Simple veggie fried rice
When I have leftover rice in the fridge and I want a quick lunch or dinner I often make veggie fried rice. Alma likes hers pretty plain, so sometimes I made a first batch pretty plain, with just carrots, tofu, peas, and red cabbage, then I make a second spicy batch with celery, garlic, ginger, chilies, scallions, basil, etc. Then we mix the two together in whatever proportion we prefer.
For the spicier fried rice, I usually start by mincing ginger and garlic, then dice celery and carrots. After that prep is done I start the celery and carrots sautéing in olive oil in my cast iron skillet. While the carrots and celery are cooking I finely cube some tofu and throw that in as well. When the tofu is lightly browned on all sides I add some thinly sliced red cabbage (or green, or napa), the garlic, and the ginger. I might throw in some roasted peanuts as well. After about a minute I add the brown rice and wait for it to brown a little. Once it’s a little bit browned I add frozen green peas until they are warmed through, then I add 2 eggs (beaten as below). Finally, I top the fried rice off with sliced scallions, julienned basil (thai basil if I have it) and chili sauce. That’s my go-to combination but if I don’t have celery or carrots or cabbage or scallions it’s not a problem, I just leave them out. If I have other veggies around (like zucchini, mushrooms, cauliflower, bok choy, bean sprouts, or broccoli) I might chop them finely and add them as well at the appropriate time.
I don’t usually measure anything, but if you want to see some possible amounts there is one more detailed recipe below. Read the rest of this entry »
Green bean, kohlrabi, and celery stirfry
Tonight was a “use what’s in the fridge and be quick about it” dinner. I threw together this stirfry and Derek liked it so much that he asked me to write up what I did. I didn’t measure or time anything, so below is just a best guess. Read the rest of this entry »
Late Spring chopped salad
I made a spur-of-the-moment chopped salad (i.e., no greens) yesterday for breakfast, and it turned out delicious, so I’m going to try to write down what was in it.
- Two carrots, grated
- Half of a kohlrabi, peeled and then julienned (actually I used a spiral slicer)
- About half a jar of hearts of palm, sliced
- A handful of florets of raw cauliflower, which had been marinated in a very ginger-y, vinegary dressing overnight
- One stalk of celery, sliced
- A couple handfuls of chopped parsley
We dressed the salad with my homemade Annie’s tahini dressing. The salad was very tasty, but what I liked most about it were all the different textures. Everything except the parsley was crunchy, but each ingredient offered a distinct type of crunch. Read the rest of this entry »
Roasted vegetables
I wanted to update my post on mixed roasted vegetables, but when I went to look for it I discovered there wasn’t one! I’ve been roasting vegetables for years, and I have never posted about it? Wow. Normally I roast vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet, but today I wanted to try to heal my cast iron dutch oven, and so I decided to roast the vegetables in it instead. I’ve always thought that a baking sheet (with its low sides) is better when it comes to roasting, because it lets the moisture escape and yields crispier edges. But my dutch oven roasted veggies turned out great. Better than normal, I would say. But I changed a few other things as well, so I can’t really make a direct comparison. Read the rest of this entry »
Mango quasi-lassi with cucumber, mint, and almond milk
It’s really too cold here for smoothies, but I bought some almond milk that I don’t care for in coffee, and was trying to figure out ways to use it up. I also had some mint that needed to get eaten (from the escarole, sweet pea, and mint dish) and some homemade yogurt that was becoming rather sour. I thought I’d try making a smoothie kind of reminiscent of the “Vitality” smoothie they serve here at Dean and David, which has cucumber, yogurt, basil, mango, honey, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. But the container of frozen orange juice that I pulled out of the freezer turned out not to be orange juice, but rather mango puree. So this quasi-lassi was born. Read the rest of this entry »
Escarole and beans in tomato sauce
