Veggie It Out!

This weekend I was chatting with some friends while they were grilling and we had a discussion about fake meat.  I'm prone to eat it when there is a grill around but otherwise I never really crave the fake stuff.  There are times when I've salivated for a burger but they are minimal and a lot easier to surpass then wanting a cigarette.

Anyway, I mentioned how some vegetarians (who don't eat bacon) really don't revel in the fact that they are eating veggies.  They bland out their pasta or grains and then wonder why it's so hard to adjust.

In an effort to assist, I am offering my sunday dinner...and it's also meatless monday!  So YAY for veggies!  BLOW out the flavor!  They are good for you and so versatile!  Also, a glass of wine with your veggie meal doesn't hurt.

AJ's Roasted Zucchini with Indian Spices
AJ's Lemony Quinoa with Parsley and Tomato

Okay so I'm gonna make this easy for you because I'm tired.  Forgive the slightly medieval cookbook way of writing this (you know, minor if any measurements, slightly vague directions...)

For the Zuchs:

• Dice Zuchs, lightly coat with olive oil
• Put on roasting pan and sprinkle with 1 tsp red pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin seed, 1/2 tsp fennel seed (make sure you grind these seeds up fresh, either in a spice grinder or a motar and pestal)
• Sprinkle over zuch, heat for 18 mins. @ 450'

This is HOT!  Serve with yogurt or ricotta w/ mint.

For the Quinoa:

• Dice and saute onion and garlic
• Roast your quinoa (I make my quinoa like a risotto, hence the following directions)
• Add 1-2 tsps lemon zest
• add some chopped tomatoes
• Add warmed veggie stock slowly, cook through, adding as you go.  (usually 1 cup quinoa = 3-4 cups veggie)
• Add 1/2 tsp salt (ONLY if using homemade veggie stock.  Do not add if adding storebought)
• cook it through, about 15 mins.  Toss in parley, and juice of 1 lemon

And finally - pour the wine, sit down, and relax. 

Annals of Sunday Afternoons: Reading and Cooking

I love Sunday afternoons, particularly lazy ones that are sunny.  It's also a little sad as as the sun sets because I immediately begin to realize  that my next few hours will lead me to a sleep which requires me to get out of bed the next morning and get back to work. 

Sunny afternoon, with my Kindle...

On the occasions where I can afford some down time on sundays without leaving the house I am usually wrapped up in cooking a meal I've never made before and playing video games or reading.  There is nothing quite like the pleasure of relaxing with a book while the sun pours over me.  It just makes me happy.





Sundays also afford time to think about what to eat and buy for the week.  This morning I had a hankering for comfort food and that usually means I'm in the mood for some type of pasta or potato dish.  Inspired by a recipe that Rachel Ray once made on her show I went to the store, bought some ingredients, and started to cook it without once looking at any type of recipe.  I have to say, after eating it, I did a damn fine job.  In fact, without sounding too egotistical, it was some of the best lasagna I've ever eaten.  I kind of made it up as I went along but I thought I would share.  Please note that the measurements are not at all exact.

AJ's Lazy Eggplant Lasagna

1 onion
2 large cloves of garlic
1 medium eggplant
1 tsp Fresh Oregeno
1/2 tsp Thyme
2-3 tomatos
1.5 TBS tomato paste
Lasagna pasta thingys
Ricotta cheese
Bechemel Sauce
Parm Cheese
Veggie Broth and/or water
S&P

1. Use a big pot.  Oil it.  Cut up Onion, toss in, let it get soft, few minutes.  Toss in minced garlic.  Let get fragrant.  Slice and cube up Eggplant.  And in. Let the eggplant cook a few minutes till the outsides start to get a little brown and soft.  Add about 1/2 tsp thyme and 1 tsp fresh oregeno.  Add a pinch of salt to pull out moisture in onions 
• At this point boil some water in another pot
2. As the onions and garlic and eggplant start to cook and get slightly browned to the pan add a touch (1/4 cup or less) of veggie stock or water (I make my own veggie stock but any store bought should work fine). Adding water will deglaze your pot, but you don't want too much because you don't want your sauce runny. Turn heat down from high medium to medium.
3. Add the tomatoes...the water from the tomatoes will cook out so make sure this is done before adding next step liquid
4. Add about 1/2 cup water and some tomato paste.   Cover your pot and let the flavors combine.  Add 1/2 tsp kosher salt.  Continue covered  until your eggplant is nice and tender -- basically test until you get the consistency of the eggplant you want to be eating in your lasagna.
5. Meanwhile, get your lasagna pasta thingys and break them up with your hands so they are about 1/2 inch - size is irrelevant, they can be all different sizes.  Dump into boiling water, cook until almost done.
6. By now your eggplant sauce should be done.  Just check to make sure the sauce isn't too thin - it should resemble a red sauce that isn't as thick as a marinara but should be a lot more composed than water.  Maybe a little thinner than a curry sauce if that makes sense.  
7. Drain pasta and add to the eggplant pot.  you can add a little starch water too if your sauce is too thick.
8. Now plop the entire pot into a casserole dish!
9. Top with Ricotta dollops (i literally just scooped them out and put pats all over the top of the dish.  I also added some thyme and oregeno to the ricotta and mixed it up but that is completely optional.)
10. Pour Bechemel sauce over the dish
11. Sprinkle with parmesean and put in 425 degree oven until top gets a little brown.  Then enjoy!

