05.29.12_Dal Palak

It has been a while since we made an Indian dish so when I came across a recipe for "Very Simple Dal Palak" which is vegan, I thought it would be a good one to try out. The original recipe said it made 8 cups which seemed like way too much so I decided to half the recipe. And I'm really glad I did because we still had more than enough for two dinners and two lunches. I am continually surprised by how easy these Indian dishes are. They are always super simple, they just use spices that you might not normally have on hand. The only unsual spice this recipe called for was Garam Masala, which I had from when we made the Paneer Tikka Masala, otherwise the ingredients were very straight forward. Here's the recipe cut in half:

• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1 packages (about 8 ounces) mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1 medium-sized red or white potatoes, cubed
• 1/2 inch fresh ginger, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoons coriander
• 1/2 Tablespoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoons red chili powder
• 1 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 5 ounce bunch of spinach (or more if desired)
• 1/2 cup lentils (the recipe called for red but I had black on hand and used those instead)
• 1/2 cups of water or broth
• 1 Tablespoons salt
• 2 scallions, chopped

For my birthday my parents got me new Calphalon pots and pans so I was super excited to use them for the first time making this recipe. In a large soup pot, I sauteed the onion and mushrooms in some olive oil. While those were browning, I diced the potato then added it to the pot. After a couple of minutes and the edges of the potato started to become translucent, I made a well in the middle of the pot and added the garlic, ginger, and all the spices. I stirred everything together before adding in the tomatoes (and their juices), the lentis, and the spinach. I tossed everything together so that all the spinach would start to wilt. Finally, I added the water and brought to a boil, before reducing the heat and simmering for about 45 minutes. At the very end I tossed in the chopped scallions, reserving a few for garnish. 

We served the Dal Palak over a bed of rice with some store bought naan on the side. The apartment smelt so good while this was cooking and the end result was super delicious. I think this would actually be a great recipe to try and cook in a slow cooker because it seems like the type of dish that would only get better the longer it cooked. Definitely a good recipe to try if you want to try a very easy Indian dish that doesn't hit you over the head with a ton of spices.

05.23.12_Raw Vegan Wraps

Ok so I'm not going to lie. When people stereotypically think about what vegans eat, I would say this meal falls into that category. While it was tasty and the first meal I've made that involved essentially zero cooking, it felt like we were eating vegan considering it was raw vegetables. Delicious. But raw. If we were to go vegan I feel like this type of meal would be the exception, considering we have made a ton of meals that were either vegan, or could easily be made vegan, that were much more involved and did not feel like a vegan meal (i.e. Coq-au-vin-less Coq au Vin, Braised Coconut Spinach and Chickpeas, etc). That being said, I still recommend trying them. I think they would make a great quick and easy lunch for sure.

The only "cooking" involved in this recipe was making a pecan paste. I took 1 cup of raw pecans, a TBSP of tamari, and a tsp of cumin and olive oil and blended them together in my Cuisinart. That's it. Then I sliced up a red pepper and avocado and it was time to construct the wraps. The recipe I found called for using collard greens as the wrap but we decided to use tortillas since I'm not a huge fan of collards. I spread the pecan paste onto the tortillas, then topped with sprouts, the red pepper, and avocado, then squeeze some fresh lime juice over top. That's it. I did bake some sweet potato fries so we would have a side, but again, that was hardly "cooking."

05.07.12_Homemade Samoas

The Braised Coconut Spinach and Chickpeas we made last week called for shredded coconut as a garnish. I forgot to tell Phillip that it should be unsweeted so when he came home from the store with a big bag of sweetened coconut, we decided we'd be doing some baking in the near future. While recovering from Cinco de Mayo, Phillip found this recipe for homemade Somoas, my favorite Girl Scout Cookie, so we decided baking would be a good way to spend the day.

The whole process took a while so it was a good thing we did it on a lazy Sunday with no plans. The trickiest part was spreading the caramel and coconut mixture onto each cookie...super sticky. They came out delicious though. They did not taste exactly like real Samoas but they definitely did the trick and satisfied my cravings. One recipe we found suggested using store bought shortbread cookies to save time. I think I would do this if I were to make them again to speed up the process a bit, but we wanted to make them from scratch for our first attempt. I never bake so I do not have cookie cutters. It was fun being resourceful and finding different things to cut the cookies out with. We ended up using a small tupperware for the cookies themselves and then a metal Slurpee straw I had from college to make the smaller circle on the inside. They didn't end up quite as pretty as we had hoped but whatever, they tasted good!

