Simple Pot Roast - or - Why I can't renounce red meat

I've never been much of a meat girl. Growing up, I barely ate red meats of any kind, regardless of preparation. Over time I've incorporated more vegetables, beans, and grains into my diet and, within the past few years, I've routinely reserved at least 3 vegetarian dinners in my weekly menu.

So, you can imagine my surprise when, after Sunday night's dinner of homemade pot roast, I felt like I had died and gone to carnivorous heaven. Could it be the influence of a certain book series that I'm reading? Perhaps, although, I don't think vampires have a preference for cows. More accurately, I think my ecstasy had to do with the fact that I hadn't eaten red meat in so long that I couldn't even remember what the last meal consisted of. For anyone who knows about my obsession with remembering food in detail, well, that's quite a shock. And, also, because I bought the meat from an actual person who raised the 7-bone. Knowing that I was eating locally supported meat makes the experience of eating it, in my humble opinion, thoroughly enjoyable.

I've never cooked a steak before, but 7-bones are so easy to work with since the only decidedly agreeable method of cooking it is to braise it, slowly, to break down all of its sinews and fat... also known as the reason why most people run away from red meat screaming "heart attack on a plate!" But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I was ignoring any prejudices. Thankfully, my plan worked and what resulted was what I can only describe as silken meat, with a side of savory veggies. For this recipe, the beef is showcased in all its visceral glory. Enjoy this with a robust red wine and leave your inhibitions back in the real world.

Simple Pot Roast
adapted loosely from Pioneer Woman's recipe

Serves: 6 as a meal, 8 as a side
Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Total time: 4 hours
1 Tbs olive oil
2 yellow onions, skinned and quartered
2 lb 7-bone chuck
kosher salt & ground pepper
4 medium carrots, washed and chopped into 3 inch pieces
1 C red wine (I used a Cabernet, which went perfect with the complete meal)
4 C beef stock
1 large sprig of fresh rosemary
2 large sprigs of fresh thyme

Warm a large dutch oven pot to medium, and preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Add the olive oil to the pan and sear the onions until slight charring appears on each side. Remove the onions from the pan, repeat this process with the carrots, and set the carrots aside as well. Generously coat the chuck with kosher salt and ground pepper. Sear on all sides and remove any fat from that pan that's accumulated. Set the beef aside.

Raise the heat to medium-high, add the red wine, simmer for a few minutes and add the beef broth. Then add the beef and vegetables back to the pot, and scatter the herbs around everything. Cover and place the dutch oven into the conventional oven for at least 3 hours, or until the beef starts to fall apart. Serve chunks of beef and vegetables alongside some mashed potatoes, and drizzle everything with the pot roast gravy.

Fun substitutions/additions: Everything tastes better with bacon! To add a spicy, salty punch, use chopped up pieces of bacon instead of olive oil and scale back on the sodium elsewhere by using low-salt beef broth. Also, most root vegetables go well with pot roast -turnips, squash- although I strongly recommend cooking potatoes outside of this dish because of its uncertain cooking time. Finally, you can substitute other hearty flavored herbs or use any combination of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

Do ahead: you can prepare everything the night before, even simmering the beef for an hour before refrigerating your roast overnight. The next morning, skim off any of the congealed goodness resting on top for a lesser fat version, and continue braising in the oven until beef is the desired consistency of silken meat.

White Bean and Corn Chowder

Technically, a chowder originated as a seafood based soup made with various chunky vegetables - potatoes, onions, carrots or other root veggies - simmered together into either a creamy or savory soup. Chowders tend to be more filling than an introduction to a meal, rather, they become the meal itself with crusty bread as an optional accompaniment. It's a versatile soup style that can highlight flavors from corn to chicken and everything in between, with the consistency of the liquid - something heavier than a broth - being the only consistent factor.

