Oatmeal Bread

I really love baking, but for years I've outright dismissed any recipe that uses yeast. As soon as I saw it on the ingredient list, I turned the page. Yeast seemed intimidating and unpredictable, and I feared brick-like bread or hockey puck cinnamon rolls.

But today was very, very cold here in Texas, and it only seemed right to bake bread.

I'm glad I did. This recipe is nothing to fear. It's very, very easy and bakes beautifully. If it is cold in your house like it is in mine, you'll probably need to let it rise longer after shaping it and putting it in the pan in order to get it above the rim of the loaf pan. It's worth the time, though - this stuff is terrific warm from the oven with a little butter, or as toast with your tea.

Oatmeal Bread

3 cups Unbleached Bread Flour
1 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned oats)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar or honey (I used 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 tablespoon honey)
2 teaspoons instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast*
1 1/4 cups warm (but not boiling!) milk

*If you use active dry yeast, dissolve it in the warm milk before combining with the remaining ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Knead dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) till it's smooth. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow it to rest for 1 hour; it'll become quite puffy, though it may not double in bulk.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface, and shape it into a log. Place the log in a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, cover the pan (with lightly greased plastic wrap), and allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, till it's crested 1 to 2 inches over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190°F. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 10 minutes of baking.

Enchiladas Verde

This is a recipe I first made after our first visit to Austin. We'd returned to Cleveland, Ohio, where we were living at the time, and I was craving enchiladas and tacos like crazy.

These enchiladas are not necessarily authentic tex-mex, but they are mighty tasty. And easy. You can even make them the night before, and then when you get home from work, just pull them out of the fridge to warm a bit while you preheat the oven. Then bake as usual. They're also great re-heated for lunch the second day. And they're from Cooking Light, so go ahead and eat that third one.

Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde
adapted from Cooking Light

Serves 4... or 2 for dinner, with leftovers for lunch

1 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I'm a big fan of cilantro, and usually add twice this amount)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (7-ounce) bottle salsa verde (I usually use Herdez brand)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast - use leftovers from a chicken roast, or pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery
1/3 cup (3 ounces) less-fat cream cheese, softened
8 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled queso fresco or mexican blend cheese
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
4 lime wedges

Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine first onion, cilantro, garlic and salsa verde in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. Combine chicken and cream cheese in a large bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup salsa mixture. Set the rest of the salsa aside.

Coat a 11 x 7 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

If you're not working with fresh and soft tortillas, microwave them in a slightly damp paper towel until warm and soft. Spoon about 1/4 cup chicken mixture down center of tortilla and roll it up. Place tortilla, seam-side down, in baking dish.

Pour remaining salsa mixture over enchiladas; sprinkle evenly with cheese and chili powder. Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve with lime wedges.

I usually also serve rice and beans on the side.

Rigatoni with roasted pumpkin and goat cheese

Because I'm thrifty, I like to make sure that all the ingredients on my weekly shopping list get used up entirely. That usually means that I try to plan piggy-back recipes... leftover roast chicken becomes enchiladas verde, and extra goat cheese from a mushroom tart gets used in rigatoni with roasted pumpkin and goat cheese.

Now, you might have the same reaction that I did to this recipe. "Meg," you might say, "why the hell would I buy and peel a pumpkin just to make some pasta?"

I know. I know it sounds crazy. But it is super easy - even if you only own a cheap veggie peeler from Ikea that cost under a dollar (yes, that's me), you can peel a sugar pie pumpkin. It will be well worth the effort. This pasta is utterly delicious. It's luscious, sweet and tangy. It's worthy of guests, or of a special dinner for two.

And, as a total bonus, you can roast the seeds and toss them with kosher salt and have a lovely snack with beer while the rest of your dinner cooks, too.

Rigatoni with Roasted Pumpkin and Goat Cheese
from Everyday Food

1 medium sugar pumpkin (about 4 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks
4 shallots, peeled and quartered lengthwise
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
Coarse salt and ground pepper
12 ounces rigatoni (or penne, or any other tube pasta with nooks and crannies for the sauce to sink in)
2 tablespoons butter
5 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide pumpkin, shallots, oil, and sage between two large rimmed baking sheets; season with salt and pepper, and toss.

Roast until pumpkin is tender, 30 to 35 minutes, tossing once and rotating sheets halfway through.

Meanwhile,in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta, and return to pot. Add butter, cheese, and pasta water; toss until butter has melted.

Gently fold in roasted pumpkin; season with salt and pepper. Divide among serving bowls, and serve immediately.

Mushroom Tart

If you like mushrooms, goat cheese, and puff pastry, then this, dear readers, is the dinner for you. Very savory and quite delicious. It'd also make an excellent appetizer cut into little bite-sized pieces.

I would recommend using parchment paper on your baking sheet beneath the puff pastry. And honestly, I didn't worry about making my tart a perfect rectangle. Free-form and rustic-looking is where it's at.

Mushroom Tart
from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food
Serves 4

1 (from a 17.3-ounce package) sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package instructions
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 packages (10 ounces each) mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced - I used a combination of white mushrooms and baby bellas, and we enjoyed the combination
1 packages (10 ounces) fresh baby spinach
2 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to a 16-by-10-inch rectangle. Place the pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score dough to form a 1-inch border. Using a fork, prick dough inside the border every 1/2 inch. Bake until golden, rotating pan once, about 15 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, toss onion with 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt. Cover and cook over medium heat until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir. Continue cooking with cover on for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Set aside.

In a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat remaining oil. Add mushrooms; cover and cook until tender and all liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Fold in spinach; season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes more. Drain any liquid.

Top dough with mushroom-spinach mixture. Scatter onion and goat cheese on top. Bake until cheese is lightly browned, about 15 minutes.