I made this tonight to go with some roasted vegetables. It was simple to make and cooked in about 28 minutes with my convection oven turned to 400 degrees. I can't remember where I got the recipe.
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 cups soymilk
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 T olive oil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix cornmeal, flours & baking powder.
In separate bowl whisk together soymilk, canola oil, salt & maple syrup. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Oil an 11-inch round cast-iron skillet with the olive oil. Over high heat, heat the oil until it starts to smoke. Pour the batter into the heating skillet. Bake approximately 40 minutes (unless you're using convection!).
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
fresh produce recipes
my mom sent me these links to recipes from MSU a while ago. they open up PDFs in your browser. i haven't tried any of them but they seem easy and are organized by ingredients, so let me know if you try any of them. my mom would love to know.
http://tinyurl.com/66rxnk
http://tinyurl.com/6jdqoq
http://tinyurl.com/66rxnk
http://tinyurl.com/6jdqoq
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Root cellaring
NY Times recently wrote about the renewed interest in preserving including root cellaring. I remember the rows of stuff my grandma used to keep in her root cellar (though I really just remember preseved goods not fresh vegetable storage). It seems like it would be interesting I'm just scared of rodents.
Read the NYT article.
Read the NYT article.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Sweet Ginger Broccoli with Tofu
Looking for something to make with broccoli & ginger for dinner tonight, I stumbled on this recipe (and used tofu in place of chicken). It was delicious!
My version of the recipe is below...
marinade:
* a generous splash of rice vinegar
* 1 teaspoon grated ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (i didn't have an orange)
* 1 tsp of Thai chili sauce
* 1 package extra-firm tofu
* mirin up to the level of the tofu
sweet ginger orange sauce:
* 3 Tablespoons mirin (i didn't have any left after making the marinade and it was just fine without it. but i'd try it with next time!)
* 3/4 cup orange juice
* 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
* 2 teaspoons soy sauce
* 3 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil
* 2 Tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
* 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce
stir-fry:
* 4 cups broccoli florets
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2 carrots diced
* 2 small sweet red peppers
* 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
serve over:
* steamed rice
Preparation Instructions:
1). Cut tofu into 1/2 inch thick rectangles. Gently press in towel to remove excess moisture. Dry-fry in a nonstick pan over medium heat with NO OIL, pressing with a spatula frequently. It is done when firm and golden on both sides.
2). Stir together the marinade ingredients, adding the tofu.
3). Wash and chop all of your vegetables. For the broccoli, use only the flowerets.
4). Marinate the tofu at least twenty minutes (I did for over an hour cause I started dinner while Emmett was napping).
5). Prepare the sauce by mixing all of the ingredients together well.
6). Heat pan over medium-high to high heat. Add about oil, then add onions. Cook until soft. Add the drained tofu and the rest of the vegetables. Stir-fry over high heat just until the broccoli is tender but still slightly crunchy (5-10 minutes). Cut the heat and toss the stir-fry with the sauce.
7). Serve over rice. Enjoy!
My version of the recipe is below...
marinade:
* a generous splash of rice vinegar
* 1 teaspoon grated ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (i didn't have an orange)
* 1 tsp of Thai chili sauce
* 1 package extra-firm tofu
* mirin up to the level of the tofu
sweet ginger orange sauce:
* 3 Tablespoons mirin (i didn't have any left after making the marinade and it was just fine without it. but i'd try it with next time!)
* 3/4 cup orange juice
* 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
* 2 teaspoons soy sauce
* 3 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil
* 2 Tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
* 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce
stir-fry:
* 4 cups broccoli florets
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2 carrots diced
* 2 small sweet red peppers
* 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
serve over:
* steamed rice
Preparation Instructions:
1). Cut tofu into 1/2 inch thick rectangles. Gently press in towel to remove excess moisture. Dry-fry in a nonstick pan over medium heat with NO OIL, pressing with a spatula frequently. It is done when firm and golden on both sides.
2). Stir together the marinade ingredients, adding the tofu.
3). Wash and chop all of your vegetables. For the broccoli, use only the flowerets.
4). Marinate the tofu at least twenty minutes (I did for over an hour cause I started dinner while Emmett was napping).
5). Prepare the sauce by mixing all of the ingredients together well.
6). Heat pan over medium-high to high heat. Add about oil, then add onions. Cook until soft. Add the drained tofu and the rest of the vegetables. Stir-fry over high heat just until the broccoli is tender but still slightly crunchy (5-10 minutes). Cut the heat and toss the stir-fry with the sauce.
7). Serve over rice. Enjoy!
Summer Greens and Potato Fry-Up
This is from the "From Asparagus to Zucchini" Cookbook.
1 T butter
1 tsp chili oil
4 small potatoes thinly sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 pound fresh spinach, chard, or other mild-flavored greens, washed & stemmed (I used chard)
1/2 tsp dried ground thyme
3/4 cup cooked sweet corn (i didn't cook it first)
3 sprigs fresh oregano (i subbed dried oregano)
1/2 tsp paprika (i didn't have this)
grated parmesan cheese (optional)
Heat butter and chili oil in large nonstick skillet over medium flame. Add potatoes and onions, and season well with salt & pepper. Let the potatoes brown slightly in the pan on one side for several minutes. Toss potatoes, season with more salt & pepper, and let them brown lightly again. When potatoes are almost tender, toss in greens and thyme, then add a little less than 1/4 cup water (I used veggie broth), cover the pan, and raise heat to high. Let steam until greens are nearly done, 1-2 minutes. Uncover, add corn, oregano, and paprika, and allow potatoes to finish cooking & browning. Season to taste and top with parmesan. Serve with fried eggs if you like (we did!).
1 T butter
1 tsp chili oil
4 small potatoes thinly sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 pound fresh spinach, chard, or other mild-flavored greens, washed & stemmed (I used chard)
1/2 tsp dried ground thyme
3/4 cup cooked sweet corn (i didn't cook it first)
3 sprigs fresh oregano (i subbed dried oregano)
1/2 tsp paprika (i didn't have this)
grated parmesan cheese (optional)
Heat butter and chili oil in large nonstick skillet over medium flame. Add potatoes and onions, and season well with salt & pepper. Let the potatoes brown slightly in the pan on one side for several minutes. Toss potatoes, season with more salt & pepper, and let them brown lightly again. When potatoes are almost tender, toss in greens and thyme, then add a little less than 1/4 cup water (I used veggie broth), cover the pan, and raise heat to high. Let steam until greens are nearly done, 1-2 minutes. Uncover, add corn, oregano, and paprika, and allow potatoes to finish cooking & browning. Season to taste and top with parmesan. Serve with fried eggs if you like (we did!).
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Light Wheat Bread
Tried the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes Light Wheat Bread today. And we really liked it! I think it's our new favorite.
Rising...
Didn't get much bigger than that. Then I forgot to flour the top and score it. Oops.
After baking...
Ready to eat...
Rising...
Didn't get much bigger than that. Then I forgot to flour the top and score it. Oops.
After baking...
Ready to eat...
Main-Dish Lentil-Vegetable Soup
Tonight's dinner was based on Vegetarian Times' recipe for Main-Dish Lentil-Vegetable Soup. I've made it in the crockpot in the past and this time did the stovetop method. Both work great!
Check the link above for the original recipe. Here's what I used:
Main-Dish Lentil-Vegetable Soup
Serves 4
* 1 Tbs. olive oil
* 1/4 c chopped yellow onion
* 1 leek chopped
* 1/4 tsp roasted garlic (dried)
* 3 carrots cut into 1/4-inch dice
* 2 small potatos cut into small cubes
* 3 stalks celery cut into 1/4-inch dice
* 2 mild peppers chopped
* 1 1/4 cups dried brown lentils
* 6 cups vegetable stock (I used 4 cups veg broth, 2 cups no-chicken broth)
* 1 1/2 Tbs. tamari soy sauce
* Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
* 1 tsp italian herbs
STOVETOP METHOD: Heat oil in stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes to soften. Add remaining vegetables and saute about 5 minutes till beginning to soften. Add lentils, stock, tamari, and seasonings. Reduce heat to low. Cover, and cook, stirring from time to time, until lentils and vegetables are tender, ~45 minutes to 1 hour. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Here's the CROCKPOT Method for reference:
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add vegetables, lentils, stock, tamari, and seasonings. Cover, and cook on low until lentils and vegetables are tender, 6 to 8 hours.
