White Beans With Cabbage & Potatoes

No wait! Stay with me! This is actually an incredibly delicious meal, I promise!! When my roommate walked into the kitchen and asked me what I was cooking he eyed me dubiously but agreed to try some and has been converted!!

This is a super quick dish to prepare, very budget friendly and frankly as healthy or unhealthy as you care to make it! (Although perhaps one to avoid if you are prone to gas!!)

I'm a huge fan of vegetarian food and generally when I'm cooking for myself I tend to keep it meat-free. Ive been digging through some of my veggie cookbooks again as I try to inspire myself to get back into the kitchen more and stumbled upon this old favorite. It was perfect timing as I had some potatoes and cabbage that needed to be used. Ive mixed it up a little from the original recipe and in my opinion it is even more delicious now!!

Anyway, here's what you'll need:

• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 medium potato, cut into small cubes
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, finely sliced (which I actually didn't use today as, for once, we were out of shallots)
• 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• half a head of cabbage, finely sliced
• grated parmesan or pecorino

And here's what you do:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet or saute pan. Add the potatoes and season well with salt. Cover and cook until potatoes are cooked through and crispy, stirring a couple of times to make sure all sides are evenly crispy. This should take 5 to 8 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and shallot and cook for a minute or two.
3. Add the beans in a single layer and cook for a couple of minutes until the beans start getting a little crispy. Stir (carefully, or the beans will get mushy) and cook for another minute or two. 
4. Add the cabbage and stir in carefully. Cover again and cook until the cabbage is cooked to your liking, 2 or 3 minutes.
5. Serve garnished with your choice of cheese

Despite the simple list of ingredients, this dish has a lot of character. The crispy potatoes and cheese make it feel a little more decadent that it really is, and the beans and cabbage give it a healthy punch of protein and greens. This will be featuring a lot more often on my weekday lunch rotation!

You can easily adapt it to fit what you have lying around. No cabbage? I bet it would work well with leeks or chard or any other leafy green vegetable. No cannellini beans? I'm sure you have a can of some kind of beans lurking in the back of your cabinet. 

You could jazz it up with any fresh herbs you have lying around. Maybe some flavoured oil or butter instead of the olive oil? How about a wee pinch of chili flakes to give it a kick?

A variation I am keen to try is a brunch-ier version, starting with some cooked bacon then sauteing the potatoes in the leftover bacon fat, swapping out the cabbage for leeks or Brussels sprouts, then topping off with a fried or poached egg. Mmmmmm ..... I'll let you know how that goes!!

Confessions Of A Recipe Whore ....

(Or How I Learned To Cook)

What kind of cook are you? Can you wander into the kitchen, rummage through the fridge and cabinets and create a masterpiece? Or would you struggle to make scrambled eggs without a recipe?

I am very much the latter (and yes, I did get my scrambled egg recipe from a book. Don't judge, they're so much tastier now!!) 

Until I moved to the US in 2011 I didn't really cook. I had zero kitchen confidence and the last thing I wanted to do after a long day was get to work in the kitchen. Luckily for me my late husband was one of the aforementioned geniuses who could whip up a gourmet meal from nothing and we had a good arrangement where he took care of the cooking and I took care of the rest of the domestic chores.

Long before the move, though, I had started my cookbook habit. When I worked in the bank there was a book club that would drop by every now and then and leave a random selection for us to peruse. There would be everything from romances to thrillers, kids books, and occasionally a cookbook. 

Leafing through the delicious recipes I began to dream of being able to create these dishes and, with good intentions, I started my cookbook collection. The problem was I was too lazy to do anything other than read and drool over them!! It became an office joke that I was the proud owner of the most pristine cookbook collection in Glasgow - no bent pages or food splatter on my books!!

Once we moved to the States I had the luxury of being a housewife and with time on my hands I decided it was time for me to learn to cook. With my husband working hard all day, the least I could do was feed him when he got home!!

