Quinoa Medley with Beans and Corn

Posted: September 27, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

I seriously LOVE quinoa!

Really wanted to use up the rest of the quinoa I had in the house so I could use it as an excuse to go to New Frontiers and get more (plus some nice cheese…oh man). Something to note: I served this to my salty food loving boyfriend with tortilla chips and it worked really nicely. Dipping foods are always fun. Found this on the Vegetarian Times website (which, I think you may have noticed, I have come to rely on a lot). You can find the recipe online here.

Quinoa Medley with Beans & Corn

1 1/4 cups quinoa, rinsed
1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn
1/2 cup chunky salsa, divided
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbs. olive oil
lime wedges, for garnish (I didn’t have lime wedges, but this sounds GREAT)

1. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in saucepan.
2. Stir in quinoa, cover, and reduce heat to medium. Simmer 10 minutes.
3. Add beans, corn, 1/4 cup salsa and chili powder; season with salt and pepper.
4. Return to a boil. Cover, and cook 2 to 5 minutes more, or until quinoa is tender.
5. Stir in cilantro, oil and remaining salsa.
6. Divide among bowls, garnish with lime wedges, and serve.

Hangzhou Cuisine featured on NPR!

Posted: September 24, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

So on NPR’s Kitchen Window this week they decided to feature Hangzhou cuisine. I don’t know how they decide to choose these things, but…excellent decision! Author of the article, Laura McCandlish, is now my new favorite chef for bringing the food of the city I lived in and love to the general American public. I’m going to put the link to the NPR article below and you can look forward to my own attempts to cook these dishes in the near future. I know, I know. You’re all sitting there saying: “What the heck Erin? These have MEAT in them.” Well I don’t care, this is about my Chinese hometown’s food and I’ll eat that meat and love it because I MISS HANGZHOU!

ANYWAY…
Check out the article on NPR and check out Laura McCandlish’s own blog about cooking. I’ll include both links below so you don’t have to spend time and tears looking for them.

NPR article on Hangzhou Cuisine

Laura McCandlish’s Blog

The Grand Guinness Dinner Part II

Posted: September 24, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Pre-oven


So I needed something delicious to serve with the Guinness Beef Stew. It seems only right to me that if you have stew you NEED to have potatoes of some sort (hence the chive-y mashed potatoes) and some kind of bread as well. Since I just happened to have some leftover Guinness in the bottle I used for the Guinness Beef Stew I decided to attempt to combine it with a loaf of super crusty bread Jake and Mike happened to have sitting in the kitchen. Here is the result.

Guinness Dijon Cheese Bread

Long crusty loaf of bread
Leftover Guinness from the Guinness Beef Stew recipe
Butter
Dijon mustard
Cheese (of your choice)
Chives

Post Oven


1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cut a slit through the center of the bread, horizontally.
3. Take the rest of the bottle of Guinness from making the recipe above and distribute it along the cut of the bread, soaking the bread with it.
4. Take a small amount of butter and spread a thin layer inside the cut.
5. Take Dijon mustard and spread it inside the cut. Remember that Dijon mustard has a really strong flavor so a little goes a long way.
6. Stuff the bread with the cheese you chose.
7. Top the bread with diced chives.
8. Put the bread in the oven till the cheese is all melted and beginning to brown.

The Grand Guinness Dinner Part I

Posted: September 22, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

I made Jake take care of the meat

This past Saturday I made this crazy-huge dinner for Jake. It was centered around this particular recipe from the Irish Pub Cookbook. I made this Guinness Beef Stew, mashed potatoes with chives and created my own recipe for Guinness Dijon Cheese bread that I will be posting tomorrow. Anyway, here’s part one of what I’m calling the Grand Guinness Dinner.

Guinness Beef Stew

2 lbs. boneless beef sirloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
All-purpose flour for dredging
4 tablespoons unsalted Kerrygold Irish butter
¼ cup canola oil
4 medium onions, chopped
2 cups beef stock
2 cups Guinness stout
5 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
4 parsnips, peeled and thickly sliced
1 medium turnip, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
Mashed potatoes to serve

Mmmm...beer-y!


1. Season the meat with the salt and pepper and dredge in flour.
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the oil.
3. Cook the meat on all sides until evenly browned. Remove from the pot.
4. Stir in the onions and cook till soft.
5. Return the meat to the pot and add beef stock and Guinness to cover.
6. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 60 minutes or till the meat is nearly tender.
7. Add the carrots, parsnips and turnip.
8. Cook for another 30 minutes or till the vegetables and meat are tender and the stew is thickened. If it isn’t thick enough mix 2 tablespoons of flour with ½ cup water till smooth and add it to the stew for at least 5 minutes longer.
9. Serve over mashed potatoes.

Shepherd’s Pie

Posted: September 21, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Lamb, Main Course, Meat | Leave a comment »

Cooking up the filling

Before Jake left on his motorcycle to get to Arizona for school I asked him what he’d like most to eat when he got back. He came right to my house and I promised to have whatever he wanted waiting for him so he wouldn’t have to worry about getting something to eat after such a long long ride. He told me he wanted Shepherd’s Pie made with lamb. And so the vegetarian had to cook meat again. My friend Valerie let me borrow the “Irish Pub Cookbook” (link to buy it at Amazon.com on the cookbooks page) which she said had the best ever recipe for Shepherd’s Pie. It was (apparently, because I didn’t eat any) very good and since the cookbook also has several vegetarian friendly recipes I’ve decided to keep it for a bit and try some more of the recipes from its glossy-paged depths.