Derek and I used to love the escarole and beans appetizer at Girasole in Pittsburgh. It consisted of braised escarole and white beans in a rich tomato sauce. It was hearty, warming, and satisfying. I hadn’t thought about it for years, until this week I saw a green that looked a lot like escarole at the farmer’s market. I asked the farmer what it was and he called it Endivien—the German word for endive. I asked him if you could cook with it and he said Germans only ever eat it raw in salads. But it looked similar enough that I decided to try making escarole and beans with it. There are tons of recipes online for escarole and white bean soup, and a few for escarole and bean dishes, but none seem to call for tomato sauce. So I decided not to try to follow a recipe. Nonetheless, my beans and greens came out quite well. This is a relatively simple, one-pot supper. It’s reasonably fast to make, hearty and satisfying. Read the rest of this entry »
Winter lasagne with spinach, shiitakes, and fromage fort
Derek rented a car this weekend (to see Chick Corea in Luxembourg), and so we decided to check out the Cora across the border in Forbach, France. It was enormous and packed, and (strangely) I heard tons of people speaking American English. Why were there so many Americans in Forbach? Could they be coming all the way from the military base in Kaiserslautern just to shop in France? We explored the store a bit, but didn’t find much of interest. Derek got some cheap Leffe Belgian beer, and picked out a few cheeses. It turned out, however, that most of the cheeses were not very good. He wanted to toss them but I hated to throw them away. I found Alton Brown’s recipe for “fromage fort” online, and made it with half of the (quite sour) Little Billy goat cheese and half of a (quite stinky and sharp) Camembert. I added quite a bit more garlic and parsley than the recipe calls for. After pureeing everything together the cheese was more like a cheese sauce than something you could spread on crackers. It tasted a little odd, but not bad. Kind of like a very strong, stinky Boursin. I decided to use it in a lasagne. Read the rest of this entry »
Shiitakes, tofu, and miso
When I first moved to Saarbruecken there were no shiitakes to be found, but in the last three years they’ve started appearing at a few stores around town. They’re quite expensive, but at least they exist! I splurged on a bag of shiitakes the other day, and ended up throwing together a quick, tasty stir-fry with an onion, the shiitakes, some diced tofu, and miso. I sauteed the onion and shiitakes in just a touch of olive oil, then added the tofu and the miso at the end. I don’t have a recipe, but I loved the combination, and so I thought I’d record it here so I don’t forget it.
Roasted sweet potato wedges
I was in a rush to get some sweet potatoes roasted the other day, and so instead of baking them the usual way (stabbing them with a fork and roasting them whole), I cut them into long wedges (about 8 per sweet potato), and roasted them on a cookie sheet at 425 F. I didn’t add oil or salt, and I didn’t peel the sweet potatoes first, just gave them a quick scrub. They turned out really well, with a mixture of textures—some soft, moist parts like you’d get in a typical baked sweet potato, and some crunchier, more caramelized bits, like you’d get from a sweet potato fry. Both Derek and I really liked the texture of the roasted sweet potato skin. So don’t peel your sweet potatoes!
I made sweet potato wedges again a few days later, except that I sprinkled on a little salt and some olive oil. The wedges ended up both a bit more moist and a bit more crisp than the previous time. Delicious!
Vegan banana bread with peanut butter frosting
I used to make banana bread all the time in Pittsburgh, but for some reason I stopped making it once I moved to Germany. But yesterday I had five over-ripe bananas gracing my windowsill, and so I decided to resurrect my old recipe. We were having guests for dinner, however, and Derek thought that plain banana bread was a little homely to serve for dessert, so he decided to dress the bread up a little with a peanut butter icing. Banana and peanut butter is a ubiquitous combination, but somehow I’ve never had banana bread with a peanut butter icing. But a quick internet search reveals quite a few recipes for banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, so clearly others have trod this path before us. I even found one recipe for banana bread that calls for mini Reese’s peanut butter cups in the batter. Wow. Our banana bread wasn’t quite that decadent, but the peanut butter / banana bread combination was definitely a winner.
