The Velveeta Trilogy: Part 3

My final installment of culinary experimentation comes courtesy the "Quick Fixin' Dinners" chapter of "Velveeta: Recipes for People Who Eat Food". I think the chapter intro says more than I ever could:
"These recipes are designed for quick and easy preparation. And to reflect that, we decided to name these recipes 'Quick Fixin' Dinners'. Notice how we dropped the 'g' on the word 'fixing' to show how quickly these dinners can be made. By dropping the letter 'g', we have created a visual cue, so the reader will be convinced that these really are quick recipes and that they should try them for that reason alone."
Well, I'm convinced. Shall we?

Cheeseburger Mac

From "Velveeta: Recipes for People Who Eat Food"

Serves 4-6

1lb ground beef (I used one bag Morningstar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles instead)

2 3/4cups water

1/3 cups ketchup

1-2t onion powder (I used 2)

2c (8oz) uncooked elbow macaroni

3/4lb (12oz) Velveeta, cut into cubes.

In a large skillet, brown ground beef and drain. (Since I was using veggie "meat", I skipped this step.) Stir in water, ketchup and onion powder. Bring to a boil. Stir in macaroni. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until pasta is desired doneness. Add Velveeta, and stir until melted.

This was truly fast! (I suppose I should have known that, given the visual cues at the beginning of the chapter and all...) Since I didn't have meat to brown, mine took less than 15min, and I'd guess even with ground beef to brown you'd come in under 25min.

It was good- I mean, everyone loves Velveeta Shells and Cheese, right? This was that with meat. Hard to go wrong. Kyle was a little iffy on the ketchup- it's not super noticeable, but it gives the dish a slight sweetness that he wasn't sure he liked. He thought he'd prefer it sans ketchup. Me, I'm a gross freak and mix ketchup in my mac 'n' cheese anyway, so of course I liked it.

The Velveeta Trilogy- Part One

One year in my Christmas stocking I got a small, paperback cookbook (2000, according to the publishing info inside). It's one of those "brand name food item" cookbooks that you find at the grocery store checkout with the National Enquirer and People magazine. It's called "Velveeta: Recipes for People Who Eat Food."
I think Santa gave it as a joke, because while everyone needs more Velveeta recipes, this is one strange little cookbook. The recipes are exactly what you'd expect, but the actual copy in the book is a little... quirky. I don't know who wrote it (no author is credited), but the chapter intros are so weird that I have to assume they locked the guy in a windowless room and told him he couldn't see his wife or kids until he wrote about "Quick Fixin' Dinners". I'll provide an example in a moment.

Recently, the little book resurfaced, and I realized I never really gave it a chance as a cookbook. I try to avoid overly processed foods, but I decided, in the spirit of fairness, to give this book a shot. Over the next couple weeks, I'll feature three recipes, along with reviews from three different chapters (to give a taste of diversity!) For all my recipes, I bought Velveeta made with 2% milk (I guess they no longer call it Velveeta Light). I was going to be super-faithful to the book and buy Minute rice, Taco Bell salsa (odd that they sell Taco Bell salsa, given that they don't have salsa at Taco Bell...), Breakstone sour cream, but bottom line, those brands all ran about 50-75 cents more expensive than my beloved Publix-brand equivalents. (I did shell out for real Velveeta, though.)

Our first recipe comes from the "Super Duper Soups and Sandwiches" chapter. From the book:
"Since achieving the title 'Super Duper', our soups and sandwiches have not been acting quite the same way as they once did. Unfortunately, the title of 'Super Duper' has gone to their heads. They have alienated all other soups and sandwiches, refusing to associate with lesser forms of nourishment. We do, however, feel somewhat responsible since we were the ones who made these recipes so good."
I can't make this stuff up, people.

Cheesy Baked Potato Soup

from Velveeta: Recipes for People Who Like Food

Makes 4 servings

3/4cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp butter (I used canola oil)

2cups water

1can chicken broth (I used vegetable broth)

2-3 large baked potatoes, cut into cubes

3/4lb (12 oz) Velveeta, cubed

*I also added one box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

In a large saucepan, cook onion in butter (or oil) until soft. Stir in broth and water potatoes and broccoli, if using, heat thoroughly. Add Velveeta, stir on low heat until melted. Serve with sour cream and bacon bits.

It was really a pretty good soup. As I said, I added broccoli to boost the nutrition. If I made it again, I might replace one cup of water with milk for added richness, and I would probably use red potatoes. The baked potatoes are a good way to use leftovers (which I had), but baked potatoes are kind of grainy, which made the soup less smooth. This would be easily remedied with a waxy potato (such as reds.)

Simple Summer Salad

I live in Florida, and it's July. It is mind-bogglingly, eyeball-meltingly hot outside, and there's no relief in sight until... probably October. Summer always puts a crimp in my culinary style, as I love hearty soups, potatoey dishes and other warm and cozy winter-type foods. Usually I just live in denial and keep making things like split pea soup well into August. Maybe I'm getting old, but somehow, the idea of sweating while I eat has started to lose its appeal. This summer, I'm trying to keep things light and season appropriate (I can't promise that I'll completely abandon my wintery foods, but it's a slow recovery process...)



