Onions and Peppers

26 Oct

Onions and peppers are two staples in my kitchen… they’re the basis of most dishes I make. They are the basis of sofrito… and I use them in almost anything I make – antipasto, stewed potatoes, stewed chayotes, anything really…

And as strong a foundation they are, they can also shine as a course in and of themselves…

I love to sauté onions and peppers and have them as a cooked side dish for many things. I used to cook them with veal steaks once in my former omnivore life. Now, I love to serve them a top various “viandas” – potatoes, carrots, yautía blanca or lila, malanga, sweet potato, white sweet potato, chayote…

This is sooooo simple… hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ONIONS AND PEPPERS

1 medium yellow onion, sliced –but you can use your favorite onion…
½ green bell pepper, sliced
1 clove of garlic, smashed
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
Juice of ½ lime or lemon(optional)
  1. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, pour a little drizzle of olive oil. Add the onions and pepper strips. Season everything with salt and pepper. Add the smashed garlic clove whole to season the mixture without running the risk of burning the garlic and making the mixture bitter.
  2. Move around every few minutes until onions and peppers are softened a bit, but still with some crunch to them. The tenderness level of the onions and peppers is entirely up to you. I personally don’t like to char them.
  3. If you enjoy a little bit of tang… add a drizzle of lime or lemon juice on top. Remove the garlic clove before serving.

 

 

Serve on top or on the side of mashed potatoes or even green bananas. Do you enjoy it too???

 

Soyrizo Apricot Quesadilla

24 Oct

My dear friends Angie and Ana are taking these cooking classes on Wednesday nights… I am not participating because these classes are not vegetarian and I would not be able to cook or actually taste almost anything they make. But the ideas their teacher shares are quite good sometimes and I like to vegetarianize them to be able to enjoy them.

Such is the case with a croissant idea filled with chorizo and apricot jam… Refrigerated croissant dough does not come in whole wheat form, unfortunately. So I decided to make-over the recipe given to me by Angie into a quesadilla.

Never been too fond of Mexican chorizo… I much preferred Spanish chorizo. But this Soyrizo tastes like the Mexican version with strong cumin notes. I take it easy with this soyrizo because after my first trip to India, I developed a strong aversion to cumin. For years I was not able to taste cumin or even smell it up close. Now I’m better, but I am still not a cumin fan.

What I do love about this recipe is the salty/sweet combination… and it has a very rich flavor, so be prudent and don’t over stuff your quesadilla.

SOYRIZO APRICOT QUESADILLA

1 FlatOut flatbread or whole wheat tortilla
2 handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese
1 ½ tbs of apricot jam
About 2 inches of soyrizo
2 large scallion, chopped finely
2 tbs softened butter
2 tsps brown sugar
Butter-flavored spray
Olive oil
  1. In a small non-stick skillet over medium high heat, with a tad bit of olive oil, cook the soyrizo. Start moving it around allowing it to brown on one side before mixing it up and moving it around. It will cook and brown until it turns into crumbles. Set aside.
  3. Pre-heat toaster oven to 425F.
  4. In a baking sheet, spray butter-flavored oil to make sure your tortilla or flatbread does not stick. Place your flatbread halfway in the pan.
  5. Start mounting the fillings… spread most of the apricot jam on the bottom half of your quesadilla. Add the cheese, the crumbled cooked soyrizo, the scallions and a tad bit additional apricot jam if you wish. Fold the tortilla to create a half moon. Press it lightly to make it all “stick together”.
  7. Spread some softened butter on top of tortilla or flatbread and sprinkle some brown sugar on top.
  8. Place in oven for about 5-7 minutes. The cheese will melt, the fillings will fuse together and the top will get brown and crunchy. Take it out if the oven and allow a few minutes for the cheese to cool down.
  9. Cut into wedges and enjoy…

I did this with 2 tortillas and the flavor was too rich for me. But I encourage making it with two tortillas if you are sharing.

The scallions are my addition to this recipe and I feel they help cut a bit of the oiliness of the cheese and soyrizo plus it adds some freshness.

Try it… and tell me if you like it or not. What are your favorite quesadilla ideas???

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The Shape of Foods Help our Organs?? – CELERY, BOK CHOY and RHUBARB

22 Oct

This is part of a series on how our food can help certain organs that resemble their same shape. I already shared with you how carrots benefit the eyes, how tomatoes and grapes benefit the heart and how walnuts are essential for brain health.