My main collection

I remember one of the first meals I made for him in the tiny kitchen of the temporary apartment we lived in for the first couple of months until we got settled. Surprisingly it was something I decided to make up - a pork and bean stew that I couldn't make again if I tried, and I have tried! I was very nervous about how it would turn out, and very happy when he walked through the door and told me he could smell the stew walking down the corridor and had hoped that it was coming from our apartment! 

Dinner that night was a resounding success, but that was the stretch of my culinary imagination, and my shiny cookbook collection, along with most of our possessions, was still in transit and not due to arrive for another couple of months. Thus began my new habit - recipe magazines! 

I started off with the Food Network magazine and Cooking Light, which had simple recipes that were suited to my skill level. Soon I was picking up any new foodie magazine I could find and clipping out anything that looked fun. I had to get a filing box to store and organise them all!!

Despite having an extensive amount of recipes to try, and the arrival of my books, it wasn't long before I picked up my third habit - recipe mailing lists. Bon Appetit! Epicurious! Serious Eats! Every time I saw a link to a new website or blog I would sign up, and at one point I was getting links to 40 or so recipes every day! 

Now, not all of these recipes were things I wanted to try but I was probably printing out 15 or 20 new recipes a week and adding them to my filing box. It was ridiculous! I had enough recipes to feed us for a good couple of years, but still I kept adding to the collection! 

No-one was more surprised than I to discover that I had a real passion for cooking, and people often don't believe that I have only been cooking for 4 years. Don't get me wrong, I mess things up as often as I get them right, but I don't think Ive ever made anything that was actually inedible!

Many people have asked me if I was bored being a housewife and the answer was always a very firm no! A large part of my perfect day was spending a little time looking through my recipes and deciding what to make, wandering round to the grocery store to get my fresh ingredients, then putting some music on and spending an afternoon dancing around the kitchen while I peeled and chopped. It was very therapeutic and rewarding to transform basic ingredients into something magical, even if the end result wasn't always quite as I hoped.

My overflow collection (not including the box in the garage ...)

I am prone to being over-ambitious in the kitchen now and love challenging myself. One of my greatest pleasures is cooking for friends, and one of my biggest downfalls is choosing to try something new and elaborate when I'm throwing a dinner party. Anyone who has attended one of my soirees has probably witnessed me running around the kitchen, exasperated, trying to get things finished instead of relaxing with my guests and a glass of wine. I should probably spend more time improving and perfecting dishes that I have already tried but I simply cannot resist the temptation to try something new! 

My cooking habits have changed over the last couple of years. When my husband was diagnosed with stomach cancer he completely lost his appetite. It seemed cruel to make myself something delicious when he couldn't eat it, and often just the smell of food was enough to make him feel ill. He passed away a few months later and I lost the will to cook - aside from the grief, it felt pointless to go to all that effort just for me. 

That was actually one of the reasons I started this blog - it was a way to try and motivate myself back in to the kitchen. I wanted to try and discover simple recipes that weren't a chore, or things that maybe took longer to prepare but would freeze or keep well in the fridge. My posts have been sporadic at best, but I am always looking for and trying new things with the blog in mind.

When I met my new boyfriend it was another incentive to get cooking again and it was fun to dig out some of my favorite recipes and make an effort in the kitchen again. He is also a huge foodie (and another of those bloody geniuses I spoke of earlier!) and loves to cook and I have enjoyed sharing the kitchen and trying new things as his cooking style is very different to mine. Perhaps I will feature some of his creations here in the future?

My mostly pristine recent purchases

Recently, I have managed to get the magazine and mailing list habits under control by unsubscribing to most of the lists and subscribing to a couple of magazines that are less about getting something on the table and more about gourmet cooking and improving your skills.

There is no end to the book habit though. There's always something new coming out and I just can't help myself! Amazon is a dangerous place to browse and they know me too well now - they keep emailing me with new releases and like a sucker I click on that link!

And before you ask, yes, many of these are just as pristine as those first books I bought over a decade ago! Although the problem now is not so much a lack of time or will to cook but too much choice! I love sitting down with a pile of cookbooks - old or new - and just reading through them like a novel. I get all inspired and excited, and then confused as I don't know what I want to make first!

