Archive for the ‘vegetarian’ Category

Wonders of a Tin Foil Pouch

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Last Thursday I unintentionally made dinner from items that were all purchased at the Brigham Circle Farmer’s Market or picked from my back porch.  Of course this would exclude olive oil salt and pepper, maybe some day I will be blessed with an olive grove, salina, and pepper vines (?), but for now those extras are coming from the cupboard.

From the Market: Corn, lettuce, cukes, onion, garlic, potatoes
From the Porch: Cherry tomatoes, basil, thyme

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The potato pouch is very simple, just drizzle some olive oil on the bottom of the tin foil pouch, add thinly sliced potatoes onions.  Drizzle more olive oil on top and give a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper along with some fresh thyme sprigs.  Roll up the tin foil and pop it on the grill over medium high heat for about 20 minutes.

Corn off the Cob w/ Roasted Garlic and Basil
I made this as a side dish but feel free to increase the quantity!

2 ears fresh corn sawed off the cob (this is always messy but if you cut the tip of the ear off it provides a level surface to stand the corn up on)
2-3 garlic cloves, roasted emily crow style*
drizzle of olive oil or butter
freshly chopped basil
salt and pepepr to taste

In a saute pan heat the oil and add chopped roasted garlic.  Add corn kernels, salt and pepper and stir until it is all coated.  If the corn is fresh then it doesn’t need to cook it just needs to heat through  and get some of that yummy roasted garlic flavor so about 30 seconds to one minute.  Take off heat and top with freshly chopped basil.

*Emily showed me a quick & easy way to roast garlic.  Peel the cloves, put them in a tin foil pouch with salt, pepper and a generous amount of olive oil.  Close up the pouch and toss it on the grill over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes.  Emily and I like to snack on the smaller crispier cloves like little savory candies and the left over olive oil in the pouch can be used in salad dressings.

Work Week Salad

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

If I am blessed with some leisure time on Sunday, meaning that it’s not spent traveling back to the Bean, then I love to make some type of hearty salad to munch on during the work week.  Since I did not have ample time on Sunday, my work week prep took place on Monday and my focus this time was on green lentils.

Green lentil Salad w/ Mushrooms & Thyme
1 C green lentils
1 Celery stalk, roughly choppedgreen_lentils-text408
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 bay leaves
1/2 package mushrooms, medium chopped
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped
bunch of scallions, chopped
1 TBS champagne vinegar
olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

Put lentils in a pot with celery, carrot, onion, bay, garlic, salt and pepper.  Cover with water and let simmer until lentils are tender (20-30mins) and skim off the foam that appears on the surface.  While lentils are simmering saute the mushrooms with olive oil and freshly chopped thyme. When the lentils are tender, drain and let cool and discard the vegetables and bay leaves.  In a large bowl combine lentils and mushrooms, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil to moisten the mixture and add a splash of champagne or white wine vinegar to awaken all the flavors.  Add the scallions and your work week salad is complete.

This salad is tasty warm or cold, if I have goat cheese on hand i like to sprinkle it on top, but my Man Crow persists it is fine without.

Greetings!

Friday, July 30th, 2010

The Crows That Be have bestowed a login upon yours truly, Mo Tracey. I made a brief guest “caw” over a year ago with a post about recycling, which was really a thinly-disguised attempt to justify the obscene quantity of beer, wine, and liquor vessels that had piled up in my foyer (pronounced the French way, foy-ye). Since then, I’ve moved in with my Steady Gentleman Caller (and moved up to a larger kitchen), spent a month camping through the South of France and Bordeaux, visited Louisiana, and recently returned from a jaunt through Québec. These Francophone-territory jaunts, coupled with my long-standing love of cookbooks, the increased availability of local produce in Boston, and the benefits of a paycheck, have all combined to turn me into quite the little cook.

Lest I overwhelm the collective voice of the blog via my self-indulgent introduction, I will provide the breakdown of the Watermelon and Feta salad I contributed to V-Bar’s delightful engagement party. I can’t take credit for the Jambalaya, that was all the boy and The Fat Man (Paul Prudhomme).