See how 3 pieces are gone?  That was all me.

AJ's Bechemel Sauce

I love behcemel so I make it all the time.  here is my failproof/easy method:

 Make a rue.  ALWAYS use equal parts flour and butter.  For this particular recipe use:

• 3 Tablespoons Butter melt in pan
• Add 3 Tablespoons Flour.  Whisk and let cook until you smell a nutty smell (not flour smell)
• Add 1.5 cups milk, whisking in slowly.  Let thicken.  Add 1/4-1/2 cup milk.  Let thicken
• Add 1/2 tsp salt, black pepper, pinch of nutmeg
• DONE!  Pour over your dish.

Butter Beans Redeux

I had originally posted a Butter Bean recipe of mine here

However, i made them again last night and I didn't have sage so instead I added butter and thyme.  It was heavy.  In a flash of inspiration I added some lemon zest.  This was by far the best thing I've ever done!  Bright, fresh, light tasting butter beans.  Try it, well worth it.

CSA, an investigation

Excited I was to join a CSA (wtf, why am I talking like yoda?) but when the box of goodies arrived I was a little flummoxed, and somewhat embarrassed - and will only admit this on my blog which allows access to everyone in the world for eternity (this is really an overall poorly thought out stream of consciousness) to realize I had no idea what veggies this farm had given me.

I trampled over to Stop and Shop (distance, approx 200 yards) and walked the produce aisle to try to find something resembling the green and other bits of farm freshness.  I am happy to report that after scrutiny (and yes, some questions to produce people) I discovered I had in my possession bok choy and chicory.  Two things I've never cooked, and possibly never eaten, in my life.

As an ode to the first CSA drop off I thought it best to try to find multiple recipes due to the fact that it was most likely I'd get another batch next wednesday.  So here is my bok choy recipe I made tonight which was surprisingly scrumptious.  I am going to make the sauce as a veggie stirfry tomorrow with rice, but plain with bok choy was yummy.

Spicy Bok Choy in Garlic Sauce
from Allrecipes.com

• 1 pound bok choy
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. Trim off the ends of the bok choy and chop, keeping the white parts separate from the green as they will need to cook longer. Rinse and spin or pat dry. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl or cup, stir together the vegetable oil and sesame oil. In a separate larger bowl, stir together the water, ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. Set this aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the bok choy stems first; stir fry for a few minutes or until the pieces start to turn a pale green. When stems are almost cooked, add the leaves; cook and stir until leaves are wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the bok choy to a serving dish. Pour the sauce into the skillet or wok, and set over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Pour over the bok choy and toss lightly to coat.

Butter Beans?

Butter beans are nutritional goodness.  They are like green lima beans but white and buttery.  And I always love their consistency and starchy like flavor (hiding tons of protein) but could never really cook them very well.   Luckily I have eradicated that problem and now pass on the perfect coupling.

• Rinse can of beans
• Chop up 1 small shallot.  
• Warm butter (2-3 tbs) in pan, add shallots.  Let cook for a few minutes.  
• Add beans, stir.  Add salt.
• Let stand on low for about 3 mins to allow the beans to soak up some of the butter
• Add fresh chopped sage (I haven't perfected this measurement but start out with 1.5 tsp of fresh)

Serve with glee.

City Gardening

So I live in Boston, in a condo that doesn't have anything green around it.

In order to compensate I used my back 3 season porch as a garden. This has done nothing but kill everything I put in it. (I should  note that I have never once in my life a) gardened or b) successfully taken care of any living thing.  My family nicknamed me "the fishkiller" when I was little)

I  decided to put herbs in the cinderblocks around my house that separate my driveway from my neighbor's driveway to get some outdoor light and rain.  This I thought would be the sure fire way to kill off anything left remaning alive.