I have considered choosing a book a month to work from, and while that would work with some of the more generic ones, I can't see my carnivorous boyfriend being too happy if I spend a month cooking from one of my many vegetarian books, or my waistline if I only made things from French Comfort Food!

My other passion - baking!

However I choose to do it, I am determined to dive into my books more and keep honing my kitchen skills, and hopefully a few of those recipes will be worthy of being shared here.

Oh, and I will definitely be buying more cookbooks - you can count on that!!!

Back In The Kitchen!!!

I was horrified today to discover that it has been nearly 6 months since I last posted in The Puuurple Kitchen!!

The main reason for the delay was that I moved house, therefor a lot of my kitchen stuff was packed up early (and who wants to cook when you're packing up a house?!), and then there was the inevitable time it takes to unpack everything at the other end and decide where it all should go.

We have moved to a considerably smaller kitchen and there have been a few teething issues as I have learned how to work in the new space. We are a little short on cabinet space, and as my BF and I are both huge foodies we have a lot of random kitchen appliances and utensils to find homes for, as well as a lot of duplicates. Fortunately our garage has plenty of built in cabinets so there is plenty of room for the overflow!!

I have still been cooking (a girl's got to eat, right?!) but a little less often and any new things I have tried haven't quite been up to sharing standards, or were tasty but the kitchen was too cluttered to take blog worthy photos in.

The delivery of a few new cookbooks, ranging from healthy vegetarian to French comfort food to Peruvian cuisine, has inspired me to get back in the kitchen and it has been fun! Although I'm not quite ready to share the recipes just yet, here is a little sample of what you can expect to read about soon.

I made these breakfast tacos this morning and they were amazing! Lightly mashed black beans with bacon smeared on a tostada and topped with avocado, sour cream, cheese and a fried egg. These were the tastiest thing I have made in a while and I wish I had been organised enough to take photos as they were definitely blog worthy! Don't worry though, these are sure to be a regular feature on our breakfast rotation so you shouldn't have to wait too long for the recipe!

I had a bit of a soupathon on Thursday (because what else do you make in the summer in California?!) First I made a Moroccan chickpea soup, which I must confess is still in the fridge. The combination of spices was a bit harsh for my palate so I will definitely be playing around with that next time, but I'm sure a dollop of yogurt or sour cream will cool it perfectly so I can eat this batch.

More successful, though, was the Italian cannellini bean soup I made. Light and fresh with hearty vegetables, and topped off with some cubes of bread and a few decadent shavings of pecorino. This is another dish that will be in the regular rotation!

I have dusted off my favorite quinoa salad recipe and have been giving it a couple of new twists. I love quinoa but I suck at cooking it. Occasionally I get it right and have perfectly fluffy grains, but more often than not it comes out fairly mushy. I'm working on some different cooking methods and hopefully I should have it perfected soon. This is my favorite salad EVER and I always make a huge batch and eat it for days. Not only is a great side dish for most meats, add a wee fried egg and it makes a delicious breakfast or lunch, and by itself it makes a nutritious high protein snack.

My biggest disappointment was the bacon and potato casserole that I attempted. Don't get me wrong - it was really tasty! Sliced potatoes layered with bacon and leeks, doused with cream and wine and topped off with Gruyere cheese - yum! The problem came from following the recipe which called for the potatoes to be cooked before they were sliced. Sadly my potatoes came out overcooked and would not slice so it was more of a chunky mashed potato casserole. It was still unbelievably good so I will look forward to trying that again soon!

Well, that pretty much covers the most promising of my latest kitchen experiments. I look forward to perfecting them and bringing you more details soon, along with any other culinary (mis)adventures that may transpire!

Until next time .... (but hopefully not in another 6 months .....!)

Easy Peasy Grits 'n' Beans 'n' Stuff

This is one of my absolute favorite things to make when I am cooking for one. Before I met my boyfriend I was probably making some variation of it 3 or 4 times a week!

I am a huge fan of vegetarian food and rarely make meaty dishes when I am fending for myself. I love beans - any kind of beans - and the combination of the black beans and avocado deliver enough protein to fill me up, and the cheese in the grits makes this meal immensely satisfying while keeping it very healthy.

