Girl Friday

Potato Kale Soup

This is the soup I whipped up on Sunday with an hour to spare before heading to Lyndale Tap House to host trivia. It was so easy and so incredibly good (courtesy of a generous portion of garlic, I think) that I thought sharing was a good idea. This soup is addictive; I ate no fewer than 2 bowls in one sitting.

Yukon Gold potatoes are pretty much the only potato I buy. They're not too starchy, a little waxy and cook up nice and creamy. I never miss the heavy cream when I make mashed potatoes with them, and I skipped the cream for this soup, too. My preferred sauteeing mixture is half butter and half olive oil, but replacing the butter with more olive oil will make this soup vegan.

Potato Kale Soup
© 2011 by Alexis McKinnis
Yield: 6 servings

5 Yukon Gold potatoes, cooked and riced*
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch kale, chopped
1 cup water, divided
2 cups vegetable stock (I Use Edward & Sons Not-Chick'n)
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high until butter is melted. Add garlic and onions and sautee until soft. Remove from skillet using slotted spoon or skimmer, keeping as much fat as possible in the skillet. Add kale to skillet and sautee until soft and dark green (add a little more olive oil if necessary). Remove from heat and set aside. Blend sauteed onion and garlic with 1/2 cup of the water until smooth. In a large saucepan or stockpot, heat stock to a simmer. Stir in riced potatoes, onion mixture and kale and remove from heat. Thin with additional water if desired. Season with salt and lots of black pepper and serve.

*I use my microwave. Poke holes in unpeeled potatoes, cook on high until tender (checking every minute or so) and rice. The skins won't pass through the ricer so you don't have to bother peeling the potatoes.

Don't Worry

I'm still here!

This summer is about 75% busier, workwise, than last summer, and that seems to go for just about everyone around me. While I'm happy this means we're all gainfully employed or at least involved in professional projects, it also means I have less time to cook, eat and shop.

Actually, I don't know how anyone can eat in this heat. I've been slurping smoothies at home and merely picking at appetizer plates when I'm out. This has been breakfast every day lately:

1 banana
1/4 frozen blueberries
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon raw honey

It's an awesome smoothie, full of vitamins and protein.

Sh*t, well, I'd type more except my friend Kyle just called, demanding I go out on the lake with him for a couple of hours.

What's everyone been up to this summer? Anyone else busy as hell?

Cactus Salad

I posted a Twitpic this afternoon to help lure my dear friend and neighbor, Ben, to my apartment for lunch. I made cactus salad and tortilla soup for us, but Ben was taking his sweet time and my soup broth was getting cold.

My photo caught the eye of Sheena instead, who spied the plates of cactus salad. She's recently come home from a trip to Playa Del Carmen where she ate cactus every day. Sheena's still craving it and wanted to know where I buy it, and if I could recommend a recipe.

I buy fresh cactus paddles year-round at Cub Foods in Fridley. If there are a lot of Latinos in your neighborhood, chances are you can find it at the Cub closest to you, as well. If your local mercado sells produce, they will most likely have cactus, too. The mercado in my neighborhood on 18th & Central actually cleans, cuts and bags them for you, but I don't mind a little extra effort and it's quick work.

To clean cactus, run a sharp knife (a paring knife is great, my Wusthof 6-inch sandwich knife is a badass here) all the way around the paddle to remove the edges. Then, run the knife flat along each side to remove the rest of the spines. It's been a decade or two since I've fileted a fish, but I recall the movement being similar. Rinse the de-spined paddles and you're ready to cook. For the visual, this short YouTube video is a perfect demonstration.

Cactus is incredibly nutritious, full of fiber and lowers the glycemic effect of meals. It's an abundant food source and can be prepared in endless ways. I have a few favorites, but here is a basic salad. I like to make a batch and keep it covered in the fridge; the roommate and I nibble at it, little plate at a time, for a couple of days until it's gone. She likes to scoop it up with fresh corn tortillas. If I have any feta crumbles in the fridge, I'll top my salad with a spoonful.

Ensalada de Nopales (Cactus Salad)
© 2011 by Alexis McKinnis
Yields about 5 cups

4 large cactus paddles, cleaned and cut into 1/2" x 2" strips (about 4 cups)
1 whole serrano chile, slit on one side
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
pinch baking soda
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped to make 1/3 cup
1/4 cup high-quality cider vinegar (I prefer Bragg's)
1/4 cup sunflower or canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a stock pot, bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add cactus strips, whole serrano, garlic cloves and pinch of baking soda. Boil 20-25 minutes, until cactus is tender. Drain and rinse under cold water, and discard the whole serrano. Pat excess water with paper towels. In a large bowl, combine cactus and garlic with all other ingredients and toss well. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

You'll notice that fresh cactus has a slightly slimy texture to it, like okra. It also must be cooked thoroughly to get rid of the slime, and that pinch of baking soda helps immensely.