Watermelon and Feta Salad

adapted from Jacques Pépin

1 Watermelon, cut into bite-sized chunks or balled, if you have the patience

1/3 cup olive oil (the unsullied kind)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Tabasco (I like a good amount, but add to your taste)

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups crumbled feta cheese

1 small sweet onion, diced

1 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves

Jacques adds olives, but I omit.

Whisk together everything you can whisk in a big bowl, then add the watermelon, feta, and anything that’s not so easy to whisk and toss. Garnish with the mint. Eat soon, it quickly turns to soup as the melon de-bloats.

Back Porch Snackin

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

IMGP2234Too much mint and jalapenos?  How about some lite summer snacking of homemade salsa and guac with an iced cold pitcher of mojitos to wash it all down.  That’s what VBar, Emily and I were up to a couple weeks ago.  I can’t believe I forgot how delicious and easy making your own salsa is!

Fresh Salsa
1 pint cherry/grape tomatoes, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno, finely diced (use your discretion on seeds)
1 garlic clove, pressed (optional)
1 lime, zested and juiced
handful of cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients into a bowl, once mixed salsa should be ready to consume.  The lime zest is what really made this salsa pop for us crows, why do we not zest more often?

Black Bean Burgers

Monday, June 14th, 2010

I was feeling adventurous last week and decided to take another stab at making black bean burgers.  The first attempt wasn’t a major fail, the flavor was good but the consistency didn’t stand up to cooking so there was definitely room for improvement.  To deal with the burger’s crumbly nature i decided to employ the technique of refrigerating the patties for an hour prior to grill time.  The result was a sure win, the burgers held up to the grill heat and I was able to get those pretty grill marks without having them crumble.

Black Bean Burgers
2 16oz cans of black beans drained and rinsedburgerjpg
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 bunch cilantro or parsley, chopped
1 poblano pepper, finely diced
1 egg
1 C bread crumbs
cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper

Toppings: Feta, hot sauce & tomato slice

Puree the black beans (reserving 1/4 of them whole) in a food processor with seasoning, and garlic.  Drizzle in some olive oil and a dash of hot water if the mixture is too dry to blend.  Spoon purred bean mixture into a large bowl and add remaining beans, scallions, pepper, and cilantro.  Stir to combine and then add the egg and enough breadcrumbs to give you the right consistency to form patties out of the mixture.  I was able to make 6 medium sized patties but since these are quite filling, in the future I may make the patties into appetizer size which would yield around 8-10.  Refrigerate patties for at least an hour prior to cooking on the grill or stove top.  Add desired toppings and mow away.

With the black bean burgers under my belt I am anxious to try making some veggie burgers since the ones you buy in the store can be up to $6 for a box of four!  I imagine that the same refrigerator technique would apply with these patties but am not sure what to use as the main filler- any suggestions?  I was thinking a combination of purred veggies and grains but any advice would be useful…

It’s Like a Heatwave!

Monday, June 7th, 2010

I really wanted to try a new baked eggplant recipe that I found in a cookbook, Dishing Up Maine, but with Boston’s recent heatwave there was no way I was turning on any part of my stove to fuel the fire of my 85 degree apartment.  Instead I made some changes to the recipe to make it grilling appropriate and headed to the back porch in search of some cool breeze.

Grilled Eggplant Stacks w/ Random Herb Pesto
Cheese and herb options are really up to the cook, I shared what I used in italics but left the ingredients quite vague in the recipe.

1 large eggplant sliced in 1/2 inch rounds
2-3 tomatoes, thickly sliced (make sure you have the same amount of eggplant and tomato slices)
sliced melting cheese (Brie)
olive oil, salt and pepper
Random Herb Pesto: grind up fresh herbs, toasted nuts, chopped garlic and olive oil in a food processor and season with salt and pepper.  Adding a hodge podge of herbs is a good technique to use when your basil is getting low. (basil, chives, parsley, walnuts)

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Sprinkle both sides of the eggplant with salt and let rest in a strainer or drying rack for 15 minutes.  Dab moisture away with paper towels.  Brush both sides with oil and place on a preheated grill and put the cover down.  After a few minutes check for grill marks and flip.  Spread the pesto on the gilled side and add the tomatoes to the grill.

