Archive for the 'vegetarian' Category
In light of news healines today, I’m going vegetarian. The good news: just added ketchup and W didn’t even notice it wasn’t his beloved meat. (Notice the same batch of buns? They are getting a little stale…)
Lentil, Mushroom and Pecan Burgers
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
canola oil, for cooking with
2 cups mushrooms
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can lentils, rinsed and drained
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs)In a large dry skillet, toast the nuts over medium heat until golden and fragrant. Set them aside. Add the oil to the skillet and sauté the mushrooms and onion for about 5 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Put the mushrooms and onion in the bowl of a food processor along with the lentils, Worcestershire, salt and pepper and pulse just until the mixture is blended. Transfer it to a bowl and stir in the bread crumbs and pecans.
Shape the mixture into patties and fry them in a little oil in the same skillet set over medium heat. Cook until they’re golden and crusty on both sides, flipping them as you need to.
Makes 6 burgers.
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July 09 2008 | beans and sandwiches and vegetarian | 6 Comments »
I’m doing some preemptive damage control before Stampede starts tomorrow.
Also, it has been a long and particularly stressful two days, and I hadn’t even considered dinner until we realized it was 4pm and we hadn’t even eaten lunch.
As I mentioned yesterday, it’s clean-out-the-fridge week. This, happily, coincides with my dogsitting duties, which includes the fringe benefit of a gardenful of fresh spinach that if not plucked, will go to seed. So the challenge for this week: Using Up Stuff with Fresh Spinach.
As I may have mentioned before, I love grainy salads, and particularly lentils and barley together. The combination makes a complete protein, and is substantial enough for a whole meal-in-a-bowl. The best part is that they cook for the exact same amount of time, so you can bring a pot of water to a boil and throw in a handful of dried lentils and a handful of barley (this would also be ideal for an Extremely Frugal-themed week) and boil them for 40 minutes, then drain in a colander, run cold water over them and you’re good to go. Bonus: you can freeze them at this point, which is what I did with the barley and lentils I used tonight. Just run them under warm water in a colander to thaw, or throw them directly into soup. Canned lentils, rinsed and drained, work just as well, but you’ll still have to cook the barley. Or try brown rice.
The great thing about salads is that you really don’t have to use a specific list of ingredients, or adhere to any measurements. I wished I had a tomato or better yet, some grape tomatoes, but I didn’t, so red pepper worked out fine. (Still, I wished it was roasted.) Any sort of balsamic vinaigrette works in place of the dressing.
Lentil & Barley Salad
1/2 cup dry green lentils
1/2 cup pot or pearl barley
1 garlic clove, peeled (optional)
1 tomato or a handful of grape tomatoes, chopped or halved
a big handful of fresh spinach or Italian parsley, chopped
as much crumbled feta as you like
some finely chopped purple onion or a chopped green onion
freshly ground black pepper
Dressing:
equal parts olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar (or some of each)
1 clove of garlic, finely squished
Toss everything together and chill for a few hours to give the flavors time to get to know each other.
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July 03 2008 | beans and grains and one dish and salads and vegetarian | 3 Comments »
Last week, I was driving with my 10 year old niece and she asked me what my favourite food was. After I stopped laughing at the idea of having to choose just one (I sometimes get panicky at the thought of how much great food there is to eat and only so many hours in a day and months in a year and kilometres on the elliptical trainer - seriously) she countered with favourite type of food. Unable to choose one ethnicity (I’ve always disagreed with the use of that term in relation to food anyway - isn’t all food ethnic? Shouldn’t it more appropriately be “exotic” or “the food that they eat a lot of in Greece” or whatever?) I had to answer: anything with melted cheese on it.
I think I’m still OK with my answer.
Pizza is just always a good thing. I bought a couple portobello mushrooms a few days ago with the intention of making portobello burgers (and because ever since we had those portobello bison burgers, Mike has been asking for seconds) and then remembered today that they make a pretty good support system for personal-size pizzas, too.
As with any pizza, you can put whatever you like on these. You scrape out the gills and bake or grill them first, just to tenderize them and get rid of some of the excess liquid; I have heard of a method where you weigh the mushrooms down as you bake them in order to press out as much liquid as possible - the result is a sort of leathery-textured compact mushroom. You could do this in the oven on a baking sheet with another sheet and perhaps a pan set on top, or you could even cook them in a panini grill, if you happen to have one kicking around.
