24 posts tagged “vegetarian”

Now let's talk filling. Sky is the limit here. I love mine creamy with a punch of flavor, so the first night we did the classic spinach and ricotta.  Even though it would have been perfectly delicious with just butter and Parmasen cheese, I added some sauteed Opo squash, red chili pepper flakes and flat leaf parsley.

The next night we had raviolis filled with organic arugula and garlic quark from Spring Hill. I topped it with a quick heirloom tomato sauce. Raviolis are comfort food so I kept it rustic by garnishing it with hand torn basil and lots of Parmasen cheese.


00 flour is awesome. It yields the tenderest most delectably delicious dough. 

Making vegetable stock has become somewhat of a weekly ritual for me. The increased frequency is in part due to a tip from Bourgeois Bee. He told me that he uses his carrot tops for stock. And though I enjoy eating the carrot tops, it's more of a once in a while, not a weekly sort of thing for me. Hooray for more stock ammo!

With stock production at its peak in Julie's Kitchen and the Lakers-Celtics series going on, there couldn't have been a more perfect time to entertain. I always like starting with something light to awaken the taste buds. Sometimes it's a salad. This night is was a soup. I roasted a bunch of yellow carrots to concentrate their sweetness and add a nice brown caramelization. That equals more flavor. When you are making a vegetable puree sort of soup, the more sophisticated and complex your flavors are the better. Simple ingredients are great. Simple flavor is not. Under season your stock and your guests will wonder why you are serving them mushy baby food! Ick! 

Another way to keep the flavor of simple soup from falling flat, is garnish. A nice pop of flavor. Contrast is key. You've heard of people eating watermelon with salt, right? My parents have been doing this forever. As a child this idea seemed a bit alien to me. Now I love mine with a sprinkle of fleur de sel. There is no sweetness without saltiness. Since these carrots were amazingly sweet, I wanted to accentuate their earthiness with a salsa made with roasted beets, yellow corn, Fuerte avocados and red peppers spritzed with lime juice. This lent a nice touch of acid and sweetness. This soup was well received by both Lakers and Celtics fans alike.

Running egg yolks and melting cheese are two of my favorite images of food porn. To kick those salivary glands into high  gear, here's a prime example of the latter. Tofu coated in a crunchy crust of panko and Parmesan cheese. Tomato sauce spiked with fresh hand-torn leaves of basil... just beginning to soak into the bakery-fresh/still warm bread. And now for the pièce de résistance... Spicy, mouthwatering Firehouse cheddar all melty and gooey. That's what does it for me.

What about you? What turns on your drool faucet? What image simply sets off your Pavlovian response?

When Elly of Elly Says Opa! confessed her preference for Bulgarian feta (over Greek), I knew that I was about to make an awesome food discovery. Something in my head said, "I have got to try that." Do you guys ever get that or is it just me that wants to eat the world?
After one of my routine Saturday mornings at the farmers' market, I made a pit stop at Bay Cities in search of the said cheese. I found a nice block of the said cheese and since I was there, I also picked up a loaf of their bakery (it's in their basement) fresh bread. Danger, I mean dangerously delicious!
I so badly wanted to start eating the bread on the way home. Just a nibble of the crusty end. I behaved myself and just left it in its sleeve. I felt like my parents' dog, Foxy. Her best "trick" is when my mom holds out a snack in her hand and says, "leave it". She'll turn her sad face away even though you can tell she's dying to snatch it out of her hand. Yup, Foxy and I sure have a lot in common. We both have these insatiable appetites. Must run in the family, right? :)
By the time I got home, my stomach was humming. Armed with farm fresh produce, warm bread and feta that I couldn't wait to test out, I whipped up this playful lunch. The white carrots from Weiser Farms are particulary sweet especially when eaten raw. I thinly sliced one up and marinated it in orange juice/zest, olive oil, parsley and S&P. Note to self: I should invest in a mandolin. For my salad, I sauteed asparagus and shallots with thyme. While this wilted down, I deshelled some snap peas and threw them in at the end. These are so sweet they taste like candy. I topped each piece of baguette with the salad and crumbled feta over it. I had also picked up some olives from Bay Cities, so a quick tapenade was drizzled over the feta. Lunch is served.

Thank you to all my fellow bloggers for all the food enlightenment and culinary inspiration. You guys are awesome.

I warned you guys that the Indian food obsession was far from over.  I made a palak paneer, which is essentially a spinach and paneer (Indian cheese) curry. I substituted regular ol' frozen spinach with some fresh, hearty, just-in-season heirloom Bloomsdale spinach. You know I gotta put my own farmers' market twist on everything. :) While doing some Indian cooking homework, I stumbled upon this video with instructions for moong dal dosas (Indian crepes). Perfect. I had just bought a giant 4 lb bag of moong dal with the expectation of using them in my new found love for Indian cooking. Can you say overzealous shopper/eater?


I soaked my moong dal overnight, food processed it and added water and salt to make a nice thin batter. A few minutes on a hot oiled skillet yielded a crispy, nutty crepe that I instantly fell in love with. I served this for lunch with some leftover pakoras. I'm so happy about my new food discovery and so is mah belly. Thanks again Purplesque!

Yikes... I still have about 3.75 lbs of moong dal... any ideas?