Check the link above for the original recipe. Here's what I used:
Main-Dish Lentil-Vegetable Soup
Serves 4
* 1 Tbs. olive oil
* 1/4 c chopped yellow onion
* 1 leek chopped
* 1/4 tsp roasted garlic (dried)
* 3 carrots cut into 1/4-inch dice
* 2 small potatos cut into small cubes
* 3 stalks celery cut into 1/4-inch dice
* 2 mild peppers chopped
* 1 1/4 cups dried brown lentils
* 6 cups vegetable stock (I used 4 cups veg broth, 2 cups no-chicken broth)
* 1 1/2 Tbs. tamari soy sauce
* Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
* 1 tsp italian herbs
STOVETOP METHOD: Heat oil in stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes to soften. Add remaining vegetables and saute about 5 minutes till beginning to soften. Add lentils, stock, tamari, and seasonings. Reduce heat to low. Cover, and cook, stirring from time to time, until lentils and vegetables are tender, ~45 minutes to 1 hour. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Here's the CROCKPOT Method for reference:
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add vegetables, lentils, stock, tamari, and seasonings. Cover, and cook on low until lentils and vegetables are tender, 6 to 8 hours.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Calabacitas
Got some delicata squash and corn on the cob in our veggie box today. They sounded like a good combination so I googled it and found this: New Mexican Calabacitas (Squash and Corn saute)
Served it with steamed rice and corn tortillas with butter (cause I had both of them needing to be used up in the fridge).
Here's my version of the recipe:
Ingredients (6 servings)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, chopped
2 small delicata squash, chopped into small cubes
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 green chile pepper, chopped (I don't know what kind of pepper it was. We get a variety in our veggie box)
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cubes Trader Joe's frozen chopped cilantro
Garlic salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Mixed herbs, to taste (marjoram and lots of cumin)
Preparation
Heat oil in a large skillet and sauté the leeks and squash until softened (5-10 minutes). I added, garlic salt, pepper and about 1/4 c of water halfway through the cooking as the squash was starting to brown and stick to the pan. Add corn, green chile, and mixed herbs and sauté 5 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, cilantro, and beans and heat through, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately.
Served it with steamed rice and corn tortillas with butter (cause I had both of them needing to be used up in the fridge).
Here's my version of the recipe:
Ingredients (6 servings)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, chopped
2 small delicata squash, chopped into small cubes
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 green chile pepper, chopped (I don't know what kind of pepper it was. We get a variety in our veggie box)
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cubes Trader Joe's frozen chopped cilantro
Garlic salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Mixed herbs, to taste (marjoram and lots of cumin)
Preparation
Heat oil in a large skillet and sauté the leeks and squash until softened (5-10 minutes). I added, garlic salt, pepper and about 1/4 c of water halfway through the cooking as the squash was starting to brown and stick to the pan. Add corn, green chile, and mixed herbs and sauté 5 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, cilantro, and beans and heat through, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Favorite Cookbooks
I used to be a huge fan of the Moosewood Cookbooks when I lived in California...but I rarely use them anymore.
These are my favorites these days:
From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce - This came recommended by our farm and it has been a huge help with some great ideas, storage tips, etc. I use this the most.
Smith & Hawken: The Gardeners' Community Cookbook - I picked this up at Smith & Hawken several years ago. It has nice, simple, good recipes.
The Big Book of Vegetarian - I had a gift certificate to spend one day, and this book caught my eye. I came home and read it cover to cover. It's full of paper slips of all the recipes I (still) want to try.
and I don't know what I'd do without google. I love how you can get an idea in your head "fennel tomatoes" or "cauliflower brussel sprouts" and find a bunch of recipes that combine the ingredients you want to eat that night.
I've also really liked The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food. I have read it cover to cover too.
On my wishlist:
Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets
Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables (this was also a great documentary!)
The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook
BALL Complete Book of Home Preserving
and I'd like a good dessert cookbook. Better Homes & Gardens is my old standby.
These are my favorites these days:
From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce - This came recommended by our farm and it has been a huge help with some great ideas, storage tips, etc. I use this the most.
Smith & Hawken: The Gardeners' Community Cookbook - I picked this up at Smith & Hawken several years ago. It has nice, simple, good recipes.
The Big Book of Vegetarian - I had a gift certificate to spend one day, and this book caught my eye. I came home and read it cover to cover. It's full of paper slips of all the recipes I (still) want to try.
and I don't know what I'd do without google. I love how you can get an idea in your head "fennel tomatoes" or "cauliflower brussel sprouts" and find a bunch of recipes that combine the ingredients you want to eat that night.
I've also really liked The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food. I have read it cover to cover too.
On my wishlist:
Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets
Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables (this was also a great documentary!)
The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook
BALL Complete Book of Home Preserving
and I'd like a good dessert cookbook. Better Homes & Gardens is my old standby.
Beet Pesto
Our kids like beets! We get a LOT of beets in our veggie box. I give them to GG a lot of the time and she makes herself pickled beets. She has more time than us. They take so long to cook! But Jeff got home from work early today so he tackled a beet dinner.
We made this beet pesto about 10 years ago when we lived in Oakland and put it in homemade pasta for beet raviolis. We had more time back then. I still remember how good it was though.
Anyway, tonight Jeff made the pesto and stirred it into pasta. The kids and I got home just as he was pureeing it in the cuisinart. They looooved the color and wanted tastes. Emmett ate a ton of it and Clara really liked it too. I was so surprised. I knew they'd like the color and it does taste good...but it was beets! Kids aren't supposed to like beets are they? :-)
Beet Pesto
4 Fresh beets with greens
1/2 ts Salt + garlic salt
1 onion chopped
1 tsp dried roasted garlic (we've also used a stalk of green garlic
1 c Walnuts, toasted
3/4 of a lime
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Black pepper
Trim & wash beets. Leave 1″ stem, steam till tender (this took about 55 minutes...we had some biiiig beets). When beets are cooked, slip skins off under cool water & set aside. Remove leaves from stems & discard stems. Wash & dry leaves, chop coarsely. In a skillet, cook onions, pinch red pepper flakes & garlic in olive oil till softened. Add beet greens & cook 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a processor & puree with the cooked beets, cut into quarters. Add rest of ingredients & puree again, adding beet water if necessary (ours is pretty thick and pastey but "melts" over pasta). The pesto keeps refrigerated for 2 weeks or freezes. Stir into hot pasta and top with grated parmesan cheese.
We made this beet pesto about 10 years ago when we lived in Oakland and put it in homemade pasta for beet raviolis. We had more time back then. I still remember how good it was though.
Anyway, tonight Jeff made the pesto and stirred it into pasta. The kids and I got home just as he was pureeing it in the cuisinart. They looooved the color and wanted tastes. Emmett ate a ton of it and Clara really liked it too. I was so surprised. I knew they'd like the color and it does taste good...but it was beets! Kids aren't supposed to like beets are they? :-)
Beet Pesto
4 Fresh beets with greens
1/2 ts Salt + garlic salt
1 onion chopped
1 tsp dried roasted garlic (we've also used a stalk of green garlic
1 c Walnuts, toasted
3/4 of a lime
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Black pepper
Trim & wash beets. Leave 1″ stem, steam till tender (this took about 55 minutes...we had some biiiig beets). When beets are cooked, slip skins off under cool water & set aside. Remove leaves from stems & discard stems. Wash & dry leaves, chop coarsely. In a skillet, cook onions, pinch red pepper flakes & garlic in olive oil till softened. Add beet greens & cook 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a processor & puree with the cooked beets, cut into quarters. Add rest of ingredients & puree again, adding beet water if necessary (ours is pretty thick and pastey but "melts" over pasta). The pesto keeps refrigerated for 2 weeks or freezes. Stir into hot pasta and top with grated parmesan cheese.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Artisan Bread + Vegetable Chowder
It was rainy and cold. Emmett was sick. I had bread dough in the fridge and a bunch of veggies to eat. Soup!
I adapted the Moosewood Vegetable Chowder recipe to use veggies & amounts I had on hand (potatos, carrots, onion, broccoli, humongous pattypan squash, i also increased the basil and added thyme)
Here's the original recipe...
