WLC: What's for dinner? Creole Stuffed Peppers.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Last week I'd tagged a few Whole Life Challenge-compliant recipes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Veganomicon, and made sure to get all the ingredients.  The one I made tonight was REALLY good!!

Creole Stuffed Peppers
From Veganomicon 
Serves 8 as a side dish, or 4 as a main

Ingredients:
4 large bell peppers
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, cut in half, seeded, and diced
1 cup carrots, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 dried bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp paprika
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp salt
1 (15-oz) can diced tomatoes
2 (15-oz) cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a 9x13" casserole dish with olive oil.  Bring a pot of water to a boil.

Cut the peppers in half lengthwise through the stem end.  Remove the seeds & membranes.  Submerge the peppers in boiling water and cover.  Let them boil for 5 minutes, then drain them immediately and rinse with cold water to cool them.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute the onions, jalapenos, and carrots for about 10 minutes.  You want the veggies to brown, especially the carrots.  If it looks like they are steaming rather than browning, raise the heat.  Add the garlic about 5 minutes into the cooking process.

Add the bay leaves, other herbs and spices and salt; saute for 1 more minute.  Add the tomatoes and peas, stir and cover, and cook for 10 minutes.  If it seems too liquidy, remove the cover and cook long enough to reduce some of the liquid.  Mix in the parsley.

Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.  Spoon a little less than 1/2 cup of the veggie mixture into each pepper half.  The filling will be hot, so be careful while you are handling it.  Place the pepper halves in the casserole dish and bake for about 25 minutes.

Meatless Monday - Super Easy Enchilada Casserole

Monday, May 2, 2011

I'd planned on making a stir fry for dinner but realized when I got home that I'd forgotten to get tofu, so that got scratched. Instead I threw together a super easy enchilada casserole. I wasn't planning to do a Meatless Monday post going in, so there's no photographic evidence, but here's a quick recap. You could probably just use whatever taco-like ingredients you have on hand and be OK.

Ingredients
1 can crushed tomatoes (all "cans" are what, 12, 14 ounces? You know, a standard can.)
1 can black beans
1 can vegetarian refried beans
1 can corn
corn tortillas (I think I used 12 or so)
1 medium onion
1/2 green bell pepper
cilantro
1 package taco seasoning
1/2 package sliced mushrooms (the kind you get in the vegetable section) - I used baby bellas
shredded cheese
enchilada sauce of your choice - I used one (15? 16? oz) jar

Pour the crushed tomatoes into your casserole pan (I used a 13 x 9 pyrex dish). Spread around fairly evenly. Put down one layer of corn tortillas, not overlapping much except where the rounds meet - it's OK for there to be little spaces between where 4 tortillas meet up.

Dice the onion and green pepper, and cut the sliced mushrooms into smaller pieces if you want (mine were annoyingly thick). Saute the onions, pepper and mushroom until nicely cooked (I'm assuming you've done this part before and know the routine, cook onions some, then add green pepper & cook some, then add mushroom).

Rinse the black beans and distribute them onto the tortillas. Follow with the corn, spoonfuls of the refried beans, a light sprinkle of taco seasoning, and the cooked veggies. For the taco seasoning, I used less than 1/2 the package total, and sprinkled it on (very lightly) once after the canned ingredients and once after adding the veggies. Chop the cilantro and distribute it on top of the other ingredients. Distribute a small amount of shredded cheese, followed by 1/2 of the enchilada sauce across the entire surface.

Put another layer of corn tortillas on top and top it off with the remaining enchilada sauce and a thin layer of cheese.

Cook in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes, and enjoy!

1-2-3 vegetable soup!

Monday, March 1, 2010

So, I know I've been MIA in the Meatless Monday world lately. When it is so wicked cold and windy outside, I just want to come in and hibernate!! I've been taking the "easy out" strategy - making a huge vat of soup on Sunday that we can then live on all week. John doesn't seem to mind (too much), and the soups are pretty tasty. This is one of the few "just go and make something, no recipe needed" areas I'm comfortable in. I just figured out that my basic Vegetable Soup follows a pretty simple system that anyone could use!

1-2-3 Vegetable Soup
Get together the following, add the base (detailed below), and you've got an awesome soup!

1. Pick one of these*:

• Russet potatoes
• Rice
• Bulghur wheat

2. Pick two or more of these:

• Leek
• Turnip
• Parsnip
• Bok Choy or any of its illegitimate cousins
• Cabbage
• Bell Pepper
• Greens (mustard, turnip, etc.)
• Chard
• Summer squash

3. Use at least three of these:

• Carrots
• Garlic
• Onion
• Celery**

* I suppose you could also throw in a pasta of some type, but if you want to go that route I'd wait until the last 15 minutes or less (depending on the type of pasta). Since I like to throw it all in at once and then just let it simmer for hours, pasta typically doesn't hold up so well. Rice gets a bit "blown out" from all the cooking, but personally I just don't mind that at all. I would mind mushy pasta.

**Hint: The leafy tops and anemic middle section of the celery are PERFECT for this (don't throw them away)! Just wash and clean, chop the ends off (if they're cut and discolored), and cut out the "knuckles" between the main stem and top part.