Here's my take on a hearty perfect-for-winter chowder. It's earthy, crisp and goes perfect with a big chunk of garlic bread and simple salad. The smooth, pureed beans negate the necessity to add any heavy cream to this chowder, although, a heaping dollop of sour cream might be the picture perfect topping.

White Bean and Corn Chowder

Serves: 6 as a meal, 8 as a side
Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Total time: 6 hours

1 lb bag of dried white cannellini beans

6 slices of bacon, chopped

3 large leeks: trimmed of roots and dark green stalks, sliced

2 quarts chicken stock

1 ½ Tbs dried thyme (or 2 tsp fresh)

1 ½ Tbs dried rosemary (or 2 tsp fresh)

1 C frozen corn

½ C fresh parsley, a few sprigs reserved

After picking them over for any stray sediment, soak the beans in a large bowl with at least 6 cups of water for at least 6 hours or overnight. Drain.

In a large stockpot over medium low heat, fry the chopped bacon until crispy and set aside on a paper towel. Add the leeks to the pot, sautéing them in the bacon fat until wilted and turning golden, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, thyme, rosemary, and beans to the pot and simmer everything together for about an hour, or until beans are tender. Take the pot off of the heat and, using a handheld blender, puree the mixture into a fairly smooth consistency. Stir in the frozen corn and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Just before serving, stir in the fresh parsley and garnish with additional parsley sprigs and a few crisp bacon bits.

Fun substitutions/additions: Of course, you could make this a vegetarian chowder by omitting the bacon and substituting the chicken stock with vegetable stock. This could also be significantly more time friendly by substituting four 15 oz cans of drained and rinsed cannellini beans, however, dried beans yield more flavor and are less expensive. As mentioned earlier, a dollop of sour cream or a few crumblings of blue cheese might finish this dish well.

roasted beet and couscous salad

Believe it or not, I have never eaten a beet before this summer. I have to thank my CSA share for the introduction of this completely underrated food. For the longest time I just looked at beets from afar at the grocery store, discouraged by its rough, dry exterior. When confronted with it in our share -which means that the food was prepaid for- I still remained hesitant to do more with than shred it over a salad or boil it as a side snack to accompany our meals. Once my daughter got a taste, she was hooked! So i simply had to find a way to make better use of this abundantly healthy root vegetable.

For those of you who lead a far less sheltered food life than I, I'm sure you'll agree that the secret to enhancing flavor -as with most other root vegetables- is to roast it! Roasting brings out the robust, metallic sweet flavor of beets like boiling or pickling never could. And roasting it, as with all other vegetables, makes it a perfect accompaniment to this flavorful couscous salad.

I've created this delicious, versatile dish after sifting through recipes for inspiration on what to do with my surplus of beets. The best thing about this recipe is that it meets my guidelines for any cooking: (a) it's low-maintenance, (b) includes ingredients I have on hand, and (c) is versatile.

Roasted Beet and Couscous Salad

Serves: 4 as a meal, 6 as a side
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour

4 medium beets scrubbed clean, ends trimmed
1 Tbs + 1/2 C Olive oil
1 Tbs freshly grated ginger
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or, to taste)
1 1/2 C chicken stock
1 1/2 C couscous
1/4 medium red onion, finely diced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced lengthwise
1 C cucumbers, diced into 1/2" cubes

Dressing:
1/4 C red wine vinegar
2 Tbs honey
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 C fresh mint, roughly chopped, plus a few whole leaves for garnishing

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Wrap each beet bulb in foil, and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until beets are slightly soft when pierced with a fork. Scrape off the loose skin after setting it aside for at least 10 minutes to cool, and chop into large pieces, about 2 inches wide.

While the beets are roasting, prepare the couscous. Using 1 Tbs olive oil, saute the ginger, cumin, coriander, and cayenne pepper over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add in the chicken stock. Once the stock begins to boil add in the couscous, stir to incorporate the flavors, then remove the saute pan from the heat and let the couscous sit for 5 minutes, covered.

