It's getting colder here, so I expect to be making more and more stews and soups. While this vegetable soup was tasty, I find myself coming more and more to the conclusion that I just don't like tofu. Perhaps next time I'll try making it with tempeh instead.
Mats
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 1/2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thick rounds
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine or sake
1 leek, white parts only, washed and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1c button mushrooms, washed and sliced thinly
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
6oz green beans, washed and cut into bite sized bits
4 Tbsp miso. I used a dark miso because I like a strong flavor. Lighter miso will yield a more delicate flavor
8 oz tofu (or possibly tempeh), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
Heat 5 cups water over high heat. Bring to a boil and add the dried shiitake mushrooms, the peeled ginger, soy sauce and sake. Reduce heat to medium and boil for 10 minutes.
Strain out the solids and discard. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the button mushrooms and leek. Boil for 5 minutes.
Add the sweet potato and green beans, cover, and boil for 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the miso with 1c hot water and stir until the miso is dissolved. Add the miso to the soup and cook for 3 minutes.
Turn the heat to low and add the tofu. Don't boil! Let the tofu heat through for 2 minutes, then scoop and serve garnished with sliced green onion and a drizzle (less than 1/4 tsp) sesame oil
Friday, September 6, 2013
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Baked Alaskan Salmon with Pecan crunch topping
This was a really fast and really delicious dinner. I was able to score sockeye salmon, but regular farm-raised is delicious as well.
Mats
4, 6-oz portions of salmon, skin on
3 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
5 Tbsp honey
1/2c pecans, chopped
1/4c breadcrumbs
Rinse the salmon under cold, running water to remove scales. They can be a bit persnickety to get out from the skin, so I suggest running you fingers against the grain to try and identify and remove as many as possible. Pat dry with paper towels.
Cover a baking sheet in aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Place the salmon skin-side down on the tray.
In a small bowl, melt the butter (30 seconds in the microwave should do the trick), then combine the Dijon mustard and honey with the butter. Stir well
Crush the pecans as small as possible. I ran mine through the food processor so I ended up more with pecan dust than anything resembling a nut.
Add the pecan dust and 1/4c breadcrumbs to the butter mixture. Stir well to combine.
Pour the topping over the salmon fillets. It's pretty viscous, but will slide off the edges - that's fine, it makes a nice envelope around the fish.
Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.
I served mine with wild rice and edamame.
Mats
4, 6-oz portions of salmon, skin on
3 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
5 Tbsp honey
1/2c pecans, chopped
1/4c breadcrumbs
Rinse the salmon under cold, running water to remove scales. They can be a bit persnickety to get out from the skin, so I suggest running you fingers against the grain to try and identify and remove as many as possible. Pat dry with paper towels.
Cover a baking sheet in aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Place the salmon skin-side down on the tray.
In a small bowl, melt the butter (30 seconds in the microwave should do the trick), then combine the Dijon mustard and honey with the butter. Stir well
Crush the pecans as small as possible. I ran mine through the food processor so I ended up more with pecan dust than anything resembling a nut.
Add the pecan dust and 1/4c breadcrumbs to the butter mixture. Stir well to combine.
Pour the topping over the salmon fillets. It's pretty viscous, but will slide off the edges - that's fine, it makes a nice envelope around the fish.
Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.
I served mine with wild rice and edamame.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Vegetarian Korma
While I really liked this one, it came out a bit too spicy for my husband's taste. He's not really a fan of either curry or coconut, but I really liked it!
Mats
1c short grain unwashed rice
2c vegetable stock
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground dried ginger
2 russet potatoes, washed and cubed
4 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
1/4c raw cashews. My husband can't eat whole nuts, so I ran them through a food processor.
1c shelled edamame
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 can coconut milk, stirred well to combine
1 1/2 Tbsp red curry powder
Put the rice and vegetable stock in a pot, cover, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 20 minutes
Meanwhile, in a large wok, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the ginger and garlic, cook for 1 minute.
Add the potatoes, cashews, curry powder and carrots, stir, and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the edamame, peppers, the can of coconut milk and 1c water. Stir thoroughly. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
When the rice finishes cooking, add it to the wok and stir well. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, then serve.
