Vegetarian Crock-pot Irish Colcannon

This may be a good idea, I thought a while ago. And it was. This actually turned out pretty great and I’ll be making it again the next time I have a head of cabbage laying around without a plan for its life. It’s a good time for crock-pot recipes here in Fresno California. The weather is hot and I swear the air conditioning can barely keep up. It’s really nice to have a crock-pot option rather than adding more heat to the house by running the oven. This recipe would go really well with some sausages…vegetarian or otherwise.

Crock-pot Irish Colcannon
6 medium potatoes, chopped
1 small cabbage, chopped
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon Earth Balance butter or margarine
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup soy milk
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup white cheddar cheese

1. Combine everything except the milk, eggs, and cheese into a crock-pot. Set on medium for 6 hours.
2. Turn off the heat on the crock-pot, add in the soy milk, and mash the contents using a potato masher.
3. Pour the eggs on top of mixture in the crock-pot and turn to high for 2 hours till the eggs are set.
4. Very quickly, so as not to lose too much of the captured heat, sprinkle the white cheddar on top and replace the lid.
5. Continue to let it cook on high 2 hours, or till cheese is melted and eggs are cooked through. To make sure the eggs are cooked, merely tilt the crock-pot slightly and see if the mixture on top wiggles.

Carrot-Cheddar Casserole

I really love my More-With-Less Cookbook. The recipe below is from it, though I have altered it slightly to make it one little bit easier (it was already a pretty simple recipe). As for crackers, I recommend Ritz. I’m particularly found of their buttery garlicky ones for this. Just a little extra decadence. This was really yummy. It tasted just a little bit like a quiche, but not quite. Because of that, it would be great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Perfect for a brunch, actually.

Carrot-Cheddar Casserole
3 cups cooked, mashed carrots
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/3 cup crushed crackers
2-3 tablespoons butter, softened
salt and pepper, to taste
parsley, chopped
topping:
more crushed crackers

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a greased baking dish, combine the ingredients and mix well.
3. Top the casserole with more crushed crackers.
4. Bake 30 minutes, or till top is nicely browned and a knife in the center comes out clean.

 

 

Carrot-Cheddar Casserole

Chicken with Lemon Grass or Ga Nuong Xa Ot

Chicken with Lemon Grass or Ga Nuong Xa Ot

It’s been a few years since I made a recipe from my “Street Cafe Vietnam” cookbook. I altered the recipe to use red pepper flakes and make it a bit easier. Don’t be intimidated by this dish. It’s actually incredibly simple and is one of my go-to last minute dishes for Jake when he wants some Vietnamese food but we don’t have a ton of time. To make it even easier, I keep a tube of pulverized lemon grass in my fridge at all times and follow the directions on the tube to sub the stuff in to my recipe. In the end, it’s barely any work at all, and it looks and tastes super impressive. I highly recommend this for your next busy night.

Chicken with Lemon Grass (Ga Nuong Xa Ot)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 stalks lemon grass, finely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 oz. water
2 teaspoons nuoc mam (fish sauce!)
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
pinch of raw sugar
salt and black pepper, to taste

1. In a medium skillet, saute the garlic and half the lemon grass in the oil till they’re soft but not brown.
2. Add the chicken. Stir fry till all sides are white.
3. Add some of the water and stir. Then add the nuoc mam and turmeric, stirring to incorporate.
4. Add the rest of the water, continuing to stir, then add the onion and cook till it begins to soften.
5. Add the rest of the lemon grass, the red pepper flakes, sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir well.
6. Cook 2-5 more minutes and serve hot over rice.

Couscous with Snow Peas and Radishes

Couscous with Snow Peas and Radishes

Jake really loves snow peas so I wanted to try this recipe from the Vegetarian Times website out. I didn’t have asparagus in the house, so I ended up altering the original recipe a bit. This was an okay dish, but I don’t think I’ll be making it again any time soon. It didn’t really wow either of us, unfortunately. I think it could potentially be altered to be more delicious, but I’m not exactly sure how I would do that at this moment.

Couscous with Snow Peas and Radishes
1/4 lb. snow peas, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch strips (about 1 cup)
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3 2-inch strips lemon zest
1 10-oz. pkg. couscous
3 radishes, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
3 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. chopped chives
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
1 Tbs. chopped mint

1. Cook asparagus and snow peas in large pot of boiling salted water 2 to 3 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse under cold water.
2. Bring broth and lemon zest to a boil in large pot. Put couscous in bowl, and stir in broth. Cover, and let stand 10 minutes. Discard lemon zest.
3. Fluff couscous with fork, and stir in snow peas, radishes, lemon juice, chives, parsley and mint. 4. Season with salt and pepper. Eat hot.