05.02.12_Avocado Mac and Cheese

Avocado. Mac and Cheese. Um...yes. I found this recipe yesterday and decided I had to have it immediately. We had already talked about being lazy and having boxed mac and cheese for dinner so this went along with the plans, but clearly made it way more exciting.  When I made the recipe I found that there was too much sauce and not enough noodles and I LOVE avocado (it's in my top five favorite foods) so I bought an additional avocado to make sure there were plenty of chunks of avocado running through the mac and cheese when it was finished!

My slightly modified recipe calls for:

• 10-12 ounces dry elbow macaroni
  
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 avocados (2 for the sauce, 1 for garnish)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  
• Salt and pepper, to taste
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 2 tablespoons flour
  
• 1 cup milk
  
• 2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (you could use any cheese really) 

While the water for the pasta was cooking, I added the 2 avocados, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, and S&P into a food processor. I gave this a whirl until it all came together and was nice and smooth. I tasted the mixture to see if it needed any more seasoning then set aside. Once the pasta was al dente, I drained and set aside to make the cheese sauce. I melted the butter in the same pot I boiled the pasta, then whisked in equal parts of flour to make the roux. After the butter and flour were combined, I slowly added in the milk, stirring for a few minutes until the sauce started to thicken. Finally, I added in the cheese and stirred it all together until it was melty and delicious. In a large bowl, I combined the pasta and avocado mixture until it was all combined, then poured the cheese sauce over and stirred again. Finally, I tossed in the last avocado which I had cubed. I served the Avocado Mac and Cheese in cute ramekins and topped with a fresh sprig of cilantro.

The mac and cheese was super creamy and delicious. I was really glad I added in the extra pasta because I really liked the ratio of sauce to pasta with the additional serving or two of pasta. We had plenty of leftovers that I am excited to eat for lunch! So good.

04.30.12_Braised Coconut Spinach and Chickpeas

April went by so fast! With Phillip's parents visiting and his birthday, we had little time for cooking let alone blog posts. Now that it is somehow May (how did this happen?!) things seem to be slowing down a little bit and we've been able to start cooking a bit more again. I had found this recipe for Braised Coconut Spinach and Chickpeas with lemon a couple of weeks ago and added it to our never-ending list of recipes to try. I let Phillip chose what to have for dinner on Monday and he chose this.

The recipe called for:

• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1 small yellow onion
• 4 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (we left these out for Phillip)
• 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 dash of red pepper flakes
• 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained
• 1 pound baby spinach
• 14-ounce can coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• Sweet potatoes (2-4 depending on how many people you are serving)

This recipe was served over baked sweet potatoes so to start, we preheated the oven to 400°. We pierced the potatoes with a fork and then popped them in the oven for about an hour. While the potatoes cooked we prepared the topping! Phillip actually helped me with a lot of the prep work for this and I will say his mincing skills have improved drastically! After we had the onion, garlic, ginger, and lemon zest ready, I heated oil in my biggest pot over medium-high heat. I then added the onions and let them sweat for a few minutes. Next, I added the garlic, ginger, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes. This cooked for a few minutes before I tossed in the chickpeas to let them cook a bit and get coated with the mixture.

Then, I started adding the spinach. I am still surprised every time by how much spinach wilts. A lb of fresh spinach looks like a TON but after it all cooks down it is much more manageable. It cook a couple of minutes to get all the spinach into the pot and wilted. I was stirring pretty regularly to make sure the garlic and onion weren't burning on the bottom of the pan. Once the spinach had wilted, I added the coconut milk, fresh lemon juice, and salt. This got brought to a simmer then I lowered the heat and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes. Then we were ready to eat. We scooped the spinach chickpea mixture oven the sweat potatoes and I topped them with some cilantro. These were super delicious. We realized after we were eating that this was a vegan dish which was a nice surprise. Serving the mixture over the sweet potato was a great idea and adds nice texture since the spinach and chickpeas don't have much. Definitely try this one out!

04.10.12_Beer and Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

A while back Caitlin had me and Phillip over for dinner. She had made a vegan Mac and Cheese that had butternut squash in it and it was super delicious. In my daily perusing of the food blogs, I came across a recipe for Beer and Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese. It sounded like Caitlin's version, except it had real cheese instead of vegan, and added beer. Sounded like a win win to me. The original recipe used two whole boxes of pasta and seeing as I was only cooking for the two of us, I decided to half the recipe.