My recipe makes a basic banana bread with deep banana flavor, a moist, crumbly interior, and a golden, crisp top. Use older, more darkly speckled bananas because they are sweeter, more moist, and give more banana flavor than less ripe bananas.
Mushroom, barley, white bean soup
I felt like beans and had some mushrooms in the fridge, so figured I’d try making a mushroom white bean soup. I also added some barley because I wanted to use up the end of it. So I cooked about 1 cup of (dry) white beans and 1/4-1/3 cup of (hulled, not pearled) barley together until soft. I’m not sure what kind of white beans they were–maybe great northern? The label on the bag just said “white beans,” but in German 🙂
Beet and fennel salad with hard-boiled eggs
Beet and fennel salad is a standard combination. You’ll find hundreds of recipes for it on the internet. Some recipes call for roasting the beets and fennel, but I prefer the contrast of the crisp, raw fennel and the silky, smooth roasted beets. Many recipes omit the lettuce, but I think it helps bring the salad together, both literally and conceptually. Finally, I like to add hard-boiled eggs to this salad. It’s not traditional but I think beets and hard-boiled eggs just go great together. Traditionally this salad is dressed with a simple vinaigrette, sometimes made with the juice from the beets. But I like it with Annie’s Goddess dressing, of course. Even Derek, who groans whenever I say I’m making salad, really likes this salad. Read the rest of this entry »
Cooking this weekend
I don’t have time to post full recipes right now but I wanted to say a few words about what I cooked this weekend, before I forget the details. I’ll come back and post the recipes when I get a chance. For dinner last night I started with white bean, rosemary, and fennel soup, which I’ve blogged about before. I also made two new recipes out of my French vegetarian cookbook. The first was a brussels sprouts dish with apples, onions, and cider, and the second recipe was for a beet and potato gratin. Read the rest of this entry »
Tsimmes with lemon, ginger, and molasses
In my pantry I found a huge bottle of molasses with just 1 tablespoon of molasses still loitering at the bottom. I was trying to figure out how to use it up (freeing up pantry space), when I spied one last sweet potato leftover from a big winter sweet-potato push. I had a bunch of carrots that Derek bought yesterday at the Turkish market, and so I decided to make tsimmes. I was never a fan of tsimmes as a kid, so I didn’t want to follow a traditional recipe. Instead I created a more modern take, inspired by the orange-ginger sweet potatoes we made for passover and a honey and lemon glazed carrot recipe I used to make from the AMA cookbook. Read the rest of this entry »
Mushroom, fennel, noodle soup
I went to a Bauch, Beine, Po class tonight, and it just about killed me. (That’s Belly, Legs, Bum for all you anglophiles.) I had absolutely no energy afterward to cook dinner. Also, I hadn’t been shopping for a few days and had very little in the fridge–just a large pack of crimini mushrooms and a small head of fennel, plus a number of leftovers. My mom suggested I make soup, and so I did.
I quartered the mushrooms, and sauteed them in a little bit of butter briefly. (Maybe 1.5 tsp?) Then I added a little white wine and let the mushrooms soften slightly. I added about 4 cups of water, a few big pinches of truffle salt, a couple pieces of dried porcini mushroom (crumbled), some freshly ground black pepper and one no-salt bouillon cube, and let it all come to a simmer. Meanwhile, I used my mandoline to slice the fennel very thinly. When the soup started to boil I added the fennel and offed the heat. I also added a cup or so of leftover “cabbage noodles” (a variant of this recipe, which I will hopefully blog about shortly). I let the soup stand while I toasted two slices of rye, multi-seeded bread. I then broke a clove of garlic in half and scraped the garlic all over the now-crusty bread. (I learned this trick from my friend Amira, who learned it in Italy.) I topped the soup with cubed pieces of the garlic bread, and a little freshly grated parmigiana-reggiano.
