Fresh Cherry Tomato Salsa

This year I've grown an abundance of cherry tomatoes, especially yellow ones, along with jalapenos and cilantro. I whipped up some amazing fresh salsa the other day using all of these plus some green onion and spices and served it with black bean tacos topped with sour cream. I could eat this every day!

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of green onions, chopped finely
• 1-2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes (yellow and/or red), diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• pinch of sugar
• pinch of salt and black pepper

Chop and mix everything together. Use the spices to taste and squeeze a bit of lime juice into it if you like. Great with tacos, chips, quesadillas, eggs, etc.

Tempeh Sloppy Joes

For whatever reason vegetarian sloppy joes sounded like a good idea today. I searched the internet for a recipe and there are probably thousands of them. I ended up trying this one (from Lazarocooks) and it was pretty good.

If I had to change anything I'd reduce the amount of tomato sauce and maybe add some lentils or some other beans. Since it was a little too saucy I added about 2 or 3 tablespoons of instant mashed potato flakes to thicken it up a bit. So here's what I ended up with:

Ingredients

8 oz. package tempeh, finely cubed/crumbled (I used this kind)

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

15 oz. can tomato sauce

1 tbsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. Sriracha

2-3 tbsp. potato flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a pan or wok on medium heat. Add onion and saute until transparent.

Add tempeh and red pepper and saute until browned a bit. 

Stir in chili powder, sriracha and garlic powder and saute a little longer.

Add in worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and tomato sauce.

Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. If it's still too saucy, stir in the potato flakes until thickened to your liking. 

Serve on kaiser buns. Makes at least 4 sandwiches.

Roasted Gobi Aloo - Day 14

Day 14 and we're not really missing the meat at all. We are also spending a lot less (veggies are often cheaper than meat and we're not eating out as much). Here's tonight's meatless meal inspired by this, but simplified by using a prepackaged sauce.

Ingredients

• 4 medium sized yukon gold potatoes, diced
• half a head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• olive oil
• salt
• 1 pouch of simmer sauce (like Tasty Bite, we used Good Korma)
• sriracha
• 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed

Preheat oven to 450
Toss potatoes and cauliflower with olive oil and salt. Spread out into a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Pour sauce into a big pan or wok and heat on low
When veggies are done, scrape them into the pan and add chick peas. Stir to coat evenly.
Add sriracha to your desired heat level. Add a splash of water if the sauce is too thick.
Simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Breakfast Burritos - Day 10

This morning Nick and I made some awesome vegetarian breakfast burritos. They went something like this:

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 sweet onion, diced
• handful baby portobellos, diced
• half a red pepper, diced
• 1 cup-ish of frozen shredded potatoes
• garlic powder/salt/pepper/sriracha
• butter
• light olive oil
• shredded "taco" cheese
• burrito size flour tortillas
• 
  

We cooked the scrambled eggs first, in butter, and set them aside.

Then, heat some olive oil and spread the potato in a thin layer, sprinkle with spices, let it fry for a few minutes to get crispy. Flip them over and stir in the veggies.

Stir-fry it all together until the onion gets caramelized and everything is starting to get a little crispy. Stir in the sriracha.

Add the scrambled eggs to the pan and stir them in. Turn off the heat and sprinkle with cheese. Roll up into tortillas. Nom!

Tofu Satay - Day 6

Tonight we put together a quick veggie stir-fry inspired by this video:

Except I used the following:

• baby portobellos, chopped 
• sweet onion, diced
• yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 block of extra firm tofu, diced and shredded a bit
• Satay sauce
• Sriracha

Served over plain white Jasmine rice with a little fresh cilantro on top.

Gruyere Popovers

 I happened to pick up gruyere cheese recently simply because it's something I don't see often and had never tried it. It's a really nutty/bitter hard cheese and wasn't sure what to do with it. Then I came across this recipe over at Martha Stewart's website. I had recently acquired a popover tin and hadn't used it yet so I went for it and made these this morning. So good! And only 4 ingredients: flour, milk, eggs, cheese (well, and a pinch of salt).

I halved the recipe and only made 6 instead of 12. Served them cut in half with butter and jam.

Confetti Chili

Even when made with meat, I like my chili very veggie heavy. Here's my latest chili incarnation. Lots of veggies plus two kinds of beans makes this one look pretty colorful and festive.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1/2 bell pepper, diced
• 1 can chili ready beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can diced tomatoes w/ chilis
• about 16 oz. tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• about 1.5 cups of water + 1 bouillon cube
• salt/pepper/chili powder/red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

• Brown ground beef in a large stock pot or dutch oven. Add onion, celery and carrot and saute until onion is slightly softened.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Spices should be added per your desired heat level.
• Cover and continue to simmer for about 20-30 minutes until all veggies are softened. The celery will take the longest so if those are soft, everything else should be finished.
• Serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or a bit of shredded cheese.