Vegetable Chowder
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 2 cups chopped onion
* 6 (yes) cloves garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1/2 teaspoon basil
* 1 medium potato, diced
* 2 medium stalks celery, diced
* 2 medium carrots, diced
* 2 cups chopped broccoli
* 2 cups chopped cauliflower
* 1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
* 2 cups corn (frozen is fine)
* lots of fresh black pepper
* 1 1/2 cups water
* 1 quart milk, heated
Melt the butter in a kettle or Dutch oven. Add onion, half the garlic, salt, thyme, and basil. Saute' over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add potato, celery, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. Saute' another 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and corn, plus lots of black pepper. Saute' another 8-10 minutes.
Add water, cover, and simmer about 15 minutes, or until everything is tender.
Stir in hot milk and remaining garlic. Remove from heat until about 10 minutes before serving time, then heat gently.
And here's my pretty bread:
I adapted the Moosewood Vegetable Chowder recipe to use veggies & amounts I had on hand (potatos, carrots, onion, broccoli, humongous pattypan squash, i also increased the basil and added thyme)
Here's the original recipe...
Vegetable Chowder
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 2 cups chopped onion
* 6 (yes) cloves garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1/2 teaspoon basil
* 1 medium potato, diced
* 2 medium stalks celery, diced
* 2 medium carrots, diced
* 2 cups chopped broccoli
* 2 cups chopped cauliflower
* 1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
* 2 cups corn (frozen is fine)
* lots of fresh black pepper
* 1 1/2 cups water
* 1 quart milk, heated
Melt the butter in a kettle or Dutch oven. Add onion, half the garlic, salt, thyme, and basil. Saute' over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add potato, celery, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. Saute' another 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and corn, plus lots of black pepper. Saute' another 8-10 minutes.
Add water, cover, and simmer about 15 minutes, or until everything is tender.
Stir in hot milk and remaining garlic. Remove from heat until about 10 minutes before serving time, then heat gently.
And here's my pretty bread:
Potato, Tomato Burritos
Needed dinner in a hurry the other night so no pictures of this. But it was good.
Thinly sliced potatoes with mandolin
Chopped onion
Chopped Sweet peppers (not bell)
Vegetable broth or water
Diced tomatoes
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Cumin
Chili powder
Cayenne pepper
Corn tortillas
Sauteed onion over high heat letting it brown, added peppers and potatos. Added veggie broth, and spices (at least 1 T cumin, 1/2 T chili powder, and a pinch of cayenne + garlic salt & pepper). Cover to steam potatos. Stir occasionally and add more veggie broth if needed.
Meanwhile chopped tomatoes and added salt & pepper. Set aside.
Placed one corn tortilla in a skillet, covered it with the potato mixture, grated cheese & tomatoes and placed another tortilla on top. Heated for about 2 minutes and then flipped to heat other side. Sliced in quarters to serve.
Thinly sliced potatoes with mandolin
Chopped onion
Chopped Sweet peppers (not bell)
Vegetable broth or water
Diced tomatoes
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Cumin
Chili powder
Cayenne pepper
Corn tortillas
Sauteed onion over high heat letting it brown, added peppers and potatos. Added veggie broth, and spices (at least 1 T cumin, 1/2 T chili powder, and a pinch of cayenne + garlic salt & pepper). Cover to steam potatos. Stir occasionally and add more veggie broth if needed.
Meanwhile chopped tomatoes and added salt & pepper. Set aside.
Placed one corn tortilla in a skillet, covered it with the potato mixture, grated cheese & tomatoes and placed another tortilla on top. Heated for about 2 minutes and then flipped to heat other side. Sliced in quarters to serve.
Tomatoes
I've had a great crop of tomatoes this year. I got my plants at the Ballard Farmer's Market and planted them at the beginning of June. There are three different heirloom varieties. One has large pink tomatoes, one with clusters of small orange tomatoes, and one with clusters of small red tomatoes. Mid-late September I had a lot of well-developed fruit but had only one ripe tomato. So I did some reading and decided to start stressing out my plants. On one of them I tried cutting around 3 sides of the root and the other ones I plucked off a bunch of leaves and new growth. The leaf removal seems to work best to me. I've been removing more and more as time has gone on and the tomatoes are ripening at a pretty steady rate. And they taste delicious!
Orzo with Green Beans, Tomatoes & Feta
I was so excited on Wednesday to get some green & yellow wax beans in our veggie box. It had been feeling so fall-like so it was nice to get a bit of summer produce back.
I had a bunch of tomatoes (from my garden!) & feta cheese too so I adapted a recipe and came up with this yummy dish. Which made a gigantic bowl (this is actually a picture of round two after we'd eaten the first round for dinner!).
Orzo with Green Beans, Tomatoes & Feta
3 cups of orzo pasta
1 lb of green/wax beans
dozen small tomatoes
8 oz of crumbled feta
2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 small onion
Cut the beans in 1 inch pieces and blanch for ~3-5 minutes. Remove from boiling water and put in ice water bath. Cook orzo in green bean water. While orzo is cooking, cut tomatoes in small wedges. Saute chopped onions. Add cooked orzo & green beans to cooked onions, add balsamic vinegar, garlic salt & pepper to taste. Remove from heat and add tomatoes and feta cheese.
I had a bunch of tomatoes (from my garden!) & feta cheese too so I adapted a recipe and came up with this yummy dish. Which made a gigantic bowl (this is actually a picture of round two after we'd eaten the first round for dinner!).
Orzo with Green Beans, Tomatoes & Feta
3 cups of orzo pasta
1 lb of green/wax beans
dozen small tomatoes
8 oz of crumbled feta
2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 small onion
Cut the beans in 1 inch pieces and blanch for ~3-5 minutes. Remove from boiling water and put in ice water bath. Cook orzo in green bean water. While orzo is cooking, cut tomatoes in small wedges. Saute chopped onions. Add cooked orzo & green beans to cooked onions, add balsamic vinegar, garlic salt & pepper to taste. Remove from heat and add tomatoes and feta cheese.
Canning Apples & Peaches
Finally downloaded some pictures from our camera and realized there's a bunch of stuff I never wrote about!
Eva, Emily & I had another canning day a few weeks ago. Emily wrote a little about it on her blog here. We ended up with about 80 jars of applesauce, apple slices, peach slices, baked peach butter, and my personal favorite: apple pie jam. All of the fruit came from Emily's apple tree and her neighbor's peach trees.
Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam
4 cups tart apples, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
4 cups sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 box pectin
1/2 teaspoon butter
Add water to chopped apples to measure 4 cups. Place apples and water into large, heavy saucepan. Stir in lemon juice, cinnamon and allspice.
Measure sugars. Stir pectin into fruit. Add butter. Bring mixture to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Quickly stir in both sugars. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.
Ladle quickly into hot, clean jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on finger tight. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Eva, Emily & I had another canning day a few weeks ago. Emily wrote a little about it on her blog here. We ended up with about 80 jars of applesauce, apple slices, peach slices, baked peach butter, and my personal favorite: apple pie jam. All of the fruit came from Emily's apple tree and her neighbor's peach trees.
Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam
4 cups tart apples, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
4 cups sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 box pectin
1/2 teaspoon butter
Add water to chopped apples to measure 4 cups. Place apples and water into large, heavy saucepan. Stir in lemon juice, cinnamon and allspice.
Measure sugars. Stir pectin into fruit. Add butter. Bring mixture to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Quickly stir in both sugars. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.
Ladle quickly into hot, clean jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on finger tight. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Focaccia w/ Tomato, Feta & Caramelized Onions
I finally got around to trying "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" yesterday. As everyone else has said, holy cow, easy! I just did the basic recipe and then tore a hunk out to make focaccia. Added sliced tomatoes, caramelized onions, feta, kosher salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Yum! I think next time I'd try the olive oil dough recipe instead because this turned out a little breadier than I like my focaccia. But...it was all gone in one sitting!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
i heart vegas food
i'm pretty sure i just had the best meal of my life. it cost over $100 so i guess it better be. i'm in las vegas at the mgm grand. i wanted asian food for dinner tonight and started out walking toward a casual dining place that would have it. but along the way, i walked by shibuya which serves japanese food. i'd walked (and worked) enough for the day so i decided to treat myself (on work's dime) to something nice. they had a vegetarian tappenyaki dinner that sounded good so i went in. since i was eating alone and early in the evening i was seated all by myself at the big japanese grill. there were other people at the sushi bar and at tables but i was the only one up for tappenyaki apparently. i tried to order a cocktail that had a japanese version of vodka in it but my server steered me toward the americanized cocktails saying that the other stuff is generally too strong for people (like me) to like. i ended up just ordering a glass of plum wine (okay two) in the end. mmm plum wine. then out came a heavenly seaweed salad. then out came a mixed green salad dressed in an apple yuzu vinaigrette. it was so so good i had to ask again what the vinaigrette was made of. then miso soup with enoki & shitake mushrooms. during the miso, my chef came out; i'd been visited by about three different servers prior to that and they'd all been super attentive calling me by name each time. my chef was awesome and funny and young enough that we could actually talk about life and relate to each other. the vegetable platter he prepared was so great. typically at every other japanese grilling restaurant i've ever been to, dinner for a vegetarian is lots of zucchini, onions and bean sprouts and maybe some tofu. in vegas, they take it to a whole new level.