Mats
1c short grain unwashed rice
2c vegetable stock
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground dried ginger
2 russet potatoes, washed and cubed
4 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
1/4c raw cashews. My husband can't eat whole nuts, so I ran them through a food processor.
1c shelled edamame
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 can coconut milk, stirred well to combine
1 1/2 Tbsp red curry powder
Put the rice and vegetable stock in a pot, cover, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 20 minutes
Meanwhile, in a large wok, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the ginger and garlic, cook for 1 minute.
Add the potatoes, cashews, curry powder and carrots, stir, and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the edamame, peppers, the can of coconut milk and 1c water. Stir thoroughly. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
When the rice finishes cooking, add it to the wok and stir well. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, then serve.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Mushroom-stuffed Mushroom with wild rice and goat cheese
Usually, dishes that have a lot of mushrooms in them taste like, well, mushrooms. Which is a taste than can get kinda overwhelming. This one, even though it has lots of mushrooms in it, has a much milder taste. Give it a shot!
Mats
4 portobello mushrooms
8oz white cap mushrooms, chopped coarsely. I ran mine through my food processor, just pulsing them a few times.
1 small onion, diced
1/2c wild rice
1c vegetable stock
1 clove garlic, crushed
4oz herbed goat cheese. If you can only get plain, add 1 tsp fresh thyme and 1 tsp parsley, both finely chopped
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp bread crumbs
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 425.
In a small saucepan, combine the wild rice and the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, remove the stems and gills from the portobellos. Easiest way is to twist/snap the stems off, then gently scrape the gills out with the edge of a spoon. Be gentle, the mushrooms can be quite fragile.
Grease a medium sized baking dish with cooking spray and place the mushrooms, cap side down, in the dish. They should look like little bowls.
In a medium pan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the chopped mushrooms, stir and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the liquids evaporate.
In a small bowl, combine the cooked wild rice, lemon juice, the onion/mushroom mixture and the herbed goat cheese. Stir to combine. The cheese should break down/melt pretty quickly, just keep stirring until you get an even consistency
Using a spoon, scoop some of the rice mixture into the portobello caps. Divide the mixture evenly among all 4 caps, mounding slightly if necessary.
Place 6 cherry tomato halves on the top of each cap.
Sprinkle the tablespoon of bread crumbs over the tops of the tomatoes.
Bake at 425 for 30 minutes.
Mats
4 portobello mushrooms
8oz white cap mushrooms, chopped coarsely. I ran mine through my food processor, just pulsing them a few times.
1 small onion, diced
1/2c wild rice
1c vegetable stock
1 clove garlic, crushed
4oz herbed goat cheese. If you can only get plain, add 1 tsp fresh thyme and 1 tsp parsley, both finely chopped
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp bread crumbs
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 425.
In a small saucepan, combine the wild rice and the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, remove the stems and gills from the portobellos. Easiest way is to twist/snap the stems off, then gently scrape the gills out with the edge of a spoon. Be gentle, the mushrooms can be quite fragile.
Grease a medium sized baking dish with cooking spray and place the mushrooms, cap side down, in the dish. They should look like little bowls.
In a medium pan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the chopped mushrooms, stir and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the liquids evaporate.
In a small bowl, combine the cooked wild rice, lemon juice, the onion/mushroom mixture and the herbed goat cheese. Stir to combine. The cheese should break down/melt pretty quickly, just keep stirring until you get an even consistency
Using a spoon, scoop some of the rice mixture into the portobello caps. Divide the mixture evenly among all 4 caps, mounding slightly if necessary.
Place 6 cherry tomato halves on the top of each cap.
Sprinkle the tablespoon of bread crumbs over the tops of the tomatoes.
Bake at 425 for 30 minutes.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Grilled Pork Chops with Plum-Ginger Chutney
It's amazing what cooking for other people will help you dream up. This was my husband's red-meat-allowance for the month. Though pork is not one of his favorites, he still enjoyed it very much. Note to cooks: You will have enough chutney. Don't be tempted to double the recipe.
