Feral Cooks

Good food shouldn't be tame

Veggies and Ricotta

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This is an easy vegetarian dish that’s flavorful, filling and low calorie—perfect if you’re leaning up for summer. You could serve it as a main dish or a side.

Yes, the ricotta adds about 350 calories across the dish, but entire recipe is 3 to 4 servings, so the calorie count ends up being really minimal per person.

Note that it’s best to use a 12-inch nonstick pan for this recipe.

What you’ll need

  • 1T olive or chili oil
  • 1 or 2 onions, quartered and thinly sliced
  • 6-10 oz. mushrooms, thickly sliced or quartered
  • 6-7 small, red, unpeeled potatoes, sliced VERY thin
  • 2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes—fire roasted, if possible
  • 12 oz. mixed frozen or fresh cut vegetables (broccoli, carrots, pea pods, etc.)
  • 10 or so cherry tomatoes
  • 0.25t red pepper flakes
  • 7 or 8 oz. low-fat ricotta
  • 0.25 cups tomato paste
  • 4-6 oz. fresh whole spinach leaves (not in the batch photographed for this post)
  • A fresh jalapeño pepper or sliced jarred jalapeños, to taste (optional)

What to do

Heat the oil in the frypan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté them. What you’re going to do with the onions is a shortcut caramelization, so keep sauteing them until they start to brown. Add a few tablespoons of hot water—it will bubble up and steam—and keeping sauteing until the water evaporates. Add the sliced potatoes. Repeat this cycle 2 to 4 more times until the onions are soft, browned and “caramelized.” The potatoes will likely not even be softened by this point.

Add the mushrooms and continue sauteing the onions, mushrooms and potatoes for 5 – 10 minutes. Meanwhile open the diced tomatoes and completely drain one can of its liquid. Add both cans to the frypan and bring to a vigorous simmer. Add the frozen or fresh vegetables, cherry tomatoes and red pepper flakes, stirring the mixture well.

Add the ricotta and tomato paste and mix them in to the vegetables well. Let the vigorous simmer resume and continue for 15 more minutes, stirring the veggies every so often. At this point a lot of the liquid from the tomatoes should have evaporated and thickened. Carefully add the spinach leaves. Yes, the pan will be very crowded, but as you carefully fold in the spinach, it will collapse and reduce, as it always does.

Continue cooking at a vigorous simmer until your preferred amount of liquid is left in the pan. For best serving results, it’s best to reduce the liquid to nearly nothing.

Serve hot in a bowl or large plate, topped with the jalapeños.

Bacon-wrapped Pork Tenderloin

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Pork tenderloin is the one cut of meat that’s nearly impossible to ruin. You can overcook it, cook it too quickly, fail to season it, you name it, and it’s still going to be salvageable.

With this recipe, though, you won’t have to salvage anything because it will turn out great! The pork-and-pork pairing of tenderloin and bacon is a great combination, as the bacon seasons the tenderloin as it cooks.

Note that this is a perfect opportunity to roast a head or two of garlic with the meat. If you’re doing that, just peel off the outer skin off the head and cut off the top. Pour some olive oil over the top and wrap it in foil. Just cook it with the meat.

Note that there can be up to 6 hours of non-active prep time for this recipe, for maximum flavor.

This recipe is based on one from Bon Appetit.

What you’ll need

  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1T either fresh chopped rosemary or thyme, plus a few sprigs of whichever you’re using
  • 1t salt
  • 1t ground black pepper
  • 1T olive oil
  • 1.5 lb pork tenderloin
  •  4 slices thick-cut bacon

What to do

Combine the chopped garlic, rosemary or thyme, salt, pepper, and oil in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the pork tenderloin. If waiting to cook, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate it until you’re ready to cook.

For cooking, heat your oven to 425 degrees F. Spray the bottom of a large baking dish with cooking spray or wipe some olive oil on it with a paper towel before laying the unwrapped tenderloin in the dish. Lay the slices of bacon across the top of the tenderloin and tuck them underneath so they stay in place while cooking. Add the rosemary or thyme sprigs, laying them against the bacon. Add the garlic heads, if roasting garlic.

Roast the meat for about 30 minutes before checking for doneness. A meat thermometer in the thickest part of the tenderloin should read 145 degrees for medium done. If it’s not done, continue cooking, checking every few minutes for doneness.

When it’s done, remove the meat to a cutting board, tent some foil over it and wait 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve hot with the roasted garlic.

Goguma Mattang (Korean Candied Sweet Potatoes)

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This is a very simple and delicious side dish or light type of dessert. The best part of these is that the sugar solidifies after it cools, providing a crunchy exterior and a soft, silky interior. These may be really good chilled and topped with whipped cream.

Other cultures have versions of candied potatoes, including the Japanese with their daigaku-imo potatoes, which translates to “college potatoes.” As you may have already guessed, these are cheap and easy to prepare, making them perfect for “poor” college students. Ironically, they’re just like American college students’ gravitation toward instant ramen.

What you’ll need

  • 1.5 lbs. peeled Korean sweet potato, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 0.33 cups granulated sugar
  • Enough neutral oil for about 1.5 inches of oil in a 10-inch frypan (about 3 – 3.5 cups)
  • 1T toasted black or white sesame seeds—optional

What to do

Heat the cooking oil in a 10-inch heavy fry pan (cast iron works well) over high heat until the temperature reaches about 375 degrees F. Once the oil reaches temperature, turn the heat down to medium-high.

Add the potatoes (careful that they don’t splash) and fry them for anywhere between 5 – 12 minutes. Note that the oil temperature will drastically drop to about 350 degrees, which is the temp at which you want to cook them. Gently move the pieces around in the oil with tongs or a wooden spoon. Remove the potatoes to a grate to drain them once you can easily pierce the largest piece with a skewer. At this point turn off the heat under the oil, but leave the pan in place for the second fry.

Now it’s time to make the syrup. Add 1 tablespoon of the neutral oil to a different smaller frypan (preferably nonstick), swirling it around to evenly coat the pan’s bottom. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the oil.

Put the frypan over medium heat for about 5 minutes. At this point watch the sugar carefully, turning the heat to medium low once the sugar initially melts. Do not stir it, which will make it crystalize.

Lift the frypan and tilt it around so the sugar evenly melts. Once the sugar is evenly melted and golden, turn off the heat, but leave it on the burner.

To refry the potatoes, heat the oil back up to 350 degrees before adding the potatoes for about 2 – 3 minutes. At this point, the potatoes should be crispy on the outside. Remove them from the oil and again return them to a rack to drain.

Now for the best part: reheat the syrup so it flows again and add the potatoes to it, mixing them in with a spoon or tongs until each is piece is covered with syrup. If using them, sprinkle the sesame seeds evenly over the potatoes. Remove the potato pieces to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper so they’re not touching. Let the potatoes cool.

When the syrup has hardened, transfer the pieces to a dish and serve.