1. kabocha squash, 2. japanese eggplant, 3. two kinds of mushrooms (hiratake and maitake, i think) 4. red onion & green onions, 5. carrots, 6. baby zucchini, 7. baby green pattypan squash, 8. shishito peppers (supposed to be mild but the one i ate burnt my mouth so bad i had tears running down my face. one of my trio of waiters said that was considered "lucky" since they are usually sweet. needless to say i never ate any more.), and 9. tofu. they were grilled in butter, garlic butter, salt & pepper and some had soy sauce/tamari added. they were arranged beautifully (and whole) on a platter and sprinkled with deep fried garlic for a nice crunch. it was all served with a trio of dipping sauces but i didn't even touch them since the veggies were cooked so wonderfully. my chef said the amount of veggies they were providing was enough for two, and i'm hurting from packing away as much as i did. he also made me veggie fried rice but i couldn't touch it cause of my burning mouth and stuffed stomach. luckily i've got a fridge in my room so i was able to bring my leftovers with me! (i can't wait till tomorrow.) as if all that wasn't enough, i was also brought a trio of desserts. first was a little shot glass of a strawberry & something (yogurt?) parfait, tofu cheesecake (i so wish i had saved room for this it was so delicious!), and a chocolate covered mochi ice cream (i couldn't even try this. sooo stuffed). the two glasses of wine, burning tongue, and heaps of food about had me under the table in a food coma. but i managed to walk out of there, check my cellphone, meet up with a guy at my tradeshow booth, and make it back to my room. feeling better now. still sooo happy about that dinner. mmmm. wish i had my tofu cheesecake.
one other vegas note...i've been here three times now. it's my second time at the mgm grand. the other time i've been, i stayed at the venetian. just as last time, i think the the food at the mgm rocks. the venetian was a disappointment food-wise. though my room there was great. but here at the mgm, i'm staying in the signature towers and i've got a mini-kitchenette which is awesome.
1. kabocha squash, 2. japanese eggplant, 3. two kinds of mushrooms (hiratake and maitake, i think) 4. red onion & green onions, 5. carrots, 6. baby zucchini, 7. baby green pattypan squash, 8. shishito peppers (supposed to be mild but the one i ate burnt my mouth so bad i had tears running down my face. one of my trio of waiters said that was considered "lucky" since they are usually sweet. needless to say i never ate any more.), and 9. tofu. they were grilled in butter, garlic butter, salt & pepper and some had soy sauce/tamari added. they were arranged beautifully (and whole) on a platter and sprinkled with deep fried garlic for a nice crunch. it was all served with a trio of dipping sauces but i didn't even touch them since the veggies were cooked so wonderfully. my chef said the amount of veggies they were providing was enough for two, and i'm hurting from packing away as much as i did. he also made me veggie fried rice but i couldn't touch it cause of my burning mouth and stuffed stomach. luckily i've got a fridge in my room so i was able to bring my leftovers with me! (i can't wait till tomorrow.) as if all that wasn't enough, i was also brought a trio of desserts. first was a little shot glass of a strawberry & something (yogurt?) parfait, tofu cheesecake (i so wish i had saved room for this it was so delicious!), and a chocolate covered mochi ice cream (i couldn't even try this. sooo stuffed). the two glasses of wine, burning tongue, and heaps of food about had me under the table in a food coma. but i managed to walk out of there, check my cellphone, meet up with a guy at my tradeshow booth, and make it back to my room. feeling better now. still sooo happy about that dinner. mmmm. wish i had my tofu cheesecake.
one other vegas note...i've been here three times now. it's my second time at the mgm grand. the other time i've been, i stayed at the venetian. just as last time, i think the the food at the mgm rocks. the venetian was a disappointment food-wise. though my room there was great. but here at the mgm, i'm staying in the signature towers and i've got a mini-kitchenette which is awesome.
Monday, August 25, 2008
The best coconut ice cream ever
14 oz can light coconut milk
1/2 cup non fat milk
1/2 cup non fat half and half (or full fat if you dare)
finely grated lemon rind from 1 medium lemon
1 oz light rum or malibu rum
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flaked coconut
Combine all ingredients except coconut and bring to 175 degrees on stovetop.
While mixture is heating, place 3/4 cup of coconut on a cookie sheet and place on the 2nd rack in the oven on broil. Watch carefully, stirring when coconut begins to brown. When coconut is toasted to a light to medium brown remove from oven.
When hot mixture reaches 175 degrees, remove from heat and let cool. Stir toasted coconut in to ice cream mixture.
Place ice cream mixture in refrigerator overnight, or fully chill, before placing in ice cream maker. If you don't have an ice cream maker, place the chilled mixture in freezer in a shallow pan, mixing every hour or so until it ice cream hardens.
Serve immediately or place in freezer until you are ready to eat!
I served it with fresh blueberries but I can imagine it with toasted almonds, chocolate or blackberries.
Enjoy!
1/2 cup non fat milk
1/2 cup non fat half and half (or full fat if you dare)
finely grated lemon rind from 1 medium lemon
1 oz light rum or malibu rum
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flaked coconut
Combine all ingredients except coconut and bring to 175 degrees on stovetop.
While mixture is heating, place 3/4 cup of coconut on a cookie sheet and place on the 2nd rack in the oven on broil. Watch carefully, stirring when coconut begins to brown. When coconut is toasted to a light to medium brown remove from oven.
When hot mixture reaches 175 degrees, remove from heat and let cool. Stir toasted coconut in to ice cream mixture.
Place ice cream mixture in refrigerator overnight, or fully chill, before placing in ice cream maker. If you don't have an ice cream maker, place the chilled mixture in freezer in a shallow pan, mixing every hour or so until it ice cream hardens.
Serve immediately or place in freezer until you are ready to eat!
I served it with fresh blueberries but I can imagine it with toasted almonds, chocolate or blackberries.
Enjoy!
Oh my Artisan Bread!
The Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day is such an incredible book! I mixed two batches, a basic dough and an olive oil dough last Friday night. From those two batches I've made three loaves of sundried tomato, fresh basil, garlic and parmesan bread, two baguettes and a batch of apple pie-raisin cinnamon rolls.It's so easy to make interesting breads! I just tear off a grapefruit size piece of dough, roll it out and spread over the dough whatever I want in the bread. Roll the dough up jelly roll style then form in to a loaf. Let it rest for 20-40 minutes and then bake on a hot stone for about 25 minutes. I have yet to have one turn out badly.
I just mixed up two more batches tonight. Takes no more than 15 minutes to mix then a couple of hours to rise before going in the fridge.
Thanks for the great tip! This is my new favorite thing to make!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monroe eatin'
We just got back from 10 days in Monroe. Some food highlights:
1. Trip to Calder Dairy. It was much bigger and neater than I remembered. So many cows. The strawberry milk was amazing. (Sumei, they even make their own Blue Moon & Superman ice creams!)
2. Veggies from Julie's garden.
2a. Squash casserole (Julie, what's the recipe?)
2b. Grilled vegetable burrito dinner w/ sangria.
3. Zingerman's.
3a. I love Ann Arbor.
3b. I love Zingerman's bread.
3c. I love Zingerman's magic brownies.
4. Sushi. in Monroe!
Honorable mentions:
1. Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day
2. Mexicali dip
1. Trip to Calder Dairy. It was much bigger and neater than I remembered. So many cows. The strawberry milk was amazing. (Sumei, they even make their own Blue Moon & Superman ice creams!)
2. Veggies from Julie's garden.
2a. Squash casserole (Julie, what's the recipe?)
2b. Grilled vegetable burrito dinner w/ sangria.
3. Zingerman's.
3a. I love Ann Arbor.
3b. I love Zingerman's bread.