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Once the tomato slices are quickly grilled on both sides add them to the eggplant and cover with a piece of melting cheese.  Turn the grill on low and shut the cover until the cheese is fully melted.

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These eggplant stacks go great with some grilled bread and a garden salad.  If your kitchen isn’t a bazillion degrees then I would also suggest making some couscous as a side.

Getting Creative w/ Avocados

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

I had a mission to branch out of my guacamole ways and get a little creative with my recent surplus of avocados.  I found a few crafty ways on my own and also stumbled on this article at the perfect time: Beyond Guacamole- 5 Ways to Use Avocados.  I seriously felt like the internet was reading my mind!

There weren’t any REAL shockers in this article but I would be interested to see if #2 works effectively, who thinks to freeze mashed up avocado?  #4 seemed the most creative, since avocados are high in fat it makes sense that they would be good in baking, maybe I’ll put that on my kitchen to do list.

Here’s a few that I came up with:

Salad Ingredient- Dice up avocado and toss them with citrus juice and poppy seeds.  I think orange works well here but lime, lemon, and grapefruit are all prime candidates.  Add the diced avocado to your next garden salad for some richness.  Staying on the salad theme you could also add avocado to make a creamy vinaigrette like Miz Emily shared with us last June- Orange Basil Dressing.

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Sandwich Ingredient- I know this is old news but since I am an anti-mayo Crow, my new favorite substitute on a BLT is Avocado.  The key here is to use a mushier avocado and spread it on the bread rather then adding huge slices that fall off and add to the overall messiness of the sandwich.  You need to save room on the sandwich for the extra bacon as you can see in the picture below.  Note: this was constructed by my Man Crow who happens to love Mayo & Bacon.

bacon

Soup Topping: It’s common to add a dollop of sour cream on certain soups such as black bean or chicken tortilla but you can step it up a notch by pureeing avocado with sour cream or creme fraiche and adding a dollop of that!
Breakfast: Avocados and eggs are a match made in heaven whether you eat them on the side or stuffed in your breakfast burrito.  There is a brunch spot just around the corner from my apartment called Bon Savor that has the best options for omelets with avocado, check them out:
French Omelet Stuffed with fresh avocado, sautéed asparagus, tomatoes, and melted Swiss cheese
Richie Omelet Stuffed with fresh avocado, crispy bacon and melted Swiss cheese
It’s always so hard for me to decide between asparagus or bacon but the important description to pay attention to is the word “stuffed” because they pack atleast a half an avocado in each omelet.

Some of these ideas may or may not be new to you but if you are a lover of this delicious fruit (yes i checked on Wikipedia and it is indeed a fruit) then you probably share the belief that adding avocado to almost anything makes it better.

Mac & Cheese in the Cast Iron

Friday, May 14th, 2010

This may send readers into carb-overload after Mo’s delicious pasta posts but I have to share this tasty mac and cheese I whipped up in the good ol’ cast iron skillet before it escapes my memory.  I make mac and cheese quite often so I wanted to branch out with my cheese choice to add some variety into my life.  Browsing the dairy case I settled on a block of manchego, a little on the pricey side but I did not feel guilty splurging because it was the only ingredient I needed to buy.    I decided on the cast iron because I don’t use it nearly enough and secondly it makes this meal a one pot creation.

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Mac & Cheese w/ Manchego and Jalapenos
My strategy for making a bechamel or cheese sauce is simple: I wing it.  I follow the same technique but I never measure out quantities, sometimes it comes out perfect and other times it takes a little tweaking.  I start with a couple pads of butter and some olive oil and sautee finely diced onion and minced garlic until softened (for this batch I added some diced jalapenos to compliment the manchego).  Season with salt and pepper and stir in a couple Tablespoons of flour and cook for a minute or two.  Slowly add warmed milk or stock* and whisk to combine the mixture.  Stir in grated cheese and check for consistency.

If the mixture is too thick add additional liquid, you want this to be a little on the soupy side because it will be baking in a warm oven and some of the liquid will evaporate.  Once the cheese sauce is complete, stir in pasta and top with breadcrumbs and additional diced jalapeno.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the top is crusty.