Meatloaf Muffins

Yea, not at all veggie but super easy and delicious. I wanted to write down this basic recipe so I'll remember it later.

Ingredients

• 1-1.5 lbs ground meat (beef, pork, turkey, etc. or a mixture)
• 1 box stovetop stuffing (any flavor)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup water
• spices and/or sauces to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Mix meat, stuffing, eggs and water together in a big bowl with a rubber spatula (I found this to be easiest). Add any spices you like though you don't need much because there's already a good amount in the stuffing mix. You can also add a bit of BBQ, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, gravy or whatever else sounds good to you.
• Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray and fill each cup with the mixture. Top with additional sauce if desired.
• Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from muffin tin.

Makes 12 meat muffins. These refrigerate and freeze well and are great for packing into lunches or for a quick dinner. They might also be good topped with cheese or mashed potatoes. I've thought about experimenting with a veggie version but I made veggie meatloaf before and it was terrible. I'm sure it can be done though. If you know of a good one I'd love to try it!

Veggie Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, I'm considering planning an all vegetarian spread for my husband and me. Sure, we'll most likely have a bit of turkey or ham at my parent's house but I'd like to see if I can put together an awesome meal at home without it. This post is the beginning of my collection of easy vegetarian/healthy holiday recipes. I hope to expand this through to Xmas as well.

• crockpot acorn squash (also gluten free)
• maple roasted Brussels sprouts
• parsnip ecrasse
• Ok pretty much all of these (check out the vegetarian section) I was going to pick out a few choice recipes but they are all worthy of bookmarking.
• roasted root veggies
• golden-crusted Brussels sprouts
• vegetarian Cornish pasty
• and maybe I'll work up my own Thanksgiving-style veggie pasties

Spinach Gouda Grilled Cheese

OK so grilled cheese does not need a recipe. I'm only posting this because it was a delicious idea that I want to remember later.

I used this Arnold Butter Split Top high fructose corn syrup-free bread
1 slice of Gouda cheese
1 small handful of fresh baby spinach
Smart Balance olive oil based "buttery spread"

I think you know what to do from here ;)

p.s. I've tried it with more cheese because I love cheese and more should be better, right? But surprisingly I find that it's too much. Restrain yourself, one slice is perfect!

Spicy Veggie Cold-Fighting Soup

I was home sick with a terrible cold this past weekend so I whipped up some soup using some of the leftover filling from last weeks Butternut Squash Pasties. It's a pretty rough recipe but it was delicious so I'll share anyway :)

Ingredients:

• about 2 cups diced fresh veggies (I used butternut squash, carrots and onion)
• 4 small diced potatoes
• 1/2 cup or so chopped cabbage
• 4 cups water
• 2 veggie bouillon cubes
• salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, rosemary, bay leaf, dried parsley (yea, I eyeballed all of this. I was apparently heavy-handed with the peppers)

Throw all of this into a crockpot and cook on high for 5 hours. I added half a can of white beans during the last 30 minutes to add some protein. Leave this out if you wish or maybe add rice or pasta instead. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Butternut Squash Pasties

ahem - Pronounced PASS-tee, has nothing to do with the burlesque adornment nor is it like glue.

The pasty is a traditional meat pie/sandwich (basically a homemade hot pocket) that originated in Cornwall, England. If you're interested in more history you can read about it here. It comes into my family by way of Escanaba, Michigan where immigrants from Cornwall and Finland settled and made them popular. My grandmother grew up there and, this past weekend, she was in town. She, my mom and I made some U.P. style pasties.



I then modified the recipe to suit my tiny kitchen. I am not really equipped to make pastry from scratch (and anyway, this blog is all about EASY) so I substituted crescent roll dough. The result was flaky and fluffy as you'd expect from a crescent. Yummy, but not ideal for hand-held consumption as a pie crust might be.

Here's the original filling recipe (from memory)
3 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups diced carrot
2 cups diced rutabaga
2 cups diced onion
1 lb ground meat
salt and pepper
your own pie crust recipe

Mix all ingredients together. Dough should be rolled out to about 10 inch ovals and filled with the (raw) filling mixture. Fold dough over and pinch edges together. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Makes at least 10 pasties. (actually, now that I think about it, we made 10 and still had half of the filling leftover. And we didn't use nearly 3 lbs of potatoes.)


My recipe (a work in progress)
4 smallish yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and diced
1/4 sweet onion, diced
1/2 lb ground beef
salt and pepper
a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove
2 rolls of crescent roll dough

Note: I precooked the filling because I knew the crescent roll dough would burn if in the oven for an hour.