3c. I love Zingerman's magic brownies.
4. Sushi. in Monroe!
Honorable mentions:
1. Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day
2. Mexicali dip
Pasta with summer vegetables
Dinner tonight was these adorable, tiny farfalle pasta with vegetables. I sauteed onion, with a bunch of green & yellow summer squash, added red pepper flakes, garlic salt, and black pepper. At the end added some leftover corn on the cob (minus the cob). Tossed it with the cute pasta, butter, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. Topped with grated asiago cheese. It really hit the spot. We also had sides of steamed green beans (from my garden!) and some chopped nectarines and blueberries. Aaahhh summer.
Here's a picture of what it looked like after I packed up leftovers for lunch tomorrow. (I'm never going to get pictures before we eat.)
Here's a picture of what it looked like after I packed up leftovers for lunch tomorrow. (I'm never going to get pictures before we eat.)
italian sushi
In Monroe, MI, there aren't a lot of good places to eat out. And veggie friendly places are even harder to come by. But on our last night there we went out to what used to be called Dolce Vita (they'd just two days before changed their name to something else). When I'd been there before it was a rather upscale Italian restaurant...now it's not only an upscale Italian restaurant (complete with violin player) but it also serves sushi! That had me laughing for quite awhile...but now I am thinking the owners are brilliant. There are so many people out there that want to go out to sushi but their partner doesn't like it. Problem solved at the place formerly called Dolce Vita!
The sushi was actually pretty good too! I ordered:
Miso soup - not so good.
Avocado roll - good.
Veggie tempura roll - not so good. (i don't like lettuce or bell pepper in rolls)
Spicy tofu roll - good! (i can't tell you how excited and amused i was that they had tofu on the menu. the chinese restaurant we'd ordered from earlier in the week didn't even have tofu!)
The sushi was actually pretty good too! I ordered:
Miso soup - not so good.
Avocado roll - good.
Veggie tempura roll - not so good. (i don't like lettuce or bell pepper in rolls)
Spicy tofu roll - good! (i can't tell you how excited and amused i was that they had tofu on the menu. the chinese restaurant we'd ordered from earlier in the week didn't even have tofu!)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Here's a few photos from the jam making extravaganza. While making 122 jars we came up with the name "Sista Jams," however 24 hours later decided it should be changed to "Sista Jams and Sauces." Some of the berries did really well without pectin, others like the blackberry and raspberry make great ice cream and waffle sauces.
With about 40 jars to myself, I have gotten creative with how to use them, and ice cream or ice milk is my latest favorite.I made a vanilla ice milk and marbled in a spiced blueberry sauce that was incredible. I made the ice milk a little sweet for my taste, but it would be easy to tone that down.
Last night I made a coconut blackberry ice milk that I think is worth sharing.
COCONUT BLACKBERRY ICE MILK
14oz can of light coconut milk (I used Trader Joes)
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup blackberry sauce (the original recipe called for 1 cup wild blackberries and 3/4 cup splenda)
1/4 cup sugar
3 packets of Real Lemon or 1 Tbl finely grated lemon rind
The original recipe called for a 1/2tsp rum extract, I left that out.
I ran it through the ice cream maker and in 30 minutes had a perfect thick ice milk. It's sweet but not syrupy and had a smooth coconut flavor. I'll try the recipe using blueberries next.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
artisan bread in five minutes a day--first try
i tried making this bread! i made just a half batch (two loaves worth) to try it out. the first loaf turned out nice looking and with a great crust, but it didn't rise very much. i found out that while the book says to let it rise for 40 minutes, the "errata" section of the author's website says really it should be 40 minutes to an hour and a half, or longer if you have a cool kitchen. so i definitely did not rise it enough.
so the second loaf i let rise a lot longer, but after an hour and a half it still hadn't risen very much. it did rise more when i put it in the oven, but at 450 the crust hardens up pretty quick, so it didn't get much bigger than a sandwich bun (though it would be perfect for that) and didn't have much of a crumb to speak of. the loaves are really small, which actually is okay since that means it would be fresher more often. i didn't do the scoring on top deep enough, and i need to work on my sliding the dough off the "peel" (i don't have a peel so i used a cutting board with lots of cornmeal on it) onto the pizza stone. but i did that okay on the second one, and the steam method was really successful i think. so i'm going to try it again. maybe i'll make a double loaf for a bigger size. it looked pretty nice though!
so the second loaf i let rise a lot longer, but after an hour and a half it still hadn't risen very much. it did rise more when i put it in the oven, but at 450 the crust hardens up pretty quick, so it didn't get much bigger than a sandwich bun (though it would be perfect for that) and didn't have much of a crumb to speak of. the loaves are really small, which actually is okay since that means it would be fresher more often. i didn't do the scoring on top deep enough, and i need to work on my sliding the dough off the "peel" (i don't have a peel so i used a cutting board with lots of cornmeal on it) onto the pizza stone. but i did that okay on the second one, and the steam method was really successful i think. so i'm going to try it again. maybe i'll make a double loaf for a bigger size. it looked pretty nice though!
Monday, July 21, 2008
122 jars of jam on the wall...
A couple of weeks ago, I suggested to my sisters-in-law that we try canning strawberry jam. I didn’t want to make freezer jam cause I don’t have the space for it. And canning sounded like a fun project. Eva & Emily were up for the challenge too so we set a date. On Saturday, Emily showed up with two huge bowls of blueberries and then we, along with Jeff and the kids, piled into the car and headed to Fall City to go pick up our vegetable box at Jubilee and then hit up the other local farms for some strawberries and maybe raspberries. Turns out there are no strawberries left in Fall City. I hadn’t even had one strawberry this season! We couldn’t find a flat of strawberries either and the half-pints we saw were $4 each! Uh oh. So, we headed back to Seattle a little worried. But we stopped at a couple of markets near my house and found loads of local (Washington) berries at Ballard Market, we got more supplies at Cash & Carry and Fred Meyer. On Sunday, Eva & Emily came over and we spent the next 8 hours canning our guts out.
We ended up using:
4 half-flats of strawberries
3 half-flats of raspberries
3 half-flats of blackberries
And at least 3 half-flats worth of blueberries from Emily’s house
4 small (5 lb?) bags of sugar
Food Mill – Emily got a Foley and Eva got an Oxo. The Oxo has interchangeable screens that worked best for catching all the berry seeds.
2 Funnels – wide mouth ones
2 Tongs – for jar removal
Jars – we way underestimated what we needed and had to go back later for more. We had a mix of 4oz and 8oz. sizes
4 pots – 2 for water-bath canning and 2 for cooking the berries
3 wooden spoons
Ice – for keeping the fruit cool overnight. (kept some fruit in the dishwasher and the rest in a big rubbermaid tub)
Candy thermometer – I don’t think we really needed this but it was there for moral support
Lemon juice & vinegar – we opted to try no-pectin recipes
Tea kettle – for extra hot water to keep the water baths full
Lots of bowls, paper towels, washcloths, & dishtowels
The Busy Person’s Guide to Food Preserving
We made a variety of jams, syrups, or sauces depending on how well things jelled:
Blueberry spice (nutmeg, cloves & blackpepper)
Strawberry (w/ Lemon juice)
Strawberry (w/ vinegar & salt)
Raspberry
Blackberry
Mixed berry
Strawberry-blueberry
Strawberry, balsamic & cracked black pepper (except we forgot to add the black pepper!)
122 jars in all and we also made a jug of blueberry vinegar.
Recipes & pictures to come from Emily!
We ended up using:
4 half-flats of strawberries
3 half-flats of raspberries
3 half-flats of blackberries
And at least 3 half-flats worth of blueberries from Emily’s house
4 small (5 lb?) bags of sugar
Food Mill – Emily got a Foley and Eva got an Oxo. The Oxo has interchangeable screens that worked best for catching all the berry seeds.
2 Funnels – wide mouth ones
2 Tongs – for jar removal
Jars – we way underestimated what we needed and had to go back later for more. We had a mix of 4oz and 8oz. sizes
4 pots – 2 for water-bath canning and 2 for cooking the berries
3 wooden spoons
Ice – for keeping the fruit cool overnight. (kept some fruit in the dishwasher and the rest in a big rubbermaid tub)
Candy thermometer – I don’t think we really needed this but it was there for moral support
Lemon juice & vinegar – we opted to try no-pectin recipes
Tea kettle – for extra hot water to keep the water baths full
Lots of bowls, paper towels, washcloths, & dishtowels
The Busy Person’s Guide to Food Preserving
We made a variety of jams, syrups, or sauces depending on how well things jelled:
Blueberry spice (nutmeg, cloves & blackpepper)
Strawberry (w/ Lemon juice)
Strawberry (w/ vinegar & salt)
Raspberry
Blackberry
Mixed berry
Strawberry-blueberry
Strawberry, balsamic & cracked black pepper (except we forgot to add the black pepper!)