I don't have an exact recipe for this as it is very versatile and changes slightly every time, but here is what I used today for my lunch.

First I made a wee salsa by finely chopping one jalapeno pepper, two Roma tomatoes, some red onion (I like a lot of red onion but you can use as much or as little as you want) and some finely chopped fresh cilantro. Mix in the juice of half a lime and season with salt. Alternatively you can use your favorite store bought pico de gallo or salsa.

Open a can of beans and pour all contents in to a skillet or frying pan and heat through.

Prepare your grits. For readers back home, grits are similar to polenta. I'm a bit of a cheat here and I use instant grits, but the whole point of this dish was to make it quick and easy for nights when I really couldn't face cooking so I don't feel too guilty! I simply microwave one packet of instant grits with half a cup of milk for a minute or so and hey presto! Stir in some shredded cheese - I usually use around a quarter cup. Season, taste, and add more cheese if necessary.

Today I served the grits topped with some beans, salsa and half a chopped avocado. Oh, and a good dollop of my favorite smoky tomato hot sauce! 

The possible variations for this dish are only limited by your imagination and your pantry. I usually use black beans but pinto also work well. My cheese of choice today was a mix of Colby and Monterey Jack but plain Monterey Jack or cheddar are also great, and I think mozzarella might be fun too. 

Not a fan of beans? Did your avocado turn black while you weren't looking? Not to worry, there are plenty of other protein options that work well. I have served it with a poached egg before and that was deeeeeeelicious! Some chopped bacon or pancetta, or maybe some chorizo would be a good meaty addition that still keeps things simple. I think I'm going to try it with some shrimp tomorrow - I'll let you know how that goes.

The other wonderful thing about this dish is that it can be as healthy or decadent as you want. I like my grits made with milk but you could substitute water to save a few calories. If calories aren't your concern you could stir in a knob of butter for a nice rich taste. You can also add as much or as little cheese as you want. 

The salsa and the beans will keep well for a few days in the fridge which makes this a perfect dish to make 2 or 3 days in a row, and it works equally well as a breakfast, lunch or dinner. Seriously! What's not to love?!?!

How would you personalise this dish ....?

Lemon Chicken with Green Beans and Potatoes

Here's a wee chicken dinner that was perfect to throw together for a Monday night. Simple ingredients, minimal preparation, and on your table in around half an hour. What's not to love?!?!

I always have packs of chicken thighs in my freezer, though I sometimes lack the inspiration to make something interesting with them. My default is my chicken with sherry and bacon which is utterly delicious but packed full of butter and bacon so not particularly healthy!!

The recipe serves 4 people, but I think that was a little off. I only had 3 chicken thighs but I left the quantities of the rest of the ingredients the same as you can never have too much sauce and veggies! I would definitely add a lot more green beans next time or maybe a second vegetable to balance the dish out. 

Anyhoo, here's what I used ...

• 12 oz baby red potatoes, halved
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 5 tsp all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
• 8 thin slices of lemon
• 8 oz trimmed green beans
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Boil potatoes in a medium pot of salted water until tender, around 12 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat a large oven proof skillet over a medium high heat and add 1 tsp of olive oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper then add to the pan, skin side down, along with the thyme sprigs. Cook until skin in brown, around 5 minutes, then turn the chicken over. 
4. Move pan to the oven and bake until chicken is cooked through, around 10 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
5. Return skillet to medium high heat and add remaining 2 tsp of olive oil. Add the potatoes, cut sides down, along with the chopped thyme and cook for 3 minutes, stirring once.
6. Whisk together the milk and flour in a small bowl. Add to the pan along with the stock, lemon slices and green beans then season. Simmer for 1 minute until sauce starts to thicken, then add the chicken, cover and simmer for another 3 minutes, or until the beans are cooked to your liking.
7. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve!

I love the clean taste of lemon to accompany chicken and this milky sauce had a lovely delicate flavor. I might consider upping the lemon quantity next time, and my testers last night both agreed that some capers would add an interesting layer to the sauce. 

The only other thing I would change is to either smash the potatoes up a bit or serve with some crusty bread to soak up more of the yummy sauce.

