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By Emily, February 23, 2010 7:14 pm

Fresh on the heels of my super-yummy polenta casserole (which was less mushy after a couple nights in the fridge), I tried out another never before made (by me) recipe.  Yes, I tried 2 new recipes in one week!  I told you I was returning to the kitchen!  It’s about freakin’ time.

The recipe for Tortilla and Black Bean Torte from Planet Green appeared in my reader last week and sounded like a neat way to make vegetarian Mexican food that isn’t tacos or burritos.  You sandwich a cheese and bean/spice/corn/onion filling between tortillas and bake it in the oven.

Okay, so, this looks kind of like mush too.  But, remember, I specialize in delicious mush.  My tortillas were a little small for the pan so I didn’t fill them to the edge so that contributes to the whole creation being a little sad looking.  Still, the taste was pretty awesome and surprisingly rich and filling.  I adjusted the recipe and only used 1/3 or so of a chipotle pepper–those things are hot!  And I left out the scallions, cilantro, and sour cream because I’m realizing sometimes it’s not worth tracking down ingredients you don’t already have in your cupboard.

Would I make it again?  Absolutely.  I might even tweak it a bit more and see what I can come up with.

When all was said and done, I was left with just 2 questions:

1) Anyone have a fool-proof method for resurrecting dried beans? I soaked mine overnight and then cooked them for a little bit and they came out pretty well, but I still feel like I’m missing something that’s making the whole process more difficult than it’s supposed to be.

2) What should I do with the rest of my chipotle peppers? I’ve still got a half dozen or so in my freezer and they’re so spicy I can’t figure out how to use them up!

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By Emily, February 21, 2010 2:16 pm

Two weeks ago, I made meatloaf and Brian and I spent pretty much all week eating it (it didn’t occur to me until we’d finished it that I could’ve frozen some).  Last week we were on vacation and so I didn’t cook.  I felt like I hadn’t been in the kitchen in forever.  And I missed it.

I made up for my absence last night with a surprisingly delicious casserole I adapted from a recipe for Polenta and Onion Casserole with Fennel Seed and Soy Mozzarella that was in The Complete Vegan Cookbook: Over 200 Tantalizing Recipes, Plus Plenty of Kitchen Wisdom for Beginners and Experienced Cooks by Susann Geiskopf-Hadler and Mindy Toomay.

Things you should know before making this recipe:

1) It’s from a vegan cookbook, but my adaptation is not vegan.  Simple solution: substitute soy mozzarella for the regular mozzarella cheese (that’s what the original recipe called for, but I had the cheese already and I can’t bring myself to eat soy cheese yet).

2) Making this dish requires 2 burners and the oven.  But it’s worth it.  So worth it.

3) As incredibly delicious as this dish is, it’s not the prettiest thing ever once you serve it.  I served it with a spoon and ate it out of a bowl–it’s pretty much mush.  But the flavor is amazing and comforting.

Tomato, Onion and Polenta Casserole
Adapted from The Complete Vegan Cookbook

2 teaspoons fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
Olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 red onions, chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
28 oz can whole tomatoes (do not drain!)
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
black pepper
1 and 1/2 cups uncooked polenta (coarse ground cornmeal)
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese, or more to taste

1. Use a spice grinder to combine the fennel seed and chili flakes.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Add the fennel seed and chili flake mixture and minced garlic to the oil and stir to combine for about a minute.
3. Add the onions and salt to the skillet.  Cook, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft.
4. Add the capers and the tomatoes with their juice to the skillet.  After the mixture reaches a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up large pieces of tomato.
5. While that cooks, preheat the oven to 375º.  Grease a 3 quart casserole dish with olive oil.
6. In a saucepan, combine 4 cups of water, garlic powder and a sprinkle of black pepper.  Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce the temperature to medium and add the polenta in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly.  Continue to whisk until the polenta is thick (normal polenta consistency, this takes a few minutes).  Whisk in 1/2 cup of cold water and return the polenta to bubbling.
8. Stir in a 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese to the polenta.  Next, pour the polenta into the greased casserole dish.  Distribute the polenta evenly in the dish.  Pour the onion and tomato mixture on top and cover with the remaining mozzarella.
9. Bake for 20 minutes and cool before serving.

On a unrelated note for my local readers, I just found about about this cool event happening in Williamstown and North Adams, Massachusetts next month.  The Farm Film Feast is March 10-14 and will feature showings and discussion on “a dozen documentary films about our food: Who produces it, how it reaches us, and how it affects our health, our environment, and our local and global communities.”  I’m not sure which events we’ll be attending (March still seems so far away!) but I’m really excited about it.

Enjoy what remains of the weekend!