My cast iron was the perfect size to produce enough food for my man crow and I to eat a hefty portion and have a little leftover for lunch the following day.  Next time I make this version of mac and cheese I would like to add a pinch of cumin for some smokey flavor and top it with freshly chopped cilantro.

*to make this dish on the lighter side I use veggie stock for the liquid combined with a little cream.

Pasta making!

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

For a few years I had been slaving over a make-shift rolling pin (mason jar full of water) to get my pasta dough thin enough. For anyone without a pasta maker, you know how tedious this can be. Last year though, I was fortunate enough to be gifted a beautiful new pasta maker from fellow Crow, Riane. Since then I have been knocking out raviolis, lasagna, and linguine like it’s going out of style. Check out the process!

pasta well sections press

Once the pasta is all rolled out, you can cut it up however you’d like. I opted to stuff raviolis with ricotta, spinach and parm. Just a few minutes in boiling water and it’s done!

A Crow will never let good food go to waste-the next morning I used the leftover ravioli stuffing to make an omelet. I topped mine with fresh chives and Sriracha sauce. Yum!

omelet

Easy Week Night Meals

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Here are a couple meals I whipped up this week when my kitchen energy was running pretty low.  These two recipes follow the same theme but when you change the flavor components in the marinade/dressing  it doesn’t taste monotonous at all.

Grilled Chicken & Rice Salad

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RICE: I chose brown rice for this salad and since it takes a while to cook it’s wise to start that first.  I like to cook my rice in stock to enhance the flavor, but if I don’t have any around then I just add some crushed garlic cloves, bay leaf, salt and red pepper flakes.  The easy part about rice is that it doesn’t need much tending so while it cooks you can prepare the rest of the meal.
VEGGIES: Since the theme here is easy I just went with red onion and red bell pepper.  I already preheated the grill for the chicken so thought it would also be a simple way to cook the pepper and onion. I put the pepper on the grill whole making sure to char it on all sides.  Once charred, place the pepper in a covered bowl and let steam for 15 minutes, then peel and slice.  If your pepper is massive, which was true for my case, put the leftover red pepper slices in a small jar or container with olive oil and save them for a future pizza or sandwich.   The onion took much less effort; just slice it in 1/4 inch rings, brush with olive oil and toss it right on the grill.  Once you get some grill marks flip them once, then chop up in half or quarters.
MARINADE:  Combine the juice of one lemon, 3-4 crushed garlic cloves, 1tsp of honey, freshly chopped oregano and or thyme, 3 TBS of white balsamic or champagne vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.   Whisk in 1/4C olive oil. Pour 3/4 of the marinade over the chicken and reserve the remaining to stir into the brown rice and veggie mixture.

The rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward: Combine cooked rice, roasted veggies and remainder of marinade in a large serving bowl.  Grill the chicken, let it rest and then slice it into strips to serve over the rice mixture.  We had leftovers, so for my lunch the following day I heated up a wrap, added sliced chicken and rice, rolled it up and I was good to go.  It seems like a lot of steps but it all can be done in the 40 minutes it takes to cook the brown rice.

Roasted Veggie & Barley Salad with Ginger-Garlic Dressing

This recipe stemmed from a night that I got home late from work and really wanted to order out for dinner but felt the guilt of having so many fresh veggies in my fridge so I bit the bullet and whipped up this salad in about 40 minutes.  I know I went over the 30 minute Rachel Ray/easy week night meal time limit but she totally gets help from kitchen elves during commercial breaks and 40 minutes is not a long time for a normal human to make a tasty dinner.

BARLEY:  Cook one cup of barley in a pot of salted water, for about 20 minutes or until tender.
VEGGIES:  Toss veggies in olive oil, soy sauce and garlic and roast in a 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.  Use what ever veggies you have on hand, I had broccoli, string beans, zucchini, carrots and onion.
DRESSING: Combine 1/2 tsp dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp honey, grated garlic and ginger, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce (I didn’t measure these but im guessing around 1-2 TBS).  Whisk in olive oil and pour it over the roasted veggie and barley mixture.

There you have it, one recipe for the carnivore and one for the vegetarian.