After cutting the recipe in half, it called for:

• 1 box elbow macaroni
• 1 lb butternut squash (peeled and diced)
• 1/2 bottle wheat beer
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese (we subbed a Four Cheese Blend we already had)
• 1/2 tablespoon butter (I actually omitted this)
• Pinch of nutmeg (my addition)
• 1/8 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese

When we went shopping, Safeway didn't have any whole butternut squash. They did, however, have the already peeled and diced butternut squash. I was really bummed that the store did all the work for me since, as you may recall, I LOVE peeling butternut squash (where's the sarcasm font when you need it?). To start, I cooked the macaroni, then drained and set aside. In the same large pot I cooked the pasta, I added the diced butternut squash, milk, beer, garlic, bay leaf, and S&P. I brought the mixture to a boil, then lowered the heat and simmered for about 25 minutes until the squash was soft. I removed the bay leaf, then used my handy immersion blender to puree the squash until it was nice and smooth. I mixed in the cheeses and the Greek yogurt, grated in some fresh nutmeg, then folded in the macaroni. After it was all combined, I poured the mac and cheese into a baking dish I had sprayed with non-stick spray, then topped with the Parm and panko. Then it was into a 375° oven for 30 minutes.

Thank goodness we split this recipe in half. It made a ton (though I am very happy to have leftovers). As if this recipe weren't easy enough already, I actually had made this in advance and kept it in the fridge. Then when we were ready to eat all I had to do was preheat the oven and pop it in. I ended up turning on the broiler for the last 5 minutes to get it nice and brown on top. The mac and cheese was so good and I could really taste the squash and the beer. I served it with a side salad of mixed greens, dried cranberries, and cashews topped with a homemade lemon vinaigrette and a shaving of Gruyere cheese. Delish.

04.05.12_Coq-au-Vin-Less Coq au Vin

So this recipe does not contain chicken or wine, thus the name Coq-au-Vin-Less Coq au Vin name. However having made the real deal a couple of weeks ago, I see why the blog where I found this recipe still called it Coq au Vin. It had very similar flavors and ingredients, even with the two primary ones obviously missing. However, not having the chicken and the wine (which is often not vegan believe it or not) made it extremely easy to convert to a vegan recipe since Caitlin was coming over for dinner. The recipe called for:

• 1 eggplant, cubed
• salt
• 3 oz tempeh bacon, cut into small strips (we used Lightlife's Smart Bacon)
• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and patted dry, cubed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 10 oz frozen pearl onions (we used fresh)
• 1 lb cremini mushrooms, minced or food processed into tiny pieces
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• several sprigs fresh thyme
• several sprigs fresh parsley (I used dried)
• 8 oz green beans
• 1 tbsp butter (we omitted for Caitlin)
• 1 cup polenta
• 4 cups water

This recipe had a fair amount of prep but luckily Caitlin and I have a long history of cooking together and it was nice to have her in the kitchen with me helping like the good ol' days. One new thing for me was having to buy fresh pearl onions. The recipe called for frozen but after going to both Safeway and Whole Foods and having no luck, I managed to find a bag of fresh ones. I looked up how to peel them online, hoping to find an easy way. All you have to do is bring a pot of water to a boil, drop in the onions and let them cook for about 2 minutes. Then after cooking put them into an ice bath. Finally cut off the root end and the skins come right off. Still a lot more work than buying a frozen box but good to know for the future if you are in dire of need of pearl onions!

Another prep item was the eggplant. Caitlin diced the it while I pressed the tofu. We put the diced eggplant into a colander, salted, and let sit for 20 minutes or so to draw out the excess liquid and to make it less bitter. While the eggplant sat and the tofu was being pressed, we both cleaned the mushrooms. Maybe there is a better way of doing this, but cleaning mushrooms takes forever, especailly when you have a 1lb of cremini to clean. Finally it was time to start cooking. I put some oil into a pan and sauteed the diced tempeh bacon for a few minutes. Next, I added the tofu, seasoned with S&P, then sauteed for another 5-6 minutes. After the tofu started to brown, I added the diced eggplant, the onions, and the mushrooms which I had pulsed in the food processor to a very fine dice (its easier to hide them from Phillip when they are tiny). About 5 minutes after adding the rest of the veggies, I grated in 6 cloves of garlic. This mixture sautes for a total of 15 minutes (10 minutes after you add the garlic).