The base:

• Water - whatever amount looks right in correspondence to the amount of veggies you have. Note that most veggies will cook down and release some of their water, so maybe start off a bit conservative with enough to fill in between everything - you can always add more.
  
• Tomato paste (from 1 tbsp to the whole little can, depending on how much soup you wind up with)*
• A can of diced tomatoes*
• A bay leaf
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Optional: a tablespoon of your flavor choice Better than Bouillon**

*In both cases I generally use the unflavored variety (not "Italian style," etc.), but I don't think it substantially changes the outcome if you have and want to use the flavored version.

** This is, quite frankly, the best stuff ever. Locally, Kroger only seems to carry the Chicken and Beef versions, but I've found the other varieties somewhere, either Oasis or Eats, and buy them up when I see them! P.S. Who here knew the right spelling on "bouillon" without looking it up? I mean, really, the "i" *before* the "l"?! It just doesn't make any sense at all. I would pronounce this Boo-ill-yon. Huh... But then, maybe I've been saying it wrong all along!!


So there you have it - Easy Vegetable Soup! Let me know if you try it; I'm curious to see other versions! Is there anything else you'd add as an option for any of the steps? This is my favorite thing about cooking, you can interpret and try your own ingredients. I consider the entire thing pretty flexible and open to additions; I'd love to hear about your versions!

Meatless Monday: Pad Thai

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

As promised, the fantastic Pad Thai Recipe!! Adapted from this recipe on About.com.

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. Pad Thai rice noodles (thin, flat linguini-like noodles)
(Like these)
• 2 eggs
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup purple onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 "heads" of baby bok choy, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup ground (or well-chopped) cashews*

* John is allergic to peanuts, so I substituted ground cashews. You can use peanuts or any other nut you like, but to get the richness of flavor I would recommend cashews or peanuts. Maybe macadamias? Hmm...

Pad Thai Sauce:

• 3/4 Tbsp. faux Tamarind Paste*
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 3+1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce (or gluten-free soy sauce)
• 1/2 to 2 tsp. chili sauce (to taste), OR 1-2 fresh red chilies, minced
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar

* If you have it, use the real thing. I was out, so made up Faux Tamarind instead. To make the Faux Tamarind Paste, you'll need brown sugar and some juice from a citrus, preferably orange, but if you don't have orange try mixing it up with whatever you have on hand. Here's what I did: Mix up 1/4 cup boiling water, 2 tbsp. brown sugar, juice from 1/2 a lemon, a squeeze of lime juice (from the bottle), and a couple of tablespoons tangerine juice (I had a bunch of tangerines laying around). As you can see, it's basically brown sugar + some citrus juice + boiling water to dissolve it and meld it together. You then only need 2 tbsp of this mix, but I wound up with more than that because I wanted to use all the various juices. Note that these ingredients are completely separate from the other ingredients for the sauce. You still need that brown sugar, etc.

Other:

• 3-4 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying (I like sesame oil for this, but olive or canola will work)
  
• 2-3 Tbsp. faux chicken stock (or veggie stock)
  

Preparation:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and remove from heat. Be sure to stir thoroughly or those babies will get all stuck together, just like any pasta. Stir it!!!! This is the voice of experience speaking. I waited to midway through to stir and wound up hand-peeling the noodles apart. Not so fun. Soak noodles in the hot water for 6-10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Tip: Noodles are ready to drain when they are soft enough to eat, but still firm and a little bit "crunchy". The noodles will finish cooking when they are fried.
2. Dissolve the tamarind paste in the hot water. Add the other pad thai sauce ingredients and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Add as much or as little chili sauce as you prefer, but don't skimp on the sugar (you need it to balance the sourness of the tamarind). Reserve.
3. Place your large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp. oil plus the garlic and shallot. Stir-fry 1 minute to release the fragrance.
4. Add the bok choy plus the stock. Stir-fry 2 minutes, or until bok choy is bright green and slightly softened.

5. Push ingredients aside and add 1/2 Tbsp. more oil to the center of the wok/pan. Add the eggs and stir-fry briefly to scramble them.
6. Push eggs aside and add a little more oil to the middle of the wok/pan. Now add the drained noodles and 1/3 of the sauce. Stir-fry everything together for 1 minute using 2 utensils and a tossing motion (like tossing a salad).
7. Add a little more sauce and continue stir-frying in the same way for 1-2 more minutes, or until the noodles begin to soften and become sticky. Reduce heat to medium if noodles begin to stick and burn.
8. Add the water chestnuts plus the remaining sauce. Stir-fry to incorporate everything together for 1-3 more minutes, or until noodles are done. Noodles are cooked to perfection when they are soft but still deliciously chewy and a little bit sticky.


9. Remove from heat and taste-test, adding more soy sauce if desired for more salt/flavor.
10. To serve, scoop noodles onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with the green onion, coriander/cilantro, and ground nuts. Serve immediately and ENJOY!
    