Celery, rhubarb and bok choy, among others, are stalky and long… just like our bones. These foods specifically target bone’s health because they’re both 23% sodium – bones are 23% sodium and so are these foods. When you lack sodium in your system, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish and maintain balance to the skeletal needs of the body.

Celery and rhubarb also contain calcium… but its better absorbed when eaten with other calcium rich foods, such as yogurt or cheese.

I don’t use celery all that much in my cooking and have never eaten rhubarb in my life, but here are some recipes where you can incorporate celery and bok choi into your diet:

Celery Lime Juice

Celery Pineapple Juice

Roasted Vegetable Stock

Tofu Cashew Stir Fry

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My Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

19 Oct

It’s October… and in the interest of celebrating everything Halloween, here is a list of my favorite pumpkin recipes.

Pumpkin Polenta

Pumpkin Polenta

Pumpkin Risotto

pumpkin-risotto

Roasted Pumpkin Salad

 

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

I have made this mac and cheese with pumpkin too, especially when making in large quantities for the Yoga Center.

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Vegetable Pot Pie

 

Hope you like these pumpkin delicious ideas to celebrate Halloween, or even as turkey-free Thanksgiving ideas.

What are YOUR favorite vegetarian pumpkin recipes or ideas??? Please share…

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Almond Milk Oatmeal

17 Oct

Oatmeal for me was an acquired taste. I was always a Cream of Wheat lover when I was a kid. I LOVED when my grandma made cream of wheat or farina for us for breakfast. We used to pour cold milk around the rim of the bowl to cool the cream enough to be eaten.

I did not like the texture of oatmeal too much… until I had to work for Quaker Oats. Oats, as I learned thru lots of consumer research, is a very polarizing food. Some people love it, some people hate it. Some people, just like me, grow to love it. I worked on the brand just when the news broke out that the soluble fiber in oatmeal helps lower bad cholesterol. It was one of my favorite accounts to work on and I got to travel to Jamaica and Guatemala because of it.

I remember talking to consumers that some people did not like preparing oatmeal in hot cereal form or “creams” as we call it locally in Puerto Rico because they believe they need to stand in front of the stove stirring the oatmeal all the time to avoid it getting lumpy. Well… allow me to get into a little secret. That’s not necessary AT ALL.

Making hot oatmeal cereal is super simple and all you need is time and something else to do… as the saying goes, “a watched pot never boils.”… The same applies to oatmeal. The least you tend to it, the better it is.

This is more a method than a recipe… you can certainly add or subtract or change any ingredient as you see fit. But this is my basic formula for making oatmeal as breakfast in the morning… although I highly encourage you to have some oatmeal for lunch or even dinner too. Just like some people eat cold cereal as a light and east to put together dinner alternative, hot oatmeal can be a great “hot something” for the soul now that the weather up north is getting nippier. I sold this idea to Quaker once… I hope you buy it from me too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALMOND MILK OATMEAL

1 ½ cups almond milk
4 tbs of steel cut quick cooking oats
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla powder
A pinch of salt
powdered cinnamon (optional)

NOTE… I cook this in an electric stove, which I believe retains the heat longer than gas stoves.

  1. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat I add the almond milk and I season it with the sugar, vanilla powder and salt. Mix together to combine well. Immediately after, I add the oatmeal. Mix well again and partially cover allowing an opening for you to see the milk and how it’s coming to temperature.
  2. When the milk starts to boil, in about 2-3 minutes, stir everything to combine and allow all the boiling to subside a bit. Lower the temperature of the stove to low and continue to cook partially covered.
  3. After about 5-6 minutes of cooking, you’ll see the oatmeal starts to thicken a bit, but not quite done yet. I cover completely. Count to 10 and turn off the stove. Turn it off and walk away. Don’t look, don’t peek… just walk away.
  4. After about 15 minutes of letting the oatmeal stand, it’s done. I usually let it stand for about 30 minutes to allow it to be a tad cooler. I can’t eat oatmeal too hot… it makes me sweat.
  5. Sprinkle some powdered cinnamon on top before serving.

I like oatmeal on the loose side… but if you want thicker oatmeal just add a few tablespoons more of oats. Adjust the amount of oats and seasonings to your liking.

I did this almond milk version for the first time to watch Princess Kate and Prince William Wedding with my mom… the home-made almond milk gives it a nice creamier, more luxurious touch, but store-bought almond milk will do too.

Ahhh, and almond milk, just like soy or regular milk, WILL BOIL OVER if left completely unattended. I have cleaned my stove way too many times to vouch for that…

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