122 jars in all and we also made a jug of blueberry vinegar.
Recipes & pictures to come from Emily!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Bread...glorious bread!
So back in January, Julie introduced me to the brilliance of "no-knead bread" and I've been hooked ever since. She shared the Cooks Illustrated "Almost No-Knead Bread" version that was a supposed improvement of the one Mark Bittman published a couple years ago. This method is just a quick stir, a long rest (8-18 hr), a quick knead, a short rest (1 hr) and then you bake it inside a dutch oven. I loved the simplicity and the result was fabulous. I came up with some of my own variations which include Oat and Raisin bread and Multigrain (our favorite). I thought it couldn't get easier or better...but I was wrong...so wrong!
Hello, "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day!" I decided to check out this book from the library last week before buying, since foolishly I thought nothing could beat "no-knead". Oh...my....goodness! Believe it or not, I think this is easier than the no-knead recipe. And...I can have fresh bread on whim. And...I have a better baked result (no-knead has a tendency to get too dark on the bottom). And...the first bite took me back to the fresh warm homemade bread that our lovely Italian neighbor baked when I was a kid.
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Hello, "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day!" I decided to check out this book from the library last week before buying, since foolishly I thought nothing could beat "no-knead". Oh...my....goodness! Believe it or not, I think this is easier than the no-knead recipe. And...I can have fresh bread on whim. And...I have a better baked result (no-knead has a tendency to get too dark on the bottom). And...the first bite took me back to the fresh warm homemade bread that our lovely Italian neighbor baked when I was a kid.
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This recipe allows you to quickly stir (by hand, by food processor, or by stand mixer) a large batch of dough, let it rest just 2 hrs, then store it in the fridge for up to 14 days until ready to use. When you're ready, cut off a hunk of dough, let rest 40 mins and bake on a stone (or cookie sheet, or loaf pan, or...they give tons of options). There are tons of options and recipes in the book. I mixed the full batch (makes @ 4 loaves) by hand with no problem. They recommend the use of a pizza peel to transfer your dough to the preheated stone, but I've just been using parchment paper (from the almost no-knead method) to let the bread rise and bake on.
So far, I've just made the basic loaf. I intend to try my no-knead multigrain with this method...and the book is full of pastries, pizzas and tons of good stuff.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Raw Veggie Wraps/Pinwheels
(Shown as wrap rather than sliced into pinwheels)
Chopped veggies (really small pieces):
Broccoli
Sugar Snap Peas
Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes (various colors)
Radishes
Just barely coated the veggies with Trader Joe's Tuscan Italian Dressing with Balsamic Vinegar.
Spread whipped cream cheese in a really thin layer on a flour tortilla.
Sprinkled the veggie confetti on the tortilla and rolled it all up tightly.
Then sliced it in pinwheels for the kids.
Easy. Pretty. Yummy.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Tofu stir-fried with basil (Tao Hoo Pad Bai Kaprao)
i made thai basil tofu last night, from this recipe will gave me. can you believe it? i actually used a shallot (it was such a small amount i figured i'd try it. it made my eyes water when i cut it, but i couldn't even taste it in the dish.) and a chili (i could only find dried so i used just a half without seeds, and it was still hot! but edible for me--matt added more and burned his mouth up!). i left out the salt, doubled the tofu, and used tons of basil from the garden (more than a "handful"). it was delicious! the consistency of the sauce was just perfect. and it was super quick!
Monday, June 30, 2008
i made cheesecake ice cream from the perfect scoop. it was basically just cream cheese, sour cream, half-and-half, and sugar. i add a few graham cracker bunnies (for the "crust") and a couple little homegrown strawberries and it tasted just like cheesecake, but cold.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
"Chorizo" Burrito
There is a yummy little place out here called El Chupacabra. It's a bar and not very kid friendly so we've only been there twice. But we have very fond memories of their veggie (fake meat) tacos. We decided to try our own rendition this weekend.
We picked up some Mexican Chipotle Field Roast Sausages (the closest thing we could find to veggie chorizo. It was the first time we'd tried that particular field roast "flavor" and oh my. It will become a staple for us, I think!). Sliced it in rounds and tossed it in a skillet to "brown up" as Jeff put it.
We already had flour tortillas so we used those but I think corn tortillas would be great in the future.
For assembly:
Flour tortilla
"Chorizo"
Shredded monterey jack cheese
Cubed avocado
Mixed lettuce greens
Fresh salsa
I went heavy on the avocado and it went sooo well with the spiciness of the chorizo.
We picked up some Mexican Chipotle Field Roast Sausages (the closest thing we could find to veggie chorizo. It was the first time we'd tried that particular field roast "flavor" and oh my. It will become a staple for us, I think!). Sliced it in rounds and tossed it in a skillet to "brown up" as Jeff put it.
We already had flour tortillas so we used those but I think corn tortillas would be great in the future.
For assembly:
Flour tortilla
"Chorizo"
Shredded monterey jack cheese
Cubed avocado
Mixed lettuce greens
Fresh salsa
I went heavy on the avocado and it went sooo well with the spiciness of the chorizo.
Pasta Frittata
We had a bunch of leftover pasta from dinner the other night so I looked around a bit to get some ideas of what to do with it and decided to try a pasta frittata.
The recipe I was using as a reference called for 4 oz of cooked capellini and 4 eggs. I had no idea how much capellini I had (maybe 2 cups?) but I used 6 eggs and it still seemed like it could've been eggier. But it was good.
Here's what I did:
Sauteed chopped green onions and garlic scapes in olive oil, added capellini till it created a thick layer that covered the bottom of the pan. Stirred it around in the skillet a bit. Added some chopped spinach and salt & pepper. Stirred a bit more till all combined. Then pressed it all down in the skillet with the back of the spatula. Let it cook over medium high heat (without stirring) for about 7 minutes till it got golden brown around the edges. Meanwhile, beat 6 eggs, added about 4 T shredded parmesan, ~2 T of dijon mustard, and salt & pepper. Stirred it up and poured over the pasta (when it was golden brown on the bottom). Lifted up the pasta at the edges to let the egg mixture get down underneath. Turned heat down to medium low and let the egg set for about 5 minutes. Could've popped it under the broiler at this point but instead...we flipped it. That worked better than expected. I had some leftover slices of veggie chorizo-style field roast so put those on the top and ate.
Notes for future: could use more egg and maybe some red pepper flakes.
The recipe I was using as a reference called for 4 oz of cooked capellini and 4 eggs. I had no idea how much capellini I had (maybe 2 cups?) but I used 6 eggs and it still seemed like it could've been eggier. But it was good.
Here's what I did:
Sauteed chopped green onions and garlic scapes in olive oil, added capellini till it created a thick layer that covered the bottom of the pan. Stirred it around in the skillet a bit. Added some chopped spinach and salt & pepper. Stirred a bit more till all combined. Then pressed it all down in the skillet with the back of the spatula. Let it cook over medium high heat (without stirring) for about 7 minutes till it got golden brown around the edges. Meanwhile, beat 6 eggs, added about 4 T shredded parmesan, ~2 T of dijon mustard, and salt & pepper. Stirred it up and poured over the pasta (when it was golden brown on the bottom). Lifted up the pasta at the edges to let the egg mixture get down underneath. Turned heat down to medium low and let the egg set for about 5 minutes. Could've popped it under the broiler at this point but instead...we flipped it. That worked better than expected. I had some leftover slices of veggie chorizo-style field roast so put those on the top and ate.
Notes for future: could use more egg and maybe some red pepper flakes.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
SOBO in Tofino, BC ... Inspiring food!