I didn’t have much in the way of potential pizza toppings around - except mushrooms - but do always keep a jar of Classico extra garlic bruschetta on the shelf. No one pays me to say this. I was actually at a housewarming and asked where they got the bruschetta, and my friend sheepishly admitted it was a $3 jar of Classico. The stuff is good, and has only the usual bruschetta ingredients - nothing unpronouncable. It’s great for an emergency appetizer with baguette, or on top of pasta with crumbled feta cheese, and maybe some shrimp from the freezer.
Tonight I spooned some over the mushrooms, draining most of the liquid off the spoon, and topped them with mozzarella. So easy. And perfect to do in your toaster oven or grill so as to not heat up the house.
Portobello Pizzas with Tomato Bruschetta
2 portobello mushroom caps
1 clove garlic, crushed
olive or canola oil
1/3 cup (ish) chunky tomato bruschetta
grated mozzarella cheese
Preheat the oven to 350°F or your grill to medium.
Remove the mushroom stems and scrape the gills out with a spoon - only because they tend to be bitter. Stir the garlic into the oil and brush it all over the mushroom caps - both sides.
Place the mushroom caps bowl-side up on a baking sheet and bake (or grill) for 8-10 minutes, until tender. Take them out of the oven and increase the oven temperature to 450°F, or turn up your grill a bit.
Top your mushrooms with the bruschetta and cheese. Bake (or grill, with the lid closed) for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese melts.
Serves 2 (recipe doubles or triples easily)
And see? The pizzas are even sturdy enough to eat out of hand, just like the real thing.
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June 28 2008 | on the grill and vegetarian | 2 Comments »
And we didn’t even order in! I was mighty proud of myself for pulling off the daal and naan, although later on not so proud anymore, having eaten the better part of four fresh naan breads warm from the skillet. Not a good idea. My only consolation was that the rest of the meal consisted entirely of vegetables.
This whole Indian theme came about because I’ve been buying far more tomatoes than is absolutely necessary, and as a result have a few going wrinkly on top of my breadbox. Once, when we lived in Vancouver about 5 years ago, I made a potato curry from my friend Tahera Rawji’s cookbook Simply Indian, and because I didn’t have any crushed tomatoes I whizzed a couple of tomatoes in the food processor that were at the time going wrinkly on my minescule Vancouver countertop. It was one of those minor events that lodged itself firmly in my brainpan, and now whenever I see an aging tomato, I want curried potatoes.
Tomato Curried Potatoes
a variation of “Potato Curry” in Simply Indian
4-5 Yukon gold or baby new potatoes, cut into large chunks (I don’t bother to peel them - a bonus when you use thin-skinned potatoes like YG)
canola oil, for cooking
1 cup crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, or 2 tomatoes pureed in the food processor
2 tsp. paprika
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder or paste
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
Boil the potatoes until tender. In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of oil and add the potatoes; toss them around a bit. Add the tomatoes, paprika, curry powder, chili powder, sugar and salt and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the potatoes are well coated and the extra moisture has cooked off.
Serves 4.
Also, I had the most enormous cauliflower you ever saw left over from Ramsay Rocks, where it was supposed to go onto the veggies and dip tray in the volunteer’s tent. I hardly ever buy cauliflower. I’m not a huge fan. Or I wasn’t; I am now. My favorite way to cook any kind of veg is to roast it, so why not cauliflower? I gave it a try, and even W liked it. To roast cauliflower, separate it into florets and toss with canola or olive oil and salt; spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and roast at 450°F for about half an hour, until it’s all golden and charred.
The daal was something I flipped past en route to the curried potato recipe; it had me at the first line: “in a large saucepan with plenty of water, bring to a boil and cook lentils until overdone and mushy.” Hey, I can do that. Beyond that, the recipe pointed me in the right direction and I went on my way. This is definitely a keeper. Funny that I’ve never made this before, but looking at the recipe it seems so completely obvious.
Daal Curry
1 1/2 cups dried orange lentils
canola oil, for cooking
1 large onion, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp. curry paste or powder
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2-1 cup half & half or evaporated milk or coconut milk (optional)
1/2 tsp. garam masala (optional)
a handful of cilantro, chopped (optional)
Put the lentils in a pot and boil for 15-20 minutes, until very well done and mushy. Drain. Meanwhile, heat a good drizzle of oil and sauté the onions until dark golden. Add the tomatoes and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the curry paste, sugar, chili powder, and salt, then the lentils and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the half & half and cook until it has the consistency you want - they can be runny, or thicken up if you cook it for a few more minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the garam masala, then sprinkle with cilantro, if you like. Serves 4-6.