Surprise surprise, the stuff starts growing like weeds.  Here is what I picked today -- just a few stalks of the many overgrown basil and rosemary!

I took some and cooked with it and now I feel really cool, like I'm almost self sustaining.  That's what using a fresh herb will do for you, it will give you the feeling of being immune to famine. 


Healthy but oh-so tasty Pasta with Buttered Pumpernickle

1 onion sauteed
1 garlic clove, sauteed with the onion for a few minutes
cherry tomatoes halved or a big tomato cut up and cooked with onion and garlic for a good 5 mins (til liquid released)
Salt and pepper
Throw in basil at the end and let wilt
Handful of whole wheat pasta, almost done stirred in with above ingredients.
Serve with bread of choice or salad

Curried Avocado Soup & Salad

Since it's so freakin hot I've been eating a lot of salads.  Also found a recipe for chilled avocado soup in the moosewood cookbook (the moosewood cookbooks are all excellent and  a very worthwhile investment for any type of diet however most meals are vegetarian.  None contain meat although a few have fish.

I've modified the recipe slightly from the moosewood and it's so easy - takes a total of about 2 minutes to make.  The salad is my own creation from leftover stuff in the fridge - I rarely use dressings, imo a good salad just needs a little seasoning and oil or a light sheen. 

Curried Avocado Soup (2 servings)

2 avocados
2 1/4 cup veggie broth
1 tsp curry powder
1/8-1/4 tsp white pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup lowfat milk
1-2 TBS of low fat cream cheese
(The moosewood calls for 1/2 cup of heavy cream instead of last two ingredients)

- Put avocado and half the broth in blender.  Blend.
- add rest of ingredients.  Blend.  Chill.  Server.


Arugala Salad w/ blackberries (1 serving)

1/2 cup arugala
1/4 cup goat cheese
blackberries (to your liking)
-mix a bit of olive oil with 1/4 tsp of rice wine vinegar.  Add pepper. Dress salad.

Enjoy!

Meatless Mondays

Johns Hopkins is starting a campaign for people to reduce eating meat on Mondays. I like the idea because it makes you feel like you are doing something without the pressure of going completely vegetarian. If you do not eat meat on Mondays you will reduce your meat intake by 14% - pretty significant if you think about it. You might not care at all about what you eat which is fine. If you do though, Meatless Monday is a great way to contribute without the full on commitment.

In order to add my measley support to this initiative I have decided to share a veggie recipe on Mondays.

 AJ’s Tabouleh (Hind Matthews/Ina Garten)

This is my Nana’s recipe (ingredients). Nana was born in Iraq and lived in Lebanon, Egypt, and Turkey (among other places) before settling down in Pennsylvania. I’d love to tell you this particular combo of Tabouleh is from a specific region of the middle east but frankly I have no idea and I doubt Nana would either – I think it’s a combination from several regions.

It’s important to note that I am using Ina Garten’s method for cooking Bulgur Wheat. Must give that fabulous cook her due.

In the summer I always have tabouleh in the fridge. It’s my go to snack. It’s a refreshing salad but it’s delicious if you throw some hummus in a pita and stuff it with tabouleh. It can also be wrapped in grape leaves.

1 c. bulgur (you can find near the dried beans or in the organic section)

¼ c. olive oil

2 ½ tsps salt (kosher sea salt is best)

1 ½ c. boiling water

2-3 green onions, minced (you can use other types of onion but I don’t recommend it. Use the green!)

1-2 tomatoes (more if you like them)

3 TBS chopped fresh parsley (I eyeball this but I’d say 3 tbs)

2-3 TBS chopped fresh mint (I eyeball this, go a little lighter on mint than parsley)

Juice from 1 or 2 fresh lemons

• 
  
  
  
  Put bulgur in bowl with olive oil, salt and pour boiling water over it. Mix and let stand 1 hour.
• 
  
  
  
  After 1 hour mix the rest of the ingredients together.

I’d recommend chilling it before serving. Making the night before works best as the flavors really meld over night in the fridge. Keeps great!

You can also add cucumbers, black pepper, allspice and cinnamon if it strikes your fancy.

Bulgar Wheat nutritional info:

1 cup of unprepared bulgur contains approximately:

• 
  
  
  
  Energy: 1500 kJ (360 kcal)
• 
  
  
  
  Dietary fiber: 8 g
• 
  
  
  
  Protein: 12.5 g
• 
  
  
  
  Carbohydrate: 69 g whereof 0.8 g sugars
• 
  
  
  
  Fat: 1.75 g whereof 0.2 g saturated fat
• 
  
  
  
  Potassium: 410mg ^[4]