Archive | September, 2010

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

29 Sep

I have used and re-purposed this salsa recipe into so many dishes that I think it deserves its own Recipe Post.

I think I first learned this recipe from Tyler Florence… but he used jalapeños also in his mix.  Being the wimp that I am in the spiciness department I do not use them.  But feel free to add as much or as little as you want according to your heat tolerance.   I saw Marcela Valladolid make a version of this same recipe but with Serrano peppers… even more spicy.  It’s up to you which version you prefer…

 

ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA

1 pound tomatillos, husked
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
4 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400degrees F.
  2.  On a baking tray, place tomatillos, onion and garlic.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 15-20 minutes.
  4. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices from the bottom of the tray to a food processor.  Add the lemon juice and pulse the mixture until well combined, but still chunky.
  6. If for your purposes the sauce is too chunky… just add a bit of water and pulse to loosen it.

 

I’ve used this recipe originally with my Cheesy Rice Burritos, in my Mexican Lasagna and more recently in my Broccoli Rice Burritos.  I will certainly also try it in a Chilaquiles recipe like the one Marcela Valladolid used hers in…  Yum.

Potato Broccoli Crepes

27 Sep

A year ago I was walking the streets of Paris for the second time… enjoying as much as my senses could gather.  I loved the ambiance, the rhythm of the city… everything!!!  I felt that if I wanted I may be able to even live there.

Place de la Madeleine      notre dame    crepes nutella

Well, that’s what my friend Jesiel actually did.  She has moved herself to Paris to start at 33 a new career as a Pastry Chef.  She recently started a blog – Sweet Journey of Inspiration – to capture her travels and her love for good authentic food, especially pastries.

So to reminisce about my days in Paris and to celebrate Jesiel’s decision to leave all that is familiar to her and start anew in a city where she still is learning the language, I decided to make these savory crepes…

Savory crepes… crêpes salées or gallettes are extremely popular in menus across Paris.  As you can see from my previous post on Parisian crepes, they’re mostly made from buckwheat flour and come in an infinite variety of savory combinations.  I had mine then with potatoes, spinach and cheese. 

Crepe epinard 1

Well, with the abundance of broccoli we’ve had recently, these are made with delicious broccoli.  They’re simple to make and a nice savory alternative to using up those crepes from our crepes recipe post right here…

 

POTATO BROCCOLI CREPES

1 small red potato, quartered
3-4 broccoli florets
Handful of shredded cheese – it could be gruyere or a cheese blend like I used
Handful of walnuts
Drizzle of honey – optional
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 crepes – recipe here
 
  1. In a small saucepan filled with about ½’ of water, place the potato quarters.  Salt the potato.  Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat.
  2.  When the potato is about to be done, place the florets on top of the potato for them to steam.  After covering the saucepan again, wait about 15 seconds and turn off the stove.  The florets will cook with the steam and remaining heat in the saucepan for about 10 minutes more.
  3. If you have already made your crepes, you should reheat them so they’re flexible and pliable again.  So while you wait on the broccoli to finish cooking, heat up a skillet (I use the same skillet I used to make the crepes in the first place) and over medium heat, place the crepes for about 1 minute on each side.  This will just reheat them and bring them back to life…
  4. Drain the water from the potato and broccoli.  Mash the potato and broccoli together.  Season mash with salt and pepper.  Add the shredded cheese and nuts to the mash. Mix well to combine.
  5. Place about ¼ cup of mashed mixture onto each crepe, fold and place in a plate.  Drizzle with a bit of honey over crepes and sprinkle added nuts on top for garnish.

Potato and Yautía Pastelón

24 Sep

Recently my grandma was in the hospital… and when this happens, my mom stays with her all the time and I become the official vegetarian food delivery service.

This is one of the recipes I made for my mom while she was staying with my grandma at the hospital.  It was easy to make, nutritious and delicious.