The finished dish with its lovely cilantro, green onion and cashew topping:

Meatless Monday: Oven-Crisp Black Bean and Corn Flautas

Thursday, January 7, 2010

This is one of my favorite meals so far. It is super easy and one that can be done with mostly pantry items. If you keep a reasonably stocked kitchen, the only things you should need to pick up are corn tortillas and cilantro, and probably some salsa because this recipe calls for quite a bit of it. If you wanted to make it super easy, keep some corn tortillas in the freezer to have on hand any time.

Oven-Crisp Black Bean and Corn Flautas
From Vegetarian Times

Serves 6

* 2 tsp. olive oil
* 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
* 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp.)
* 2 15-oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
* 2 tsp. chili powder
* 1 16-oz. tub prepared salsa, divided*
* 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
* 12 6-inch corn tortillas
* 1/4 cup chopped cilantro



Directions

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook onion 3 to 5 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic, and cook 1 minute, or until translucent and fragrant.


2. Stir in beans, chili powder and 1 cup water. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer 10 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat. Mash beans until mixture is thickened but still chunky, and some beans remain whole. Stir in 1 cup salsa and corn, and season with salt and pepper. Cool.



NOTE:
Lesson learned that I need to share before you do the next step... Every time I've ever worked with corn tortillas, they just break whenever you try to bend them. This time was no exception, so you'll notice that I came out with something more like a tostada than a flauta. After I was done, I was so frustrated that I searched for how to keep the tortillas from breaking every time, and here's a tip I found. If the tortillas are not quite fresh enough to roll easily without breaking, spritz the tortillas with a small amount of water and place in a towel inside your microwave. Microwave on high for about 15 seconds, and this will restore the freshness to them. I haven't tried this to see if it works or not, so if you try it let me know!!

Ah! And, I just noticed that at the very top of my printout of this recipe, above the picture, ingredients and instructions (where I was sure not to notice it), it says to be sure to let the filling cool or the tortillas would split. Of course, I didnt' do this! So that might be a fix as well.

3. Preheat oven to 425F. Coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray. Spoon 1/3 cup black bean mixture down center of tortilla. Roll tortilla around filling, and secure closed with toothpick. Set on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and black bean mixture. Bake 6 to 10 minutes, or until tortillas are browned and crisp.

4. Meanwhile, combine cilantro and remaining salsa in small bowl. Place 2 flautas on each plate, and top with remaining salsa.

* "divided" doesn't make much sense to me here, because it doesn't say how much to divide out! And when it references it later in the recipe, it's also less than entirely clear. What they mean is, you need 1 cup worth (half the container) to mix in with the beans, and then you use the rest in the last step, to combine with the cilantro and top the flautas.

Nutritional Information

Per SERVING: Calories: 286, Protein: 11g, Total fat: 3g, Saturated fat: g, Carbs: 56g, Cholesterol: mg, Sodium: 435mg, Fiber: 11g, Sugars: 9g

Meatless Monday: Apple, Leek, and Butternut Squash Gratin

Sunday, January 3, 2010

I've decided to start off January by getting organized and putting together a 1 month meal plan. I was inspired by Simple Mom's menu planning guide, which I stumbled upon in a round-a-bout way by starting with her 20 Questions for a New Year’s Eve Reflection download, finding her grocery list download, and then backtracking to the menu planning info.

The system is pretty easy, because you actually only plan for 2 weeks and then you repeat the menus for the following 2 weeks. I love the idea of cooking intentionally, planning to use some of our oh-so-many pantry items, and trying out some new stuff. I've also tried to look for healthy options, including some from my Weight Watchers cookbook and trying to be mindful of calories on all the rest. I'm excited about trying the new recipes - I'm so tired of doing stir-fry as my go-to!! For the next two weeks, I only put in one recipe I've tried before. Hopefully these are good; otherwise they may get dropped from the 2nd rotation.

I planned Fridays as our "dine out" night, and 2nd and 4th Mondays I'm calling "fend night" because I have Toastmasters after work on those nights. And, I can tell already I'm probably going to need to plan in "leftovers" nights at some point, since everything I'm making is more than 2 servings. I'm trying to be good and bring the leftovers for lunch (and convince John to eat leftovers, another challenge for another day...!).

I'll document carefully and let you know how the recipes come out. Look for many more posts to follow, since I'll be building up a database.

Apple, Leek, and Butternut Squash Gratin
Adapted from this recipe on Whole Living.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium leeks, white part only, trimmed of roots and tough outer leaves, thinly sliced crosswise, well washed and dried
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup dry sherry *
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, plus leaves for garnish
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and sliced 1/8-inch thick**
1 pound apples, such as Gala, Cortland, Baldwin, or Macoun, peeled, halved, cored, and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices ***
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


* This is where the "adapted" comes in... I could have sworn I had some cooking sherry but when I got back from the grocery and started cooking, discovered I didn't. I substituted a bit of cheap Cabernet Sauvignon (less than the 1/2 cup of sherry called for, probably 1/3 cup?), added a capful of Vanilla Extract and a couple of splashes of Balsamic Vinegar.
** This wound up just being the neck of my butternut squash; I peeled and deseeded the body and saved that to be a side on one of the upcoming meals
*** About 3 medium-smallish apples

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a 10-inch skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add leeks and 2 tablespoons water; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add sherry and sage and cook until liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 3 minutes; set aside.


