Posted: August 31, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
With egg on the left, without egg on the right.
I originally found this recipe in the “Easy Vegetarian” cookbook. The original version had me shredding potatoes and whatnot but as I read I thought: “Easy? I can make this even easier than they did!” So instead of grating a bunch of potatoes, I bought some frozen hash browns at the store. I did chop up the herbs because I just happened to have a good amount of both of them in the house, but you wouldn’t have to go to all that trouble. Dried herbs would work just as well, or even ground herbs, as long as you keep the measurements appropriate. I actually tried two things with this recipe. First I made the recipe according to the directions in the cookbook, then I cracked 2 eggs into a bowl, scrambled them up with my chopsticks (like any good American gal who lived in China knows how to do), and added them to the mixture to make it stick together better. Both ways worked well. This was definitely more of a breakfast kind of food than anything you’d serve for dinner. I ate mine for lunch with iced italian roast. It was yummy.
Herby Potato Rösti
3-4 cups frozen shredded hash browns
3-4 large sage leaves
a sprig of thyme, leaves stripped
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
1. Thaw the frozen hash browns and put them in a bowl.
2. Finely chop the sage and thyme leaves, discarding any woody stalks.
3. Add the herbs to the grated potato and mix well.
4. Using your hands, shape a heaped tablespoon of the mixture into a ball. Shape the rest of the mixture in the same fashion.
5. Heat half the oil in a large skillet until hot. Add the shaped potato cakes to the skillet and flatten with a spatula. Saute 5 minutes or till golden.
6. Turn the rösti over and lower the heat. Continue to cook for 5-10 minutes until golden and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
7. Transfer the rösti to a serving plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Posted: August 30, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
Potato and Radish Salad
This recipe, from “The Encyclopedia of Vegetables and Vegetarian Cooking” cookbook, was my very first experiment with radishes! I made this in the morning and let the potatoes soak for a couple of hours so the potatoes would absorb as much of the liquid as possible and just ate some of it for my lunch. I keep forgetting to eat before leaving for my classes and for work so I’m trying to get better at it. This may be my new favorite potato salad recipe. It was totally delicious and easy to make. It’s also just a beautiful, colorful salad.
Potato and Radish Salad
1 pound new potatoes, scrubbed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
2 teaspoons coarse-grain mustard
1 teaspoon honey
salt and black pepper
6-8 radishes, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1. Boil the potatoes until just tender. Drain, return to the pan, and cut any large potatoes in half.
2. Make a dressing with the oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, and seasoning. Combine them thoroughly in a bowl.
3. In the pan, toss the potatoes in the dressing while they are still cooling and let them stand for an hour or so.
4. Mix in the radishes and chives. Chill lightly, toss again, and serve.
Posted: August 28, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
Rosemary-infused Lemonade
Here’s
another fabulous recipe from Greg and Katherine, the authors of “Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide.” When I first read through this recipe I thought that there was no way this could be good. It sounded nuts. I was about ready to ship a crate of almonds to their house and call them crazy (the former they probably would appreciate, the latter not so much) but decided to try this. I made this when my friend Michael came to visit and it was so refreshing and tasty that we finished the entire pitcher in just two hours! No scurvy for us two! I absolutely recommend that you make this right now. In fact, look at the ingredients list and just go the store. Right now. I’ll wait for you to get back. Hum hum hum. La dah dee dum. Are you back? Is this glorious concoction cooling in the fridge as you read? Excellent. In just a little while you’ll be the happiest person on earth. Congratulations, you’ve made an excellent life decision. Anyway, the recipe below is basically word-for-word what’s found on their blog but what you cannot find on THIS page is 1) a good picture of the drink (theirs is much prettier than mine turned out to be), and 2) extra tips for making this drink super special. To find out more you’re going to have to click on the hyperlink at the beginning of this paragraph and check out the recipe on their blog. I’m only the messanger, not the creator. But someday I hope to be able to take credit for something this good. Enjoy your lemonadey leisure time!
Rosemary-infused lemonade
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 fresh rosemary sprigs about 6″ long (strip the green from the wood)
1 1/2 cups lemon juice
1. Combine sugar and water in a two-quart saucepan and set over medium heat.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved.
3. Add rosemary and boil for about five more minutes, or until the water is golden.
4. Take off heat and allow to steep until cooled to room temperature.
5. Strain into a two-quart pitcher.
6. Pour in lemon juice and fill the rest of the way with water. The mix will still be strong. If it’s too tart add more water as needed.
Posted: August 25, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
Tofu Rancheros
I
just got home from my first shift at the Arizona Health Sciences Library and I decided that the best way to celebrate is to post
this recipe from the Vegetarian Times website that I made a couple of days ago for dinner. It’s late right now (almost 1:30am) so honestly I’m going to have a glass of orange juice, wash my face and go to bed, but I thought I’d go out in style this evening by leaving you with this recipe. This was super easy to make and pretty delicious. This is a great alternative to the normal huevos rancheros that includes eggs, so vegans take note! Sometimes eating eggs makes me ill, so I’m always on the lookout for something sassy with major tofu power. Honestly (and I’m so not ashamed to admit this), I think that the thing I loved most about this recipe were the refried beans. Even though they just came out of a can they were such a welcome balance to the spicy sauces in the tofu mixture. Plus refried beans is not something that I eat often unless I go out to a Mexican restaurant. I never think to make them myself. The night I made this for dinner (I actually think I made this on Monday night) these beans were just what I needed. So filling and so great in my tummy! Yum! So I definitely recommend making this. And remember that if you’re not a vegan you can always sub eggs where the tofu goes in this recipe. See kids…we can all get along!
