don't let the lack of grill stop you....
okay, so I had this plan for veggie skewers. except I have no grill, and upon inspection of my various kitchen drawers, nor do I have skewers.
So I improvised.
potatoes first--baby red and white, cut in half, tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, basil and oregano. into the 450 oven on a cookie sheet.
Then zucchini, green bell peppers, yellow or white onion--cut into 1"-ish chunks. Mushrooms whole. a clove or two of garlic, minced. Toss with olive oil and the same spices as above. Add to cookie sheet with potatoes.
When everything seems almost done, add a cut up Tofurkey Italian Sausage to the mix (and stir the other stuff with a spatula to make sure it's not getting burnt to the pan).
After about 5-8 minutes, take it all out and eat. Goes well with Trader Joe's organic Strawberry Lemonade--feels cook-out-y!
Labels: quick and easy yumminess
butternut squash and hominy
wow! i'm back at cooking!
i don't know about the weather where everyone else is living, but it is frigid cold outside here in DC and today i made a recipe that hit the spot perfectly! i can't remember the last time i had such a happy cooking and eating experience.
i got this recipe from a website i subscribe to and use the recipes from fairly frequently.
Saving Dinneri subscribe to the vegetarian menu-mailer, which uses a lot of beans, but otherwise, i recommend it, if you are looking for a way to make your grocery shopping super easy! not all the recipes are vegan, however, so you have to pick and choose if you are trying to eliminate dairy and eggs.
but to the recipe! lol
butternut squash and hominy:
ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
about 1 1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
1 cup diced green bell pepper
2 tsps paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp flour
salt and pepper to taste
pinch cayenne pepper
1 (15 oz) can hominy
2 1/2 cups water
3 tbsps chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp tomato paste
Cooking Instructions:
Heat oil in large skillet; add onions, garlic, squash, green bell pepper, paprika, and cumin; cook for about 10 minutes, until veggies are browned.
Add flour, salt and pepper to taste and cayenne pepper, stirring constantly for 1 minute. (i'm gonna fess up here, i forgot the flour, and it was great that way too.)
Add hominy, water, parsley, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until squash is tender. Add a bit more water if veggies look dry.
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the perfect little bit spicy little bit sweet food combo. it's like a main course and dessert all in one dish! i must say i adored this dish and highly recommend it, it serves 6, so you put a little time in on it in one cooking session and can have enough leftovers for few lunches. yum!
i added a small spinach salad, with grape tomatoes, sprouts, a little diced red onion and my favorite sesame ginger dressing to my meal to complete dinner.
and afterward, i enjoyed a hot cup of kukicha tea sweetened with the world's greatest natural sweetener, agave nectar (it's low glycemic so it doesn't spike your blood sugar the way that almost all other sweeteners do). agave nectar is even approved by my husband, world's most wary of weird natural food alternatives individual. he uses it to sweeten everything, from oatmeal to tea to making messy almond butter/agave nectar sandwiches. it really is an awesome alternative if you are looking to reduce your sugar intake and regulate your blood sugar levels.
can you tell i'm working really hard to cut my sweet tooth the holistic way? lol. if anyone is trying to cut a sugar addiction gone wild (like me!! :) sweet vegetables like squash and sweet potatoes as well as kukicha tea (which i highly recommend adding agave nectar, too. i don't normally sweeten my tea, but this tea needs it! lol) are supposed to be great helpful healthy substitutes when you want to tame the sweet tooth.
and i must say, today is the first day in two months that i haven't been suffering from intense sugar withdrawal. which always leads me to eating something full of sugar.... i'm willing to say there might be something to this theory!!
but enough about me! try this recipe! it's good! i promise!
hard boiled eggs
okay, I have to tell you that this old wives tale is true:
put salt in the water when you are boiling eggs to make hard-boiled eggs. They will seriously peel easier.
Weird, I know, but I've done extensive testing (aka I forgot a couple of times) and it really does work.
In other news, I'm having Indian for dinner tonight. mmm, lentils, brown rice, chickpeas in tomato sauce...veggie samosas (from the freezer section of Trader Joes). You know you're jealous and want to come visit me. I knew it!
Labels: tips and tricks
Butternut Squash and Sage Pizza
Ryan and I made this last night. We made a side of baked sweet potatoes and totally didn't need them. This pizza filled us up good!