Honey-Baked Chicken

Honey-Baked Chicken

Jake and his pal Russ loved this recipe for Honey-Baked Chicken from the ever-awesome More-with-Less Cookbook. Of course, you can never really go wrong with baked chicken. Before I became a vegetarian, baked chicken was one of my favorite things! If you’ve got a vegetarian coming to dinner, make extra marinade and bake some tofu slices (in a separate baking dish, of course). You know why this works? Because margarine is actually VEGAN. Boom. Surprise. Some of you may not have known that, but you do now. If you have an actual vegan coming to dinner, sub in agave nectar for the honey. It’s really the easiest thing in the world, which is great. I would serve this alongside some nice greens…maybe some garlicky broccoli or some sautéed kale or spinach.

Honey-Baked Chicken
3 lb. chicken breasts, cut into fourths
1/3 cup margarine, melted
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Arrange chicken pieces in a shallow baking pan (skin side up, if you’re using breasts with the skin on).
3. Combine the margarine, honey, prepared mustard, salt, and curry powder in a bowl. Mix well and pour over the chicken.
4. Bake for 1 1/4 hour, basting every 15 minutes and turning the pieces once, till the chicken is tender and browned.
5. Serve over rice alongside some tasty veggies.

Gratin of White Turnips, Carrots, and Rice

Gratin of White Turnips, Carrots, and Rice

I got my copy of “Superfoods: 300 Recipes for Foods that Heal Body and Mind” by Dolores Riccio at a really awesome sale at one of my local used bookstores. I have always liked turnips, but I’m sick of doing the two things I do most often with them: mash them with my potatoes or slip them into a stew. I wanted something different. This recipe might be my new favorite way to eat turnips. It’s really delicious. Of course, with all that butter and cheese and milk in it it’s not really a super healthy recipe, but I figure I can have it here and there in my life. If you want some meat with this, then I will tell you that I split the recipe in half into two baking dishes and made the one pictured here for me and made one for Jake with chicken in it. I made it super easy on myself and just fried and then shredded a couple of chicken breasts and mixed them into the rice and turnip mixture. If I’d thought ahead a little more I might make a chicken gravy instead of the mornay sauce for his dish of turnip and rice. He really loved it so I say go ahead and try this at home if you’d like. One thing that is missing here is seasoning. We found we had to add salt and pepper to our plates since there was none included in the cooking, but that’s a small price to pay for using up all the turnips I got from the CSA this week. The biggest problem with this recipe is that it takes a long to grate all the turnips and carrots. It’s super annoying. Now if you have a food processor it only takes a minute….I do not own a food processor, so I grated them all by hand and it took FOREVER. Ugh! This would also go a bit faster if you used leftover rice rather than making some fresh for this recipe. It’s easy enough to make a bit of extra rice for your stir fry one night and then save the rest for this the next night. Even with the difficulties I had with this recipe, I have to say, it was totally worth it and this one comes highly recommended.

Gratin of White Turnips, Carrots, and Rice
4 purple-topped turnips, peeled and grated
3 carrots, scraped and grated
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons dry white wine
2 cups cooked brown or white rice
2 cups mornay sauce
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
paprika, to taste

for the mornay sauce:
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Heat the butter in a large skillet and fry the turnips and carrots for a couple of minutes, turning once.
3. Add the wine, cover, and steam till the veggies are reduced by half, about 5 minutes, making sure that the skillet doesn’t dry out.
4. While the turnips and carrots are cooking, start the mornay sauce by melting the butter in a medium saucepan and adding the flour, stirring well to combine. Cook it for 3 minutes, then add the milk (you can make it easier by warming the milk a bit in the microwave ahead of time) and keep stirring constantly till the sauce is bubbling. Add the white pepper and the cheese and whisk till smooth.
5. Combine the veggies and rice in a buttered glass baking pan with about a 1 1/2 quart capacity.
6. Pour the sauce evenly over top and sprinkle the breadcrumbs, paprika, and parmesan over all.
7. Bake till bubbly and brown, about 35 minutes.

Egg Foo Yung

Egg Foo Yung

We may or may not (ie. definitely DID) have overcooked the shrimp in the photo above because we weren’t paying close enough attention. When I say “we,” I mean ME. Haha! This recipe was awesome. We’ll just neglect to mention for the moment that this recipe is no longer a correct representation of the modern Chinese language and focus instead on the taste. This recipe from my so-loved “Encyclopedia of Vegetables and Vegetarian Cooking” was really wonderful. I was skeptical because I didn’t know how a recipe featuring bean sprouts would turn out. Apparently the answer to that is: WONDERFUL. The original recipe used green bell peppers, but I only had orange on hand that day and it turned out really nicely. There was also nothing to tell me what KIND of bean sprout to use, though the picture in the cookbook showed those nice fat ones…mung bean sprouts. At first I couldn’t find any in the stores, so I got some of those thinner stalked alfalfa sprouts. Then I happened to walk into the local co-op market (conveniently located across the street from my place of employment) and saw not only mung bean sprouts, but LOCAL Alaskan mung bean sprouts. Jackpot! So I actually ended up using about 75% mung bean sprouts and 25% alfalfa sprouts…and putting in a little bit extra. I used the five spice powder for the eggs, but as I’m not a massive fan of that spice I would not use it next time. In fact, I don’t think you need the egg in this recipe at all. The bean sprout stir fry was so good on its own that we gobbled it all down without any leftovers. Definitely put this on your list of new recipes to try. It was pretty easy and delicious.