Tofu Rancheros
2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, minced (1 cup)
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup diced extra-firm tofu (14 oz.)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 15-oz. can Refried Beans with Green Chiles, warmed
6 6-inch corn tortillas
2 tomatoes, diced (2 cups)
1 avocado, diced (1 cup)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Sauté 5 minutes. 2. Stir in tomato sauce, tofu, and lime juice; simmer 10 minutes.
3. Spread beans on tortillas, and top with tofu mixture. Garnish with tomatoes, avocado, and cilantro.
Posted: August 24, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
Cuke-Chick Salad
When it’s hot as hell you need to find something cool to take your mind off of things. This is another recipe from “PETA’s Vegan College Cookbook” that I made for Michael’s visit. We actually forgot to eat anything because we got so caught up in talking. He took some of the watermelon salad with him and I kept this to eat for lunch when the heat is fierce and a chilly salad is just the ticket! I added a bit more onion powder than this recipe called for. I felt like it was missing something. I’m going to experiment with other spices the next time I make this and see if I can improve it.
Cuke-Chick Salad
2 cucumbers, sliced
1/2 a 15oz. can chickpeas
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup distilled vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
1. Put the cucumbers and chickpeas in a bowl.
2. Add the onion powder and vinegar.
3. Stir everything together.
Posted: August 23, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
Watermelon Marinated In Toasted Sesame Oil
Michael came to visit yesterday and since it’s hotter than hell here in Tucson I knew I needed to have something cool and refreshing to offer him. I ended up making a couple of salads and some lemonade (these recipes to follow in the coming days). First I put together
this recipe from NPR’s Kitchen Window. Fruit salad is always a great idea in the summer time and watermelon in particular is filled with juicy goodness. This was really easy to make. The recipe called for using a melon baller, but since I don’t have one of those I just cut half a watermelon into bite-sized chunks. You’ll also notice that I added a sprinkle of real toasted sesame seeds to top the watermelon as well. Also I used pink Himalayan salt rather than just regular coarse salt. It was definitely a pink salad.
Watermelon Marinated In Toasted Sesame Oil
12 to 24 1/2-inch watermelon balls
2 sprigs fresh mint, bruised
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Coarse sea salt (or pink Himalayan salt)
1. Combine all ingredients except salt in a zippered bag, gently toss to coat and refrigerate 1 to 3 hours. Toss gently once or twice more.
2. Arrange 3 or 4 balls on the plate before serving.
3. Sprinkle a few crystals of sea salt on the melon just before serving.
Posted: August 21, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
Fresh out of the oven!
The week of zucchini goodness continues! I found
this recipe using zucchini, chickpeas AND olives on the Vegetarian Times website! What a great find! Three things that I adore in one recipe. Oh glorious and beautiful Saturday evening in which I can consume this lovely dinner! And what glorious meals of leftovers shall await me in the next couple of days! One of the things I thought was terribly interesting about this recipe is the fact that there are no onions required. I always find it strange when onions are not involved in a recipe because I rarely cook anything that doesn’t ask for some type of onion. I also did a bit of research today. I had to open a new can of tomato paste for this recipe. Usually when I have to open a can of tomato paste I make sure that I use it within 2 days or toss it. It gets pretty disgusting pretty quickly. I found myself wondering if there was a better way to keep it stored for a longer period of time. I did a little internet research and multiple sources said that freezing tomato paste in a plastic container actually preserves its taste better than shoving it in the normal part of the fridge and that it actually lasts longer (no surprise there, really). Tomorrow I’ll go on the hunt for a small plastic container in which to deposit my leftover tomato paste from now on. I’m glad I took a few minutes to research rather than just attempting to use it up quickly.
Baked Penne with Zucchini, Chickpeas, and Olives
8 oz. penne pasta
1/2 lb. zucchini, coarsely chopped (2 cups)
1 15oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 14.5oz. can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, juices included
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 11- x 7-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Cook penne according to package directions for al dente in large pot of boiling salted water. Drain, rinse under cold water, and drain again. Return penne to pot, and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, combine zucchini, chickpeas, tomatoes and juices, tomato purée, 2 Tbs. olives, oil, tomato paste, and garlic in large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 5 minutes, or until sauce begins to thicken, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir zucchini mixture into penne, and season with salt and pepper, if desired.
5. Transfer penne mixture to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and remaining 2 Tbs. olives.
6. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until pasta is heated through and breadcrumbs are golden brown.
