Whole Grains

First Summer Squash of the Year & the Last of the Sugar Snap Peas

21 July 2011 by Jean Johnson
Letting the seasons change what's on your plate is such a groove. Tonight it took the form of flash cooking a just-pulled cippolini onion from last fall's planting, a minced clove of garlic, whole sugar snaps, a green and yellow zucc sliced off on the diagonal, and a chop of ...

The Green and The Gold–Plus Jimmy Crack Corn

18 June 2011 by Jean Johnson
It started when Linda stayed in my 2 room b&b over the weekend. I made Polenta Waffles that are always a hit. Linda went on to the next leg of her vacation, but as so often happens, I'm on a roll. That's how it happens when you're a basically lazy, ...

Peasant Food Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This

19 May 2011 by Jean Johnson
One bowl meals. It's how to turn gorgeous food out on a dime. A dime of both time and money. In this case, there were leftover French lentils and quinoa in the fridge--so into the bowl they went with some jarred roasted red peppers, a pear from the season's end, and ...

Quinoa = Ultrafast + Delish + You the Boss

2 November 2010 by Jean Johnson
Here's how ultrafast cooking works in my hippie kitchen. In the morning when I'm having breakfast, I steam up a pot of quinoa. This grain cooks in 10 minutes and has the highest protein of them all. I leave it sitting out at room temperature and then when dinner comes ...

Beans and Rice are Nice & Tidy–In a Loaf

9 June 2010 by Jean Johnson
Not much to say here other than enjoy this vid on mixing up a bean loaf. There's even an afterthought on one of my favorites, spaghetti squash.

Red Quinoa Tabbouleh

25 March 2010 by Jean Johnson
Grow Your Own, the third book in the measurefree kitchen companion trilogy is underway. Here's one from the Leafing Out in Spring chapter. One secret of this take on tabbouleh is making it the way they do in the Levant--where as my friend Rula Awaad-Rafferty observes, “it’s about the green, ...

Make Homemade Bread and Skip the Therapist Couch

16 March 2010 by Jean Johnson
You wouldn't think a post on homemade bread would include former husbands and cat, but what can I say. It all comes down in three-part harmony. So here you be--a three-part vid on me making it, a focaccia recipe and photos straight from the pages of Hippie Kitchen. Don't know ...

Rock & Roll with Hot Chile Cookies

17 December 2009 by Jean Johnson
The chile absolutely makes these cookies. Red chile flakes are such an affordable, easy boon to cooking. I use them so much that they sit out on my cutting board by the cinnamon and salt pots. Not surprising that they found their way into these sweets. Spice plus sweet. An equation ...

Laura Gets It

27 November 2009 by Jean Johnson
Healthy, thrifty, delicious, and green. That's the whole point behind measure free. The idea that if we quit being slaves to paint-by-numbers recipes we'll be likely to cook more, eat well, be healthy, and save a bundle on the food bill. So at the end of the day, it's not ...

Rolled Ups (Crepes) for Mother’s Day

8 May 2009 by Jean Johnson
Crepes if you must, but as in the recipe below from Cooking Beyond Measure (page 38), we just call these easy babies Rolled Ups. Crepes have an aura of being special--and hard to make. Special, yes. But au contraire on the latter. For those who really think crepes are beyond them, ...