 

POTATO AND YAUTÍA PASTELÓN

2 medium red potatoes, chopped into 2” pieces
1 medium white yautía, chopped into 2” pieces
1 broccoli stalk, both florets and stem, chopped into small pieces
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
½ onion, chopped
1 tbs sofrito
2 tbs horseradish
3 tbs butter, divided
1 tbs parmesan cheese
1 handful of shredded mozzarella cheese
Sal t and Pepper to taste
About 1 tbs of olive oil
Canola Oil Spray

 

  1. In a medium saucepan, I place the chopped potato and yautía pieces along with the broccoli stems but not the florets.  I add water until it comes up halfway.  Add salt to taste, cover and bring to a quick boil over medium heat.  I usually lower the heat when I see some steam coming out of the cover to avoid the water to completely evaporate.  Pieces are usually cooked after 15 minutes. 
  2. Right before you turn off the heat from the potato/yautía… place the broccoli florets inside the same pot so it steams with the steam from the pot.  Cover immediately, wait about 15 seconds and turn off the heat on that burner.  Broccoli florets will be cooked thoroughly in about 5 minutes.
  3. While the potatoes and yautías cook, we prepare the filling… in a medium skillet over medium heat we add olive oil and sofrito.  Sauté for a few minutes.  Add the chopped onion and sauté some more until the onion softens.   Add the thawed corn and cooked broccoli florets. Season with salt and pepper and mix well so all the flavors mix in.  Set aside.
  4. Drain all the remaining water from the cooked potatoes, yautías and broccoli stems and return to the same pot.  Add butter, olive oil, horseradish and parmesan cheese.  You could add a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese too if you’d like.  Mash it all together until smooth.
  5. In a medium-sized glass baking dish sprayed with Canola Oil, add about half of the mashed potato/yautía mix.  Spread it out evenly across the bottom.  Add the corn/broccoli filling on top of this layer.  Now cover with the remaining potato/yautía mash.  Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.
  6. Bake in oven at 450F for about 10-12 minutes, until the cheese on top melts and becomes golden brown.  The pastelón per se is all cooked so you’re just looking for a nice crusty top.

 

Serve alongside a crispy green salad…  This is a great potluck dish or to take to someone when they’re “under the weather”.

Thanks 2 all who voted 4 me!!!

20 Sep

I participated in Project Food Blog…   It’s a competition sponsored by FoodBuzz and they’re selecting with the help of some food industry influentials and YOU who should be the Next Food Blog Star.

This was my entry – VOTE FOR MY POST – I wanna Blog!!!  but unfortunately I wasn’t among the top 400 contestants that moved onto the next round.  I was very pleased to know that most of the people I did vote for continued on… So I will be one more cheerleader in their camps.

Anyways, thanks for your vote and to continue making KarmaFree Cooking part of your day and kitchen.

Always cooking,  

Madelyn.

Project Food Blog – I wanna BLOG!!!!!

17 Sep

The 3rd anniversary of KarmaFree Cooking is approaching and I just can’t believe so much time has gone by already…

It seems just like the other day when I was taking a cooking class in Jupiter FL, the Conscious Gourmet Seminar from Dianne Carlson, when I learned what a blog was and how people used them to share their recipes and thoughts in.  The idea of creating a blog immediately resonated with me for various reasons:

  1. I am a passionate vegetarian – I did not grow up vegetarian… heck, I would have laughed at anyone who would have told me in my 20’s that in a few years I would become vegetarian.   But since I have become vegetarian, I have seen the positive changes in my health, my “estados de animo” and even my spiritual inclinations.
  2.  I am passionate about cooking vegetarian food – it’s so weird, almost every vegetarian I know loves to eat, talk about food and talk about cooking vegetarian food.  Why? Possibly because we live in Puerto Rico where the culture is not very vegetarian-friendly and we are kind of “forced” to create our own if we want to enjoy delicious and creative vegetarian fare.
  3. I am a passionate chat leader – This reminds me of my days working in Marketing at Procter & Gamble…  A chat leader was someone who was an “early adopter” of a technology or a product and loved to talk about it to others.  That’s me!!!  Maybe I am no pioneer in the areas of what a vegetarian is, but I certainly love to answer any questions people might have about my diet, my lifestyle and the benefits it has in my life. I am certainly not selfish about what I know… 

