Add a little pesto to your scrambled eggs, egg white omelet, or tofu scramble for a deliciously festive twist this St. Patrick’s Day! Good for breakfast –great for dinner! Life’s too short not to be Irish!
Bloody Mary Vegetable Soup March 2, 2011
Serves 8-10
3 tablespoons of olive oil
4 small red potatoes, cup into small cubes
4 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
4 teaspoons of minced garlic
1 can roasted diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with diced chiles
1 can tomato paste
1 can rinsed and drained white beans
1, 16 0z jar of marinated mushrooms (optional)
2 cups of water
2 cups of vegetable stock
1 cup vodka
Sriracha Sauce to taste
2 tablespoons of horsradish
the juice of a lemon
cilantro, chopped
4 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
To begin, heat the olive oil on medium heat, add onions, garlic, and celery. Stir frequently for about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups vegetable broth. Add both cans of tomatoes, tomato paste, and the white beans. Simmer about 15 minutes. Next, use a hand blender to puree the mixture, or blend in batches in a blender.
Back on medium-low heat add 2 cups of water, vodka, potatoes, french green beans, and drained (but not rinsed) marinated mushrooms. Cook until the potatoes are soft. Add Sriracha Sauce to taste. Finish with horseradish and lemon juice. Drizzle vodka and/or olive oil lightly to garnish. Serve with multigrain baguette.
This recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray’s Bloody Mary Stew
Super Easy Super Bowl Chili February 5, 2011
This Super Easy, Super Bowl Chili is the most delicious and versatile dish you’ll ever serve. It’s simple to prepare which means you won’t be busy preparing it in the kitchen, missing the big play of the game –or heaven forbid you miss one of those million dollar commercials. In fact, you can make this chili the night before and serve it in a slow cooker. It works great as a soup, stew, dip, burrito/wrap filling, on top of a veggie hot dog, baked potato, or sweet potato fries. It’s the perfect way to feed your hungry Super Bowl guests. No matter how you serve it up, with cheese, sour cream, or corn bread, you’ll be sure to score!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
1/2 a medium sized onion
3 tbs minced garlic
1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1 jar (~14.5 oz.) salsa
1 can chili beans (mild, medium, or hot)
1 can kidney beans
1 can check peas or white beans (depending on your preference –pretty much any of your favorite beans will work well)
1/2 cup frozen corn
2 cups brown rice
1 tbs ground cumin
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
1/4 tsp corriander (optional)
1/4 tsp cardamom (optional)
HOW TO PREPARE SUPER BOWL CHILI
Heat about 4 tbs of olive oil in a large wok-style skillet on medium high heat
chop onions and add them to the oil
add minced garlic
add spices and let cook on medium heat (careful not to burn the garlic) until the onions are soft and transparent(about 10 minutes)
add can of diced tomatoes
add chili beans
add rinsed and drained kidney beans and chickpeas
add frozen corn
cook on medium heat 20-30 minutes
serves 6-8 people
The Perfect Super Bowl Snack – Homemade Sweet Potato Fries February 1, 2011
So inexpensive to buy and so easy to make –sweet potato fries will please everyone at your Super Bowl party. You’ll need sweet potatoes –about 1 medium sized sweet potato for every 2 guests, olive oil, and salt (optional 1/2 tsp garam masala).
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel sweet potatoes, cut into strips. Transfer sweet potato strips into a large Ziplock bag and drizzle olive oil over the strips, also add salt to taste, and garam masala if desired. Shake the sealed bag until all the strips are coated and then spread the strips out on a cooking sheet. Cook about 10-15 minutes, flip fries and cook another 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
For a delicious gourmet ketchup dipping sauce, add honey (1 part honey to every 4 parts ketchup) and a pinch of chili powder. Make these fries even more irresistible by adding some veggie chili or veggie sloppy joe on top.
Hungarian Chicken-less Paprikash with Dumplings January 30, 2011
My paternal Great-Grandma Demyan, Grandma Betty, and mom, Emily all made traditional Chicken Paprikash for me while I was growing up. It’s a deliciously rich and creamy dish that’s perfect for a winter day.
When I gave up meat more than 20 years ago, I wasn’t going to give up my favorite family dishes. So, I’ve made my own version that’s equally as delicious and satisfying as the original.
Now, whenever I crave it, I can go back to those snowy winter days where my boots were dripping wet in the breezeway, but my stomach was full with this sweet and creamy paprika stew.
BROTH
med onion, chopped
2 tbs paprika
1 tbs minced garlic
4 cups water
vegetable bouillon, 2 cubes
celery bunch, chopped, leaves included
16 oz sour cream (do not use fat free)
DUMPLINGS
3 eggs (organic, free range)
2 1/2 cups flour (unbleached)
2 tsp salt
2 tbs sour cream
TO MAKE BROTH
Cook chopped onion in butter, add 1 tbs minced garlic and 2 tbs paprika. Cook until the onions are soft. Add 4 cups water, 2 bouillon cubes, chopped celery (with leaves). Simmer for about 30 minutes. Use this time to make the dumplings.
TO MAKE THE DUMPLINGS
Bring 8-10 cups of water to boil in a sauce pan. In a mixer blend 3 eggs and 2 1/2 cups flour. Add 2 tsp salt and 2 tbs sour cream. Once the water is boiling, one-by-one, spoon dumpling dough into the boiling water. Dumplings should be about an inch long and a half an inch thick. They will get bigger once they are boiled. Boil the dumplings until they float. Strain them from the water and then they’ll be added to the broth.
PREPARE THE CHICK’N PRODUCT
Many vegetarian chicken-type products exist. I recommend either Quorn Naked Chik’n Cutlets, or Gardein’s lightly seasoned Chick’n Scallopini for this recipe. Defrost all 4 cutlets, chop into fine strips. You’ll add these to the broth towards the end.