The tangy, pillowy naan is from Tahera’s book. It seemed at first to be a little over the top to make naan from scratch, but then again it isn’t any different than making pizza dough. Next time, I’ll brush the outside of the rolled dough with melted butter spiked with garlic before cooking it, and I am so using this as a base for Indian-influenced pizzas on the barbecue. Tandoori chicken, perhaps?
Naan
a variation from Simply Indian
1/2 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
1 tsp. sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg, beaten
5 Tbsp. powdered milk (optional - I didn’t use any)
5 Tbsp. plain yogurt
melted butter or oil, for frying
In a large bowl, stir together the water, yeast and sugar and let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy. If it doesn’t foam, the yeast is inactive; toss it out!
Stir in the flour, salt, canola oil, egg and powdered milk, and stir until almost combined. Add the yogurt and work into a soft, pliable dough.
Cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled in size; about an hour or two.
Divide the dough into 6-8 pieces and on a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece into an oval. Brush both sides with melted butter or oil. (Tahera instructs to brush one side with butter, the other with milk.)
Cook each naan in a very hot skillet until blistered and cooked, flipping as necessary.
Makes 6-8 naan.
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June 24 2008 | beans and bread and veg and vegetarian | 3 Comments »
I’ll tell you straight up, the soup is green, and refreshing in a way that only pure green things are, but I likely wouldn’t make it again. It’s like a pea smoothie; I can’t get past the cold grassiness of it. I’m thinking of throwing the rest on the stovetop tomorrow. Others may enjoy it, though. At least it’s healthy - besides being so green, peas are a crazy high source of fiber.
This morning we talked about no heat dinners on CBC, and so I made it for the occasion. I wasn’t surprised to come home with the whole batch. (Why is it said that something not so great is “nothing to sneeze at”? Is there any occasion that calls for sneezing at something that is particulaly good?)
Minted Pea Soup
Adapted from Real Simple magazine.
4 cups fresh or frozen peas, thawed
a big handful fresh mint, torn into pieces
a small handful fresh chives, torn into pieces
3 cups chicken or veg stock
1 tsp. each salt and sugar
Whiz everything in the food processor or blender until smooth. Makes about 1 1/2 L.
The shrimp fajitas, on the other hand, are great. I made them about a year ago when trying to come up with a way to incorporate guacamole into our dinner, on account of an overabundance of perfectly ripe ones in our fruit bowl. This time it was planned for the aforementioned show. You could throw the cooked shrimp right in there - frozen, even, if you want to keep the fajita innards cool en route to a picnic or bring it in your lunch - but I decided to give them a quick minute in a hot pan with a tiny dab of butter and shake of chili powder, just to fajita things up a bit. Either way.
Shrimp & Black Bean Fajitas
All these measurements are approximate; just wing it.
1 ripe avocado
1 clove garlic, finely pressed
2 Tbsp. lime juice (or to taste)
pinch salt
about 20 cooked, peeled shrimp, thawed (or not, if you want to keep it cool en route to a picnic)
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2-1 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup salsa
4 whole wheat flour tortillas
In a small bowl, mash the avocado, garlic, lime juice and salt until smooth. Spread a quarter of it into the middle of each tortilla. Divide the shrimp, beans, feta and salsa among them, and wrap like a burrito.
Serves 4.
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June 17 2008 | sandwiches and seafood and soup and vegetarian | 2 Comments »
Otsu is a cold soba (buckwheat) noodle salad named, I believe, for a city in Japan. I had seen a couple references to it, and so when I saw fresh buckwheat noodles at the Asian market, I picked up a package, thinking it would make a nice summery dinner. Unfortunately we haven’t seen any sign of summer since then.
Once in awhile, maybe a few times a year, I crave tofu. Identifiable tofu, that is - not blended into a smoothie or peanut sauce. Done right, marinated perhaps but always well crisped - caramelized, even - in a hot pan, tofu can be delicious. The key to giving your tofu a nice outer crust is to start with a firm variety, then press as much excess liquid out as you can. To do this, sandwich it between a couple layers of good paper towel (not the wussy stuff) and put a skillet or something heavy on top to weigh it down for awhile. The longer you press it, the drier it will become, which will allow it to crisp up nicely.