Cilantro haters: Fresh oregano is also delicious in this salad.

If you're in a pinch for time or can't find fresh cactus paddles, you should be able to find a jar of Doña María prepared nopalitos at the grocery store. Be sure to discard the cooked onion and chile in the jar, rinse the cactus thoroughly to get rid of some of the brine, then go easy on the salt.

As I get more recipe testing done, I'll post more things to do with cactus, including my absolute favorite (and the one that brings all the boys to my yard), cactus tacos.

5 Valentine's Day Love Notes

I've been going to a chiropractor the past month after a pretty bad car accident on New Year's Eve (more on that in the next post). He gives me "homework" after each adjustment; do this exercise when you wake up, document your pain level at this time of the day, et cetera. Today, being Valentine's Day, apparently warranted a special homework assignment. I was given the task of writing 5 Valentine notes before the end of the day, so here we go.

1. To my nephew, Julian: I love you. It sucks that we're no longer a 15-minute drive apart, but I think about you approximately 50 times a day. Now that I'm working 5-6 nights a week and always on the weekends, it's tough to make time to drive up to North Branch to see you. But know that you'll always be my little buddy.

2. To my Vita.mn readers: You're the best. Thanks for putting up with some pretty mediocre columns since my accident. January was a truly horrible month for me personally, and the damage done to my neck and spine is no small part of that. Again, I'll go into more detail in my next Girl Friday post, but I will say here that the injuries have really affected my ability to write. It's not just physically painful, but it's often just plain difficult due to the type of nerve damage I have.

3. To my Ford Fiesta: I never thought I could love a car the way that I love you. That goes for my first Fiesta that was totaled in my accident, as well as Fiesta 2.0 that I bought last month. You're little, so you can fit in any parking space, which is awesome for someone who sucks at parallel parking. You get like 25 miles to the gallon in the city, so I don't have to spend too much time doing one of my most-hated activities: pumping gas. And your premium sound system rocks my face off.

4. To Prairie Ale House: Unlike the others, I don't just love you for your cheese curds. I love you for having a vegetarian soup option every day (soups courtesy of Chef Seth Bixby Daugherty as of late), I love you for making the best black bean burger I've ever tasted, I love you for stocking real English cider and I love you because I get to see AJ, Chad, Brad and Joe whenever I stop in.

5. To my Shuga: Because, to paraphrase myself, it would be dumb to not acknowledge you today. You might not even see this post, but that's okay. I gave you an earful on the street in front of my house yesterday, and I meant every word. I love being around you and it makes me feel good to do things for you. Things I won't mention here because my mom reads this.

 

Recipe: Veggie Menudo

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! I hope you have something fun and glamorous planned for the evening, which will keep you off the slick streets and sidewalks. I left the house last night right before the wind started and, by the time I got home 45 minutes later, my front walk was a skating rink and my storm door had frozen shut.

Since I mentioned making veggie menudo on Facebook and Twitter a few weeks back, I've been asked for the recipe countless times. I'm happy for the interest; this is one of if not my favorite vegetarian reverse-engineered projects to date. This soup cooks up relatively quickly once the prep is done, and it's even better on days 2 and 3. It's best served with griddled warm corn tortillas. I also folded some Monterey Jack into the tortillas to make quesadillas.

Vegetarian Menudo
© 2010 by Alexis McKinnis
Serves 8

2 Tablespoons oil, divided
8 ounces prepared textured vegetable protein or vegetarian sausage*
4 ancho chiles
1 white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 Tablespoon ground coriander
2 Tablespoons Mexican oregano
4 cups vegetarian mock beef broth**
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
1 29-ounce can hominy, drained
Kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn
Salt to taste (I end up using about 1/2 teaspoon)

Garnish:
2 limes, cut into wedges
3-4 serrano chiles, minced
2 Tablespoons Mexican oregano

Tear chiles into large pieces, removing stems and seeds, and place them in a heat-proof bowl. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the chiles to cover them, loosely cover bowl and let sit for 30 minutes until chiles have rehydrated. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tablespoon oil over medium-high heat in medium skillet. Fry TVP or sausage 8-10 minutes in oil, until brown and firm, and set aside. Once chiles have rehydrated, combine them, the 2 cups water they were in, onion, garlic and tomato in blender and puree until smooth. In large stock pot, heat 1 Tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Fry the chile puree 8 minutes (careful, this will splatter). Add cumin, coriander and Mexican oregano and cook 2 more minutes. Add the broth, garbanzo beans, hominy, corn kernels and 1 cup of hot water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in TVP or sausage. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with limes, chiles and Mexican oregano to garnish.


