Portobello and Bell Pepper Quesadillas

I recently discovered just how "meaty" mushrooms can be...surprising, right? More like I am behind on this revelation. I've been enjoying roasted portobello mushrooms on these quesadillas, but I think they'd be great served in a kale salad too.

For these quesadillas, I recommend pairing with a simple salad to get in more vegetables (I found myself missing this component when served exclusively for dinner). I also like to serve this with a zesty deconstructed guacamole--mashed avocado seasoned liberally with salt, pepper, and lime juice.

Portobello and Bell Pepper Quesadillas

Adapted from The Candle Cafe Cookbook

Ingredients

• 2 large portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 red bell peper, sliced
• Olive oil
• 1/4 tsp seasoning salt, or to taste
• 1/4 cumin or chili powder, optional
• 1 1/2 C cooked beans (black, white, or pinto)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
• 6 sprouted grain tortillas
• 1/2 C cheddar or non-dairy cheese

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss the sliced mushrooms and bell pepper with oil, salt, and any seasonings. Spread evenly over a large baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine beans, garlic, salt, and lemon/lime juice in a food processor or blender. Pulse until incorporated. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
3. When the mushrooms and peppers finish roasting, remove from oven and increase temperature to 400 degrees.
4. To assemble the quesadillas, spread the bean mixture over one whole tortilla. Top with one third of the mushroom and pepper mixture, then top with a third of the cheese. Top with another tortilla and place on a baking sheet.
5. Assemble remaining quesadillas, placing in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping half way through. Cut in wedges and serve hot.

Pin It

Fresh Tomato Soup with Vodka

I wasn't expecting to, but I really love this soup. I've never tasted any tomato soup with such a strong tomato flavor. Granted, this was also my first experience with homemade tomato soup.

I used homegrown tomatoes, the last ones of the season for this. It's a tasty way to use up a bunch of tomatoes.



Fresh Tomato Soup with Vodka

2 lb ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
2 1/4 C vegetable stock
1/3 C breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp dried herbs of choice
salt and pepper
2 tbsp vodka

1. Put the tomatoes, green onions, sugar, tomato puree, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and vegetable stock into a stockpot and let simmer for about an hour, covered, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the breadcrumbs, dried herbs, and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 20-30 minutes.
3. Add the vodka, then serve.

Pin It

Mango Summer Rolls

This recipe is basically just an assembly of fresh ingredients and can be customized as much as you want to incorporate your favorite flavors. This is my version, adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance, incorporating the ingredients I had on hand. I recently saw Giada De Laurentiis do a fruit spring roll that looks quite delicious, so really, the sky's the limit.

Mango Summer Rolls

Ingredients

• Rice paper wrappers, softened in hot water
• 1 mango, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
• 1 cup sprouts or delicate greens (I used pea shoots)
• 4 oz saifun bean threads, softened (or rice noodles)
• Cilantro, mint, coconut, ground peanuts, etc (optional)

Method

1. In the lower portion of the rice paper wrappers, place a few tablespoons of noodles, any optional ingredients, 5 slices of mango, and sprouts.
2. Tuck the sides of the paper in and begin rolling. Keep covered with a damp cloth, chilled, until ready to eat.
3. Serve with dipping sauce.

Summer Roll Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp shiracha hot sauce, or to taste
• 1 tsp soy sauce, or to taste
• 1 garlic clove, pressed/minced
• 1 1/2 tsp super-fine sugar

Method

1. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients until combined. If necessary, microwave for a few seconds to dissolve the sugar.
2. Serve chilled.

Pin It

yellow dal

I mentioned homemade chicken stock yesterday--I decided to make yellow dal with it. I found this recipe in the foodday section of the newspaper while browsing through the recipes. It also happens that I bought yellow split beans at an Asian grocery store this weekend.

