Lazy Sunday

Matt and I have been trying to take it easy this weekend to give ourselves the mental space we need to make our respective decisions. We've spent a lot of time just walking the neighborhoods, enjoying getting to know DC, as well as exploring whether or not it would be an option for us to move if this landlord situation dictates it. In what is perhaps a joint moment of temporary insanity, we've even considered whether we might at some point be in a position to buy a place here. We certainly aren't pulling any triggers yet, but it's something to think about.

Otherwise, predictably enough, we went to the farmer's market yesterday and have been more or less cooking ever since. I did a huge stack of baking--whole-wheat bread, zucchini bread and muffins, banana bread, a batch of waffles for freezing--and yesterday we made what I would modestly consider to be one of our best pizzas ever: our classic homemade tomato/homemade pesto mix for sauce, one of Matt's crusts, and spinach, tomatoes, and cheese. YUM.

Then tonight we tried a pair of recipes from The Mexican Cookbook (too bad Amazon doesn't have an image because it is AMAZING), which was a very thoughtful and appropriate wedding gift from the lovely Holly. Here they are, without further ado (but with my comments, additions, and deletions in parentheses):

Vegetable Tostadas
Ingredients:
4 soft corn tortillas
3-4 T virgin olive oil
2 potatoes, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded/diced
1 tsp mild chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
3-4 ripe tomatoes diced (now, we found 1-1/2 to be almost too much, so you be the judge)
3 oz green beans, blanched and cut to bite size lengths (we actually substituted a cup of frozen corn)
2-1/3 cups black beans (we used 1 can)
8 oz feta cheese (we didn't have any so we used mozzarella)
3-4 romaine lettuce leaves
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced (we didn't have any of these either so just omitted them)

1. Pan-fry tortillas in a small amount of oil in a nonstick pan until crisp. Set aside.
2. Het remaining oil in the skillet. Add the potatoes and carrot and cook for 10 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic, bell pepper, chili powder, paprika, and cumin. Cook for 2-3 min or until bell peppers are soft.
3. Add tomatoes, green beans (or corn), and oregano. Cook for 8-10 min or until vegetables are tender. Add a little water if needed to keep it moist.
4. Warm black beans in a pan with a little water and reheat tostadas (if necessary) under the broiler.
5. Spread the beans
on the tostadas, then sprinkle with cheese and top with the vegetables. Sprinkle with lettuce and scallions and serve.

And we, of course, added sour cream as a garnish.

Part II was a recipe I think even a brother could love: Potatoes with Chipotle Cream, which is below:

2 lb 12 oz baking potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (we used red potatoes, skins on)
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock (I would recommend leaving this out)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Few shakes of bottled chipotle salsa (we used a chipotle paste that Matt makes which we happened to have on hand in the fridge)
8 oz goat cheese, sliced (we didn't have this, used mozzarella)
6 oz mozzarella or cheddar (we used cheddar and didn't measure it, just a handful)
1 3/4 oz Parmesan or Romano, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put potatoes in a pot with water, sugar, and salt; bring to a boil. Let boil for 10 min or until they are half-cooked.
2. Combine the sour cream with the stock garlic, and the chipotle salsa in a bowl.
3. Arrange half the potatoes in a casserole dish. Pour half the sour cream sauce over it and cover with the goat cheese (or whatever you're using). Top with remaining potatoes and sauce.
4. Sprinkle with grated mozzarella or cheddar, then with Parmesan.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender and the cheese is golden and crisp. Serve immediately.

This was incredible and we would definitely make it again! The pairing was also something we were very happy with (something vegetable-based and kind of light in the first case, nicely balanced with cheesy creamy potatoes), and the ease and flexibility of the first dish have inspired us to want to try something similar with cooking simple batches of vegetables and spices with an Indian flavor, Chinese, Thai, etc... How exciting!

It's a good thing we find that sort of thing exciting, because we've decided to kick off this year as the Year of No Television. We don't have room for our old one, fixed or not, and we just can't see dropping the money on a new one. When we think about ourselves and our priorities and goals, an expensive television just doesn't fit in there right now. We also think it will be a great impetus to get out and see and do all that there is in DC, instead of resorting to flopping down on the couch. If we really want to see a movie, we can always go see a movie, but otherwise there are so many places to go and things to do here--so many of them free, luckily!--and we've decided that for our first year, we want to soak up as many of those experiences as we can. This seems like a good nudge in the right direction.

As far as goals and priorities we do deem worth spending our money on, we're strongly considering attending the Farm Aid concert in New York on September 9th. We were originally thinking about catching the Counting Crows (with Live and Collective Soul!) in Baltimore in August, but were dismayed when ticket prices doubled before we could decide whether or not to go. The Farm Aid show, besides being cheaper while raising money for local farmers and doubling as a giant organic foodfest/excuse to go to New York City for a day, also includes John Mellencamp, the Allman Brothers, Dave Matthews, Willie Nelson, and Neil Young, among others, and seems like it could be right up our alley. Now we'll just have to see if we can find a way to afford it.

To wrap it up, in a nod to the SNL-inspired title of this post, I thought I'd link you below to a video that Matt and I have been enjoying all day. It's resulted in frequent (and often irrelevant) outbursts of the phrase "NO! I will leave you IN!"