*Morningstar or Boca crumbles work great here, but I prefer to use Field Roast Mexican Chipotle vegetarian sausage, which tastes damn close to chorizo and can be found at Whole Foods. My next reverse-engineered project is to make my own.

**I strongly prefer Edward & Sons No-beef Bouillon, which can be found at Whole Foods.

 

Eat Your Vegetables!

Anybody catch this story in the New York Times?

Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

This is a serious health problem in our country right now, and I'm sure everyone is aware of it. I was talking to my dad on the phone yesterday and he said his only vegetable intake is V8 and cole slaw. As horrifying as this was to hear, what's worse is that so many Americans get even fewer vitamins and nutrients because of intentionally poor eating choices. And then they wonder why they fall ill or have chronic health problems. The body needs whole foods to maintain and heal itself. Our reliance on western medicine instead of real medicine is making us unhealthy (not to mention broke).

Case in point, maybe you saw this in Sunday's Star Tribune:

'Little Purple Pill' is Under Microscope

The article is about the over-prescription of heartburn drugs. Doctors hand it out like candy, for just about anything these days. I've experienced this; I had seasonal allergy-related asthma 2 springs ago to the point where I thought I needed an inhaler. Instead, the doctor gave me a pack of Prilosec. I thought he was crazy, but it turns out this is pretty common. Prilosec in particular made $13.6 billion for its manufacturer last year. But one study in 2005 and another this year concluded that the drug is prescribed 53 to 69 percent of the time "for inappropriate indications."

That's insane!

But back to the topic of vegetables. What do you do if you hate vegetables? Well, first of all, nobody hates vegetables, that's ridiculous. Sure, almost all of us have at least one vegetable aversion, but to swear off everything that grows under the sun is just silly. I find fussy eating in adults to be a particular turn-off-- after the age of 9, shouldn't you stop rejecting half of what's put in front of you? Even I'm guilty of discriminating against several members of the root vegetable group, but I can choke down a carrot if it's done right and I always give new preparations a try.

Sometimes our eating habits slip ouf of whack and we end up eating PB&J for breakfast and pizza for dinner, for days on end. Whenever this happens to me and I can't seem to get myself to crave veggies, I remember my friend Christian's advice that he gave me a long time ago: Aggressively start eating vegetables, as much as you can in each sitting, and after only a couple of days, your body will be craving them at every meal. It totally works every time. So what are some ways to make sure each and every meal, and even snacks in between, are full of vegetables? Also, let's not forget fruits. While you should eat more vegetables than fruits, it's still a good idea to include both.

• Buy a juicer. I know they're not cheap, but guess what? It's cheaper than the cost of all that produce that rots in your crisper drawer over the course of a year. If I know Macy's, they'll have juicers on sale starting next month through Christmas. You can get a really good one for around $100. Juicer recipes for vegetable and fruit blends are everywhere online, and every juicer I've seen comes with a recipe booklet.

• Use the pulp from juicing vegetables as filler for richer dishes. The Sneaky Chef has brilliant recipes for various colors of vegetable puree and recipes showing how to incorporate them into things like macaroni and cheese, chili and lasagna. Though she cooks the vegetables first then purees them, you can just as easily cook raw vegetable pulp and puree that.

• Order salad ahead of your meal. Give up on buying salad fixings at the grocery store if you never get to it before it goes bad. You’re only wasting money. But if you order salad or vegetable soup before your entrée at a restaurant, you’ll eat it all. Why? Because you’re hungry! If you prefer soup, stick to the vegetable ones with no meat or stock (minestrone, tomato basil, etc.)-- many restaurants will have that option. (I had an amazing brothy, tomato, greens and black-eyed pea soup at Gardens of Salonica yesterday ahead of my eggplant moussaka.)

• Go ethnic. With the exception of perhaps South America, cusines in other parts of the world are mostly vegetables and grains, with meat occasionally thrown in, if at all. Curries, stir frys, fried rice, and other one-pot meals all center around flavorful vegetables and spices.

