finding time for cooking

for the time-starved or curious culinary adventurer

Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl

So…I’ve been chastising myself lately for my diet.  Between crazy work schedules, travel, and being on crutches, I’ve just been a bit too reliant on Uber Eats and definitely lacking in fruits and veggies.  It’s kind of amazing I don’t have scurvy.

Then this morning as I was working I decided to finally get around to watching “What The Health?” on Netflix, which talks through a lot of the things wrong with our diets and how that’s impacting our health, and the medical establishments and lobby groups that are set on keeping it that way.

Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl with Maple Tahini Sauce | Finding Time for Cooking

Its basic conclusion is that we’re meant to eat plant-based diets, and that anything else is unhealthy.  It’s definitely an interesting watch, and while I don’t completely agree that meat is the devil—I grew up on a family-run cow farm, after all, and I also believe that God designed us to eat some meat—I 100% agree that we’ve totally screwed up our food chain in so many ways and that a heavier plant diet is a good thing, and overall it guilted me REAL HARD into really putting on my adult pants today.

Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl with Maple Tahini Sauce | Finding Time for Cooking

So I did some digging on plant-based diets and found some recipes that I want to try to rotate into my everyday routine.  This was the first one I came across that made me go “Hmm!”  The flavor combos are awesome, it’s easy to make, I’m a sucker for a good tahini sauce, and I’m hoping it’ll make an awesome lunch for a couple days this week as well.  For a non-pasta vegetarian meal, I’m totally on board with this one!

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Turkish Red Lentil Soup (Corba)

I’m on the record as stating that soup is not a meal, in and of itself, with very few exceptions.

This is one of them. (My mom’s baked potato soup is basically the only other.)

Delicious & easy Turkish red lentil soup, ready in half an hour

I also don’t like lentils usually.  That is, until I went to Istanbul last year and we ate in a Kurdish family’s house and were served corba as an appetizer.  Corba is a hearty red lentil soup, super flavorful and comforting.  When I returned to the States, I started pinning recipes right away so I could try it myself.  I learned that red lentils are very different than the dark ones I’d had before, and didn’t have as many texture issues for me.

I’ve made this recipe a few times, trying to get the texture and flavors just right.  For some weird reason I have issues with it separating a bit (so becoming a little watery), but since I like it better with crushed up crackers in it anyway, I decided to just let that go.  One time I even tore up half a bagel into the soup, and the texture was awesome!

Healthy & easy red lentil soup

One of the great things about this soup is that it comes together really quickly—like half an hour from start to finish.  So you can get home from work, get it simmering, and go about your business until it’s time to blend everything up and serve.  Efficiency FTW!
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Chocolate, Cinnamon, & Almond Loaf Cake (gluten-free)

My dessert tastes don’t always quite jive with other people’s.  I don’t like things super sweet, I tend more toward fruity desserts rather than super chocolate, I will always choose dark chocolate over milk (and don’t even talk to me about white chocolate and its lies…).

Chocolate, Cinnamon, & Almond Loaf Cake | Finding Time for Cooking

I was blown away by the complexity of the flavors in this cake, yet how subtle they were.  I cut back on the sugar quite a bit from what the recipe called for, and for me that made it perfect—letting the chocolate have more of a bittersweet quality and the cinnamon shine through.  Also, whoever thought to put cinnamon in whipped cream is a genius and I can’t believe I haven’t done that before.  But I assure you I will forever moving forward…
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Clean Eating Banana Muffins (gluten-free)

*womp womp*  After the last couple months of travel gluttony, it’s time to get back on track, and these muffins at least have the consolation of being delicious as well as super healthy.

Clean Eating Banana Oat Muffins

In the interest of full transparency, to be truly clean eating you’ll need to omit the chocolate chips from the recipe and use one of the other mix-ins instead (nuts, dried fruit, etc.).  But unless you’re completely following a clean eating diet, the mini chocolate chips do really add something to the muffins so I’d recommend leaving them in.  Because, duh.

clean-eating-banana-oatmeal-muffins-chocolate-chips

I made these on a Sunday night on a whim, and brought them to work the next day.  They were scarfed by my co-workers within a few hours, and got rave reviews.  They’re moist, flavorful, and—best part—insanely fast and easy to make.

clean-eating-banana-oatmeal-muffins

They’re the kind of healthy breakfast that gives you the fiber and protein you need, but still makes you feel like you’re getting a bit of a treat to start the day.  That’s a win in my book.  Add a couple strong espressos and you’re all set.  Bring it on, Monday.READ THE POST

Gluten-Free Rosemary Cheddar Biscuits

Oh my goodness, this has got to stop. It has been way too long. I literally made these for our Fitzco #fitzgiving back in November, but haven’t had a chance to post until now. And that’s not fair, because these are pretty darn good.

Gluten-Free Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

I offered to make a bread, so threw together my whole wheat olive oil rosemary bread, which is the bomb. But at the last minute I asked if we had any gluten-free folks and since they weren’t sure, I went searching for a good, easy GF biscuit or roll recipe.