2. In a 2-quart shallow baking dish, arrange squash in overlapping layers; season with salt and pepper. Spread leeks evenly over the squash.

3. Arrange apples in an overlapping layer over the leeks. Brush apples with remaining tablespoon oil. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake 45 minutes.


4. Uncover and sprinkle cheese over the top. Raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees and bake 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is golden brown. The tip of a paring knife should easily pierce the gratin. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with sage leaves.


The verdict? Pretty tasty! Hard to describe... different from anything I've ever had before, but surprisingly good. And, John is willing to keep this recipe in for round 2, so that's a pretty good testament. I need to be sure to buy the cooking sherry for next time so we can see how it stacks up!

Meatless Monday: Easy Zucchini, Tomato, and Cheese Tart

Monday, December 28, 2009

First, a quick update on that onion tart. It was MAGNIFICENT! It froze, defrosted, and reheated marvelously. It tasted phenomenal. I really just can't say enough good things about it. I've been having leftovers every day for the last couple of days, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. That is how good this tart is. Go make it. Now.

If you're still here, this next one is another fantastic recipe from Vegetarian Classics. I made this at the same time as the onion tart. I have to say, it didn't hold up as well, either because of the higher veggie (and hence, liquid) content, or something. Probably because of the variety of pieces and ingredients, too. Though it was a bit more crumbly, the flavor is really good. I mean, really, quite tasty! But... Well... It's no Onion Tart. 'Nuff said.



Here are the details:

Easy Zucchini, Tomato, and Cheese Tart
from Vegetarian Classics

1 sheet (half of a 17-ounce package) frozen puff pastry
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 (14-ounce) can ready-cut diced tomatoes, well drained
3 large eggs
1 cup grated smoked Gouda cheese*
1/2 teaspoon salt
Generous seasoning freshly ground black pepper

1. Remove the puff pastry from the package and let thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until no longer frozen but still cool.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook 5 minutes, or until the onion is slightly tender. Stir in the zucchini and saute just until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Mix in the drained tomatoes and raise the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring often, until the zucchini is tender but not mushy and the juices have evaporated. Let cool.



3. Lightly butter a dark-colored 9-inch with a removable rim or a glass pie plate.

4. On a lightly floured surface roll the puff pastry into an 11-inch square. Fit it into the tart pan or pie plate. Trim off the overhanging pieces of pastry with scissors. Refrigerate the crust, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or up to 8 hours, covered.

5. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

6. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the cheese, salt, pepper, and cooled vegetables.

7. Spoon the mixture into the tart pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is brown and a knife inserted in the center of the tart comes out clean. Remove the outer rim of the tart pan. Let the tart cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before slicing. It's best to serve this tart very warm rather than piping hot.

* You can substitute any hard cheese you may prefer - I followed the recipe exactly.

Meatless Monday - Onion Tart

Monday, December 21, 2009

This is a recipe from the awesome book, Vegetarian Classics. In all honesty, I can't tell you how it tastes just yet, because I made it to travel... I want to be able to pack it up and eat it later. I'll post a follow up on how that works out (!). I can tell you that it was relatively easy and the finished product *smelled* fabulous!!

Notes: I used my mandolin* to make my slices, and they didn't turn out as thin as I would've liked. Next time I'll try using my fantastic KitchenAid food processor with its slicing attachment.

*Not the musical instrument. Duh.

Now for some pics:

Onions before:

Onions after:

Everything about the cooking seemed to take a lot longer than described in the recipe. And, by a lot, I mean double to triple the amount of time. This could be a variety of factors (accuracy of my stovetop and oven temps being just one). Make sure the onions look caramelized when cooking on the stovetop, and be sure to do the "done" test that is described before you pull the tart out of the oven.

Onions mixed with the cheese (m'm, cheese!):

The finished product:

Looks and smells PHENOMENAL!! Here's the recipe:

Caramelized Onion Tart

1 sheet (half of a 17 ounce package) frozen puff pastry
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 pounds onions, thinly sliced (9 cups sliced)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
Dash cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated swiss cheese

1.) Remove the puff pastry from the package and let thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until no longer frozen but still cool.

2.) To make the filling: heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and partially cover the pot. Cook, stirring often, for 40 minutes, or until the onions are a deep caramel color and very soft. Turn down the heat a little once the onions begin to soften so they can cook slowly, and scrape the bottom of the pot as necessary. When done, the onions will be evenly brown and almost jamlike. Let cool. (The onions can be prepared and refrigerated up to 48 hours in advance. Bring to room temperature before placing in the filling.)

3.) Lightly butter a dark-colored 9-inch tart pan with a removable rim or glass pie plate. On a lightly floured surface roll the puff pastry into an 11-inch square. Fit it into the tart pan or pie plate. Use scissors to trim off the overhanging pieces of pastry. Refrigerate the crust 15 minutes or cover and refrigerate up to 8 hours.

4.) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

5.) Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Beat in the cream, cayenne, and salt. Stir in the cheese and onions.