I live in the tiny town of Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island where world-class food is a way of life. Our favorite restaurant is SOBO (short for Sophisticated Bohemian.) Award winning chef, Lisa Ahier, infuses all her recipes with a touch of Texas zing and the freshest ingredients she can get her hands on. While not strictly vegetarian or vegan, SOBO is a "no mammal" restaurant. The recipe for Lisa's "Killer Fish Tacos" can be found here:
www.tofinotime.com/articles/A-T608-16frm.htm
And you can meet the awesome Lisa via her "Vegan Summer Sorbet" how-to video here:
www.hippygourmet.com/blog/2008/06/re-summer-sorbet-organic-vegan.html
Enjoy and come visit!
www.tofinotime.com/articles/A-T608-16frm.htm
And you can meet the awesome Lisa via her "Vegan Summer Sorbet" how-to video here:
www.hippygourmet.com/blog/2008/06/re-summer-sorbet-organic-vegan.html
Enjoy and come visit!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Fried Rice
I make fried rice a lot. It's such a great way to get the kids to eat veggies and mix up all the random stuff we have laying around.
This week's fried rice had:
Carrots
Radishes (I'm not a fan of raw radishes but we get them in our box & sautee them)
Peas
Spinach
Green Onions
Green Garlic (have you noticed, I never put garlic in my recipes? I do tolerate green garlic sometimes)
Quorn tenders (aka veggie chicken)
Plus some soy sauce, tamari, sesame oil, chili oil, salt, rice vinegar, and lots of black pepper.
This week's fried rice had:
Carrots
Radishes (I'm not a fan of raw radishes but we get them in our box & sautee them)
Peas
Spinach
Green Onions
Green Garlic (have you noticed, I never put garlic in my recipes? I do tolerate green garlic sometimes)
Quorn tenders (aka veggie chicken)
Plus some soy sauce, tamari, sesame oil, chili oil, salt, rice vinegar, and lots of black pepper.
Arugula Pesto
I usually think of pesto as being basil based and thought I was going to use some of the basil growing in my windowsill. But I'm saving that for another rainy day.
No pictures but this is yummy and fast. Adapted from the Smith & Hawken: Gardener's Community Cookbook (one of my personal favorites).
Cook Spaghetti
For Pesto:
In food processor combine (all measurements approximate) and pulverize:
1/2 c walnuts
1 jalapeno (seeded!)
1 bunch arugula
1/2 c parmesan
1/2 c parsley
garlic salt & pepper
1/4 c olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
I made enough pasta for about 5 big portions and still had a little pesto left over which I'm freezing for later.
No pictures but this is yummy and fast. Adapted from the Smith & Hawken: Gardener's Community Cookbook (one of my personal favorites).
Cook Spaghetti
For Pesto:
In food processor combine (all measurements approximate) and pulverize:
1/2 c walnuts
1 jalapeno (seeded!)
1 bunch arugula
1/2 c parmesan
1/2 c parsley
garlic salt & pepper
1/4 c olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
I made enough pasta for about 5 big portions and still had a little pesto left over which I'm freezing for later.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
101 simple summer vegan 10-minute meals
this is from mark bittman (NYT's minimalist)--a whole bunch of super simple recipes. a little too much seitan for me, but some of the ideas sound good. hopefully i'll try some of these when i'm too tired to really cook.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
organic vs biodynamic vs veganic
I hadn't heard about Veganic Farming till I read about it in the news today. Our farm is biodynamic and I love it there. We've visited and have talked to the owners a number of times. I really believe in what they're doing and am really happy to support them. But anyway, veganic sounded interesting so I poked around and read a little more about it. Looks like there is one farm nearby, Whistling Winds, that is Veganic. Might be fun to visit them sometime. It's interesting how many classifications our food can have, conventional, organic, kosher, biodynamic, veganic, local, ...
Okay, I never really thought about kosher farming before, but I guess there really is such a thing, "...making sure produce was free of insects!"
Okay, I never really thought about kosher farming before, but I guess there really is such a thing, "...making sure produce was free of insects!"
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
blue moon ice cream
my favorite ice cream ever is blue moon. i used to get it at the purple cow in meijer's. little did i know that when i moved to the west coast i would not be able to get blue moon anywhere! apparently it's a midwest thing. so i have been working to try to make my own. i ordered a bottle of blue moon flavoring from a company in michigan, and i have been experimenting with different recipes for a base ice cream flavor (usually vanilla ice cream recipes, without the vanilla beans). this weekend i made a custard based one, and it's pretty good, but i think last week's philadelphia style (no eggs) was even better. i'm still not satisfied that it's "authentic"--it's been so long since i've had real blue moon that i can hardly remember what it tastes like! but it does taste GOOD and i'm enjoying it for what it is--close enough!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Spring garden fare
My first attempt...I planted these strawberries last year and began enjoying the first harvest this week. Mostly sliced over cereal or just plain while standing in the garden. They are not the sweetest or the largest I have ever eaten, but they are homegrown, organic and basically free!
Last night I made this fruit salad (which I pretended was fruit salsa--the kids would never eat anything with red onion and jalapeno) with some lime juice.
Grilled salmon with fruit "salsa" and lime basil.
Coming soon.....
Sugar Snap Peas
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Curried Lentil Wraps
We had bought a package of refrigerated, precooked lentils at Trader Joe's so I decided to try some sort of lentil wrap. I used this curried lentil burrito recipe as inspiration but since I didn't have everything it called for, I ended up doing this:
Par-boiled some cubed potatos.
Sauteed onion, and added lots of curry, cumin, & red pepper flakes. When it started to brown and stick to the pan, I added a little water, the potatos and lentils. It was starting to stick again so I added a little vegetable broth, garlic salt and pepper and popped the lid on to finish cooking the potatos. Added chopped spinach and stirred that up. Adjusted curry/cumin/salt and added lemon juice.
Shredded monterey jack cheese and chopped fresh cilantro.
I think this all would've been great in a standard tortilla.
But the inspiration recipe dipped the tortilla in an egg, milk, & chopped parsley mixture then plopped that in a skillet. So I tried it. It was good...but I think I'd just do standard tortillas next time.
But I would like to try that spiced yogurt and just use it instead of the cheese.
first tomatoes of the year
this is so exciting:
also the first corn of the year, but it's really the tomatoes that are special. i immediately made:
pablito from terra firma has a few things to say about the salmonella tomato thing.
also the first corn of the year, but it's really the tomatoes that are special. i immediately made:
pablito from terra firma has a few things to say about the salmonella tomato thing.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Jerk Tofu
I had a bottle of Jamaican Jerk Seasoning Blend that we've put straight onto fish before grilling and on that bottle there was a recipe for Jamaican Jerk Pork. You had to marinade the pork overnight and then bake it for 2 hours. Hah. I have about 30 minutes to get dinner made and on the table before the kids go into utter meltdown. I thought I'd see what the recipe could do for tofu in 30 minutes.
Drained/pressed tofu and cut into ~8 slices.
In pyrex baking dish put a little olive oil, 1/4 cup tamari, 1/4 cup honey, 2 T lemon juice, 2 T mirin, and 2 T of the jerk seasoning. (the real recipe called for lime juice and sherry but i didn't have those. my measurements are totally approximations. i just dumped till it felt right.) Stirred it up and plopped in the tofu. Baked it at 400 degrees (flipping once) while I finished up the rest of dinner.
Oh. my. yum. I've made other baked tofu things before that i've liked but this is my new favorite one.
I served it with some trader joe's veggie egg rolls, and some stir-fried collard greens & swiss chard with sesame oil, garlic salt, pepper, tamari & a splash of rice vinegar.
Good stuff. The kids are never going to be patient enough for us to take a picture before we eat.
Drained/pressed tofu and cut into ~8 slices.
In pyrex baking dish put a little olive oil, 1/4 cup tamari, 1/4 cup honey, 2 T lemon juice, 2 T mirin, and 2 T of the jerk seasoning. (the real recipe called for lime juice and sherry but i didn't have those. my measurements are totally approximations. i just dumped till it felt right.) Stirred it up and plopped in the tofu. Baked it at 400 degrees (flipping once) while I finished up the rest of dinner.
Oh. my. yum. I've made other baked tofu things before that i've liked but this is my new favorite one.
I served it with some trader joe's veggie egg rolls, and some stir-fried collard greens & swiss chard with sesame oil, garlic salt, pepper, tamari & a splash of rice vinegar.
Good stuff. The kids are never going to be patient enough for us to take a picture before we eat.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Food, it's what's for dinner
So I'm talking about food here. Vegetables and very occasionally fish. Meals. Snacks. Yum. It would be fun to hear what you have to say about food too. So if you want to start writing stuff down too, let me know and I'll give you write-ability.