It hit the spot. Derek liked it too. There wasn’t a whole lot of broth, but it had an intense, mushroom flavor. The mushrooms were still pretty fat and juicy, and the fennel was lovely (as always in soup). The raw garlic on the “croutons” (and to a lesser extent the black pepper) added quite a bit of heat. Rating: B+
Derek said it was satisfying and earthy, but not overcooked and stewy–more like some stuff with a little light broth in the bottom. It reminded him of fancy restaurants where they bring you a bowl of something then the waiter pours a little broth over it at the table. Rating: B+
French-style baked white beans
I’m not a fan of traditional tomato-y, ultra-sweet baked beans. Instead, I put together a number of different “vegan cassoulet” recipes, and baked my beans with traditional French seasonings: a base of carrot, celery, and onion, plus garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. I started out by “quick brining” my beans, as Cook’s Illustrated recommends.
Carrot barley soup with mushrooms, thyme, lentils, and miso
When I was a kid my mom would often make carrot barley soup. There was something uber-comforting about the warm, orange broth and fluffy, exploded barley kernels. I had some barley in the pantry and decided to make carrot barley soup for dinner, but Derek objected. He would accede only if I made it into a miso soup. I wasn’t in the mood to cook, so I decided to also throw in some mushrooms and red lentils to make it a one pot meal. And thus, this soup was born.
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 8 ounces grated carrot (about 1.5 cups tightly packed, or 2 medium carrots)
- 9 ounces chopped onion (about 2 cups)
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (about 3 cups)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 9 cups stock or water + no-salt bouillon
- 1/2 cup pearled barley
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled
- 1 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 Tbs. red miso
- 2 Tbs. chopped parsley (optional)
Instructions:
- In a 4-6 quart pot heat the olive oil over high heat. When it’s hot add the carrots, onion, mushrooms, and salt. Reduce the heat to medium-ghigh. Saute for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables stop releasing water.
- Add in the water, barley, black pepper, garlic clove, thyme leaves, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then cook over low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
- When the soup is done, mix in the miso. Either mix it in a separate bowl with some of the broth from the soup, or put it in a sieve and slowly push it through into the soup. Garnish with fresh chopped parlsey and serve immediately.
Notes:
I didn’t have any parsley so I left it out.
The red lentils totally dissolved, but added a bit of grittiness to the soup. The sliced mushrooms ended up slightly rubbery but I liked the textural contrast compared to the gritty lentils and the fluffy barley. I couldn’t decided if the red lentils added depth to the flavor profile, or if they muddied up the pure flavors of the soup. Similarly with the miso. I just couldn’t figure out whether the miso added a nice umame flavor, or muddied it up. The thyme, on the other hand, was clearly a great addition. I think the soup would have even benefited from another 1/2 tsp. or 1 tsp. of thyme added at the end. Of course, if I had had parsley maybe the extra thyme would have clashed with the parsley.
Derek ended up liking the soup. He said he’d eat it again, but he wouldn’t yearn for it. He gave it a B. He liked the barley, and said that with enough salt it had good flavor. He thought the flavor was a bit muddy, but the soup was pretty satisfying.
I enjoyed the soup. I think perhaps it could be improved a little, but it was very comforting and satisfying, just like my mom’s carrot barley soup. Rating: B.
Whole wheat linguine with chard, tomatoes, and chickpeas
This recipe is based on the Cook’s Illustrated beans and greens recipe. I used to make it with collards or kale, but since I can’t get those greens here I made it with swiss chard and added tomatoes, which blend nicely with the acidity of the chard. Normally I add kalamata olives but I didn’t have any so I added a few spoonsfuls of capers instead. I didn’t have any white beans so subbed in chickpeas.
Serves 4 to 6.