Baked Penne with Zucchini, Chickpeas, and Olives
Posted: August 20, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
Baked Eggs over Tomato Sauce
There is a person whose blog I link to from mine and whose cooking is so fabulous that you can’t help but say a prayer that someday you’ll sit at his table for dinner. This is the mastermind behind Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide. I subscribe to his blog and when I saw this little gem of a recipe I could not resist trying it out. I did change a few things about the recipe because I didn’t have any mushrooms in my fridge, so I used broccoli. You can find the original recipe as he made it
on his blog. You should definitely make his blog a regular read; you won’t be disappointed. I made one unconscious mistake in this recipe, and that was using medium eggs rather than large. Although the recipe doesn’t specify which size of eggs you need to use, I couldn’t quite cover the entire top of the pie. I would definitely make sure you had large eggs, or a ton of smaller ones. This is an absolutely perfect recipe for brunch or lunch. It’s a lovely combination of breakfast and the savory goodness of lunch.
Baked Eggs over Tomato Sauce
8-12 large Roma tomatoes seeded and chopped
1/2 cup onion diced fine
2 small-medium stalks of broccoli, cut into florets
2 tbsp fresh basil chopped
5-6 eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste
1. Melt a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil in large frying pan.
2. Fry onion over medium heat until translucent.
3. Add broccoli and brown.
4. Add tomatoes, 1/2 the basil and season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium until sauce thickens.
5. Spoon sauce into a 9″ pie plate. Sprinkle with some basil, salt and pepper.
6. Carefully crack eggs over sauce in one even layer. Season again with the last of the basil, salt and pepper.
7. Bake in an oven set to 375 degrees until whites have just set, about 8 minutes. To aid in the eggs setting without overcooking the yolk add a 1/2 cup boiling water to another pan below the eggs in the oven. The steam will help set the top faster.
Posted: August 19, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
Apple Burgers
This recipe from the “Vegetarian Planet” cookbook was interesting enough (Apple burgers?! Seriously?!) to make me want to try it. It also ended up being pretty simple. I haven’t used Granny Smith apples much and I have a small bag of them that I bought for the previous recipe. They’re a bit too tart for me to eat on my own so I’m glad I have these recipes to try. I haven’t tried too many recipes from this cookbook yet so I was excited to try another. These were super tasty, but I had a lot of trouble getting them to stick together in a shape. However, since I was eating them in an open-faced sandwich kind of way it wasn’t really necessary for them to stick together so well. I tried them first topped with some medium salsa and then with ketchup. I liked the sweetness the ketchup gave to them best.
Apple Burgers
1 cup minced onion
2 tart apples (such as Granny Smith), grated
8 slices toasted sandwich bread
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cups cooked white or brown rice
6 tablespoons rolled oats, ground in a blender
1/2 teaspoon of salt, or more to taste
black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon canola oil
1. Put the onion into a large bowl.
2. Squeeze the grated apples lightly to remove excess juice then add them to the bowl.
3. Chop the bread very fine and whirl it to crumbs in a food processor.
4. Add the bread crumbs, bell pepper, ginger, cooked rice and half of the ground oats to the apple and onion. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Form patties about 1 1/2 inches thick (should make 4).
6. Place a large skillet over medium heat and add the oil.
7. Coat the patties with the remaining ground oats.
8. Cook them for 2-3 minutes per side or till they brown slightly.
9. Serve with hot sauce, slaw or ketchup.
Posted: August 18, 2011 | Author: onewomaninaricefield | Filed under: Uncategorized |
Instant Enlighten-Mint Chocolate Latte, both hot (right) and iced (left)
I can’t believe how much effort it takes to find peppermint extract in this city. I’m sure this is not the norm, but I feel like everything I went to get today was twice as hard as normal to find. The peppermint extract was the hardest to find by far. First I went to Whole Foods looking for nutritional yeast. I had to drive there as it’s a bit far from my apartment in this scorching weather. Sadly they were all out of the lovely bulk stuff and since I didn’t want to have to drive the car to that end of town again to look, I just ended up buying a small canister of it that was probably marked up more than a freshman student’s first paper. In my search for peppermint extract I tried Trader Joe’s (didn’t carry it at the store), a Fry’s (totally out of it), and finally the Albertson’s near my house (where it was over $4 for a small bottle…yikes!) before finding it. Such a crazy day for errands. However, this recipe from “PETA’s Vegan College Cookbook” sounded so tasty and so simple that I couldn’t resist trying it out. I did make a couple of changes to the original recipe however. I did not feel like going out and buying chocolate milk simply for this one recipe so I used vanilla soy milk instead and used Hershey’s chocolate syrup to give it the chocolate flavor.
I ended up making an iced and hot version of this to see how they would compare. After trying them I’m really glad that I spent all that time searching for peppermint extract. Both hot and iced versions were delicious but the iced one cooled me down immediately, and in 100+ F weather that is worth its weight in gold! Definitely try this recipe iced in the summer and hot in the winter time.
Instant Enlighten-Mint Chocolate Latte
1 cup chocolate milk (regular or soy, depending on your vegan or non-vegan persuasion)
2-3 teaspoons instant coffee grounds
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
sugar, to taste
springs of fresh mint or dried crushed mint, to garnish
1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Microwave until hot, about 2 minutes.