Mats:
4 bone-in pork chops. Try to get the kind with the pork loin attached to the other end of the bone.
Mats for brine:
1/2c gin
1/2c vermouth
1/2c sugar
1/2c salt
2 bay leaves
1 tsp coriander
Combine the brine materials with 1c water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring well to try and get the sugar and salt dissolved. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat.
Add 6c water and 2c of ice.
Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to a large, shallow dish big enough to hold your pork chops in a single layer.
Place the pork chops in the brine, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
When you're ready to grill the chops, remove and discard the brine, then pat dry the chops.
Grill on medium high for 10 minutes/internal temperature of 145/when there's no pink in the center of the meat. Trichinosis is bad, m'kay?
Mats for Chutney
6 plums
1/2c sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
1/3c white wine
1/4c rice vinegar
1 small red onion
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Remove the pits from the plums, then dice the plums into 1/2inch cubes.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, ginger, white wine, vinegar and onion. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
Add half the plums, bring to a boil and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add the other half of the plums and cook for an additional 8 minutes. The first half of the plums should be basically liquid at this point.
Remove from heat, stir in the Dijon mustard and serve warm.
I served this with a spinach-arugula salad that I used the chutney as a dressing for and a side of wild rice.
Mats:
4 bone-in pork chops. Try to get the kind with the pork loin attached to the other end of the bone.
Mats for brine:
1/2c gin
1/2c vermouth
1/2c sugar
1/2c salt
2 bay leaves
1 tsp coriander
Combine the brine materials with 1c water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring well to try and get the sugar and salt dissolved. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat.
Add 6c water and 2c of ice.
Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to a large, shallow dish big enough to hold your pork chops in a single layer.
Place the pork chops in the brine, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
When you're ready to grill the chops, remove and discard the brine, then pat dry the chops.
Grill on medium high for 10 minutes/internal temperature of 145/when there's no pink in the center of the meat. Trichinosis is bad, m'kay?
Mats for Chutney
6 plums
1/2c sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
1/3c white wine
1/4c rice vinegar
1 small red onion
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Remove the pits from the plums, then dice the plums into 1/2inch cubes.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, ginger, white wine, vinegar and onion. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
Add half the plums, bring to a boil and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add the other half of the plums and cook for an additional 8 minutes. The first half of the plums should be basically liquid at this point.
Remove from heat, stir in the Dijon mustard and serve warm.
I served this with a spinach-arugula salad that I used the chutney as a dressing for and a side of wild rice.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Cajun-style Dirty Rice
My brother and his girlfriend were able to visit this weekend (yay!) and this was the dish I made for them. Lindsay, this recipe is for you :)
Mats
1c wild rice
2c vegetable broth
1lb soy chorizo (I think the brand I use is even called 'soyrizo')
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 large onion, diced
3 medium carrots, cut into rounds
3 stalks of celery, chopped to bite-sized chunks
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Cajun Seasoning. I use McCormick pre-mixed stuff, but if you don't want to buy a new bottle, it's basically garlic salt, ground black pepper, ground red pepper and maybe a dash of cayenne pepper.
In a small saucepan, bring the vegetable broth to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, stir in the wild rice, cover and gently boil for 20 minutes.
In a large wok/saucepan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes.
Add the carrots and celery (hey look, it's our old friend mirepoix) and cook for 3 more minutes.
Add the chorizo and stir well, breaking it up into small granules and combining with the mirepoix.
Add the ground turkey and again, stir well, breaking it up into little crumbles.
Add the 2 Tbsp Cajun Seasoning, stir well to coat the mixture and cook for 8 minutes, or until the turkey is cooked through.
Reduce heat to medium low, then add the rice when it's finished cooking.
Stir well and serve, possibly with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yoghurt to mitigate the spicy.
Mats
1c wild rice
2c vegetable broth
1lb soy chorizo (I think the brand I use is even called 'soyrizo')
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 large onion, diced
3 medium carrots, cut into rounds
3 stalks of celery, chopped to bite-sized chunks
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Cajun Seasoning. I use McCormick pre-mixed stuff, but if you don't want to buy a new bottle, it's basically garlic salt, ground black pepper, ground red pepper and maybe a dash of cayenne pepper.