Ingredients
| 3 | tablespoons olive oil |
| 8 | cloves garlic, 5 cloves sliced thin lengthwise, 3 cloves minced (1 Tbs.) |
| 3/4 | tsp. kosher salt |
| 1 | medium red onion, diced small (about 1 cup) |
| 1/2-2/3 | teaspoon hot red pepper flakes |
| 20 | ounces chard, stems halved lengthwise and sliced thinly and leaves sliced into ribbons |
| 3/4 | cups vegetable broth |
| 1 | can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with juice |
| 1 | can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed |
| 3/4 | cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped (or 3 Tbs. capers) |
| 10-12 | ounces whole wheat spaghetti or linguine |
| 2 | ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup) |
| ground black pepper |
Instructions
- Heat oil and sliced garlic in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring and turning frequently, until light golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer garlic to plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
- Add onion and chard stems to pan; cook until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and red pepper flakes; cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add half of chard to pan; using tongs, toss occasionally, until starting to wilt, about 2 minutes. Add remaining chard, broth, tomatoes, and salt; cover (pan will be very full); increase heat to high and bring to strong simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, tossing once, until chard is completely wilted. Stir in beans and olives or capers.
- Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in dutch oven or 5-6 quart pan over high heat. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is just shy of al dente. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add the greens mixture to pasta, set over medium-high heat, and toss to combine. Cook until pasta absorbs most of liquid, about 2 minutes. Season with black pepper to taste. Serve immediately, passing garlic chips and parmesan separately.
Note: By draining the pasta before its al dente, and finishing cooking in the brothy sauce, the pasta absorbs the flavors of the sauce and release its residual starch, which helps to thicken the sauce slightly.
Derek really loved this dish, even without the olives. I thought it was reasonably flavorful, but I’m never as excited about beans and greens as he is.
Tofu, bok choy, and caramelized shallots
This is a quick Chinese-inspired dish I whipped up for lunch today.
- 2 Tbs. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbs.) [optional]
- 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 pound medium firm tofu
- 1 pound bok choy
- 2 shallots
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger , minced (about 1 tablespoon) [optional]
- In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic cloves, and chili flakes. Slice the tofu into long rectangles (about .75” x .75” x 2”).
- In a 12-inch non-stick skillet over high heat, heat the olive oil until a drop of water sizzles. Add the tofu in a single layer. Do not move the tofu once you’ve placed it down.
- While the tofu cooks, wash and cut up your bok choy. Break the bok choy into individual leaves, and remove the green part from the white stems. Chop the stems into bite-sized pieces, halving vertically any particular fat stems. When the stems are all chopped, throw them into the pan, filling up any spaces not taken by the tofu, and letting the rest of the pieces rest on top of the tofu.
- When the tofu has browned on the first side, toss everything making sure that each tofu piece ends up on an unbrowned side. While the second side browns, slice the bok choy leaves into fat ribbons, and slice the shallots into 1/4 inch pieces. Add the shallots to the pan. Toss again, getting a third side of each tofu rectangle down this time.
- When the third side of tofu is browned, throw in the bok choy leaves and the soy sauce mixture. Stir fry for about 1 minute, until the leaves are wilted. Eat immediately.
You could serve this over rice or another grain, but we just ate it plain. It’s salty, but not over the top salty. The bok choy stems and shallots get nicely caramelized, and the tofu ends up crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. It’s a satisfying dish.
If you use the ginger, add it about 30 seconds before the soy sauce mixture.
Whole wheat penne with pan-fried brussels sprouts and rosemary
We recently returned from 10 days in NYC, and were scrambling to figure out what to do for dinner given our uncharacteristically empty fridge and unusually busy schedule. (When you disappear for 10 days there’s a lot to do once you get back!) I left work too late to make it to the Asian and bio stores, so tofu was out, and the Turkish store was already closed. My only option was the local, standard grocery store, where I almost never buy produce. The Brussels sprouts looked reasonably fresh, and both Derek and I love brussels sprouts, so I decided on a simple dinner of pasta with brussels sprouts. I also bought a few tart apples for snacking on.