Cook meat in a skillet. Drain off some of the fat if there is a lot. Add the remaining ingredients to the skillet and stir to combine. Let cook for just a couple minutes. Roll out dough so that you have 8 rectangles total (made up of 2 triangles each). Place about a half cup of the filling onto on corner of each rectangle, fold over the other side and pinch the edges together. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.


My next experiment will be a vegetarian version and possibly a dessert version. Stay tuned for those recipes!

Red Lentil and Butternut Squash Curry Soup

I found this recipe at Martha Stewart's website (of all places) yesterday and I just happened to have everything I needed to make it at home already. So of course I had to try it out. I followed the recipe pretty closely except I did not make my own curry spice mix (I just used a store bought curry powder) and I added a bit of orzo pasta to bulk it up a bit. Delicious!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1 half a sweet onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 butternut squash, seeded, peeled, cubed
• 4-5 cups water + 1 bouillon cube
• 8 oz red lentils
• 1/4 cup of orzo pasta
• a dash of red pepper flakes for extra heat
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Melt butter at medium heat in a big pot or dutch oven and add salt and curry powder and stir for a minute.
• Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent. Stir in ginger powder.
• Add squash to pot, stir and let cook for about 5 min. until squash starts to soften.
• Add water and bouillon and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 min. (at this point I used my potato masher to mash some of the squash a bit.)
• Stir in lentils and orzo and simmer for 10 to 15 more min. until soft.
• Taste and add spices as desired.

Summer Veggie Chili

I came up with this on the fly the other day. I did a super quick trip to the grocery store and wanted to get something I could combine with fresh veggies for a quick dinner. I picked up a can of kidney beans in chili gravy and a can of chili-ready diced tomatoes. I ended up kinda/sorta following the recipe on the back of the Red Gold tomatoes can (Potato Chili).

Ingredients:

• 1 can chili ready kidney beans
• 1 can chili ready diced tomatoes
• 1 diced bell pepper (any color)
• 1 diced onion
• 1 small zucchini sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 can diced potatoes - drained
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• about 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• about 1/2 cup water or broth

Directions:

• heat oil in a soup pot and saute onion until softened. Add peppers, zucchini and potatoes and saute until slightly browned. Add chili powder and garlic and stir to cover veggies.
• Stir in beans, tomatoes and salsa. Add a little water or broth if it seems too thick.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until all veggies are as soft as you like them.

note: top with shredded cheese, fresh cilantro, sour cream or all of the above! It's also good served over rice or with cornbread.

Microwave Zucchini Recipes

There's a thread over on Ravelry discussing uses for zucchini which is very prevalent this time of year. I have made a lot of basic zucchini bread in the past (love it) but I was intrigued by these recipes, posted by other members. They are both dessert-type recipes and are microwaveable! That's right, no need to heat up your kitchen with the oven this sweltering-hot-time-of-the-year. I have not tried these myself yet but I plan to very soon. It seems too easy not to :)

Microwave Zucchini Crumble

• 2 2/3 cup peeled and diced zucchini ( one inch pieces) 
• 1/4 cup lemon juice 
• 3 tablespoons sugar 
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• pinch nutmeg 
• 1 tablespoon flour

Topping

• 1/3 cup brown sugar 
• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats 
• 1/3 cup flour 
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

• Mix first five ingredients in a microwave safe casserole. Toss with the tablespoon of flour.
• Topping- mix first 3 ingredients together. Stir in oil, mix until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of zucchini mixture.
• Microwave for about 6 minutes or until the zucchini is tender and kinda looks like apple pie.

Microwave Zucchini bread

• 2 large eggs 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1/2 cup cooking oil 
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 cup grated zucchini with peel
• 1 2/3 cup flour 
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg 
• pinch cloves

Directions:

• Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients,stir until moistened.
• Place in a greased 4 by 8 inch microwave safe loaf pan or a bunt pan.
• Microwave for about 5 minutes. Your cooking time may vary depending on your oven.

Basic Stir-Fry

Perhaps the simplest base recipe ever is the stir-fry. This is more an outline than a recipe. It's great for improvising a meal with what you have on hand. It can be vegetarian or not depending on what protein you use. A wok is ideal but a big frying pan will work too.

Ingredients:

• cubed meat(chicken/beef/pork) or 1 package diced seitan/tempeh/extra firm tofu
• diced onion and/or garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• chopped veggies (carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts, peppers, zucchini, sweet potatoes, etc.)
• handful chopped nuts or seeds
• spices/soy sauce/teriaki sauce/jerk sauce/etc.
• rice/pasta/quinoa/etc.

saute onion or garlic in olive oil. add meat or tofu and fry until cooked.  Add veggies, nuts and sauce or spices and stir fry until veggies are tender.  Serve over rice or pasta.