In a small saucepan, bring the vegetable broth to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, stir in the wild rice, cover and gently boil for 20 minutes.
In a large wok/saucepan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes.
Add the carrots and celery (hey look, it's our old friend mirepoix) and cook for 3 more minutes.
Add the chorizo and stir well, breaking it up into small granules and combining with the mirepoix.
Add the ground turkey and again, stir well, breaking it up into little crumbles.
Add the 2 Tbsp Cajun Seasoning, stir well to coat the mixture and cook for 8 minutes, or until the turkey is cooked through.
Reduce heat to medium low, then add the rice when it's finished cooking.
Stir well and serve, possibly with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yoghurt to mitigate the spicy.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Grilled Veggie and Hummus Wraps
My husband eyed the prep for this meal warily. He poked at the ingredients. "What is it?" he asked, unsure of himself. "It's tasty," I replied. He wandered out of the kitchen and patiently waited for the final product. The meal was served and absolutely inhaled. He may have been skeptical at first, but this dish proved to be one of his favorites in a good while.
Mats
1 eggplant
1 red bell pepper
1/2 red onion
1/2c plain hummus
1 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 pieces of flatbread
Cut the top off the eggplant. Stand it on its cut end and slice it vertically from bottom to top to get long slices, about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the slices in half the long way so you have a bunch of long strips
.
Core and seed the bell pepper, then cut it into long slices, about 1 inch wide.
Cut the onion into 1/2 inch thick slices
Take 1 Tbsp of the olive oil and use it to brush all the sides of all the vegetables.
Starting with the eggplant, grill (either on a traditional grill or my handy stand-in, a panini press) for 3 minutes on a side, then flip and grill for another 1 minute. If you're using a panini press, close the lid all the way and you'll only need to grill it for 3 minutes, no flipping necessary.
Toss the eggplant into a bowl.
Grill the bell pepper for 4 minutes, then flip and grill another 2 minutes. Add it to the bowl.
Grill the red onion slices for 3 minutes, then flip and grill another 1 minute. Add to the bowl.
Toss the vegetables with the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp parsley, snipped very small.
Lay a flatbread on a work surface and spread 1/4c hummus on it in a thin, even layer.
Dish out about half the veggies along the short edge of the flatbread, close to one of the edges (not in the middle)
Roll the flatbread around the vegetables, making sure to tuck them tightly in the roll. Continue rolling the bread the entire length of the roll.
Repeat with the other flatbread and the rest of the veggies.
Serve by cutting the roll in half and arranging on a plate.
Mats
1 eggplant
1 red bell pepper
1/2 red onion
1/2c plain hummus
1 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 pieces of flatbread
Cut the top off the eggplant. Stand it on its cut end and slice it vertically from bottom to top to get long slices, about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the slices in half the long way so you have a bunch of long strips
.
Core and seed the bell pepper, then cut it into long slices, about 1 inch wide.
Cut the onion into 1/2 inch thick slices
Take 1 Tbsp of the olive oil and use it to brush all the sides of all the vegetables.
Starting with the eggplant, grill (either on a traditional grill or my handy stand-in, a panini press) for 3 minutes on a side, then flip and grill for another 1 minute. If you're using a panini press, close the lid all the way and you'll only need to grill it for 3 minutes, no flipping necessary.
Toss the eggplant into a bowl.
Grill the bell pepper for 4 minutes, then flip and grill another 2 minutes. Add it to the bowl.
Grill the red onion slices for 3 minutes, then flip and grill another 1 minute. Add to the bowl.
Toss the vegetables with the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp parsley, snipped very small.
Lay a flatbread on a work surface and spread 1/4c hummus on it in a thin, even layer.
Dish out about half the veggies along the short edge of the flatbread, close to one of the edges (not in the middle)
Roll the flatbread around the vegetables, making sure to tuck them tightly in the roll. Continue rolling the bread the entire length of the roll.
Repeat with the other flatbread and the rest of the veggies.
Serve by cutting the roll in half and arranging on a plate.
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