6.) Spoon the mixture into the tart pan or pie plate. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until the custard is set and the crust is deeply golden. If your pie plate is glass, you can peek at the bottom of the crust to make sure it is cooked in the center.** When the tart is done, remove the outer ring if you used a tart pan with a removable rim. Cool the tart on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes before serving because it should be served warm, not hot.

** I used the "clean knife" test to check if the tart was done. This is where you insert a clean knife into the center of the tart and if it comes out clean (clear and shiny moist is ok) it is done. If there is any eggish residue means it needs to stay in the oven a bit longer.

Meatless Monday - Super Easy Veggie Enchiladas

Monday, June 15, 2009

Tonight's Meatless Monday recipe is...


Super Easy Veggie Enchiladas

This is another one that you can keep virtually all of the ingredients in your pantry and freezer to have on hand for a quick meal.














Ingredients:
1 can Hunt's Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can large black olives
1 can black beans (or pinto, or probably most any bean, except maybe those weirdly large butter beans... those are just freakish)
2 cans enchilada sauce
1 cup Texturized Vegetable Protein (TVP) Crumbles*, or Frozen Meatless Crumbles
1 package taco seasoning
Shredded mexican style cheese
Corn tortillas**

Optional:
Sour cream
Cholula hot sauce - chipotle or original

*Here in Blacksburg, TVP is available at Eats and also probably at Annie Kay's. It is a super inexpensive form of protein for vegetarians, and easy to use. Don't be intimidated! After thought: I sort of think you may also be able to find it at Kroger too, in the natural foods baking-esqe area, with the Bob's Red Mill stuff.
** NOT flour tortillas!!!! This is a critical point!!! They will *not* be enchiladas if you use flour tortillas. They'll be burritos. I'm just sayin.

Prep:
If you start with the TVP, you'll have to rehydrate it prior to use. You don't need much, it rehydrates and becomes a much larger quantity. Typically for 1 cup of TVP you'll use about 3/4 cup of water. Just try it a bit at a time until the texture looks right and not too spongy. You can do this with boiling water for a quick effect, or tap water if you have about 15 minutes to wait around while the TVP rehydrates.

Once the TVP has rehydrated, put a splash of olive oil in a pan and saute the TVP until it firms up a bit and some of the water has cooked back off. This is mostly a judgment call... when they start to stick to the pan a bit, I know it's time. From that point, follow the instructions for your taco seasoning as if the TVP were the cooked ground beef; this usually involves adding some water and cooking a bit more. If you start with the frozen crumbles you'll just need to get them to a heated stage before doing the taco seasoning steps.

In between the "taco (not) meat" cooking down a bit, open, drain and rinse the beans and corn. Lightly drain the diced tomatoes to get some of the liquid out, but don't smash down on the lid while you're draining them too much; you just want to keep them from being overly watery and not make them sad smashed representations of former lusciousness. There's a fine line. Open the olives and slice them, either the hard way or a few at a time with one of these awesome multi-taskers. I didn't use the whole can for mine (probably 2/3 of the can?); use as much or as few as you like. If you hate olives you could substitute onions or mushrooms or zucchini or something (don't be shy), you'd just want to saute them up first before putting them in the mix.

Mix the sliced olives, tomatoes, corn, beans and "meat" up in a bowl.

Open one of the cans of enchilada sauce and pour some onto a large plate or bowl. You'll be using this to coat the outside of each corn tortilla as you work with it (yes, the outside. yes, it's a bit messy).

Coat the bottom of your baking pan with a bit of the enchilada sauce. I had so much filling that I filled up one standard rectangular cake pan (13x9? or so?) plus one 8x8 or so square casserole dish with the enchiladas. The good news is, you don't have to cook them all at once; you can freeze some of them for later! Score - multiple meals for the work of one!!

To assemble the enchiladas, get a stack of the corn tortillas laid out on your work surface. Take a good sized bunch; you'll use them. You have to sauce the tortillas before folding - this is important because otherwise the corn tortillas will just crumble and break at the folds.

Take your first corn tortilla from the stack and lay it down on the sauce you poured out into the plate or bowl. Get the one side good and saucy. While over the bowl or plate, flip it over in your hands so that the sauced side is up while you move it over to your stack of tortillas (only one side is sauced). This is so you don't drip all the way across, depending on how far apart your prep areas are. Then, lay the sauced side of the tortilla down on the top of the tortilla stack, thereby saucing the next tortilla in line. On the non-sauced side (which is now facing up), lay out some of the filling you just mixed up in the bowl. Wrap the tortilla up carefully and lay it up against the side of your pan or dish, so that it stays closed. When you go back to your stack for enchilada numero dos, you'll see a sauced tortilla from where you laid the other one on top. Flip it over and pass on some of the saucy love. You can keep flipping over like this until the sauce starts looking a bit thin, then start all over again.

Once your tray is tightly packed with the enchiladas, spread the rest of the sauce over the top. Be sure to get sauce on all the edges of the tortillas or you will get wretched chewy parts that you will not want to eat. Ever had microwaved enchiladas? Know the part I mean? Yeah, like that.