As I’ve mentioned several times before, I don’t like using all sorts of weird ingredients that the average person wouldn’t recognize or be able to find. Don’t be alarmed by how many ingredients are listed in this particular recipe either, most of them are ones you already have on-hand. I did make my own gluten-free flour mix (I used an easy 1-1-1 mix of corn flour, brown rice flour, and cornstarch), but even if you want to leave that out you can just substitute more almond meal.

gluten-free garlic cheddar biscuits rosemary chopped

Because they’re made largely (or entirely) with almond meal, their texture definitely isn’t like a fluffy dinner roll. It’s a little grainier, denser. But I inhaled a few just the same (though be warned, because of the almond meal, they’re higher-calorie than you might think). The garlic is intense but awesome, and the cheddar great—I went light on the butter wash at the end. They were also still really moist and delicious several hours later when I actually reheated and served them.READ THE POST

Dynamite Grilled Chicken

Last Sunday I just wanted something SIMPLE. I’d had a super long, exhausting week at work and even after resting up over the weekend I just found the prospect of cooking daunting.

[Updated 6/2018 with some new photos]

I didn’t want to assemble 20 ingredients or spend an hour preparing different elements of a meal. I wanted quick and tasty and healthy. Also, I wanted ricotta, which is a weird craving but I went with it and threw together a delicious spinach, tomato, and ricotta frittata (bonus breakfast leftovers), then I added some more protein with this “dynamite” chicken.

Honestly, the main reason I made the chicken was so I’d have some leftovers for lunch, and also because I wanted to use my grill for the first time this spring. Aaaaand, that was a total fail because when I went out to grill the chicken like half an hour after turning on the grill, it was totally cold. I went to plan B (the stovetop), but still need to figure out what’s going on with my grill. [Updated photos with grilled chicken]

Oh well…it was worth it in the end, because the flavors on this chicken will knock your socks off. It’s really got some tangy bite, which was a nice complement to the more soothing, mellow frittata. Also, it was super easy, which is always a win in my book.READ THE POST

The Pinterest hit known as “Man Pleasing” Chicken

I am not a mustard person, which is why I had pinned this recipe quite some time ago but have been finding reasons to put off trying it.  But I had company coming over and needed a quick, easy dinner I could throw together.  And thus, I decided to tackle the ever-present “man-pleasing chicken” recipe from Pinterest.

maple dijon chicken recipe, easy dinner

I was really worried that the three main ingredients—dijon mustard, maple syrup, and a sweeter vinegar—would just make this way too intense, all the flavors fighting each other.  But I was pleasantly surprised by how the flavors actually kind of balanced each other out, making the end result sweet, tangy, and with just enough bite to keep your interested.

The Pinterest hit man-pleasing chicken made with maple dijon sauce

The other nice flavor component was the rosemary.  If you don’t have it the recipe is still great, but the fresh rosemary just adds another great layer of flavor with the mustard-maple sauce.

[June 2019:  This is one of my most popular recipes, so I’ve updated the images to be better…though it’s hard to make this chicken look pretty 🙂  But it IS delicious]
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Quinoa Mac & Cheese With Greens

“I need to try cooking quinoa.”

I’ve probably been saying this for two years. A couple weeks ago I finally got up the courage to try it.

quinoa mac & cheese with greens done

Why quinoa? Well, for one, it’s a bit of a superfood—high in awesome protein, rich in nutrients (such as calcium, iron, vitamin B), full of fiber and complex carbohydrates, easy to cook, hearty, versatile, and quite tasty.

For my first foray, I went with a delightful-sounding quinoa mac & cheese recipe. Spoiler alert: it was awesome, easy, and delicious!

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Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

Haha, well several years after writing this post originally, I had to re-write it because basically nothing was true anymore. 

I wrote that almost none of my recipes have chicken (I literally grill chicken every night now), that knowing whether the chicken is cooked stresses me out (true, but I’ve discovered meat thermometers), and that I hate dealing with raw meat (still true, but I’ve had to man up).  I’ve updated a few of the recipe details as well.

BUT, what is still true about this delish chicken recipe is that it’s super fast, easy, and healthy.  And that still makes it a winner (winner, chicken dinner) in my book.

This recipe is so easy and not remotely stressful, even on a harried weeknight.  It even got a super thumbs up from a guy friend, so don’t worry about the brown sugar making it too “frou frou”.  I served this with a delicious cauliflower leek risotto and some sauteed kale and they went great together. We were super stuffed afterward.

Garlic brown sugar chicken breasts, an easy and healthy weeknight dinner

Note, I’ve recently updated the photos and the recipe itself to improve the overall output.

The best part about this?  Five minutes of actual hands-on time, and then it’s in the oven.  Start your ovens…

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Cauliflower Leek Risotto

Risotto is one of my favorite authentic Italian dishes, and my absolute favorite to make myself when I have the time. You can’t rush risotto. It’s my “stress-relief” dish—pour a glass (or two) of wine, and stir and stir. The process of it is soothing.

One of the first recipes I pinned on Pinterest was for this cauliflower risotto with leeks. It’s a healthier version, since you get the additional vitamins, fiber, etc. from the cauliflower plus you use less rice, which is a simpler carb.

Cauliflower Risotto with Leeks | a delicious, healthier alternative to regular risotto, this is flavorful and easy to make | finding time for cooking blog

I’ll admit I was skeptical about the cauliflower. I’ve never made anything with cauliflower (I didn’t even know how to chop it!), and I was worried you’d lose the smooth awesomeness of risotto by adding the cauliflower in. I remained skeptical throughout the entire cooking process, but I was more than pleasantly surprised by the result. It was so delicious!

Look at all this healthiness you’re about to put inside you.

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