel just a little bit like I was at a summer cook-out, so take that culinary purists.

And, of course, there was the runny egg.

And we all know what a runny egg will do for a dish.

Much prettier.

But it was also a good one.

I made a dessert.

I had dinner with my friend, Chrissy, last week and she made these “cheesecake” stuffed strawberries for dessert. It seemed easy enough for me to replicate (since it was no-bake…we all know I’m not a baker), so I copied her and made a batch for Mother’s Day yesterday.

I should really make desserts more often. Especially when they’re pretty easy and healthy like this one.

We told my nephews they were stuffed with whipped cream and they went nuts over them. Apparently they don’t think they’re fans of cheesecake but whipped cream they can get on board with. I love kids. They’re so easy to mess with.

We had a fun, drama-free Mother’s Day. My whole family got in on a rousing game of wiffle ball in my parents’ backyard and we all agreed that it was the most fun we’ve all had together in a long time.

We’re practically the Waltons.

And then we feasted.

Lobster is such a special meal for my family, so any time we all eat it together, I’m happy. And happy that I could celebrate Mother’s Day with my wonderful mom and sister.

And lastly, see that there “Recipe” tab? It finally happened. I now have a recipe page. I actually organized and posted a page with (most of) the recipes that I’ve written up on Braise The Roof over the nearly two years that I’ve been blogging.

So that means that I’m finally quasi-legit as a food blogger, right?

See? All good things.

I don’t love, however, when I look through a recipe that looks like it would be fantastic and find that I need a specialty jellyroll pan, a fondue fountain and a blow torch to achieve it.

I don’t have all that many fancy kitchen tools. I mean, I have a potato masher. It was a Christmas present.

I played with it for about 4 hours Christmas morning, ask my family. And I didn’t even cook that day.

So, when I found myself with a leftover zucchini from making these burgers, I looked to the interwebs for ideas.  There were several recipes for zucchini chips, but I noticed something: they all called for special equipment.

A mandolin.
A dehydrator.

I own neither of those things, not to mention, where in the Sam Hill would I put a dehydrator in my 1200 square foot apartment?

I DO have a knife. And an oven. And I even have a Silpat, which I realize makes me totally fancy. But parchment paper would work just as well, I promise.

Low-Tech Zucchini Chips
serves 1

1/2 large zucchini
1 t olive oil
1/4 t salt or seasoned salt
1/4 t garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 225°.
2. Slice zucchini into coins as thin as possible. Mine were anywhere between the thickness of a dime and a quarter and the thinner slices baked up better. This is where a mandolin would have come in handy, but I valiantly forged on with my regular ol’ knife.
3. Toss zucchini slices in oil and spread on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat (silicone mat) or parchment paper. Sprinkle with seasonings, going a bit lighter than you may be tempted to.
4. Bake for 40 minutes on top rack. At this point you can taste one to see if you need more seasoning.
5. Rotate pan and bake for another 35-40 minutes, until the chips are starting to turn golden and are curling up at the sides.

This really isn’t much of a recipe, I realize that. It would work equally well with radishes, beets, root vegetables, even potatoes.

My only point is that you can often easily adapt hoity toity recipes to work with what you have on hand, so don’t let the equipment requirements scare you off.

Unless, of course, you’ve been looking for an excuse to buy that shaved ice machine.

There isn’t a better day suited to comfort food.

Ah, the first Sunday in May.

There isn’t a worse time to be thinking about comfort food.

I really should be thinking about the rising temperatures and how I’m going to squeeze myself into a bathing suit come beach season.

So this past Sunday, I decided to compromise and make something that felt comforting but without using any heavy ingredients.

Creamy Mushroom and Kale Fusilli
serves 2

4 oz uncooked brown rice fusilli (or pasta of choice)
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
2 cups kale, stems removed and roughly chopped or torn
1/2 T butter
salt+pepper to taste
1/2 cup chicken (or vegetable) broth
2 T low fat milk
1 t cornstarch+1 t water
1/2 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/4-1/2 t red pepper flakes

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Heat butter in a skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Add mushrooms and saute for about 10 minutes. Do not salt at this point in the cooking process (the mushrooms will develop better color without the salt).
4. Add kale to the skillet, season with salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.
5. Pour broth and milk into the skillet and bring to a gentle bubble, then reduce heat to low.
6. Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl and stir until cornstarch is dissolved. Add to the veggie skillet and stir.  Allow sauce to thicken until it easily coats the back of a wooden spoon.
7. Add feta to the sauce and stir to allow the cheese to partially melt.
8. Drain pasta and add to the sauce, season with red pepper flakes and toss to combine well.

With brussels sprouts on the side. Obviously. Because we all know that those little cabbages are strangely comfort food to me, too.

My 12 year old self just shuddered.

I calculated the stats on this stuff and a serving only comes to about 330 calories and 10 grams of fat.  That’s a heckuva lot better than a creamy pasta you’d order at any restaurant.

And look how creamy!

Let’s just not talk about the whole “using cornstarch is cheating” thing. Because sometimes a girl’s gotta eat a cream sauce without actual cream. And this is America.

I’ve said it before.  As a matter of fact, I’ve said it enough times that I actually think it’s unintentionally becoming my mantra.

But you guys know I love the Cubs, and regardless of our less-than-perfect record (and the promise of plenty more losses to come this season…I’m a realist, I won’t deny that fact) I will still go to as many games as humanly possible.

Especially when this one hooks us up with seats that can be accessed through this tunnel:

Oh, no big deal. The seats weren’t THAT close.