Shepherd’s Pie

Filling:
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 lbs ground lamb
salt and black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef stock

Topping:
2 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted Kerrygold Irish butter
3 tablespoons cheddar cheese, grated
paprika
flax seeds

To start the filling:
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the oil.
2. Add the lamb and cook till brown.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Remove from the heat.
5. With a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a large bowl.
6. Add the remaining oil to the pan.
7. Stir in the onion and cook until the onion is soft but not browned.
8. Add the carrots, parsley and thyme and cook, stirring once or twice for 2-3 minutes.
9. Stir in the flour.
10. Cook for 1-2 minutes then add the beef stock.
11. Bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
12. Add the meat.
13. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally 20-25 minutes or till the lamb is tender and the sauce is thickened.
14. Season again with salt and pepper.
15. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

To make the topping:
1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water till tender.
2. Drain and mash.
3. Add the milk and butter and stir till smooth.

Putting it all together:

1. Transfer the stew to a casserole dish.
2. Spread the mashed potatoes over the meat mixture and bake 10 minutes or till the mixture is hot.
3. Take the casserole dish out of the oven.
4. Sprinkle cheese, paprika and some flax seeds on top of the mashed potatoes.
5. Return to the oven and broil till the potatoes are lightly browned and the cheese is bubbling.

Finished!

Tofu Loaf

Posted: September 19, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Ready to blend

This was an interesting recipe to try. Found it in my beloved “La Dolce Vegan” cookbook. I was guessing it was supposed to be something along the lines of a meatloaf without meat. I was right. The recipe itself intrigued me so much that I couldn’t resist trying it. One thing that I would note to you all is that this tastes BETTER if it sits for a bit. Sticking it in the fridge overnight and warming it up a bit the next day was GREAT. Possibly even better than eating it right away. So IF you can restrain yourself (and that’s a big if) I’d recommend doing it that way.

Tofu Loaf

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup medium-firm tofu, drained
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tablespoon tahini (I used sesame seeds)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Oil a 9 inch loaf pan with the olive oil and set aside.
3. In a food processor, blend together the tofu, onions, garlic, ketchup, tamari, mustard, parsley, pepper, oatmeal and sesame seeds till well mixed.
4. Pour into baking dish, pressing down evenly into the pan.
5. Bake 55-60 minutes.
6. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

The vegetarian's answer to meat loaf!

Corn-Quinoa Salad

Posted: September 12, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Quinoa is even better than I thought it'd be!

One of the things I’m focusing on for this term (besides learning to cook the various squash in existence) is trying new grains. Or rather trying to COOK new grains since I’ve already tried things like barley but never actually attempted cooking them myself. The grain in this recipe is quinoa and it falls under both categories in that I have never cooked OR tasted it before. This is a really healthy grain though and full of good nutrients for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Since Mike had a bunch of leftover Bacon Mac & Cheese (that I cannot eat) and I had some leftover Tofu Loaf (kinda like meatloaf…the recipe for that will be posted in the next few days) I decided to make something light so we could finish off our leftovers but still have something fresh and lovely to chew on. Jake asked for a salad so I scoured the Vegetarian Times website for a salad that would be fresh and yet interesting for me to make. I’m not having it with a boring old salad. This particular recipe caught my eye as I thought it would potentially go really well with both of the previously mentioned leftovers. It was really quite a lovely salad and we just finished off the last bit of it this afternoon for lunch.

Corn-Quinoa Salad
Ingredients:
SALAD:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (from 2 ears)
1 1/2 cups halved cherry or grape tomatoes
1 cup finely chopped red cabbage
1 cup diced cucumber
DRESSING:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbs. maple syrup
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. salt

1. To make Salad: Bring quinoa, salt, and 11/2 cups water to a boil in saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Set aside, covered, 10 minutes.

2. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in separate saucepan. Add corn, and cook 1 minute. Drain, and rinse under cold water. Drain again. Stir together corn, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumber, and quinoa in bowl.

3. To make Dressing: Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth. Stir into Salad.

Quick Ginger Carrot Soup

Posted: September 12, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

This soup was okay. I’m not a HUGE fan of carrots but Jake is so I made this for him. Jake says that if you like carrots it’s a pretty nice soup to make.

Mmmm...veggies cooking.

Quick Ginger Carrot Soup

1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small potato, cubed
2 large carrots, chopped
2 inches fresh ginger, grated
2 cups vegetable stock
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper

1. In a medium soup pot on medium heat, sauté the onions in oil till translucent.
2. Add the potatoes, carrots and ginger.
3. Sauté another 2-3 minutes, stirring to avoid sticking.
4. Add the vegetable stock, salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer 15-20 minutes or till vegetables are tender.

Carrot-y goodness!


6. Take the pot off the heat and with a potato masher, mash the soup till it reaches the consistency you prefer.
7. Return to the stove. Reheat and serve.

Curried Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

Posted: September 10, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

One of the new things I’m focused on learning this term is how to cook the various kinds of squash. I thought I’d start out with butternut squash since I know that I used to like that as a kid before my squeamish stage set in. Found this recipe in the “La Dolce Vegan Cookbook” and made it for a small group of friends. It was a huge success and I’d recommend this recipe to anyone to try.

Curried Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
2 inches fresh ginger, grated
½ teaspoon garam masala
¼ teaspoon curry powder
1 medium potato, chopped
2 cups butternut squash, cubed
2 cups vegetable stock

1. In a medium soup pot on medium heat sauté the onions in oil till translucent.
2. Add the garlic, ginger, garam masala and curry powder.
3. Sauté another 2 minutes, stirring to avoid sticking.
4. Add the potatoes, squash and vegetable stock.
5. Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer till vegetables are tender.
6. Remove pot from stove and with a potato masher, mash the mixture till it reaches a consistency you prefer.
7. Return pot to the stove. Reheat and serve.

The squash and potato mashed up really really well together.

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