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By Emily, February 20, 2010 4:06 pm

Maybe it’s just my interest in cooking unique, healthy, fresh food.  Maybe it’s the appeal of vegetarianism.  But it seemed to me that this week there were a lot of blogs writing about vegetarianism and veganism.   I’m still neither of those, but I really admire people who are and I’ve really enjoyed exploring them recently (I just got Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals from the library and I’m so excited to start reading it!).

Highlights for February 14-20: Veganism and Vegetarianism

Sometimes I think these diets seem more popular because I’m so aware of them, but I’m clearly not the only one interested.  Alicia Silverstone’s vegan cookbook, “The Kind Diet ” was topping Amazon’s bestselling cookbooks list.

No Meat Athlete is one of my favorite blogs for vegetarian recipes, and there’s a whole category of healthy desserts, which are almost always vegan.

People often comment that vegetarian/vegan diets don’t supply enough nutrients.  Planet Green says you can get more iron than Popeye as a vegan

Endless Simmer examines the question “Can a vegetarian/vegan be a “foodie”” (The answer? A resounding “yes”.  Duh.)

Also from Planet Green, “Meat the Press: 6 Ways to Decode Media Coverage of Vegan Issues”

A spin on Bittman’s “Vegan until 6,” Graham Hill is promoting weekday vegetarianism.  I know ideas like this upset “real” vegetarians sometimes, but I think it’s really great.  In fact, in the 14 months since I cut my meat consumption by more than half, full time vegetarianism has become more and more appealing.

Every Saturday, I choose a theme and highlight blog posts, websites and news articles from my Google Reader which I found interesting (and hope you do too!)  If you want more reading, check out “What I’m Reading” on my sidebar.

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By Emily, February 4, 2010 6:58 pm

It’s a good thing I got married to someone who really loves me, because I think my parents and my sister might disown me.

I made baked tofu the other night.  And Brian and I both really, really liked it.  This would have never happened in my house growing up.  Never ever.

At the beginning of the month “learn to cook with tofu” was on my list of New Years Resolutions.  At that point, I had no idea how I was going to do it, but a recently PETA’s VegCooking Blog posted a recipe for All-Purpose Baked Tofu.  It looked really good.  When Brian said he wanted to eat stir-fry this week, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to try making it.

I was pleased to discover that the 14 oz package of extra-firm tofu I bought only cost $1.99.  Having never worked with tofu before, I had no idea how much it would cost.  The recipe was easy to follow and turned out great (though 20 minutes total cooking time seems like plenty, not 15 minutes per side).

So, at the risk of being disowned by my meat-and-potatoes family: I made tofu from a PETA recipe.  And I liked it.  A lot.

More tofu recipes are probably in my future.

An update on my other resolutions:

• Go to the gym at least twice a week- After a couple weeks of insanity that kept us from working out, Brian and I have figured out a schedule that works well for us and have been visiting the gym 3 times a week.  Oddly enough, I’ve suddenly started to enjoy going.

• Drink more water-Probably the simplest of my resolutions and yet establishing a new habit is harder than it looks.  Most days as I’m running around my classroom, it doesn’t occur to me to pick up my water bottle.  But I’m working on it.

• Add new posts to Relishments at least twice a week- Clearly, some weeks are better than others.  But lately I’ve felt more interested in blogging and I’m hoping things stay on an update swing.  At the same time, work keeps me awfully busy and sometimes dinner’s nothing to write home about.
• Learn to bake really good bread/Create Original Recipes/Learn to Make Things I Usually Buy-I have recipes I want to try, I just have to find the time.  Those resolutions are more lifestyle goals than anything, so they’ll always be a work in progress.
• Maximize my freezer space-I haven’t gotten around to organizing my bedroom, nevermind my freezer.

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By Emily, January 28, 2010 7:56 pm

My husband and I just had a discussion which ended with him sighing and rolling his eyes.

Before that, it went like this:

Me: Hmm…
Him: What?
Me: Dairy.  Factory farms.
Him: So?
Me: Why do I not eat meat?
Cue sigh and rolling of eyes.

If you’re still confused, you probably didn’t watch ABC’s Nightline on Tuesday.  Actually, I didn’t either, but some of the blogs I follow are all a-buzz about it.  There was a segment exposing the horrible conditions that cows endure on dairy farms.  You can watch the segment or read about it on Change.org or Huffington Post.

Another moral dilemma.  Caring about what I put into my body certainly is a lot of work.  I drastically cut my meat consumption last year primarily because of the dangers of eating meat (bacteria, chronic health conditions) but also because I don’t agree with the practices of the meat industry (cramped quarters, sick animals, antibiotics, crappy feed,  etc).  I’m not a vegetarian, and I always swore I could never be vegan because I love cheese and yogurt too much.  But if conditions on dairy farms aren’t any better than on meat farms, should I be consuming dairy either?