When I got home I tried to figure out what I could add to bump up the protein content of the meal, and make the pasta dish a little more interesting. I remembered that I had a box of falafel mix in the pantry. Falafel and brussels sprouts didn’t seem like too odd of a combination, so I mixed the falafel mix with water and fried it up as falafel patties in a little oil on the stovetop. I removed them from the pan and then used the same pan for the sprouts. I quartered the brussels sprouts and cooked them over medium heat in my large 12-inch skillet, until browned. When they were almost done I decided to jazz the dish up a bit more, and added one diced granny smith apple, and a heaping spoonful of minced rosemary (from the plant on my windowsill). When the sprouts were cooked through I tossed in some whole wheat penne, and crumbled in a few of the falafel patties. The texture of the falafel crumbles reminded me a little of bread crumbs, but they were more flavorful. The sweet/tart apple contrasted nicely with the heavier flavors of the falafel and brussels sprouts, and the rosemary added a nice “fall” flavor. The dish ended up being tasty, if a little odd. It was also a bit dry, so we ended up drizzling it with a little olive oil at the table. I wish the dish had had more of a sauce, but I never know how to make a non-red sauce like you get at an Italian restaurant, without using 1/4 cup of olive oil per person.
Update Dec 2012:
We just got back from a long weekend in Paris, and faced with a near-empty fridge I threw together another pasta with whole wheat penne, brussels sprouts, and rosemary. But this time instead of apples and falafel crumbs I added red onions, lemon zest, and crumbs leftover from our “bar nuts.” Derek really liked the dish and asked me to write up what I did.
I put some water on to boil, then added 1 Tbs. of unsalted butter to my 12-inch nonstick skillet. While I waited for the butter to melt I trimmed and halved my brussels sprouts. (I cut the really big ones into thirds.) When the butter was melted I added the brussels sprouts I had cut, placing them face down in the skillet. I turned the heat down to 7 (out of 9) and kept cutting more sprouts. As I got toward the end of my 500g bag of sprouts I began to run out of room, so I cut the sprouts smaller (into quarters or sixths) and just placed them on top of the other sprouts. When I started to smell caramelization I flipped the sprouts, and indeed the bottoms were starting to get almost black in spots. I turned the heat down to medium. I chopped up about a tablespoon of rosemary and sprinkled it on the sprouts along with lots of aleppo pepper and some black pepper. I sliced a medium red onion into thin rings, and added it to the pan. But there didn’t seem to be enough free butter left for the onion to saute, so I added a half a tablespoon of olive oil directly to the onion slices. Once the onion started to soften I turned the heat down even further, to 1, because I was afraid the sprouts would overcook.
At this point the water was boiling so I salted the pasta water and added 9.25 ounces of whole wheat pasta to the pot. To the skillet I added a few cloves of crushed garlic, the zest from one lemon, the juice from half a lemon, and some salty, rosemary crumbs leftover from some bar nuts I made last week. The crumbs contained a number of sunflower seeds, some rosemary, some nut skins, warm spices, and salt. I put in a few spoonfuls of the pasta cooking water and then the penne once it was cooked. I dished out the pasta and Derek grated a French sheep’s milk cheese on top (about 1/3 ounce per serving). The ratio of sprouts to pasta was pretty good, and even though there wasn’t really a sauce to speak of the dish was quite flavorful. It made about four small servings or two restaurant-sized servings.
Kale, leek, mushroom pudding
This morning I got up and decided to use up some of the odds and ends left in the fridge/freezer. I started by roasting a bunch of parsnips, carrots, and a little bit of leftover cauliflower. While the vegetables were roasting in the oven, I used the rest of the leftover vegetables to make a creamy kale, leek, and mushroom pudding. I didn’t measure anything, so all the amounts below are approximate.