To make the dressing, whisk together red wine vinegar, honey, salt and 1/2 C olive oil until emulsified. Mix in the chopped mint leaves.

To a large bowl, add the couscous, onion, tomatoes, cucumber, and roasted beets. Drizzle the dressing over the salad while continuously tossing and turning the salad. Garnish with whole mint leaves.

Fun substitutions / additions: If I had goat cheese in my 'fridge, small nubs of this most certainly have made it into the bowl. A mild Greek feta would also work well. I also think that roasted corn, scallions, and chopped boiled eggs might work as textural additions; basil or rosemary could be substituted for the mint; and whole grains like barley or quinoa would make an even healthier, heartier version. This salad is served well at room temperature, and abundantly better after resting in the 'fridge for at least an hour.

$50 a week: revised

so, i couldn't go more than 1 week without spending more than $50 on my food budget. we're healthy eaters around here, which means buying (mostly) organic and often spending 2x more on expensive products. i did scale back on the extra-foods (buying multiples of one item, just because it's on sale; buying anything luxury like cookies or a special fruit preserve). what i didn't do was compromise the complexity of a typical meal. here is what i came up with as a meal plan for the week (not including lunches/breakfasts):

Friday: teriyaki salmon, brown rice, sauteed cooking greens
[leftovers reused: none]
[CSA produce: cooking greens including kale, swiss chard, and garlic scapes]
[conventional purchases: soy sauce, brown sugar, orange juice, ginger]
[organic purchases: salmon*, brown rice]
*although there is technically no labelling for organic fish, I only purchase wild caught, dye-free salmon

Saturday: mostly unaccounted for since we had potluck food at a birthday party, although i did bring fruit salad
[conventional purchases: cantelope, watermelon]
[organic purchase: grapes]

Sunday: lemon & herb roasted chicken breast on the bone, spinach rice, orange slices
[leftovers reused: none]
[CSA produce: sage, thyme, oregano]
[conventional purchases: lemon, spinach, basmati rice, oranges]
[organic purchases: bone-in chicken breast]

Monday: leftover meal from Sunday, mixed greens salad
[ leftovers resued: chicken meat, spinach rice]
[CSA produce: mixed greens, fennel, cucumber]
[conventional purchases: see Sunday]
[organic purchases: see Sunday, plus grape tomatoes]

Tuesday: zucchini/summer squash casserole, plus mixed fruit salad
[leftovers reused: bread from calzones made last week, fruit salad from Saturday]
[CSA produce: basil]
[conventional purchases: zucchini/summer squash, sundried tomatoes, cheeses]
[organic purcahses: eggs]

Wednesday: meatball calzone, sausage/pepper/onion calzone, and mixed green salad
[leftovers reused: pepper and onions from spinach rice on Monday, mixed greens]
[CSA produce: onion, fennel, radish]
[conventional purchases: sausage]
[organic purchases: beef, garlic]

Thursday: mexican soup, bread, and fruit salad with mango and lime
[leftovers reused: bones from chicken on Monday to make stock, bread, fruit salad]
[CSA produce: mixed cooking greens, onion; thyme, sage, parsley for chicken stock]
[conventional purchases: beans, mango, lime]
[organic purchases: carrots, celery]

Total cost: $72.62
This cost includes the approximate cost of my weekly CSA, plus all staple items not mentioned in the meal plan (yogurt, milk, bananas, blueberries). It does not include the cost of items we consumed that I already have in-stock (flour, sugar, yeast, salt, cereal, and oatmeal].

What I've learned:
- We cut some costs by making our own breads (for the calzone, banana bread for breakfast).
- We also cut some costs by making things from scratch (spinach rice, non-instant oatmeal for breakfasts, chicken stock)
- Making everything from scratch takes only a little extra time, but mostly, lots of mindful cooking and planning
- One major way to cut time is to reuse items, and cook/prep items for a future meal while working on the current one.
- Fruit, in all forms, is quite expensive and probably should be cut back a bit.