Quinoa has become all the rage. Not being a food trender I still think it is for good reason. Quinoa is one of the only non-animal protein sources to provide a full spectrum in a single ingredient of the proteins we need, especially for rebuilding worn down muscles.

It is also very tasty done right but on its own tends to be kind of bland, if nutty in flavor. I like substituting it for arborio rice in risotto recipes because it is healthier and faster.

This recipe requires just four ingredients: quinoa, mushrooms (fresh and/or dried wild), cheese and stock of one kind or another. Working time is <30 minutes. My daughter loves this one and always wants it for lunch at school the next day.

Ingredients: 

• one cup dried quinoa (I keep both red and white around and often mix them) for each two people
  
• mushrooms (you can use just fresh, or just dried, I like to use both). You can find dried wild ones at any grocery store.
• 1-1 1/2 cups grated hard cheese (i.e. parmesan) or crumbled soft cheese (i.e. gorgonzola, my favorite)
• two cups stock or broth for each cup of quinoa

1. Rinse the quinoa well. If you're using dried wild mushrooms, which I love because they impart so much flavor, drop them into a cup of hot water and let them soak for 15 minutes. Keep that water and use it with stock for the quinoa.
2. Put two parts stock/mushroom water and one part quinoa into a large sauce pan and bring to a boil. When it does boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and cover for 18-20 minutes.
   
3.  If you're using fresh mushrooms too, slice them and saute over medium heat while the quinoa comes to a boil.
   
4. When the quinoa is done cooking, take it off the heat. Fold in the mushrooms first, then the cheese. It's ready to eat.

With apologies to the author of Curries Without Worries I'm half-plagiarizing that title.

At this moment it is cold by Florida standards. I hear it even snowed in the northernmost parts of the state last night. That in mind, curry is a great winter dish--it is complex, stewy, and with all the spices warms the body and the soul.

Little do most people know how easy it is. Compared to Italian cooking it seems complicated: most Italian dishes I love have a maximum of 5-6 ingredients, while some Indian dishes get twice that far in before you're even done with the spice mix. This is a simple foundation curry, the starter kit for any number of different kinds of meals. Late in the game stir in a bag of fresh spinach and add some firm white cheese and make palaak paneer. Or add in chicken or shrimp or beef, or cooked lentils. Nearly limitless possibilities and it is easy.

What you need are a handful of go-to spices in your kitchen, onions, garlic and ginger.  
The spices: turmeric, coriander, cumin.
Fresh onions, garlic, ginger and canned tomatoes. 

Ginger isn't that hard to prep: peel with a vegetable peeler and grate using the finer side of a cheese grater. At the grocery store pick the fattest pieces you can get--less surface relative to ginger meat. Why canned tomatoes? Nearly all the year they taste better than the waxy fresh ones except in the summer.

Chop the onion coarsely, mince the garlic, grate the ginger. That's the base. Saute these ingredients over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Add a teaspoon or so of each spice plus a teaspoon or two of salt, and the can of tomatoes (whole ones--then crush in your hands into the pan).

If you're using chicken or meat, chop it into bite-sized pieces OR simply put whole bone-in thighs in and cover, heat reduced, for 15-20 more minutes. If you're using shrimp, add them in the last 3-4 minutes to cook.

Serve with rice, preferably basmati. Easy cook method: 2 parts water to 1 part rice. Bring to a boil uncovered, then cover, turn the heat to low and let it sit exactly 20 minutes (don't peek). Perfect rice every time.

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes, mostly because it is quick and easy. You need a pair of kitchen shears OR simply to ask the person behind the meat counter to clip out the chicken's backbone for you. And, you can marinate the chicken with any number of different cuisine angles. The stock one here is Italian. At the bottom of the recipe are some other options.

Chicken:

• 1 ~4lb chicken, backbone cut out and discarded
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice (~2-3 lemons)
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary plus some more sprigs
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• coarse kosher salt
• ½ tsp dried crushed red pepper

1. 9am: Open chicken flat like a book, skin side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Mix the lemon juice, 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp rosemary and the garlic in a small bowl. Rub the mixture over the chicken, cover and refrigerate. (10 minutes). Wrap a brick in aluminum foil.
2. Evening: preheat oven to 400F. Put the brick in there when you turn the oven on so it preheats too. Sprinkle chicken with coarse salt and pepper. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high. Add chicken, skin down, and cook until golden brown (7 minutes or so).
3. Place foil-wrapped brick crosswise on top of chicken, roast in oven 40 minutes.
4. Pull chicken out. Remove brick, turn chicken over, replace brick, cook ~20 minutes more or until juice runs clear from the thickest part of the thigh. Remove brick, set chicken on cutting board to cool. Carve, garnish with rosemary (10-15 minutes).

Total time: 30 minutes.

Other marinating options: keep the olive oil no matter what. But, instead of rosemary, garlic, salt and red pepper you could use dried coconut, garlic, salt, Thai red curry paste and chopped basil. Or 2 tbsp of canned chipotle paste, salt, chopped cilantro and chopped onion. Get creative.

I post a lot of photos of meals I've cooked that came out perfectly. Well, one Friday evening I was making stuffed bell peppers for my daughter and me. They were looking really good. Anyway... I pulled them out at one point, I think to uncover them so the cheese could brown on top. I didn't know one of the oven mitts had a whole right in the thumb-index finger web but when I grabbed the piping hot Pyrex it burned a big patch of skin there.

Naturally I released the Pyrex. At that temperature it exploded the second it hit ceramic tile (note to self: refloor kitchen with soft rubber). Sharp glass shards everywhere, attached to sticky cheese, meat, pepper fragments.

My daughter's first words before helping me clean up: "Wow. You should really take a picture and post THAT on Facebook."

That was last year. She's still on restriction.

Butternut squash, about 15" long and stuffed with squash, Italian sausage, mushrooms and mozzarella.

I used these ingredients simply because they were what I had in the fridge after making pizza on Friday night. All you really need is:

• a large squash
• ~1/2lb of chopped protein (meat, tempeh, etc)
• 1-2 cups of chopped vegetables of some kind. I used mushrooms.
• 1 cup or so of coarsely grated cheese

Half the squash (2 minutes), roast at 350 for 45 minutes, let cool. while it's roasting saute the protein and vegetables (10-15 minutes). Scoop out the squash leaving a 1/2" or so around the skin, mix in a bowl with sausage, mushrooms and mozzarella (5 minutes). Re-stuff (4 minutes), bake at 400 for 20 minutes. 

Actual work time: no more than 26 minutes.

Sorry, no football here. Not very dude-like, I know but I hate American football. Too much standing around for the occasional 50 foot run, followed by another 15 minutes of standing around.

I will however be narrating an ongoing spectacle -- raising a daughter. That involves cooking and other things. More to come.