If you use meat you may not need as much oil.  If you use tofu, dry it first and press it between two plates to squeeze out any excess moisture.  Add a little salt while frying it and a sprinkle of brown sugar will make it a little crispy.  Tofu is "cooked" when it's slightly browned. If you use dry spices (rather than some kind of sauce) you might need a bit more oil or even a little water to keep everything moist enough. The more you make this the easier it will be to know what you need.

Caramelized Tofu and Brussels Sprouts

I used to hate tofu. Well, I used to think I hated tofu until I had some properly cooked. This recipe was one that turned me around. Now I kinda can't get enough tofu. I make this dish or a variation of it at least once a month. It's delicious!

The original recipe can be found over at 101 Cookbooks which is by far my favorite veggie cooking blog. Every time I make this it's a little different. I always use a whole block of extra firm tofu and usually serve it with rice. I like to experiment with different spices too like curry and cinnamon and red pepper. Therefore I've listed some of the ingredients as rough amounts because there's really no need to be super exact with this. If the tofu or sprouts stick to the pan, add more oil. Taste periodically for spice/salt level.



Ingredients:

• 1 - 16 ounce package of extra-firm tofu cut into cubes or strips
• sea salt
• olive oil
• minced garlic
• handful of chopped pecans
• light sprinkling of brown sugar
• handful of chopped cilantro
• 1/2 to 1 lb. of Brussels sprouts chopped into strips or quarters
• (additional spices as desired)

Cook the tofu strips in large hot skillet with a bit of salt and a splash of oil. Saute until slightly golden, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and pecans, and cook for another minute. Stir in sugar. Cook for another couple of minutes and sprinkle with other spices if desired. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Set aside.
In the same pan (no need to wash), add a touch more oil, another pinch of salt, and dial the heat up to medium-high. When the pan is nice and hot stir in the shredded brussels sprouts. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring a couple times (but not too often) until you get some golden bits, and the rest of the sprouts are bright and delicious. Sprinkle with spices and toss together with the tofu. Serve with rice or quinoa or couscous for a full satisfying meal.

Serves 2 - 3 as a main, 4 as a side

Homegrown Spinach-Basil Pesto

Ever since I started growing basil (quite possibly my favorite herb) I've wanted to make my own pesto. I didn't quite have enough basil at the time to make a full batch so I used half spinach/half basil. I also didn't have pine nuts so I experimented.


Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 2 cups fresh basil
• 4 cloves garlic
• handful of raw nuts (cashews, walnuts, brasil nuts, pistachios, almonds)
• 1/2 cup or so grated parmesan cheese
• enough olive oil for desired consistency

Put spinach and basil into food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add garlic, nuts and cheese and mix until well blended. Pour in oil while processing until it looks like pesto.



Originally posted at Meiby the Pug last summer. This year I've planted lots of basil, a few different kinds even, so watch for more pesto recipes!

Black Bean Brownies

I discovered this idea a few months ago when my husband started a trial wheat-free/low-sugar diet. These brownies are surprisingly delicious and much healthier than your traditional brownies. They are similar to a souffle or a mousse since the added eggs create a fluffy texture. You will need a food processor or blender for this!

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil (or sub in natural applesauce to cut down on fat)
• 1/2 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate & Cocoa (or 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa plus an extra 1/4 cup white sugar or other substitutions)
• 1/4 cup white sugar (adjust amount to your liking - also good with brown sugar)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan.
Add all ingredients to your food processor (but reserve a few walnuts to sprinkle on top) and process until smooth.
Pour into baking pan and sprinkle reserved walnuts over the top.
Bake for about 30 minutes until edges start to pull away from the pan. Let cool completely before cutting.
These are actually best kept refrigerated and served chilled.

Added note: If you are looking for a sugar-free dessert, I've heard these work well with Splenda in place of the sugar. If you try it, let me know how it is.

Veggie Chili

This is another super easy chili recipe that requires very little prep. It's also customizable, just add or subtract veggies to include your favorites.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup TVP (soaked and drained, optional)
• 1/2 cup of frozen diced onion
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 cup dried red kidney beans (soaked overnight) or 1 can, drained
• 1 cup dried navy beans (soaked overnight) or 1 can, drained
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chilis with juice
• 1 orange bell pepper, diced
• about 6 baby carrots, diced
• 1/2 cup or so cauliflower florets
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• a squeeze of honey
• salt and pepper to taste
• a little olive oil
• 1 cup water or broth (or more if needed)

Saute onion, garlic and tvp in olive oil until browned. Stir in all seasonings then stir in everything else except tomatoes. Simmer stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes until beans are soft (if using dried). Add tomatoes and simmer another 20 minutes or so. Add extra seasonings if needed. Serve with shredded cheese, fresh cilantro and/or sour cream.
Note: adding the tomatoes later allows the beans to soften faster. If you're using canned beans it's safe to just add them with everything else and you can reduce the cooking time.

Originally posted on Meiby the Pug