• If you love it cooked, eat it raw, and vice versa. Broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables. I love it raw, dipped in blue cheese, and I also like it roasted with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper flakes.

• For a cheap lunch on the go, my top choice is the #6 JJ Unwich at Jimmy John's, half mayo, half mustard. It's the vegetarian sandwich (provolone, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, avocado) but wrapped in 2 giant lettuce leaves instead of a white bread roll. It's literally a salad in convenient, eat-while-driving, sandwich form. Amazing!

What else? Any other veggie lovers out there have any tips on how to incorporate vegetables and fruits into every meal? I'm admittedly not a huge fruit person, but I do always have bananas around for blending into smoothies (with strawberry yogurt and Odwalla Mango Tango juice, yum) and slicing over cereal when I eat cereal. I like dried fruits and usually have a bag of dried apricots and/or raisins around. Raisins in particular taste delicious when mixed with raw almonds; I eat a handful of that for breakfast every morning. And I'm trying to get in the habit of buying whatever fruits are on sale for the week and incorporating them into fresh juices. I'd forgotten my roomie has a nice juicer so it's been dusted off and is starting to get a regular workout again.

In Season by Don Saunders to Open Early November

Yay, Typepad let me log into day! Seriously, you guys. One of these days I'll stop complaining and actually fill out a help ticket. Although I can see some very slight tweaks in the design as I'm typing right now, so maybe the site just got a little upgrade.

Anyway, I got this in my inbox last week and got very, very excited. My love for the cuisine of Chef Don Saunders is well documented here on Girl Friday. I'm thrilled that, after the closing of our beloved Fugaise in March of last year, Don is opening In Season:

Critically acclaimed local chef Don Saunders is opening a new restaurant in South Minneapolis. The restaurant, which will be called "In Season," is scheduled to open sometime in early November at 5416 Penn Ave South (the former Armatage Room space).

Congratulations to Chef Don on his new venture!

After the Summer of Amazing, I'm getting back on track with the cookbook. I made a superb three-squash soup earlier this week and will post that recipe in the next day or two. My weeks are staying pretty busy thanks to the trivia and bingo gigs. Come on down and say hi one of these nights:

• Sunday: Trivia at The Lyndale Taphouse 7:30pm (we may be pushing it back to closer to 9:00pm soon)

• Monday: R-rated Trivia Mafia at Nomad World Pub at 9:00pm

• Tuesday: BARGO (that's bingo at the bar) at The Lyndale Tap House at 9:00pm

Always free to play, always good prizes, always a good time.

 

From the Department of Wah-Waaahh

Caloric value and fat content of all your favorite foods at the Minnesota State Fair.

I better not see another article like this again, Star Tribune.

Pepsi and Pakora

I've been a little off the grid lately, my apologies for that. Sometimes life just presents you with so many more fun things to do than sit down at your laptop for more than a few hours a week. Perhaps there's something going on in my life that may be of interest to you? Let's see:

What I'm wearing:

MAC Opulash mascara is awesome. In addition to adding more volume and length than Diorshow and being clump-free, it also comes off sooo easily. It almost slides off your lashes in pieces; no raccoon eyes when using remover, not even in the morning if you forget to take it off before bed.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On eye pencil. Holy crap, you cannot bust this stuff. It has way more staying power than MAC pencils, not to mention any drug store brands, even on the waterline. Somehow it still magically comes off easily with remover towelettes.

I've gotten so many compliments on the green Red by Ecko handbag I bought at Macy's this winter that I decided to explore the line a little bit more. Who knew this company made such cute and affordable bags, and that they're all leather-free? I bought this black handbag this week at DSW with my latest Rewards certificate. I don't think the photos do them much justice; they are super adorable.

What I'm eating:

The sweet and spicy burger at Mac's Industrial (with a veggie patty, of course). I can't get enough of this thing. It's the ultimate indulgence, with melted cheddar, barbecue sauce, pickles (key to anything covered in barbecue sauce) and a pile of spicy onion straws. Served with your choice of Mac's 19 different sides. I'm currently stuck on the cucumber salad, which is fat chunks of cucumber and tomato tossed in a tangy and sweet vinegar-based dressing. If you've never thought to stop in and grab a bite to eat here, do it. Not only is the full menu available 'til 2:00am every night, but there are a ton of options and everything is good. Well, nearly everything. They put the shredded lettuce inside the quesadilla before they grill it, which results in warm, soggy strings of lettuce, which kind of grosses me out.

