Onion-Poppyseed Muffins

During finals, the onion-poppyseed combination just wouldn't leave my mind. I had been thinking an onion-poppyseed quick bread, but today I needed something to bring along for a long car ride, so it's in the form of muffins instead.

Onion-Poppyseed Muffins

3/4 cup diced onion
3 tbsp olive oil plus a little more to cook the onion
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cornmeal
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese (or substitute Cheddar)
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp poppyseeds
1 tsp dried rosemary

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper cups.

Saute the onion in a little oil about 10 minutes, until lightly colored. Take off heat and reserve. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and cornmeal. Add 3 tbsp olive oil and stir to combine. Stir in the feta, poppy seeds, rosemary, and pepper. In a separate container, beat together the egg, egg white, and milk. Mix the egg/milk mixture gently into the dry ingredients. Gently mix in the onions and stir just until combined. Spoon mixture into muffin tins and bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool at least slightly before attempting to remove from muffin papers.

Make 12 muffins.

Pumpkin Curry Stew with Tofu

What to do with leftover pumpkin, when you have about four minutes to eat and you're starving? (This helpfully also uses up your leftover tofu.) The sunflower seed butter gives the sauce some body.

This is another dish that just doesn't photograph well.

Pumpkin Curry Stew with Tofu

1 medium onion, diced
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned is fine)
2 tbsp sunflower seed butter
1/2 block firm tofu, cubed
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 tsp vegetable oil
1+ tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
dash salt
2 shakes hot pepper flakes
1/2 cup water

Steam or boil the broccoli and reserve.
Saute the tofu and onions in oil over medium-high heat until the tofu is lightly browned (you might need to start the tofu before the onions to avoid burned onions). When lightly browned, add the spices and saute for another minute. Add the pumkpin, water, and sunflower seed butter, and turn the heat to low. Stir well to combine. Add the broccoli and stir to coat. Cook another minute or so, until all ingredients are coated in sauce and everything is hot. Serve with rice.

Serves 2.

Variations: Chicken would be good, instead of tofu. Alternately you could add some crushed tomatoes and remove the sunflower seed butter.

Chicken Soup

Very simple, filling, and warming--just right for a day like yesterday, the first real snowfall of the winter.

You know, soup just doesn't photograph that well. But you don't really need one, because it looks like... chicken soup.

Chicken Soup

10 chicken drumsticks, bone-in (or the equivalent in other chicken parts, whatever you have, so long as they are fairly meaty)
2 medium onions, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
2/3 cup brown rice
2/3 cup red lentils
3/4 tsp powdered allspice
1/2 tsp powdered cardamom
1/2 tsp powdered turmeric
salt to taste
10-12 cups water

If you have time, soak the rice in water for about 2 hours before cooking (it makes the soup creamier, but you can skip this step and it'll still turn out fine).

In the bottom of a large pot, saute the onions until translucent in the olive oil. Add the spices and cook a few minutes longer, until fragrant. Add the rice, lentils, chicken, and 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 2 hours--until the soup has become creamy, the rice and lentils are softened almost beyond recognition, and the meat is falling off the bones, adding more water if the soup gets thicker than you would like it to be. Skim off any foam that rises. After around 2 hours, remove the chicken from the pot; shred the meat off the bones and return the meat to the pot. Taste and add salt as necessary. Serve hot.

Serves about 5 as a main course.

Variation: for even creamier soup, you can use white rice.