Ingredients:
Pizza dough - suppose you could make it fresh but we used Pillsbury and that worked out great
Butternut squash - a small squash (3 cups or so cut up) will do
Fresh sage
Shallots (however much you want on the pizza works)
Pizza sauce - we used Ragu, worked just fine
Mozzarella/Chedder - shredded, we mixed the two and it worked
Gruyere - cubed
Salt and pepper - to taste
Oil - 2 T
Butter - 1 T
Pre-heat the oven to 400F
Cut squash and shallots into sizes want for pizza toppings
Heat the oil and butter in a roasting pan
Add squash, shallots, 4 sage leaves to pan, toss in oil/butter mixture
Let roast for 20-25 minutes
Roll out pizza dough onto pan (we used a non-stick cookie sheet)
Cook in oven for 5-10 minutes (or whatever the directions on the package tell you)
Take dough out of oven: add pizza sauce, layer of mozzarella/chedder, squash/shallot/sage. Add more mozzarella/chedder if desired, 4 more sage leaves, gruyere
Cook for 15-20 more minutes.
Serves 4.
Yummy!
asian peanut noodles
so i dicovered my male counterpart at seminary... is counterpart the right word?
this new friend of mine is crazy about the kitchen, just like me, but he's much better at all the good for you foods where i tend to get stuck in the baking realm, until of course the winter rolls around and then i make soups and stews and things....
anyways... he cooks tofu much better than i do... (mine always ends up looking scrambled)... and so we've had this killer dish a couple of times now...
soba noodles, tofu marinated in asian marinade and pan seared and peanut sauce- made with pb, mirin, soy sauce, sesame oil, and maeploy (this spicy condiment that's sweet and sour too)...
you mix all those ingredients to get a peanut sauce, toss everything together, frigerate overnight, plate it up, sprinkle on chopped peanuts and a twist of lime, maybe cilantro if you have it, it's OH so delicious, it makes my belly amazingly happy...
ding ding!
yesterday I decided to use up some of those things I have lying around (since I'm leaving this place soon). THe result was an incredible re-creation: something very like Rice-A-Roni (tm).
One of Jason's favorite foods in the whole world is cheddar broccoli RiceARoni. So, having rice to use and broccoli leftover from last week, I tried it out. Here's how it goes:
a few T butter
3/4 cup vermicelli
1 cup organic long-grain white rice
1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli crowns--keep those little bitty pieces too because they make it look more like rice-a-roni!
1/2 onion, chopped very small
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
salt, pepper, basil, oregano, any other spice you think might be tasty
about 6-10 slices of cheddar cheese
(if you have a big skillet, feel free to just do it in there. I don't, so had to work with two things...hence the strange directions)
melt half the butter in a skillet, add vermicelli. fry one minute. add (washed) rice, fry a couple of minutes until it all seems to be turning a little brown. melt the other half of the butter in a pot. Add onions and broccoli, saute a minute or so, until broccoli begins to brighten. Transfer rice/vermicelli mix into pot with onions and brocolli. Add veggie broth and water. stir well. Add spices. bring to a boil. lower heat and cover. simmer, stirring occasionally, until water is all absorbed. put cheese in, two or three slices at a time. re-cover and allow cheese to melt. stir it in, then add more...repeat until you feel like there's enough cheese. taste...season more according to your taste. Eat.
Jason and Stephen both gave it two thumbs up--and several fingers as well...between helpings. I thought it was pretty darn good myself! And we all know it's better for you than that sodium-filled, MSG laden box stuff. I can't tell you about fat content or anything (it depends how much cheese you use!), but dang...it's good.
Baked Bananas
i have a horrible horrible sweet tooth.
me love me some candy.
anyway, i saw something similar to this on tv, and got this recipe from a healthy cookbook and it made my sweet tooth very happy. it's super easy, so if you like bananas, or are looking for a not so heavy dessert, you should definitely try it.
Baked Bananasoil a baking sheet and preheat oven to 375.
peel bananas and slice in two lengthwise
place on baking sheet, sprinkle generously (or to your taste) with cinnamon and nutmeg and some raisens.
bake for 10-15 minutes.
the recipe suggested adding chocolate sauce if you like, but i didn't have any. i drizzled honey on top instead and it was divine. just enough sweet.
enjoy.