Finally, I added 2 cups of veggie stock, a cup of tomato sauce, the green beans, 2 bay leaves, a few sprigs of thyme, and the parsley into the pot. Lower the heat so that the sauce is just bubbling. This simmers for a good 20 minutes or so until it has reduced and thickened. We served the Coq-au-Vin-Less Coq au Vin over polenta and Phillip and I topped it off with some grated Parmesan cheese. We were all pleasantly surprised with the flavor of the dish. Our only complaint was that there was a lot of the same texture, which you know is usually an issue for me. Luckily the fresh green beans and the pearl onions provided a nice crunch as needed. This recipe was not difficult but definitely takes a lot of time to get everything ready since you are working with so much fresh produce that needs to be handled before cooked.

04.04.12_Stove-Top Pineapple Enchiladas

My friend McKinsey told me she made dinner for her roommates last week and she had made Chicken and Pineapple enchiladas. I had never really though about pineapple in enchiladas before so I thought it would be a good veggie dish if I just left out the chicken. After deciding to make the enchiladas and buying all the ingredients, I realized that our oven is still not working. While our toaster oven has allowed us to make a quiche and roast asparagus the other night, I do not have a small enough casserole dish to fit. I had to get creative and found a few recipes online for stove-top enchiladas. I ended up combining so many different recipes, using ingredients for some, but techniques form others, that in the end I inadvertently created my own recipe. Here is my newly created recipe!

Stove-Top Pineapple Enchiladas
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:
1 fresh pineapple (or 2 cans)
1/2 a chopped onion
7oz can green chile peppers
1 taco seasoning package
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups (1 lb container) cottage cheese
8 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
14 oz red enchilada sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and green chile peppers and saute until soft, then add taco seasoning packet. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Prepare pineapple by removing the skin and removing the core. Dice pineapple into small pieces.  If you use canned pineapple, I would recommend running your knife through the cubes to make them smaller.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine pineapple, 2 cups of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of sour cream, 2 cups of Monterey Jack cheese, salt and pepper.
4. Stir 1 1/4 cup enchilada sauce and the pepper and onions into the cheese/pineapple mixture.
5. Spray a large skillet (with a lid) or a sauce pan with nonstick cooking spray and begin to assemble your enchiladas. Place one flour tortilla at the bottom of the pan, put a generous amount (about a cup) of the filling onto the tortilla, then repeat until you have 3 layers of filling and topped the stack with a fourth flour tortilla.
6. Pour 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce over the top then cover and cook over low heat for 10-12 minutes (until the enchilada is warm all the way threw). 
7. Repeat the steps 5 and 6 to make a second enchilada or use another pan/pot to cook them at the same time. 
8. Let the enchilada rest for a few minutes before cutting and serving!

If you wanted to get fancy you could separate out the layers by doing cheese on one layer, then the onions and sauce on another level, but I just figured it was all going to get eaten at the same time and decided to mix it all together. The enchiladas may not have been the prettiest things I've ever cooked but definitely the most resourceful and they sure were tasty. I really liked the sweet pineapple with the spicy chiles. I would definitely recommend doing this in a deep sided skillet rather than a pot. I made the second round in a sauce pot to save time, and while it was definitely entertaining to watch me stack up enchiladas in a pot, getting them out was....tricky. But, it's good to know that even without an oven, you can make delicious enchiladas!  

03.26.12_Asparagus, Leek, and Gruyere Quiche

For my sister's birthday we went to a restaurant that changed their menu to feature seasonal items. The vegetable of spring was asparagus. Asparagus was all I could think about the entire following day. I was browsing our blog when I saw the picture of our Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiche Phillip had made and it made me want another quiche. The obvious solution was to find a quiche that had asparagus. Luckily Martha Stewart had a recipe for a Asparagus, Leek, and Gruyere quiche. Perfect.

I had never cooked with leeks before so I was excited to try something new. As all quiches seem to be, this was insanely easy. While Phillip beat together 4 eggs, 1 1/4 cups half and half, a teaspoon salt, a teaspoon pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg, I prepped the asparagus and leeks. I cut off the tough ends of the asparagus and then sliced the stalks diagonally to create nice long strips. I saved 5 of the tops separately for decoration. For the leeks, I took one leek, cut off the dark green parts, then cut the remaining stalk in half before thinly slicing into half moons. I rinsed the leeks thoroughly to remove any grit and dirt. Next, I melted a TBSP of butter in a pan over medium heat, added the asparagus and leeks, then seasoned with S&P. I sauteed the asparagus and leeks for about 7 minutes then set aside to cool.