I hope you enjoy!

Pork Chops with Squash & Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette

Here's a yummy little number that is simple enough to throw together for a weeknight dinner but impressive enough to serve if you have company.

I'm not normally a fan of pork but I really enjoyed this combination, although I think next time (and there will definitely be a next time!) I will get thin chops rather than the thick ones as they were a little meaty overload for me.

This was a win for healthy eating without losing any of the joy as the zesty vinaigrette brought a lively zing to the otherwise delicate flavors of the pork and the squash. 

I really wanted to get acorn squash for this as I have never cooked with it before and it looks fun, but my local store only had butternut squash in stock. It was still really delicious with the butternut squash, and you could use whatever kind of winter squash you can find.

Here's what you'll need to feed 3 people

• 3 tbsp shelled pumpkin seeds
• 1 butternut squash, halved and cut into wedges
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 3 1" thick bone in pork chops
• 1/2 small garlic clove, finely grated
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread pumpkin seeds on a large baking sheet and toast for 2 to 4 minutes, until starting to darken. Let cool, then coarsely chop and set aside.
2. Toss the squash in 1 tbsp olive oil and season. Spread on a large baking sheet and roast, turning once, until tender, about 35 to 40 minutes.
3. Whisk the garlic, cilantro and lime juice with 3 tbsp olive oil and the reserved pumpkin seeds to make the dressing.
4. When squash has been roasting for around 30 minutes, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over a medium high heat. Season the pork chops and add to the skillet. Cook on one side for 5 to 8 minutes, then flip and cook for about 3 minutes more.
5. Serve the pork and squash drizzled with the dressing.
6. Eat and enjoy!!!!

I was a little concerned that with only the pork and squash on the plate the meal might be missing an element so I served some crusty bread on the table, but I was wrong as nobody even looked at the bread!

When making the vinaigrette you really need to taste and tweak to your own preference. The quantities I gave here were as listed in Bon Appetit but I played around and added some more garlic, lime juice and olive oil until I got it tasting the way I wanted it. 

Well, that's about all I have to say about this dish. Try it! Enjoy it!! 

Chile & Olive Oil Fried Egg with Avocado & Sprouts

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it can also be the most boring. Soggy cereal? Dry toast? They do nothing for me and always leave me starving an hour or two later.

My default breakfast is poached or scrambled eggs with a toasted muffin. Eggs seem to be the only thing that stops me snacking before lunch time so I am always looking for new and fun ways to prepare them.

I picked this recipe, quite honestly, because I had bought a pack of mixed sprouts on a whim last week and needed to use them up. I was very pleasantly surprised and now have a new breakfast in my rotation! 

Here's what you will need for breakfast for 2

• 1 cup mixed sprouts
• 1 tsp fresh lime juice
• Salt & pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 wholegrain tortillas
• Hot sauce
• 1 oz crumbled feta
• Avocado slices

1. Toss the sprouts with the lime juice, season then set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over a medium high heat. When the oil is hot, crack both eggs into the skillet and season. Cook until the eggs are cooked to your preference. Add red pepper flakes to oil and remove from heat.
3. Meanwhile, heat the tortillas in the oven or a toaster oven.
4. Pile the sprouts on to the tortilla, top with eggs and chile oil. Add the avocado slices, feta and your favorite hot sauce.

This was a tasty fresh way to start the day! The combination of egg and avocado packed a mighty protein punch which kept me going all morning, and frying the egg in olive oil made a nice change which kept it healthy while still feeling a little decadent.

For a heartier breakfast, or even lunch or light dinner, you could add crumbled chorizo or some beans. Maybe some fresh corn or salsa wouldn't go amiss either. There are loads of possibilities and I am looking forward to exploring all of them!!

One thing I won't be mixing up, though, is my choice of hot sauce! I'm not generally a fan of hot sauce - I find the flavor a little too sharp - but I am in love with this mellow smoked tomato one. Unfortunately, I bought it in a speciality hot sauce store in Austin so I am not sure how easy it will be to track down a replacement, but supplies are running low so I had better get on it!!