Living my vegetarian lifestyle in Puerto Rico has generated A LOT of questions from people asking me – WHAT DO YOU EAT?  Because people here have this notion that when you delete meat products from your diet, there’s nothing else in the supermarket to fill your dinner plate with.  And yet there are SO MANY ALTERNATIVES.

That was what moved me to create KarmaFree Cooking and its counterpart in Spanish, KarmaFree Cooking en Español.  But having a blog is a lot of work… it’s like having an extra job.  I need to be thinking of new recipes to make, I need to photograph them, write them up, publish them, promote them to generate traffic and new readers… 

But you know what??  I LOVE IT… and I do it with great honor and responsibility.  KarmaFree Cooking has given me a platform to share not only with Puerto Ricans around me, but with people around the world, what really is to live a vegetarian lifestyle.  To show people that vegetarians are not people from another planet; that we do not eat strange food; that we also enjoy living life and enjoying delicious food and that it’s not as limiting as people originally might think.

And what gives me immense pleasure is reading the comments of people I do not know personally telling me how wonderful they think the recipes are, how useful the information I share is and how I have encouraged them to follow a vegetarian lifestyle.  The satisfaction I feel when I learn I have touched one more life is indescribable.  Now KarmaFreeCooking can also be found in Facebook and on Twitter, allowing our fans to be in touch with us and the information we share in their preferred format.

 

And now we have fans all over the world… our readers are mainly from the US, but  a large chunk of our fan base comes from the UK, Canada, Australia, Russia, Brazil, India, Mexico, Philippines, Norway, Thailand, Greece, Turkey, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Italy, Hong Kong among many others.  This is a true meeting of the Nations in KarmaFree Cooking.  It’s mind boggling to me thinking you might be sitting in Japan, Australia or Argentina and reading my articles and commentaries. 

I am now participating in this competition, Project Food Blog, where over 1,700 food bloggers will be competing to become the next food blog star.  I hope you VOTE for me when the voting period starts.  I am prepared to take on all the challenges Project Food Blog throws at me and hopefully you’ll have a good time reading about them. 

I can definitely be the winner because I am committed to be an advocate of the vegetarian lifestyle even of some of you are not committed to become a vegetarian just yet…  I am patient… I have perseverance… and hey, maybe you’ll also surprise yourself becoming a vegetarian, just as I was surprised when I did.

Thanks for all that you, our readers, give me every day.  Thanks for making KarmaFree Cooking part of your day… Thanks for sharing our articles with your friends and family and THANKS for being open to a vegetarian lifestyle.  I hope to be able to continue providing you with information you find useful and interesting…       Madelyn.

Avocado Tomato Sandwich

14 Sep

Avocados are in season and my Tití Carmín has a bountiful in her finca.  So every time she comes to San Juan, she comes carrying boxes and boxes of avocados.

I love the eat a few slices or wedges of avocado on the side of every meal… but once in a while you need to get creative as to how to enjoy an avocado in a new way.  This is how these sandwiches came about.

 

AVOCADO AND TOMATO SANDWICH

3 slices of ripe avocado
2 slices of tomato
2 slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
2 leafs of butter lettuce
Vegenaise – eggless mayonnaise
Salt and Pepper to taste
Drizzle of Olive oil
1 whole-grain ciabatta bread

 

  1. Halve the bread and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toast in oven at 350F for about 3-4 minutes.  Spread bottom bread with eggless mayonnaise.
  2. Place the avocado slices on bottom half of bread.  Top with mozzarella and tomato slices.  Sprinkle salt and pepper and drizzle a small amount of olive oil.  Finish with lettuce leaves.  Top with bread.