While I was sauteing, Phillip grated a cup of Gruyere cheese and filled the bottom of our store-bought pie crust with it. Once the asparagus and leeks were cool, we put them on top of the cheese, and then finally added the egg mixture. The quiche bakes for about an hour in a 350° oven. Our oven stopped working yesterday (unfortunate timing) so I ended up baking the quiche in our toaster oven. It fit perfectly and still worked (we just baked it for a little bit longer). When there was about 15 minutes left, I added the 5 reserved asparagus tips.

The quiche rested for 15 minutes before we served it. I made a side salad of mixed greens, slivered almonds, shavings of leftover Gruyere, and made a quick lemon vinaigrette with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, good olive oil, and S&P. This meal was so good. Sometimes the easiest meals taste the best. It was a very light but very satisfying dinner. I was worried that it would taste too oniony for Phillip but it wasn't at all and it certainly satisfied my asparagus craving. I definitely plan on making more quiches in the future. They are just too easy and too versatile to pass up.

03.22.12_Buffalo Fried Goat Cheese

I think the name alone explains why I was uncontrollably excited about making these. I love buffalo sauce and goat cheese is by far my favorite cheese. Anytime I see goat cheese on a menu I have a really hard time not ordering it. I thought these would be a great appetizer for our monthly dinner party this month.

I was a little reluctant to make these only because the blog I found the recipe on said "Don’t let them sit on one side for too long or the cheese will start to escape." I have never been good at frying things without having to worry about cheese "escaping!" But my fear could not stop me from making these.

To make them, all I did was buy a 12oz log of goat cheese and cut into 12 equal discs. The recipe called for a 4oz log but my goat cheese obsession told me that making 12 balls out of 4oz would simply not be enough to satisfy me. Next Phillip and I rolled the discs into balls. I then put the cheese balls into an egg wash (I used 2 eggs beaten together), dropped them into panko bread crumbs, and then repeated so that each goat cheese ball had been dredged twice in the panko and egg.

Finally it was time to fry. I put about 2-3 cups of vegetable oil in a pan, put the heat to medium-high, and then when the oil was starting to ripple put in 6 of the balls. I used a metal pasta strainer (I don't have a metal slotted spoon) to toss the cheese balls int he oil and tried to keep them constantly moving. I was really surprised how quickly they browned up. I took them out of the oil and dropped them directly into a bowl with 1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot. I repeated the process with the 6 remaining cheese balls. I screwed up and put them all on a paper towel lined plate after dropping them in the sauce rather than directly after frying, but it probably didn't make much of a difference. After they sat for a few minutes to dry, we dug in. They were everything I had dreamed of. The creamy goat cheese cut the spice of the hot sauce. I couldn't stop eating them.

The only thing I probably could have done differently was to leave the cheese balls in the oil a little longer to get them crispier and warmer but I was really nervous about melting the cheese. Definitely try these. They are so heavy that everyone will only eat a few anyway, unless you are like me and cannot stop eating them and immediately regret the fact that you just ate half a log of goat cheese in 5 minutes. Totally worth it though.

03.21.12_Mealtess Meatloaf

A couple of months ago I tried a Meatless Meatloaf while out to dinner with Caitlin at Cafe Green in DC. I was surprised how amazing it was so when a recipe for Meatless Meatloaf came up on my daily Food Network Recipe calendar I was excited to try it. The recipe called for:

• 1 pound Japanese eggplants (about 3)
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 pound firm tofu
• 8 ounces shiitake or button mushrooms, stemmed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
• 1 large egg, plus 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes

The only substitute we had to make was for the Japanese Eggplants. Whole Foods did not have them, of course, so we subbed the 3 smaller eggplants for one large regular eggplant.

To start, turn the broiler on, moved up the rack in the oven so it will be right underneath of the coils, then put the eggplant directly on the rack. Every couple of minutes check to see if the skin is bubbling up, then after it is slightly charred, use tongs to flip over the eggplant to do the same thing to the other side. Once the eggplant is ready, take it out of the oven and wrapped in foil then set aside to steam for 20 minutes. Leave the oven on but put it down to 350°. After the 20 minutes, remove the skin from the eggplant. This process would be much easier to directly in the flame of a gas stove, but since we have all electric appliances, this worked just as well.