Oh, wait. Yes they were.

When we walked up to take our seats I almost peed myself. THIRD ROW.

For a diehard Cubs fan like me who doesn’t have a lot of disposable income to devote to tickets, this was almost as good as Christmas morning.  So thank you, Molly.

The insanely rainy weather Chicago has been having over the last week or so even dispersed for a few innings and warmed things up at the field.  If you know Wrigley, you know that the field temp (without any sun) almost always feels a good 5-10° colder than anywhere else.  So the sun helped.

And the Cubs won!

And I got a hot dog!

As if there was any doubt.

Oh, and by the way, if you let your friends look at the photos on your camera and you are a food blogger and have recently photographed your hand holding a hot dog, your friends will absolutely think that you’re weird.

And maybe even a little pervy.

The things I do to document my life, I tell ya.

I have not a shred of Mexican heritage in my blood, but look- they’ve got good food down there.

And margaritas.

I realize how shallow it is to look forward to a day solely for the way it is celebrated rather than what it signifies, but…

I really like margaritas.

So in honor of the holiday, and because I need some vegetables to balance out aforementioned tequila drinks and enchiladas oozing with cheese (oh, did I not mention those? Well, they were implied), I threw this dish together.

Fajita Rice Bowls
serves 2

1/2 cup dry brown rice (or rice of choice)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup chicken stock or broth (or use vegetable broth to make vegetarian)
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced (I used a frozen bell pepper medley)
1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup zucchini, julienned
1/2 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
1 t olive oil
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t chili powder
1/4 t oregano
salt, to taste (I used about 1/8 teaspoon)
2 T plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
1 T mayonnaise (optional)
1 T favorite hot sauce (I used a Trader Joe’s brand), or to taste

1. Combine rice and broth in a pot and cook according to package directions.
2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat until almost rippling. Add all vegetables except for corn to the skillet and stir fry until they begin to develop some color.
3. Add corn and spices and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, until tender.
4. Combine yogurt, mayo and hot sauce in a small bowl, mixing well.
5. Once rice is cooked, add cilantro to the pot and fluff with a fork.
6. Spoon rice into a bowl, top with veggies and sauce.

This is not my most beautiful dish by any stretch of the imagination.

And then I went and mixed it all up to make it even less attractive.

I’m sorry I’m not sorry for that photo.

This is a great, simple way to make healthier Mexican food, and let’s face it- we could probably all use something healthy before this weekend.

PLUS, the Kentucky Derby is on Saturday! What is a girl to choose? Bourbon? Tequila? BOTH?

I’ll figure that one out after I finish my veggies.

It was during high school, and I decided that meat was not my thing.

This decision was highly disturbing to my parents, especially my dad, as both were raised (and had raised my sister and me) on almost any kind of meat that could be found.  My dad willingly eats liver and my mom dreams about the klub (Scandinavian blood sausage) of her childhood.

My fourteen-year-old self decided it was high time to publicly proclaim my separation from these yucky things. (To be fair, we mostly just ate beef and chicken. But still.)

Of course, becoming a vegetarian at the same age as a person could plausibly be expected to cook a full meal meant that my dad often told me, “I don’t know what to make you. YOU make dinner.”

Fine.

Maybe I will.

…but what?

It was at that time that I discovered the joy of homemade veggie burgers. One of my stand-by cookbooks had a wheat germ burger made with zucchini and mushrooms and it quickly became a favorite- not just of mine, but of my whole family’s.

Of course, these days I’m cheap and don’t have such things as wheat germ often laying around.  So I made some changes, added some spices, and came up with these beauties.

Zucchini Mushroom Burgers
serves 5

2 small-medium zucchini
3 oz cremini mushrooms, cleaned and finely chopped
1/2 small onion
2 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 eggs
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t black pepper
1/8 t salt
cooking spray
hamburger rolls

1. Grate zucchini (you should get about 3 cups worth) and onion with a box grater or with a food processor attachment.
2. Using a paper towel or cheesecloth, squeeze excess moisture out of zucchini and place in a bowl with onion, mushrooms, eggs, cheese, breadcrumbs and spices.
3. Form mixture into 5 patties, about 3/4 inch thick.
4. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Carefully place burgers in skillet and fry, flipping once, until golden, about 3 minutes per side.
5. Serve with condiments of choice on a roll.

I served these simply back in the day and that’s how I serve them now.  Some ketchup, a pickle.

Even though I’ve re-embraced my carnivorous ways, I still love these burgers of my past.

I just wish Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper was still on the air.

I took a short trip to Boston over the weekend for an alumni reunion and to catch up with old friends.  I shouldn’t say old…we’re not old. Yet. Right? RIGHT?

Anyway, what tends to happen when you have only 48 hours and almost as many people to catch up with is this:

-Dehydration
-Lack of sleep
-Random grab bag of meals
-(Possibly) compromised immune system
-General state of frazzle

The the meal of mac ‘n cheese at 2:30 am that I swiped from my friend’s fridge on Saturday is a pretty good indicator of how the weekend went.

I’m feeling a little draggy today as a result and am skipping a book club meeting in favor of crashing in sweats with a little trashy TV, ending with an early bed time tonight.

Oh, and some of this:

Because vegetables became suddenly sort of foreign to me over the weekend and I sorta missed ‘em.

It was all worth it to catch up with friends whom I hadn’t seen in years, though.

Besides, how can one enjoy the return of veggies until one has eaten cold mac ‘n cheese out of a tupperware container in the middle of the night?