I have absolutely no experience with Indian cooking so I didn't know what to expect. The recipe was really easy to make, though, and tasted pretty good. Unfortunately, I forgot to add salt when cooking but it's a fairly easily remedied mistake. Here's my lunch, served over brown rice--



Yellow Dal

the peas:
1 C yellow split peas
1/2 bay leaf
1/4 tsp tumeric
3 cups chicken stock (obviously not vegetarian, but I don't mind)
Salt

1. Rinse the peas extremely well with running water in a sieve. Water should run clear. Add the peas to a pot with the other ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce to a simmer for 20-30 minutes until tender. Season with salt.

the tadka:
1/4 C vegetable oil (or ghee)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 C thinly sliced onion
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1. In a pan, heat the oil over medium high to high heat. Add cumin seeds and fry for 10 seconds, then add the onion. Cook the onion over medium heat for 12 minutes until golden brown. Add in the crushed red pepper flakes and cook for another 2 minutes or so.
2. Serve the tadka over the top of the dal.
   

Pin It

soup and sandwich dinner

It's fall and butternut squash is in season. What better way to prepare it than roast it, then make it into a soup?? I was really inspired to make soup after seeing Thai Spiced Pumpkin Soup on 101 cookbooks. The recipe does call for acorn squash, but I used butternut since I had it on hand and it tastes great!

Pair that with a grilled cheese sandwich, enhanced with cheese, apple, and bacon and you've got a seriously good meal.

This recipe comes from Tyler Florence, another one of my favorite Food Network chefs. If you are tired of eating the same old, I have nothing else to eat so grilled cheese will do, sandwich, be sure to give this one a try!

(Not your ordinary) Grilled Cheese

2 slices of bread
green apple, sliced thin
2 pieces of bacon, cooked until crisp
white cheddar cheese, sliced
dijon mustard
butter

1. Heat a griddle over medium heat.
2. To assemble the sandwich, spread a layer of dijon mustard on one slice of bread. Layer the cheese, apple, and bacon on top, then add the other slice of bread. Butter the bread and place onto the griddle, butter side down. Be sure to butter the other side of the sandwich at this time.
3. Cook the sandwich until golden brown, flip, and cook the other side until golden as well.

Pin It

Jamaican Jerk Spiced Tofu

I found this recipe, thinking I had tempeh waiting to be used...turns out I was wrong! So I decided to use extra firm tofu instead.



Jamaican Jerk Spiced Tofu

1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 block extra firm tofu, cubed
2 carrots, shredded

Vegetable/canola oil for the pan

Combine the spices in a bowl; set aside.

In a skillet, heat oil over medium to medium high heat. Add tofu and stirfry until lightly browned. Add the spices to the pan and toss with tofu, then add carrots.

Serve over rice.

Pin It

Onigiri: Japanese Rice Balls

Onigiri is one of my favorite Japanese snacks/meals. I used to grab a couple from the convenience store for a quick lunch--so good! There's something special about the Japanese smoked salmon, perhaps umami??

I got my Onigiri recipe from Let's Cook Japanese Food! It's a really great basic Japanese cookbook with tons of great recipes. I chose to use leftover rice from dinner, along with grilled salmon. Not as good as the authentic variety, but simple to make. The onigiri recipe is on page 142 for reference. I'm not going to cover the recipe here, but just explain what to do.

Onigiri

Ingredients

• Japanese style short grain white rice (Nishiki is a good starter brand, available at most grocery stores), cooked and cooled
• Cooked salmon, flaked

Method

1. Spoon out a small handful of rice into wet hands. Gently compact rice into a rounded triangle shape (see picture for example); this will be the shape of your rice ball.
2. Make an indentation in the rice for your salmon filling--I like a wide and deep indentation which better allows for each bite of rice ball to have some salmon.
3. Place flaked salmon in the indentation, making sure not to overfill, as this will make it difficult to contain.
4. Take a bit more rice and cover the salmon filling, reforming the triangle shape if necessary.
5. You can wrap in a piece of seaweed if you like, but I do not recommend this if you plan to store for any amount of time.

This makes a great portable snack or quick lunch while you're on the go. Pack it with a salad and this makes a great lunch.

Pin It