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Tag Archives: quick

A fork lies amidst a tangle of spaghetti, tines completely hidden. Ribbons of kale, small nubbins of sausage, and shards of Parmesan cheese punctuate the plate.

Spaghetti with sausage and kale

August 4, 2017by Mike Bierschenk 2 Comments

Just a simple weeknight meal that makes the best of midsummer vegetation and pantry staples.

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Main Dishes, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
Close-up on a bowl of quick and lazy pozole, deep brick-red broth studded with brown chorizo, bright red tomatoes, yellow-green chiles, and pale yellow hominy. A small pile of cheese sits near a dollop of sour cream near the upper edge of the bowl.

Quick and lazy posole

February 10, 2017by Mike Bierschenk 1 Comment

Pozole is one of the classics of Mexican cookery, a rich and hearty hominy stew. It’s also a time commitment, so this weeknight version uses fresh, spicy chorizo to shortcut both time and spicing.

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Main Dishes, Soups
A plate of migas, crumbled tortilla chips softened by scrambling in eggs, with a stainless steel fork buried in them. Dashes of bright red hot sauce dot the dish, and a mug of coffee stands at the ready plateside.

Cauliflower migas

December 1, 2016by Mike Bierschenk 1 Comment

Migas are a great way to use up old corn tortillas, or for that matter old corn chips. This version used sauteed cauliflower for a quick, satisfying vegetarian breakfast.

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Breakfast, Main Dishes, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
A bowl of rice topped with "simple Swiss chard with garlic and crystallized ginger," sits on a wooden countertop. Next to it sits a stainless steel pan filled with more chard, the bright red and yellow stems punctuated the emerald-green leaves.

Simple Swiss chard with garlic and crystallized ginger

September 30, 2016by Mike Bierschenk 4 Comments

Sweet ginger, salty soy, bright earthy stems, and verdant leaves: whether an easy side for dinner, or a simple lunch with rice or bread, this is one of my favorite preparations for any greens, and it’s especially grand for chard.

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Side Dishes, Stuff on Rice, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
On a glass table, a blue-rimmed plate, with a pair of chopsticks laid to the left. On the plate, a mound of fluffy white rice, half-covered with wrinkled green beans and slices of dark brown pan-crisped seitan, all dressed lightly in a brown sauce and flecked with black, beige, and red-brown bits of seasoning.

Green beans and seitan in black bean sauce

September 16, 2016by Mike Bierschenk Leave a comment

Salty, spicy green beans, just a little oily. Pan-fried seitan soaking up the sauce. A bed of rice, and a plateful of heaven.

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Main Dishes, Stuff on Rice, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
Cardamom coffee in a mug whose handle is modeled after a human vertebra. A layer of bubbly froth covers the top of the mug, with a warm brown smudge in the center where the coffee was poured.

Cardamom coffee

February 11, 2016by Mike Bierschenk 14 Comments

Whether you’re having a relaxing weekend morning, catching a break from a busy week, or just looking to try something different for your morning joe, this’ll be sure to bring you a smile.

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Breakfast, Drinks
Pick-me-up peppermint mocha, a closeup on the mound of whipped cream with green and red sprinkles

Pick-me-up peppermint mocha

December 9, 2015by Mike Bierschenk Leave a comment

A quick-fix fancy coffee drink for the days when the world gets to be just the teeniest bit too much.

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Desserts/Sweet Things, Drinks
Cilantro chicken pinwheels: closeup showing finely chopped, green-tinted chicken, studded with tiny squares of red pepper, all within a spiral of flour tortilla

Cilantro chicken pinwheels

October 26, 2015by Mike Bierschenk 3 Comments

Bright, green-flecked spirals of spicy chicken salad are a party show-stopper, but take almost no time to throw together. Better make two trays.

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Appetizers/Snacks, Veg*n or veg*n-possible
Avocado toast sits on wooden plate, pale green scallops of avocado piled high on a lightly toasted slice of a multigrain boule.

Avocado toast (that isn’t ridiculous)

September 26, 2015by Mike Bierschenk 2 Comments

I made this because I got tired of reading overwrought recipes for a dish that, really, couldn’t be simpler. No finicky knives, no ridiculous mashing, just pure unadulterated avocado.

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Appetizers/Snacks, Breakfast, Salads, Veg*n or veg*n-possible

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avocado bacon banana beans broccoli buttermilk cabbage cake cardamom carrot casserole celery cheese chicken chickpeas chiles Chinese chocolate cilantro citrus coconut coffee cookie cranberries easy egg fall ginger grapefruit green beans greens hearty honey jalapeño kale lemon lime Mexican Mexico: The Cookbook noodles nuts oats orange orange juice pasta peaches peas pecan pinto beans potato pumpkin quick quinoa raisins rice sausage scallion seitan simple spinach steel-cut oats summer summer squash sweet potato tacos tahini tex-mex Texas Thanksgiving tomato tortillas turkey walnut winter squash zucchini

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Shredded chickenThose peppers are just so redBroccoli MountainAlarmingly giant spoon handleLet’s just pretend that’s a snowscape, not a blown-out car windshield
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All text and photos © Mike Bierschenk, 2014-2016
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