Field Trip! Koval Distillery Tour

Today, my hubby and I did something that I've been wanting to do for a long time.  We went to Koval Distillery in downtown Chicago for a tour and tasting.  We had been familiar with Koval's great whiskeys and liqueurs for a couple of years now, after finding them at Green City Market; a little booth with a policeman overseeing the sale of beautiful bottles filled with amber-colored concoctions tucked among the sea of farmers selling fresh produce and artisan foodies marketing their wares.  I was intrigued by their story.  The first distillery in Chicago since Prohibition, certified organic, kosher, and dedicated to their craft.

Artichoke Chicken

What's that you say?  You're disappointed that I didn't have a snazzy name for this blog entry?  Listen...if you only knew the week I've had...

So, Artichoke Chicken it is.  And delicious it is.  And also, easy it is.  Make or make not, there is no try.

Speck 'o the Green - Lemon Zucchini Muffins

So, I can't let St. Patrick's Day pass without throwing a "green" recipe your way.  But I also have a little sickie at home today who woke me up at 4 this morning, so I'll make this short and sweet.  (Get it?  Sweet?  Because we're making muffins!  Which are sweet!  Ha ha ha.)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Grease or paper your muffin tin.  I like these as mini muffins, but regular muffin size will work as well.

As with almost all muffins, you want to mix your dry ingredients together, your wet ingredients together, and then combine the two with minimal stirring.  So, here we go.

Melted Legumes - Red Lentil Pasta

Some people love shopping for clothing, and can spend hours staring at shoes and purses.  Me?  I'm like that shopping for food.  I'm pretty much a perimeter shopper at the grocery store, but if you find me in an aisle, it's probably the international foods aisle, searching for inspiration.  Red lentils are in that aisle, and they always catch my eye with their fiery orange color.  They are quick to cook, and easy to use in soups.  But, in a surprising twist, they also can make a delicious, velvety pasta sauce.

This recipe is meatless, and can easily be vegan, if you use vegetable broth.  It's hearty and satisfying, and most likely different than any pasta sauce you've tried.  If you wanted to meat it up a bit, it would go well with either chicken or maybe Italian sausage either cooked into it or on the side.

So, first, chop up an onion and a few cloves of garlic.  Saute them in a medium to large pot with a little olive oil.  Measure out 3/4 cup of red lentils.  Take a cup each of water and broth.  I used chicken, but vegetable broth works well too, and like I said before, keeps it vegan.  Combine that all in the pot and bring it to a boil.  You might want to add in some spice, if you'd like.  Red pepper flakes are good with this, but this time I went a little crazy and used curry powder for the heat.  As each member of my family walked in the door when I was cooking this, every single one of them asked, "What smells so good?".  Love it!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

You know how much I love to revamp comfort food...so here's another good one: tuna noodle casserole.

Typically made with condensed soup and canned peas and mushrooms, making it from scratch ups the deliciousness a thousand times over without taking away from that "hug on a plate" comfort that this creamy casserole brings.

Souper Douper: Pasta e Fagioli

What makes soup good?  I'm sure it differs for everyone, but I have some high soup standards.  It should be warming, comforting, and tasty.  Good soups have layers of flavor and texture.  It can be hard to get that done quickly.  This Italian bean soup recipe manages to layer the flavor without taking hours of simmering.

I based it on a Giada De Laurentiis recipe for pasta e fagioli.  It's a great lunchtime soup, terrific with a slice of warm bread and a salad.  My kids like to dip, so the bread is a must around here, and Costco carries a great natural frozen french bread that can be in and out of the oven in the time it takes to make a pot of this pasta e fagioli.

Sham-Shamrock Shake

I used to live for that time of year when a certain fast food green shake would make it's appearance.  My birthday happens to be exactly a week after St. Patrick's Day, and spring is my favorite time of year, so getting one of those sweet treats became a tradition of celebrating the season.  A sign of good things to come.

But then, once we started eating more "real food", those shakes just didn't taste as good.  I know a lot of people say that about things and mean it as some kind of metaphor, like their guilt over having it didn't outweigh the enjoyment of drinking it, but I mean it the straightforward way: the shake just tastes artificial to me.  I can taste the food coloring in particular, and it just doesn't match up to the idealized version of it that I have in my head.

So then, last year, I stumbled across this recipe for Drunk Shamrock Shake.  I'm a convert, full on in my new-found affection for this reincarnation of that minty green shake.  If the original shake left me feeling empty and cheated, this one fills my soul and makes me feel...well...happy.