While the eggplant steams, prep the rest of the ingredients. Mince two cloves of garlic, a TBSP of thyme, a TSBP of sage, and 1/4 cup of parsley. Then in the food processor, chop up 1/2 cup of walnuts and put aside in a large mixing bowl. Next, the recipe called for pulsing the mushrooms, tofu, and steamed eggplant into a food processor, and pulse into small pieces. I would recommend doing the eggplant and mushrooms separately. The tofu quickly formed a paste that made it hard to pulse the mushrooms.

Concrete or meatloaf?

Add the mushroom, tofu, and eggplant mixture into the large mixing bowl, then add the remaining loaf ingredients (all the fresh herbs, garlic, oats, wheat germ, red pepper flakes, an egg and one egg white, and S&P). Mix it all together. Once it is all combined put it into a 1.5 qt loaf pan (it fits PERFECTLY into this size pan, like no wiggle room, whatsoever). At this point, the mixture looks like wet aggregate concrete (aka not very appetizing, not gonna lie). Put the loaf into the 350° oven and bake for 50-60mins until the loaf is golden brown on top. Finally, unmold the loaf and slice. We served our meatless loaf with mashed potatoes, peas, and mushroom gravy.

We were both pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. The flavors were good and it did not taste super tofu-y like we feared. Some of my loaf got stuck to the loaf pan so if I made this again I would probably spray the pain with nonstick spray first. We really liked the top edge because it had a nice crust to it. We thought that next time we would consider spreading the mixture out into a baking dish so that it is thin, and would get crusty all over the top, or form the loaf on a baking sheet like some people cook meatloaf, so that there are more exposed edges to brown up. This recipe could also be easily made vegan by using egg substitute instead of the eggs.

03.18.12_Sweet Chili Lime Tofu

Having been out of town the past several weekends, Phillip and I planned on doing nothing all day Sunday. We decided we wanted something light and healthy for dinner after a weekend of drinking for St. Patrick's Day. Phillip had found this recipe for Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Quinoa and Collard Greens that looked good and fit the bill. We decided to sub that with kale because I have never been a big fan of collards.

I left Phillip in charge of mixing up the sauce. He combined

• 3 Tbs Sugar
• 3 Tbs Reduced Sodium Tamari
• 1 3/4 Tbs Fresh Lime Juice
• 1/2 Zest of the Lime
• 1/2 tsp Red Chili Flakes
• 1 Clove Garlic, pressed, optional
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 4 Mint Leaves, chiffonaded  (we used a few more since the mint leaves we had were tiny)

While Phillip mixed up the sauce, I prepared the tofu and the quinoa. For the quinoa, I combined 3/4 cup quinoa, 1 1/3 cup water, 1/4 tsp of salt, and the zest of half a lime in a pot, brought to a boil, then reduced the heat to low and simmered for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, I removed the quinoa from the heat and let it steam for 10 minutes while I finished off the rest of the meal.

Earlier in the day I pressed the tofu like I learned to do the first time I used tofu. I cut the tofu across into 8 slices, then took each slice and made 4 triangles, making a total of 32 pieces of tofu. Next, I brought a nonstick skillet up to medium. This recipe called for "dry frying" the tofu which I had never done. I was excited to try a different technique because every time we have made tofu in the past I never got it as browned as I would like.  I placed all the tofu into the heated pan, and then used my spatula to lightly press the tofu and get out any remaining liquid. I cooked the tofu on each side until they were as brown as I liked. I took the tofu off the heat so that I could make the kale.

For the kale, I quickly heated a little EVOO in a pan, then added the kale. I squeezed a lime over the kale, then seasoned with red pepper flakes and salt. I used tongs to constantly toss the kale until it was cooked and tender. After the kale was cooked, I put the tofu back over high heat, then added the sauce Phillip made. The sauce bubbled and reduced, coating the tofu in a glaze. I flipped the tofu over once to make sure both sides got coated in the sauce. This only took a couple of minutes at most.

We served the dish all piled on top of each other: quinoa, then kale, then tofu. I was super happy with how the tofu came out. It was a great texture and didn't taste tofu-y at all. I think in the future I will use the dry-frying technique to cook my tofu as this was the closest I had gotten to the texture of tofu you order in a restaurant (without deep frying it).