Now, before Brian gets all annoyed about my latest crusade, let’s be real.  The chances of me cutting out dairy are slim to none.  Nevertheless, its amazing what we don’t know (or choose to ignore) about where our food comes from.  Again, education is the only way we’re going to change the opinions of the general American populus and create real change in our food system.  Once we’re educated, we can make smarter choices about what we eat.  Check out the Eat Well Guide (linked from the HuffPo article) to find out where you can buy local, sustainable, organic food.  I know its a lot of work (trust me, I know), but think before you eat!

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By Emily, January 27, 2010 8:46 pm

I’m a big fan of the idea of veggie burgers, but the price and taste of the ones at the supermarket, not so much.   As a result, I’ve been keeping an eye out for veggie burger recipes that I could make myself.  I tried a recipe from A Food Coma a few months back, but they didn’t stay together very well.  I have good intentions of trying them again and making them work, however.

This week I tried a burger recipe from Cheap, Healthy, Good.  Brian and I were both pleasantly surprised by how well they came out.  These burgers taste good, stay together, actually get a little crispy and have a texture more similar to hamburgers then some meat substitute creations I’ve tried.  They also hold up great in the fridge for a couple days (or, according to Cheap, Healthy, Good, in the freezer)

Veggie Burgers

Adapted from Cheap Healthy Good, Makes about 12 small (3″ diameter) burgers
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 tbsp adobo spice mix (<–well worth following CHG’s directions to make!)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Put the beans, minced onion, garlic cloves and oats into your food processor.  Pulse until just blended.
2. Add the rice and spices.  Use the food processor to blend, but not puree.  (Though some of my mix was pretty pureed and they still came out great!)
3. Add water or more rice to thin or thicken the burger mixture as needed.  It should be about the consistency of meatloaf mix.
4. Let the burger mixture rest for 15-20 minutes.  Form into balls and flatten into patties about 1/2 an inch thick.
5. Bake burgers on a parchment lined baking sheet for 30 minutes at 350°.  Flip burgers after 15 minutes.
6. Enjoy!

We topped our rolls with 2-3 burgers and ricotta cheese.  And Brian added ketchup to his, but we know how I feel about ketchup.

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By Emily, January 14, 2010 5:01 pm

I made my first quiche the other night.  Granted, a quiche without crust, which  Brian was a bit skepitical of (can you have a quiche without crust?)  It made a perfect make-ahead meal for 2 of our dinners this week.  Despite the fact that, for some reason, the idea of making quiche seemed a little scary to me, this one was so easy I may try making “real” quiche some day.  Plus, when the recipe for appeared in this month’s issue of Food Network Magazine and I liked all of the ingredients and it was vegetarian and I could get two nights of dinner out of it during a rather busy week, I decided I needed to try it.

This quiche is less dense than many quiches I have had, to the point of being a bit crumbly.  But it tastes really, really great.   Even without the crust.

Crustless Spinach Quiche

Adapted from Food Network Magazine-Serves 4 as a main course

• Olive oil
• 4 ounces smoked Gouda cheese
• 1 10-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 large eggs plus 2 egg whites
• 1 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon (or more) grated Parmesan cheese

1. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven, place a baking sheet on the rack and preheat to 450º.
2. Lightly grease a 9-inch round or 8-inch square baking dish with olive oil.
3. Shred the Gouda in your food processor.  Remove the cheese, put the standard blade in your food processor, add the cheese back to the food processor.*
4. Add the spinach, whole eggs and egg whites, ricotta, flour and nutmeg and process until well combined, about 30 seconds. Add the onions and pulse to mix.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
6. Place the quiche on the preheated baking sheet and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until the center is just set.
7. Enjoy!

*FNM recommends just chopping the cheese with the standard blade, not the shredding disk.  It probably works, but that’s not what I did so I can’t say for sure.  But it would save time and dishes, so feel free to give it a shot.

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By Emily, January 11, 2010 5:25 am

So…work is still kicking my butt.  I started a new (full time, rest of the year!) teaching job last  Monday and I had this fantasy that I was going to have more time for me (aka this blog, the gym, cooking cool recipes, hanging out with Brian, etc) than I did with my last position.  Keyword being fantasy.  I’m still getting my bearings and getting settled in the new job, so, posting schedule still sucks :)

Nevertheless, I’m chipping away at my New Years Resolutions.  Here I am, posting (again!).  Tuesday and Saturday we went to the gym (must be the beginning of January–that place was busy!)  And last Sunday I made soup –and biscuits, which fall under the category of “learning to make things I normally buy”.

The soup was really satisfying.  It’s really thick and using fresh produce made it even better.  Minestrone is one of those soups that’s easy to alter and update based on what you’ve got in the fridge…this is what I had or remembered to buy and it turned out great.  You know you need another soup recipe :)

Sticking with the above and previously mentioned goal of learning to make things instead of buying pre-made processed foods, I made biscuits to go with the soup.  In short: easy, fast, and really, really delicious.  We may never eat sliced bread with soup again.