BACK TO THE BROTH
After the broth has been simmering for about 30 minutes, use a hand blender, or blend in batches in a blender, until the broth is smooth. Take the broth off the heat.
Temper the sour cream by whisking some of the broth into the sour cream. Whisk continuously as you add the broth to the sour cream (whisk in 1-2 cups of broth). Then, whisk the sour cream mixture into the large pot of broth. Whisk continuously until it is completed combined. Next, add the drained dumplings and the strips of meat free chicken. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Yields 6-8 servings. Enjoy!
Beef-Up Your (Veggie) Sloppy Joe’s August 17, 2010
I use Morningstar Farms Crumbles to make my version of those delicious Sloppy Joe’s that I had at almost every birthday party growing up. I always scooped up a big helping out of the slow cooker. This modern manwich uses veggie crumbles instead of beef, and adds a can of kidney beans for added nutrition.
To make your own, first coat your skillet with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and “brown” the veggie crumbles. Then, add a can of drained, rinsed kidney beans (or dry ones you’ve soaked over night). The beans will add some good-for-you fiber, protein, and iron. Finally top off with your favorite Sloppy Joe Sauce. I use about 8 ounces of sauce since most sauces have a lot of sugar in them. Serve as a sandwich, on top of sweet potato fries, in a wrap, or with tortilla chips as a delicious dip.
Kev’s Birthday Breakfast – Cereal French Toast August 7, 2010
2 eggs (omit for vegan version)
1/2 cup egg whites (or 1 cup soy cream and 1/2 tsp egg replacer for vegan version)
splash of vanilla soy cream (or milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Whisk up above ingredients to create the egg wash mixture.
Pre-heat a griddle to about 350 degrees (medium to medium high on a stove top)
Select a sliced bread, preferably a seedy, high fiber option and submerge each side of the sliced bread in the whisked egg wash mixture. Then, carefully move the bread slice into a shallow dish filled with crushed cereal. I use Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. Flip the bread so that each sides gets some of the cereal coated on it.
Add a dollop of butter or a tablespoon of peanut oil to the cooking surface and place the coated bread directly on the butter or oil. Watch carefully so that you don’t burn the oil or the coated bread. Flip and cook evenly on both sides until the outside is a golden brown. This recipe yields about 6 slices.
Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup July 15, 2010
Sometime in June Kevin got a real craving for greens. So that next Saturday morning we came home from the Pasadena Farmers Market with a beautiful bunch of asparagus, a bag of spinach, and a bag of baby arugula. I wondered, what could I create with these ingredients to make a delicious and filling meal? It had to be something that could be enjoyed by almost any palette. And then it hit me, soup! The best soup recipe for these ingredients already exists. It’s in the cookbook, the Conscious Cook by Tal Rannen. I’m passing along his recipe and a strong recommendation that you run out and get this super cookbook.
And, to really top things off, I made a giant crouton to accompany this deliciously healthy green soup. I promise, even your pickiest eater will love it! You can also make this soup with broccoli instead of asparagus. I imagine the broccoli version would be great over pasta.
Ingredients
sea salt
3 tbs olive oil
1 large bunch asparagus (ends trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 quarts vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1 cup cashew cream
fresh ground pepper
2 cups baby spinach
(1) Place stock pot over medium heat and sprinkle the bottom with a pinch of salt and heat for 1 minute. Add oil and head for 30 seconds to give a nonstick effect to you pot.
(2) Add asparagus, celery, and onion and sauté for 6-10 minutes. Add broth and bay leaf, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the cashew cream and simmer for 10 minutes more. Remove the bay leaf, salt & pepper to taste.
To make the cashew cream, Tal Rannen instruct you to soak cashews in water overnight in the refrigerator. I soaked about a cup of cashews. Due to lack of planning, I soaked mine for about an hour and it seemed to turn out just fine. After soaking in cold water, rinse then pour cold water over them until the water line is about 1/2 inch over the cashews. Blend on high in a blender until smooth. Use less water to make thicker cashew cream.
(3) Working in batches, pour soup into a blender (cover the lid with a towel to prevent burns) and blend
on high. Add spinach to the last batch and blend until smooth.
Garnish with greens like baby arugula or my giant, homemade crouton. To make the crouton simple cut the crust off a slice of bread. Put it in a ziplock bag and add olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme and seal the bag. Shake until the bread is evenly covered. Then toast in a toaster oven and voile!
South of the Border Orzo Summer Salad June 29, 2010
This is a refreshing twist on traditional pasta salad and it’s super easy to throw together! First cook 1/2 a pound of orzo pasta and set it aside to cool. Prep your veggies. I cook up corn on the cob when it’s in season. I use the kernel cut from 3 ears of corn. If it’s not in season, feel free to substitute frozen corn.
1/2 pound of orzo, cooked and cooled
2 tomatoes, diced
corn kernels from 3 ears of corn, cooked
1 pound black beans
1/2 bunch of cilantro, stems removed and chopped
4-8 oz of crumbed goat cheese (exclude to make a vegan version)
Mix above ingredients. Prepare dressing. See below.
1/2 an avocado, ripe
2/3 cup of your favorite salsa
1/4 cup of olive oil vinaigrette
In blender, mix the above 3 ingredients. If you’re not a vegan, you can also add 1/2 cup sour cream to the mix. Blend together the orzo veggie mix and blended dressing. Add more or less dressing, depending on your preference. Garnish with avocado and fresh cilantro.
Independence Day Salad June 29, 2010
Show your US Pride this Fourth of July with a Strawberry, Blueberry, Goat Cheese and Mixed Baby Greens salad!! Top it with a cranberry vinaigrette and chopped walnuts!!! Delicious, nutritious, and patriotic!