Drinks are always welcome.
Drinks are always welcome.
peanut sesame noodles
i am going to try to make this tonight: cold peanut sesame noodles. of course i am going to have to leave out the scallions and substitute something else for the chicken. i have been wanting to try something with a peanut sauce so this looked good right now. plus, it's really hot so i don't want to spend too long at the stove!
the problem is i can't remember if i have sesame oil at home. (or peanut or canola, for that matter.) i usually do but during my "kitchen cure" i know i got rid of a lot of old stuff. i stop at the grocery store on my walk home, recipe in hand. i do not want to walk up that hill to check and then walk back, and i do not want to buy a bottle of the stuff if i already have it! what a drag. too bad matt is not home to check for me.
UPDATE: it was really good! i used precooked buckwheat soba so it was really quick. it took more time to mince the ginger and garlic. next time i would leave out the sugar, and instead of using morningstar chik strips, i would use tofu. i didn't use an english cucumber but carrots and a little yellow squash i already had instead. matt wasn't around so i just cooked for one!
last night i also made carrot muffins, from Joy. i had a lot of extra carrots from the CSA box, and i also used fresh squeezed orange juice! i brought most of them to share at work today since they won't last long in this heat.
the problem is i can't remember if i have sesame oil at home. (or peanut or canola, for that matter.) i usually do but during my "kitchen cure" i know i got rid of a lot of old stuff. i stop at the grocery store on my walk home, recipe in hand. i do not want to walk up that hill to check and then walk back, and i do not want to buy a bottle of the stuff if i already have it! what a drag. too bad matt is not home to check for me.
UPDATE: it was really good! i used precooked buckwheat soba so it was really quick. it took more time to mince the ginger and garlic. next time i would leave out the sugar, and instead of using morningstar chik strips, i would use tofu. i didn't use an english cucumber but carrots and a little yellow squash i already had instead. matt wasn't around so i just cooked for one!
last night i also made carrot muffins, from Joy. i had a lot of extra carrots from the CSA box, and i also used fresh squeezed orange juice! i brought most of them to share at work today since they won't last long in this heat.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Pasta with Sugar snap peas, Spinach, & Cauliflower
Tonight I made angel hair pasta and added lemon juice, fresh basil & parsley.
Sauteed a little onion and cauliflower with a bunch of sugar snap peas & spinach with garlic salt, pepper & nutritional yeast. Stirred it all together and ate.
I think it would've been great with the pesto Jeff just mastered the other day...but he's already forgetting what he did.
Clara's becoming a big fan of spinach. We flex our muscles after every bite.
Jeff says he's going to take pictures of our dinners. But they're not pretty. I am not about the presentation.
Sauteed a little onion and cauliflower with a bunch of sugar snap peas & spinach with garlic salt, pepper & nutritional yeast. Stirred it all together and ate.
I think it would've been great with the pesto Jeff just mastered the other day...but he's already forgetting what he did.
Clara's becoming a big fan of spinach. We flex our muscles after every bite.
Jeff says he's going to take pictures of our dinners. But they're not pretty. I am not about the presentation.
Kale & Shitake Mushrooms with Creamy Polenta
We're members of Jubilee Farm and subscribe to the Locovore box (which means our produce comes within 150 miles of the farm in Carnation). In the summer, all the produce is grown on the farm.
This week's box had:
Lettuce & Spring Greens Mix, Spinach, Pinata Apples, Basil, Raab, Red Oak Leaf Lettuce, Italian Parsley, Shitake Mushrooms, Rainbow Chard, Red Russian Kale, Bok Choi, Cauliflower and Collard Greens.
For dinner the other day, I found a recipe for creamy polenta. I'm not typically a polenta fan but it sounded good for some reason.
The polenta had 4 cups of milk, 3.5 cups of water, 2 cups of polenta, salt & pepper. I kept whisking that until it came to a boil. The recipe said to cook it for another 20 minutes until it got thick. But it was pretty thick by the time I got to a boil so I only cooked it for another 5-10 minutes. Let it sit while I made the kale & mushrooms. After sitting for awhile, I added a couple tablespoons of butter and some shredded parmigiano-reggiano. I'm thinking using veg broth instead of water might not be a bad idea in the future. But it was good nonetheless.
I chopped up kale, shitakes, and some baby leeks and sauteed them in olive oil, garlic salt & pepper. Added some white wine once they'd softened up a bit and cooked that down.
We've got tooons of leftover polenta. I spread it in a 9x13 pan and refrigerated it overnight. For breakfast the next day I cut it in triangles and fried it in a little olive oil with some marjoram. Then fried up some eggs to go with it. This is definitely how I like polenta.
Still have tons of polenta. I'm thinking about making some croutons or polenta fries if I get a chance.
This week's box had:
Lettuce & Spring Greens Mix, Spinach, Pinata Apples, Basil, Raab, Red Oak Leaf Lettuce, Italian Parsley, Shitake Mushrooms, Rainbow Chard, Red Russian Kale, Bok Choi, Cauliflower and Collard Greens.
For dinner the other day, I found a recipe for creamy polenta. I'm not typically a polenta fan but it sounded good for some reason.
The polenta had 4 cups of milk, 3.5 cups of water, 2 cups of polenta, salt & pepper. I kept whisking that until it came to a boil. The recipe said to cook it for another 20 minutes until it got thick. But it was pretty thick by the time I got to a boil so I only cooked it for another 5-10 minutes. Let it sit while I made the kale & mushrooms. After sitting for awhile, I added a couple tablespoons of butter and some shredded parmigiano-reggiano. I'm thinking using veg broth instead of water might not be a bad idea in the future. But it was good nonetheless.
I chopped up kale, shitakes, and some baby leeks and sauteed them in olive oil, garlic salt & pepper. Added some white wine once they'd softened up a bit and cooked that down.
We've got tooons of leftover polenta. I spread it in a 9x13 pan and refrigerated it overnight. For breakfast the next day I cut it in triangles and fried it in a little olive oil with some marjoram. Then fried up some eggs to go with it. This is definitely how I like polenta.
Still have tons of polenta. I'm thinking about making some croutons or polenta fries if I get a chance.
Cauliflower & Brussel Sprouts w/ Lemon Caper Butter
Went to the farmer's market yesterday and picked up potatos, brussel sprouts, sugar snap peas (oh yum!), baby walla walla onions and a yellow onion along with a few varieties of heirloom tomato plants. Jeff said brussel sprouts?! This time of year? But he's since singing their praises. This week's Jubilee box had cauliflower and a bunch of greens I've been working my way through. So...I decided to roast cauliflower and brussel sprouts. Googled a few recipes and ended up with a yummy treat.
Steamed rice
Tossed cauliflower, brussel sprouts (huge ones cut in quarters), walla walla onions (halved), and one big yukon gold potato (cubed) with olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted at 425 for about 30 minutes. They tasted good already.
But lemon caper butter sounded too good to pass up.
I used 4 T butter (at room temp), ~ 2 tsp dijon mustard, 1 lemon peel grated, couple teaspoons of marjoram, and a bunch of capers and slightly mashed it with a fork.
Tossed about half of the LC butter on the veggies when they came out of the oven. And put the rest in with the rice.
The recipe i was basing it on had called for 6 T butter and 1/4 cup of capers but I decreased amounts of both. But I don't think you can go wrong adding all the capers...we just had a tiny jar that only had 1/4 cup in it so I felt bad using them all. But we added more into the leftovers cause they're so yummy.
Jeff just reported "this lunch kicked ass."
Yay.
Steamed rice
Tossed cauliflower, brussel sprouts (huge ones cut in quarters), walla walla onions (halved), and one big yukon gold potato (cubed) with olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted at 425 for about 30 minutes. They tasted good already.
But lemon caper butter sounded too good to pass up.
I used 4 T butter (at room temp), ~ 2 tsp dijon mustard, 1 lemon peel grated, couple teaspoons of marjoram, and a bunch of capers and slightly mashed it with a fork.
Tossed about half of the LC butter on the veggies when they came out of the oven. And put the rest in with the rice.
The recipe i was basing it on had called for 6 T butter and 1/4 cup of capers but I decreased amounts of both. But I don't think you can go wrong adding all the capers...we just had a tiny jar that only had 1/4 cup in it so I felt bad using them all. But we added more into the leftovers cause they're so yummy.
Jeff just reported "this lunch kicked ass."
Yay.
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