The dressing is a melange of a bunch of recipes I looked up; as I was shaking it together in its jar it occurred to me that it could do double duty as a marinade for the tofu. So I poured some over my slab of tofu and stuck it in the fridge. (As it turned out, it marinated for more than a day, due to our spontaneous shawarma yesterday.)
This is one of those meals that can be classified as real fast food. (Hey - perhaps that should be a recipe category?) The noodles boil in 3-4 minutes, as long as it takes to fry the tofu, which since it’s already cooked only needs to brown on the outside. Slice some cucumber and shake up your dressing, and you’re good to go.
To quote Mike: “I really liked it. I’m not kidding, that was the first time I sort of actually enjoyed tofu.”
Otsu
Dressing:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. sugar or honey
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
a squirt of hot chile sauce (the red stuff in the squeeze bottle) - optional
Salad:
about 1/2 lb. (8 oz.) fresh or dried soba (buckwheat) noodles, or as much as you think you’ll need
about a third of a cucumber, halved and sliced
a green onion or two, chopped
half a package of firm tofu
canola or sesame oil, for cooking
as much chopped fresh cilantro as you like
sesame seeds, toasted
To make the dressing, shake all the ingredients up in a jar. If you like, pour some over your slab of tofu and let it sit for a couple hours or up to a couple days. If you want to press it, do it after it comes out of the marinade.
Cook the soba noodles according to package directions, then run them under cold water to cool them down and drain them well. Add the cucumber and green onion, drizzle with about half the dressing, toss and divide among your bowls.
Cut the tofu into about 1″ squares (or bite-sized pieces) and heat a drizzle of oil in a skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and brown on both (or all) sides. Divide the crispy tofu among the bowls, top with cilantro and sesame seeds, and drizzle with extra dressing. Serve immediately.
Serves 2-4(ish).
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June 08 2008 | one dish and pasta and salads and vegetarian | 2 Comments »
Sorry, quesadillas again. We narrowly averted Inglewood Pizza by a busy signal. Good thing there was a hockey game.
It still surprises me that often I still have no idea what’s for dinner at 6:20 at night. Quesadillas are a common stand-by, as you may have noticed; one step up from the grilled cheese sandwich, and assembled out of virtually anything you have around, provided some of it is cheese. I keep whole wheat flour tortillas in the freezer primarily for these, and also for peanut butter banana wraps. They have saved dinner (and lunch, and breakfast) on many a busy occasion.
Tonight, they were constructed out of black beans (there’s always a can on the shelf), finely chopped tomato and thin slices of jalapeño havarti I got at the cheese market last weekend. Bonus: I use quesadilla wedges to scoop up copious amounts of chunky salsa, thus boosting my lycopene intake.
And here’s another idea: when camping, you can make s’mores quesadillas with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows, either in a skillet on the Coleman stove, or wrapped in foil and tossed in the hot coals. A sliced banana in there is yummy, too.
Or just stick with the cheese.
Tomorrow night, I’ll be downtown at dinnertime for the June First Thursday. If anyone wants to join our group of 12 (so far!) to go restaurant and gallery-hopping, meet us on the Teatro patio at 5pm tomorrow night! (Free drinks and snacks, and deals on others!)
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June 04 2008 | appetizers and cheese and sandwiches and snacks and vegetarian | 2 Comments »
No meat today, please. We’re still digesting.
A conversation with Barbara Kingsolver last week has me thinking more than usual about eating locally. She made a good point - that rather than ponder what we feel like eating for dinner, we should consider what’s local and in season, and plan our meals around those ingredients.
With that in mind, I picked up a few bunches of asparagus over the weekend at the farmers’ market, and read a bit of Jamie Oliver’s advice on growing your own - I don’t often hear about people growing asparagus in their back yards, but I know it’s possible in our climate. Serendipitously, my friend A called on Saturday afternoon and asked if I wanted the small gathering of asparagus that was popping up through her lawn and being trampled by her three boys. Did I! From what I know, it takes 3 years for planting to picking asparagus, and I haven’t yet found a garden centre that sells asparagus plants (although, admittedly, I don’t frequent garden centres… my tomatoes, zucchini and pea seeds came from the Superstore).
I went over and dug it up; it was a monster. A mess of roots and an unseen giant tuber of sorts that supported my weight on the shovel (we gave up before digging that deep) with about 6 stalks emerging from it. I replanted what we could salvage beside the fence in my back yard, about five minutes before W and L conspired to snap off the shoots and throw them over the fence.