Inspired by White on Rice Couple's recent post/video on Mojo Tofu and an excess of Angry Chicken marinade, I decided to make a nice vegetarian friendly option. I love, love, love spicy food and so does B. Sometimes I have to slap his hand away from the sriracha bottle and scold him in my angry, old Chinese lady voice, "Stop it. You gonna drown out the delicate flavors!" The rest of the time I'm fighting him for the bottle. :)

After pressing out the excess liquid from the firm tofu, I marinaded it in my spicy, "angry" yogurt mix with a few extra serrano chiles. After a few hours I breaded my tofu strips with some panko for extra crunch and fried them up in the some canola oil. I did this on the same night I made the shiitake tempura. Can you say food frying frenzy???


Crispy, check! Spicy, check! Delicious, check check check! Since fried foods go hand in hand with nice cold beer,  we enjoyed this meal with Laguanita's Hairy Eyeball Ale.

Eat your vegetables!!! Admit it... how many of you have resolved to have a better diet in 2008? To swear off fast food? To eat all your vegetables? To, dare I utter the words, give up fried foods (gasp)? I'm not big on making resolutions, but after my overindulgences this holiday season, I too, could use a little recommitting to get my eating back on track. More than likely, my next few posts will be touting the virtues of vegetables and all things high in fiber. Don't you worry though... I'll be sure to trick you by making tasty food that your tummy will thank you for.

B returned from his holiday travels this Saturday, so a home cooked meal was in line. I was feeling awfully lucky to have access to a FM year round, so a feast of vegetables was an obvious choice. I had picked up two beautiful bunches of kale and delicious, earthy parsnips. I peeled the parsnips and boiled them until tender. I pushed them through my tami (my absolute favorite kitchen tool) and added some unsweetened soy milk to thin it out. Staying true to my vegan themed meal, I rehydrated some porcini mushrooms for the gravy. These have such a delicious, meaty flavor. Next, I simmered some red lentils with onions, garlic and a pinch of saffron. Lentils are a great source of fiber. Finally, I sauteed my cleaned kale in olive oil and simply seasoned with salt, pepper and a spritz of lemon juice. I garnished the lentils with a few slices of raw, red onion and paper thin serrano peppers. The parsnips got a sprinkle of chopped parsley. Healthy, yet flavorful. It is possible.

Thank you for the adorable plates, Misa. Somehow having great dinnerware, makes the food taste that much better!:)

Wishing you all a wonderful 2008! Hope it brings you health & happiness.

I was Christmas shopping and accidentally got myself a spaetzle maker... oops. Here's my first shot at making the dumplings. Many times it's served with goulash, but I took the vegetarian route and made a meaty, mushroom stew.

Oh gnocchi... love to eat them... hate to make them! These guys are tricky... one wrong move and you've got yourself two pounds of good for nothing potato pellets. I've attempted to make gnocchi a total of three times in my entire culinary history and each time they were mediocre at best. I had come to the conclusion that gnocchi was one of the foods not worth making (other foods in this category include masa and baguettes, IMO). Not only were they time consuming, but they demanded a certain amount of precision that I did not seem to possess. Light, airy, cloud-like gnocchi eluded me and I had resolved to satisfy my gnocchi cravings outside of my kitchen.
My attitude suddenly changed last week when I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. My technique was all wrong. I had been boiling my potatoes, which added moisture to them and as a result I had to add more flour to the dough. I had also been mashing the potatoes with a hand masher. This method did not yield the consistency needed for heavenly gnocchi. I received two essential tips for gnocchi making: 1. Bake your potatoes in a bed of salt to draw out moisture from the potatoes 2. Rice your baked potatoes with a tamis to get the finest consistency (Thanks, Frankie!). With these two rules to cook by, I had a renewed desire to make gnocchi. I just love  learning things like that. Does that make me a nerd? :)
After a quick trip to Surfas and a brand spanking new tamis in hand, I was ready to rock. I heated the oven to 400 degrees and laid about an inch of kosher salt on a sheet pan. I pricked my russet potatoes and laid them on top of the salt to cook until tender (1 hour). I had decided to jazz up the dumplings a bit by adding saffron. I toasted up a pinch  of saffron threads and crushed them up into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. Afterwards, I moved onto the sauce. I toasted up some Marcona Almonds and pureed them with a bunch of flat-leaf parsley and olive oil for a simple accompaniment to the gnocchi. Once my potatoes were ready to go, I peeled them (watch your hands guys... the potatoes are piping hot still) and ran them through my tamis. I looked at my big pile of perfectly airy potato powder and got the feeling that this was going to be good. I let them potatoes cool down before adding my beaten egg, saffron and finally flour. I tried to knead the dough as little as possible and added just enough flour to get rid of any tackiness. I rolled the dough into strips and cut each strip into little squares of dough. The pillows of  dough proceeded to take a trip down my gnocchi board to get its sauce-holding ridges (as shown picture above).
I boiled some salted water. I threw them into the simmering water (not all at once of course) and once they floated to the surface, I fished them out. Next, I browned the gnocchi in a pan with butter. Once they got a nice golden crust on them, I piled them in the middle of the plate, drizzled the Marcona almond sauce around it and topped it all with a fried quail egg.
The gnocchi came out just the way I had always wanted it to. Light and airy on the inside, with just the slightest textural contrast from the browning. If you're feeling adventurous today, give it a try. It's not as intimidating as it looks, especially with a few pro tips.