Mon 9 Jan 2012
Yum! I made veggie sushi the other week. My fillings were cucumber, avocado, soy marinated tempeh, and pan roasted shitake mushrooms.
experiments
Sun 16 Oct 2011
I picked up the latest Whole Living after reading about the “Perfectly Prepped” article. The idea is that you cook ahead a bunch of ingredients on the weekend. Then you can mix and match with these items throughout the week to create quick, easy and tasty dinners. For the past year I’ve been experimenting with this idea so I was immediately interested in this article. I’ve been doing things like washing & chopping my lettuce, making a big pot of soup and precooking some beans. However, this article takes the idea a step further adding vegetables, grains and sauces to the mix. This truly allows you to create a number of meals in minutes. In the article there are three condiments, three grains, four vegetables and two proteins given. I decided to follow the idea this week and went with the same numbers though used different recipes. The total prep today took 2-3 hrs. For my perfectly prepped week I made:
Condiments:
- Teriyaki sauce: Combine 1/2 cup soy sauce & 1/2 cup mirin or honey in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil then simmer for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and add 1 clove garlic, grated & 1 Tablespoon ginger, grated.
- Chimichurri sauce: Leave out the water and add half the amount of olive oil & white vinegar.
- Golden raisin vinaigrette (one of the recipes from the article)
Grains: These I decided not to make ahead since I have the rice cooker and can easily set it on a timer to cook quinoa & rice. Pasta is less than 10 minutes so I decided not to pre-prep it either.
- Pasta
- Quinoa
- Rice
Vegetables:
- Steamed collards: Cut off stems & dice. Cut leaves into 1″ pieces. Steam stems for 2 minutes. Add leaves & steam for another 2 minutes. Dump into a bowl of ice water to cool & preserve the green color.
- Roasted poblano peppers: Cut peppers in half & seeds. Place on a baking sheet. Preheat the broiler to high. Broil 3-5 minutes until skin of peppers is blackened. Let peppers cool then peel off skin.
- Roasted butternut squash: Cut squash into 1″ cubes. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper & cinnamon (1/2 to 1 teaspoon of each). Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes, until squash is tender.
- Braised cabbage: Slice one onion into half moons. Core & shred half a head of cabbage. Sauté onion in olive oil until onion is translucent. Add cabbage and one cup vegetable stock. Cover and cook 5-10 minutes, until cabbage is tender.
Proteins:
- Chickpeas
- Roasted chicken
I also have some salad greens & cheese on hand. I’m not sure what we’ll end up eating this week, however, tonight I ended up making a pasta dish. Pasta + roasted squash + chickpeas + collards + golden raisin vinaigrette + blue cheese. Yum!
Tue 27 Sep 2011
Yesterday for my mid-morning snack I discovered my hummus complimented my tea exceptionally well. The tea enhanced the flavors of the hummus bringing out a sweet taste while the hummus did the same for the tea. It was a revelation for me as I hadn’t ever found a fantastic tea pairing. I’ll be posting the hummus recipe soon.. It’s a black bean hummus. The tea was a black tea flavored with orange and cinnamon. Now I’m excited about pairing tea with more dishes (especially savory dishes). Let me know if you have any pairings to suggest. I’d love to hear about them!
Wed 29 Jun 2011
I’ve always wanted to throw a fancy six course dinner party… One where you end up sitting around the table all night as each course is served. Last week Ed and I decided we would throw such a party over the upcoming weekend. As I was working the three days prior to the party I needed a relatively easy menu.
I also wanted a fresh and summery menu since it’s so hot outside! I came up with the following menu which was just right. The dishes were fresh tasting and fast to prepare. Portion sizes were manageable. Plus, everything looked impressive!
Menu de l’été
Summer Menu
Brochettes de salade
Salad kebabs
Gazpacho et crevettes
Gazpacho & shrimp
Thon et bok choy grillé à la japon
Japanese-style grilled tuna & bok-choy
Salade de patates douces
Sweet potato salad
Sélection de fromages
Cheese plate
Profiteroles
I accidentally only took pictures of two of the courses… but eventually the whole menu (including recipes) will be posted. Saturday morning we did all the grocery shopping, Saturday afternoon was 2-3 hrs of prep, then the dinner Saturday night. So, if you’ve always wanted to throw a fancy dinner party but are intimidated or short on time I’d highly recommend this menu.
ps- I can’t believe there was a typo on the menu (grrr Pinot Noir)! Oops. Luckily, no one seemed to notice (fixed)
Mon 27 Jun 2011
While making a quick borscht I found I had a few extra beets I’d already peeled. I decided to cook them via microwave so I could slice and use in salads this week. Microwaving vegetables is a great alternative to steaming or boiling vegetables. It is quicker and uses less water so you keep more of the nutrients intact. For beets you cook them with a little water in a covered dish for 5 minutes (small beets) to 20 minutes (very large beets). Veggies can quickly overcook and even burn in the microwave so the best thing to do is start in small increments and keep checking on them. For beets start with 5 minutes, then check. For something like green beans you can start checking after 30 seconds to a minute. I have a great recipe for a marinated vegetable salad that blanches the vegetables using the microwave but not too many other microwave veggie recipes. So, I was very excited to come across this nice list of microwave vegetable recipes from A Veggie Venture while searching for microwave timing for the beets. Do you have a favorite microwave veggie recipe?