Gandhi Mahal continues to make sweet love to my mouth and belly every delicious time I visit. I don't know what they do as far as meat but, for vegetarians, this is the best Indian restaurant in the Twin Cities. If you don't agree with me, I challenge you to a sitar-off. Also, for those who complain that local ethnic restaurants tone down the spice for the Midwestern American palate, try Gandhi Mahal. Start with "medium" and don't say I didn't warn you. I was there with my friend Ben earlier this week and had my favorite, aloo begun, as well as the mushroom paneer on the seasonal menu (I've been trying to replicate the aloo begun for a while now with little success and it's really starting to frustrate me). Both were spicy, fragrant, slightly creamy perfection.

Throwback is back! Pepsi, Mountain Dew and my beloved Dr. Pepper. Last week, all three were $2.98 per 12-pack at Cub Foods. Hopefully that throwback price sticks for a while.

What I'm doing:

Still bartending 1-2 shifts a week at Burger Moe's over in Shelbyville. If you haven't checked it out yet, come on down. There have been no major paper reviews of the food yet, but it's been getting high marks on Chowhound. Tom Horgen also gave props to the big and beautiful patio at Moe's in his recent article on the best patios in the TC.

You already know I'm co-hosting R-rated Trivia every Monday night at Nomad World Pub. As of this week, I've also started hosting BINGO every Tuesday at Lyndale Tap House. Winners get a free tee shirt that brags a bingo win, plus a round of shots for your table. Tuesday is also service industry night, so shots of Grand Marnier, Rumpleminze and Patron are just $4 from 9:00pm to midnight. Party!

Speaking of the service industry, my latest cover story for Vita.mn came out yesterday. Check it out for tips on how to get the best possible service at a restaurant or bar. Yes, it's pathetic that people actually need to be taught such simple lessons but, believe me, there are a lot of clueless and inconsiderate a**holes out there.

New Gigs, New Restaurants, Farewell to a Minneapolis Favorite

Someone call blog protective services, because I have been very neglectful of poor Girl Friday the past two weeks. In my defense, I've been so busy I also forgot to mail my rent check and send $42.00 to the City of Minneapolis for a minor parking violation. In other run-ins-with-the-law news, I got a speeding ticket two nights ago: 44 in a 35, on Johnson Street coming off the East Hennepin Avenue exit. $145.00. Grrr.

So this is what I've been busy doing:

I now co-host trivia on Monday nights at the Nomad on the West Bank. I joined up with the notoriously gangsta Trivia Mafia, and Matt Perkins and I bring you R-rated Trivia every Monday night at 9:00pm, with 2-4-1s until midnight. What is R-rated Trivia, you ask? Not your mother's trivia, that's what, unless your mother happens to be a porn flick aficionado with vast knowledge of sex, crime and consensual sex crimes, not to mention drugs, booze and the occasional acid flashback. Errrybody has fun, it's free to play, cheap to drink and the prizes are good.

After a nearly 8-year hiatus, I am back behind the bar at a new restaurant in St. Paul. Burger Moe's officially opened Monday across the street from Downtowner Woodfire Grill and next to Tom Reid's. Burger Moe's is owned by Moe Sharif, who also owns the Downtowner. The website isn't up yet, but Burger Moe's is open for lunch and dinner, with an emphasis on hamburgers and hot dogs of all kinds -- yes, there is a tasty house-made black bean veggie burger -- and the kitchen is open until 1:00am. At the bar you'll find 40 tap beers and 20 more in the cooler, with two happy hours daily on taps and rail drinks (3:00-6:00pm and 9:00pm-1:00am). You'll also find me behind the bar a few nights a week, probably working the first happy hour shift. Check out the Pi Press's first impression of Burger Moe's.

Yes, it's true: Azia is closing! But kinda more like moving. Thom Pham secured the space at 6th & Hennepin and has been quietly remodeling the inside in anticipation of a August opening of Wanderers Wondrous Azian Kitchen. That opening will be preceded by Azia's closing, after which most of the staff and a fair amount of Azia's interior will make the trek from Eat Street to downtown.

I know what you're thinking, but don't worry. I'm not spiraling into a depression the depths of which Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio wouldn't even know. This is a good move for the company (the old building is falling apart), a good option for downtown (late-night Asian-fusion, holla) and now it's even closer to me! Congrats to Thom, and best of luck. Read the details of the move on Horgen's blog post at Star Tribune.