- leeks, white and light green parts sliced (~4 cups)
- ~ 1 Tbs. butter
- mushrooms, chopped small (~2 cups)
- kale, finely chopped (I used a 450g box of frozen kale)
- dried oregano (1/2? tsp.)
- ground fennel seed (1/4? tsp.)
- salt and fresh ground pepper
- soy sauce (~1 Tbs.)
- 1 Tbs. nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp. arrowroot
- lowfat milk (~1.25 cups)
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbs. light cream cheese
- ~1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- 4 large cloves garlic
- 4.25 ounces cheese (I used a mix of parmigiana-reggiano and manchego)
- In a 3-quart casserole pan warm the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and saute until lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and cook until the liquid is mostly gone. Add the frozen kale, cover, and cook until the kale is defrosted. Add some dried oregano and dried fennel, salt and pepper, the nutritional yeast, and some soy sauce. Stir to mix.
- Mix the arrowroot in 1 Tbs. of water. Make a well in the center of the vegetables, and add the arrowroot mixture. Cook for a minute or two, until it starts to bubble. Off the heat. Mix the two eggs with the milk and light cream cheese. Beat well. Add the egg mixture to the vegetables, and stir to mix.
- In a mini food processor place the cheese, the peeled garlic cloves, and the basil leaves. Pulse a few times until everything is finely chopped and uniformly mixed. Mix most of the cheese mixture into the vegetables, reserving a little to sprinkle on top.
- Bake uncovered in a 375 degree oven until the casserole is set and top is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
My notes:
This casserole doesn’t have enough eggs or starchy vegetables in it to really set properly. It’s not sliceable–more scoopable, which is why I called it a pudding rather than a casserole. If I was going to serve this for company, I’d probably make individual puddings in my 1-cup ramekins. The flavor was good, although I couldn’t specifically taste the basil, oregano, or fennel seed. I guess I should have added more. I think a little nutmeg or allspice would also have gone well with these flavors. Surprisingly, no one vegetable really stood out flavor-wise. Each added a distinctive texture however. The mushroom pieces were meaty and a tad rubbery. The kale was slightly fibrous and chewy. And the leeks were silky and a tad stringy. The gestalt of the dish reminded me a little of the traditional Thanksgiving green bean casserole cooked in condensed mushroom soup–but in a good, comfort-food way rather than a cheap, overly-processed way.
Derek also liked the pudding–he said it tasted just like escargot. I suspect it was the strong (almost raw) garlic flavor that he was responding to.
This recipe made approx. 2 quarts of pudding, so I would say 8 side-servings or 4 main dish servings.
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Nutrition Facts
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Serving Size: 1/8 recipe
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| Amount Per Serving | |||||
| Calories | 189 | ||||
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| Total Fat | 7.9g | ||||
| Saturated Fat | 4.7g | ||||
| Trans Fat | 0g | ||||
| Cholesterol | 66mg | ||||
| Sodium | 453mg | ||||
| Carbohydrate | 17.5g | ||||
| Dietary Fiber | 2.8g | ||||
| Sugars | 4.4g | ||||
| Protein | 12.6g | ||||
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Macro breakdown: 37% fat, 26% protein, 37% carbs.
Fusion chipotle salsa soy stir-fry
Last night I was emptying out my fridge in preparation for my upcoming trip to Scotland, and I was trying to figure out what to do with about 1/3 cup of leftover chipotle salsa. Good salsa is rare around here, so I didn’t want to just toss it. But good salsa doesn’t seem to last that long, and I was pretty sure it would be moldy by the time I got back from my trip. The salsa was a quite thick, cooked-style salsa, and visually it reminded me a little of a Thai chile sauce. Derek was making sesame noodles with broccoli and cucumber for dinner, so I decided to make a stirfry with the salsa and what I found in the fridge: 4 ounces of tempeh, 2 small zucchinis, and a big bag of green beans. I made a stir-fry sauce out of the chipotle salsa, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and a spoonful of maple syrup. It was really tasty! It didn’t really taste fusion–the Mexican flavors in the salsa faded away in comparison to the Asian kick from the soy sauce. But everyone seemed to like it a lot, and it was an easy way to make a tasty stir fry sauce.