Top them with as much (or little) shredded cheese as you want, cover the tray with tinfoil, and you're done assembling! If you want to freeze one (or more) of the pans, or put it in the fridge for tomorrow, now is the time.

When you're ready to eat, heat the oven to 375 and cook for 45 minutes (if you're working with a frozen pan of them, defrost them first in the fridge). When they're done cooking, let them cool down a bit before serving or they will fall apart when you go to dish them out. They still taste just as good, but they'll look more like enchilada casserole than actual enchiladas. That's the voice of experience speaking.

I recommend serving them with some sour cream (spread evenly on top after dishing them out) and Cholula. You can do without, but they're a bit blander for sure. You could also try topping them with fresh chopped cilantro and salsa, for a lower fat alternative.

I know a recipe is a hit when John goes back for seconds, and even more so when he's willing to eat leftovers. I hit both marks with this one - WIN! It's delicious.

Meatless Monday... A bit of a cheat?

Monday, June 8, 2009

OK, so I have to admit that I don't have a recipe prepared for my Meatless Monday post today. I have an AWESOME recipe that involves portobello mushroom caps, goat cheese, a bit of balsamic vinegar and either pine nuts or walnuts, but I don't have pictures for that yet! So I'm doing a bit of a cheat to tide me over... Two posts in one, if you will. The portobello recipe is soon to follow.

But first, to whet your appetite... My favorite type of dinner. It *is* a meatless dinner (albeit still involving dairy). The PICNIC! Sunday night John and I had my favorite kind of dinner, a spontaneous picnic on the porch. The meal included fresh bits of blue cheese and smoked Gouda, some gorgeous french bread, smoked almonds and some olive tapanade from the farmer's market. Perfect. The only thing that might have been better would be the addition of some D'Anjou pears (sliced, of course), maybe some Pink Lady or Jonagold apples (sliced...), and some lovely dark chocolate and French Beaujolais wine. I'm also a sucker for the olives from the olive bar... Seasoned, plain, jalapeno, Kalamata, whatever. But then, this was ad hoc at home in Blacksburg and not in Lyon, France (my favorite place on the planet). I think maybe Gracie likes picnics too (you think?).




























That was a fab dinner.

This weekend I also made some lemon curd, courtesy of one of my favorite bloggers, The Bakerina! A couple of years ago she wrote a post about her Meyer Lemon Curd. I found Meyer Lemons in the Dekalb Farmer's Market last year and made my first batch, and I'm pretty sure I discovered a secret path to phenomenal sunny yellow heaven. So, of course, when John and I stopped in the Fresh Market in Roanoke on Saturday and they had some of these lovely things I HAD to scoop them up!!!!

The lemons (unbelievably gorgeous, aren't they?):

































The recipe for the Meyer Lemon Curd can be found on The Bakerina's site, via this post.
Note: whoops, corrected that link, folks, sorry to have misdirected you initially.


Actually, I'll just paste the recipe here:

Bakerina's Meyer Lemon Curd

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest (obtained by zesting or grating the peel on your lemons, taking care not to lift off any pith)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup Meyer lemon juice
3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
4 tbsp* chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" chunks

Run the zest and sugar together in a food processor for about one minute until the sugar smells intensely lemony. You can also grind them together in a mortar and pestle, or rub the peel into the sugar with your fingertips.

In the top of a double boiler (or in a bowl that you can fit over a pan of simmering water), beat the eggs and egg yolks, add the sugar and beat until everything is combined. Put the bowl over simmering water and stir with a whisk. Feel some of the eggs and sugar with your fingers; if you can still feel sugar granules, keep stirring. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the lemon juice and cook to 160 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, just watch for the following signs: The curd will become very foamy; then the foam will subside and the whole mix will start to thicken and tighten. When the curd starts to approximate the texture of loose sour cream, that's when it's time to pull it from the stove.

Strain the mix into a clean bowl, or into the washed-and-dried bowl of your food processor, and beat in the butter, piece by piece. Chill the bowl in an ice bath; when the curd is cool, decant it into a container and refrigerate -- after you perform a quality-control test, of course.

* You can use up to 8 tablespoons for a richer curd.

One of the first steps (combining the lemon zest & sugar):














You have to stir the mix CONSTANTLY to keep it from sticking or burning:



The straining gets out the solids as well as the larger lemon zests (don't skip this step!):














As you chill the mixture in the icewater bath, it thickens up nicely (as reflected in this shot, where I scraped down the sides of the bowl):













Last time I made the mistake of just putting the curd in jars and eating (some of) it straight. A lot of it wound up going to waste, mostly because I just wasn't sure what to do with it. This time, I remembered reading on the 10 Signs Like This blog (sadly, not updated in quite some time) that Jamie mixed the lemon curd with whipping cream and made a sponge cake roll. I decided to do the same thing (mix it with real whipped cream) and make a lemon pie. I proceeded to whip the cream (1 c. heavy whipping cream + 1/3 c. sugar + 1 tsp homemade vanilla*). If you've never actually made whipped cream from the liquid and are intimidated, don't be. Use the ratios above, and beat with whisk (or, preferably, electric beater), until it looks like this, and holds a peak:

I mixed half curd, half whipped cream, and put it in the pie crust I'd already baked (um, yeah, I bought the crusts; they are Pillsbury. I'm not entirely nuts, ya'll!!). I frosted it with whipped cream and stuck it in the fridge.