Dill, Red onion and Cheese Drop Biscuits
from Everybody Likes Sandwiches
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup red onions, finely diced
1 Tablespoon dried dill
a hearty grind of black pepper
a large handful of old cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk or milk with 1 Tablespoon vinegar or yogurt with a bit of milk mixed in

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, red onions, dill, black pepper and cheese.
3. Stir in the milk and oil and mix lightly until combined.
4. Using a tablespoon, drop blobs of dough on a parchment covered or silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes or until lightly golden. Makes about 6 – 9 (really delicious) biscuits.
5. Enjoy!

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By Emily, December 10, 2009 2:13 pm

Included in my list of favorite things:

• Dishes that can be made in under half an hour
• Dishes that are vegetarian
• Chinese food, on occasion
• Pasta
• The Pioneer Woman
• Recipes that turn out better than I expect

All that to say that, once again, The Pioneer Woman has outdone herself.  Her Sesame Noodles are all of the above and I can hardly wait to make them again.

From time to time I make “stir-fry”.  My stir-fry generally consists of frozen vegetables cooked in soy sauce and served over rice.  Impressive, I know.  But it was always missing something.

Thanks to the Pioneer Woman, I now know what that something was: sesame oil.  Get some, it smells like Chinese food.  No joke.  I did have to shell out a little money for it, but it was totally worth it.

Vegetable “Lo Mein”

(Adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s Simple Sesame Noodles)

You’ll Need:

• 12 ounces whole wheat spaghetti (or whatever thin pasta or rice noodles you have on hand)
• ¼ cups soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed or  minced
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• Several drops of Tabasco sauce
• 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons hot tap water
• 1 lb. frozen mixed vegetables
• Optional: 4 green onions, sliced

1.  Cook the pasta/noodles according to package directions.  Drain.

2. While the pasta cooks, whisk the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Tabasco sauce, vegetable oil and water together in a bowl.  Adjust to taste.  Smell the Chinese food-y smell.  Get excited.

3.  In a skillet, heat the mixed vegetables until defrosted and cooked through.

4.  In a large bowl, or the pasta cooking pot, combine the pasta and mixed vegetables.  Mix.  Add the sauce and mix until combined.  Serve warm.  Enjoy your fake, fast Chinese food.

Disclaimer:  Vegetarian it may be, but this dish, sadly, isn’t exactly good for you.  The sesame oil is very high (14 g in just 1 tablespoon!) and the soy sauce has 920 mg of sodium per tablespoon.  So, as with everything, this dish should only be consumed in moderation–but it’s really really good!  And, clearly, restaurant Chinese food probably isn’t great for you either

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By Emily, December 2, 2009 8:42 pm

Yikes–it’s December already! I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful.  Mine was really nice.   Brian and I spent the long weekend in Maine with my family and, despite the rain, enjoyed ourselves.  Unfortunately, being at home and on vacation meant I emphasized the “flexitarian” part of my diet and took the liberty to eat whatever I wanted.

Granted, I know one weekend of eating without thinking isn’t going to kill me, but I worked hard to come up with a healthier menu for this week.  I came up with some new vegetarian recipes to try out.  Imagine my delight when the first two dishes I tried out were really delicious.  I highly recommend them.

Creamy Broccoli Soup via Serious Eats

Have I mentioned I’m a sucker for soup?  Despite the fact that the recipe posted on Serious Eats is adapted from my most frequently used cookbook, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, I was a little suspicious of a broccoli soup that wasn’t full of cheese.

So, it’s green…and there’s no cheese.  But fear not: this soup is really good (and there’s sour cream and white wine, so that helps).  Plus it’s really simple–only 8 ingredients!  We used our new hand blender (sorry mom, we couldn’t wait to open the Christmas presents…) to puree the soup.  It didn’t make the soup completely smooth, but I think that’s an effect of the broccoli more than the blender.  However, a few spoonfuls in, the taste of the soup overwhelmed any minor texture issues.

Penne with Lemon, Potatoes, and Cannellini via Cheap Healthy Good

Yes, you read that right: pasta and potatoes. And spinach, cannellini beans, lemon juice and dried basil.  I found the recipe on Cheap Healthy Good’s list of bean recipes because I really want to include more beans in my diet.  As I cooked the recipe, I got really excited about it.  It just held a lot of promise.  And, when all was said and done (and it only took about half an hour!), the meal measured up to it’s promise.  Really, really satisfying and flavorful.  We added more spinach, sauce and some Calamata olives to the leftovers which increased the flavor even further.  This recipe is one that’s definitely going to go into my “meals in a pinch” pile.