03.16.12_Sweet Potato Tahini Burgers

I came across a picture of these Sweet Potato burgers with a mound of sliced avocado on top and immediately knew that I had to try them. After reading over the recipe I realized I had a majority of the ingredients in the apartment already which is always an added bonus. The recipe said it made 7-8 patties so we invited our friend Amanda over for dinner since we had more than enough.

To make the burgers I first cooked one sweet potato. I just did it in the microwave to speed along the process. After it was fully cooked, I combined the sweet potato and 2 cans of drained and rinsed cannellini beans. I mashed them all together with a fork until most of the beans were smashed. Next, I added 2 Tbsp tahini, 2 tsp maple syrup, 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, 1/4 cup wheat flour, a dash of cayenne and then S&P. After everything was combined, they were ready to go. I actually formed the patties in advance and then put them in the fridge for a bit to let them set up while we were waiting for Amanda to arrive.

When I was ready to start cooking, I quickly dredged the patties in panko. Then, I heated a TBSP of oil in a nonstick pan and put in the first batch of the patties. I'm not sure why this did not work for me but the panko started to burn extremely quick and my patties were not browning up. I think if I had used more oil and "shallow fried" the patties it would have worked better. I decided instead of just burning the patties I would bake them. I put all the patties on a lined baking sheet, and popped them into a 350° oven. I let them bake for about 20 minutes or so to get warm all the way through. I then took the patties out, gave them a quick spray with cooking spray and turned on the broiler to get them to brown up a bit. 

I actually liked baking the patties. It was a lot easier than trying to flip mushy patties and the outside got nice and crunchy. I served the burgers with sliced avocado and drizzled nice EVOO on top before cracking fresh black pepper on the burgers. Amanda and I both agreed that they tasted better with the addition of mustard. I think from now on whenever I am making a "burger" that is made up of some mushed up bean or pea or whatever, I will be baking them. Way less stressful! 

03.15.12_Mom's Matzo Ball Soup

Phillip hasn't been feeling well the past couple of days. My mom commented on his Facebook status telling him I should make him Matzo Ball soup (aka the Jewish Penicillin). I realized I had never actually made it before which kind of surprised me. Phillip really liked the idea, so I decided it would be a good time to try it. I looked up some recipes online and then decided I would just ask my Mom how she typically makes it. Her email response was as follows:

• chicken pieces (any that are on sale...Grandma insists that Kosher chickens make the best soup, but I have never had that as an option)
• celery (with leafy part)
• carrots
• onion
• water
• lots 'o salt

Bring to boil and let simmer for ~an hour. Take out the celery and onion...leave the carrot.

Pull chicken meat off bones. I use the Manischewitz matzo ball mix.  Do NOT make the matzo balls in the soup. Make them in a separate pot of water...then add to soup. And, I use the really, really skinny egg noodles.

The email even included two pictures she found online of the Manischewitz matzo ball mix she uses and the type of egg noodles. Seemed easy enough. I only made a few modifications because I wanted it to taste just like home, but I also wanted it to be vegetarian. We obviously omitted the chicken and instead of using water I subbed vegetable stock to make up for the flavor I may have been losing for leaving out the chicken.

I added three 32oz boxes of veggie stock, two stalks of celery roughly chopped, an onion quartered, and two carrots thinly sliced into my big stock pot. I brought to a boil, added some salt and pepper, then lowered the temp to low and simmered for an hour. I decided to follow my Mom's recommendation and use the help from the store on the matzo balls. I used the same box mix she uses rather than make them from scratch, which quite honestly, they taste so good out of the box I didn't care. You have to refrigerate the matzo ball mix for 20 minutes before you form the balls.  While the mix was in the fridge, I scooped out the onion and celery from the stock with a slotted spoon.

Next, I divided the matzo ball mix into twelve 1" diameter balls. They looked so small but my mom ensured me they would puff up. I followed her instructions and cooked them in a separate pot of water.  After you drop the matzo balls into the boiling water, you cover, reduce heat, and simmer for twenty minutes. Last thing to do was drop the egg noodles into the soup, let them boil for about six minutes and dinner was ready. It was just like the soup my Mom always makes. Nothing beats a recipe from your childhood. I honestly did not miss the chicken at all and of course, Phillip felt instantly better from my magical Matzo Ball soup.