 

This is just so buttery and delicious…  It’s addictive.  I used to have this same sandwich for both lunch and dinner until the entire avocado was GONE!!!

Plum and Blueberry Crisp

10 Sep

I am not the most proficient baker, particularly when having to make something for 20+ people…   so when Angie at the yoga center asked me to help her with a dessert for the yoga center, I usually think of something fruity and simple that will not require lots of kneading or beating.  Because with as many kitchen implements there are at the center, there is not an electric mixer.

I remembered a few episodes of Good Eats and Barefoot Contessa where they made fruit cobblers or crisps.  I always enjoyed the cherry cobblers when I used to eat at Bonanza.  But I guess something fresher than cherry pie filling would be more suitable for the buffet dinner at the Yoga Center.

We used gluten-free flour mix and non-dairy shortening to accommodate for the many allergies and tastes at the center…  although I have seen MANY eat wheat and cheese galore when traveling and they present no “allergies issues”…  go figure, huh?

 

PLUM BLUEBERRY CRISP

4 lbs of fresh plums
12oz of blueberries – I used frozen
2/3 cup of organic granulated sugar
5 tbs of cornstarch
1 tbs of lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon
For the Topping
1 1/3 cups of gluten-free flour
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of organic granulated sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 sticks of non-dairy “butter”, cut into small pieces – I used Earth Balance and I recommend maybe freezing it before using
1 cup of walnuts, toasted
 
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Wash the plums well and cut an X at the bottom of each fruit using a paring knife.  Place the plums in the hot water for about 1 minute until you see the skins start of peel off.  Transfer the plums to a large bowl with ice water using a large colander.  This will stop the cooking immediately…
  2. Peel the plums, which should be easier after they’ve been blanched.  Slice them into ½” slices. 
  3. Place the sliced plums in a large baking dish.  Add the blueberries, the lemon zest, lemon juice, 2/3 cup of sugar and cornstarch.  Mix well together. Set aside.
  4. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
  5. In a separate bowl we’ll mix the crisp topping – the gluten-free flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, walnuts and non-dairy butter.  Using your hands (or maybe even better an electric hand mixer) mix well all the ingredients to achieve a cornmeal texture.  If the “butter” is not super well chilled you’ll make a huge mess.  It’s still taste good, but be ready for a messy mess in your hands.
  6. Drop pieces of the crisp topping over the fruits.  The topping does not need to evenly cover the fruits, but try to have globs of topping as evenly spaced as possible over the fruits.
  7. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until the topping gets as golden brown as possible.  I did this in an oven that’s not mine and I had to increase the temp a bit to 385F for about 10 minutes to get a nicer golden color.

 

Allow the crisp to cool down for about 1 hour before you serve it.  It’s delicious warm or even room temperature.  A nice scoop of vanilla ice cream wouldn’t be bad either.

The dessert was a complete hit… that’s why we’re posting here for all to have access to it.  Enjoy!!!

Membrillo Update

7 Sep

For all of you that wanted to know more where you could find Membrillo Paste, here is an update…

I saw Membrillo Paste at the Cheese Section of Whole Foods.  You could find it near the manchego cheeses.  This picture was taken recently at the Whole Foods in Boca Raton FL.

There were several varieties to choose from.  Enjoy!!

Broccoli Salad

3 Sep

The other day my friend Angie asked for my help in the Yoga Center kitchen… she was down a cook and needed my help.  I’ve been a little detached from cooking at the Yoga Center lately.  Having no important plans for the afternoon, I immediately said yes.

She told me she had broccoli and did not know what to do with it.  So I went thru my mental rolodex and retrieved an idea I’ve been meaning to share with you.   Blanching was the operative cooking technique of the day…

We made this recipe for 20 people so I will try to replicate for a party of 4.