Kyle and I are super-nerds and loooove going to Epcot (we have Disney annual passes). Every now and then, we brave the polka band and eat at the Biergarten in the German pavilion. Two of my favorite dishes there are cold salads- one is a spelt salad with herbs and the other is a tomato and red onion salad with vinaigrette. They're refreshing and light, and very summery. This dish was inspired by those salads. Since I usually mix the salads together at the restaurant, I decided to combine the two into a single salad.

Spelt is a middle eastern grain, and is chewy and nutty, but it can be tricky to find at the store. Given that, and that I was too lazy to drive across town to the health food store to try to find it, I used kasha (buckwheat groat). My grocery store carries the kasha in the section with Kosher foods. Pay attention, though- it comes in several different granulations. I meant to buy a coarse grind, but spaced out and wound up buying the fine grain. The result was very much like cous-cous when cooked, and was pretty good, so if you liked, cous-cous could easily be substituted. I just kind of eyeballed the vinaigrette, and adjusted it by taste.

This salad is even better the next day after the flavors have really melded. If you're lucky enough to have a grill (which I don't) it would be great with grilled corn on the cob and a grilled portabella as a light, summery meal. Me? I ate it as a side dish with some Amy's Mushroom and Olive Pizza (yum!).

Kasha and Tomato Salad

Serves 6-8

• 4c cooked kasha, spelt or cous-cous
• 3 med-large ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cilantro, roughly chopped

Dressing

• 1/4c spicy deli-style mustard
• 1/4c apple cider vinegar
• 1Tbsp honey
• 1/4c olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

In a small dish, whisk together the mustard, vinegar and honey. Still whisking, slowly drizzle in oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss kasha with dressing, add tomatoes, onions and cilantro. If necessary, toss in more vinegar or mustard. Chill, and serve cold.

Thai Inspired Peanut Noodles

Summer break starts next week at school, so Kyle and I are going to be taking a trip to visit my family in Kansas. This means that food-wise, we're in pre-vacation mode, meaning no new groceries- everything has to come out of the fridge or the pantry. Even if we weren't going on a vacation, it'd be a good idea, as I have a tendency to be a little... ahem... over-enthusiastic at the grocery store. It's a very zen experience for me- the soft music, the smell of bread wafting from the bakery, row after row of glorious edibles... Some people go to yoga, I go to Publix. Couple that with my mother's waste-not-want-not influence on my formative years, and the end result is a full pantry in which I rarely make a dent.

This meal is one that uses several of my pantry staples- pasta, peanut butter and tofu. It has a nice, spicy Thai-inspired flavor, thanks to the cilantro, pepper flakes and peanuts. We had plenty for our dinner, plus some leftovers. Kyle liked it so much, he took the leftovers to lunch at work-- not so notable, except that there was also leftover mexican in the fridge. I can rarely compete with chimichangas.

The noodles are super filling, cheap and pretty quick to throw together once your tofu is drained and pressed. If you didn't want to use tofu, it would be equally yummy with shrimp. Of course, if you don't have fresh herbs, you can use dried. I just happened to have fresh leftover that needed to get used.

We enjoyed our noodles with a bottle of HRM Rex Goliath Pinot Grigio (2006). I usually get wine at a local wine shop, but I saw the bottle at the grocery store, and the label was so weird... it called to me. It was nicely priced (less than $10), and quite good. I thought it was crisp, with a bright tart apple flavor. (The website says "Bright, juicy flavors of citrus and apples that lead to a sweet mineral core"- So I was close on my tasting notes!) I also bought the merlot, but haven't tried it yet.

Thai Inspired Peanut Noodles

Serves 2-3

1 block extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed

Canola oil

3-4 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1/2 medium onion, cut in thin half-rings

6oz spaghetti or angel hair pasta, cooked according to directions (I used whole wheat)

1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

Red pepper flakes (to taste)

1/3c creamy peanut butter

2T soy sauce

1T honey

1/3c peanuts

1/4c fresh chopped cilantro

1/4c chopped green onion

Salt (to taste)

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet on medium heat. Sautee onions and garlic until the onions just start to caramelize. Cut the tofu into strips and sprinkle lightly with salt. Add the tofu to the pan, and allow to cook undisturbed until it becomes golden on one side, then stir to allow other sides to cook.

While tofu cooks, heat the peanut butter in a microwave safe dish. Once the peanut butter is slightly melted, whisk in soy sauce, honey, a pinch or two pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like your noodles) and ginger.

When the tofu is golden and hot, add the peanuts and toss with the pasta, sauce and cilantro and green onions. Garnish with extra cilantro, if like me, you can't get enough of the stuff!