For some reason it didn't gel as well as I might have liked (maybe too much beating when trying to mix in the butter? not enough butter? who knows?)... So I covered it and put it in the freezer to firm up. Sure enough, 20 minutes of chilling on the counter today and it was perfect for eating. Awesome summer fare, just a touch icy and cold, but soft enough to be completely edible. What can I say?! It's delicious.














* post on the homemade vanilla to follow =) But here's a sneak preview pic!

Meatless Monday - Seitanic Red and White Bean Jambalaya

Monday, June 1, 2009

And now for something completely different...

This one is straight out of one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks of all time, Veganomicon. I had to make a few adaptations based on what I had on hand, so we'll see what happens! Full disclosure, part 1: I'm making this at 10:30 at night and don't plan to eat it until tomorrow. Part 2? I've never made this recipe before! I'll post a follow up to let you know how it is.

Seitanic Red and White Bean Jambalaya



Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp. olive oil
• 16 oz. Seitan (I used store bought) Note 1
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 large yellow onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 2 stalks celery, cut into small dice Note 2
• 4 cloves garlic, minced Note 3
• 3 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry or vegetable broth Note 4
  
• 2 cups long-grain rice, brown or white (I used brown)
• 1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-oz) can white kidney (cannelini) beans Note 5
  
• 1 (15-oz) can red kidney beans
• 1 bay leaf
• 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme (optional but really great here... but I didn't have any)
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried marjoram (yeah, um, I didn't have this either. I threw in a dash of Tarragon instead)
• 1 tsp. dried paprika
• 1/2 tsp. celery seed (err... I didn't have this either, so I substituted celery salt for the regular salt listed below)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne, or to taste
• 4 cups vegetable broth
  
• 1 tsp salt
• several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
• chopped, fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish (that's probably not going to happen)

Note 1: I only had 8 oz. of seitan
Note 2: I was flat too lazy to go for "small dice" so I made do with slicing down the center of the stalk and chopping. Deal with it.
Note 3: I cheat and use the jar of diced garlic every time. So much easier! Purists, ignore this note. In fact, better yet, you probably ought to stop reading now.
Note 4: I used vegetable broth, but threw in a splash of apple cider vinegar to try to go for that sharp edge you get with the sherry. We'll see.
Note 5: I didn't have the white kidney beans, so I used butter beans. Come to find out, butter beans are really BIG! Who knew?!

Oh, and un-noted Note 6: The book didn't say whether to drain and rinse the beans. I assumed yes.

Instructions below somewhat paraphrased and adapted from the original, but the key information remains the same:

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Preheat a large oven-to-table dutch oven (if you have one) over medium heat, or just get out your biggest pot and figure the rest out later. Saute the seitan in 2 tbsp olive oil for 4-6 minutes until lightly browned (don't you think it looks like chicken?! And now, somehow, I'm afraid that may not be politically correct). Remove the seitan from the pot and set aside.




Add the remaining olive oil and the onion, celery, green pepper and garlic. Saute for 12-14 minutes, until the veggies are sorta mushy.


Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for another 4 minutes.

Stir in the cooking sherry to deglaze the vegetables, cook for 30 seconds, then add the rice. Stir the rice for about 4 minutes.

Then stir in the diced tomatoes, seitan, beans, bay leaf, all of the herbs, and the salt & pepper. Bring to a simmer, pour in the vegetable broth and return to a simmer. Taste the broth and adjust the salt & pepper to taste.


If you are using a dutch oven, cover and put it in the oven for 30-35 minutes (for brown rice, 40-45 minutes). If using a pot, transfer to a deep casserole dish (or two*), cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake. Remove from the oven, stir the jambalaya, then cover and allow to sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

* If you wind up with two, be sure to check that the rice is done before turning off the oven. I cooked mine 45 minutes and when I checked the rice was still a bit "toothy" so I added some broth and put it back in.

Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.

So there you go! This one was pretty laborious to prep, but straightforward. We'll see what the results taste like tomorrow - check back then!!

12:37 add-on note: I added some McCormick chipotle pepper seasoning to the finished product, and it is soooo tasty! Y.U.M.! It's delicious.

Meatless Monday - More Curry!

Monday, May 25, 2009

OK, so I promise that curry is not all that I make. I do love it; it is easy!! I'll come up with something completely different for next week. This recipe is vegan, based on my best look at the ingredients lists. Of course, I threw in a bit of fish sauce that I had, which made it not even vegetarian, but that's optional!!




Red Curry Tofu with Rice Noodles

Ingredients:

This is rough-ish. The great news is, you can adjust to taste, or what you have on hand!