So today I still have the asparagus from the market. It’s cold and wet, and so dark I could hardly take photos. I didn’t much feel like cooking, so I threw a pot of pasta on - long squiggly pasta I picked up somewhere - I have vowed not to buy any more pasta until I use up all the half bags of assorted shapes on my shelf. While at the market I also picked up a package of peppered Boursin cheese (decidedly not local, I realize, but on sale), a soft, incredibly decadent cheese that my sister and I sometimes set on the table and spread on crackers while we work on our laptops at the dining room table. I thought I’d crumble it into the hot pasta and toss about until it melts, lubricating it a bit with some reserved pasta water. I imagine any sort of soft cheese would work; goat, ricotta (with lemon!) or even flavoured cream cheese.
While the pasta cooked I snapped the tough ends off the asparagus and cut them into pieces. When the pasta was a couple minutes from being done, I threw the asparagus in with it so that it would be tender but still crisp, and all done at the same time. It was all returned to the pot and tossed with crumbled Boursin and a bit of hot, starchy pasta water. I imagine some chopped roasted chicken would have gone well in this too.
For dessert, leftovers from BT this morning. I made gluten free brownies for Jill, who has celiac disease, and they turned out pretty well if I do say so myself! I made them with brown rice flour and millet flour, but I imagine you could use any number of gluten free flours. Because brownies are so dense and fudgy (or should be) and call for very little flour, they are fairly easy to make gluten-free. Next time, I’m trying quinoa flour.
Gluten Free Brownies
Try quinoa or other gluten-free flours such as buckwheat or tapioca in these dense brownies.
½ cup butter, softened
4 oz. semi sweet or dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. instant coffee or espresso, dissolved in 1 tsp. water
¼ cup cocoa
¼ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup millet flour
pinch salt
a handful of chopped nuts and/or chocolate chips or more chopped chocolate (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray an 8”x8” baking pan with nonstick spray.
Set the butter and chocolate in a stainless steel or glass bowl set over simmering water and let it melt, stirring occasionally, or melt it in the microwave. Set aside to cool slightly. Stir in the sugar, and if it’s not too hot, the eggs, vanilla and coffee.
Add the cocoa, flours and salt, and stir until blended. Stir in some nuts or chocolate chips, if you like. Pour into the pan and bake for 25 minutes, until the edges pull slightly from the pan but the middle is still soft. Set on a wire rack to cool.
Makes 16 brownies.
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June 02 2008 | cookies & squares and dessert and one dish and pasta and vegetarian | 6 Comments »
OK, so this was really lunch. But it was late in the afternoon, close to dinner. This evening I was emceeing a fundraiser for a school for autistic kids, and it was a (fairly utilitarian) buffet dinner, not much interesting to write home about, so I opted to default back to lunch.
We were out doing some running around most of the day, and starving. The plan was to pick up a couple of slices of pizza at Wicked Wedge, but when traffic got far too difficult to fight, I told Mike to head home and I’d stir up something great I’d just read about.
I was romanced by the idea of this chickpea salad by Molly at Orangette. Molly calls this a salad, (and who am I to argue with Molly?) and I suppose technically it is what with the oil and lemon, but my idea of a salad usually includes a few more base ingredients. I can’t really go so far as to call it a recipe; it’s more like seasoning a can of chickpeas. She once said something along the lines of “one of life’s greatest skills is the ability to doctor up a can of beans”, and I couldn’t agree more. I’ve adapted this a bit, partly because it’s easier around these parts to find a 19 oz can of beans, and partly because I like it with pepper.
It wasn’t as earth-shattering as I hoped, but Mike called it “deeelish“, and I found myself thinking about the leftovers in the fridge. It’s one of those last-second formulas that can round out a meal or create a perfect picnic or lunch at work instantly.
Alongside, some sautéed spinach with garlic. I picked up a bag of local Hotchkiss spinach the other day, thinking about that poached egg on toast with sautéed spinach that was so good so many months ago. The combination was good when you got a bit of garlicky spinach on your fork and anchored it by spearing a few chickpeas.
Chickpeas with Lemon and Parmesan
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil or cold-pressed canola oil
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (about half a lemon)
salt & pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Stir everything together; serve right away or put in the fridge to chill. Can be kept overnight; makes a great portable lunch.
Serves 2-4.
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May 31 2008 | beans and salads and veg and vegetarian | 3 Comments »
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