The last time we were in Sam’s Club they had a 12 pack of organic andouille sausage for only $6.  I got really excited since I’ve recently discovered that organic pork doesn’t make me sick, and it was so cheap and could feed us for several meals.  I put most of them in the freezer but saved some out to play with.  I began surveying our fridge and pantry and decided to make jambalaya.  In case you didn’t know, Jambalaya is a Creole dish from Louisiana.  I believe it’s influenced by both Spanish and French cuisines.  It started as an attempt to make Paella with what ingredients were available.  I call mine Kapakahi Jambalaya because it’s created with what ingredients I had on hand and in no way authentic.  Kapakahi means “mixed up” in Hawaiian.

Read more

I’ve mentioned before that we try to eat vegetarian at least 2-3 meals a week.  It’s a great way to save money and it’s good for our bodies.  Often this means a pasta, stir fry or soup/stew that’s meatless.  But every week or two I try to have a multi-course meal with lots of different tasty vegetarian dishes.  This is even easier with all of our CSA produce we get every week.  So on Sunday evening I made a delicious 4 course vegetarian meal.  The first three courses were really all appetizers, but we often prefer several small dishes rather than a large one.  The first course was an incredible swiss chard soup.  I’ve never cooked with swiss chard before and as I nibbled at a freshly washed leaf, decided I wanted to try it in a soup.  I kept it pretty simple, and as I tasted the soup, decided that the final touch needed to be some goat cheese drizzled in.  Oh boy was it good!  This is literally my new favorite soup, I don’t know if I’ll make anything else with swiss chard.  (I’ve also tried it with chicken stock the next night, oh man it was amazing!)

Read more

Okay, if you look carefully, you may realize that this curry isn’t actually vegetarian, it has scallops in it. See, wanted something to use up my kale, and thought that a curry would be perfect. But because of Eric’s first reaction to my using kale in a vegetarian meal, I didn’t want to risk that again and thought I’d throw some chopped scallops in. That was fine, but we ended up not even tasting the scallops, they were just some extra chewiness. So, I’m adding this to my list of vegetarian meals because it’s delicious and I’ll definitely make it with just the veggies next time. By the way, Eric loved it and said “the gross green stuff is actually really good in this!” Hooray! Another great way to get some new healthy veggies in our diet. (By the way, don’t toss the pepper tops, kale stems, or other veggie leftovers. Put them in a ziploc bag in your freezer, I’ll tell you why soon!)

photo from importfood.com

Eric and I love curry, and previously I’ve made it from scratch Sri Lankan style using a bunch of different spices, which is really good. Now I save myself a lot of time by using Thai Red Curry Paste. This stuff is so good, I don’t get the 14 oz jar, I got the 2lb tub! (Quite cheap at Cash and Carry) It’s good enough that you can use just it and coconut milk, but I always like to add things, it makes me still feel like a chef I love my citrus so I often add a variety of lime juice, lime zest, or lemongrass (I use the kind from the tube since fresh lemongrass is an hours drive away). I also always add garlic and sometimes some grated ginger. You can use a variety of vegetables and it’s so easy to make. We like ours with steamed rice.

Vegetarian Curry with Kale
serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS Thai red curry paste
1/2 tsp chopped lemongrass
2 cloves garlic minced
1 red onion chopped
4-5 kale leaves
1 19 oz can of coconut milk
1 yellow bell pepper sliced
juice of 1/2 lime

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a pot and add curry paste, lemongrass and garlic. Mix well sauteing for about a minute. Add chopped red onion and saute another couple minutes until onions begin to caramelize to bring out their sweetness. Meanwhile tear small pieces of kale from the tough stem.

Add the kale to the pot, stirring for a minute, then pour in coconut milk and add pepper slices. Allow to boil slightly for 5 minutes, stirring occaisionally. Add lime juice and test if kale is softened. Once it has you’re ready to serve it over steamed rice.

My last few years in Hawaii were tough. Actually most of my years in Hawaii were tough! It’s an expensive place to live and I went through a lot of difficult situations. But my last couple years I had a string of crazy accidents that seemed impossible (breaking my foot jumping up and down, hitting a junkie who ran in front of my car and having him chase me with a knife, getting stabbed in the stomach- not by the junkie, getting cut to the bone under my eye by a window shade, etc).

I really would not have gotten through all these things without the support of some wonderful friends who really are like family. One of these people was Denise Silver.

The Silver family is a military family who went to Hawaii Kai Church. They had high school and middle school age kids who I absolutely adore. They adopted my into their family, fed me, loved me and really filled that void left by not having any family nearby. They even had me stay with them when I broke my foot! Denise was my “Hawaii Mom” and loved to fill my belly with home cooked meals when I couldn’t afford groceries and didn’t have a kitchen in my ridiculously tiny apartment.

One of my favorite meals she made was “Green Chile”. I don’t have her recipe, but I experimented around and this reminds me of it, and so reminds me of her.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 Chicken Thighs
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 2 habanero peppers, seeded and minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 carrots, chopped
• 5 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes with green chiles
• 3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Bake thighs in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. When done, shred using two forks (much easier if you wait until they’re cool). Fill a large pot with 8-10 cups of water. Add spices (cumin through basil) and bring to a boil.

Add chicken to the pot and add the green chile peppers, habanero chile peppers, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, tomatoes and potatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender. In a separate small bowl, mix the flour with some water and add to the soup, stirring well so the flour does not clump. Raise heat, bring just to a boil and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I like to mix in a spoonful of sour cream for each serving and serve with tortillas. It’s delicious!