• 1 can Maesri Red Curry Paste
• 2 cans Coconut milk (enough for 2 cups, which is just more than one can)*
• Rice noodles of your preferred thickness, or Basmati rice (my fave!!)
• Extra firm tofu
• Marinade sauce of your preference (I used a combo of Mr. Spice Indian Curry sauce which has nothing bad in it whatsoever [not even salt!!] + House of Tsang Korean Teriyaki Stir-Fry sauce which probably has some bad stuff)
• The usual suspects - garlic & ginger. About 1.5 tsp garlic and 1/2 tsp ginger; both can be either fresh or from a jar
• 1-2 tsp. Chili Garlic Sauce. The one with the Rooster. If you've had it, you know what I mean, if not, see the picture, please.
• Vegetables of your choice (I had some baby bok choy, green pepper and onion)
• Sesame or walnut oil**
• Fresh basil (this part is actually super important for giving the dish a fresh taste... it will still be edible without it, if you must)

* use the light one if you want (I did), but be aware it dilutes the red curry flavor a bit.
** yes, you can use olive or canola oil, but the taste will simply not be the same. Dark sesame oil is the best, followed by walnut oil.

The tofu:
If you buy the lame Kroger or Publix-bought kind, be sure to try to smoosh all the water out of it as best you can before you marinate it. I am in LOVE with the Twin Oaks Community Foods tofu you can get at Annie Kay's and maybe at Eats if you are in Blacksburg. I got the seasoned kind this time, because that was what they had, but I strongly prefer the plain version for this, since you marinate it. If you have the store bought and are smooshing it, it is better that the tofu be broken into crumbles than it wind up being that nasty watery white chewy stuff you might wind up with if you don't smoosh / cook it correctly. Don't kill yourself over it, just do what you can. Yes, tofu is not always the white mushy stuff. If that's all you've ever had, you haven't had good tofu. Smoosh. I just like to say it.

Marinate the tofu in the teriyaki sauce and curry sauce, plus throw in the garlic & ginger. I usually throw in a bit of whatever several saucy seasonings I have open at the time, including some tamari or soy sauce. This is also where the Chili Garlic Sauce comes in.

At any time, cook up your rice noodles. They cook quickly; if you're more talented than I am you can multitask and cook them when cooking up the tofu or (as I prefer), you can cook them up front and set them aside.

Chop up all your veggies while you're waiting on the marinade to be marinated. Mince the fresh basil. If you feel super OCD, go ahead and open the red curry can and mix it with the 2 cups of coconut milk and set it aside.

After your marinade time is up, heat the oil in the pan. Once it's sizzling, dump in your marinated tofu and begin cooking. It will almost certainly take a hella long time. If you haven't cooked tofu, expect more time than you would think you'd expect. You want the tofu to wind up crispy and golden around the edges, which means all the water has to cook off. If you have the Kroger/Publix variety, this takes a very, very long time. It should be to the point where you are asking yourself "is it burnt?" If you are here, please stop and congratulate yourself. It's done!! If you are lucky enough to get handmade tofu like the Twin Oaks version, it will take slightly less time. See before / after pics:


Tofu before: / Tofu after:

Once the tofu is done, throw in your veggies. These can be whatever you have. In my ideal world it would probably be chopped baby bok choy, red bell peppers, and onions. In this day's world it was baby bok choy, green bell pepper and onion. You'll want to cook these down (greens until thoroughly wilted, onions to opaque).

At the end of the cooking time, throw in your Red Curry Paste mix, which is the can of Red Curry + the coconut milk.

Once this has heated, as the very last step throw in some minced fresh basil. Immediately remove from the heat and serve the red curry mix over the noodles.

Meatless Monday

Monday, May 18, 2009

I'm going to start a new series called Meatless Monday, in honor of the campaign, and also because I am a semi-vegetarian. I say semi, because I now eat fish, and I also enjoy cheese and dairy products. Here we go...!

Chickpea Curry
This is a super easy vegan recipe that you can whip up with pantry food on a moment's notice. John & I will often just eat this served over some Basmati rice (the world's best). Many thanks to Uncle Bob, who shared the original recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion
• 1 bell pepper (any color)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger (or ginger paste from a jar), if you have it
• 1 tsp diced garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with Garlic and Olive Oil
• 1 can Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)
• 1/4 tsp. Curry powder
• 1/4 tsp. Turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. Garam Masala
• 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon

1. If you want rice with it (I generally do), start that first.
2. Dice the onion and bell pepper.
3. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
4. If you're OCD like me, measure the spices into a ramekin so they'll be ready when you need them, and get the ginger and garlic ready. Open the can of tomatoes.
5. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan.
6. Cook up the onion and bell pepper in the saucepan, until the onion is translucent.
7. Add the ginger, garlic, curry, turmeric, garam masala, and cinnamon. If you don't have the ginger or garam masala, that's ok. If you don't have the turmeric or curry... well, all right then. If you don't have cinnamon you probably shouldn't even be in your kitchen right now. Turn off the stove. Step away.
8. Stir thoroughly to blend in all the spices.
9. Add the rinsed chickpeas and the (undrained) can of tomatoes, cook together for another 5 minutes or so, until the chickpeas are heated through.
10. Add salt and pepper to taste, serve with rice if desired.

So good, and very quick and easy!! It's delicious.