Egg Foo Yung
salt and black pepper, to taste
3 eggs, beaten
generous pinch five spice powder (optional)
3 tablespoons canola oil
4 scallions, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 green or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 to 3/4 cup bean sprouts
3 cups cooked white rice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1. Season the eggs and beat in the five spice powder, if using.
2. In a large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil till quite hot and add the egg.
3. Cook as if it were an omelet, pulling the mixture away from the sides and allowing the rest to slip underneath.
4. Cook the egg till firm, then remove from the pan and slice into small strips.
5. Heat the remaining oil in the pan and stir-fry the onion, garlic, green pepper, and bean sprouts for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
6. Stir in the rice and heat thoroughly, mixing well.
7. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds, then return the egg and mix well.
8. Serve immediately, very hot.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

The author of “The Garden of Earthly Delights Cookbook: Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking” seems to have an odd obsession with vermouth. Almost every single recipe in the book calls for it. I am not a huge fan of vermouth so I’ve been trying one of the many suggested substitutes on the internet for it. This time I tried apple juice. It’s supposed to mimic the sweetness of vermouth. However, if you don’t have apple juice you can use a regular old broth. Vegetable broth would be great for this, or if you’re a carnivore I think you’d be best to use chicken broth. Either would work. To expedite the cooking process, make the rice the night before or plan this dish when you have some leftover brown rice burning a hole in your fridge from a previous night’s meal. I would use this as a main course (as it was for us the other night) or alongside something else in a bigger meal. It might complement a grilled chicken breast quite nicely, or some Asian-inspired baked tofu. In any case, the addition of the rice makes it quite filling.

Cauliflower Fried Rice
1 medium cauliflower, broken into florets
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon dried red chile flakes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 scallions, chopped
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 cups cooked brown rice, cooled

1. Combine the apple juice, soy sauce, agave nectar, sesame oil, and red chile flakes in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
2. Heat the oil on low-medium heat in a large skillet or wok and add the scallions, ginger, and garlic. Sauté 2 minutes then add bell pepper strips and sauté another 2 minutes.
3. Add the cauliflower and 1/2 cup water. Cover and simmer till the cauliflower is just about tender, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the brown rice and apple juice mixture and stir well to combine.
5. Turn the heat up to medium and fry till the vegetables are all tender. Make sure to stir frequently so the rice doesn’t stick and burn.
6. Serve hot, sprinkled with sesame seeds. Add salt and pepper to taste if you need to check the seasoning.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta with Kalamata Olives and Capers

Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta with Kalamata Olives and Capers

This recipe from the “La Dolce Vegan” cookbook was really tasty and easy. It has also solidified a new truth within my soul: I do not need a sauce for pasta. In fact, I may actually like to eat spaghetti better with this kind of roasted vegetable toss than with regular sauce. I should specify that the roasted veggies should definitely include some kind of tomato, cherry tomatoes seem to work the best here. That way you still get some of that acidic tang but it’s not overwhelming. I just loved this one. We tried it the first time about a month ago and we’ve made it 3 other times since then. I highly recommend this.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta with Kalamata Olives and Capers
24 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
penne or spaghetti for two
1 15-oz. can Kalamata olives, chopped
2 tablespoons capers, drained
parmesan cheese, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, garlic powder, balsamic vinegar, red pepper flakes, and oregano and spread across a cookie sheet cut side up. Bake 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, boil the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and return to the pot.
4. Add the roasted tomato mixture and a sprinkle of cheese to the pasta and toss well to combine.
5. Serve immediately, with extra parmesan if needed.

Butternut Squash Casserole

Butternut Squash Casserole, Rice, and Salmon

Every once in a while I get all squashy and buy multiple butternut squashes with no particular plan. Since squash lasts so long, sometimes I forget I have it. Then I realize it’s sitting there, waiting patiently for me and get to using it. This is one of those times. Last week you saw my tasty recipe for Butternut Tomato Soup and this week I bring you an old Vegetarian Times gem for Butternut Squash Casserole. I’ve marked this as “quick and easy” because of the small amount of ingredients and relatively short time it takes to put this together. There appear to be only 2 difficult steps in this recipe: preparing the butternut squash and waiting the 40 minutes for the casserole to bake.

Butternut Squash Casserole
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Combine the squash and onion in a 2-quart baking dish.
3. In a small bowl, blend the apple juice, butter, and honey.
4. Pour this mixture over top of the squash and onion and sprinkle with the almonds.
5. Cover and bake till tender, about 40 minutes.

Butternut Squash Casserole