BROCCOLI SALAD

1 head of broccoli florets (save the stems for some other day)
1 small red onion, sliced thin
1 head of garlic, roasted
2 tbs horseradish
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of that same lemon
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
  1. To roast the garlic head, just cut the top off the garlic bulb and place inside a piece of aluminum foil.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil over it and season with salt and pepper.  Add a small piece of ice with the garlic and wrap the aluminum foil so that the steam does not escape.  Bake in oven at 350F for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Set aside.
  2. In a large pot, bring water to a boil.  Salt the water liberally.  Add the broccoli florets to the water and cook for about 1 minute. 
  3. Remove the broccoli florets from the boiling water with a large sieve and transfer to a large bowl with ice water to stop the cooking immediately and seal the beautiful green color.
  4. Place the onion slices inside the large sieve and submerge the onion slices ever so slightly into the same boiling water as you blanched the broccoli florets.  Just submerge them for about 30 seconds.  Pour some filtered tap water over the onion slices to cool them off.  Set aside.
  5. In a measuring cup mix together the lemon juice, lemon zest, horseradish, olive oil, salt and pepper. 
  6. Now, in a large salad bowl mix together the blanched broccoli that you’ve drained of as much water as possible, the blanched onion slices, the roasted garlic cloves that you’ve removed from the bulb skins, and the lemon/horseradish dressing.  Mix all well together to let the broccoli florets absorb as much dressing as possible.

 

Serve as a side dish… but we also incorporated the leftovers in a pasta salad.  Delicious!!!

Healthy Lifestyle Change for SEPTEMBER – Do not buy products containing preservatives or artificial coloring

1 Sep

With the craziness and fad of counting calories and having everything be “fat-free”, counting carbs, etc.  The food industry has modified foods in such a way to make them comply with the latest fad out there.  To do this they do not mind filling those foods with chemical additives, preservatives, or colorings to make us believe we’re eating the original…  at the end of the day, these modified products are not even a shadow of their original counterparts. 

I have adopted a philosophy, now for over 10 years, that I would like to pass on to you – I read the labels and I try not to buy anything that contains ingredients I can’t understand or even pronounce.  Basically, I only buy products that have the least ingredients possible.

I was even once told – why even buy products that have labels you can read?  For example, lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, apples, pears, etc. usually do not have a label we can read to see what they contain, right?  Without going into the details of branding or organic vs. conventional, there’s some food for thought…

By choosing products with the least ingredients, I also avoid:

  • Any chemical ingredient I can’t pronounce
  • All artificial colorants such as FD Red #5, Yellow #10, etc.
  • Any ingredient containing SULFITES or NITRITES –  preservatives added to food to preserve their vibrant color and known carcinogens.

As a general rule:

I do not Buy: I Buy:
Cheeses or anything labeled Fat Free Regular cheeses or those made with 2% milk

  • Light cream cheese – neufchatel
  • Swiss cheese
Nothing that contains Nutrasweet, Splenda or artificial sweeteners – read the labels – my sister, the diabetic in my family, tells me that many regular chocolates/candies have less carbs than chocolates labeled sugar-free. I look for products that do not contain added sugars or that are made with Brown sugar.I sweeten things with honey or agave nectar
Bottled Dressings I make my own…  here are a few ideas.
Bottled Sun-dried tomatoes or dried fruit – like dried pineapple, mangoes or apricots Brands that specifically state they do not contain sulfites.

  

I know it’s a challenge, but you just get used to reading the labels and be more conscious of the ingredients that go into the food you eat.  And even though you might get familiar with the brands you prefer, you need to periodically read the labels because sometime companies change formulas and a product that was perfectly fine, now might have some added something it didn’t have before.

 Now, you’ll be more aware of the brands that have the healthiest options… and little by little you’ll see how your health and palate gravitates to more natural flavors and ingredients.

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