I used a still-oily non-stick skillet to crisp up the tempeh and green beans. (I julienned the tempeh first.) Then when the tempeh and green beans started to brown I poured in the stir-fry sauce, which I had watered down so that the tempeh would have some liquid to cook in. I added the zucchini, which I had cut into thin planks, and covered to cook everything through. When the green beans were tender-crisp I took off the lid and led the sauce cook down until it was more of a glaze. I sprinkled the dish with fresh cilantro before serving. Delicious. I’d definitely make this “recipe” again.
Simple sweet spiced chard
I made some chard tonight that was fantastic. Derek said that if he was served it in a fancy restaurant, he would be impressed. It’s a pretty simple dish, but it was just really tasty and interesting tasting. I think it was the garam masala that really put it over the edge. I’m not sure where this particular garam masala came from–I might have made it myself? When you first smell it, it smells quite sweet–like cloves or allspice. A cheap commercial garam masala usually skimps on the more expensive spices, so if yours doesn’t smell of cloves or allspice you might need to add a little extra. It’s funny, I’ve tried Italian chard recipes that call for raisins, and I never liked the addition of the sweet raisins to the chard. But the sweet spices and the chard went perfectly together, especially with the salty, briny soy sauce flavor to balance things out. Last week I made a much oilier chard recipe (probably the same amount of chard and 2 Tablespoons of oil, and 2 Tbs. of garlic), but this one–despite being low fat–was much tastier.
I didn’t measure everything, so the measurements below are only approximate. I do know that I had exactly 4 very densely packed cups of raw chard, because I had it leftover from another dinner and I just managed to barely shove it all into one quart-sized tupperware.
- 1 tsp. olive oil (this I measured)
- 2/3 cup chopped red onion
- 1.33 cups chopped chard stems
- 1 very large clove of garlic (maybe two teaspoons minced?)
- 1/2? tsp. garam masala (see note above)
- 2.67 cups chard leaves
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 1/4 cup of water
Heat the oil in a 12-inch non-stick or cast iron skillet. When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute over medium-high heat until starting to brown. Add the chard stems, and saute until starting to brown. Add the garlic and garam masala, and cook for about one minute. Add the chard leaves and stir. Mix the soy sauce into the water and pour evenly over the chard. Cover immediately to trap the steam. Cook for about five minutes, until the chard is softened but still bright green. Do not overcook. Serve immediately.
I think this made about 3 cups of cooked chard. I know it seems strange that 4 cups of raw chard would turn into 3 cups of cooked chard, but the raw chard was really packed tightly, and when I measure cooked greens I don’t pack them that tightly. Derek and I easily finished the whole dish between the two of us, but it’s probably more like four normal-person servings.
Update Sept 12, 2009: I made this again last week and it didn’t turn out quite as well, I’m not sure why. I don’t think there was enough garam masala, for one. I tried again tonight and this time used 1 tsp. of garam masala, which was better, but still not as good as the first time. I didn’t measure my chard stems, but I used a total of 2 pounds, 9 ounces damp chard leaves. I think perhaps it was a bit too much chard for the amount of seasoning. It wasn’t quite salty enough.
Summer corn and zucchini lasagna
When I saw corn at the market I felt a sudden desire to make a light, summery, white lasagna. Rather than use tomato sauce, I thought I could top the lasagna with the slightly caramelized and jewel-like tomatoes that crown Cook’s Illustrated’s summer gratin recipe (recipe here). This was a great idea–it made a beautiful presentation and the tomatoes were delicious. The rest of the lasagna turned out great as well–it held together perfectly, was very flavorful, and looked gorgeous. Read the rest of this entry »
The captious vegetarian 